3. A Real Rebel Hero

3

A REAL REBEL HERO

BLAKE

I could put two and two together and make three. As in—if this kid was five, then it puts his time of conception at about that time I was in St. Louis for my initial search and rescue training. That being the case, this was some kind of predicament between him, me, and his mother.

What would it have been like to see a baby growing inside her beautiful body—Fuck. What was I thinking? A baby? I didn’t want kids or a family or a woman tying me down.

But Olivia… She’s here. Blonde hair in a ponytail and all, eyes staring at me across the way, with that body that I took all kinds of liberties with, all in the name of making her happy on her birthday.

Despite the shock of seeing her as a mother, I often wondered if we’d ever run into each other again. The one night we spent together had been pretty special. It was hard to replicate a nearly perfect night like that, and over the years, I’d had plenty of chances with women to try, never quite feeling the same.

Because of it, I fully earned my reputation as Playboy of Nelson County. Something I wasn’t exactly proud of, but I fucked around like I was addicted.

Truth was, I did it out of loneliness. A failed long-term relationship, then a perfect one-night with Olivia, and somehow I’d never come to terms with being alone again.

Watching from across the way, the EMTs checked out the kid to make sure he was okay. I refused treatment until they did. I could hardly say his name, even though he told it to me, as if saying it would mean I’d have to claim him.

The pain in my dislocated shoulder and aching back reminded me that children could be a challenge. I’d saved enough of them from sticky situations over the past several years, as a fireman and search and rescue captain, to know.

This one had scrambled up into a tree and got himself so high, he couldn’t get back down. Lucky barked and spotted him before I did, like the hero search and rescue dog I’d trained him from a pup to be, as I never expected a child his age to get so high up. Surrounded by trees, there was no way to get a fire truck ladder in here to save him. I’d had to climb up.

“What are you doing up there, kid?” I called, reaching in my pack for my climbing gear.

“I’m playing hide and seek from my mom.”

“Well, I don’t know if that’s a really good idea there, sport, because, you know, your mom’s really worried about you.”

“Won’t she find me? She always does.”

“She’s trying, and I’m helping her. There’s a fire truck and firemen and policemen looking for you, too. Do you want to come down and we’ll give you a ride in the fire truck?”

He gripped tighter to the tree. “I’m scared.”

“Yeah, I can tell. Hold on. I’m coming up.”

I climbed limb by limb, slow and steady, and cinched myself with rope around the tree for safety.

“Okay, little munchkin, what do you say I get you back to your mom?” I asked as I got within a foot of him. He nodded his head vigorously, his eyes wider than an empty pie plate at Aunt Minnie’s Pie Shop. I needed to keep him talking. “How old are you?”

“I’m five, and I’m going to start kindergarten this week at a new school,” his voice wavered.

“That should be fun. You’ll make new friends. What’s your name, anyway?”

I had him riding on my back, within a minute. And then I carefully made my way to the ground. His little body shivered, a sign of fright and shock. We were almost there. Only the worst that could happen did—a branch broke and I fell to the solid earth.

With quick precision and timing, I’d angled my body, so he’d land on top of me, taking the brunt of the fall myself.

“The hero of the day. Here.” Robbie came up, holding out his thermos cup of coffee. He made shit dark coffee, and I really craved a shot instead, but I took it anyway and downed it in a gulp. “What was all that screaming the mother went on about when she saw you? You give her a grumpy face or something?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled.

“Pretty woman. Olivia Carlson. Said she was enroute today from St. Louis to Kissing Springs, moving here. Even if she is a single mom, I imagine she’ll raise some eyebrows among the singles crowd. I see Officer Brax over there, checking her out.”

A growl escaped me before I could stop it.

“You say something?” He asked with a brow quirked.

“Nope.” I shoved the cup back into his hands. The last thing I wanted to hear was Olivia having a time with another man. Before I could analyze why, Robbie reamed me out.

“By the way, I’m not too pleased you didn’t call for backup when you found River. You could have gotten yourself and the kid seriously injured and since we didn’t know where you were—?” He shook his head. “But why am I not surprised that you’d be the rebel and dare the rescue yourself? When are you going to learn that you don’t have to go it alone, buddy?”

I snorted. “I’m not alone; I have a trusty sidekick. Right, Lucky?” The best dog in the world hadn’t left my side yet, like he could sense my injuries.

Robbie continued, unimpressed. “Damn good thing you don’t fall under my jurisdiction. But I imagine once the sheriff reads the reports up at county about this rescue, he’ll be giving you an ass-chewing.”

Mike, one of the EMTs, rushed over to me just then, saving me from having to answer. As one of my closest friends, I knew Robbie meant well, but what if the boy had grown weak and fell from the tree while waiting for the others to join us in the rescue? I did what I had to do at the time. If I had to face my superior over this, so be it.

“How’s the boy?” I demanded to know from Mike if the kid was okay.

“Just scrapes and bruises. You saved the day, Blake. A hero, like always. Now, let’s pop that shoulder back into place.”

As promised, the kid got driven around the parking lot, sitting in the front seat of the fire truck with someone’s helmet on.

All the other crews left, leaving Olivia and me alone by her car. I shoved my hands deep into my pockets while she hugged her sides. It was nearing dark now, and the temperature had dropped, which was fine by me. But not for her, and given the stress of the day, she shivered—I didn’t miss that, or her nipples poking out beneath her thread-bare shirt.

“Here.” I set my pack down on the hood of a rusty Volkswagen Beetle that had seen better days. If this was the car she drove down from St. Louis, fuck, she’s lucky it didn’t break down on the way. I pulled my KSFD sweatshirt out and handed it to her.

“Thanks.” She put it on, and I sucked in a breath, seeing her wearing it. It fell halfway down her creamy thighs, hiding her cutoff shorts. My mind instantly went there, imagining her naked, bare for me underneath my shirt, just waiting for me to repeat everything we did together years ago.

I shook my head of that shit, steeling my jaw. “Is that boy mine?”

“That boy has a name—River. And he’s mine. ” She didn’t hesitate with that response like a very protective mama bear.

“So, I’m not the only guy?—”

“Oh, my God. I don’t sleep around. Yes. He’s yours.” Her head snapped my way.

“If memory serves, we used protection.”

“Well, I come from a very fertile line of women, okay? My mother had six children, and her mother before her, and the one before that.” Our eyes locked, and if she could cut me with them, she probably would. “I never expected to run into you again. I didn’t have a way to reach you to tell you. Seven bajillion people on the planet and here you are.”

“If you had stayed and been there with me the morning after at my hotel room, we might have exchanged phone numbers.”

She swallowed hard, then she trained her sight on the fire truck again, where the boy played the alarm for the tenth time. When the sound finished, his giggles could be heard ringing out from the open windows of the truck.

“I cannot believe this happened today,” she said, her tone worried now.

“How could you lose him like that?” I spouted off without thinking.

“Hey, I didn’t lose him. I just…misplaced him.” Irritated at first, she sighed, her face weary and tired, and her shoulders dropped. “It’s not the first time. He’s been like this his whole life, just really energetic. Very smart, too. That’s one reason why I’m moving here to be with my-my, um, grandmother. She’s going to help us start over in Kissing Springs.”

“Okay. That’s good.” What a dick I was thinking only of myself in this situation? It never occurred to me what life must have been like as a single mother. Did she have help? Enough money to have made a nice home for them? Judging by her crap car, no.

Had I known, would I have helped care for them? Provided for them? Over the past several years, could I have been sharing custody of a son? My life would have been so different.

We couldn’t go back and change things. But what the hell to do from this point forward? No question about it. If he’s mine, then I’d do right by him and her. That’s the way my mama raised me. We took care of our own.

“If he’s mine, then I want to help you,” I said, as Lucky shot up from his stay position, barking as the truck parked near us. Through the window, the kid waved, with a grin splitting his face like this had been the happiest day of his life. He reminded me of myself long ago, taking a ride in my father’s fire truck.

Richard Wilson was a true legend in this area, and inspired me to follow in his footsteps, first becoming a fireman in Kissing Springs, then making my way up to County. When I was promoted to head up the K-9 Search and Rescue Unit, Dad was there, proud of each step of my career.

Goddamn. Something tugged at my insides at the memory of him. And now this kid could be mine?

I made it to the passenger door in about three huge strides and opened it. “Hey River, did you have fun?”

He tore off the helmet and jumped into my arms. My shoulder was still tender and my back ached, but I wouldn’t drop him for the world.

“That was great! What an adventure I’ve had today. Can I pet your doggie?”

“You sure can. His name is Lucky, and you can come visit him and me anytime you want.” I gave Lucky the command to sit and stay, even though I knew he’d be calm and gentle around the kid. “I’m here for you and your mom whenever you need me.”

Despite all the questions between us, my eyes locked with Olivia’s, and this time, she softened toward me with a hint of a smile on her full pink lips. But the moment was fleeting.

“Well, it’s late and dark. We need to get going, River. Grandma expected us hours ago,” she said, and River whined about leaving Lucky, but took her hand anyway.

“I’ll follow you into town. Make sure you get there safely,” I said.

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.” Another thirty miles to town in her car? Not happening, but I didn’t think she’d take me up on my offer to drive her and have her car towed into town tomorrow.

As soon as River clicked into the back seat, she kept the door open between us, hanging onto it like a shield, but she had nothing at all to fear from me.

The silence for a moment between us was awkward, in a good way. It wasn’t empty, but filled with things I wanted to say. If only the timing was right.

“We should talk soon. Here.” I dug my card out of my pack and handed it to her. “Get yourself settled in Kissing Springs, then reach out and we’ll get together to talk about stuff.”

She eyed the card. “Blake Wilson, Chief of County Search and Rescue. You really are a hero.”

“Nah. I’m just a guy with a very important job. The best moments are when Lucky and I find people and return them to their loved ones.” Her skin glowed under the rising moon, so tantalizing. Tempting. I reached a hand out, pressing a lock of her curls behind her ear. Skimming her skin sent tingles through my fingertips, just like it did the first time my hands roamed her beautiful body on that night in St. Louis. “And I’m so glad I found you and River today.”

Her breath hitched, and without another word, she got in and buckled up, like I made her nervous. Hopefully, that would go away with time.

I followed her the entire way. A million questions plagued me, running through my head like a ticker tape. They stopped once I saw the house where a woman was waiting on the front porch step. The grandmother I presumed, with a small home in an okay neighborhood.

Olivia parked in the driveway and let River out while she wrestled some bags out of the back seat. He ran into the arms of the elderly lady, clearly knowing and trusting her. As they went inside, that provided some relief. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they’d be okay with her for now.

I rolled down my window and put the truck into park, calling out to Olivia, “Let me help with those bags.”

“No. I’m fine. I’ll call you soon.” She was halfway to the door, anyway.

“You better. I’ll be waiting.” She nodded me off with barely a smile. I frowned as I waited until she was inside before I took off again. Her entire demeanor toward me was a little off-putting, but if I set myself into her shoes, a day like today must have shaken her up a bit.

Later at my home, the rest of the night, the loneliness hit harder than usual. Instead of finding solace at a bar, seeking comfort in a few glasses of Kentucky bourbon, and even the arms of a random woman, I stayed put. Partly because my body ached from the fall. But mostly because Olivia and River invaded every corner of my mind.