Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

This was the part I liked best—the smooth glide of him as he moved inside me a few more times just after we both came.

Between his schedule and mine, taking care of Pearl and his mother, plus all the other business of simply living, we always scratched out time for each other. Some days, it was a brief conversation on the phone, and on others, we had a few hours to spend together, just him and me. That connection we’d made only got stronger, and I started to relax into it. I heard complaints on a daily basis from the salon ladies about their husbands and the annoying habits they had. One liked to pick at his feet in front of the TV. Another left beard whiskers all over the bathroom counter. Others stacked dishes in the sink instead of the dishwasher, and if they deigned to empty it, they set everything on the counter instead of putting it away in the cabinets.

Perhaps we would eventually reach the day when we’d been together so long that we’d find those little habits irritating. But I’d take them all to keep and safeguard everything I had with this man.

“You good, babe?” he purred in my ear, still gently stroking in and out of my sated body.

“Better than good,” I answered as I matched his movements.

He’d come to me this dark morning and made love to me while the world still slept. Kimmie was long gone, and I’d moved Pearl into the second bedroom in her new toddler bed. She loved her “big girl bed” but still insisted on me being in her room while she fell asleep. The full rent had come out of my pocket alone for several months now, so I didn’t feel any financial hit from being without a roommate. Even better was the small savings account I’d started.

Me! With a savings account!

Bryce kissed me before slipping out of me and getting off the bed, keeping his back to me while he disposed of the condom. I frowned at the sight, as I still hadn’t made an appointment to get a different birth control so we could dispense with the damn things.

“I can’t stay too long, sweetheart. The chief wants us out early for a day patrol up on the western ridges before the cold snap comes.” He grinned down at me as he turned around. “Finally getting some cold weather from your old stomping grounds.”

Winter Storm Margie was on her way down from Canada and the northern Midwest. She looked to be a big one, but none of the others made it far enough south to do anything much. I’d yet to see three flakes of snow to rub together in these mountains. “I’ll be sure to dig out my parka.”

He laughed. “Want to shower with me before Pearl wakes up?”

“Think we have time?”

“Probably not.” He grinned at me again. “I’m gonna hit the bathroom first and make breakfast while you get cleaned up, okay? We’re expanding the patrols on the far western ridge starting today, so it’ll be late before I get back home.”

“Which one?” I asked as I arched my back and stretched.

He grinned and leered at my movement. “No fair doing that when I have to go to work, babe.” He flopped back on the bed and gave me a quick kiss. “That’s a subject I want to talk to you about. My mom is doing better and better. She’s not completely healed, and I don’t know if she ever will be, but she’s got a lot of her strength back and is able to take care of herself for the most part. This is a nice enough place, but it’s more of a temporary stop than a home. I’ve had my eye on a three-bedroom condo in that new development being built overlooking the town. It’s between Mom’s place and the Lair and not far from the salon. Got a pool, tennis courts, community building, all sorts of extras. No yard work either, so to me, that’s a plus.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It is. Good school district.”

“Does that matter?”

He rolled on top of me and pinned me to the bed. “Absolutely, it does. You get that you’re moving there, too, right? I want you to see it before I make an offer.”

I was stunned. We were moving in together. Asking or telling? It didn’t matter to me how it was said, I wanted it. “You’re buying a condo.”

“Yes.”

“For us.”

“All three of us. If we decide we want other kids, that’s cool; otherwise, I’m just as happy with Pearl. Ah, baby, don’t cry.”

“They’re happy tears.” I sniffed as I wrapped my arms around his back. He lowered his head and kissed me again, this time deeper and longer, and my belly stirred with warmth. I hoped this never got old.

He pulled at the covers until he bared my body and settled between my legs. He kissed my inner thigh before spreading me open with his fingers. “Grab my phone and text the chief that I’m gonna be a little late. When you come, try to keep quiet so Pearl doesn’t wake up, yeah?”

Weatherman pulled into the parking lot of the station ten minutes after his call time. He had a big happy smile on his face and Opal’s taste lingering on his lips. He loved how she writhed under his mouth while she crammed a pillow over her face to keep from screaming her pleasure, and he couldn’t wait to do it again. They had only grown closer in the past weeks. Some people called this the honeymoon stage and said it would change once the shine wore off a new relationship. Weatherman wasn’t so sure that was the case here, but only time would tell.

Brick and Betsey had weathered years together. He blustered sometimes about her habits, and she nagged him about his diet, but underneath the squabbling lay a clear and solid core foundation on which they’d built a life together. There wouldn’t be a Brick without Betsey, nor a Betsey without Brick.

Weatherman wanted the same with Opal. The condo would be the first step. It was a big one, but if he got his way, there would be a ring on her finger before the July Fourth holiday and a band to match by the time the next Halloween festival happened. He wondered what couple they would dress up as. Batman and Catwoman? Football player and cheerleader? Doctor and nurse?

He’d barely made it into the building before all hell broke loose. Chief Wilson puffed hard and cursed harder as he ran around the office with a phone in his hand.

“Sorry I’m late, Chief. I had something to finish?—”

The man waved a hand in sharp dismissal. “I don’t give a shit that you were late. We got reports of a wildfire spreading between Peachtree Creek and Massie Gap.”

Weatherman frowned. Winter forest fires were more common than people knew, and if the conditions were right, they could smolder for weeks before bursting into flame. The mild unseasonable weather, the dry summer and fall—hell, he was surprised they hadn’t had a burn already. “How far out?”

Chief Wilson scratched his head. “Far enough that we don’t gotta worry about people yet, but there’s always some dumbass up there trying to do the primitive survivor thing. The fire warden has already got his people on it and ’copters on the way. From the satellite images, it’s movin’ fast, and he’s gonna need as many bodies as he can get to contain the beast. The ’copters can only do so much ’cause a’ that storm comin’ in. Maybe if Margie makes it in time, she’ll cool this shit down before it gets any more out of hand.”

He pointed at Weatherman. “You and Fine did some training with firefighting. The fire warden ain’t gonna put you on the front line, but he needs the backup. Get your asses up Lands Creek Road. Once you leave the pavement and hit the dirt, it’s five miles to where they’re setting up. You’ll have to take four-wheelers to get there. The fire hasn’t spread there yet, but it might be comin’ soon. I’m headin’ to the Fontana Ridge Fire Station to help the spotter send information. Get goin’, boys. Time is crucial.”