Chapter 23

Going into a burning building without proper gear was not Liam's preference, but he didn't have his turnout gear with him in Whale Harbor, let alone in the back of his car, and the people inside the house wouldn't have any gear either. With movements so practiced he didn't even need to think about them, he broke a front window, lifted the latch carefully to avoid broken glass, and entered the house.

"Hello? My name is Liam Hiller. I'm a firefighter. Is anyone here?"

The fire wasn't yet too big, but it was spreading. Long experience told Liam at a glance that it had started in the kitchen, which made sense; that was where the great majority of house fires got started.

"In here!" cried a woman's voice from that direction.

He hurried toward the kitchen, where he found two women, both in their forties or fifties. One was pointing a fire extinguisher at a blaze that was creeping up the walls of the kitchen, the other looking far more shell-shocked, her hand over her mouth. Liam applauded the initiative of the first woman, but also knew that a household fire extinguisher wasn't going to be enough to take out a fire of this size.

"Come on," he said, "we have to go. Is there anyone else in the house?"

"No," said the first woman while the other shook her head silently. "It's just me and my sister. But… ?" She held up the extinguisher.

Liam gave her a sympathetic look even as he took it from her hands and guided her toward the door. The smoke was growing thicker. "Too big for that," he said. "My girlfriend called the fire department, though. What's important now is getting out of here."

Fortunately, the women listened to his calm, reassuring command. He had been in lots of fires before where people, worried about their possessions, refused to evacuate at the proper time, thus risking their lives. Unfortunately, the fire had crept toward the exit route while they'd talked; he spotted a window on the far side of the kitchen from the flames, however, and boosted the sisters out just as the air thickened enough to cause them all to cough roughly.

Fire trucks started to pull up, sirens wailing, just as the three made it to the cool, fresh air of the spring night. Liam herded the two women away from the house and toward the arriving emergency services. They'd inhaled smoke; they'd all need to be checked by EMTs. And he would need to reassure Claire, whom he'd no doubt left panicking.

He fell easily into the familiar pattern of the first responders, accepting the oxygen mask that was handed to him and asking to speak to whoever was overseeing the incident; he'd need to report all that he'd seen inside. He was surprised to see that he recognized the man who approached him, although a second thought told him he shouldn't have been so shocked. It was Bodie Radford, the fire chief, whom he'd met at the town picnic.

Chief Radford seemed likewise surprised to see him. "Oh, hey there! Hiller, right?"

"That's right, sir," Liam said, passing off his oxygen mask to a waiting EMT so he could shake the fire chief's hand. "I know an active fire is always busy, but I wanted to report everything I saw." He quickly gave the older man a rundown of the events, starting with witnessing the fire from the street.

Bodie nodded, taking this all in with the efficiency of a practiced firefighter. "Well, Hiller, it sounds like you did everything by the book, for which I thank you. Getting the civilians out of the house as quickly and safely as possible is always the chief concern."

"Of course, sir," Liam replied… then he hesitated. He had a concern about the way the fire had been creeping up one of the interior walls in the kitchen… but he wasn't sure it was his place to say something to the incident commander.

Then he mentally scolded himself. Of course he should report it. He was just doubting his instincts.

"There's one more thing, sir," he added quickly as Bodie turned to move away. "I think the fire was going to a pantry space. I've seen small spaces like that go unnoticed until they flare up hot and fast. There's a lot to burn in your average pantry, and a lot that could ‘go boom.'"

Chief Radford nodded, already reaching for the radio at his hip. "That's a good note, Hiller. Thank you."

He walked a few paces away, transmitting Liam's message to the firefighters who were inside the house. Liam had no sooner pressed the oxygen mask back to his face to take a few more breaths when the fire, which had been dying down, flared up and out one of the windows on the ground floor. A few paces away, one of the women from the house let out a startled shriek. Liam's heart skipped in his chest. Big, sudden flares like that were dangerous.

But when Bodie came back in his direction, the chief was smiling broadly.

"I think I need to thank you again, Hiller. You gave us that tip about the pantry just in time. Nobody was hurt in that flare, thanks to you. We at WHFD owe you a debt of gratitude tonight."

Liam felt practically numb with relief as the words coursed through him. Nobody had been hurt. In the wake of that numbness came a sense of healing.

He had helped. He had used his senses, his judgment, and his expertise to help ensure that no firefighters were hurt tonight. He'd ensured that the two women who owned the house were safe, as well.

This was the reason he'd gotten into firefighting in the first place. This feeling.

He blinked back to reality just in time to hear Bodie call over his shoulder, "You hear that, Claire? This guy of yours saved the day."

At the sound of his girlfriend's name, Liam glanced in that direction. He found Claire looking at him, eyes shining with pride.

Seeing that made him feel just as good as the knowledge that he helped save lives tonight.

"You know what, Chief?" Claire asked, never taking her eyes from Liam's. "I never doubted that he would, not for a second."

The only thing that stopped Claire from pressing the back of her hand to her forehead was her reluctance to look like some sort of wilting hothouse flower while everyone buzzed around her with their own activities.

But whew! It had been a tumult of a night.

Her heart had already been full to bursting over the way Liam had sent her friends to her shop to help her… and then it had nearly stopped with fright when she saw him run directly into an active fire. Her fingers had shook and her voice had been tight with worry as she'd called 911 and reported everything as instructed, but she'd managed to get the message through quickly and clearly.

The fire department and ambulance had taken only minutes to arrive, but they were some of the longest minutes of Claire's life as she waited for Liam to reemerge from the burning building. When he'd done so with the two women who lived there in tow, a pair of sisters whom Claire vaguely recognized from around town, her heart had nearly stopped again.

This time, however, it was in relief. And pride. And in the emotion that she could no longer deny: love.

She was falling in love with Liam Hiller.

Claire pushed those feelings to the side as she hovered out of the way of the bustling first responders. She waited, trying not to fret, until she finally saw an opportunity to cross the busy lawn to where Liam sat, legs dangling out of the back of an ambulance.

She arrived just in time to hear Bodie Radford comment on Liam's heroism… and to call him ‘her guy.'

She found she liked hearing that quite a lot.

"You know what, Chief?" she asked, gazing at Liam, knowing there were stars in her eyes. "I never doubted that he would, not for a second."

The happy smile Liam gave her back felt like the best gift in the world.

Well, the second-best gift, she admitted to herself after she was safely back in his arms. His clothing smelled faintly of smoke, a sensory reminder of the danger he'd put himself through in order to help others. She instinctively understood that Liam wouldn't feel comfortable leaving until the fire was fully out, so they found a place off to one side where they could stand. Several firefighters approached Liam, who couldn't enter the scene himself without his gear, asking for his advice.

Claire could feel him swell with pride each time this happened. She swelled with that very same pride.

They'd been standing quietly for a while, arms wrapped around each other and taking comfort in the other's presence, when the two women who owned the house approached, looking shocked and dismayed at the turn of events, but fortunately uninjured.

"Hi there," said one of the women, weariness in her voice. "I'm Pauline, and this is my sister, Nancy. We just wanted to come over and thank you for all your help this evening. I know you said you're a firefighter, but it looks like you weren't on duty tonight."

"I was happy to help," Liam assured them. "On duty or not, I couldn't leave someone in need when I was capable of helping."

Pauline gave Claire a none-too-subtle wink. "Ooh, did you hear that? This one's a keeper," she said conspiratorially.

Liam chuckled, but Claire merely grinned, squeezing her arms even tighter around him.

"Believe me," she assured the older woman, "I know that."

The women thanked Liam profusely a few more times. He humbly disregarded their thanks, attributing most of the work to the firefighters of the Whale Harbor Fire Department.

"Really," he insisted. "It was nothing. I'm just glad you both got out of there safely."

When they left to go speak to Chief Radford about the next steps, Liam turned into Claire, pressing a kiss against her hair.

"Ready to go home?" he murmured.

"Definitely," she agreed. She wanted to stay and support him as long as he needed, but she was dead on her feet after the long day.

They held hands on the drive home, parting only in moments when Liam needed both hands to turn. The streets were quiet at this late hour, however, and Claire felt the peace sink back into her body, aided by Liam's sturdy presence. When they got to her house, they didn't need to discuss whether Liam would walk her to her door. By now, it was habit.

On her front stoop, she turned to wrap her arms around his neck, leaning into the comfort of his embrace. This too was habit.

"You were amazing tonight," she murmured, her cheek pressed to his chest. "I mean, you scared the heck out of me when you ran into that fire, but I know that's part of lo—caring about you," she quickly corrected.

She didn't want to talk about the full depth of her feelings, especially when his future in town was still undecided. She worried it would feel like she was pressuring him. Instead, she focused on that night's events.

"Helping other people is clearly in your DNA or something. You helped me today, helped those women…"

She trailed off, and she could feel him smile from where his cheek pressed against her head.

"You know, it felt pretty amazing," he admitted. "I've spent so much time these past couple months worrying about what can go wrong with firefighting. But tonight reminded me that my knowledge and experience can also make things go right. Every minute counts in a fire like that, and my actions tonight helped ensure that nobody got hurt."

"Like I said," she repeated. "Amazing."

"You inspired me to be amazing, so part of that credit goes to you," he said.

She pulled back in shock, not enough to free herself from his arms, but enough that she could peer up into his face.

"Me?" she asked incredulously.

He laughed and playfully bopped her on the nose. "Yes, you, you silly thing. And if you're surprised by that, I guess I'll have to be extra diligent about telling you how proud I am of you going forward."

His praise pleased her even as it made her feel bashful.

"I'm opening a flower shop, not running into burning buildings," she grumbled even as she blushed.

He laughed again. "Sometimes running into the burning building is a metaphor. You're taking on something that scares you. That's impressive. And it inspired me to take on something that scared me too. And it turned out to have been one of the best decisions I've made in a long time."

"Okay, okay," she agreed, giving in. "I'll admit that I'm impressive as long as you admit that you are too."

"Deal," he said, reaching down to link their pinkies together like kids on a playground. "And even better, that means we can be impressive together."

Claire couldn't think of any better answer, so she used their joined hands to tug him down for a long kiss.

When he pulled back, he was smiling broadly. She suspected that the look on her own face was similar.

"As much as I would like to spend a lot more time doing that," he said, raising his eyebrow in a way that suggested that he would really like it, "your opening is fast approaching and it's been a long day for us both. Head inside and get some sleep, okay?"

Although part of her wanted to drag him inside to snuggle up on the couch, the logical, adult side of her brain recognized the wisdom of his suggestion.

Even so, she couldn't resist grumbling just a little.

"Being responsible is boring," she told him.

"Yeah, it's the worst," he agreed with a smile.

He stole one last kiss and bid her goodnight. The kiss was sweet, but Claire's feelings as she went inside were decidedly bittersweet. She was looking forward to her shop opening, but the future beyond that loomed, unknowable and fraught.

She was trying to build a happier future for herself… but she was afraid that happiness would just feel hollow if Liam wasn't there to enjoy it with her.