Forever After (14 page)

“There’s only one thing I want, only one thing I’ve ever wanted my whole life.”

“I know.” She sighed. “But for whatever reason that’s not possible now. But God is perfectly capable of giving you something new, something you’ll love just as much as firefighting. You just have to find out what that is.”

“No.” He shook his head again. “If I can’t be a firefighter, then what
was this all for? It’s not worth it. Not worth losing Dad, losing Zach … all of them.” He stopped, not trusting his voice. How had the conversation moved to this?

She knelt beside him, tears brimming in her dark eyes. “That’s not true, Lucas. You know that’s not true. You have so much potential! There are a thousand other things you could do, and do well. You just have to discover what God has in mind for this next chapter in your life.”

“Well, He’d better start talking then because I’m not getting the message He’s trying to—”

The phone rang and Ma patted his cheek and went to answer. Her smile grew. “Yes … Just a moment … he’s right here.”

Grinning, she handed him the cordless handset. “Speak of the devil,” she whispered. “And don’t you blow it.”

Her smile lifted his spirits. Or maybe it had more to do with Jenna being on the other end of the line.

“This is Lucas.”

“Hi.” Her sigh held apology. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but I’ve got … a dog problem.”

“Sparky again? What’s up? He trying to eat you or something?”

Silence on the other end.

“Jenna? You there?”

“He, um … has me trapped.”

He laughed. “Seriously? You’re trapped?”

“Not exactly, but he’s holding me hostage. I’m over at Bryn’s—she’s at work—and I can’t get him back in the laundry room.”

“Back in?”

“I accidentally let him out, but Bryn said to put him back before I leave and … he won’t go. I tried calling Bryn, but she’s not answering her phone.”

“Did you try going into the laundry and calling him? He’ll probably follow you.”

More silence.

“Jenna?”

“I’m—I’m scared I’ll get closed in there with him.”

“He won’t hurt you, Jenna. Where is he right now?”

“He’s … watching me.”

He scratched his head. “Um … Maybe the question is, where are
you
?”

“In the kitchen.”

“He won’t let you catch him?”

She sighed heavily into the phone. “Promise you won’t make fun of me?”

He frowned, confused. “Promise.”

“I’m up on the counter. He won’t let me down.”

He tried to picture her predicament and failed. “You’re sitting on the countertop?”

“Um … crouching is more like it. He just keeps staring at me.”

He couldn’t help it—he burst out laughing at the image. “He probably wonders what in the world you’re doing up there.”

“Hey … you promised!”

“I’m sorry.”

At the edge of his vision he saw Ma motioning to him. He turned his back on her, but she came around beside him, gesturing frantically and mouthing, “Go help her. You go
help
her.”

“Hang on a second.” Swallowing a new wave of laughter, he turned his back on his mother again and limped to the other side of the kitchen. “Jenna, if that dog wanted to hurt you, he’d rip you down from that counter so fast you wouldn’t know what hit you.”

“But when I start to get down, he won’t let me.”

“Listen, your only danger from that dog is being licked to death. But stay right there. I’ll come and rescue you.” He threw his mother a look meant to say,
There. Are you happy?

Her smile said she was.

“Don’t worry,” Jenna said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“How am I going to get in?”

“I didn’t lock the door.”

“Okay. Sit tight—or maybe I should say, crouch tight.” He hung up, chuckling.

“What’s going on?” His mother wore an inquisitive grin.

Ignoring his aching muscles, he hauled himself to the closet for his jacket and his cane. “I have to go rescue a damsel in distress.” He tried to sound annoyed, but from the grin on Ma’s face, he didn’t think she was fooled for one second.

She knew her face must be ten shades of pink, but he didn’t comment.

16

J
enna?” Lucas’s tentative voice floated from the entryway.

“I’m in the kitchen,” she squeaked from her graceless and uncomfortable perch on Bryn’s kitchen counter. “Can you call him?”

“Sparky? Come here, boy.” Lucas clicked his tongue, and without giving Jenna a second glance, the dog trotted around the corner to greet him. She heard Lucas baby-talking the dog, and then the sounds of patting and tail-wagging.
Stupid dog.

She swung her legs over the counter, trying to affect some semblance of dignity. But she remained on edge, poised and ready to scale the counter again if necessary.

A minute later man and dog appeared around the corner. Lucas’s smirk said he was working hard not to laugh. She no doubt looked laughable perched on the counter with her hair uncombed and her clothes a wrinkled mess from spending the night wadded in her car.

When she was sure he had a good hold on Sparky’s collar, she slid off the counter and stood in the corner near the sink.

“Thank you.” She knew her face must be ten shades of pink, but he didn’t comment.

“You want him back here?” He pointed toward the laundry room, keeping one hand on his cane, the other firmly wrapped around Sparky’s collar.

“Please.”

He pushed the dog into the tiny laundry room and pulled the door shut. “Now stay, boy,” he said, obviously for her benefit. He took a staggered step, grabbing the door handle for balance. Sparky answered with a muffled bark.

Lucas leaned his cane against a chair in the breakfast nook and steadied himself, then came around the bar to where she stood, her back still to the sink.

“Stupid dog.” She rolled her eyes toward the laundry room, but she felt like the stupid one. “I barely opened the door and he got out and practically ate me alive.”

“Yeah, I noticed that big chunk out of your arm.” He grinned and leaned against the counter, bracing his hands behind him.

She lasered a ha-ha-very-funny look in his direction.

He ignored it. “You taking care of him for Bryn again?”

“Not exactly. I didn’t want to let him out at all, but he was scratching at the door.”

Lucas looked confused.

“Oh … Bryn said I could hang out at her place today.”

“Things that bad at the Morgans’?”

“That bad and worse. They sort of, um, kicked me out.”

“What? Seriously? You just got there.”

“They forbade me to associate with Bryn as long as I was under their roof.” She looked around the room as though Bryn might overhear.

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. So I decided I can’t live there.”

“Good for you. But where
will
you live then?”

She looked at the floor, not wanting to confess to him that she’d spent last night in her car. “I don’t exactly know yet. I’m going to look at some apartments today. You don’t know of anything do you? In the Falls?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. I can ask around, though.”

“That’s okay. I thought I’d talk to the Realtor who handled my house sale.”

“So you’re staying here in the meantime?”

“I don’t know. I don’t really want to tell Bryn why I got kicked out.”

“I see your point. But you can’t exactly
not
tell her.”

“No, I guess not. But it breaks my heart to think about hurting Bryn like that. She’s already taken so much junk over this whole—” She stopped short. She didn’t really know where Lucas stood on Bryn. After all, he’d lost his father in the fire. He had this limp and the cane because of the fire. And worse, he’d lost the job he loved. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know some people still … blame Bryn. For the fire. I guess I can understand how you might, too.”

He shook his head slowly. “I did for a while. But I forgave her. A long time ago … thanks to my mom.”

“I like your mom.”

That brought a crooked smile. “Yeah, I do, too. She’s one of the good ones.”

His expression at the mention of Emily made Jenna a little jealous—and made her wonder if Lucas knew about her own mother. Had Zach talked with him about what she’d come from—her past—when they’d worked shifts together at the station?

Before she could decide whether to risk asking him, he changed the subject. “Hey, you want to go for coffee?” He looked like a nervous kid inviting a girl on his first date.

And she did want to go with him. Very much. But she was in desperate need of a shower and a shampoo. And she had less than eight hours to find a place to stay tonight. “I’d love to, but I need to go apartment hunting—and job hunting before that.”

“Wow. Big day.”

“Yeah, I can hardly wait. Can I take a raincheck on that coffee, though?”

“You bet.” He went around the bar and retrieved his cane from the breakfast nook. “You’ll be okay—with Cujo there.” He grinned and pointed to the laundry room door where Jenna could hear the dog snuffling beneath the door.

“You wouldn’t want to take him now, would you?”

He laughed. “You’re relentless! And giving Bryn’s dog away? Some friend.”

She gave him a look. “I told you, I have permission. Seriously, though, she really needs to find another home for him.”

He nodded and appeared to be considering the possibility. “I haven’t had a chance to check yet whether the station would consider taking him in.”

“But just think how nice it would be to have a furry companion in your house,” she said, trying to close the sale.

He narrowed his eyes and shook a playful finger in her face. “Don’t think I don’t see through your clever ploy. This is all part of that ‘plan’ you and Bryn cooked up, right?” He looked from her to the laundry room door and back again. “And that ‘furry companion’ pitch sure sounds funny coming from a girl who just spent ten minutes trapped on a kitchen counter by one.”

She didn’t tell him she’d been crouched on the counter for more like thirty minutes. “Just trying to help. Final offer. Take it or leave it.” She grabbed a damp dishrag hanging over the faucet and pretended to concentrate on scrubbing the counters.

“I’ll take him.”

She whirled around and did a double take. “Seriously? You’ll take Sparky?”

“I will.” He eyed the closed laundry room door. “I’ve been thinking about getting a dog. And I like this one.”

She studied him, trying to figure out whether this was just one of his pranks. If it was, he had a great poker face.

“Assuming Bryn hasn’t changed her mind,” he said.

“I’m sure she hasn’t. But let me call her and make sure she doesn’t mind you taking him now.” She dug in her purse for her phone and dialed Bryn’s number. She would love nothing more than finding a new home for Sparky, especially if she was going to be spending any time at all in this apartment.

L
ucas pulled into the driveway, parking his truck as close to the back gate as he could. Cutting the engine, he watched Sparky in his rearview mirror. The dog trotted from the front of the pickup bed to the back, obviously eager to explore his new home.
What have I gotten myself into?

But one glance at the passenger seat beside him made him think it may have been worthwhile. Jenna flashed him a smile and reached for the door handle. After he’d agreed to take the dog, it had been easy to talk Jenna into coming with him to get Sparky settled. She didn’t get out but watched in the side mirror, nibbling at her lower lip.

“Don’t worry, I’ll put him on a leash.”

She laughed nervously. “Is it that obvious?”

“Pretty obvious. Why
do
you hate dogs so much?”

“I don’t hate them, I just … don’t like them.”

He waited, knowing that wasn’t the whole story.

She glared at him but finally offered, “Vicious rottweiler next door to our—to where I grew up, okay? I really don’t want to talk about it.”

Ah, so the truth comes out.
He held out a hand. “Come with me. I’m going to make you and that dog friends yet. Sparky’s a teddy bear. You’ll see.”

She gave an adamant shake of her head, but she opened her door and climbed down.