Bunny was just asking about Evie’s goals for the inn when one of June’s friends came bustling in.
“Sorry I’m late!” she exclaimed loudly. “I got stuck behind the fire trucks. They were racing through town and caused quite the hold up.”
“Probably another kitten stuck up a tree,” June laughed, but the woman shook her head.
“No, it’s a real callout this time. Hank said it’s a big one, out at the Hastings vineyard.”
“Your goals?” Bunny prompted—but Evie couldn’t focus on the conversation. She turned. “There’s a fire?” she asked, her heart lurching in her chest.
The woman nodded. “It’s really blazing. You can see it all the way from the highway. Apparently, the first truck couldn’t get it under control, so it’s all hands on deck.”
“They’re sending an ambulance too, now, at least, that’s what Franny says,” June added, looking up from her phone. “One of the fire fighters was hurt.”
Evie’s heart stopped altogether, and suddenly it felt like the ground was giving way beneath her feet.
Noah.
“Who?” she demanded, leaping up. “Who was hurt?”
“I don’t know, hon,” June replied—then her eyes widened in understanding. “Oh. Of course. I’ll see if I can find out,” she said, tapping away at her phone, but Evie couldn’t just sit there and wait.
What if Noah was the one who needed help? What if something terrible had happened?
She looked around for her phone, panicking. “Can we call someone? Who’s there?”
“I’m trying to reach the chief now,” June said, but Evie was already dialing Noah.
Pick up, she chanted silently as the it rang. Please, please pick up.
But it just rang and rang—and then clicked to voicemail.
No reply.
She tried to think straight, but all she could imagine was him, out there, in danger. Fear gripped her, ice-cold, and wouldn’t let go.
“I have to go,” she blurted, heading for the door.
Bunny’s jaw dropped. “Now? But my interview—”
“I’m sorry.” Evie cut her off, her heart pounding. “I can’t stay.”
Not when Noah could be in trouble. Hurt. Or worse …
Not when she hadn’t even told him how she felt.
Evie grabbed her keys and raced to the car. She drove off so fast she almost skidded on the gravel, her chest so tight that it hurt to breathe.
She’d been here before. Suspended in that terrible place between pure panic and her worst nightmares coming true, praying for a miracle, a mix-up, even as she braced herself to hear the news.
She’d been here before.
The night of the car crash, she’d never seen it coming. But why would she have? Glen had been working late on a big project, and she’d been at home in their apartment, cooking a lazy Wednesday dinner of stovetop mac and cheese when the buzzer had sounded. She’d opened the door to find two police officers standing there.
“Mrs. Jones?” one of them had asked, and she’d been so distracted by a text Jules had just sent with some celebrity gossip, she’d actually paused to correct him.
“Baxter-Jones,” she’d said, smiling. “I kept my maiden name, too.”
Then she’d seen it. That look in both their eyes. And everything had stopped.
Because she knew.
It felt like an eternity before the officer cleared his throat, looked away, and said, “I’m so sorry …” But still, she could remember every heartbeat. Fearing the worst. Desperately hoping she was wrong.
Sick to her stomach that everything she loved was gone.
Looking back, she’d thought those few seconds would be the worst of her life, but now she had whole minutes of terror. Miles full of dread. Evie drove, panicked, through town, her heart in her throat and fear like ice in her veins.
Noah.
She couldn’t lose him too. She couldn’t. The words became a mantra she chanted over in her head as Evie damn near broke the speed limit out to the Hastings Vineyard. She could see the smoke on the horizon even before she pulled off the highway, her tires skidding on the gravel as she sped towards the cluster of fire trucks and people on the hill. The blaze was under control now, the charred remains of an old barn still dripping from the hoses that had drenched it, but that didn’t matter.
All that mattered was him.
“Noah?” she yelled, scrambling out of the car. She looked around, desperately searching the crowd. Faces blurred, and she couldn’t recognize a thing. “Noah?”
She saw the ambulance, and her heart stopped. The paramedics were huddled over someone, and Evie raced over, grabbing one of their arms and yanking them aside to find—
Chief Pete.
“I’m fine,” he was saying sheepishly. “I just twisted my ankle on a damn pothole, that’s all.”
“Where’s Noah?” Evie demanded.
Pete just looked at her, surprised. “Where is he?”
Someone behind her pulled her back, and Evie struggled, almost out of her mind—
“It’s me.” Noah turned her around to face him. “It’s me, sweetheart. I’m OK.”
Evie caught her breath, still reeling. He was standing there, steady in front of her, with soot on his cheek and a concerned smile on his face. She’d never been so glad to see anyone in her life, and just the sight of him split something inside her wide open.
She burst into loud, messy, sobbing tears.
He was all right.
“I thought … they said someone was hurt …” she hiccupped, barely able to get the words out, she was so overcome with relief and gratitude.
“Shh … it’s OK.” Noah drew her into his arms, crushing her tightly against him. “There’s nothing to be worried about. The chief had a fall, that’s all. I’m fine, I promise.”
But Evie wasn’t, not until she got out what she needed to say.
She drew back, holding onto him tightly as she looked up at him through her tears. “I thought I was too late,” she said urgently. “I didn’t tell you … you wouldn’t know … I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I’m falling in love with you, but I got scared—that I would lose you, that something like this would happen and I’d be wrecked all over again, but … I don’t care.” Evie swallowed hard. “I’d rather love you and lose you than never love you at all.”
Evie held her breath as Noah took in her words. Maybe she was a fool, setting herself up for heartbreak again, but she didn’t care. Somehow, this man had come into her life with his laughter and passion and great big, beating heart; she would be a fool not to love him.
The only question, was she too late?
Had she pushed him away so hard that there was no coming back for them?
But just as Evie’s nerves were tightening in fear again, Noah gave her a smile that melted her all the way to the core. “You’re going to need to say that ‘love’ part again,” he murmured, reaching to cup her jaw in his palm. “Many, many times.”
Evie laughed out loud in relief. “As often as you want,” she vowed. “I’m only just getting started loving you.”