April Embers_A Second Chance Single Daddy Firefighter Romance Read online

  And today, that plan was finally becoming a reality.

  I pulled open the drawer underneath my desk and pulled out a bright neon orange traffic vest. I slipped it on over my shoulders, then spun around in a little circle.

  “Ta-dah!” I announced. “What do you think?”

  “It’s… umm… a bold fashion statement?” Callie said awkwardly.

  “Well I’m definitely wearing it to make a statement,” I said. “But not about fashion. Actually, this is my new bus monitor uniform!”

  “Bus monitor?” Callie repeated.

  “That’s me,” I nodded proudly. Then, with a tiny salute, I added, “Bus Monitor Leduc, reporting for duty.”

  Callie still looked confused, so I explained,

  “I was really troubled when you told me about that group of guys that bullies you when you walk to and from the bus lanes. So last week, I met with the principal to discuss possible solutions--”

  “Oh, Miss Leduc, you didn’t have to do that!” Callie’s face turned bright red.

  “Of course I did,” I insisted. “Nobody should have to deal with that, or feel like it’s unsafe to walk around this school. Something had to be done. Luckily, the principal agreed… and we came up with the bus monitor program!”

  I turned around again to flash the back of my vest, where the words ‘BUS MONITOR’ were spelled out in big bold letters.

  “Starting now, there will be group of faculty members monitoring the parking lot and bus lanes before and after school every day,” I explained. “Right now we’re working on a volunteer basis with teachers, but if things go well, the principal will propose hiring additional monitors at the next school board meeting.”

  “Miss L, that’s… amazing!” Callie gushed. I saw tears welling up in her eyes, and she immediately started fanning her hands in front of her face to whisk them away.

  “Nobody has ever done anything like that for me,” she added, her voice cracking with emotion.

  “Well somebody should have done it a long time ago,” I said. “Unfortunately, most students aren’t as brave as you are. It’s a lot easier to keep your head down and not say anything. But not you. You spoke up, and now you helped make a big difference here at Hartford High.”

  I grabbed my bag and swung it over my shoulder, then I motioned for Callie to follow me.

  “Come on,” I grinned. “You’ve got a bus to catch!”

  Callie and I walked together, navigating through the crowds of students that were milling out of the building and making their way towards the bus lanes.

  When we pushed through the exit doors, I heard an audible gulp.

  “That’s them,” Callie whispered under her breath. I followed her line of vision to a group of guys that had camped out by the side of the building. They were cackling and exchanging jokes, and their eyes lit up as soon as they spotted Callie.

  “Act casual,” I hissed. “I’ve got your back.”

  I dropped back a few steps and kept my eye on the group of guys. One of them kicked away his skateboard and cracked his knuckles, then started to saunter towards Callie.

  “Hey baby,” he jeered. “Long time no see! I was starting to think you were hiding from me…”

  “Leave me alone,” Callie muttered in a tiny voice.

  “What’s that? I can’t hear you?” he asked loudly, leaning towards her. “It sounded like you said, ‘take me home.’ Is that what you said?”

  The rest of the guys cackled as they watched from a distance. I decided that I had seen enough. I stomped forward, slipping through the crowd and stepping directly between Callie and the douchebag.

  “Is there a problem here?” I barked, staring him straight in the eye. When I heard the strength in my own voice, I immediately got goosebumps.

  “Nah, man… we’re just talking,” he said nonchalantly.

  “Is that so?” I challenged him. “Because it looked to me like she was asking you to leave her alone.”

  “That’s not what it sounded like to me,” he shrugged, flashing a cocky smile.

  “Well, if you’re having difficulty hearing, I would encourage you to visit the school nurse for a comprehensive hearing impairment screening,” I snapped. “But since you seem to be hearing me just fine now, I’m guessing that the real problem here is comprehension.”

  “Thanks for your concern,” he glared back at me, “But my comprehension skills are just fine.”

  “Good. Then you shouldn’t have any problem comprehending this,” I said, holding up my pad of detention slips. His face immediately melted and he shrank back.

  “What is your name?” I asked, pressing my pen down onto the pad. Before he could answer for himself, Callie stepped forward.

  “Dustin Smith,” she said loudly. Her face was bright, filled with pride and newfound confidence. “His name is Dustin Smith.”

  By the time I had finished sentencing Dustin Smith to an after-school detention session, I had a hunch that him -- and the rest of his posse -- wouldn’t be giving Callie much grief anytime soon. Still, I continued walking with her the rest of the way to the bus lanes.

  She waited until we were out of earshot before she turned to me and squealed,

  “Ohmygod, that was the most epic thing I have ever witnessed!” she pumped her fists into the air triumphantly. Then she added, “Miss L, that was literally the best moment of my entire life!”

  “Well I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I smiled. “But I can promise you this much, the best is yet to come.”

  We were walking along the final stretch of sidewalk that led towards the bus lanes when Callie stopped in her tracks and gasped again.

  “What?” I asked urgently. “Do you see those guys again? Are they coming back?”

  “It’s not that,” she shook her head frantically, eyes flooding with panic. “It’s… him.”

  She nodded straight ahead, and when I glanced that way I saw a boy dressed in all black. He was wearing a pair of headphones and glaring down, kicking at the ground as he walked. His hair was shaggy and overgrown, and there was something about him that was immediately familiar.

  It took me a second to realize why, and then it hit me, he reminded me of Rory.

  “Who is that guy?” I whispered to Callie.

  “Oh, just the love of my life,” she hissed back. She let out a deep sigh, and her shoulders sank down at her sides. “Too bad he doesn’t even know I exist.”

  I smiled, understanding the situation immediately.

  “Well… have you ever tried introducing yourself?” I asked. “That might be a good place to start.”

  “We have photography class together,” Callie explained.

  “Ok… so he does know you exist,” I nodded. “We can check that off the list.”

  “Barely.”

  “Have you ever tried talking to him?”

  “A few times,” Callie admitted. “Just about random stuff, though. Like photography, music, school, politics, our shared hatred for competitive sports…”

  “It sounds like you guys have actually talked quite a bit,” I said.

  “I guess,” Callie shrugged. “But he’s probably just being nice. I mean… if he was actually interested in me, wouldn’t he just ask me to the homecoming dance?!”

  “Not necessarily,” I shrugged. “Maybe he’s waiting for you to ask him.”

  “Yeah right,” Callie gulped nervously. Her eyes went wide and she shook her head, “I could never do that!”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that would be terrifying!” she said. “Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up!”

  “Maybe he feels the same way,” I pointed out. “Guys can get nervous and shy, too, you know…”

  My mind drifted to Rory. I couldn’t help but think about how many years we had wasted, pretending we didn’t have feelings for each other...

  “I know,” Callie sighed wearily. “But I can’t ask him. I just can’t
!”

  “What’s the worst that could happen?” I asked.

  “Umm… he could say no. And then I’d be mortified. I’d have to switch schools. I’d have to get a new identity. I’d have to move to another state--”

  “I think you’re being a little bit dramatic,” I grinned. “It would definitely suck, but at least you would know how he felt. You would never have to wonder ‘what if?’ or regret not trying.”

  “What would you do, if you were me?” Callie asked.

  “I was you once,” I said, thinking about Rory again. “I was in love with my best friend, but we were both too terrified to say anything.”

  “So… what happened?”

  “I thought I had lost him forever,” I said. “But we got a second chance. Everything worked out exactly the way it was supposed to.”

  “Would you do anything differently, if you could?” Callie asked.

  I sighed. That was a hard question to answer. So much had happened in the eleven years that Rory and I had spent apart; things that I wouldn’t change for the world, like Charlotte.

  Maybe we had to grow apart, so we could come back together when the time was right. Was there anything worth doing differently, if the outcome was the same?

  “Yes,” I said finally. “I would have asked him to the homecoming dance.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE | RORY

  “Alright, Chef Charlie,” I called over my shoulder. “Can you read me the ingredients list?”

  Charlotte gave an affirmative nod, then she scampered towards the kitchen table to grab her iPad.

  “We need… chicken.”

  “Got it,” I said, reaching into the refrigerator for a vacuum-sealed pack of raw chicken breast.

  “Butter.”

  “Got it,” I grabbed a yellow cardboard carton of Land-O-Lakes and balanced it on top of the chicken.

  “Eggs. Milk.”

  “Check and check,” I said as I reached for the styrofoam egg carton with my free hand, then hooked my pinky through the handle on the plastic milk carton.

  “...and breadcrumbs.”

  I eased the refrigerator door shut with the heel of my foot, then I shifted the ingredients around in my arms and carefully reached into the spice cabinet and grabbed a canister of breadcrumbs from the top shelf.

  “Anything else?” I asked, glancing up at Charlotte. She eyed the armful of ingredients I was carrying and shook her head.

  “Then I guess we’re ready to get started!” I said. I hobbled across the kitchen and unloaded the armful of ingredients onto the countertop, then I rolled up my shirt sleeves.

  Tonight Charlotte and I were attempting to broaden our culinary horizons with a recipe for chicken parmesan. It was my first attempt at making the dish, but I was fairly confident that I had it in the bag.

  “Alright, kiddo,” I said, nodding towards the kitchen sink. “Scrub up and get in here!”

  While Charlie washed her hands in the sink, I grabbed a mixing bowl and a whisk. Before I could go any further than that, I heard the doorbell ring.

  Charlotte gasped and spun around from the sink, splaying specks of water across the kitchen.

  “Who’s that?!” she asked. Then her entire face lit up, and she added eagerly, “Is Desiree coming to have dinner with us again?!”

  “Not tonight, kiddo,” I smiled. “But we can invite her again soon, if you want.”

  “YES!” Charlie jumped up and down at the sink.

  “Finish washing those hands,” I ordered. “I’ll go see who is at the door.”

  I ruffled her hair on my way out of the kitchen. I was a few paces away from the front door when I heard the bell ring a second time.

  “I’m coming!” I shouted as I reached out to unlatch the deadbolt, then swing open the door.

  Have you ever felt an instant sense of regret? You know… that feeling you get right after you step in a pile of steaming hot dog shit, or drop a jar of tomato sauce at the grocery store. You immediately realize that you’ve fucked up, but there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. All you can do is watch, in horror, as it plays out; as dog shit seeps into your brand new sneakers, or as the jar cracks and bright red Ragu splatters in all directions.

  That’s the feeling I got when I opened the door to my apartment and saw Haley Scott standing on my welcome mat.

  Oh, shit.

  “Hey, Rory,” she smiled at me. “Long time no see.”

  “What the hell are you doing here?!” I hissed.

  “It’s funny you should ask,” she cocked her head to one side. “That’s the exact same question I wanted to ask you when I heard that you had up and moved to another state without telling me.”

  I clenched my jaw tight, grinding my teeth together.

  “I tried to tell you,” I snarled through gritted teeth. “But it’s kinda hard to do that when the mother of your child goes MIA for months at a time.”

  “You have my number,” she shrugged. “You could have called.”

  “You use burner phones. Your number changes every week. And besides… I thought you were going to prison?”

  “I got a plea deal,” she said. “Twelve months of probation, and I have to enroll in a mandatory drug treatment program.”

  “You mean rehab?”

  “No. It’s an outpatient program,” she said. “It’s basically like going to Alcoholics Anonymous for junkies… except it’s not anonymous, and there are weekly piss tests.”

  “Well I’m glad you’re on the road to recovery,” I said flatly. “Maybe once you’ve been sober for a few months, you can start visiting Charlotte again.”

  I started to shut the door, but she kicked out her foot to stop me.

  “You can’t keep her from me,” she growled.

  “I’m not keeping her away from you,” I said, making a conscious effort to keep my voice down. “I just don’t want to get her hopes up--”

  But it was too late. I had barely gotten the words out of my mouth when I heard Charlie’s voice squeak behind me,

  “Mommy? Is-is that really you?”

  My heart plummeted into my stomach as I slowly turned around and saw Charlie standing in the entryway behind me.

  Haley used the opportunity to wedge herself through the gap in the doorway and sneak into the apartment. Her arms were loaded with bright pink gift bags, and she dropped them all on the floor in a giant mountain.

  “Hey baby!” she squawked in an artificially high voice. She dropped down to her knees and flung out her arms. “Come give Mommy a big hug!”

  Charlie glanced at me, as if to ask for permission. I felt like I had swallowed a rock. My stomach was heavy and my mouth was dry. I had no idea what to say…

  Charlie’s eyes flicked back and forth, then she scampered towards her mother.

  “Mommy!” she squealed, running straight into Haley’s outstretched arms. “I missed you!”

  “Oh, I missed you too, baby!” Haley said, rocking Charlie back and forth in her arms. “I got you presents!”

  “You did?!”

  “Yeah, look!” Haley pointed to the pile of gift bags. From where I was standing, the pile might as well have been a bear trap… but I knew that Charlotte just saw pink bows and tissue paper.

  “Thank you, Mommy!” Charlie said, hugging Haley again. Then she asked, “Are you going to stay for real this time?”

  “Of course I am,” Haley said. “Mommy isn’t going anywhere.” As she said the words, her eyes flicked up to me and she shot me a dark wink.

  I felt a wave of disgust curdle through my gut. I didn’t give a shit what Haley said or did to me… but she had no business involving our daughter in her drama.

  “You can have dinner with us!” Charlie said, beaming brightly up at Haley.

  “I’d love that,” Haley said, bopping her finger on the tip of Charlotte’s nose. I sneered, folding my arms over my chest.

  How the fuck can I fix this?!


  Charlie grabbed Haley by the hand and took her on a guided tour of the apartment while I slinked back to the kitchen. The ingredients were still waiting on the kitchen counter, but I didn’t feel like cooking anymore. Suddenly our happy dinner for two had an unwelcome third wheel…

  I sighed and reached for the pizza delivery menu.

  ***

  An hour later we were sitting around the kitchen table with a stack of cardboard pizza boxes. Haley was playing ‘doting mom,’ and Charlie was eating the routine up like soft serve ice cream with a spoon.

  I had to force myself to bite my tongue and act normal. I knew how much Charlotte cared about her mother, and I didn’t want to make the situation any more fucked up than it already was.

  But the more I listened to Haley, the harder it got to bite my tongue and stay quiet. In the last half hour alone, she had talked about moving to Hartford and taking a family trip to the beach.

  She was promising Charlie the sun and the stars, and I knew Haley well enough to know that she wasn’t the kind of person who made good on her promises.

  Still, the promises kept on coming,

  “Maybe we can have a special girls day!” Haley suggested. “I could pick you up tomorrow and we could go to the spa! We could get pedicures, then go out for lunch… wouldn’t that be so fun?”

  “Charlotte has school tomorrow,” I reminded Haley sternly, clenching my teeth together.

  “Oh, right,” Haley shrugged. “Well… Saturday then!”

  “Yes!” Charlie nodded her head up and down. “I’ve never had a pedicure before! Please, Daddy?”

  “We’ll see,” I said. “Let’s take it one day at a time, ok?”

  “Come on, Daddy!” Charlie pouted. “Please?”

  “Yeah, come on, Daddy!” Haley pressed her lips out in a hideous pout, and I felt my insides cringe. “Pwetty pwease?”

  “I said we’ll see--”

  Just then, the doorbell rang.