Rekindle by Morgan Nicole, Murphy Rae Read Free Book Online Page B

that we had to respond to. It was just awful. This poor woman—and she was a mom, M. And the kid who hit her, just careless. He’d been drinking and just—boom. In an instant everything changes. She was so scared. I could see it written all over her face. And she was in pain. They cut her out and she coded in the ambulance. She’s stable now, but for a minute there I thought about her kids were losing their mom. Her husband. Fuck . I don’t even know. I mean, I see stuff—ugly stuff that people should never see. And I’m okay. I can deal with it most of the time. And then you have these people who just… God, it just hits you in the gut, ya know? It’s my job to help . I’m there to save them. And there was nothing I could do. Not one damn thing. That feeling of helplessness just sucks, M.” His words are a jumbled mess, like he can’t get his thoughts together. Who could blame him though? He wasn’t lying about having a shitty night.
    “Rhett McCoy, you aren’t helpless! Sometimes situations are beyond your control, and all you can do is manage the chaos. I have no doubt in my mind that you did everything you could to make sure this woman felt comfort and peace. And there are times when that’s the only thing you can do—just be there.” I try and soothe his frazzled nerves, but I don’t know what to say to make it better or take away the doubt in his mind that he isn’t doing the job that he’s expected to do.
    “You’re right. I know you are. I think I just needed to get it out there. I love my job, but there are times where it just hits you—how fragile life is. How much you need to focus on the important things instead of the day-to-day bullshit that goes on all around us, and the first thing I thought about was how I needed to hear your voice.”
    His words strike me silent. I’m not sure what his words mean, or how to respond to him. Being the first thing he thought of, the first person he wanted to talk to, thrills me. I know what I want his words to mean, but at the same time, we’re just rekindling a friendship that was torn apart years ago. We were kids when that happened, and so much has changed. I’m not the same person I was fifteen years ago, and he isn’t either. Jumping head first into anything would be stupid.
    “So—” he breaks the silence from my moment of spacing out “—got any big plans for tonight?”
    “Actually, I’ve got a date with—”
    “A what ?” he asks, cutting me off mid-sentence. He sounds a little pissed, and it occurs to me what I just said, but if he would have waited for me to finish my sentence, this wouldn’t even be a discussion.
    “A date, Rhett. Where two people go somewhere together to enjoy each other’s company.” I’m snippy and I know it, but assumptions make me crazy.
    “I’m well aware of what a date is, Emma Grace. What I am not aware of is who you are going on a date with.” Oh. Hell. No. Is he playing Mr. Domineering with me?
    “Are you playing Mr. Domineering with me?” Shit. Word vomit. Again.
    “Domineering, no. Not yet, anyway. Concerned as to why another man is taking you out, yes.”
    “In case you haven’t noticed, Rhett, I’m all grown up. And I can make big-girl decisions about who I spend my time with all by myself.”
    “Trust me, I’ve noticed you’re all grown up, Emma Grace. I noticed it about a million times the other night. I noticed it so much that it struck me stupid. Which is why I neglected to ask you out on a proper date Monday night. A problem I was trying to rectify this morning. Hence the reason I am none too happy that you seem to already have plans with someone else.”
    Oh, well, when he puts it that way….
    “I have a date with Cam to get pedicures tonight. We try to go every other week, but we haven’t been in a while, so we planned to go tonight. So you can tone the macho-man talk down a bit, sir,” I reply with a smile in my voice.
    “Jesus fuck, M! Why didn’t you tell me that to