Saving You (8 page)

“
You’re not rushing me,”
she said, standing and taking him by the hand, pulling him off the
couch and toward his bedroom. “I’m rushing you. I’m the older, more
experienced one, remember.”

Brandon smiled. “Older, anyway. I know a
thing or two about a thing or two. I might surprise you, Miss
Bledsoe.”

“
You’ve already surprised
me, Mr. Nordstrom,” she said, dropping his hand at the entrance to
his bedroom and reaching for the bottom of her tee
shirt.

A moment later it was over her head and
Brandon got his first glance at her small, but perfectly shaped
breasts. He’d known she wasn’t wearing a bra last night, but he’d
forced himself not to think about it too much. Now, he didn’t try
to force anything, he simply allowed his instincts free rein as he
followed Lucy to the bed and rolled her beneath him.

The first taste of her skin was honeysuckle
and salt water and cool, evening light. She tasted like beautiful
secrets and a hint of sadness and sunshine waiting to burst out
from behind the clouds. Many minutes later, when she pulled his
lips to hers and kissed him with her entire heart as he pushed
inside her sweet, tight heat, Brandon felt the last of his doubt
melt away.

He was in love. For the first time in his
life, he understood what it felt like to make love to a woman and
he never wanted to stop, never wanted to leave Lucy’s arms, or lose
the peace and bliss he’d found there.

And so when she woke him from a nap later
that afternoon—shaking his arm, telling him she needed him to take
her to the firehouse, that she’d had another vision while she was
in the shower and knew exactly who was in trouble—he didn’t
hesitate or worry what Jake or any of the other guys were going to
say when he brought his psychic girlfriend in to tell them Faith
was in danger.

He believed her, even before he saw Jake’s
haunted face, or learned that Faith had been missing for close to
two hours.

Chapter Eight

Long before she and Jake said their “I
do’s,” Naomi Whitehouse knew being the wife of a small town fire
chief wasn’t going to be easy. Not only did Jake regularly work
seventy-two hour shifts, he went in to check on things at the
station on his days off, answered email from the city council at
home, and worked with the fire marshal to make sure the volunteer
departments in the surrounding rural areas had the proper
training.

He was devoted to his job, but he was no
less devoted to their marriage or their daughter. Jake was a man
who took all of his responsibilities seriously and would rather
drop in the harness than let anyone down.

But even big, strong men with the will power
of a war commander and the determination of a salmon swimming
upstream needed a break now and then. She didn’t need a crystal
ball to know Jake probably hadn’t slept for at least twenty-four
hours, maybe more. Now, with Faith missing, the chances that
Naomi’s husband would take time out for a nap were slim to
none.

By five o’clock Sunday night, Naomi knew
someone had to take the boss to task, and there was only one woman
for the job. She asked Greta, Noelle’s nanny, to stay overnight,
packed a bag of “soothe the husband” supplies, and hustled out to
her car, spirits lifting as she realized the downpour had finally
become a drizzle.

Hopefully the break in the rain would make
the search for Faith easier.

Please, God, let them find
her soon,
she prayed, the same prayer she’d
been silently chanting since she’d learned her brother’s fiancée
was missing. Faith was already a part of their family. Losing her
would be like losing a sister, and poor Mick…

Naomi shook off the thought. Mick wasn’t
going to lose Faith. One of the search parties would find her, and
in the meantime Naomi was going to make sure Jake was rested and
prepared to keep making good decisions.

The rain might finally be blowing over, but
the floodwater would continue to cause problems for days. Jake
would need to be ready to handle his responsibilities, which
required sleep and a break from the constant stress, no matter how
brief.

When she walked into the station ten minutes
later to find her husband hunched behind his desk, phone trapped
between his ear and shoulder while he typed with one hand and
flipped through a folder with the other, she knew she’d come just
in time. The skin beneath Jake’s hazel eyes was bruised with
exhaustion, and he had stubble that would do a lumberjack proud
covering his chin and cheeks—even the skin covering his face seemed
to be hanging a little looser.

He smiled when he saw her, but a grin
couldn’t hide the fact that he looked like hell.

For a moment Naomi was filled with anger
that no one else had thought to tell the chief to hit his bunk for
a nap, but then she caught Jamison’s eyes across the room. He cast
Jake a pointed look before lifting his arms and shaking his head,
indicating he couldn’t do a thing with his older brother in his
current state.

Naomi nodded, her jaw firming up as she
crossed the room to Jake and reached down to close the file folder
on top of his hand.

He scowled, but withdrew his hand, using it
to hold his phone to his ear. “Okay, Nash. Naomi’s here. I’ll call
you back if we hear anything.” Jake nodded, sighing at something
the chief of police said. “I know. Thanks, we appreciate it.”

He ended the call and stood, running a hand
down his face that did nothing to banish the exhaustion from his
expression. “What’s up, babe? Is Noelle okay? Did you—”

“
Noelle is great. Greta’s
going to stay with her until I get back to the house,” Naomi said,
hooking her arm through Jake’s and leading him toward the hall.
“You, however, are not great. You need to get some
rest.”

Jake balked, stopping in his tracks. “I
can’t, Naomi. Faith is still missing. I’ve got four search teams
calling in every ten minutes, and I can’t—”

“
I can handle the calls for
an hour,” Jamison said, appearing beside them, obviously sensing
Naomi needed backup. “Go get some sleep. If you don’t, you’re
decision-making will be impaired and you won’t be any good to
anyone.”

Jake shook his head. “My decision-making is
already impaired. I just sent a psychic with no search and rescue
training out in a boat with Brandon and Neil.”

Naomi frowned as she glanced between Jamison
and Jake. “A psychic?”

“
Lucy’s a psychic,” Jamison
said, with a lot less skepticism than Naomi would have expected. “I
wasn’t sure what to think at first, either,” he continued, clearly
reading the surprise on her face. “But I called the detective she
used to work with in Atlanta. He said she’s the real deal; helped
them solve a shitload of cold cases and found dozens of missing
persons.”

Naomi blinked, processing the information
before she nodded. “Okay, well…I had no idea Lucy used to work for
the police, but that doesn’t sound like a bad decision.” Naomi
placed a hand on Jake’s back, rubbing the place between his
shoulders that usually helped him to relax. “I mean, if she checked
out with a detective, that’s great. Maybe she can help find
Faith.”

“
She can’t hurt,” Jamison
said, the tension in his voice making it clear how worried he was.
But then, Faith was more than a co-worker to him and Jake; she was
like their younger sister, a girl they’d grown up with at the
station. “At this point, I’m up for trying anything.”

“
Obviously I am too,” Jake
said. “But I can’t send a woman I’ve never worked with out in a
boat and go take a nap. I need to be by the phone in case Brandon
or Neil call in with a problem.”

“
If there’s a problem,
Jamison can handle it,” Naomi said, holding up her hand to silence
Jake before he could speak. “That’s it. No arguing. Come to the
bunks with me, and let me tuck you in. Right now.”

Jake met her eyes, holding her gaze for a
long moment before he sighed and nodded. “All right. But I only
need thirty minutes.”

“
Take an hour,” Jamison
said. “I’ll wake you sooner if we get any news.”

“
Thirty minutes,” Jake
said, proving he was the most stubborn person in the world. “And
I’ll want a full report of what I missed when I wake
up.”

Naomi resisted the urge to roll her eyes as
she hooked her arm through his and walked him out of the large,
open office space and down the hall to the bunkroom. Inside, the
room smelled lightly of feet, detergent, man, and bleach cleaner,
but Jake’s bunk at the far right of the room was cozy enough and
Naomi knew he could fall asleep anywhere. It was one of his super
powers. Naomi needed high thread count sheets, lavender spray, and
a white noise machine to get to sleep and still had trouble, but
Jake—give him a lumpy chair or a wall to lean against and he was
good to go.

Still, she had brought a few things she
hoped might help make his nap more refreshing. She set her bag down
on the tile beside the bed and started pulling out her emergency
supplies.

“
What’s all that?” Jake
asked as he stripped his Summerville Fire tee shirt off and hung it
over the end of the bed, revealing his thickly muscled
chest.

Even now, seven months after seeing Jake
semi-clothed for the first time in years, the sight of him still
made Naomi’s insides flutter. He was a beautiful man, inside and
out, and she was determined to take excellent care of him, even
when she had to fight his own stubborn nature to do it.

“
This is passion flower tea
with honey,” Naomi said, uncapping her thermos and pouring Jake a
steaming cup. “It’s going to help you relax and get to
sleep.”

Jake sat on the edge of the bunk, accepting
the thermos cap with a mildly amused expression. “You know I don’t
need any help with that, babe.”

“
I know,” she said, “but
you’ve been under an abnormal amount of stress. So drink the tea.
You’ll like it, I promise.”

Jake took a cautious sip, nodding as he
swallowed. “That is nice.”

“
This is going to be even
nicer.” Naomi uncapped her lavender oil and held it out for Jake to
stiff. “When you’re done with your tea, I’m going to give you a
back massage and then I’ve got a beanbag neck warmer to heat up in
the microwave. We’ll slip it around your shoulders before your
drift off and you’ll wake up without any stress knots.”

“
You’re good to me.” Jake
glanced up at her, his half smile fading. “But it doesn’t feel
right to have you making a fuss over me while Faith’s still out
there.”

Naomi sat down beside him on the mattress.
“I understand, but making a martyr of yourself isn’t going to help
find her. Let me take care of you, and you’ll wake up in a better
place to deal with the search for Faith and everything else.”

He took another sip of his tea before saying
in soft voice, “I don’t want to lose someone I love so much. Not
again.” He turned, staring into her eyes with a look so raw it
broke her heart.

This was the Jake he only showed to her, the
vulnerable, naked Jake who could admit he wasn’t always the
toughest man in the world, and who needed her strength every bit as
much as she needed his.

“
It’s going to be okay.”
She cupped his face in her hands, looking deep into his troubled
eyes. “We will get through this as a family. All of us—Jamison and
Maddie and Mick and you and me. We’ve got each other and everyone
out in that room on our side, and all of them are praying for
Faith.”

Jake nodded, but the wrinkle between his
eyes stayed firmly in place.

“
And Lucy may be a little
odd, but she’s a sweet, smart girl and a complete professional,”
Naomi pressed on. “I know helping run a bakery and looking for
missing people are vastly different things, but I’m guessing Lucy
is the kind who brings excellence to everything she does. I think
you made a good call, and I’ve got a feeling we’re going to hear
good news soon.”

Jake sighed. “I hope so.”

“
Come on,” Naomi said,
taking the empty thermos lid from his hands. “Strip and get into
bed. Let’s get this nap started.”

One side of Jake’s mouth lifted as he
wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a tight
hug. “I love you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“
You’ll never have to find
out,” Naomi said, kissing his scruffy cheek before wrapping her
arms around his chest and squeezing tight.

Minutes later she had Jake tucked in and was
rubbing his bare shoulders, her hands sliding smoothly across his
warm flesh, sending the soothing smell of lavender floating through
the room. In typical Jake style, he was asleep in two minutes flat,
but Naomi continued to knead the knots from muscles, hoping her
touch would give him comfort, even in sleep.

After she’d coaxed some of the stress from
his back, Naomi covered Jake with his blanket, set his alarm for
forty-five minutes—deciding to split the difference between what
Jake wanted and what Jamison had suggested—and tiptoed toward the
door to heat up the beanbag neck warmer in the microwave, snapping
off the light as she went.

She paused in the doorway, glancing back at
the still, sleeping form of the man she loved, grateful that she
could be there for him. Against all odds, she and Jake had found
their way back to each other, and made a beautiful life and a
beautiful family together, with their precious baby girl and
another little boy on the way. They’d be adopting their son in the
fall, as soon as the birth mother delivered, and had already
started work on his nursery.

A day ago, the future had been nothing but
bright, but Naomi had faith the sun would shine again. And she had
faith in Faith to do whatever it took to stay safe until she was
found.