A Father In The Making Read Free Page B

piling out in a flurry of activity, their bulky suits and reflective tape flashing in the failing sunlight.
    â€œStay here, Mia. Evangeline, you make her stay,” Denny warned as he ran toward the firefighters calling out that there were people in the building yet. One of the firefighters spoke with him while others donned masks and hooked tanks over their bulky coats. There were still more who worked in a rhythm, laying out the hoses, hooking them to the nearest fire hydrant. Instructions were called out, verified as the men with masks grabbed their axes and entered the front of the store.
    Then, with a whistle of steam, water was poured onto the building and into the open window. Then more sirens as ambulances came, blue-and-red lights strobing through the smoke and gathering dusk.
    Neither Evangeline nor Denny spoke as the drama unfolded in front of them, but Mia felt their hands on her, holding her back, yet at the same time, comforting her.
    â€œDear Lord, please keep Jeff and Nate safe. Help them to get Angie, Nico and Josh out of the store,” she heard Evangeline praying aloud.
    Mia couldn’t pray, her gaze stuck on the building. The brick facade was now charred with smoke and dripping with water as the flames momentarily retreated. Where were the boys? Jeff? Nate? Time ceased as her world narrowed down to the building with smoke pouring out of the windows, the shouts of the firemen, the drone of water pumps, the hiss of flames being extinguished and the cries of the onlookers now gathered along the street.
    Then another wave of noise caught her attention. It came from a side avenue. People shouting. Cheering.
    Then she saw them.
    Jeff, limping as he carried Josh, supported by Angie.
    And behind him, Nate holding Nico close, his head tucked against his neck.
    Mia ran toward them, her heart threatening to burst in her chest.
    â€œJosh. Nico.” She reached out her arms to take them. But just as she got close, EMT personnel came between her and her boys, taking them from Jeff and Nate and escorting Angie to the ambulance.
    â€œThose are my boys,” she called out, desperate to find out how they were.
    â€œThey’re okay.” Nate came up beside her, reeking of smoke, his face smeared with soot. She caught at him, her fingers digging into his arm.
    â€œAre you sure? Are you sure?”
    Nate looked down at her, then gave her a tentative smile. “We managed to get them out before the fire got too intense.”
    Her legs gave out as the reaction sank in. Nate caught her before she fell. “C’mon, let’s go see how your boys are,” he said, slipping his arm around her shoulder and holding her up. Together they walked to the ambulance, him supporting her, her entire attention focused like a laser on the back of the ambulance.
    Yet, at the same time, she was filled with gratitude for the man holding her up. The man who had rescued her sons.
    * * *
    â€œAre you sure you’re okay?” Denny held Nate’s gaze with an intensity Nate tried to ignore. It only reminded him of how close he and Jeff had cut things getting Angie, Nico and Josh out of the building.
    â€œThe paramedic said I’m fine, so I’ll take his word for that.” Nate leaned forward in the hard plastic chair of the hospital waiting room, and subconsciously tapped his foot on the shining surface floor. The sharp, antiseptic smell of the hospital brought back memories he thought he’d buried. Spent too much time here as a kid.
    â€œYou should never have run into that building, you know,” Denny said.
    â€œI had training,” Nate protested, fighting the urge to get up and pace. “That other guy, Jeff, he couldn’t get two kids and that woman out on his own. If we had waited till the fire department showed up, it might have been too late.”
    He didn’t want to let his mind go too far down that road. In spite of his work as a volunteer fireman, he knew he would