Always My Hero Read Free Page B

squealed as snow filled her shoes, the icy sensation startling her so much that she lost her balance, her arms pinwheeling uncontrollably. She landed on her butt with a less-than-ladylike grunt, hoping she hadn’t flashed her white granny panties in the process.
    “Whoa, sweetheart, are you all right?” Foster reached down and pulled her upright, brushing the snow from her wool coat and skirt.
    Putting an arm around her and pulling her against his side, he acknowledged Bree’s new neighbor.
    “Hey, there’s a familiar face. Ryan Pettridge, hometown hero. Good to see you again. Dude, I am so sorry about your dad.”
    Bree’s face heated. She’d completely forgotten that his father had suffered a stroke. Of course he’d come home. He was probably going to run the hardware store for his parents now.
    “Thanks. He’s a stubborn cuss, my old man. I’m sure he’s going to be just fine. But yeah, I’m helping out for now.” He gave Bree a long look. “You okay? I didn’t mean to surprise you like that.”
    “Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just a klutz. Let’s help you get those boxes inside.” She shifted her gaze to his left shoulder, a safe spot to focus on. Those eyes of his only caused her to go weak in the knees.
    “No way. You two should head on home. I’m not even staying tonight. Got another load tomorrow. It was good seeing both you again.”
    Before she could correct his assumption that she and Foster were a couple and explain that she lived in the other half of the duplex alone, Ryan had already turned around and scuffed up the stairs to his front door. Her toes on fire, she lurched toward her apartment.
    “Talk about a blast from the past, huh? I remember now. You’re the reason Ryan was able to get that scholarship to UCLA. You tutored his lazy butt in English.”
    “And math and history.”
    “The guy owes you big time, then.” Foster held the door open for her, kicking the snow off his shoes before he stepped in after her, shedding his coat and shoes and heading into the living room before she could feign a headache and get out of the rest of the date. Cocoa it was, then.
    Bree took her time hanging up her coat in the hall closet, turning Foster’s last sentence over and over in her head. The way she saw it, she owed Ryan. She owed him more than she could ever repay in a lifetime. Because of her, Ryan would never get to know the child they had conceived together.
    • • •
    The shatter of glass as a waitress accidentally tipped her tray and sent several beer mugs sliding to the floor shook Ryan out of his reverie. He peered through the cigarette haze toward the bar, where his buddy, Luke, was buying the next round. It was pretty crowded for a Sunday night. Or that was his assumption, seeing as Ryan hadn’t been out to a bar on a Sunday night, or any other night, since before Wesley was born.
    “Glad you could make it out tonight.” Luke handed him a Sam Adams and sat down at the water-ring stained table.
    “My mother put you up to this, didn’t she?”
    “I was going to look you up. No joke.”
    “Christ, did she actually go down to the station?” Ryan grimaced, already knowing the answer.
    “She brought chocolate chip cookies. Your mom has every firefighter in Scallop Shores wrapped around her finger.” Luke smiled, unashamed.
    “Man, I don’t know if I can get used to...that scruff.” He ran a hand over his own chin to signify the ginger beard his old friend from high school now sported.
    “Hey, comes in handy this time of year.” Luke grinned.
    “A big hit with the ladies, too, no doubt.”
    “Huh. Wouldn’t know. I’m too busy to deal with the female set.”
    While his friend looked a lot different, it was clear Luke was still painfully shy around women. Shelving the topic, so as not to embarrass the guy, Ryan took a swig of beer and people watched for a few moments.
    “Can you believe that the last time I was in town, I couldn’t even drink legally? This is the first