Saving Kyle: A Steamy First Responder Second Chance Romance (Heroes With Badges Book 2) Read online

  Saving Kyle

  A Steamy First Responder Second Chance Romance

  Amber Thielman

  Copyright © 2021 by Amber Thielman published by The Libris LTD.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names ,characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead; events; or locations is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Dear Reader

  Preview: Saving Becker

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Recommended Book

  About the Author

  Prologue

  It was raining on Sunday afternoon, the day of Oscar Wolf’s funeral. It always rained in Emerald Summit, but today it merely felt as though God was mocking us and nothing more.

  I held Kyle’s hand in mine as the preacher spoke on the podium in front of the open casket. On the other side of Kyle, his mother, Nina, sobbed into her son’s free arm. In the years I’d known this family, never had I seen them torn apart like this.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered, leaning over to brush my lips against Kyle’s ear. He nodded, squeezing my hand, but I knew he couldn’t possibly be okay. His own father had died; killed in the line of duty, leaving Nina a widow and he and his siblings fatherless. He hadn’t said much since we’d received the news, and that worried me. I had no idea what was going on inside his head.

  Glancing down at the glistening diamond ring on my finger, I clenched my knuckle and forced myself to focus on the words being said in memory of Oscar Wolf … husband, father, and one of the best firefighters Seattle had seen in the last fifty years. Oscar, a man of deep intelligence and fearlessness. A hero to his children, a soulmate to his wife, my future father-in-law.

  But not anymore. Not now.

  “It’ll be okay,” I whispered to Kyle. “I promise.”

  But it wouldn’t be okay. Not anymore. And somehow both of us knew that.

  Most of the small town of Emerald Summit showed up to my father’s wake, and while we were grateful for their support, it felt all-consuming and suffocating, nonetheless.

  “He was an excellent firefighter.” Bo Hocking, my father’s chief, reached out his hand to shake mine. He was smiling, but under that smile was true sadness. Tears even brimmed the man’s eyes.

  “Thanks,” I said. “He was an excellent husband and father, too.”

  “Of course,” Chief Hocking said. “How is your mother holding up, Kyle?”

  I resisted the urge to look over in the direction of my mother, who was still scurrying around the house refilling drinks, serving refreshments, and making small talk with every guest who had appeared. Multiple times my brother Ian and my little sister Isabella had tried to slow her down, begging her to sit for a moment, catch her breath. But that wasn’t my mother. It never had been.

  “As well as can be expected,” I told Chief Hocking with a forced smile. Mackenzie stepped up beside me then, taking my arm in hers, a silent comfort she always managed to provide.

  “How are you holding up?” she murmured to me as Chief Hocking shook my hand once more and turned away to rejoin the wake. I chuckled humorlessly and shook my head, turning in Mackenzie’s direction to pull her into me, relishing in the sensation of her warm body against my own.

  “This sucks,” I told her honestly, brushing some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “It really does.”

  “You can be sad,” she said softly, reaching up to touch the stubble on my cheek. “You can cry, too, you know.”

  “I don’t cry,” I teased, but the humor in my tone fell short, and I abandoned the façade and buried my head in Mackenzie’s neck instead, refusing the tears that I could feel threatening to spill over.

  “It’s okay,” Mack whispered, holding me so tightly that I never wanted her to let go. “You’ll get through this. Everyone will get through this.”

  I didn’t know if I was ready to believe her. It was still so fresh; so raw. Less than a week ago my father had been alive and well, doting on my mother after work, helping me train for the firefighter exam, teasing Mackenzie about how soon we’d be having grandchildren for him—and now, nothing. Not anymore, not ever again.

  “Sweetheart, I’m going to run out and get some more chips,” Mackenzie’s mother, Susan, said, shrugging on her jacket by the door. “I’ll be back in ten. Someone should check on Nina.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” said Mack, and Susan nodded before hurrying out the door. Mackenzie and Susan had been lifesavers this week, working their asses off to prepare the food and drinks for the wake, keeping my mother’s mind in a decent place, helping wherever help was needed. I was grateful, and not for the first time, that I was about to marry into such a wonderful family.

  “We need to get your mother to take a break,” Makenzie murmured to me, resting her lips on mine for a brief moment. “I know she’s exhausted.”

  I nodded, knowing damn well that if somebody didn’t step in, she’d run herself to death. “Ma,” I said, stepping in front of my mother as she tried to hurry past us with a vegetable tray in her hands. She stopped dead, and Mackenzie took the tray from her, setting it aside on the closest table. Guests were still mingling a bit; sipping on red wine and enjoying the finger food all while simultaneously crying and laughing as they exchanged condolences and memories of the one person I thought would never, ever die.

  “I’m fine, Kyle,” my mother said, but I could tell she wasn’t. Her already small frame was ragged and hunched, like she’d been lost in the wilderness for days without food or water. Her eyes were dry and rimmed with red, and her bottom lip quivered whenever she s
poke.

  “Mom,” my little sister Isabella said, stepping in. “You’re not fine. Do you want to go lay down or something?”

  My mother shook her head vehemently. Across the floor, my brother Ian watched from afar. He was taking this as hard as I was, and for a good reason. My father had been the perfect person for all of us.

  “Nina,” Mackenzie said, trying her hand at whatever might work. “How about we just sit down for a minute? Away from the crowds. I’m feeling overwhelmed. Could you sit with me for a moment?”

  I thought for sure my mother would argue as she opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she nodded, allowing Mackenzie to take her hand and lead her into a quiet room down the hall. I followed suit, nodding at Ian and Isabella to entertain the guests briefly while we were gone.

  Mackenzie helped my mother sit down in the rocking chair in the office, and Nina did so without much fight. I could see the exhaustion in her now, coming through the brave façade she wore for all of us.

  “Mack,” I said quietly. “Could you give us a moment?”

  Mackenzie nodded at me, squeezing Nina’s hand before stepping up to kiss me on the lips. She then backed out of the room, leaving my mother and me alone in my father’s office, silent.

  “You okay, Ma?” I asked, sitting down on the guest bed a few feet away. “You haven’t had much to say since dad died.”

  My mother’s gaze seemed vacant for a moment. She didn’t look at me, merely stared at the floor beneath her feet, wringing her frail hands together anxiously. Again, I was sure she wouldn’t respond, but then she did, focusing her attention on me.

  “What do you want me to say?” she asked quietly. “What is there to say, son?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted with a shrug, and that wasn’t a lie. I didn’t know. I was barely surviving myself. “You can say anything at all, Ma,” I told her, wishing she would open up just a little bit. “Anything.”

  My mother sighed and focused once more on the floor, eyes finally seeming to mist up with tears. “I loved him, Kyle,” she said quietly, and the pain in her voice was enough to send a dagger of agony through my own soul. “I loved that man more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person—besides my children, of course,” she added with a slight chuckle, sounding momentarily like her old self. The smile melted from her face, though, and once more she was empty—clinging to what little happiness neither of us were sure was there.

  “I know you did,” I said. “He loved you, too, Ma. More than anything.”

  Nina nodded her head, hand trembling as she rested her fingers against her lips. “I just—I just don’t know what I’m going to do without him, son. I—I’m incomplete without him here. Alone.”

  Her words hit me hard, like a sucker punch to the gut, and I felt sick suddenly. “Ma, you have us. You have your kids.”

  “I know I do, sweetheart,” Nina said, forcing a smile that I knew was for my benefit. “And I am so grateful for all of my angels.”

  “We’re grateful for you, too. We love you.”

  Nina sniffed a bit, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. “I missed your brother and sister,” she said. “Ian barely comes around anymore because he’s traveling to different building sites, and Isabella has started her college journey in Miami. Your father and I had just become empty nesters, Kyle.”

  “I know.” I hadn’t realized I’d been chewing on my lip until I tasted blood in my mouth, and I wiped the back of my hand roughly over my face. My father’s passing put a wrench in whatever plans of getting married and moving to Chicago Mackenzie and I had had—could I leave now, as my mother slowly sank into her own pit of lonely depression? How could I do that to her?

  “This isn’t anything for you to be worrying about,” Nina said quickly, brushing off the pain she’d just been feeling like a piece of lint. “I’ll figure it out, Kyle, I always do.”

  “Figure what out, Ma?”

  “Everything,” she said softly. “With your father gone, everything is different. I didn’t even make my own money, Kyle, Oscar has been supporting me since we were married as teenagers.”

  “You’ll get a pension,” I reminded her. “Dad was killed in the line of duty. It will help.”

  “You’re right,” she said, but I could tell she didn’t believe this. She got to her feet then and crossed the room, lifting one cold hand to touch the side of my face. “I’ll get by,” she said. “We always do.”

  Before I could stop her, Nina vanished out the door again, leaving me sulking in my own petty thoughts and concerns. My father was dead, my mother was alone, and I had been the only child that stayed to go to college here, in Emerald Summit. But Mackenzie and I had plans to move after the wedding—she had an offer in Chicago for physical therapy school that would beat out any program here, and my plan was to become a member of the Chicago Fire Department.

  We had a plan.

  “Hey,” Mackenzie said quietly, poking her head in. “Is Nina okay? Are you okay?”

  I wasn’t, not really, but I had to get my bearings and gather my thoughts before I said anything. No, I wasn’t okay, and things were about to get worse.

  I stayed the night with my mother that night after the wake. So did Ian and Isabella, but I knew they would both have to leave soon to resume their lives away from Emerald Summit, even if I didn’t want them to go. On Friday evening the same week, at Mackenzie’s graduation, my family and her mother headed to the university early to find their seats. I found Mackenzie at home still. She was in her childhood bedroom, music playing quietly on her phone as she did her hair, eyes pinned on the mirror. She was beautiful. She always was. And tonight was her graduation from college.

  “Hi, babe,” she said softly, turning in her chair to face me. She’d been crying, I could tell. We all had. As soon as she saw the expression on my face, her own expression fell, and wariness climbed over her features. “Kyle,” she said, getting up to cross the room. “Are you doing okay?”

  We both knew the answer to that, but it didn’t matter. I felt like I would never be okay again. Without answering her, I took a seat on the edge of her bed and Mackenzie joined me, taking my hand between hers with concern.

  “Talk to me,” she said quietly.

  I sighed and dropped my head into my hands, feeling the fatigue and exhaustion of the last week smother me into the ground.

  “I—I don’t know what to do,” I said weakly, and Mackenzie rested her chin on my shoulder, holding me.

  “You survive,” she said softly. “We all do.”

  “My mom—she’s devastated. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “She just lost her husband,” Mackenzie said softly. “And you your father.” She fell silent, tears pooling in those beautiful gray eyes. “You don’t have to come tonight,” she continued. “I almost don’t even want to go. Maybe you should spend some time at home with Nina and your siblings.”

  “Mack,” I said, and something in my tone must have caught her off guard, because she pulled back, just a little bit, her eyes searching my face for something I knew she might not find.

  “Kyle?”

  “I—I think after this, I need some time to just … figure it all out,” I said, and Mackenzie frowned.

  “Figure what out?” she asked. “What are you talking about?”

  “My father.” I got to my feet, dropping her hand from mine, and crossed the floor to look out into the darkness around us. “He was just killed, Mack, and I don’t know how my mother is going to survive this.”

  “With our help,” Mackenzie said. She got to her feet and crossed the floor to join me, reaching a hand out to rest it gently on my arm. “And I’m here to help you, Kyle, because I love you.”

  “And I love you,” I said, turning away from the window to face Mackenzie. I longed to take her into my arms and hold her until my arms ached and my soul felt complete again. “I love you,” I said again. “Wh
ich is why I have to do this.”

  “Do what, Kyle?” she asked, and the fear in her voice put a sword through my heart. I dropped my head, and Mackenzie reached her hand out to lift my chin, forcing me to meet her eyes. “Do what?”

  I pushed a breath of air between my teeth and turned away from Mack, sitting back down on the bed. After a moment’s hesitation Mackenzie joined me again, but I could see her fingers trembling as she approached me.

  “My father was killed in the line of duty,” I said, taking Mackenzie’s hands in mine. “And I’ve seen what it’s done to my family. To me. Ian and Isabella are leaving, and my mother will be alone.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Mackenzie,” I said, and her name caught in my throat. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go to Chicago right now. Not after this.”

  “But, Kyle—”

  “I can’t abandon her. I can’t abandon my mother in her time of need.” I sighed and rubbed my hand briskly over my face. “She’s going to be lost without him; I don’t know if she can survive.”

  “Did Nina ask you to stay?” Mack said quietly, and I shook my head.

  “No. If she knew I was saying this she’d probably smack me.”

  Mackenzie took a deep breath, focusing her eyes on the mirror in front of her. “Okay,” she said. “You’re right. We shouldn’t leave. We’ll stay here until we know she’s okay, get her stable, and then maybe someday we can think about going to Chicago.”