Going for Four: Counting on Love, Book 4 (15 page)

Cody scowled at his friend even though Conner couldn’t see him. “What the hell are you talking about? You’re not going to die down here.”

Cody stubbornly ignored how his heart pounded when Conner had said that he knew Cody would take care of Olivia. He also ignored the twinge of guilt he felt about where he’d been—and what he’d been doing—when he’d been called to the fire.

“Well, not now that you’re here,” Conner agreed. “But I thought for a little while there that the whole roof was going to cave in and bury me here. But the girls would be okay.”

He definitely sounded drunk—which, considering the lack of moonshine, meant he had knocked his brain around.

“My crew is the best,” Cody told him, feigning offense. “I can’t believe you thought they’d let this roof cave in.”

“Sorry, man,” Conner said, definitely slurring.

“And your sisters still need you,” Cody told him. He had to clear his throat before he went on. “It doesn’t matter that they’re in love and have men in their lives that love them. You’re still important to them.”

Even if it was possible that Olivia—for example—could get caught up in a moment, a kiss, a confusing mess of emotions, when push came to shove, Conner was the man whose feelings and opinions mattered most.

“Yeah, I’m important,” Conner agreed in his punch-drunk voice. “But it’s good that they have all you guys.”

Cody swallowed. This was so not the time for this…

“You know that I care about Olivia a lot.”

Conner nodded, then groaned when the motion obviously caused some pain. “I know. It’s not just any guy who would do all the things you’ve done to be her friend.” Conner tried to shift and winced.

Cody knew he should let it go. Conner had a concussion and he’d been lying down here in the dark, alone, contemplating his humanity. It might not be the best time to get clear, rational answers from him.

But frankly, if Olivia’s big brother was going to give Cody permission to be with her, he didn’t really care if it was the result of a brain injury or a death scare. He’d take it.

“I’d do whatever I could to make sure she was happy.”

“I know,” Conner said. “I’m glad she’s got you.”

Cody felt his chest tighten. “She sure does, buddy.”

“So you promise me that you’ll make sure the guys treat her right.” Conner still sounded like he did after about four beers.

But Cody didn’t care. He needed to know what this was about. “What do you mean?”

“If I’m not around, you’ll have to be sure the guy she picks appreciates her.” He tried to shift again and grimaced, then swore.

“You’re going to be around. We’ll get you out of here soon, Conner,” Cody promised him, glancing up at the hole in the floor above them. They’d better be moving out there or he was going to chew some ass.

“I know. Maybe today’s not my last day. But if that happens before Liv is in love, you have to promise to be there to make sure he’s the right guy.” Cody had to remind himself that Conner had fallen on his head.

“You want
me
to help her find the right guy?”

“Yes. Liv’s special. And you know that best. All of my sisters are beautiful and smart, but Amanda, Iz and Em are like…”

He trailed off and Cody wondered if he was fading.

“Con—”

“Plastic tumblers.”

Cody looked up at the hole in the ceiling. It was a long fall but wow. “Conner, maybe we should—”

“They’re like those big plastic glasses Trudy got for the big Hawks celebration last month. They’re colorful and fun, but they’re durable, tough. You can bounce them around, you know, and they’re just fine. Liv is like…a wine glass. The glass ones. She’s also fun, but she can be broken if you’re not careful…”

Conner trailed off as if the deep thoughts had sucked his energy.

Cody rubbed his forehead. The headache was contagious apparently. Though the cause was much different.

“Hey, boys, somebody need a saw down here?”

Cody was relieved to be interrupted, but when he looked up to see Sierra being lowered into the basement with a harness and rope like his, he scowled and got to his feet. “What are you doing down here?”

“The fire is under control and they figured it made sense to send a paramedic down. Turns out I’m the lightest one who was standing around with nothing to do.” She grinned as she got her feet under her and held up the saw. “Gabby talked the guys into letting me down so I could also see about his injuries.”

“I can’t believe Gabby didn’t come herself,” Conner said. “She’s always jumping in.”

“She’s heavier than me,” Sierra said with a shrug. She picked her way over the debris as well, clearly sizing up the situation as she spoke.

“Women talk about how much they weigh?” Cody asked. That was
not
his experience.

Sierra laughed. “Gabby’s the most practical person ever. She knew a paramedic should come, and I’m easier to lower than her or Ryan.”

Made sense to Cody. “Give me the saw.”

It was actually a chainsaw.

“You’re not putting that thing next to my leg,” Conner said as Cody fired the machine up.

“We’re fine. Sierra’s here now in case I cut it off,” Cody hollered over the noise of the saw.

He grinned at Conner’s put-out expression. Okay, a chainsaw right on top of his leg in a dark room might make him a little nervous too, but he couldn’t get any more personnel down here, and they had to get the totem pole off of Conner so they could get him out.

“Pretty good concussion. Maybe more,” Cody told Sierra as she moved past him to check Conner out as best she could with the wooden statue still pinning him down.

“Gotcha,” she said.

Cody got into position to apply the saw and quickly cut the totem pole into smaller, more moveable pieces.

Twenty minutes later, the pole was no longer an issue, Conner was as bandaged up as he was going to get in the hole, and Cody was directing the effort to get the three of them up and out. The crew upstairs pulled Sierra up and then lowered a scoop stretcher for Conner. Several men were needed to haul Conner to the first floor, and finally Cody was pulled back up.

He crawled out of the hole and gratefully followed the stretcher and his friend out of the smoke-filled building.

As they stepped into the sunlight, Cody heard a big, deep voice boom.

“Holy shit, Dixon, this is the best fucking day.”

Mac Gordon, the big, bald, ace paramedic on the other primary ambulance crew from St. Anthony’s, was striding toward Conner’s stretcher.

Cody grinned. This was going to be good.

“I almost died, Gordon, you dick,” Conner said.

“I know. But you didn’t. Which means I get to enjoy taking care of you. Somebody get me a needle for an IV. A big one. Blunt on the end, preferably.”

Cody came up next to Ryan. “You going to step aside while another crew takes care of your friend and partner?”

Ryan turned to him with a grin. “Conner deserves every bit of this.”

It was true. Conner had been flirting—unabashedly—with Mac’s wife, Sara, ever since he’d first laid eyes on her. Even after finding out about her husband. And having said husband threaten important parts of his body.

In fact, knowing Mac was Sara’s husband made it more fun for Conner.

Until, of course, he was strapped down and concussed.

But if Mac and the rest of the crew weren’t damned good at what they did, Cody knew Ryan would be shoving them out of the way.

Dooley Miller, another of the paramedics on Mac’s crew, stepped up next to Conner’s gurney, holding his phone up.

“Smile, Dixon,” he said.

“What’re you doing?” Conner asked.

“Showing all the girls at the hospital that you actually aren’t as good-lookin’ as they all think you are.” Dooley snapped a couple of pictures with his phone.

Conner was covered with dust and soot, he had a gash on the side of his head and he was definitely missing his usual cocky grin.

“He was knocked a little loopy,” Cody said to Ryan. “He might not even remember Mac treating him later.”

“Yeah, Sierra said he was goofy. But I have a feeling he’ll remember this.” Ryan chuckled. “He’ll be okay.”

Cody finally drew in a deep breath and let it out. Possibly the first he’d taken since finding out his friend had plummeted into a basement in a building on fire.

“Fuck,” he sighed. “This has already been a long damned day.”

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed. Then he slapped Cody on the back. “Let’s go rescue Conner from Mac and the gang.”

But they already had him hooked up and loaded in the back of their rig.

“We’ve got him,” Sam Bradford told them. “You guys hold things together here and we’ll head back over after we dump him off.”

“Do
not
call my sisters!” Conner yelled to them as Sam and Kevin Campbell slammed the back doors of the ambulance.

Ryan and Cody turned to look at each other.

“Do we call them?” Ryan asked.

“Hell if I know,” Cody said. “You’re engaged to one of them. Will you be in bigger trouble with Conner for telling or Amanda for not telling?”

Ryan groaned and pulled his phone out. “Hey, babe,” he said a minute later. “I have to tell you something about your brother.”

Cody chuckled. Ryan was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. That sucked.

Then the air lodged in his chest and he had to cough to breathe again.

Wasn’t he in exactly the same spot?

This had most definitely been a long damned day.

Olivia was at Fire House Three when the guys got back. She was always there when they came back from a big call, if she could be. Occasionally, of course, they had calls in the middle of the night that she wasn’t aware of until the next day. But since she’d gotten the emergency scanner that sat on her bedside table three months ago, she hadn’t missed one.

She liked having the lights on and the place smelling like comfort food when they got back. Even before she’d gotten to know the guys individually, she’d admired and respected what these guys did for a living. It was the least she could do to have soup or lasagna or a chicken casserole ready for them when they got back.

Now that she knew them better one-on-one, she was aware that her tendency to mother them was met with various reactions. Some found it sweet and amusing. One guy—Frank, a tough, grumpy, older guy who didn’t like
anyone
—felt she was babying them all. Of course, he was usually the first to come back for seconds on her cooking. And then there were the vast majority of the young, single guys who apparently found it sexy that she would cook for them and take care of them.

She’d been happily unaware of it until Cody had taken two by the fronts of their shirts—at the same time—pushed them up against the wall and told them they were eating frozen burritos for a week until they could learn how to properly appreciate her efforts to help them out.

Then he’d told her to stop doing it.

She hadn’t, of course, but since then Cody had hung around longer and closer than he had before.

Not that he needed to. Having Cody tell them to back off had been enough. None of the men, even grumpy old Frank, did anything other than smile and ask her how she was and compliment her food now.

It was a little irritating. Some of the younger guys were cute, and flirting with them had been fun. She hadn’t for a moment worried that any of them would do anything that would make her uncomfortable. But she knew that Cody’s warning had been effective not because he was their boss, but because it had been very clear that he would have gladly pounded anyone who didn’t listen.

“You didn’t eat very much,” she said, stepping through the door to Cody’s office without knocking.

He’d come straight over to her when he arrived at the fire house and asked if she’d talked to Amanda. She had, of course. She knew that Cody had pulled Conner out of a burning building and that Conner was at St. A’s with a concussion and a bloody leg—that had somehow not broken. However, they were most concerned about the dust and smoke he’d inhaled. They were keeping him overnight, but he was going to be fine.

She would go over, of course. But Amanda and their mother were there now. There was only so much female fussing that Conner would tolerate at a time.

“I’m not very hungry.”

Cody was sitting in front of his computer. He’d been scowling when she walked in.

She set a plate of cornbread on his desk near his elbow. Maybe he hadn’t been hungry for the chili she’d made, but this was his favorite cornbread. It was his recipe.

“You’re avoiding me.”

He looked up at her, then sighed. “Yes.”

“Because of what happened in my kitchen?”

She knew what he was going to say before he answered, but she
hated
that he was going to say yes.

He leaned back, resting his linked hands on his stomach. “Yes.”

“And because my brother almost died today.”