“Looking forward to it.” He turned to walk away.

She thought about saying something to him about wanting him to stay here in Bluestar—stay here with her. As she thought of revealing her true feelings to him, her stomach took a nauseous dip. What if he didn’t feel the same way? What if she made a fool of herself?

Or worse, what if he felt the same and neither ever said a word to the other? Her heart pounded harder. What if they missed their chance?

Chapter Twenty-four

He was falling in love.

And he was running out of time to tell her.

Ethan knew if he didn’t tell Hannah how he felt, he would regret it, not just in the moment but for the rest of his life.

The thought of uttering those three little words made his heart pound. What if she didn’t feel the same way? What if he’d been misreading her signals? But what if she felt the same?

This was it. This was his moment. He just had to claim it.

He turned to her. Her eyes reflected warmth and happiness, but was there something more? Did she love him too? He’d never know until he said something—

The shrill wail of the fire whistle filled the quiet of the evening.

The call to action silenced his words. Hannah blinked and the happiness disappeared. Instead her eyes reflected fear. He had no idea until now how deep her fear of his occupation went.

Before he could speak, Greg clapped Ethan on the shoulder. “We got called out. Didn’t you get the message?”

“Message?”

“You’re a Bluestar firefighter now. Let’s go. We’ll worry about setting you up in the system later.” Greg rushed off.

“Hey, Ethan, let’s go!” Chief Campbell called out.

“Ethan, don’t go!” Her eyes pleaded with him.

“I have to. I’m sorry.” The last thing he saw was the shimmer of unshed tears in her eyes. It tore at his heart.

More men fell in behind him. He lost sight of her. He turned and ran after Greg. Being an experienced firefighter, he knew that seconds could mean the difference between life and death. Hannah would understand.

This was his first official call with the Bluestar Fire Department. He had to stay alert and be ready for anything.

With red lights flashing and the siren wailing, Ethan rode in the Bluestar fire engine out of town. He felt so out of place, wearing turnouts and boots that weren’t his. The men around him weren’t part of his regular crew. And yet they hadn’t questioned his presence. Instead they’d tossed him supplies and told him which truck to hop onboard.

His gut knotted up.

Fiery flashbacks crowded into his mind. His heart pounded. He wasn’t ready for this—it was too soon. He needed more time.

And then things went from bad…to horrendous.

They were headed for a working structure fire. Not just any fire. It was at Hannah’s brother’s farm.

Ethan’s mind crowded with images of Sam and Nikki as well as the farm animals. Nothing could happen to any of them. He thought of Hannah and how she was still working through the loss of her father. How was she going to take the news of a fire at the farm?