Chapter 6

Jenna tried desperately to wake the store owner up, but she wasn’t moving. In fact, she was barely breathing, and her pulse was faint. Panic had already settled in as the beads of sweat dripped down her temples. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe. The walls around her seemed to swirl with smoke, and her body felt weak. She got as close to the floor as she could, desperately searching for fresher air, but it was of no use. The smoke was filling up the room—and the flames were catching up to her, too. Jenna was certain that she was living out her last few moments.

And then the sizzle and steam of the fire being put out engulfed the entire store. It must have been mere minutes, but it felt like hours as Jenna continued to hover over Llana, waiting for the heat to dissipate. She was scared to move, and scared that something would go wrong at the last minute. It wasn’t until she heard the crash of the wall across from her being smashed open that she was sure they would be saved.

Firefighters in masks, carrying axes, made their way around the space. They were talking to each other, but Jenna could barely make out what they were saying. One came and scooped the eccentric old lady into his arms and carried her out. Jenna was next. A man with very familiar eyes bent down and screamed to her, “Are you okay?”

All Jenna could do was nod as the firefighter helped her to her feet. Scooping her into his arms, the masked savior rushed her out of the rubble.

There was an ambulance alongside two fire engines that were still battling the blaze on the other side of the store. A chaotic crowd of onlookers had gathered on the sidewalk across the street. Jenna was still scared, but she began to calm down a little once she was sitting on a gurney next to the ambulance.

The firefighter who’d put her there finally took his mask off. Tanner’s dark hazel eyes stared at her as he pulled the cloth protector away from his mouth. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I think so, just a little shaken up,” she mumbled.

“Okay, they’ll take you to the hospital to get checked out. I’ll call your dad and let him know what happened.”

“Wait a minute, where are you going?” she asked worriedly.

“There’s still a fire to fight.” He winked at her before gathering his gear and heading back toward the blaze. From what Jenna saw before she was pushed into the back of the ambulance, the amount of destruction was massive. Four stores in total had been affected by the fire.

The minutes ticked by as Jenna lay in the hospital room with an oxygen mask over her face. While she hadn’t felt any pain, when the adrenaline began to die down she became aware of the slow, steady stinging of a burn on her leg. She realized that she was still in costume, and some of the plastic strips from the hula skirt she’d been trying on had left her a searing reminder of what she’d been through.

A doctor and a few nurses came in to check on her. It took them only a few minutes to remove the melted plastic and treat the injury. They had just finished wrapping the wound when Paul arrived. He looked pale and frantic.

“Jeeze, Jenna are you alright?!? What happened?”

“Honestly, Daddy, I don’t know. I was in a shop, just goofing around, when I smelled smoke. I didn’t know there was a fire at first, and I didn’t think a fire could spread that fast. By the time the alarm sounded it was already coming through the walls. Oh, I did have a great idea for The Wheel, though! What do you think about a tiki party? A luau! We could really pack in some of the college kids that are home for summer break. We’d make a killing!”

Paul sighed, plopping down into the chair next to the bed. “Here you are with burns on your leg and you’re still worried about your old man’s bar. I’ll do whatever you want to do at the bar, Jenna.”

“You promise?” She eyed him suspiciously.

“Yeah. So have they told you when you get to leave? I gotta go meet Hannity at the bar in a few. I want to talk with him before we open so we can iron out the details of his new agreement when you go back to school.”

“But, Dad, I—”

He cut her off. “I don’t want to hear a word about it. You’re not working tonight. Go out, have some fun if you’re up to it. Or stay home and watch a movie. Relax! You’ve earned it. I guess I should go grab ya some clothes, huh?”

Jenna stared down at her half-melted hula skirt and coconut bra. Her smile grew into a giggle she simply couldn’t stop. Through her laughter, she nodded, “Yeah, that sounds great, Dad. Thank you.”

“Alright, I’ll be back in a few to take you home. Probably after I see Hannity, okay?”

“That’s fine with me, Dad. Just don’t forget my stuff!”

By the time Jenna was ready to check out of the hospital, her father had returned. She’d never felt happier to go home than she did that evening.

Paul set her up in the living room with her leg propped up on his favorite chair, the TV in her sights, and the remote in her hand. There was plenty of food on the coffee table for her, along with some magazines that he’d pulled from her room.

“Oh, Dad! Can you bring me my laptop? I have to let everyone know I’m okay and that my phone is probably scorched by now.”

Paul nodded and did as she asked before heading out for the night. “Um, okay, I think you have everything you need. If you go out or anything, leave me a note, or…”

She interrupted him this time. “Dad, don’t worry about me. Everywhere I go won’t be engulfed in flames. If I go out, I’ll be home by morning.”

He simply kissed her on the forehead and headed out to the bar. She would have loved to go with him, and even better to know what was said in his conversation with Hannity, but with her leg still hurting, she was on the couch for the night. She turned on her laptop, planning to message her friends to ask for some company, but then remembered that there wasn’t any Wi-Fi at home.

Jenna stared at the wire running from the ancient cable modem to her Dad’s dinosaur desktop computer. Even if her laptop was compatible with the modem—which didn’t seem all that likely—she had no idea how to configure it, so she decided to give the desktop a try. Turning the thing on sounded like she was initiating a launch sequence. The noises freaked her out, and she didn’t want to break anything that belonged in a museum, so she held the power button down until the thing shut itself off.

“I guess TV it is for the night,” she said to herself. But just then there was a knock at the door. Thinking it was her Dad, she started talking before it opened. “What is it this time, old man? You forget your keys or something?”

The man who yanked open the door wasn’t Paul but Tanner. Tanner Devlin was standing on her doorstep with jeans and a T-shirt on. He looked and smelled clean, whereas Jenna hadn’t even thought of showering after the day she’d had.

“So are you going to invite the guy who saved your life inside, or do you want me to wait out here?” His sarcasm made her pause.

“Sure,” she said, snapping out of it and beckoning him in. “Come on in.”

He shut the door behind him and looked around the room. “Wow, this place hasn’t changed that much, has it?”

Jenna felt a wave of anxiety as Tanner wrapped up his trip down memory lane and focused his eyes on her. They had made a lot of memories here, but right now it was making her nervous to have the man she’d rolled around with in her dreams standing in the living room. They were in her house alone, and she couldn’t stop undressing him with her eyes.

“Thank you,” she finally blurted out.

“You’re welcome,” he smirked. “I got something for you.”

“Really? I should have gotten something for you and everybody else down at the station. Who knows what would have happened if you guys hadn’t shown up when you did.” Jenna moved over so he could sit next to her.

Tanner handed her a plastic bag. Inside of it was her purse. It reeked of smoke like it had been barbecued. But her stuff was intact. She pulled out her phone, and it powered on just enough to show it was okay—but at 1%. It quickly shut itself back off. “Damn. Thank you so much, Tanner. I can’t believe how much I owe you for today. I guess that dream I had about you this morning was actually a good thing.”

“Wait a minute, a dream? What was it about?” he laughed.

“Nothing I want to talk about sober,” she giggled.

“But you don’t drink.”

“Exactly,” she laughed.

“So what time are you heading over to The Wheel?” he asked her.

“I’m not. Dad’s orders to relax and take the night off. Apparently I’ve been through a lot today.”

“You’ve been through a lot, period. I see you have a smorgasbord already, but how about you let me take you out to dinner?”

“You save my life and now you’re trying to wine me and dine me? What did I do to deserve all of this?”

“You lived! I had no idea who was in that store. We only went through the wall to make sure no one was stuck, and when I saw it was you, my heart nearly stopped. I don’t know what I would have done if—” he stopped himself. “Never mind. We got to you and got you both out.”

“Speaking of which, do you know if Llana is okay? The shop owner. She was out cold by the time you guys got to us.”

“Yeah, she’s alright, I think. I know they were keeping her overnight for observation, but I don’t know much more than that. So do you feel up to going out? Grabbing a bite with me?”

“Sure, as long as I can shower first. I’m the one who smells like a burning building even though you’re the actual firefighter,” she chuckled.

Jenna made her way up the stairs to shower. The burn on her leg wasn’t too bad. It didn’t hurt that much, she told herself. Yet she still made sure to keep it out of the water while she washed herself and got dressed.

Tanner got up from the couch when she made it back into the living room. With a slick smile on his face, he nodded. “I like, but I was kind of hoping you’d come down in that hula skirt and coconut bra combo from earlier.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.” She pushed him playfully toward the door.

Not wanting to end up anywhere fancy, the two agreed to grab a bite to eat at a nearby diner. It wasn’t the best food in town, but it wasn’t the worst either. They sat down to eat, talking about everything from the fire to the fun times they had shared as kids in Doveport. There was so much history between them, mostly from before they started dating.

It had always bothered Jenna that they’d lost touch after she went back to school, but she knew that wasn’t on her. If Tanner hadn’t told her what he had, they would have been much closer. Perhaps that dream she’d had would have even been a reality.

Sitting across the table from him, Jenna couldn’t help but replay the images of his face between her legs and wonder if the real thing lived up to her fantasy.

“So tell me about this dream,” he said to her as if he were reading her mind.

Jenna just knew she was blushing. The goofy smile on Tanner’s face told her she was. He slid around the table into the booth seat with her. “I can tell that it’s something you need a drink for by how red you’re turning. Please just tell me all the other details, then. I’m curious.”

She felt his hand on her thigh. With her short shorts on, he was inches away from making her dream a reality. Her heart began to race as she moved a piece of hair behind her ear. “Well, we were married.”

“Not the most farfetched idea in the world. I’ve heard worse,” he laughed. “Go on.”

Giggling to herself, she practically hid her face as she told him, “And we were on our honeymoon. We were celebrating our union as husband and wife when we got interrupted.”

“Interesting,” he smirked mischievously. “I think I like where this is going.”

“Oh, don’t celebrate just yet. You end up in shackles,” she laughed.

“I’m not into handcuffs and bondage, but I could be for the right person,” he whispered to her, moving his hand further up her thigh.

Jenna tried hard to control her breathing, but the closer his fingers crept to the edge of her shorts, the more anxious she got. Her center was growing moist, and the only thing he’d done was rub her thigh!

“So what happens before I end up in shackles?” he asked her, biting his lower lip. The sight of it made Jenna melt.

She was getting hot just sitting there. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. I shouldn’t have said anything to you about the dream. Let’s talk about something else.”

“I don’t want to,” he said, and this time he moved in closer. He was looking to her, waiting for her to stop him, but Jenna just sat there. “Did I do anything like this in the dream?”

Her heart pounded against her chest as Tanner’s lips were suddenly grazing her neck while his hands grazed the wet spot between her thighs. He wasn’t inside of her shorts, but she wasn’t sure she’d stop him if he went there.

“Yes,” she answered him with her voice trembling. After taking a deep breath, Jenna pulled away from him. “Tanner, you just broke up with your girlfriend less than 24 hours ago. I don’t want to be some rebound summer fling thing.”

“I can respect that,” he said, backing off. “But you know I’d be like this with you even if—”

“Even if what? You and Brandy were still together?” she laughed.

“Yeah, I guess that doesn’t sound too good. I mean, I’m always going to have feelings for you. That’s it. End of story. If you don’t feel anything like that, tell me and I’ll back off.”

“That’s not it. It’s just that I’ve been the rebound girl before, and guess who gets her heart broken? You need at least a two-week window in case you decide to reconcile with Brandy.”

Tanner burst into laughter. “Who made up that rule?!?”

“It’s not funny. I’m sure there’s some sort of scientific study on it. But human nature doesn’t lie. The last time you and Brandy broke up, how long from then until you decided to patch things up and give it another go?”

Her question made him sit back and actually think for a moment. But before he could answer, she asked him, “Okay, now think about the time you broke up before that; same question. Think about all of the times you’ve broken up and gotten back together, how long was the time in the middle?”

“You’re right,” he admitted. “It’s been about two weeks every single time. But I’m done this time. I’ve never had a guy text my phone telling me what my girlfriend was doing with him and then send me photographic proof. I mean, I was definitely a fool before for taking her back, but I’d have to be downright stupid to do that again. I’m done, Jen. I swear.”

“I believe you, but will Brandy?”

“It doesn’t matter if she does or not,” he told her with his face twisted in confusion.

“Yeah, it does,” Jenna said frankly.

“Why?”

“Because she just walked in and is coming this way,” she huffed.

“Crap, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize yet. See what she wants first,” Jenna laughed.

“I can’t believe you’re here, in my favorite diner, with somebody else!” Brandy yelled for the entire restaurant to hear.

“You don’t own this place. I can eat wherever I want, with whoever I want,” he told her, not putting too much energy into his response. “Are you following me or something?”

“No, I just want to talk to you. We need to fix this thing between us,” she said, eyeing Jenna nervously. “I don’t care if you’ve slept with her, I forgive you. Now let’s go outside and talk!”

“You might as well,” Jenna told him, sucking her teeth and shaking her head. “You know she won’t leave until you do.”

“Fine, outside,” he told Brandy, pointing to the door.

Jenna wasn’t exactly sure why she was mad that he did what she told him, but she was. A part of her wanted him to tell Brandy to hit the road, but maybe that was unreasonable. Their history was far more recent than the history she had with him. So, with a heavy sigh, Jenna turned around to watch the two argue in the parking lot. The fire between them was obvious. There was nothing Tanner could tell her that would make her believe they were done. She’d have to hear it from the both of them, and even then it would still be a stretch.

Instead of waiting for her order to come out, Jenna got up from the booth, adjusted her shorts and walked toward the door. She wasn’t far from The Wheel, so she decided to take a walk. She had grad schools to think about. As much as she wanted Tanner to literally be the man of her dreams, his reality was wrapped around a tall, leggy blonde who loved to cause drama. That wasn’t her, and she wasn’t going to become that kind of person for anyone.

Leaving Tanner alone was going to be hard, but with so many other things going on in her life it wasn’t going to be that hard. Even better, she had a party to throw at The Wheel. That would be a wonderful distraction for her. Jenna was sure that her feelings of ‘more than lust’ and ‘less than love’ for Tanner would subside as time went by.