I nodded once.
Chief approached. “You should let me take you to the hospital, Reyes.”
“Not until she’s out,” he said, staring at the firefighters positing the tool.
With a single handle, the firefighter positioned two metal pincers near the door. The high-pitched whine of the hydraulics melded with the loud drone of the fire trucks.
America cried out, and I lunged toward the cruiser.
Reyes held on to me. “Stand back, Shepley,” he said. “They’ll get her out faster if you stay out of the way.”
My jaw clenched tight. “I’m right here!” I called.
The sun had set, and floodlights had been positioned all around the cruiser. Covered bodies were lying in a line along the sidewalk, barely one hundred yards away. It was almost impossible to stand there and wait for someone else to help America, but there was nothing I could do but let her know that I was still close. Waiting for them to free her was the only option.
I covered my mouth with my hand, feeling tears burning my eyes. “How long?” I asked.
“Just a few minutes,” Chief said. “Maybe less.”
I watched them cut and pry the door off the cruiser, and then they worked to free her leg. She cried out again. Reyes’s grip on my arm grew tighter.
“She is a firecracker,” he said. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer. Insisted on riding with me, hoping she would find you.”
Chief laughed once. “I know someone like that.”
The paramedic reached in with a neck collar, and once he stabilized her neck, he pulled her out, inch by inch. Once I saw her face and her beautiful big eyes looking around in shock and awe, the tears fell.
I stood a few feet away while they stabilized her on the stretcher, and then I was finally allowed to hold her hand again.
“She’s going to be okay,” the paramedic said. “She’s got a small cut on the crown of her head. Her left ankle is likely broken. That’s the worst of it.”
I looked down at America and kissed her cheek, feeling relief wash over me. “You found the ring.”
She smiled, a tear falling from the corner of her eye and down her temple. “I found the ring.”
I swallowed. “I know it’s a traumatic situation. I know that you hate that Abby asked Travis after the fire, but—”
“Yes,” America said without hesitation. “If you’re asking me to marry you, yes.” She sucked in a breath, tears streaming from her eyes.
“I’m asking you to marry me,” I choked out before kissing the ring on her finger.
Once the paramedics loaded America’s stretcher into the ambulance, I followed Reyes into the back with her. She winced when we went over bumps, but she never let go of my hand.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said softly. “I can’t believe you’re okay.”
“I never stay lost for long. I can always find my way back to you.”
America breathed out a small laugh and closed her eyes, letting herself relax.
America
“It’s beautiful,” I said, looking around Travis and Abby’s new home. “Did you say four bedrooms?”
Abby nodded. “Two downstairs, two up.”
I lifted my chin, looking up the stairs. They were lined by white wooden spindles and covered by newly laid taupe carpet. The wood floors were sparkling, and the new furniture, rugs, and décor had been placed perfectly.
“It looks like it’s straight from Better Homes and Gardens magazine,” I said, shaking my head in awe.
Abby looked around with a smile, sighing and nodding. “We’ve been saving for a long time. I wanted it to be perfect. So did Trav.”
I twirled my wedding ring around my finger. “It is. You look tired.”
“Unpacking and organizing will do that to you,” she said, walking into the living room.
She sat on the ottoman, and I sat on the sofa. It was the second thing Travis had purchased since he’d met Abby.