First Surrender (Chance Encounters #3)

Chapter Nine

Jackson

I step into the hospital with steel in my spine, preparing for the battle that I’m about to partake in at 8:30 in the morning. My house guest was a delight, the complete opposite of his sister. I sent him off to school this morning with a belly full of donuts and a flash of my cruiser lights, making him and his friends shout excitedly as they ran inside the school.

Natalie, however, has probably been fueling up all night to kick me in the teeth as soon as I walk through this door. Except, her back is turned when I walk in. She’s dressed and looks ready to leave, sitting atop her blankets.

I place a cup of coffee down gently on her table, waiting for her to strike. It’s supposed to be a cushion. A peace offering before we start this back and forth, but she still doesn’t turn around. “Are you good to go?”

She doesn’t respond, staring blankly at the windows that harshly light the room. I walk around her bed to see her straight on and her face is pale. Her normally darkly lined eyes are bare and hollow. She obviously didn’t get any sleep last night. She’s staring vacantly through me as if I’m not even here.

“Nat?”

“Go where?” She sighs. All the usual fire is gone. She didn’t even react to me using the nickname she seemingly hates.

“I can take you to a hotel. Until you get on your feet.”

“I can’t afford that. I’m barely getting by as is. Now I’ll need to replace all of Dec’s stuff that got ruined.”

“You didn’t have renter’s insurance?”

She huffs a sad laugh in response. “No. I didn’t even realize that I needed it. I’m so fucking stupid.”

She’s not my favorite person. She drives me mad, but I don’t like this side of her. I’ll throw an insult or two at her but I don’t like it when she does it to herself. It’s not as satisfying.

“You’ll figure it out. You always do, right? That’s what you told Dec last night.”

“You were listening?”

“I was only making sure you didn’t advise him to put a frog in my bed or something.” My attempted humor hardly makes her blink. I was hoping for an eye roll.

She blows a long breath out and stands up, but immediately sits back down. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I’m taking you to a hotel. The Sheriff’s Department can cover it for a while. We have extra funds for situations like this. Consider it your taxes at work.”

“How do you know if I even pay my taxes?”

“I know you would never take the chance of being arrested for tax evasion and leaving Dec to fend for himself.” That snaps her out of her stupor. Her eyes flick to mine and she looks at me for the first time since my arrival.

“Was he okay?” She asks even though she already spoke to him on the phone.

“Yeah. He was fine. Kids are resilient.” She nods her head, almost looking at me appreciatively until the nurse walks in and she blinks. The look is replaced by her usual disdain and I question if I imagined the sincerity before.

“Do you know where you’re going, dear?” The nurse asks, politely. They must’ve already discussed this issue earlier.

“I’m taking her to a hotel. Are we good to go?”

“Yes, Sheriff. Here’s the discharge papers.” She hands them over, patting my hands excessively. It’s always the older women who are touchy.

“Those are private.” Natalie snatches the papers out of my hand after the nurse leaves. “HIPAA.”

“Worried that I’m going to find out that you have seven toes on your left foot?”

“Meh-meh-meh,” she mocks me as we exit the room.

“Very mature.”

“Not all of us can be as mature as you, old man.” Her comment makes me grit my teeth.

I’m not old but it makes me painfully aware that I’ve been arguing with and letting a woman seven years younger than me piss me off this easily.

“You’re right. Respect your elders.”

“Never.”

* * *

“Why are you here?” The ever-pleasant Natalie greets me from the bottom of her apartment staircase.

This is the first time that I’ve seen her or spoken to her since dropping her at the hotel after the hospital. A part of me hoped we’d gotten past the ire-filled interactions. A sicker part of me is enjoying the familiarity of it.

“Nice to see you, too.” I throw a garbage bag full of her clothes over my shoulder as I descend the stairs. The building was condemned after the fire but I convinced code enforcement to let me in to get some of their stuff. I didn’t want it to be a total loss. “All of this needs to be washed but the smoke smell should come out.”

“Are those my clothes?” She shrieks, following closely behind me as I cross the gravel parking lot. I throw the bag into the back of my SUV while she continues complaining at me. “You went through my stuff! That is so violating.”

I ignore her comments. “There wasn’t much else that could be salvaged.”

“My brother’s stuff…” Her tone is solemn suddenly and the shift forces me to meet her eyes. They’re quickly cataloging the other bags I have piled back here, searching for Dec’s belongings. I shake my head and her dark lashes squeeze shut in despair.

“He’ll need new clothes, but the other stuff can wait. He’s got you and a bed to sleep in for now. He won’t care about the toys as much as you might think.”

She nods her head stiffly and releases a breath. “I need to see if his box from the closet made it.” She turns on her heels to go back toward the apartment but I stop her short.

“I have it.” I pull it out of the backseat. It was the first thing I looked for.

She all but lunges back toward me, her hands dancing over the lid. “Is it okay?”

“Yeah, I had to wipe the soot off the top but it was safe enough on the floor of the closet.”

She pulls the lid off, inspecting the contents to confirm what I observed. Her hands hover over everything but touch nothing as if not to disturb it.

“I have it meticulously organized for Dec’s sake.” She laughs sadly. “A few of the special items he kept of my moms are tucked away at the bottom for when he’s older.”

I don’t know why she’s voluntarily giving me this information but I don’t mind. It’s nice to see the sister side of her, the human side.

“I can keep it at my office if you want. Until you’re settled somewhere permanently,” I offer. “I have a safe and it’s fire-resistant.”

“It’s not as if I plan to live through more fires,” she argues, unleashing her usual side.

“Let’s hope not.” Max pipes in from over Natalie’s shoulder. He’s a firefighter and one of the volunteer fire marshals. He’s the one who let me into the apartment.

I jerk my head in a quick “shut it” motion so he doesn’t keep talking. I haven’t told her about the arson yet because I don’t want to add to her worry. His eyes widen in understanding and he changes the subject. “You guys all set in there?”

“I haven’t even gone inside,” Natalie responds, cutting him a cross look.

“There isn’t anything else,” I assure her, wanting to save her from seeing the extent of the damage. I meant what I said, there isn’t anything else to be salvaged and I don’t want the image of it to haunt her.

She ignores me, directing her full annoyance at Max as he speaks again. I try not to be amused by it.

“I pulled you out of the fire, ma’am.” He tips his head, smugly. I think he intended for that to be a pickup line.

“Wow. Thanks. So brave.” I almost miss it as she turns back to me, but there was definitely an eye roll attached to that bland response. Max is dumbfounded behind her as if he’s not used to his firefighter shtick not working.

“Fine, take it to your office but if I need it at any point you have to give it back. Even if it’s the middle of the night.” She secures the lid over the box and gives it a small shove toward my chest.

“I wouldn’t dare keep it from you, fireball.”

“Don’t call me that,” she snaps.

“Okay, Nat.”

“Don’t call me that either. It’s Natalie.”

“Whatever you say, Nat.”