The Firefighter's Fiance

“I couldn’t save them, Matt. I failed.”

“It wasn’t your fault. Nobody expected the fire to suddenly come shooting out like that. None of the crew could have done any more,” he reminded her. “And look at today. You made a difference today. If it wasn’t for you, Noel could have been in a really bad situation. Yo u got him out while we could still help him.”

“It’s not enough.”

“Hey.” He shifted to pull the duvet aside and slid into the bed beside her. “Come here.” He pulled her into his arms, pillowing her head against his chest. She was shaking. Still crying? He wasn’t sure, though her face was damp. He held her close, stroking her hair and soothing her. “It’s going to be all right, Kels. I promise,” he whispered. She’d be safe in his arms. Always.

And eventually she stopped shaking and curled her arms around him. “Thanks, Matt. For being here, for everything.”

“Any time.” He dropped a kiss on her hair.

Dear Reader,

I think firefighters do an amazing job—they work incredibly hard, in extremely tough conditions, and they are true heroes. I really wanted to write a firefighter book—and I wanted it to be a little different, with the heroine as the firefighter.

Of course, writing this book meant doing some research. And when my friends found out how my research was going to be conducted I had quite a few offers of help because I went to visit the local fire station. The response was absolutely brilliant—they showed me around, and even did a test call for me so I could hear exactly what everything sounded like. They also let me run my scenarios past them, and gave me some constructive suggestions about how I could make them even better. (That’s why they get the dedication for this book—they were fantastic.)

And no, I didn’t go down the firemen’s pole. Have you seen the size of those things? Scary is an understatement!

My heroine is battling with a lot in this story—major life changes—and just when she thinks she’s winning, she’s knocked over by a real tragedy. And then she discovers that love appears in the most unexpected places and can help you overcome what seem like impossible odds.

As usual, I had my editor wiping away a tear, but the ending made up for it. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. And I’m always delighted to hear from readers, so do come and visit me at www.katehardy.com.

With love,

Kate Hardy

The Firefighter’s Fiancé

Kate Hardy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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CONTENTS

Cover

Dear Reader

Title Page

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

THE familiar warble burst into the air, then the Tannoy announced, ‘Turnout, vehicle 57. RTC. Lorry and car, driver trapped.’

RTC. Three little letters that had blown Kelsey’s life apart. Changed it completely. Had it not happened, she’d have been a maths teacher by now. Married, maybe with a child.

But it had happened.

Five years ago. The driver of the car on the other side of the road had been concentrating on his mobile phone instead of the road and had hit their car head on. Kelsey had walked away without even a scratch, whereas her fiancé Danny had been rushed to hospital, with surgeons tutting at the foot of his bed and saying he’d be lucky to make it. She’d sat by his bedside for days, not sure if he’d ever come to.

And then he’d squeezed her hand.

She’d cried with relief, sure that everything was going to be OK and it was the beginning of the long road back to normal…But the day the doctors had told Danny he’d never walk again and he’d spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, he’d asked Kelsey to return his ring. Hadn’t accepted that the wheelchair made no difference, in her eyes. ‘I don’t know what I want any more, Kelsey. I don’t know who I am any more.’

She knew who he was. The love of her life. The man she wanted to support back to health. The man she should nurse back to health.

But he didn’t let her. She wasn’t enough for him. ‘I care about you, Kelsey. I always will. But I don’t want to get married to you any more. I need…’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t know what I need.’

Whatever, it wasn’t her. And Danny pushed her out of his life. Nothing she said or did was able to change his mind. Their parents, their friends: nobody was able to get through to him. It was over and he wanted her to walk away.

And in the end she had to accept it. Accept that she wasn’t what he wanted any more. That he needed to adjust to his new life, and she wasn’t going to be part of it.

She wasn’t able to face carrying out the rest of their plans on her own. The life they’d intended. So she sold their house, split the proceeds with Danny. And she walked out of her teacher training course. Being a maths teacher would have reminded her too much of the life they’d planned together. So she applied to train for something completely different. Something that would make a difference.

She became a firefighter.

A good one.

Payback, in her eyes, for having her own life saved.

Every time she heard the call over the Tannoy saying it was an RTC, it still sent adrenalin coursing through her veins. Brought back the memories, the shaky feeling, the fear that she wouldn’t get out alive. But every time she shoved the emotions back where they belonged. In the past. Because she had a job to do.

The same job she needed to do right now.

Kelsey was the nearest to the fax machine, so she ripped off the top copy and headed straight for her fire engine. The rest of the crew were sliding down the pole from the mess room and getting into their firefighting gear, which was set out ready by the doors of the fire engine—the jackets hung up, the boots ready to be stepped into and the trousers neatly rolled down round them, so they didn’t have to waste time getting things in the right order. It was a routine she knew well—one she’d practised in drill after drill, and done plenty of times before real emergency calls. She kicked off her shoes and stepped into her boots, pulled her trousers up, shrugged on her jacket and climbed into her place in the rear of the engine.

Ray, the station manager, was already in the front seat, tapping into the computer. Kelsey handed him the fax and he scanned it, taking in the map reference and details. ‘Another driver’s called us, the police and the ambulance. Nothing about any other casualties or what sort of state the road’s in. Better put your PPE and conspicuity surcoats on now,’ he said to the crew. Joe, being the driver, was exempt until they’d stopped—then he’d need to put on the gear before he got out onto the carriageway.

‘What’s the plan, guv?’ Kelsey asked.

‘If the police get there first, they can set up traffic diversion. If we’re there first, we need the “police accident” sign up while I do the risk assessment,’ Ray said. ‘Kelsey, you’re the one with ALS training.’

As well as doing an advanced life support course, she shared a house with Matt, a paramedic, which meant she’d picked up a fair bit about casualty management.

‘If the ambo team aren’t there, I’ll need you to check out the casualties,’ Ray added.

‘Sure, guv.’ Kelsey nodded.

‘Road conditions good,’ Ray reported back to Control. ‘Visibility fine.’

It wasn’t ice or fog or heavy rain that had caused the crash. It was a summer afternoon, and the sun wasn’t yet low enough to dazzle a driver. So Kelsey’s best guess would be speed. That, or someone deciding to ignore the law and use a mobile phone without a hands-free kit—and then discovering the hard way that you couldn’t use a phone and drive safely at the same time.

Something she already knew, from extremely bitter experience.

She pushed the thoughts aside and concentrated on her job.

It turned out that the fire crew were the first on the scene. Joe parked on the side in front of the crashed lorry; Ray, as the officer in charge, did the risk assessment and radioed back to Base. ‘Dual carriageway, bit of a tailback but access is fine on the main road. Other carriageway fine, just the usual rubber-necking. No injured casualties on the carriageway. We’re going to check the vehicles now. No hazardous materials being carried that we know of. Some fuel spillage that needs containing.’

Ray directed his crew to contain and absorb the fuel spillage, and lay out the firefighting equipment to cover the area. ‘Brains, can you check the casualties and report back?’

‘Sure, guv.’ Kelsey smiled back at him, not minding the nickname. The crew had chosen it once they’d found out what she’d done before she’d become a firefighter—and it told her that she was accepted. Part of the team.

The lorry driver was shaking, clearly in shock, and Kelsey took the space blanket from their limited medical kit and put it round his shoulders. ‘OK, love. The ambulance will be here soon. Any pain I need to tell the medics about when they get here?’

‘No, I’m all right. But, oh, God. The other driver…’ He shuddered. ‘I can still feel his car going under my wheels.’

‘What happened?’ she asked gently.

The lorry driver shook his head. ‘The road’s clear. I dunno. I was doing sixty. Everything was fine. He must have been going past me, in my blind spot—next thing I knew, he was…’ The driver choked.

Kelsey glanced at the carriageway. From the pattern of skidmarks and the dent in the central reservation, it looked as if the driver had hit the barrier, spun round and ricocheted back into the path of the lorry.

‘OK, love. Come and sit down at the side of the road. Take a deep breath for me. And another. That’s right.’ She guided him to a safe waiting place. ‘The medics’ll be here any minute now. I’m just going to take a look at the car and see what I can do for the driver, OK? But someone will be here to see you very, very soon. If you need anything, come and see one of us, but make sure you stay on the hard shoulder, where it’s safe.’

‘My wife. I ought to…’ He swallowed hard.

Kelsey guessed what he was trying to say. ‘We’ll get in contact with her for you, love. Soon as the police are here. Don’t use your radio or mobile phone here, will you? Fire risk,’ she said economically. There was a ten-metre exclusion zone from the incident for using radios or mobile phones—a spark could ignite any leaking fuel. She patted his shoulder. ‘Back with you in a bit, OK?’

She steeled herself for a closer look at the car. No way was the driver going to get out of the car and walk away without a scratch. But at least there wasn’t a bull’s-eye on the windscreen, so either his airbag had kicked in or he’d just been lucky and hadn’t hit the windscreen head first.

There wasn’t a huge amount she could do before the ambulance arrived. But she could go through the basics—the course she’d taken plus what she’d learned from Matt would help.

ABCDE, she reminded herself. Work through it. The same way Matt did. Airway, breathing, circulation, disability, exposure.

She could see that the driver’s door was jammed but tried it anyway. No luck. Same with the passenger’s side. But she could at least get into the back—once the car was stabilised. From the damage to the car, she thought there was a high risk of the driver having some sort of cervical spine injury, so they needed to make sure the car didn’t move.

She opened the rear door on the driver’s side so she could at least talk to him. ‘I’m Kelsey, one of the fire crew,’ she said. ‘The ambulance is on its way. What’s your name, love?’

‘Harvey.’

Good. He could speak. So his airway was clear, not blocked with blood or vomit. His breathing seemed a bit shallow; she couldn’t get a proper look to see if he was losing any blood or had circulation problems; but he’d managed to answer a question and sounded lucid, so that ticked off ‘disability’ because there weren’t any immediate neurological problems. Exposure, so they could see the extent of his injuries…Well, that would have to wait until they’d cut him out. Even an experienced paramedic like Matt would find it tough to get the driver out of this space, so the odds were they’d have to use the hydraulic equipment—known as a Hurst, but they’d all been told to use the longer name because in the muffled environment of a crash vehicle the short name sounded more like ‘hearse’ and terrified the casualties.

‘Can you tell me if you’ve got any pain?’ she asked.

‘My neck,’ he said.

Could be whiplash; could be a spinal injury. She made a mental note to tell the paramedics. ‘As soon as the ambulance is here, we’ll get a collar on you and get you out.’

‘My legs. Hurt.’

Well, that was good. It was when they didn’t feel pain that she was worried, because that meant there was likely to be damage to the nerves. ‘We’ll get you out of here soon. Can you remember what happened?’

‘No.’

OK. She’d leave that one for the police to sort out. ‘Any passengers in the car?’ she asked.

‘No, just me,’ Harvey said.

Which meant they wouldn’t have to do a search and rescue: that was a relief. ‘I’m going to talk to my station manager about the best way to get you out. I’ll be back as soon as I can, OK?’

‘Don’t leave me.’ His breath hitched. ‘Please, don’t leave me here. I—I don’t want to be alone. Please.’

She slid a hand through the gap between the door and the seat and touched his face, comforting him. ‘Hey. I’ll be back before you know it. Promise. We’ll get you out of there, love.’

Ray was already assessing the vehicle when she went to report to him. ‘Lorry driver’s in shock and sitting on the hard shoulder with a space blanket; car driver possible c-spine injury, query crush injuries but at the moment he can feel his legs. I can’t get into the front on either side.’

‘OK. When the ambo crew’s here, we’ll see whether they can work with what they have or if they need us to open the car. We’ll stabilise the vehicle for now.’

‘I’ll keep talking to him,’ Kelsey said. ‘Let him know what’s going on.’

She’d just leaned into the back of the car and reassured Harvey that they were going to make the care safe so it wouldn’t move and jolt him or cause him further injury when a hand rested in the dip of her back. A touch she recognised. A touch that melted away her tension.

‘I wondered if you’d be here. How’s it going, Kels?’

Kelsey felt a jolt of pleasure as she heard Matt’s voice. All the paramedics she worked with were good, but Matt had something extra. And it wasn’t just bias because she’d shared a house with him for eighteen months and he was officially her best friend. There was something about him. Something calming—as if he could take the weight of the whole world and keep you safe, and still keep smiling. Right now, he was the person she wanted to see more than anyone else in the world.

‘Cavalry’s arrived,’ she told Harvey with a smile. ‘Want the good news or the good news?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘You’ve got one of the best paramedics in the area to treat you,’ she told him. ‘I’m just going to get out of his way so he can have a proper look at you, but I’ll be right here beside him.’ Where she often was: because they made a great team. Between them, they could get casualties out fast and stabilise them. Save lives. She straightened up and drew Matt back out of Harvey’s earshot. ‘His name’s Harvey. He’s talking—but not as much as he was. He’s complained of pain in his neck and his legs. I can’t tell if he’s bleeding or not—there’s too much in the way for me to see any external haemorrhage—but I don’t like his colour.’

‘Better get him out fast once we’ve got a spinal board on him,’ Matt said.

Kelsey turned to Matt’s crew partner. ‘Dale, the lorry driver’s going into shock but his breathing’s fine, he was talking lucidly, and I’ve got him sitting on the hard shoulder in a space blanket. I promised him I’d be back, but…’ She gestured to the car. ‘The driver’s in a bit of a mess. And he’s scared as hell. I couldn’t really leave him.’

‘There isn’t enough space for two of us to work here, so can you go to see the lorry driver?’ Matt asked his crew partner.

‘Sure,’ Dale said, and headed for the hard shoulder.

Ray came over. ‘The car’s stabilised, Matt. Just tell us if you need more access.’

‘Will do. Thanks, Ray.’ Matt slid into the back of the car and introduced himself quickly to Harvey. ‘I’m going to put a neck collar on you to keep your spine nice and stable.’ He assessed the situation swiftly. ‘They’re going to need to cut you out so Dale—that’s my crew partner—and I can move you safely.’

‘Mmm,’ Harvey mumbled.

Kelsey and Matt exchanged a glance as he withdrew.

‘How fast can you do it?’ Matt asked.

‘Ten, fifteen minutes,’ Kelsey said, ‘but it’s going to be noisy.’

He nodded. ‘I’ll get the collar on him while you lot get the rams and spreaders sorted. Then I’ll sit in the back with him and keep him talking while you cut him out.’

‘You’ll never squeeze into the back,’ Kelsey said. ‘I’m smaller than you—I’ll fit better. Why don’t I sit in there and protect him with the shield while the lads do the cutting? If his condition changes, I’ll give you a yell.’

‘OK. Thanks.’ He smiled at her.

By the time Matt had put the collar on Harvey, the cutting equipment was ready. ‘OK for me to go in the back?’ Kelsey asked Ray.

At his nod, she grabbed the blue tear-shaped plastic shield and slid into the back of the car.

‘Harvey, we’re going to cut you out so the paramedics have got enough space to treat you. It’s going to be noisy,’ she warned, ‘but I’m here with you. And I’m going to put this shield up so you won’t get any glass in your face or anything.’ In the past, windscreens had simply popped out; in modern cars, the windscreens were bonded to the vehicle and had to be cut through.

‘It sounds scary,’ she said. ‘But I promise you, you’ll be fine. Nothing’s going to hurt you.’

‘Do this a lot?’

He sounded slightly slurred. ‘A few times,’ Kelsey said. ‘And I’ve been cut out of a car myself. So I know what it feels like to be sitting where you are.’

The noise. The splintering glass. The fear that something was going to go wrong and you’d be hurt even more. The absolute conviction that you were going to die and you weren’t going to get the chance to say goodbye to the people who mattered.

Again, she damped down the memories. Now wasn’t the time. ‘You’ll be out of here really soon,’ she said.

Though every second seemed to drag. The noise felt as if it was never going to stop. And all the while she kept talking to Harvey, trying to get him to respond.

As soon as the fire crew had finished getting the access the paramedics needed, she climbed out of the car and Matt and Dale took over.

‘I want to get some fluids into him,’ Matt said. ‘He’s going into shock. Kels, can you do us a favour?’

‘Sure.’ It was firefighter protocol for the crew to help other teams where they were needed most once they’d done their own job in making sure the area was safe. And she’d worked with Matt enough times to know what he wanted her to do. ‘Hold the drip and squeeze the bag so you can get the fluids in faster?’

He blew her a kiss. ‘Perfect answer. We’ll make a paramedic of you yet.’

‘Not before we make a firefighter out of you,’ she retorted with a grin.

‘Oi, do you mind? I’m not losing my best partner ever,’ Dale cut in. ‘No, we’d rather pinch you for our team, Brains. Then we might stand a chance in the pub quiz.’

‘No way. Your uniform’s not as sexy as mine.’ She winked at him. ‘Isn’t that right, Harvey? Firefighters are sexier than paramedics?’

Their patient mumbled something none of them could understand. Matt raised an eyebrow and put the line in Harvey’s arm and directed Kelsey to start squeezing the fluid through. Calm, professional, no hint of panic in his voice—even though Kelsey could tell from the look on his face that Harvey was in for a rough time.

But when it came to moving him… ‘His leg’s stuck,’ Matt said grimly.

‘What do you need—dashboard roll or pedal release?’ Kelsey asked.

‘Pedals.’

‘OK. I can do that.’ She handed the drip bag back to him and grabbed the cutters. She slid the shield over Harvey’s legs to protect him, then used the cutters to snap the pedal that had trapped Harvey’s foot.

‘Remind me not to arm-wrestle you,’ Matt said as she gently moved the pedal away to allow Matt to finish getting Harvey out of the car.

‘Chicken,’ she teased.

‘I’d be chicken, too,’ Dale said with a grin.

She put her hands on her hips and tutted. ‘Weaklings, the pair of you.’

‘Yeah, yeah. But thanks for your help, Kels.’ Matt’s eyes crinkled at the corners. Amazing blue eyes, the colour of a summer evening sky. Eyes that had reputedly melted every female’s heart at the hospital, though Matt rarely dated—a fact which shouldn’t have pleased Kelsey nearly as much as it did.

‘Any time.’ She smiled back at him. ‘See you later.’

‘And don’t forget it’s your turn to cook tonight,’ he reminded her as he and Dale gently manoeuvred Harvey onto the stretcher.

Kelsey grimaced. Cooking was such a waste of time. Spending hours fiddling about with food when it would all be eaten within ten minutes. ‘It’s Friday. I’ll bring a takeaway home.’

‘I suppose at least you can’t burn that,’ Matt said, laughing, as he headed for the ambulance.

‘Ah, but if she does at least she’s a trained firefighter and can put out the blaze,’ Joe teased, walking over to them. ‘Ready, Brains?’

‘Sure,’ Kelsey said as the ambulance doors closed behind Matt.

‘So have you two finally seen the light and got together?’ Joe asked as they headed back to the fire engine.

‘Don’t be so daft.’ She waved his comment aside. ‘We’re just friends. Good friends.’

Joe made a face that told her he didn’t believe a word of it.

She rolled her eyes. ‘It is possible for men and women to be just friends, you know. Look at you and me.’

‘That’s different,’ Joe said, sounding smug. ‘We’re colleagues.’

‘Matt’s like my brother,’ Kelsey protested.

‘Hmm. I don’t look at my sister like that. And she doesn’t look at me like that either.’

‘Like what?’ she asked.

Joe shrugged. ‘Work it out for yourself, Brains.’

She flapped a hand at him again. ‘Maggie’s obviously dragged you to too many girly films lately. You’re fantasising.’

‘You,’ Joe said sweetly, ‘need to come back from Egypt.’

‘What?’

‘Out of denial. De Nile,’ he added, to ram his point home further.