Page 52 of Hearts & Embers

I wrapped both hands around my coffee cup.

"That's the part I can't stop thinking about."

Cole nodded.

"I understand it’s difficult."

For the next hour he told stories.

Not speeches.

Not lectures.

Stories.

He spoke about firefighters injured on the job who returned years later to retire healthy. He spoke about a firefighter who survived thirty years in the department only to lose his life to cancer after retirement. He spoke about another who left the service completely, started a business, and was killed by a distracted driver six months later.

The point gradually became impossible to ignore.

Risk existed everywhere.

Firefighting carried dangers.

So did everything else in life.

Eventually I told him exactly what had been bothering me.

"What if I lose him?"

Cole studied me for a moment.

The answer arrived quietly.

"I can’t guarantee you won’t."

The honesty startled me. Not because it was cruel, because it wasn't.

He held my gaze.

"You could lose him at any time."

The café seemed unusually quiet. Then Cole continued.

"You could also lose him if he quit tomorrow and never stepped inside another fire station."

I stared at him.

"Nobody gets guarantees, Aurora."

The conversation continued for another half hour. By the time we finally stood to leave, my fears hadn't disappeared. I wasn't sure they ever would. What had changed was my understanding of them. The problem had never really been Jasper's profession. The problem was that loving someone meant accepting the possibility of loss, regardless of how they earned a living.

“Give him a chance, Aurora. He loves you and I never thought he’d be able to love anyone after Rachel.”

“I love him too. Thank you,” I murmured.

As I drove home, I found myself thinking less about burns, smoke, and fire stations. Instead, I thought about Jasper. I thought about the bookstore, the hospital, the countless conversations, and every reason I’d fallen in love with him. For the first time since seeing the bandage on his hand, I began to wonder whether I’d been asking the wrong question all along.

Chapter Sixteen