Amongst The Flames: A Contemporary Christian Romance (Embers and Ashes Book 1) (5 page)

“Uh huh,” Megan replied as she bent down and picked Justin up. She kissed him on the side of the head and began heading up the stairs. As she climbed the stairs out of sight, I felt my anger turn into sadness as confusion set itself into my mind. Why does she need to go away? I wondered. And why for so long? Am I such a terrible husband? Do I not provide for her?

I jogged up the stairs and into the bathroom to confront her. “What did I do that was so horrible?” I demanded at the doorway.

“Nothing,” she said with a scoff.

“What’s so funny? I don’t find any of this funny.”

“You did nothing, you do nothing… That’s the entire problem, Cole!” she replied as she squirted shampoo into Bradley’s hair.

My lips tightened. My sadness flipped back over to anger and I wanted her gone quicker than she could pack a bag to leave. “When are you going?”

“Tomorrow. I guess you can drop me off at the airport in the morning and just drive yourself to the golf course instead of hitching a ride.”

“That’s your ‘thing’ you had going on tomorrow? Wow…”

She paused from washing Bradley’s hair and nodded up at me. “I’ve been planning this for a while… then it got postponed once you got hurt.”

Taking a deep breath, I tried to gather my thoughts for a moment and pray. I prayed that God would help me choose my words carefully. Looking into her eyes, I saw determination and there was no changing her mind. I simply said, “Okay.”

“Okay?” she asked.

“Yep. Take this time and go figure out whatever it is you are trying to figure out. I think a break might help you. You can come back refreshed.”

“Thank you for understanding,” she replied as she turned back to washing the boys.

“I’m going to go lay down… I’m feeling rather… exhausted,” I said softly. Letting my arm fall away from the bathroom door frame, I headed down the hallway and back to my bedroom. Mystified by my wife’s choice to leave on a two week getaway with both boys, I popped a couple of pain killers, got underneath the covers and turned on another episode of my favorite western.

T
he next day on the way to the airport to drop Megan and the boys off I kept getting this anxious feeling inside of me. It grew the closer we got to the airport. Something wasn’t right about this whole situation, and I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. “This is only a vacation?” I asked, looking over at her.

“Yes, Cole,” she said over to me. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine…” I replied. I was in a little pain, but I wasn’t going to complain because driving felt better than sitting around all doped up at home. I felt more like myself, plus I had more important things on my mind. “What is it you need a break from exactly?”

She sighed as she shook her head. “It’s not a break from anything. I want to see my sister… you know her and Mike just split.”

“Yeah, but that’s not really your problem.”

She looked over at me and said, “If you ever get to thinking about someone other than yourself, you’d realize it’s good to be there for other people, Cole.”

Ouch. That comment stung, but I kept my lips shut. Last thing I wanted was an argument before she took off for two weeks.

“Just drop us off at the curb. There’s no sense doing the overdramatic goodbye and wasting time and money finding a place to park,” she said as we came up the airport road.

“Hm. Okay.” I veered right on the road, passing the parking garage entrance. Parking the truck in one of the temporary unloading stalls, I got out and began pulling out the stroller and luggage from the back of the truck.

“I got it. Don’t hurt yourself babe,” she said with a smile as she grabbed the stroller from my hands.

“It’s fine,” I replied. “Just grab the boys. I have one good hand here.”

She set the stroller down and I began unloading the suitcases out of the bed of the truck. We met over on the curb and she got the boys into the stroller. “I love you, Honey,” I said.

“I love you too,” she said, smiling back at me. She came over to me and looked me in the eyes. “I’m going to miss you, Cole.” She leaned in and kissed me. It wasn’t just a little peck, like the ones she would give me in the mornings before I headed out to work. No, this one felt different.

“I’ll miss you too, love.” Bending a knee, I kissed the boys and told them I’d see them in a couple weeks even though they had no comprehension of time. They didn’t fuss, as they were often excited and eager to go anywhere with Mom. I once told them they were going to a chicken fight and they had the same reaction to that as they did going to the state fair. Hoorays and cheers followed by jumping up and down.

Standing there at the back of my truck, I watched as my life walked away from me and through the airport doors. My world disappeared in a blink of an eye as she and the boys blended into the sea of people.

Suddenly a honk from someone behind my ride startled me out of my thoughts.

“Move along, Romeo!” A straggly and unshaven gentleman shouted from his white van. He had a cigar hanging from his lips and a mean look.

I put my good hand up and nodded as I turned and headed back to the driver side door. As I drove out of the airport terminal, I watched as a plane took off on the nearby runway. I thought about Megan. I was already missing her.

Getting out to the golf course later that morning, I got a call on my cell phone. It was Micah. Running through my thoughts as I answered, I realized I never gave him a heads up about not needing a ride.

“Hey, I’m sitting outside your house, you coming out?” He asked as I walked into the clubhouse.

“I totally spaced calling you to let you know I got the truck. I’m actually at the club house right now walking up to the bar to get a soda.” Looking up I saw Rick up already sitting at the bar. “And it looks like Rick’s already here.”

Micah didn’t even so much as sigh. “Okay Brother. I’ll be there soon.” I was relieved he wasn’t upset.

“Hey Gimpy,” Rick greeted me with a grin on his face as I approached him.

“Who thought seeing your ugly mug could be so refreshing,” I replied as I walked up to him extending my good hand.

The guy next to him at the bar noticed our fleece pullovers and said, “You guys do a great job out there. I just want you to know that.”

“Thank you,” Rick replied with a nod.

“You guys going out to play some holes?” the man asked, fully turning around to the two of us.

“Yes, we are. Well, not Gimpy here. But myself and the other guys that are coming.”

“Well, have a good time out there. It’s unusually nice today. No snow or ice on the course.”

Rick nodded. “After that frost the other night, I was worried about getting back on the greens before April,” Rick replied.

The man nodded.

Kane and Ted strolled into the club, surveying the other golfers sitting at the tables in the room on their way up to us. I was relieved to see Kane seemed to be doing a little better than the last time when I saw him at poker. Rick asked me, “You going to get in on the betting even though you aren’t playing with us today?”

“Well, since I’m not playing, I’d only be betting on a loser,” I replied with a short laugh.

The guy that thanked us previously asked, “So you guys gamble on your golf game? I didn’t know firefighters could gamble.”

Rick turned to him and scoffed. “I’m a firefighter, I gamble every day of my life.”

The guy’s phone rang in his pocket, pulling him away from the bar and the conversation.

“You sounded so serious right there,” Kane said to Rick.

“Well, it’s true. Gambling is in my blood. Anyone who can run into a burning building is either stupid or taking a gamble that everything is going to work out in the end.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Kane said, tapping a finger on the bar top to get the attention of the bartender.

Ted laughed. “You’ll drink to anything.”

“Always got something witty to say, don’t cha, Teddy?” Kane replied with an agitated tone.

“It’s ten in the morning and you’re getting a drink?” Ted asked, edging Kane on.

“It’s just an orange juice, Dude.”

Rick glanced up at the clock near the entrance into the club and asked, “Where’s Micah at? He’s never late.”

“He’s on his way right now. I forgot to tell him I got the truck. He was going to pick me up,” I said.

“Oh wow, Megan didn’t need it for the zoo or art museum today?” Kane asked.

“No, not today…” I said. There was no way I was going to air the fact my wife took off for two weeks with the boys. Not now, anyway.

After golf, we all were on our way back to the club house and Micah slowed his pace to match mine. He asked, “So you have the truck?”

“Yep.”

“How come?” Micah wasn’t like the other guys; he wanted to know ‘why’s’ and ‘how’s’ instead of the ‘what’s’ and ‘when’s’ when it came to my life.

I shrugged a little. “Megan’s just busy.”

“I don’t buy that Taylor. You look like you have something on your mind that’s eating at you. You can talk to me. We’re brothers in Christ.”

“You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope. I’ve known you ever since you came to work at the station ten years ago, even before you got married and started having kids. I can tell when something is off…” He looked over at me as he continued, “And something is off with you.”

Glancing up to make sure the other guys were far enough in front of us and out of earshot, I stopped and looked at him. “Megan went to Seattle to visit her sister with the boys.” I turned and kept walking to not draw attention to us.

“I see,” he said softly, catching up to me. Glancing over at him, I saw that he was looking up at the trees as we passed under them. “Sometimes people need time to collect their thoughts.”

“It came out of nowhere, I was pretty upset… I just need a heads up for something like that. It’s cool if she needs some time… but there’s a better way to do this.”

“I bet you were upset.”

“Yeah, but I ended up telling her to just go do whatever she needed to go do.”

“Wow,” he replied, nodding. “That was wise.”

“I figured she’d do it anyway. I hadn’t ever seen her be so crazy before.”

“It’s best not to agitate a determined person, especially when it’s your wife.”

“That’s what I was kind of thinking.”

“You did the right thing, Taylor.”

I nodded.

“How long is she going to be gone? Did she say?”

“Yeah, a couple weeks.”

“That’s not bad. Denise left me and wasn’t back for over a month.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. “I had no idea you two had problems. You think that’s what Megan is doing? Leaving me? I’ve had this bad feeling about it the whole time…”

“Hey man, don’t jump to conclusions. I don’t know what Megan is doing. But yeah, Denise and I had some issues a few years back.”

“Okay, I won’t. Where did Denise go when she left?”

“She went back to New Orleans. She didn’t tell me she was leaving, though… she just wasn’t home when I got off after a shift. I didn’t have the luxury of knowing where or why like you have here. That’s what makes me think Megan isn’t leaving… You knew ahead of time.”

I cringed a little. “Actually, I figured it out when the Cap came over and gave her some cash to help finance the trip. Otherwise, she was going to call from Seattle… and just let me know…”

“Dang… I don’t know, man. Hard to say.”

“What’d you do with your daughter when Denise rolled out?” I asked.

“Jasmine was only eleven at the time, so she wasn’t super aware of what was going on. I just said her Mom went away to see family for a little bit. I was terrified at the fact I had no idea where she was or who she was with until she called a week later letting me know she was in New Orleans with an old friend. But I couldn’t let my kid see me worry about it.”

“How’d you even get through that all?”

“God, and God alone, Brother. He did an amazing thing in my life. He showed me where I was wrong, what I could do, and gave me peace and strength along the way.”

“You girls about done yakking?” Kane asked as we came up to the clubhouse door that he was holding open. I smiled as we walked through the door. “You got that forty bucks you owe me, Freeman?” Kane asked looking at Micah.

He pulled out his wallet and gave Kane two twenties. “We should really play more this season… easy cash,” Kane laughed as he pocketed the money.

“It was pretty close, McCormick,” Rick insisted.

“Sure, but ‘close’ don’t get you paid,” Kane replied as we all sat down to a table in the club house.

“So how long are you going to be out of work, exactly?” Ted asked me. “Cause I’ve heard some rumors about a new guy coming on board. Just wondering if they are replacing you?”

I laughed. “They can try to replace me if they want.”

Micah chimed in, “They won’t replace Cole. If they could, we all know that Sherwood would have already done it eons ago.”

Everyone at the table nodded.

I looked over at Ted and said, “To answer your question, I’ll be back once the doctor clears me… I’m guessing another couple weeks at most. By week eight a typical person is fully healed, with a little bit of pain, so I’m thinking I only need six.”

“Little cocky, aren’t we?” Ted asked.

Shaking my head, I replied, “Confident.”

They all laughed. Kane said, “A normal man takes eight weeks; Taylor takes six!”