Old Flame (Burning Hearts Book 1) Read online

  Old Flame

  Burning Hearts #1

  Lolita Lane

  Contents

  About Old Flame

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Up in Smoke: Burning Hearts #2

  About the Author

  About Old Flame

  Old Flame: Burning Hearts #1

  A BBW/Firefighter Romance Story

  * * *

  This book is loosely based on a true story. The names and events have been changed, but the love remains the same.

  * * *

  Reuniting with an old flame. A torrid affair. A murder plot. It wasn’t exactly Sarah Brewer’s idea of a honeymoon. Or what would have been, anyway.

  * * *

  Your wedding day is supposed to be the most beautiful day of your life, but for Sarah, it’s nothing but anxiety and ultimately heartache. Something keeps telling her not to marry Eric, but she can’t figure out what it is. It’s gnawing at her, but it just won’t surface.

  * * *

  When she and her Maid of Honor are trapped inside a room in a burning house, she sees someone that causes fleeting recognition – a firefighter whose face she glimpsed for only a moment, but she can’t get out of her head.

  * * *

  After finding out her best friend died in the fire and calling off her engagement with Eric, she feels truly alone in the world. So she goes on a mission to find that firefighter and figure out why he seemed so familiar, and why the image of his face just won’t go away.

  * * *

  But when she finds him, she suddenly wishes she never had. It’s her first love. Her only love. The only man who ever truly had her heart. The only one she could never let go of. Twenty years had passed, and it felt like only yesterday.

  * * *

  Although she now understands what had been tearing at her heart for so long, leaving her raw and empty, she has a new problem…

  * * *

  He’s engaged to someone else!

  * * *

  Not only that, she discovers his fiancée is cheating on him, and that she might actually be trying to kill him!

  * * *

  Can she save Luke from the maniac who might be plotting his murder? And what will happen when she calls off her engagement to Eric, the guy who’s always made her so uncomfortable?

  * * *

  Darkness lurks, waiting to swallow them both alive.

  * * *

  WARNING: This book contains potential triggers. If you, or anyone you know, have experienced violence, domestic abuse or other similar events, you are advised to use caution.

  Chapter One

  The day was finally upon her – the day she had longed for as long as she could remember. Sure, she was a bit old fashioned, but she’d believed in miracles, magic, and the power of love and marriage since she was just a little girl. She hadn’t dreamed of becoming a teacher, or a doctor, a model, or an actress. No. She dreamed of getting married and having a family.

  Oh, she’d developed a career along the way. She had to survive somehow, after all. And who cared if her fiancé wasn’t exactly Mr. Right? He was a decent guy, and he had a decent job. He’d do… right? He’d have to. There was no one else.

  Sarah viewed her reflection in the mirror. She squinted at a tiny crease at the corner of her eye that she’d never seen before, and she frowned at the slight streak of gray that flowed from her temple back into her loose updo, which would soon be covered by a veil. She turned sideways and noted her too-thick waist and her plump upper arms that weren’t hidden by the glittering white gown. She shook her head solemnly.

  “Quit it,” said her Maid of Honor, Kimberly. “You look beautiful.”

  “I’m old,” Sarah groaned. “And fat.”

  “Oh, you are not,” Kimberly argued. “It’s your wedding day! Smile, for god’s sake!”

  Sarah shot her the fakest of smiles and then stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. Kimberly was blunt, if nothing else.

  “Am I doing the right thing?” Sarah asked, suddenly serious.

  “Of course you are,” Kimberly answered. “Why even ask that? Oh god, you’re not having second thoughts now are you? Of all times! The pastor is here!”

  “It’s just…”

  “What?” Kimberly demanded.

  “Nothing,” Sarah muttered, plopping heavily onto the plush mattress and grasping the bedpost as though she might never let go.

  She couldn’t explain it, anyway. Ever since Eric had asked her to marry him, she’d had this gnawing feeling in her gut that she just couldn’t shake. There was no outward reason for it. He’d never been anything but kind to her, and to her friends, what few she had. They all loved him. Only her grandmother had eyed him with suspicion. But grandmothers were supposed to do that, weren’t they?

  So what could be making her feel this way? Why did she ache inside, as though she might lose her lunch or faint dead away at any moment? Why, on the day that should be the happiest of her life, was she so utterly miserable – even terrified?

  A nice looking guy with a great job was waiting downstairs to make her his wife. He could give her a nice house, a new car… nearly anything she could ever want! Why couldn’t she just be happy?

  Sarah bit her lip. She couldn’t let Kimberly see her cry. Then she’d know for certain something was up, and oh, would she lecture! Your mascara is running, she would shout. And how could you act like this after all the work I put into planning this wedding?

  Her eyes had already begun to sting when suddenly her nose twitched. She sniffed the air, and then again, more deeply.

  “Do I smell smoke?” Sarah asked.

  Kimberly reached for the doorknob, but she drew her hand back with a shriek and clutched it with her other hand.

  “It’s burning hot!” Kimberly cried with alarm.

  “Oh, my god!” Sarah gasped. “The house is on fire!”

  The rest of the wedding party had already gathered on the back lawn of Eric’s parents huge old Victorian mansion to prepare for the wedding. Eric’s huge family, along with Sarah’s grandmother and a handful of friends had all been seated. They were all waiting.

  Sarah flew to the window and shoved it upward. They were on the third floor, and there was no way down. The front yard was empty aside from the lazy red dog that lifted his head to sniff the air. He turned his head and looked at Sarah, and then dropped his head to nap again.

  Turning her head to the right, she could see smoke boiling heavily from the edges of the window that led into the room next to them.

  “We have to get out of here!” Sarah shouted.

  “How?” Kimberly asked, her hands trembling noticeably.

  “Call 9-1-1!” Sarah yelled.

  “I can’t!” Kimberly yelled. “My phone is charging downstairs! Where’s yours?”

  “I gave it to Granny because this dress doesn’t have pockets!” Sarah gasped. “Oh, my god. What do we do?”

  Smoke began to lick under the doorframe, and Sarah’s heart began to pound ferociously. Her mind raced, and she spotted the door to the en suite. She raced inside it and grabbed a towel, wetting it quickly in the sink. Then she shoved it under the door to block the crack.

  “Come on, help me yell!” Sarah demanded, grabbing Kimberly’s hand
and dragging her to the window.

  “Help!” Sarah screamed, hoping her voice would carry. She nudged Kimberly, who also began to shout, “Help! Help us!”

  “Sarah?” Eric’s voice called out, and she looked down.

  He stood below them, his face strained with dread. He ran a hand helplessly through his sandy hair. His eyes darted around, and he looked back at Sarah.

  “We’ve already called 9-1-1, baby!” he yelled up to her. “I tried to get to you, but the stairs are already completely engulfed! I thought you were already downstairs waiting for the ceremony to start!”

  “I was just about to come down!” she called down to Eric. “But I… I had a little last minute primping to do!”

  “Don’t worry, baby, we’ll get you out of there! Just hang tight!” Eric yelled. “I love you!”

  “I love you, too,” she said absently, out of habit.

  The smell of smoke was getting stronger, and her eyes began to water. Her nose tickled, and she knew she didn’t have long. She dashed back into the bathroom and found two hand towels, which she quickly wet down. She tossed one at Kimberly and pushed the other one over her nose. She motioned for Kimberly to do the same, and she followed suit.

  Sarah noticed with horror that the smoke was already seeping in around the sides of the door and filling the ceiling with fluffy grayness. She backed toward the window, dragging Kimberly with her.

  As the smoke slowly filled the room, she kept the damp towel pressed hard against her face, and she dropped to the floor, lying on her stomach. She pulled Kimberly down with her, and the two of them wrapped their arms around each other and clung to one another for comfort. Kimberly, normally the strong one, began to whimper.

  Sarah closed her burning eyes, and she could hear Eric’s voice outside calling to her. The words sounded hollow, and they broke apart in some sort of surreal pulsing noise. It was hot… so hot. Beads of sweat erupted on her forehead and trickled into her hair and down her neck.

  Kimberly began to cough and sputter. Sarah opened her eyes for a moment, but there was nothing but boiling, swirling smoke surrounding them. Her eyes were nearly on fire, and she began to cough violently.

  Please, she prayed silently. Don’t let this be how it ends! It’s not supposed to end this way!

  Something continued to gnaw away inside her, pulling her like some unseen force. She could feel her heart racing as she coughed and held the trembling Kimberly firmly against her. She ached… longed… needed. But what?

  Facing her own demise, a faint glimmer of recognition stirred within her. It was just a flicker, faint and fleeting. But it was intense, and burning.

  She struggled to cling to sanity… to consciousness. She could hear a muffled thumping, rhythmic, and a voice in the distance. It seemed so far away. She reached out her hand into the nothingness around her, but it dropped.

  Darkness.

  Chapter Two

  Pain.

  Darkness morphed into pain. Her lungs burned viciously, and something kept pushing with great force against her chest. Her eyes popped open, and she coughed. The pushing stopped.

  “Can you hear me?” called a voice. Familiarity seized her.

  She struggled to focus her eyes, but they felt as though someone had kicked fiery, sunbaked sand into them. She blinked rapidly and tried to speak.

  “Can you hear me?” the voice asked again. Why was it so familiar?

  Something pressed over her face, and her lungs burned. She coughed violently, but it soon subsided. She began to relax.

  The world was a blur around her. She could hear dozens of voices echoing around her, but none stood out. Colors faded in and out, zipping around her as if she were in a giant ball pit.

  She felt herself lifting, sliding. Coolness continued to flood into her nose, but she felt claustrophobic and she pushed away whatever was clamped to her face.

  “No, no, don’t do that,” a voice chastised her, and she felt her face being covered again.

  That familiar feeling kept grabbing her, clutching her like arms of comfort wrapping around her soothingly. She was home.

  She squinted as a few shapes began to come into focus. A humanoid shape moved above her. She could feel straps closing around her. Then she slid again. A bump, a jostle, and she was rising. She could hear rattling as she bumped and vibrated. She stopped.

  “One, two, three, up,” said the familiar voice.

  She bumped again, rose, and then slid, coming to rest under brightness. She blinked rapidly, and her vision began to clear. She lifted her head and looked toward her feet.

  A face. Her eyes widened. Doors slammed. Two loud bangs. An engine roared to life, and she began to move.

  “Are you with us?”

  She nodded in the direction of the new voice, and she looked toward it. A strand of sandy hair fell across a sweating forehead. He smiled at her.

  “Who was that?” she muttered through the mask that covered her face.

  “Who?” he asked her, absently noting something on his clipboard.

  “I saw a face just before the doors closed,” she said.

  “Oh,” he answered. “One of our firefighters, I guess.”

  “I think I know him,” she said.

  “Sorry, I didn’t see who it was,” he told her. “The scene was kind of hectic.”

  Her stomach knotted with disappointment. She could swear that face was one she recognized, but she couldn’t place it. And she remembered a voice. It was so familiar, yet so vague.

  “Are you up to answering a few questions?” he asked her.

  She shrugged, and he proceeded to grill her on her name, date of birth, and other personal information she was too confused to properly answer. That face was haunting her every thought.

  “Ok, when did you last…”

  “I’m sorry,” Sarah interrupted him, pulling off her oxygen mask. “But do you think you could find out who that was?”

  “Um… I guess so,” he said

  “Hey, Scott,” he called up into front of the ambulance. “This lady swears she recognized the guy who helped me load her up, but I didn’t see who it was. Think you could get on the radio and ask around?”

  “You know we’re not supposed to use the radio for stuff like that,” came the reply.

  “Sorry,” the guy shrugged. “I’ll try to find out later.”

  She nodded solemnly and closed her eyes. Exhaustion was taking over, and she could hardly think of anything but that face and that voice.

  She was being jostled again, and it pulled her out of a fitful slumber. She’d dozed off with visions playing in her head like some movie she’d seen a thousand times before but couldn’t quite remember the name of.

  The stretcher lowered to the ground on its legs, and they wheeled her through sliding doors into a bright building filled with beeps and bells and the sound of bustling action.

  “Here comes the bride,” she heard a woman say.

  She glanced at the embroidery on the shirt of the guy who wheeled her in and noticed the word PARAMEDIC emblazoned in bold lettering under his name, Todd Fisher. He proceeded to rattle off a long list of vital signs and other information to the nurse, and she tuned him out.

  Another guy peered down at her and asked her how she was feeling. His name, Scott McAllister, along with EMT-I was embroidered on his shirt.

  “I’m ok, I guess,” she answered. “I just wish I knew who that firefighter was.”

  “I can try to find out when I get back to the station,” Scott said.

  “You work at the same station as the firefighters?” Sarah asked.

  “I am a firefighter,” he told her. “We all are. We rotate shifts. One shift on the med unit and one on the truck. Usually, anyway. Unless you’re new, like me, then you’re pretty much always on the med unit.”

  “Oh, I never knew that,” she said.

  “Yeah, some counties outsource their medical services to private ambulance services, but we’re an integrated department,” h
e told her.

  “So… what’s the difference between and EMT and a Paramedic? I’ve always wondered that.”

  “Oh, he’s the big shot,” Scott answered with a grin and a wink as he nodded in Todd’s direction. “I’m just a glorified ambulance driver.”

  “And don’t you forget it,” Todd joked with a chuckle. Then he looked down at Sarah and said, “You’re in good hands, now.”

  Scott patted her shoulder and started to walk away, but Sarah grabbed his wrist and he turned to face her.

  “Please find out who that firefighter was,” she pleaded. “I have to know.”

  Scott nodded and promised he’d do his best. She watched as he and Todd disappeared through the sliding doors, and then she turned to the nurse, who was smiling down at her.

  “Some wedding day, huh?” she asked.

  Sarah glanced down at her dress, which was filthy and torn, and it was then she remembered.

  “Oh… right,” Sarah said. “That.”

  “Let’s get you admitted,” the nurse said. “The doctor will want to take a look at you ASAP.”

  Sarah had been asleep for a while when someone burst into the room. She felt her hand being scooped up, and her eyes fluttered open.

  “Baby, are you ok?” Eric demanded.

  Her heart sank, and she sighed. “I’m fine.”