Embracing Today, a firefighter romance: (The Trading Yesterday Series, #3), Kahlen Aymes [essential reading txt] 📗

My heart felt tight with apprehension as I contemplated the next two days. Gina made reservations for me at a Holiday Inn Express near the funeral home and texted me the address so that I could get a cab from the airport. I only had the one bag so I could bypass the lines at the baggage claims.

My heartbeat seemed to get louder in my ears as the plane got closer to the ground. I closed my eyes until the wheels made a slight squeal as they touched down on the runway.

The snoring man next to me finally woke up with a snort and hit me in the chest with his elbow. “Ow,” I blurted, moving a hand under my arm to cover the offended part of my anatomy. This entire experience was from hell.

After we taxied in and were finally allowed to disembark from the plane, people poured into the busy terminal. It was a fairly long walk from the gates through the terminal and I thought it would never end. I was wearing jean shorts, a white T-shirt, black zipper hoodie and new Vans, and my hair was pulled back into a ponytail. The picture I made was nothing out of the ordinary, yet I felt as if everyone was staring at the country bumpkin from Wyoming. Each step seemed as if it were one closer to the gallows. I knew it was ridiculous to feel that way, yet I couldn’t make it go away.

I watched the signs to the main terminal and when I passed the security checkpoint there were a few people with signs waiting for passengers coming up from the various flights. I inhaled deeply and found the escalator down to street level.

As I started to walk toward it, I heard a man say my name. My heart dropped into my stomach and I stopped then turned toward the voice.

A man, maybe a few years older than Carter stood before me. He was wearing slouched jeans and a dirty wife beater, his dark hair was slicked back with some sort of hair grease, and his face was covered with a beard and mustache. His dark eyes were the only part of him that seemed a little familiar and hinted at his relationship to Carter. Maybe this was a relation, but looking at him, I was scared shitless.

“Ye—yes?” I said, self-consciously putting a hand to the base of my throat.

“I’m Carter’s older brother, Apollo. I’m here to get you.”

I swallowed as fear ran through me. I had no reason to fear this man, except his appearance was menacing and his name seemed extreme. I tried hard to keep a shocked expression off of my face.

“Thank you, but I have a reservation at a hotel…”

He took my bag from my hands and shook his head. “Nope. Ma said you should stay at our house.”

“But…” I stood there watching him walk off with my bag.

“Come on.” He paused impatiently and glared at me before resuming his stride.

I started to walk in his direction, though not quickly enough to catch up, unsure that I was doing the right thing. I’d hoped I’d just stay in the hotel, show up for the funeral, and then be on my way back to Wyoming to the entire unpleasant experience behind me. “Um…”

Carter’s brother stopped and scowled at me again, more annoyed. “Look, woman, I ain’t gonna bite you.”

“I know, I’m just in shock, I guess.” What I was, was frightened.

“We all are. We didn’t hear from that little bitch for years and now, we’re mopping up another of his messes. Fuck me,” he huffed.

Apparently, there was no love lost between them. I began walking again, and when I reached him, Apollo fell into step with me. We didn’t speak until we reached the curb outside the terminal. There was a souped-up vintage Oldsmobile waiting, though I didn’t know the year, but I guessed the seventies or early eighties. It was shiny black with chrome trim.

He threw my bag in the back seat after he’d walked around. “What are you waitin’ on, Christmas? Get in,” he commanded.

I scrambled to open the door and slid inside. The inside of the car was not kept as well as the outside. The leather bench seat stretched across the entire car and was torn in several places and the ripped edges scraped against the sensitive skin on the back of my thighs. The old-time ashtray was pulled out and was overflowing with cigarette butts and ashes that spilled onto the floor.

I couldn’t help coughing from the offensive stench and lingering smoke. Apollo reached through the open window, grabbed the ticket that had been left on his front window for parking in a no-parking zone, crumpled it up, and then threw it over his shoulder into the back seat.

“Fuckers,” he muttered.

I wondered what other crimes Apollo committed, sure that he had. I sat like a stone on the passenger side of the vehicle, afraid to even speak, but felt I needed to offer my condolences. “I’m so sorry about your brother.”

The engine roared to life and the car jerked away from the curb into the traffic in front of the terminal. Someone honked and Carter’s brother lifted an arm out of the open window to flip whoever it was the bird.

“Why? Did you kill him?” he asked with a laugh, grabbing a pack of Camels from the dash and hitting it on the smooth steering wheel to knock one forward until he could get his lips around it.

I shook my head in fear. “No.”

“Okay, then, don’t be sorry.”

I was shocked at his callousness. Apollo pushed in the cigarette lighter until the element inside glowed red and it popped out to signal it was hot. He pulled it out and put it to the end of the cigarette already hanging from between his lips and sucked until it was lit.

I tried not to cough and held it in, but my eyes began to burn despite his window being rolled