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

down. There was nothing electrical in this car, from the manual windows to the analog radio. My eyes began to water when he blew out smoke from his lungs and the cough I’d been holding in burst from my chest. I coughed hard until tears ran down my cheeks.

“Ah, a little princess, eh?”

Apollo flipped the cigarette out of the car onto the street.

“I’m sorry, I’m allergic to smoke.” I tried to explain. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

My phone pinged in my purse. I hadn’t texted Gina or Ben, and there was no one else to check on me, so it had to be one of them.

“Not a problem, though my old lady smokes like a chimney, so you might want to watch what you say in front of her.”

“Maybe it would be best if I stay at the hotel? It’s really no problem.”

“I got my orders. I’m to deliver you to the house, then you can talk to my ma and figure it out.”

By now, Apollo had turned off of the interstate and into the streets of an older neighborhood. “What is the neighborhood called?”

“My brother didn’t tell you shit about us, did he?”

“I’m sorry, he never mentioned his family much, no.”

“Stop apologizing for shit you can’t control,” he barked. It was obvious that he was angry at Carter. “He disappeared years ago. Fucker thought he was better than the rest of us, and he broke my ma’s heart.”

I wondered what Carter’s background was. Was his family involved in some sort of serious criminal activity that made him leave? Of course, there was no way to know. Apollo’s appearance was rough, but that might not be anything to judge by. Maybe his family was poor, or maybe there were into something illegal, but there had to be a reason that Carter left and didn’t speak of them.

The further we got away from the highway, the poorer and more dilapidated the houses became. There were people on the street, loitering by an old-fashioned drug store. Clearly, this was an older part of town, the houses were probably built in the thirties or forties. Some of them were kept up well, but most were plagued by rotting siding, damaged roofs and crumbling sidewalks. Many of the yards were filled with trash and old, incapacitated automobiles.

My unease grew. I pulled out my phone and saw the text was from Ben. I quickly scrolled to revisit Gina’s text. “The hotel is the Holiday Inn Express downtown. My friend booked it for me. She said it was the closet to the funeral home.”

“Well, that’s pretty ritzy, and definitely not the closest.”

Pretty ritzy? The price was reasonable, and I’d stayed at the chain of hotels and motels before, so I knew it was nice, but in no way ritzy. I called it up on Google maps.

“It says here it’s three miles away. If it’s too much trouble, I can get a cab in the morning.”

I prayed to God that he’d agree, but the dread inside me said that was asking for too much. I shouldn’t have come. “Look, princess, I told ya. If my ma says you can go, you can go. She has some questions for ya about how my little brother died and you’re gonna answer ‘em.”

My heart immediately fell into my stomach. The woman I’d spoken to on the phone had been abrupt with a raspy voice, but I was starting to become terrified of the confrontation.

“Okay, I can. I just thought that it might be awkward having a stranger around during this difficult time.”

“Why ain’t you crying or something? Shouldn’t you be bawling your eyes out? After all you were Carter’s woman, right?”

He pulled up in front of an older house with greyish siding that had seen better days. I guessed it had been white at one time. It was a small, two-story house with three concrete stairs leading up to a porch lined with metal floral motif columns and railings. It was rusted in many places, the rust stains trailing down the front of the porch to the dirt patch that served as a lawn. There were many motorcycles and old cars parked in front and up and down the narrow street.

“I have been, but I guess I’m all cried out,” I answered carefully. “I’m going to miss your brother, very much.”

He shoved the transmission into park and leaned toward me, so close I could smell rancid liquor and smoke on his breath. “Why don’t I believe you?” His teeth were crooked and stained yellow from years of smoking.

“I don’t know.” Obviously, I wouldn’t miss him. Guilt was the only emotion I felt in regard to Carter.

Apollo laughed. “Listen, I say good riddance to that little prick, so you won’t hurt my feelings, either way. My ma; that’s another story.”

He climbed out of the car and slammed the door hard. The doors were heavy and needed grease, so I struggled to push mine open as the man grabbed my small roller bag from the backseat. I was out of the car and he pushed it shut with a loud bang.

There were weeds growing unchecked around the chain-link fence; the gate directly on the broken sidewalk leading up to the house. “Is this where you and Carter grew up?” I asked.

“Home sweet home,” Apollo answered with disgust. He held the gate open and ushered me in. This could explain why Carter never wanted to come back, but surely, he loved his family, even if the place where they lived was poor and unkempt.

When we went inside it was full of people, talking, eating and drinking. The room was foggy with smoke which caused me to instantly start coughing. I put a hand up and covered my mouth with the back of my wrist.

Some children were held in the arms of adults and others were running around screaming, playing games, or fighting. It was the definition of chaos. Other than the children who didn’t notice me, silence settled upon the room as