Page 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Saturday, October 31

T minus 2 hours ’til blastoff

St Mary’s Cathedral, New Brunswick, Massachusetts

Anne Ashburn had never had veil envy, as they called it As a young girl, she had never pictured herself walking down an aisle in a white dress, ready to be rescued by a knight-in-shining-are and take care of her for the rest of her life

Nope Anne had wanted to fight fires like her father and then her brother Even though she no longer respected the former, and had a strained relationship with the latter, she’d wanted to pull on turnouts and strap an air tank to her back and breathe canned air as she ran into open flaed line with her She’d wanted to rescue grandmothers, and children, and people who had succumbed to smoke inhalation She’d been ready to cut open crue at the sides of highways She’d been deterhts, hot suue would never keep her froree had never held any fascination for her There was no way in hell she was going to be like hera derivative, nineteen-fifties version of life, nothing but a pretty blow-up doll that was expected to cook, clean, and cut the yapping

On that note, as she pulled into St Mary’s parking lot and looked up at the great cathedral’s stained glass s and lofty spires, she decided it made sense that not only was she not the bride, she wasn’t even a bridesmaid

Like the rest of the cren at the 499 firehouse, she was a groo nuptials of Robert "Moose" Miller and Deandra--what the hell was her last narooet used to Not that Duff, Emilio, Deshaun, or any of the otherdown anytiht on cue, a Ford truck entered the parking lot, the late-afternoon sun flashing across its windshield

As Anne’s heart kicked in her chest, she was tempted to hustle in the side door of the church--but she had never been one to run froh

And okay, fine So maybe she had already run out of his way at least once: Last night, at the rehearsal dinner, she’d positively bolted after he’d made that speech of his

I never believed in loveI thought it was just a word, a title folks gave to daydreams and misconceptions about destiny, a lie folks told to themselves to make them feel solid in this imperfect, unreliable, and mean-ass world

Now I know it can happen between two people And it doesn’t have to ic And it doesn’t have to have good ti or end And it doesn’t have to be defined because truth is like faith--it just is

So, let’s toast to love

He’d looked at her while he’d spoken He had been talkingto herin that slow, deep voice

Everybody else had toasted Moose and Deandra But Anne had known it hadn’t been about theht stand, he who shalt never be tied downseee of heart

But that heeverything? Then again, they had kissed the night before that In her living rooh after they’d saved a life in an alleyway

And lips-to-lips had been better than good, the rare circumstance when reality had improved on a fantasy After two years of attraction and sizzle and unacknowledged heat, that which had been pushed under the rug was exposed now And there was no going back

Especially as she felt the same way

So hell yeah she had bolted out of that restaurant The second she had been able to get up from her chair, she had hit the exit and left Danny without a ride home

He’d called two hours later He’d been in a bar, probably Tiround loud and raucous

She had not answered He had left a short ain

Anne just wasn’t sure what to do Well, that wasn’t entirely true There were plenty of things she wanted to do to him, with him, on him--all of which were naked and erotic and not necessarily only horizontal