“By the way.” Annalee shifted in her seat and stared at him. “I forgive you for last time.”
“Good.” He grinned at her. “I told you I’d make it up to you.” The store was just ahead. This was good. Her favorite coffee and funny stories. Everything was going to be fine.
Annalee’s eyes danced. “I mean… what was your excuse again? Lack of balance?”
“Like I said… I was reaching for your door.” He raised his brow. “Trying to be a gentleman.”
“I’m just teasing.” Her laughter remained. “It was an accident.”
“But who does that?” Tommy parked in the lot adjacent to Benson’s. “I reach for your door and hit your iced latte. Straight into your face.”
“It was fun explaining it to my parents.” She took a deep breath. “I laugh every time I think about it.”
As he stepped out of the Jeep, Tommy did an exaggerated bow. He eased her into his arms and his eyes held hers for a long beat. “Happy to keep you entertained.”
For a moment, all he wanted was to kiss her. But if she had mono, he’d better not. They’d been refraining just in case. He worked his hand through her silky hair, his voice a whisper. “Just don’t replace me, okay.”
Annalee stifled a laugh. She looked like she wanted to kiss him, as badly as he wanted to kiss her. But it couldn’t happen now. Not until her diagnosis.
Finally he stepped back and she took his hand. “Don’t worry, Tommy Baxter.” She smiled at him. Those green eyes. “I won’t replace you.”
“Same.” He didn’t look away. “Not now or ever.”
It’s just a checkup. Mononucleosis. Nothing more.
He bought a large drink for her and a small iced tea for himself.. They were almost back to the Jeep, talking about his basketball team and her chemistry class, when it happened.
A deafening screech came from the nearest intersection. Tommy turned and saw a gray sedan jolt to a halt, but the driver didn’t stand a chance. A new model pickup blazed through the red light without braking. The truck barreled into the side of the sedan and somehow kept going.
“Tommy!” Annalee dropped her coffee and took a few steps toward the intersection. “The driver!”
Already smoke poured from the sedan’s engine and the hint of a flame curled up from under the hood. Several cars stopped, but no one got out. Tommy threw his drink and took off. He looked over his shoulder at Annalee. “Call 9-1-1!”
He rushed toward the car even as the fire grew. Other cars pulled up to the intersection and skidded to a stop. One guy opened his car door and stood, but he didn’t move, didn’t run toward the flaming sedan.
Only Tommy did that.
Everything shifted into slow motion. He couldn’t see anything but the car and now something else. A woman frantically struggling inside the twisted wreckage. She looked like she was trying to free herself.
Tommy reached the sedan and grabbed the driver’s door handle. It wouldn’t budge. The heat was intense and getting hotter. Flames moved over the front of the car toward the windshield. It’s going to blow, Tommy thought to himself. God, help me, please. It’s going to blow!
With a strength greater than his own, Tommy finally jerked the door open. “Come on!” He took hold of the woman’s arm. She was older, maybe in her late seventies. “You have to get out!”
Sirens sounded in the distance, but it didn’t matter. Tommy didn’t have time for fire trucks or ambulances. A half a minute or so was all he had to get the lady out. Seconds, even.
“Help me!” the woman screamed. “I… I can’t get my seatbelt off!”
Smoke was filling the car, the heat suffocating both of them. Tommy held his breath and reached over the woman. God, please… Tommy pushed the seatbelt button again and again. “Come on… please.” And suddenly… it released.
The smoke and heat were definitely getting to the woman. She choked and gasped, struggling to breathe. There was just one way Tommy was going to get her out of the car alive. He hooked his arms beneath hers and pulled with everything he had.
With a supernatural speed and strength, Tommy dragged the woman across the intersection to the nearest curb. At the same time an explosion ripped through the vehicle and shot it ten feet off the ground.
Hovering over the woman, Tommy watched, horrified. God, you saved us. Thank You. He had no words, just gratitude. A fire truck pulled up and an ambulance behind it. The scene unfolded in a rush of motion. People running about, passersby and drivers crowding to the intersection. Paramedics hurried up to the woman and took over. One man asked Tommy to step back.
Which he did.
All the way back to the spot near Benson’s where Annalee stood pinned to a brick wall. Her face pale, her whole body trembling. “Tommy.”
He took her in his arms and held on. No one seemed to notice them. The flaming car had everyone’s attention now—not the guy who had pulled the woman from danger. Tommy didn’t care. The driver was safe now, that was all that mattered.
The woman was safe.
“You… you could’ve been killed.” Annalee pressed her forehead to his chest. “You’re crazy.”
“Someone had to help her.” Tommy was shaking now, too. The adrenaline catching up to him. “She… she wouldn’t have made it.”
Annalee looked up at him. “You had seconds. That’s all.”
Everyone should’ve run to her, Tommy wanted to say. “She needed help.” He cradled her head in his hands. “It’s okay.” He breathed the words into her beautiful blond hair. “God was with me.”
A police officer walked up and took a report. What happened and who hit who. “You dragged her from the car? Before the explosion?”
“Yes, sir.” Tommy slid his hands into his jeans pockets. “I did.”
The officer studied him. “You’re a rare breed, son.” He patted Tommy’s shoulder. “Kind, compassionate. Selfless.” His eyes softened. “We could use a few more like you.”
“Thanks.” Tommy wanted to say it was no big deal. Running toward the burning car wasn’t something he took time to consider. “Anyone would’ve helped her.”
But he was the only one who did.
The police officer finished taking notes, while across the street the ambulance pulled off with the woman inside. A tow truck moved what was left of the sedan. The cop looked up from his notepad. “She’s breathing well.” He narrowed his eyes. “She’ll be okay… because of you.”
When the officer was gone, Annalee took Tommy’s hand and stared at him. “Anyone would not have helped.” She looked over her shoulder at the intersection, and turned to Tommy again. “Only you.”
“Anyway…” He’d had enough of the conversation. He forced a smile. “You lost your coffee again.”
“Seems to be a theme.” She linked arms with him and pointed at the gutter. Their empty plastic cups still lay there. She picked them up and tossed them into a nearby trashcan. “Looks like we need to come back. Maybe after the doctor.”
He laughed and held the door as she climbed into his Jeep. That’s what they would do. After the doctor figured out her mono and sent them on their way, they could come back here and pretend like he hadn’t rescued a woman from a burning car and she hadn’t had to go get her fatigue checked out.