The woman had disappeared into the forest, but Ridge couldn’t shake her from his mind. The more he thought about it, the less he felt like it had been Penny. Her height was about right, but her gait had been all wrong. Penny used to walk with serene elegance, the kind that made people stop and pay attention. She had an air about her that always drew someone’s eye. This woman had seemed fragile and weak, and most of all, she seemed harried. It reminded him of a cornered stray animal ready to fight for its life.
“Dada!” Delilah called out, bringing his attention back to her. With his eyes trained on the unfamiliar woman, he had stopped pushing the swing, which had sense stopped moving.
“I’m sorry, sweet pea.” Ridge apologized and pushed the swing a few more times. It was late in the afternoon and he was killing time until he needed to head home and make dinner for his girls.
His girls. That’s how he thought of River and Delilah. She was no longer just his neighbor or Delilah’s daycare provider; she was an essential part of his life. And his daughter’s. Ridge had even noticed a few times Delilah tried to call River, "Mama.” He wasn’t sure how River would react to that, when, or if it happened.
“Let’s get home and make dinner. You can even help me tonight.”
His daughter smiled up at him as he tugged her free of the swing and carried her back to their truck.
The meatloaf dinner, a recipe he got from his Aunt Amy, had been a hit with both River and Delilah. After the meal, they worked together to give his daughter a bath.
“It seems you all had a big afternoon; she’s been yawning since I got here.”
“We had a big day of swinging and playing in the sandbox.”
“I bet you’re a bit tuckered out, too,” she claimed as she carried a drowsy Delilah over to the couch where an animated movie was playing.
He thought back to the woman he had seen earlier and remembering how that sense of fear drained all of his energy. He was sure that it was showing on his face. It was something River would have picked up on.
“I’ll be fine. Nothing a short nap won’t solve.”
He didn’t have much time to get ready for work, just long enough to take a shower and get changed. Ridge wished that he could spend more time with River, but they were used to this routine by now.
By the time he emerged from his room freshly cleansed and changed, Delilah was almost asleep in River’s lap. She tried to get up without disturbing his daughter, but Ridge gestured for her to stay where she was. He went to them and kissed Delilah on the head, then brought his lips to River’s. He didn’t know what possessed him, but he deepened their kiss, driving his hand into the dark strands of her hair.
“Damn, I love you like this.”
With a dazed look on her face, River stared up at him with a small grin. “And how is that exactly?”
“Relaxed on my couch with my daughter and freshly puckered lips from yours truly.”
“Yes, I can see why that would be appealing to you.”
“Smart mouth,” he joked as he kissed her again, quickly this time, then stood back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Bye, Ridge. Be careful.”
“Always.”
The night was dragging on at the station. Despite a couple of hours of sleep, Ridge had spent most of the midnight hour playing a solitaire game while the rest of his crew slept.
Just when Ridge had resigned himself to catching a few more hours of sleep, the alarm sounded in the fire station. Carefully he listened to the dispatch: multi-car accident, potential ejection from the vehicle, possible fire on the scene, police en route to highway 417 requesting fire and EMS.
It took only a matter of minutes for Ridge and the rest of his team to don their equipment and prepare the truck and ambulance. Living in such a small town, their team was required to handle both fire and EMS. Thankfully they had all been trained and recently certified as paramedics.
On the way to the accident, Ridge reached out to his uncle, who was aware and setting up the volunteer call tree.
When they arrived on the scene, Ridge was amazed at the destruction before him. Six cars were involved in the accident, which looked like someone was driving the wrong way down the highway.
Together with the police, his crew went to work assessing the vehicles and searching the cars for any occupants.
As if the damage from the accident causing a pile-up on the only highway in the area, Ridge noticed an empty car seat dangling from the back of a crushed sedan that was missing its door. He approached the vehicle and assessed if there was an ejection but noticed the smell of gasoline tickle his nose. Within a split second, the car exploded before him, a fire that had him running back to the truck.
It took his team three hours to get the fire under control and establish the paperwork to determine what had happened. The young woman that had been driving the car causing the accident had been over the legal blood alcohol level, as was her partner. Both were in handcuffs being escorted into the back of a police vehicle.
Paramedics from the neighboring towns had joined their efforts and had been busy working on the other twenty people injured in the crash. While he had been busy fighting the fire, the medical team had been hard at work trying to save lives.