All Chapters of The Laurel Springs Emergency Response Team Series: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

NickLove is a promise delivered, already broken. That's what I learned from the first half of my life. Love hurts, it breaks up families, it brings unhappiness and pain, disappointment and sorrow. Love doesn't save, it steals. Anything and everything worth having. But watching Ransom and Stella as they dance around their reception, seeing how happy they are. Watching the smile covering both of their faces, the way my best friend holds my sister in his arms? It makes me wonder if I'm the broken one, and everyone else knows the answer to the secret. There's a part of me that thinks I'm wrong, because I see successful couples all around me. The difference in those couples and what I've been a part of? Me. I'm always the common denominator, and after a while – you come to realize how bad you are loving anyone else, including yourself.Sighing, I bring my bottle of beer up to my lips, taking a drink. It's nasty, because I've been nursing the same one all night. I'm not much of a dri

KelseaI'm fighting to open my eyes as I hear rustling the next morning. To be honest, I'm surprised he's still here. Given what I know about him, I figured he'd take the chance to slip away in the dead of the night. Tiredness washes over my body, along with a relaxation I haven't felt in months. There's even a soreness, courtesy of what I spent the night doing. The stress of helping Stella get married and my worry over Nick has finally caught up with me as I sink further against my mattress."Kels." I hear a deep voice whispering in my ear. I feel the scratch of a beard on my shoulder."Hmmm?" I stretch, before burrowing deeply into the arms wrapped around me.Moist lips land on my bare shoulder before the heat of his breath pulses against me. "I have to be at work in an hour, but I don't want to go.""I don't want you to go either," I whisper as he tightens his arms around me. Pressing myself against him, I feel his hard length at my back. "So that's how it's going to b

Kelsea"Hey!" I wave to Ruby as I throw my purse down on her couch. "Where are the kids?""Kari took them to karate." She grins. "So that means we get to have adult food and adult conversation tonight. I have that wine you and Stella introduced me to. Want a glass?""Don't mind if I do. It's been a long day, even if I didn't have to work." I grin back at her. I love my niece and nephew, but sometimes they completely overtake every situation they're in. Tonight I'm just wanting to have a relaxing time. Before I can say anything, Caleb comes through the door."Ladies," he greets us both.I'm almost jealous when he snakes his arms around her waist, kissing at her neck, grabbing her ear between his teeth. The two of them have such an intoxicating passion and such an all-encompassing chemistry, it forces those around them to pay attention. Deep in my gut I know the way they look at each other is what I want, what I deserve. Right next to the feeling is the fear I may never get to

NickIt's raining slightly as I pull my patrol car up to The Café. I've signaled into dispatch I'm taking a lunch break, and I let my shoulders drop. Since that night with Kels I've been tightly wound. Not because of what we did together, but because of the way she made me feel. I've always wanted what everyone has. I just convinced myself it would never happen for me. Now? Now I'm not so sure. Getting out, I lock my patrol car and head into what most of us around town call our home away from home. Caleb proposed to Ruby here, from what I heard Ace and Violet met here, and Ransom's family practically lives here. I see him sitting at one of the side tables, Rambo at his feet. When he sees me, his tail wags, and I can't help but smile down at the dog. He can always bring a smile to anyone's face. Doesn't seem to matter what they're going through. "Hey." Ransom reaches out a hand to me when I get close enough. "Good to see you.""You too." We give each other the kind of br

NickIn the background, I can hear the rush of water, indicating Kels is in my shower. Leaning against the counter in my kitchen, I take a deep breath, trying to calm the heart that feels like it's beating out of my chest. Bringing her here was a conscious decision, having her in my personal space is a way to show her how much I care for her, rather than telling her. I've never been good with words. Hopefully my actions can say what I can't. It had taken me years to tell my mom and dad not only thank you for saving my life, but that I love them. It was a word I felt I couldn't pronounce, no one had ever really said it much to me. Until I came to live with the Keplers. That isn't a time in my life I want to relive tonight.Moving over to the sink, I look out the window, watching as the rain falls steadily. Sharp bursts of thunder echo every now and again, the loud clap rolling with a deep groan, shaking my apartment building with its ferocity. When I was young, right when the Kepler