Courageous touches, p.1
Courageous Touches, page 1
COURAGEOUS TOUCHES
FLIRT’S BATTALION
GINNY STERLING
Copyright © 2023 by Ginny Sterling
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Afterword
In Love with the Rogue
FLYBOYS
Disaster City Search and Rescue
Billionaires of the World
Introducing Attracting the Billionaire
About the Author
For Kera Butler - welcome to our world!
Thank you for being a fan.
Abby - once again, you rock - thank you for being amazing in so many ways. I really appreciate you!
Ginny Sterling Newsletter
Healing Hearts Sweet Romance Facebook Group
Wow! I was finally able to get into this series and wow! Wow! WOW! It’s starts with tragedy and there’s almost tragedy near the end and then this amazing band of brothers pull through for each other. There’s also an amazing love story woven throughout. Each of these men, egotistical, loud, cocky and wonderful have hearts of gold and their own personal demons to overcome. I can’t wait to binge on the rest. Flyboys here I come.
~ AMAZON REVIEWER OF FOREVER FAITHFUL
This was amazing story about how 2 pen pals complete a cross the world ended up falling in love and getting married. A beautiful and wonderful book. Was hard to put down. Now got to read the others.
~ AMAZON REVIEWER OF REMEMBER HOME
What a beautiful, fun, and thrilling sweet Romance. I loved all of the humor, quirky characters, and daring moments as a firefighter. There were so many cute inside joke moments that stick in your head and make you fall even more in love with this book. I can't believe I hadn't read any of Ginny's books before now and now I need to read ALL of them!!!
~ AMAZON REVIEWER OF COURAGEOUS BEGINNINGS - FLIRT’S BATTALION
INTRODUCTION
Fire Chief Reese Carpenter… leader, teacher, mentor, and goofball. Someone had to be the ‘adult’ in this group of firefighters. He always keeps his team under control and on track, but when everything falls apart before his eyes… he’s suddenly looking to Eileen for help.
Paramedic Eileen Ballantine had heard rumors about the mysterious fire chief, but the man before her certainly wasn’t what she expected. In the thick of it all, there’s no room for error. So why was he cutting jokes and trying to get her attention?
She had a job to do.
The last person Eileen wanted to be saving was Reese, but when he suddenly breaks rank and takes off running into the fiery building? What’s she supposed to do now, with all these thoughts and feelings that were exploding inside of her?
Introducing an adventurous, daring team of fearless, gritty men who battle uncontrollable blazes. Equipped with an indomitable code of valor and a ferocity matched only by the inferno of emotions within them as they find their soulmates.
Meet the crew of smokejumpers, firefighters, and rugged hotshots of Ember Creek, Texas… where the lifeblood of hope, the comfort of warm laughter, reckless loves, and breathtaking happily-ever-afters ignite with only a spark!
1
REESE
Several years ago
“… Now, young man – I’d like for you to point to your uncle, please?”
A wary feeling washed over Reese as he sat there in the court. The man talking to him had pulled him and his half-brother into the judge’s chambers before the hearing to talk to them. They were given specific instructions to only look at the judge or the attorney – not their parents. He wasn’t too sure what was going on, but it didn’t feel right.
Reese looked at the judge.
“Can I look at the people to see where Uncle Daniel is?”
“Yes, you may.”
Reese turned to look over the courtroom, seeing Max clutching Reese’s old stuffed E. T. doll in his hands and hesitated. His mother looked like she was scared or had been crying… and his father looked at him proudly, giving him a slow nod.
“Which man is your Uncle Daniel?”
“I don’t see my uncle, sir.”
“Do you see any of your uncles here? Do you have any other mysterious so-called family members that have suddenly appeared in the last few…”
“Objection!”
“Sustained,” the judged clapped back immediately, looking at Reese. “Point out your family to me, son. Don’t be scared. I just want to make sure I have it straight, okay?”
“Okay,” Reese said quietly, nodding. “That’s my mom in the blue dress sitting by Mr. Mulrooney,” he began and then pointed at his father. “That’s my dad… he helps coach my baseball team when he can.”
“You play baseball?”
“Yes sir.”
“How old are you Reese?”
“I’m seventeen now.”
“You are seventeen? And how old is your brother?”
“Max is two.”
“Where is Max?”
“He’s right there,” Reese said, pointing again – and Max smiled hello, holding up the doll proudly as the judge leaned towards him.
“Do you know why we are here, Reese?”
Reese swallowed.
“My parents fight a lot and want to get a divorce.”
“Do you understand what your parents fight about?”
“NO!” his mother yelled out and jumped out of her seat, only to have the attorney shush her immediately. “This is not right. I have kept the children away from everything! It’s him that is the one…”
“Not everything, Ruthie,” Reese’s dad said in a clipped voice, getting to his feet. “We both know I don’t have a brother named Jonathan – and uncles don’t drop from the trees like ripe fruit. The postman, the neighbor, the man that does the animal processing at the butcher shop? Have you no shame?”
“Me? Me? You are the one traipsing around town with a new fiancée before we are even divorced… and have been! Max is two, for Pete’s sake and you told me it was your nephew!”
“Objection!”
“Enough,” the judge said angrily.
“No! Those boys shouldn’t be seeing their mother traipse in men at all hours – every time I’m gone from home for work. She’s destructive – carrying on drinking, smoking, and sleeping with men when they are in the house… and currently hooked to the neighbor’s pain killers for back spasms.”
“Is this true?”
“Objection, Sir. Emotions are high, and we do not want to influence the children in the slightest or…”
“Reese!” the judge slammed down the gavel causing him to jump nervously as he looked at him again. “Eyes on me, son. Not your mother or your father. Bailiff, if I hear one more peep out of either of them – I want them out of here, and I will find you both in contempt of court.”
Reese swallowed. He wasn’t completely sure what that was, but he didn’t want to end up being charged with anything, and this whole fiasco was beyond him.
Things like this just didn’t happen in Ember Creek. It was a small town, and there were only two schools – an elementary and a high school. This was the stuff you saw on the news, the shows where his mother always changed the channels when they started talking about hit & runs, homicide, or break-ins in nearby Tyler, Dallas, and even Longview.
“Reese, do men come to the house when your father leaves?”
“Yes, sir…” he whispered, feeling sick to his stomach.
“Does your mother have back pain?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Does she see a doctor for it?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“Do you see anyone else in the courtroom that has come over to your house when your father isn’t home?”
Reese saw his mother was crying silently, her eyes watching him as she clenched her hands in her lap. Miss Mary, his father’s friend, was sitting in the front row behind his father – and he didn’t want her to be mad at him either. She was really nice and made his father happy. Whatever was happening, neither his mom nor Miss Mary wasn’t happy about it, and Reese would much rather be anywhere else than here right now.
“I don’t feel so good,” he told the judge, feeling tears sting his eyes and was embarrassed by it. “Why are you asking me these things?”
“Son, we are trying to make sure that you and your brother have the best childhood possible. Don’t you want that for Max?”
“Well, yes,” he hesitated. “But I don’t like making anyone cry – especially not my mom. She hurts all the time.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, I hear her sometimes when I’m supposed to be sleeping, and I know her back hurts…”
“I rest my case!” his father snapped angrily. “It’s been going on for years!”
“Oh merciful heavens…” his mother whimpered, causing Reese to glance over at them immediately – and the judge waved his finger, having both of them removed from the courtroom.
“Where are my parents going?”
“They are going to wait in the hallway, and Max is going to sit with Mr. Mulrooney while I ask you a few more strange questions… and I’m going to whisper so it’s just between you and me, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You are a young man now, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Have you gotten a job yet? Maybe a paper route or bagged groceries?”
“No, sir.”
“Have you ever seen your parents kiss?”
“Yes, sir,” Reese smiled shyly. “They used to kiss all the time when they thought I wasn’t looking, but it’s been a very long time since that has happened. Mama is really careful to make sure that I don’t watch anything too grown up or scary. She said there is plenty of time for that and…”
“That’s good. I’m happy to hear that.”
A wave of relief washed through him, hearing those words.
The last thing he wanted to do was cause problems for anyone – and it was true. He had a set bedtime, just like Max, and if it was a rated ‘R’ movie? He wasn’t allowed to watch it at all. No Poltergeist, no Halloween, no dirty movies like Porky’s or Revenge of the Nerds. His friend in school made fun of him because he was ‘babied’ – but his mother always said that ‘things like that can cause problems if you aren’t ready for them’… and honestly? With as much trouble as he had in math class and keeping some of the bullies off his back? Plus he only saw his half-brother Max when he went to his dad’s place. Yeah, he didn’t need any more problems in his life.
“Have you kissed a girl, Reese?”
“Yes,” he blushed nervously and slumped down in his seat. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I promise I won’t,” the judge said softly, holding up a file folder to shield the two of them and spoke gently. “I remember the first girl I kissed was Peggy, and I was so nervous. She told me my breath smelled like bologna, and I was in the fourth grade. How old were you?”
“I was in eighth grade,” he admitted, feeling a little better. “Dotty Nichols was really mad when I kissed her on the cheek, but I thought she was really pretty.”
“All the good ones are,” the judge smiled. “On the cheek, huh?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you are seventeen years old, son?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And when you kissed Dotty Nichols – on the cheek – did she make a sound like your mama makes when her back is hurting?”
“What? No sir. Why would she? Wait, does kissing a girl hurt them?”
“No, son. It doesn’t. Are you sure you are actually seventeen? You are awfully… young.”
“I am. I turned seventeen last month.”
“Do you have your driver’s license yet… or a car? Have you been on any dates?”
“No sir… but mom took me to Uncle Larry’s house, and we got to drive the big combine out in the fields while she went inside to make lunch with him.”
“Your mother left you out on a combine that was running… while she went to make… ‘lunch.’”
“Yeah,” Reese grinned. “It was pretty scary, but cool too.”
“And where was Max?”
“With my Dad.”
“How long ago was this?”
“A year ago.”
“So you were sixteen?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I think I have bothered you enough, young man,” the judge said gently, smiling at him. “Thank you for being a gentleman and honest with me – and you should get a part-time job, your license, or something so you can hang out with the guys. Why don’t you talk to Chief Mayfield at the fire station? I bet he’ll let you go on a run in one of the trucks if you tell him I sent you.”
“Really?” he asked, stunned. “Are you pulling my leg?”
“No. They are always looking for young men who are willing to expand their world, like adventure, the thrill of danger, and might want to grow up to be heroes. Now, you don’t get off that truck yet – but it would be a first-row seat at some real-life situations. You are nearly a man now and need a few key things in your life… like that driver’s license, hang around some other men – and some freedom.”
“You think so?”
“There comes a point in every boy’s life where we need to stop being babied and be given the ability to develop into the man we are supposed to become. Right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And we want to give Max that same ability, right? To let him grow in a good environment, to have friends, to kiss a girl, and to learn to be a man that others want to look up to. I think once you realize that it gives you a sense of pride to accomplish something, to have people look to you, look up at you, then you really start to come into your own… and I believe you need that chance to mature.”
Reese swallowed silently.
“Go by the fire station and say ‘hello,’ son. It will change your life. I promise.”
“I will, sir.”
The judge nodded and lowered the folder that he’d been holding up to give them a little privacy before waving over the bailiff.
“Reese? I want you to take Max with you and wait in my chambers, okay? Mr. Murray is going to escort you there while we finish up this paperwork.”
He nodded and stepped down from the stand as his parents were brought back into the courtroom. He walked slowly so he could listen, curious as to what was going on, and had a feeling something major was happening regarding his parents’ divorce hearing.
“Mr. Carpenter, do you abuse any substances or have a home you are residing in nearby?”
“I have a home I am renting near the high school so I can help with Reese’s baseball team. I try to include Max by letting him watch safely from the dugout near me and…”
“Enough,” the judge said, cutting him off. “Mrs. Carpenter…”
“Kendall, please. I am taking my maiden name back in the divorce, your Honor.”
“Fair enough, Ms. Kendall,” the judge said pointedly, looking at Reese, who was still lagging behind, and nodded at the bailiff, who nudged him forward quickly. “Do you abuse any substances or…”
“I most certainly do not.”
Reese let out his breath as the door closed behind him, the bailiff standing just outside and the voices muffled. He pressed his ears to the door, listening, and held up his finger to his lips towards Max.
“Perfect. I’ll need both of you to submit to a drug screening immediately. There is a clinic in downtown Tyler, and they’ll get you…”
“Your Honor?”
“Yes, Ms. Kendall?”
“I took a pain pill for my back last night.”
“If you have a prescription bottle, that will suffice. You do have a prescription bottle… don’t you?”
“No, sir.”
“I see.”
“I love my son, your Honor, and…”
“Everything we do is for the benefit of the child. There is a minor living in the house, and I am of the distinct impression that he is left alone in your care, put in situations where he or his brother could be harmed, and substance abuse of any kind is not tolerated.”
“But…”
“I’m not finished yet, Ms. Kendall,” the judge snapped angrily, and Reese could hear it as clear as day from his location. “I am also not approving that you are treating that young man like a boy, holding him back, and not encouraging him to mature and find his way. If you keep him ignorant of the world, then the first time he actually kisses a girl, and it goes too far. He could become a father if you get my meaning!”
