Read Sizzle (St. Martin Family Saga): Emergency Responders for Free Online Page A

you a fireman?”
    “That’s right. East Baton Rouge Parish.”
    “Oh.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “Do you know if an evacuation order will be issued for New Orleans?”
    He wasn’t allowed to reveal that information, so he hesitated. The woman squinted from the bright sunlight as she looked up at him.
    “ Personally , if I had a young child to care for, I’d pack up and leave as soon as possible.”
    She caught the sincerity in his voice and nodded. “Thank you.” She pulled her child by the hand and turned to walk away.
    “Miss?”
    She turned to him, but kept walking backwards. “Yes?”
    “Go fill your gas tank right away.”
    She pulled her key fob from her pocket and changed direction, heading toward the covered parking area.
    When Clara answered the door, Clay was still on his way up the stairs and she’d yet to see him. But as soon as her eyes landed on Jack, she jumped into his arms and they hugged tight. Clay hadn’t noticed them ever being that close before. Pulling up behind them, he cleared his throat. Clara opened her eyes, and Jack released the hold he had on her.
    “Clay!” She jumped into his arms just as she had Jack’s. “Thank you for coming.” He lowered her so her feet were back on the floor. She grasped his left hand and Jack’s right, making a circle. “I’m so glad you guys are here. When I got home neighbors started talking about the last storm and how bad it had been, and I was getting really nervous.
    Jack spoke up before Clay could say anything. “Nothing would keep me from getting to you.”
    Clay noted their intense looks, but he didn’t want to acknowledge where his thoughts were going. His baby sister was eighteen; in comparison, Jack was twenty-eight. He felt their eyes on him and shook his head to clear his mind.
    “Jack’s right; we would have come for you no matter what.”
    She released their hands. “I’ve packed some bags.”
    They crossed the threshold and each lifted a bag. “We’ll be leaving your car here,” Clay said when she jingled her keys.
    Clara’s brow furrowed. “Can’t I follow behind you?”
    They waited as she locked her front door. “We have a better chance cutting through traffic in the department vehicle.”
    Clay and Jack folded themselves into the SUV, but Clara stood frozen, staring at her neighbors, some of whom she no doubt knew well. She chewed her lip as she looked across the parking lot at the families loading their cars to escape the storm.
    Clay rolled the window down. “Clara, get in the truck.”
    She opened the door and jumped in. “Did you tell them about the evacuation?”
    “You know I can’t do that, but I did tell them if it were me, I’d get the hell out of here as soon as humanly possible.”
    She leaned up from her position in the back seat so that her head was between them. “Thank you for coming to get me. I know you’re horribly busy.”
    Clay met her eyes in the rearview mirror. “Baby girl, I would fight a tornado to get to you.”
    She rested her head on his shoulder.
    Jack fiddled first with his phone and then the truck radio until Celtic rock filled the SUV.
    “What is this?” Clay asked.
    “Flogging Molly.” Jack and Clara answered in unison, then Jack smiled and Clara giggled as they made eyes at one another.
    A gold and purple bag caught Clay’s eye as Clara shook it between the seats.
    “Guess what I’ve got in here?”
    She was so damn cute with her dimples shining at him in the mirror.
    “Clara, you can’t seriously be sporting that thing around the Tulane campus,” he said.
    She cocked her head and pulled the bag back, as if inspecting it for the first time.
    “Why not? It’s a perfectly good backpack.”
    Jack reached over and slapped the pack. He shrugged. “It’s not like the Green Wave is going to take on the Tigers anyway.”
    Clay laughed. “True enough. So what’s in the bag?”
    A zipper wrenched, and then Clara was holding a box next to her face,