Free Stronger By Your Side (Great Love Book 2) by A. Hart Page A

for every important milestone in my adolescence, including when I found out my parents died. Megan had become my rock and made me want to be better, stronger than other men, not only physically but emotionally as well.
    After she left me and I couldn’t find her, I decided that I would put all my effort into being that better person. I always admired public servants, and my Uncle was a Fire Chief in California. I began studying Fire Science at a local college. I received my Associates degree and went to the fire academy. After I graduated, I did two years of volunteer fire fighting in Georgia, and then I did a year as a smoke jumper and firefighter in the Tennessee Mountains. Two years ago, my Uncle Tom called me with a job proposition. I was looking for a change of pace and scenery, anything to keep my mind off the fact that I didn’t know where Megan was or if she was okay. Little did I know that I would find her in the place that I came to finally move on from her. Irony didn’t even begin to sum it up.
    I shook my head as I thought about it again. I can’t believe I found her . I never thought I would. Eight years ago, I never thought we would leave each other’s side; that was, until the night she disappeared on me. I had told her I loved her, we’d shared the best kiss of my life, and she ran. The memory gave me a fresh sting of pain. I winced at the thought of her tear-stricken face as she told me to stay away from her, that she hated me. Even as she was saying the words, I remember thinking her face looked more hurt than mad. I knew her, I knew all her faces.
    God knows I didn’t even try to stay away from her. I searched for her for years. Now I had found her and I hadn’t even tried. Right when I decided to give up, when I decided to move on, she came crashing into my world again, literally. When I saw her in the bar, I had to hold back from lifting her into my arms and swinging her around like I always had when we were kids. There was a reason why she left all those years ago, and I still didn’t know what it was. My worry that she was in trouble or in danger was now put to rest, at least until I found out more.
    Megan had always been a strong-willed girl, but she was more small and fragile than most would ever know. I didn’t like how rough the man was with her in the bar. No one deserved it, but Megan truly didn’t deserve it. It reminded me all too well of the many nights of finding her in similar situations. I prayed silently that she didn’t find herself in those situations anymore. The pain of not knowing is what hurt the most. I needed to make sure she was okay, I needed her to be okay. I was never able to deny the part of me that longed to protect her. Not even when we were five and I pushed Brad Lowman on the ground for pulling her hair.
    Now that I found her, now that I saw her, my need to protect her intensified. I finally had a chance to. I knew that I couldn’t move on, with or without her, until I knew that she was truly okay. I knew I would have to find her somehow. I took a deep breath again, trying to understand this. She was here in California? What was she doing here? Did she live here? Had she been here all along? What was she doing at the bar? Who was that man? The questions stung my brain.
    I took my fire department badge out of my pants pocket and placed it in my cup holder. I was wearing my Lincoln Fire Department tee-shirt, dark blue work pants and work boots, but if Megan noticed, she didn’t show it. I hoped she did notice, and that she would come looking for me. That would be much easier than trying to find her, but I would try. I had been at the new bar on a work call. I was checking the fire permits and safety protocols for the new Fireside Bar and Lounge that indeed had a lot of fire in and around it. It would be important that they strictly followed safety protocols to ensure everyone’s safety.
    After I had finished up inspecting everything and talking to the owner, I