BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP blared shrill in her ears as smoke billowed out of the once clean stainless steel oven. A dish towel covered her nose to the horrific smell of burned what she really couldn't properly identify any more. The acrid thick black smoke stung her emerald green eyes as she reached over the pan covered stove to turn off the oven. She quickly glanced at the various pots and pans adorning the gas range and noticed most of them had also succumbed to the blackened state of what was once edible food, or so she had hoped. Once she removed the towel that protected her nose from the smoke to be used as a potholder to pull the desiccated bird from the smoldering oven she realized what had apparently happened.
Normally Emma wouldn't have thought about her curious neighbor or his burning dinner if it hadn't been for the shared walls of the duplex she lived in. She'd come home late from her job down at the morgue, so when she said the food was dead, she had a good idea what that meant. As she trudged up to the front stoop of her home she heard the alarms blaring mutely behind his door.
"Great," she though darkly, "he's trying to burn the place down again!" as she stomped over to his door a few feet away from her own. She pounded on it for what seemed like hours but was only about 5 minutes when panic set in. Quickly she glanced into his garage, noticing that both his motorcycle and Land Rover were parked in their customary spots.
"Where the Hell is he?" she growled once more as she returned to pounding on the front door. Minutes ticked by as panic set farther into Emma's mind. Quickly she tried the door handle, hoping that he'd left it open only to find that he'd used the deadbolt on the door instead of the handle. "Dang it!" she thought darkly as she ran into his garage, having noticed the red fire extinguisher on a work bench toward the back. She tried the back door as well, as she noticed the smoke creeping out the bottom. Gently she placed her hand against the door, feeling for heat before trying the handle. It too was locked, but the door wasn't nearly as thick as the front door. After two or three quick force filled hits to the door, the handle broke away from the door and she kicked the door in as smoke billowed out and the fire alarm blared in her ears.
Knowing that the duplex of her neighbor was the mirror opposite of hers, Emma quickly moved to the kitchen and saw the aftermath of what looked to have been a well planned out Thanksgiving dinner complete with pies, yams, stuffing, and turkey. Based on the amount of boxes piled next to the garbage can, dinner had been pre-made at one of the local stores with 'just bake in the oven for that fresh made look.'
Now after she'd been able to get the turkey cadaver removed from the oven and thrown open a number of the windows in the kitchen and dinning room was Emma able to grab a cold New England breath of fresh air. November was coming quickly to the little home town in Maine. If it hadn't been for her shift at the morgue that early morning, Emma would have been over at her parent's home, enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings, but she'd drawn the short straw and had to work the holiday. Thankfully it was still early enough in the evening to maybe get in some of the wonderful leftovers that she was sure her mother, Mary Margaret would keep for her. Her mom was always baking lavish dinners for the holidays and Emma was not immune to their charms.
Speaking of… Emma looked once more around the kitchen, at the devastation that had been wrought on the once beautiful pale blue walls, granite white counter tops and stainless steel range. But missing was the inhabitant of the duplex. She hadn't tripped over any bodies coming through from the garage, nor where there any in the dining room or living room that she could see as she quickly perused the lower level. Once the fire alarms quit blaring she could make out the sounds of what could only be described as classic rock blaring mutely coming from the upper level of the home. With a shake of her head, Emma headed up the stairs and came to the closed door of the master bedroom.
Without a moment's hesitation, Emma rapped her hardest on the wood of the door only to almost fall into the handsome muscular chest of the man standing behind it.
"Blood Hell!" he growled as his eyes landed upon the soot covered face before him. His azure eyes roved over Emma's ash covered hair, noting where tear tracks trailed through the soot.
"Umm… I'm Emma. Your next door neighbor and I happened to hear the fire alarms going off," Emma blurted out as she caught her breath from the beautiful specimen of the male before her. Quickly she diverted her eyes to the floor, only after she realized how much the smattering of dark hair upon his chest matched that of his barely there scruffy beard. Once she realized that he was holding a towel in the other hand at his waist did she realize what had occurred. Her eyes quickly moved to her hands as she fumbled with the soot covered dish cloth as she continued. "I couldn't get your attention at the door, so I kind of beat in the door from your garage in case you were in trouble…"
Shaking his head in disbelief, he replied, "You must be mistaken, I followed the directions on the boxes provided for the various components of the dinner. There is no way that dinner was burned."
"Look here buddy," Emma flared at being called a liar.
"The name is Killian… Killian Jones. And if…" he retorted only to be stopped in mid rant.
Using her index finger she poked the rather well muscled chest a few times as she replied, "I'm not usually one to do 'heroics' by bursting down doors, but when there are fire alarms wailing and you share walls with my home, I tend to take it personally!"
Seeing the fire in her emerald eyes, Killian took a step back as he took a good hard look at the woman before him. Throwing his hand up in defense while the other gripped the navy blue bath towel around his waist, Killian replied, "Easy there, Emma. I didn't mean any disrespect. I was just stating the facts. But… Let me throw some cloths on so we can continue this conversation…"
"Oh… yeah, that would be easier…" Emma stammered as she quickly averted her eyes once more from her handsome neighbor as her cheeks flushed crimson under the black soot. She quickly turned and retreated down the stairs to the still hazy kitchen.
Killian was pulling a navy blue t-shirt over his head as he descended the stairs. As his eyes landed on the once pristine kitchen he knew that what Emma had said was right all along. Soot covered every available surface. The scent of burnt flesh and bone still hung mutely in the air. His idea of the perfect dinner for his friends and family went up in the conflagration.
"What the blood hell am I going to do now?" he cursed as his eyes wandered over the ruined cookware, stove, and food.
Emma looked over the devastation once again, for the hundredth time that morning it seemed since she'd first come into his kitchen. She saw the look of utter defeat and devastation on his face. Quietly she picked up one of the still clean dishtowels as she started wiping down her face.
"Maybe I can be of some assistance, that is if your up to the challenge of doing this all again," she replied weakly almost afraid that her own courage would fail her.
He turned his head slightly as he took her in once more; her soot covered blond hair had worked its way out of the pony tail and hung down her shoulders. The fierce green eyes that had challenged him once before were turned toward the ruined meal, concentrating on who knew what at the time. Even though soot still covered her face, he could see the natural beauty of her cheeks through the tear stained tracks. Working up the courage he asked her quickly and softly, "What do you have in mine, love?"
"I've a clean kitchen that we could use to quickly remake the food that was burned. I know that some of the stores are still open and if we hurry we could probably have a passable dinner done before you're guests were to arrive. That is if you're up for it?" Her green eyes turned back to Killian. Determination to do the right thing by offering her help shined through her eyes.
Without a moments hesitation, Killian replied, "Aye, that would be of great help, love."
"Good," she replied as she quickly moved toward the front door. Emma stopped once she reached the front door, not hearing his footsteps behind her. "Aren't you coming?" she asked as she retreated back to where Killian was standing at the counters still at a loss for what had happened in his kitchen.
"Umm… Yeah, I'll be right there. Let me just grab my jacket," he replied, scratching that spot behind his ear as he moved away from his ruined kitchen. As he slipped on a black leather jacket Emma patted his arm in a comforting manner as she said, "Once this is over, I'll come help clean up the mess. This really isn't something new to me. I've done it once or twice myself over the years."
A smile slowly split across Killian's face as he realized that he wasn't the only one who had made mistakes in the kitchen before. Here was the perfect 'hero' in his book. And the fact that she looked strikingly beautiful even covered in soot spoke a lot about her.
As the day wore on, Killian and Emma made mashed potatoes, stuffing and various pies from scratch, cranberry sauce and the piece de resistance a 15 pound turkey. They worked in unison under Emma's direction for the remainder of the day. She'd forgotten to call her mother and let her know that there was no need to hold over any leftovers for she had more than enough of her own.
As the time for Killian's guests drew closer, Killian began to fret about having them over at his still smoke smelling home. Seeing his distress, Emma replied, "No worries, we'll just have them come over here. It won't be that much of a problem would it?"
Killian shook his head as he recalled that the last time he'd told his brother he was making Thanksgiving dinner this year that Liam had laughed his butt off. "He doesn't think that I could pull this off. And with your help, love, I've been able to do just that," he smirked as a blush crossed her cheeks.
Killian's brother Liam, sister-in-law Elsa and Elsa's sister Anna and her husband Kristoph all arrived promptly at 6pm for the feast at Emma's place. The only sign that there was a deviation from having it at Killian's was a note saying 'Please go next door' taped to his front door. Everyone was very pleased by the fresh cooked meal and responded favorably to Emma's decadent dessert pies. As they sat around her tidy living room, sipping on some after dinner hot chocolate Liam asked the most pointed question of the evening.
"When were you going to tell us you were dating such a lovely creature, Killian?"
A flush of red quickly flew up his neck and face as he quickly reached for that spot behind his ear. This was not something they had talked about before hand. "Um… well… you see…" he stammered only to be rescued once more by Emma.
"I was coming home from a late shift at the morgue and noticed his smoke alarms going off. It kind of worked its was from there," she replied matter of factly.
Liam nodded as he thought about what she said. "When did this happen, the saving of my brother from the smoke alarms, that is?"
Killian looked as if he was ready to run for the hills by the question and Emma, without a moments hesitation replied, "About 8 o'clock this morning. But I've gotten to know him a lot more since then as we made this wonderful meal." A smile crossed her face as she saw the uneasiness and the deer caught in the headlights look from Killian.
A wicked smile crossed Liam's face as he turned back to Killian, "You'd better keep this one little brother, she's a keeper!"
Killian saw the look of admiration cross his brother's face as he took another look at Emma and saw how much she glowed from the conversation with her brother. "Yes… I think I will!"
He reached over and gently pulled her into his arms, his lips finding hers as he replied, "My savior!"