Flare Up

by Shannon Stacey

  It was weird. He was aware of it, so he wasn’t surprised his closest friends were aware of it, too. And while Cait kept her expression pretty neutral, Gavin would scowl slightly before turning his attention back to the group at large.

  Grant figured it wouldn’t be long before Gavin suggested they grab a beer and shoot some pool at Kincaid’s, which would lead to a concerned grilling about what the hell was going on.

  He didn’t know.

  When they were finished, Patty stood and started gathering plates. “Why don’t you all go relax for a few minutes and let dinner settle before we have dessert?”

  “Dessert?” Gavin groaned and put his hand on his stomach. “Warn a guy, would ya?”

  “You always find a way,” she said, her affection for her future son-in-law obvious in her voice. “Grant, why don’t you take Wren upstairs and show her the room?”

  He froze for a second. Sure, he knew which room it was. He’d helped out when they did a massive decluttering of the house and repainted the upstairs. But it wasn’t his house.

  But then he caught the look she gave him and realized Patty thought he was the one most likely to talk her into accepting the offer. “Okay. Sure.”

  Wren followed him quietly up the stairs and down the hall to the small spare bedroom. He couldn’t read her as he opened the door and waved for her to go in.

  “It’s small, but nice,” he said, since that was pretty much all there was to say about it.

  For a while, after Cait moved out, it had become something of a storage room. And then Cait had moved back in to help out after her stepfather died, living around the clutter. Once she’d moved in with Gavin, they’d redone everything and now it was a pretty typical guest room. Twin bed with a blue quilt. Bedside table with a lamp, and a small dresser. And a shabby floral armchair that had definitely seen better days, but Grant knew firsthand how comfortable it was.

  “It doesn’t have its own bathroom, but there are only two other people, so it wouldn’t be hard to figure out the schedule.”

  “It’s pretty,” she said, still giving him nothing as far as her mood.

  “I know it probably feels strange. But you like Patty and Carter. And it’s a safe, comfortable place to live while you make up your mind about what you want to do next. This way you don’t have to rush or keep sleeping on a couch.”

  “I’ve been looking around online,” she said, running her hand over the quilt. “There’s not a lot out there. And there’s almost nothing decent in my price range.”

  “Patty would love to have you here. That’s the truth.”

  “I could maybe use a mom in my life right now. Even if she’s not mine.”

  He fought back against an urge to put his arms around her because it didn’t feel like a friend offering comfort. It felt like a primal need to hold her, and that was too messy right now. He was supposed to be thinking with his brain, not his heart, he reminded himself.

  “I’ll rent the room,” she said quietly. “I know she’ll balk at that, but it’s important to me. I’ll pay room and board.”

  He knew Patty would definitely balk at that, but she’d give in once she realized Wren wouldn’t do it any other way. “Okay. You two can talk about it. But you’ll stay here?”

  “I’ll stay.”

  He smiled, and when she blushed, his body tightened in response. That was how it had started. A look. Her shy sideways glances. His smile. Her blush. Up until the moment he’d laid eyes on Wren, he would have walked away from a woman like her. He wanted company, not a challenge.

  But she’d challenged him in a way he couldn’t resist. He’d wanted to know her, and he’d moved slower than he’d ever moved before. He’d been patient and let her back away when she needed to. Eventually she’d started letting him in and the reward had been sweeter than he could have imagined.

  Now, as her cheeks glowed pink and her gaze skittered away, he realized they were back where they’d started.

  And maybe that meant they could get back what they’d had.

  Chapter Six

  “That didn’t take long,” Cait said, her hands on her hips as she looked around the room that was now Wren’s.

  “I guess there’s a plus side to everything you own fitting in one duffel bag,” Wren said.

  Cait laughed and then covered her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. “Sorry. That’s not funny.”

  “I said it to be funny. Laughing is better than crying, and feeling sorry for myself won’t get me anywhere.”

  But Cait was right. It definitely hadn’t taken long. Once Patty had reluctantly agreed Wren would be a boarder and not a guest and they’d had dessert, they’d gone back to Cait’s for her belongings. Cait had insisted on returning to her mom’s to help her settle in, which was pretty funny considering it had taken about five minutes to put everything away.

  She barely got a chance to say goodbye to Grant. Since he’d driven over separately and it didn’t take four of them to pack one bag, he’d gone home. Or out. Or wherever he’d gone. And she’d gotten little more than a wave and a see you later as he left.

  Wren heard footsteps in the hall and then Patty poked her head through the open doorway. “How are you girls making out? Do you have everything you need?”

  “I do. I’m all moved in.” And she’d already asked them about their usual schedule, so she’d be able to stay out of the way. Not that Patty would mind, but she wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible.

  “Make yourself at home, Wren. I mean it. Decorate the room however you want. And feel free to have friends over, if you want.”

  She wasn’t really planning on staying there long enough to redecorate the room. And she hadn’t had company over since the last time Grant visited her first apartment, so friends probably wouldn’t be an issue. But she appreciated Patty’s desire for her to feel welcome and smiled.

  “Thank you, Patty.”

  “And let me know if you need anything at all.”

  “I will.”

  After giving her daughter a bright smile, Patty went back downstairs and Cait dropped into the armchair. “She’s going to drive you crazy, you know.”

  “Or maybe I’ll drive her crazy.”

  “I know you both well enough to tell you I’m right on this one.”

  Wren sat on the edge of the bed. “My mom was out cycling with a friend and got hit by a truck when I was sixteen. So while Patty might eventually drive me crazy, I think it’ll be cool to have a mom figure for a bit.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” After a few seconds, Cait’s expression shifted from sympathetic to confused. “How did I not know that?”

  “I got pretty good at saying a lot of words and deflecting and redirecting without people realizing I never actually answered the question.” She smiled apologetically. “I’m going to try not to do that anymore, though. There’s no sense, because I’m not hiding anything, and I really want to be better about letting people in.”

  “What about your dad?”

  Wren shrugged. “I don’t really know. I know Everett is my mother’s maiden name and our father’s first name was Dave. Other than that, I know my mother decided after having two children with him that he was a no-good bum and that was the end of that. When my mom died, Alex was in college, so I lived with a friend’s family until I was old enough to rent an apartment.”

  “Grant told us about your brother. And I know you probably hate that he did, but that’s what we do. So you were totally alone in the world after your brother turned on you?”

  She was about to correct Cait—it had been her own fault, not Alex’s—but she didn’t say the words. Having all of these people reaching out to help her after what she’d done to Grant had her doubting her conviction about that situation.

  “I didn’t mind it,” she said. “I like a quiet, simple life and I didn’t have to w
orry about anybody but myself.”

  “Then you met Grant.”

  “Yeah. Then I met Grant.” Wren couldn’t hold back the sigh when she thought of the first time he’d gone into the coffee shop where she worked. “It was the smile that did me in. I mean, he’s hot, of course. And he’s confident and strong and all that, but I was doing a pretty good job of resisting him, until he smiled.”

  “He didn’t tell Gavin about you at first. That he liked you, I mean. He didn’t want to be a thing before you were ready, and he knew you wanted to take it slow.”

  “Very slow.”

  Cait laughed. “He said he almost went broke going to that coffee shop to see you and he doesn’t even like fancy coffees.”

  “He did an amazing job of being patient and persistent at the same time,” Wren said, but it took an effort to maintain the smile.

  She’d really blown it. She’d let fear take over and she’d lost the best thing that had ever happened to her.

  “We need a girls’ night out,” Cait said abruptly.

  “What?”

  “Fun. We all need a little fun. How about this Saturday? Do you have to work?”

  “No, but—”

  “No buts. You’ve been gone for months and now we’ve got you back and we’re going to celebrate.”

  Wren chuckled, but it was a little more wry than amused. She needed a lot of things. Clothes. Food. A roof of her own. The last thing she should be doing was spending her money on a single meal and drinks, or whatever it was Cait had in mind.

  “Don’t do it,” Cait said.

  “Do what?”

  “Your face is doing that closing off thing you do so well, and you’re going to tell me no. Don’t do it.”

  Wren didn’t want to do the “closing off thing” anymore. And she didn’t need to. There were no more secrets.

  “I could use a night out,” she confessed. “And something fun to look forward to.”

  “I’m going to text everybody.” Cait had her phone in her hand before Wren could even speak. “And it’ll only be women you know. No strangers, I promise. It’s going to be so fun.”

  As she watched her friend sending text messages, Wren thought about the fact she’d lost practically everything in a fire, almost died and didn’t have a home of her own, and yet her life was still better now than it had been three days before.

  She wasn’t alone. She had friends and her jobs and Patty. And there was Grant. She wasn’t sure what they had, but she didn’t not have him, and that was enough for now.

  * * *

  Friday was a slow day. Clear skies and cold enough to keep people from running around too much, but not so cold as to present more problems. Grant didn’t mind, since it meant they could work around the station and stay out of the cold, but it also left a lot of time for him to think.

  And, sprawled in a recliner in the common room, the only thing on his mind was Wren.

  That wasn’t new. Wren had spent a lot of time in his thoughts since the day he’d met her. And he’d spent the last five months wondering where she was and if she was okay and wishing he could at least ask her why.

  Now he knew where she was and knew she was okay and she’d finally told him why. Who she’d been running from, anyway. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to wrap his head around why she hadn’t come to him with it.

  She said she hadn’t thought, but had just reacted. But if she really loved him, wouldn’t her instinct be to turn to him?

  Something hit him in the chest, and once he was done flinching and identifying the something as a candy bar, he looked up to see it was Scott who’d thrown it. “What’s this for?”

  “You look like you need a pick-me-up.”

  “So you chuck a Snickers at me?”

  “I was aiming for your head.”

  “Sucks getting old, don’t it?”

  The old Scotty would have lost his shit and, while he probably wouldn’t have swung, he’d have blistered Grant’s ears. This new, improved and in love version just grinned. “I’m getting better with age. I’m like wine.”

  Aidan had just walked into the common room. “You mean full-bodied?”

  Scott flipped him off, but then he put his hand over his stomach, frowning. He’d only put on a few pounds over the last year, but he was sensitive about it and anybody but his best friend couldn’t have gotten away with that crack. And Grant managed not to laugh. Barely, but he managed.

  “Hopefully the women won’t get up to no good tomorrow night,” Aidan said as he dropped onto the couch.

  That got Grant’s full attention. “What do you mean? Which women?”

  “Last I heard, the group was Cait, Wren, Lydia, Ashley and Jamie. Lydia and Ashley got Karen Shea to cover for them at Kincaid’s. Olivia and Jess have some thing they’re doing for the Village Hearts charity, so just the five of them that I know of.”

  “That’s not a good idea.” Grant didn’t even think about the words. He just said them out loud.

  And Aidan laughed at him. “No, telling those women they can’t have a girls’ night is what’s not a good idea.”

  “Where are they going?”

  “I don’t know. Some club with fancy cocktails and a dance floor and some shit. Honestly, I might have tuned out on some of the details.”

  “It doesn’t bother you? Your wife going out drinking in some club without you?”

  Aidan gave him a what the fuck is wrong with you look. “First, I don’t tell Lydia what to do. Ever. People think Scott is the hardheaded Kincaid, but his sisters make him look like a puppy dog if they get pissed. Second, I trust my wife. And third, she works in a bar. Drunk guys hitting on her is just another day for Lydia. She can handle herself.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Yeah, but nothing,” Scotty interrupted. “You don’t care if Lydia goes to a club. You want Aidan and I to try to talk our wives out of it so the girls’ night out will fall apart and Wren won’t be out at a club without you.”

  “No.” Fuck. “Okay, maybe.”

  “Food’s ready,” they heard Chris yell from the kitchen.

  Of course, once they were all gathered around the table, eating some of the finest pulled pork sandwiches in the city, Scotty made sure everybody knew Grant was tied up in knots about Wren going out on the town.

  “How much trouble can she get into with those ladies? Oh wait...” Chris said, and then he laughed like he’d made the funniest joke ever.

  Grant didn’t laugh. “When a group of married—or as good as married—women go out with one single friend in a mix, they want to find her a guy. It’s a thing they do.”

  “It’s a thing they do?” Rick snorted. “I had no idea you were such a fountain of feminine knowledge, kid.”

  “They’re probably going to buy some overpriced pink drinks in tiny glasses and sit around complaining about their men,” Gavin said. “Well, Cait won’t. But the rest of them will.”

  They laughed when Danny, who’d been on his way to the fridge, cuffed him upside the head as he walked by.

  “And least Lydia and Jamie won’t be buying overpriced cocktails, since neither of them can drink. As a bonus, they’ve got the designated drivers covered,” Scotty said with a chuckle.

  Everybody looked at him like they were trying to figure out what he was talking about, except for Aidan, who elbowed him in the ribs. “Asshole.”

  “Shit.”

  “I just won twenty bucks,” Danny said. “Ashley said Aidan would accidentally spill the beans first, but I knew it would be Scotty.”

  “Wait. Jamie and Lydia are both pregnant?” Rick scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “So we’re getting a Kincaid baby and a Hunt baby let loose on the world at the same time?”

  “About a month apart, give or take.” Scott held up his hands. “And, no, it wasn’t planned.”r />
  “Jesus, every elementary school teacher in the city’s going to be doing the math to figure out how long they have to transfer or retire.”

  “And the hockey coaches,” Rick added.

  “We don’t know if they’re boys or girls yet,” Chris pointed out.

  Aidan laughed. “Shit, it don’t matter. If you think either Scotty or I will have a daughter who won’t throw a hard check, you haven’t been paying attention.”

  “And you certainly don’t know our wives,” Scott said.

  There were congratulations and jokes, but Grant tuned most of it out. He was thrilled for the other guys, but hearing about the babies on the way caused a weird twinge in his gut.

  One of the theories he’d come up with while lying awake in the dark in the time after Wren had disappeared was that she’d gotten pregnant and was upset and didn’t want to tell him. It was an unlikely theory, not only because he always used protection, but they both wanted kids. Not immediately, of course, but children had come up in conversation and neither of them had ever said they didn’t want to be a parent.

  And because he’d been emotionally battered and his walls were down, he’d stupidly allowed himself to picture what that would look like. In his imaginings, she’d changed her mind and returned to him, and they’d had a baby together. A little girl with blonde hair, who looked like her mom.

  The painful what-if thoughts hadn’t helped him sleep at night.

  “Hey, Grant,” Gavin said as they started clearing the table. “Since they’re having a girls’ night out, we should hit Kincaid’s and shoot some pool or something.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  Thoughts of Wren out at a club, dancing and laughing and having fun while guys tried to buy her drinks, were definitely not going to help him sleep tonight. Or tomorrow night.

  The woman was hell on his REM sleep cycle.