“I’m not certain.” Cody gave her a reassuring look. “It probably wasn’t one, but I have to ask.”
Her stomach churned. “Could it have been arson?”
“If it has anything to do with ongoing cases, I can’t discuss it. Not yet.” He glanced from the road to her. “I don’t even know if that’s what the object was.”
The churning in her stomach started to heat as anger rose through her. “Why would anyone burn up my car? Have other cars been set on fire, too?”
“Other cars, no.” His gaze was on the road again. “Like I said, we can’t be sure what the object was. I promise to keep you informed as we investigate.”
She was certain he wasn’t going to say anything else about it, so she looked out the window at the passing town.
“You look familiar to me.” He drew her attention back to him and flashed her a quick smile. “And that’s not a come-on.”
Too bad it wasn’t, she thought but said, “I’m from Kansas. I’ve never been here before.”
“I could swear I’ve seen you.” He looked thoughtful. “Are you visiting or moving to Prescott?”
“Visiting.” She pushed curls out of her face and realized most of her ponytail had fallen out. “And housesitting while Leigh’s gone.”
“That’s right.” He kept his eyes on the road. “Mike said she’ll be out of town for awhile.”
“Leigh will be gone a month.” Carilyn pulled her hair back with both hands and fixed her ponytail. “She’ll be touring Europe with a choir group that she sings with.”
“Sounds like a good time.” Cody glanced at her before looking back at the street. “My brother, Clint, left Prescott and lived in Europe for a few years before moving to Argentina. He was gone for several years and just came home to stay some six months ago.”
“He must have liked it there to be gone for so long,” Carilyn said.
Cody shrugged. “He was running from his past, but he finally grew up.” Cody pulled up to a stoplight. “How do you know Leigh?”
“We were sorority sisters at the University of Kansas.” Carilyn smiled as she thought back about those days. “We’ve kept in touch and have gone on vacations together. Somehow I never made it here until now.”
“Leigh is a great gal.” The light changed from red to green and Cody started driving again. He gave her a quick grin. “I bet the pair of you have a few crazy stories to tell.”
Carilyn grinned back. “We certainly do.”
He glanced from the road to her. “I’d like to hear them some time.”
For some reason, she found herself wanting to tell him about every one of their stories.
He turned the truck into a neighborhood with tall shady trees and houses that looked to be at least thirty or forty years old. “Leigh lives down this street.”
“That was fast.” Carilyn watched the houses pass by until they pulled up to a white home with navy blue trim.
Cody parked the truck in front of the home that had an immaculate lawn and trimmed hedges along with towering shade trees. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
She opened the truck’s passenger side door, unsure of how to climb out and keep her short jean skirt from sliding up. Before she could make up her mind, Cody was there, and he held out his hand. With his help she managed to get out of the truck, but still felt embarrassed when her skirt slid higher on her thighs—as if it hadn’t been short enough already.
When she was out of the truck, he walked with her on the stone pavers to the house. Carilyn rang the doorbell. At first she didn’t think anyone was home, but then she heard the bolt lock slide.
The next thing she knew, Leigh had the door open and her blue eyes lit up with delight when she saw Carilyn on the doorstep.
“Cari!” Leigh hugged Carilyn. “It’s so good to see you.”
“I’m excited to see you, too.” Carilyn grinned as Leigh drew back. “It’s been too long.”
Leigh cocked her head, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she held Carilyn by her upper arms. “Something’s happened.” She frowned. “And you smell like smoke.”
“I’m all right.” Carilyn gave a little smile. “I’ll tell you all about it.”
For the first time, Leigh seemed to realize that Cody was standing nearby. “Cody.” She gave him a quick hug. “You look like hell and you smell even more like smoke than Cari does.”
Cody braced one hand on the doorframe. “It’s good to see you, too.” A spark of amusement was in his eyes.
“Don’t think I’m not pleased to see you, but why are you here?” Leigh looked from Cody to Carilyn. “What’s going on?”
Carilyn sighed. “My car caught fire. Cody was there and helped put it out.”
“Oh, my God.” Leigh’s blue eyes widened. “Your car caught fire?” She looked at the street, her gaze resting on Cody’s truck before she looked to Carilyn. “And Cody gave you a ride here?”
“Yes.” Carilyn glanced at Cody. “He happened to be eating at the café where my car burned up.”
“That’s crazy.” Leigh shook her head. “Come inside and we’ll talk.”
“I’ve got to get back to the fire station.” Cody smiled at Carilyn. “It was nice to meet you.”
Carilyn found herself wanting Cody to stay and she mentally shook her head. “Thank you for everything.”
His gaze rested on Carilyn and he looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. When he did speak, he said, “I might need to talk with you again about your car.”
She nodded. “Leigh has my number and I also gave it to the police when they took my statement.”
“See you, Leigh.” He touched the brim of his ball cap as his gaze rested on Carilyn. “Here’s to the rest of the day going much better.”
Carilyn’s heart pounded a little faster at the look in his brown eyes. Then he turned and headed back down the stone pavers to the sidewalk, then around to the driver’s side of his truck. Both Leigh and Carilyn watched him as he drove off.
“Wow, he’s got it bad for you,” Leigh said when she turned back to Carilyn.
Puzzled, Carilyn looked at Leigh. “What?”
Leigh grinned as she pushed the front door all the way open. “You had smooth Cody McBride tongue-tied.”
“What are you talking about?” Carilyn stepped past Leigh, into the house.
Leigh followed and closed the door behind them. “Cody never has a problem talking with the ladies from what I’ve seen. He’s easy-going and fun, and women hang off his every word.”
“So he’s a real ladies’ man?” Carilyn asked, a little disappointed.
“Not in the go-out-with-anything-in-a-skirt sense.” Leigh gave an amused smile. “Just that women want him without him even trying.”
Carilyn’s sense of disappointment vanished. “He seems like a nice guy.”
“He’s a great guy.” Leigh smiled. “And I seriously think he’s got the hots for you.”
“Yeah, right.” Carilyn rolled her eyes. “Even if he did, I’m only going to be here a month.” She moved her attention to the living room. “Your home is gorgeous, Leigh.”
“You might be inclined to stay,” Leigh said with a laugh, ignoring Carilyn’s attempt to change the subject.
“Not happening.” Although she was single now that Sam had left her to join the Peace Corps, and her mother and stepfather had retired in Florida… There wasn’t much tying Carilyn to Kansas anymore.
Leigh put her hand on Carilyn’s arm. “How’s everything with your anxiety?” Leigh asked quietly. “This car fire didn’t trigger anything, did it?”
“No.” Carilyn shook her head. “I’ve made a lot of progress and I haven’t had a panic attack in well over a year now.”
“Good.” Leigh gave Carilyn a quick hug. “It’s so great to see you.”
“I’m happy to be here,” Carilyn said with a smile. She turned and stepped from the rug in front of the door onto the tiled floor. “I love how you’ve decorated.
”
“It’s taken a lot of remodeling to get it the way I want it.” Leigh’s blonde hair swung about her shoulders as she turned and headed toward an archway. “Come on and I’ll show you the place and then we’ll sit down and you can tell me what happened to your car.”
Leigh had beautiful antique furniture in every room. She always wanted Carilyn to go antiquing with her, wherever they traveled.
As they walked through the living room, Carilyn spotted a photograph of herself, Leigh, and their friend Misha from their sorority days. Carilyn laughed. “I have this same photo, framed and in my bedroom.”
With a smile, Leigh said, “It’s my favorite of the three of us.”
After Leigh had given the tour of the house, she led Carilyn to the kitchen. Leigh had a thing for roosters and chickens in her kitchen décor.
“Coffee?” Leigh turned on her Keurig. “I’m dying for a cup.”
“I’d love some.” Carilyn held back a yawn that suddenly came on. “I could use a little stimulation. It was a long drive out here.”
Leigh offered Carilyn a choice of flavored coffee and used the individual serving cups to make Carilyn a cup of Belgium chocolate and butter toffee for herself.
“I bought ice cream.” Leigh set the cups of coffee on the table before heading for the freezer.
“Chocolate?” Carilyn asked hopefully.
“Do you even have to ask?” Leigh took a carton of dark chocolate ice cream from the freezer and grabbed an ice cream scoop out of a drawer. She told Carilyn where to find the dessert bowls and spoons.
Carilyn set the dishes and silverware on the kitchen table then took a seat. Still standing, Leigh put two big scoops of ice cream into each of their bowls.
When she’d seated herself, Leigh grabbed a spoon. Carilyn took a bite and gave a blissful smile. “I needed this.”
“I’ll bet.” Leigh dug her own spoon into her chocolate ice cream. “Okay, tell me about your car.”
Carilyn sighed. “I arrived two hours early and couldn’t get hold of you so I went to a café called the Hummingbird.”
Leigh frowned as she picked up her cup of coffee. “You called?”
Carilyn nodded. “Several times.”
“My phone never rang.” She set down her coffee to dig in her pocket then pulled out a cell phone. When she looked at it she shook her head. “Damn, it’s dead. Forgot to charge it.” She set it on the table. “You could have come straight here.”
“I probably would have eventually,” Carilyn said. “I just didn’t want to drop in when you weren’t expecting me.”
Leigh brushed her comment away with her hand. “You didn’t need to wait. You should have come on over.”
Carilyn took a drink of her coffee then shrugged. “Maybe it was a good thing so that my car didn’t catch fire right in front of your house.” She gritted her teeth. “I lost my laptop. I’m going to have to build everything from the ground up.”
“I’m sorry, Cari.” Leigh frowned. “Did you have everything backed up? Or was your backup in the car, too?”
“Everything is backed up.” Carilyn nodded. “I keep everything on an off-site server. It’ll take some time to download everything and get it set up, but I’m grateful I took care of that before I left.”
“Thank goodness,” Leigh said.
Carilyn set the cup down and absently ran her finger around the rim. “I think the firefighters found something in the car that makes them think it could be arson.”
Leigh’s eyes widened. “Arson?”
With a nod, Carilyn said, “Not officially.” She explained to Leigh about the object, that Cody had asked her if she had Barbie dolls, and how he wouldn’t talk with her about it. “Something to do with ongoing investigations. He said he wasn’t even sure the object was a Barbie.”
“That’s scary.” Leigh was frowning. “I haven’t heard of any cars catching on fire before.”
Carilyn’s gaze narrowed. “But you’ve heard of other fires?”
A light dawned in Leigh’s eyes. “There have been some suspicious fires around Prescott over the past couple of months. Three that I know of.”
A shiver trailed Carilyn’s spine. “Were Barbies involved?”
“I haven’t heard anything about dolls being involved.” Leigh appeared to be thinking it over. “Maybe it’s one of those inside clues like you see on crime shows that isn’t made public.”
Carilyn looked down into her coffee mug. “Maybe so…”
“So tell me everything you are able to,” Leigh said, drawing Carilyn’s attention to her.
“Not really much to tell beyond that.” Carilyn spooned some of her ice cream. “Went into the café and had a bite to eat, came out and the car was smoking and then burning. Like I mentioned earlier, Cody happened to be eating at the restaurant the same time I was, and apparently came out on my heels.” She shook her head. “One moment I was trying to dial 9-1-1 and the next he was rushing by and calling the fire department on his radio.”
“Nothing like being rescued by a sexy firefighter.” Leigh smiled. “Speaking of sexy firefighters, I don’t suppose you met my boyfriend. His name is Mike Lawson.”
“I was in a little bit of shock, so I’m not sure if he was there,” Carilyn said.
“I’ll introduce you to him.” Leigh ate another bite before she said, “I’m going to make a batch of cookies and we can take them to the fire department before I leave for Europe. I usually bake the guys something once or twice a month.”
“You always did like cooking and baking.” Carilyn raised her spoon. “You were the best cook in the whole sorority.”
With a laugh, Leigh said, “That’s probably how I got in to begin with.”
Carilyn grinned. “Not only that, but it was because you made the best homemade ice cream ever.”
“I knew it.” Leigh waved her spoon. “It was always about the goodies.”
Carilyn set her own spoon in her bowl and said more seriously, “It’s really good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too, Cari.” Leigh gave Carilyn a teasing look. “Now to find a way to get you to stay. I think I’ll have a talk with Cody McBride.”
“Don’t you dare,” Carilyn said. “Besides, I’m tired of men.”
“Sam hurt you that badly?” Leigh asked quietly.
Carilyn paused to consider. “I loved Sam and still do…but it’s a friendly love, nothing more. It was a shock when he told me he was going into the Peace Corps.” She sighed as she thought about the last couple of years. “I miss him terribly, but I’m moving on with my life. We’ll always be good friends, it just won’t be what I thought it would.”
“Well, if you’re moving on, I know just the cowboy fireman for you.” Leigh had a gleam in her eyes.
“Cowboy fireman, huh?” Carilyn smiled. “And I thought he was sexy as a firefighter. Now that I know he’s a cowboy too, that changes everything.” As the gleam brightened in Leigh’s eyes, Carilyn held up her hands in a “whoa” motion. “I was just kidding.”
“Ha!” Leigh’s grin was wicked. “Behind every joke is a grain of truth.”
“Not this time.” But even as Carilyn shook her head, she couldn’t help thinking of the incredibly sexy firefighter/cowboy. Despite what she’d said to Leigh, she couldn’t deny that she really might like to get to know him better.
***
Chapter 3
On the trip back to the firehouse, Cody kept thinking about Carilyn and how much he was attracted to her. It had been a long time since he’d had such a strong reaction to meeting a woman—hell, he didn’t remember ever feeling this attracted to anyone. She was the kind of woman a man wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off of once he had her.
Damn, she was cute with her fiery red hair, clear green eyes, and that sprinkling of freckles across her nose. From what he’d seen of her, she had a sweet personality and he had a feeling she was a kind and generous person—he was usually right on with first impressions. She had als
o handled all that had happened well, considering her car had been torched and her belongings destroyed in the fire.
He pictured the moment the women had gotten together. From the enthusiastic way she and Leigh had greeted each other, it was obvious they were very close. Now why did Carilyn look so familiar to him when she’d never been to Prescott? He didn’t forget faces. It was going to drive him crazy until he figured it out.
He’d wanted to ask her out, but had found himself tongue-tied, something he’d rarely experienced with the opposite sex. The only other time he could remember was when he’d asked Mindy Hoffer to the senior prom—and that had been a very long time ago.
If given a second chance with Carilyn, he hoped he’d have the balls to ask her out. Why the hell he felt like a love-struck teenager around her, he had no idea.
When he arrived at the fire station, Cody took a quick shower and put on clean clothes. He headed out to the bay while lost in his thoughts. He had a few things to take care of and he always took care of things when they needed to be done.
Mike Lawson walked into the station just as Cody was finishing checking his turnout gear.
“Hey, Lawson,” Cody called out, catching the other firefighter’s attention.
Mike gave a nod and headed in Cody’s direction. “What’s up?”
“Saw Leigh earlier.” Cody hung his helmet on its hook above his other gear.
“I heard.” Mike grinned. “She mentioned that she thought you might have a thing for the gal who’s going to be housesitting for her.”
Feeling a little sheepish, Cody shook his head. “That obvious, huh?”
Mike hooked his thumbs in his front pockets. “Leigh thought so.”
“How about meeting at the Highlander for drinks this Friday night? Bring Leigh.” Cody braced one hand on the fire truck. “I’m off that day.”
“I’ll arrange it.” With an amused look, Mike added, “And tell Leigh to bring her friend, right?”
Cody grinned. “You’ve got it.”
“Tell me about the car fire.” Mike sobered as he changed the subject. “Leigh had the impression from her friend that it could be arson.”
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