Brave the Heat

by Sara Humphreys

  “Ex-husband,” Jordan corrected.

  “Right. How could I forget? She left me.” Ted’s smile fell. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Gavin McGuire.” He seemed to stand even taller than before, his six-foot-two frame easily dwarfing Ted’s slimmer, shorter stature. “Fire chief in Old Brookfield and an old friend of the family.”

  “Can’t be much of an old friend,” Ted scoffed. “I didn’t even know she had parents until two years after we were married, and she never mentioned you.”

  “That’s funny,” Gavin said evenly, taking one step forward. “I’ve heard plenty about you. Or more to the point, your behavior.”

  Ignoring Gavin’s last comment, Ted stumbled to his right and looked around the porch of the old Colonial as though it were the biggest dump on the planet.

  “So this is where you grew up. I guess it explains a lot.” As he turned around to face them, all humor left his voice. “Where are the girls?”

  “They’re in the backyard, but I really wish you’d let me know you were going to be here,” Jordan said quickly. Anxiety rippled up her back as she moved toward him, Gavin right behind her. “They haven’t seen you in six months, and you haven’t even taken their calls for the past two. I really don’t think surprising them at their grandfather’s funeral is the best way to see them for the first time in months. Besides, you’re drunk, Ted.”

  “Are you trying to keep me from my children?” Ted’s eyes narrowed and he moved toward Jordan. He stopped dead in his tracks when Gavin took one more step in his direction. “I have a right to see my kids. You can’t keep me from them. You may have moved them out here to this beach-town shithole, but you can’t stop me from seeing them.”

  Gavin took another step closer but Jordan put her hand on his arm, preventing him from going any further.

  “Actually, Ted,” Jordan said in a cool, calm tone, “due to your series of failed drug tests, the judge ruled that you can’t have unsupervised visits with them until you submit a clean drug test and complete a ninety-day rehab. Until you do that, all of your visits have to supervised by a court-appointed psychologist.” Her tone softened. “Please get some help and go to rehab. If you love Gracie and Lily, and really want what’s best for them, then you’ll leave now and go straight there.”

  “This is bullshit,” Ted spat out. “You want me to be watched with my own kids? Have some headshrinker spying on me? I don’t need to go to some stupid rehab, Jordan. I’m fine.”

  “Yeah,” Gavin scoffed. “You’re in great shape.”

  “Fuck you.” Ted wavered on his feet and would have fallen over but grabbed the railing and remained upright. “This is none of your business.”

  “It’s not only my request,” Jordan said calmly. “The judge made that ruling, and maybe if you hadn’t been hungover in court all the time, you’d have remembered that part. Your attorney wanted to argue the point, but you were so hell-bent on getting rid of us that you told him to shut up.”

  “No way.” Ted’s face was beet red and the vein in his forehead bulged more with each passing second. His hands curled into fists and Jordan took an involuntary step back. “You think I’m going to let you raise my daughters to be white-trash whores like you?”

  In his alcohol-fueled rage, he lunged toward Jordan. Eyes squeezed shut, she braced for the impact but none came.

  “That’s it,” Gavin grunted. “You’re outta here.”

  Instead of getting ahold of her, Ted was met with the immovable force that was Gavin McGuire. In a flash, Gavin grabbed him by the back of the neck and the belt of his pants, easily dragging the smaller man off the porch. Ted kicked and screamed profanity as Gavin escorted him to the waiting limo. The driver, who’d obviously seen them coming, was already out and holding open the door for his unruly boss.

  At this point, Jordan’s mother, the caterers, and the last few guests were spilling out onto the porch to see what was happening.

  If Jordan hadn’t been so furious, she’d have been completely mortified.

  Shaking with a sure shot of adrenaline, Jordan turned in time to spot Maddy and the girls coming around the side of the house. Maddy quickly realized was going on and immediately shooed the girls to the backyard, keeping them from witnessing their father’s outburst.

  Letting out a whimper of relief, Jordan turned her attention back to the driveway and her blood ran cold at the sight before her.

  Gavin’s fists were curled around Ted’s lapels, and he had Ted pinned against the side of the limo. Gavin loomed over her ex-husband with a ferocious, deadly look that she’d never seen before. His face was inches from Ted’s and she could tell he was saying something, but they were too far away for her to hear.

  And there was a better-than-average chance that Gavin’s seemingly endless stream of patience had run out.

  * * *

  “I’ll sue you and this whole crappy town if you don’t take your hands off me,” Ted spat out. Spittle clung to his chin and the distinct scent of whiskey wafted over Gavin with every word. “Do you have any idea how much I’m worth? A lot more than some loser fireman.”

  Gavin kept him pinned against the limo, rage bubbling up and damn well about to boil over. When Ted made the stupid mistake of lunging at Jordan, Gavin had almost lost it. But once he got his hands on the guy, he knew it wouldn’t be a fair fight. Memories of tangling with Jordan’s old man came roaring to the surface as he dragged Ted to the limo, but that wasn’t what stopped him. It was the knowledge that Lily and Gracie might come into the front yard at any moment and see him pummeling their father.

  “I’ll have your job for this,” Ted seethed. “I have witnesses.”

  “So do I,” Gavin growled. His fists were firmly fixed around the guy’s jacket, and he pressed him harder against the limo. “And they live in this, what did you call it? Beach-town shithole? Yeah, I think that was it. Unlike you, they care about Jordan and her mother, and I don’t think they like seeing her threatened by her drunken ex-husband.”

  Gavin pushed his knuckles harder into the dirtbag’s chest, making the guy wince.

  “So here’s what you’re gonna do, Ted. You are going to put your whiskey-soaked ass in this shiny limo and go somewhere to dry out. If and when you sober up, then maybe you can contact Jordan about visiting her daughters. But in the meantime, I’ll be taking Jordan down to the police station to file a formal complaint so she can seek a restraining order.

  “You won’t come within fifty feet of her or those girls. And if you do…” Gavin leaned closer so that his face was inches from Ted’s. The man’s eyes widened with the unmistakable flare of fear. “If you do, then you will deal with me. And I don’t care if you own all of Manhattan. If you so much as breathe the wrong way near Jordan, Lily, or Gracie, I will personally kick your sorry ass so hard that not even your own mother will recognize you.”

  Gavin dropped his hands and stepped back as Ted’s driver held the door open.

  “This isn’t over.” Ted’s dark, beady eyes narrowed, and he smoothed the wrinkled linen jacket before slipping into the limo. It did little good. The guy was a mess. “Not even close.”

  “Bye, Ted.” Gavin stepped back as the car door slammed shut, and the limo backed up and sped away down the street. “Go to hell,” he murmured.

  Gavin suspected that wouldn’t be the last he saw of good old Ted. It was a better than fair chance that the asshole would try to pay Jordan a visit at her house. Striding up the driveway, Gavin scanned the area to make sure the girls weren’t anywhere in sight. While he didn’t see them, there was an audience of wide-eyed women on the porch. Letting out a sigh of relief that at least Lily and Gracie probably didn’t see that exchange, some of the tension in his shoulders eased and he trotted up the steps.

  “I’m sorry,” Jordan said quietly.

  “What are you apologizing for?” Gavin took her hand and gave it a squeeze. She was almost exactly his height while he was standing on the step below her, and the pained exp
ression on her face about did him in. “You didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, you handled him like a pro. You kept to the facts and cited the custody agreement.”

  “It’s my fault,” Claire said in a shaky whisper.

  Wringing her hands together, with a church lady friend on either side of her, she looked every bit the beaten woman she’d been for most of her life. It was no surprise to Gavin that she hadn’t stood up to Ted, given the guy she’d been married to. If a man told her to do something, she did it.

  “He said he was comin’, and I told him it might not be a good idea. But he kept insistin’ that he wanted to see his girls and make it a surprise. I’m so sorry, Jordan. I didn’t know he’d show up and act like that.”

  “Mama, stop.” She gathered Claire in a hug, the two older women giving way for her. Gavin didn’t miss the knowing look they exchanged as Jordan cradled her mother. “How could you know? You haven’t spent any time with him, and I haven’t exactly been a fountain of information about my life for the past few years. It’s okay, Mama.” Pulling back, Jordan gestured to the church ladies. “The caterer is about done cleaning up. Why don’t you go on inside and relax?”

  Claire nodded and started to go in the house, but she stopped in the doorway. Her frail hand lingered on the screen door for a moment before she set her weary sights on Gavin.

  “I’m glad you were here, Gavin.” Claire’s salt-and-pepper hair fluttered as a late summer breeze drifted over them again. Tears filled her eyes and her voice came out in a strangled croak. “I-I don’t want to think about what might have happened if you hadn’t been.”

  As the screen door clacked shut behind her mother, Jordan immediately wrapped her arms around Gavin’s waist, hugging him tightly. Claire’s words haunted him. He’d made the restraining-order comment to Ted on a whim, but it actually made a hell of a lot of sense.

  “I think you should consider getting a restraining order.”

  “A restraining order.” Jordan stilled before lifting her head slowly. Her hands lingered along his waist and, staring into that gorgeous face, he could see the wheels turning. “I don’t know, Gavin. I mean, that’s taking it to a whole other level, and what’s a piece of paper gonna do?”

  “He cares about his reputation, right? If you file one against him, I doubt he’d do anything to violate it and get his sorry ass arrested. Those fancy clients of his wouldn’t like that, would they? I think a restraining order would keep a coward like him at bay.”

  “Great idea!” Maddy’s typically perky voice piped in. She strode around the side of the house and climbed the steps, a big grin on her face and her dark, curly hair bouncing around her head. “See? I knew you were more than a pretty face, Gavin.”

  “Where are the girls?” Jordan tensed and looked around for her daughters. “Did they see—”

  “Not a thing.” Maddy held up both hands and made the sign of an X over her heart. “I swear! When I saw Gavin with a squirrelly little man by a limo, I figured it could only be one person. The girls are in the kitchen having cookies with the kids from down the street. Listen, if anyone can pull a fast one and use the old distract-and-confuse trick, it’s a Realtor,” she said with a wink. Her smile faded and she leaned back against the railing, her long skirt fluttering in a gust of wind. “But I think Gavin is right about the restraining order, Jordan. Seriously? Your ex isn’t wrapped right.”

  “Do me a favor.” Tangling Jordan’s fingers with his, Gavin pulled her to him and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “At least think about it.”

  “Right now…” Jordan sighed and spun around so her back was nestled against Gavin’s chest. She pulled his arms around her waist, her body molded to his, and it felt so right that he never wanted her to move. “I’m so tired, I can’t make any decisions. It’s been an emotionally exhausting day.”

  “You said it!” Maddy hopped off the railing and glanced at her watch. “Listen, kids, I have to head out. I promised Rick I’d bring dinner by the station so the two of us can actually have a conversation while we’re both awake.” Giving Jordan and Gavin each a quick kiss on the cheek, she yanked open the screen door and waggled her eyebrows. “And maybe more than a conversation,” she said before disappearing into the house.

  “She’s too much.” Jordan laughed. “I’m going to check on the girls and have them gather up their things. I offered to stay here with my mom for a couple more days, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Then I asked her to come stay with me, but she didn’t want to do that either.” Sadness edged Jordan’s voice as she looked through the screen at Claire. “I’m worried about her.”

  “This is her home, Jordan. She lived here with your dad, for better or worse, for over twenty years.” Gavin let her hand slip from his as she went to the door. “But I have to be honest, with Ted lurking around, I wish like hell you weren’t staying out at the beach alone.”

  “I’ll be fine, Gavin.” She tossed him that breathtaking smile, the one that lit up her entire face, and his heart did a somersault. “Ted won’t come out there. He’s probably halfway to the city by now.”

  “Really?” Gavin folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head. “You mean kind of like he wouldn’t come to your father’s funeral reception and make a scene? Like that?”

  “What do you want me to do?” The tone of her voice ratcheted up, her fear and frustration—the things he knew she was trying to hide from him—roaring to the surface. “Crawl into a hole and hide? Deep down under all that booze, Ted is a coward. You said it yourself. I will not live in fear. That’s one of the reasons I left him. And there’s no way I’ll let my daughters live that way.”

  Her face was etched with determination as she tilted her chin, daring him to argue with her, and in that moment, Gavin realized how much he loved her. She was scared, but in spite of that, the woman would do anything, suffer through anything, to give her daughters a safe, stable home.

  “Fine.” He nodded slowly. “You have a spare bedroom at your place? If I remember correctly, the Sweeneys’ house had three bedrooms. Right?”

  “Uh, yes.” Jordan blinked and released the screen door’s handle, letting the door close quietly. Gavin took another step nearer, hands in his pockets. He smiled when her nostrils flared ever so slightly upon his approach, and she leaned toward him almost imperceptibly. “There are three bedrooms,” she said quietly. “The girls share one and I’m in the master. There’s a small guest bedroom down the hall from mine. Why?”

  Gavin smirked as a wide-eyed expression of understanding bloomed on Jordan’s face.

  “Oh, no you don’t. I don’t need a bodyguard, Gavin.” Holding up both hands, she continued. “Besides, you have enough going on with all the fires lately and things being so crazy with your job. The last complication you need is feeling like you have to babysit me and my daughters.”

  “Well, actually, you’d be doing me a favor,” he murmured.

  “Oh really?” Jordan arched one eyebrow. “How’s that?”

  “I’ve been meaning to have my place painted.” He tried to keep the smile from sliding across his face, but it was no use. “And those fumes gimme a headache.”

  “Oh really?”

  “Sure.” He tilted his head to the side. “Remember that summer before senior year when I painted houses with Nate and Vince? I had headaches the whole damn summer.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Jordan poked him in the chest. “Or were they from the cases of beer you guys drank?”

  “Beer? Fumes? Who can say?” He put both hands over his heart in an overly dramatic gesture. “You wouldn’t want me to take a chance like that, would you? Of course not. So I’m gonna need somewhere to crash until the job is done and the fumes are clear.”

  “Is that so? Well, your parents’ house is enormous, Gavin.” Hands on her hips, she narrowed her eyes. “They have seven bedrooms in that place and are only using one at the moment. Why don’t you stay there?”

  “Naked time,” he said flatly.

  “Wha
t?” Jordan laughed.

  “Don’t ask.” Making a face of derision, he shook his head. “Let’s just say that if you make me stay with my parents, I might see things that would scar me for life.”

  “Gavin,” she said, sighing. “What about your job? You can’t not go to work. Come on. You can’t be watching out for us every second.”

  “Let me worry about that.” Taking her hands in his, he brought her fingers to his lips. “Besides, if Ted gets wind of the fact that I’m around, it might discourage him from causing more trouble. So whaddya say?” Tugging her close, he whispered, “Think you can handle a houseguest for a few days? Until we’re sure Ted isn’t a threat.”

  “Cool!” Maddy’s smiling face appeared on the other side of the screen. They stepped back and she pushed the door open, staring at them with a wide grin. The door swung shut behind her. “You guys are moving in together?”

  “Maddy,” Jordan said in a warning tone. “We are not moving in together. Gavin is going to stay in the spare bedroom, only until we know that Ted is no longer in the area. That’s it. He’s being a good friend.”

  “Yeah, right,” Maddy snorted. Giving them each a quick kiss, she trotted down the steps toward her car. “Well, you two friends take care. I’m going to be more than friendly with my man, and we are going to make good use of Gavin’s office.”

  “Great,” Gavin groaned. “Not only is Rick getting laid, but he’s doing it in my office.”

  “Jealous?” Jordan teased, elbowing him gently.

  “Well, I am a guy.”

  “True.” She nodded but stared straight ahead while Maddy got in her car. The setting sun cast golden light over Jordan’s perfectly carved profile, giving her an almost ethereal glow. “But you’re certainly not a regular guy…at least not like the ones I’m used to.”

  Side by side, they watched Maddy’s car disappear around the corner, neither of them saying a word. The silence hung between them thick with the unspoken possibilities. Spare bedroom or not, the taste of Jordan’s lips still lingered on his tongue, and their encounter at the shop flickered along the edges of his mind like the tease that it was.