Brave the Heat

by Sara Humphreys

  “That’s not a quarter,” Jordan murmured, her eyes wide.

  “We may not be able to change the past, but I promise that I’ll do my best to give you a magical future,” he rasped. Dropping to one knee, he held the diamond and sapphire ring out to her and finally asked her the question he’d wanted to ask for over fifteen years. “Jordan, will you be my wife and have me as the father of your children?” His smile grew. “Current and future.”

  The tears spilled freely down her cheeks as she nodded furiously and sputtered, “Yes.”

  Dropping to her knees with him, Jordan laughed through her tears as Gavin slipped the ring onto her finger. He gathered her in his arms and hugged her shivering body—or maybe that was him shaking? The one thing he’d wished for, secretly in the silence of dark, lonely nights, was actually happening.

  Jordan was finally going to be his wife. His family.

  Burying his face in her the nape of her neck, Gavin breathed in that clean, flowery scent of lilacs and Ivory soap. The one that was so uniquely hers. He pulled her hair from the confines of her hair clip and tossed it aside, dragging his fingers through the long, silky strands. He studied her as she held out her left hand, gazing at the ring he’d put there—where it belonged now and forever.

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “This was your mother’s, wasn’t it? I mean, I think I remember her wearing one like it when we were kids.”

  “It was my grandmother’s originally. One of several she left my mother.” Gavin popped the cork on the champagne and stopped it before it went flying. “My mom always said that when my brothers and I eventually got married, we could each pick one of the rings for our future wife. I thought you’d like this one best.”

  “I love it,” she whispered. “So your whole family knew about this?” She sat on the blanket looking at the delicate platinum band and the round solitaire diamond framed by brilliant blue sapphires. “No wonder they were all so welcoming tonight.”

  “They love you, Jordan. Almost as much as I do.” Gavin gathered the glasses and filled the flutes. He handed one to Jordan before sitting next to her on the blanket. “And your mother knows too.”

  “What?”

  “Well, I had to ask her for your hand, didn’t I?” He tilted his glass toward her. “I thought about asking the girls, but I was worried they wouldn’t be able to keep the secret and I didn’t want to overstep my bounds. I thought it would be best to let you tell them.”

  “Us,” she corrected him. Jordan raised her glass. “Let us tell them, and you’re right. Gracie would’ve blabbed.”

  “Yup.” He gave her a smug, satisfied smile, then snapped his fingers as though he forgot something. “Whoops. And Maddy knows.”

  “Gavin!” Jordan feigned annoyance. “Did you tell the entire town?”

  “Well, when I made the offer on the Sweeneys’ house, she knew something was up.”

  “What?” Jordan shrieked and gaped at him with an expression of pure, unadulterated joy. Fresh tears glittered in her eyes and the words came out in a strangled cry. “You bought the house for…”

  “I bought the house for us,” Gavin whispered. “You, me, Gracie, and Lily.” He kissed her firmly and held up his glass. “I’ll admit I was a little nervous that you’d be worried about taking on too much because you’re buying the business, but…is it okay?”

  “Okay?” She let out a growl and rose to her knees, kissing him deeply. Sitting back on her heels, Jordan laughed. “It’s way more than okay.” Shaking her head, she whispered, “You really are a magician, aren’t you?”

  They clinked glasses, the crystal’s hum filling the small space and echoing through it like music. Jordan peered at him over the rim of her glass, but before he could take another sip, she took his drink away and shook her head.

  “You don’t like the champagne?” he asked as she placed both glasses on the floor along the edge of the wall. “Or was there something else you wanted instead?”

  “I want the future to start now,” she murmured. She knelt on the blanket in front of him and gently pushed on his shoulders with both hands. “Right now. Lie down.”

  Gavin did as she asked, placing one hand behind his head so he could take in every gorgeous inch of his future wife. She watched him, her eyes heavy lidded, and her lips curved into a sensual grin. Jordan straddled his legs, hiking the fabric of her dress up to dangerous heights. She undid his belt and unzipped his trousers, and Gavin’s entire body hardened with each passing second. He was going to ask her another question, playful and teasing, but when she released him from his trousers and stroked the full hard length of him, he momentarily lost the ability to speak.

  “No fumbling tonight,” Jordan murmured.

  She crawled up his body and straddled his waist, holding herself above him. Jordan settled her hands on his chest and rocked her hips. He grabbed her thighs, her wet, hot sex sliding exquisitely slowly over his rigid heat. Need fired through Gavin and all he could think about was being inside her.

  As though reading his mind and knowing exactly what he needed, Jordan rose to her knees, reached beneath the fluid fabric of her skirt, curled her hand around his shaft, and slipped him deep inside her. Gavin shouted as the delicious satiny heat enveloped him completely.

  Hands over her head, Jordan rolled her hips and rode him with deep, swift, furious strokes. The orgasm came over Gavin with brutal force. He wanted to slow down, to give her time to get to where he was, but the woman wasn’t giving up control. Gavin cried her name as pleasure tore through him in one merciless pulse. As it ripped through his body, he sat up and wrapped his arms around her, holding her there and anchoring her to him, never wanting to leave the soft warmth of her.

  Jordan curled her arms and legs around him and ran her fingers through his hair, clinging to him with the same urgent desperation. Breathing heavily, her hair spilling all around his face, Gavin pressed his fingers into the smooth, perfect flesh of her shoulders and kissed the hollow of her throat.

  “No…more…fumbling…” Jordan said between heavy breaths. “At all.”

  Tangled in the warm, soft curves of Jordan’s body and with the fog of lust still heavy around him, it took a minute for Gavin to smell it.

  Smoke.

  * * *

  Sleepy and satisfied, with his body still locked inside hers, Jordan could have stayed curled contentedly in Gavin’s lap indefinitely. She really could have stayed there forever—and would have, if it wasn’t for the sudden and disturbing smell of smoke. Gavin’s entire body went rigid. He grabbed her by the upper arms and urged her to get up, and when Jordan scrambled to her feet, she saw the smoke. Wisps of gray streaked with black seeped under the door and started to fill the room with horrifying speed.

  “We’ve got a problem.” He was on his feet in seconds, fixing his pants as he ran to the door. He pressed his hand against it. He snapped his head around and shouted, “Get back.”

  Pure unadulterated terror fired through Jordan as she backed up to the window ledge. Shaking, she looked out over the ocean. It was a three-story drop to the pitch-black waters below. Gavin opened the door and looked out into the stairwell but quickly shut it. If she hadn’t been scared before, the grave expression on Gavin’s face would have done it.

  “Take off that dress and put this on.” Moving quickly, he pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and tossed her the coat. When she didn’t move, he came over and spoke firmly and clearly, staring her straight in the eye. “That dress has too much extra fabric that could catch fire too easily or melt onto your skin. Put on my jacket and stay calm. The fire is down at the bottom. I’m going to get you out of here.”

  “But I don’t understand.” Her voice sounded as panicked as she felt, and she couldn’t keep herself from shaking while she stripped off the dress and pulled the jacket on. The oversized tux coat more than covered her, but nudity seemed like the least of their problems at the moment. “How could there be a fire? Was it one of light fixtures o
r something?”

  “Jordan, please do as I ask. I’ll explain after we get out of here.”

  He grabbed the blanket off the ground while holding his phone to his ear, and Jordan realized what he wasn’t saying.

  The firebug was back.

  “Bill. It’s Gavin. We’ve got a fire at the Old Brookfield Lighthouse. Jordan and I are up on the watch deck, but it’s hot and spreading fast.”

  The smoke thickened in the air and stung her eyes, but the sensation of suffocation and burning in her lungs was the most horrifying part. She coughed against it as Gavin tore strips off the skirt of her discarded dress and soaked them in the water from the ice bucket. The rest of the water went to douse the blanket. The rumbling in the lighthouse grew louder… Hadn’t Gavin once described fire as a beast that ate everything in its path? Between the roaring sound and the smoke, it felt like a dragon was ascending to claim them both.

  “Cover your nose and mouth with this.” Shouting, his voice and actions laced with urgency, Gavin gave her one of the pieces of soaked cloth, then wrapped the wet blanket around her, covering her head. “This is gonna be cold and heavy, but it will help protect you from the heat and flames. I’m gonna get you out of here, but you have to listen to me carefully.”

  Jordan nodded, pressing the wet cloth to her mouth and tried to keep her breathing calm.

  “The smoke is even thicker out there, but we need to get down to at least the first landing. If we have to jump into the water, I’d rather not do it from here.” He gripped her shoulders when her eyes widened with panic and kissed her forehead firmly before resting his against it. Gavin’s voice was gruff and edged with desperation. “I swear to God, I’m going to get you out of here. You have to trust me and do exactly as I tell you. Got it?”

  Trying to hold back a surge of hysteria, she nodded. Smoke curled under the door, like a deadly snake slithering closer. Her girls. What would happen to her girls if she died here? But the instant she looked back at Gavin’s resolute expression…she knew everything would be okay.

  She squeezed his hand and nodded.

  “That’s my girl.” Gavin kissed her hand and pressed a wet scrap of cloth to his own mouth. “Stay close to me. Take a big breath before we go out there, and hold it as long as you can. After that, keep your breathing as steady as possible. Follow the stairs down, and don’t let go of my hand or the railing.”

  With her hand latched firmly in his, Jordan stayed right behind Gavin and prayed they’d get out. When he opened the door, a huge plume of smoke slammed into them. Her gut instinct was to back away, but she squeezed her eyes shut and stayed with him. Her lungs burned as they hurried down the spiral staircase, and when her feet hit the second-floor landing, she almost wept with relief.

  They were closer to the bottom and the way out.

  Her eyes and lungs burned as the noxious smoke seemed to fill every orifice. As they moved closer to the ground floor, the heat grew almost unbearable. Dizzy from lack of air, she stumbled down a step and into Gavin. He caught her before she went to the ground in a heap.

  Somewhere in the distance she heard sirens, or maybe that was her imagination. Every time she tried to open her eyes, the assault of smoke was too great and she shut them again. Weak and disoriented, she dropped the cloth. Her body started to feel heavy and cumbersome. She thought she heard Gavin calling to her, but he sounded so far away. As the world went dark, her girls were the last image in her mind.

  Chapter 20

  “Jordan!” Gavin screamed her name in between choking gasps for air, but she didn’t respond. Panic was a dangerous self-defeating beast and it ripped through him ferociously. Her limp form slumped onto the steps behind him as they reached the first-story landing. Gavin grabbed her unconscious body and threw it over his shoulder. He pulled the damp blanket back on top of her and grabbed the railing to try to see through the smoke, but he tore his hand away when the heated metal scorched his flesh.

  The heat was intense, but the fire looked like it was localized toward the back wall of the structure, opposite the door. There were flames licking at the stairs and they were creeping near the door, which was open partway.

  With Jordan unconscious, he couldn’t take her out through the window. That front door was their only option. The sirens wailed louder as they got closer, but if he didn’t get out of there, it would be too late for both of them. The flames licked up the walls behind him and Gavin knew he had to go now. Moving swiftly down the last flight and with years of experience under his belt, he fought to stay conscious. Forcing his legs to function, he took the final few steps to the ground level as the wicked flames came at them from behind.

  Dizzy and disoriented, and with Jordan’s body hanging over his shoulder, Gavin ran for the door. Wait—he could swear something or someone moved past him to his right. Shaking it off as merely being delirious from smoke inhalation, Gavin forced his feet to move one in front of the other.

  After seconds that felt like hours, he burst into the clean seaside air.

  Gasping for breath, Gavin stumbled to the gravel parking lot and pulled Jordan off his shoulder. Cradling her against him, he shouted her name and pressed his ear to her chest. Her breath came in ragged gasps and her heart beat rapidly. Why the hell wasn’t she waking up?

  Just when panic threatened to drown him, those big, brown eyes fluttered open and she sucked in a gasping breath.

  “That was one hell of a proposal,” she said weakly.

  Relief fired through him and he dropped to his knees, clutching her to him. A heavy sob of gratitude racked his weary body. The sound of the sirens grew closer, and when Gavin lifted his head, the red glow of their approaching lights lit up the night. His relief was short lived, though. Jordan’s arms tightened around his neck, and she pointed past him toward the lighthouse.

  “Oh my God, Gavin.” Her voice was rough and raspy from the smoke. “There’s someone inside.”

  “That’s crazy. Why would anyone…” He snapped his head around and scanned the smoke-filled doorway. Squinting, not quite sure what he was seeing, Gavin set Jordan down on the ground and rose to his feet. Still feeling unsteady, he kept his sights on the open door, where smoke was spilling out. Sure enough, standing inside the burning building was a familiar silhouette. Without thinking and working on total instinct, Gavin ran back toward the fire.

  “Tommy!”

  “I’m doin’ it right this time,” Tommy screamed.

  Before Gavin reached the steps, Tommy slammed the door shut.

  “Tommy!” Gavin banged on the door, the superheated surface burning his hand, but he didn’t care. “Open the damn door.”

  “You always were the lucky one, Gavin!” Tommy’s muffled shout came through a moment before an ungodly cracking sound ripped through the air. The lighthouse shook and Gavin stumbled backward, shielding his face from the heat as fire engulfed the structure and Tommy went silent.

  * * *

  Standing in Tommy Miller’s basement, Gavin found himself at a loss for words. There was no longer a question about who had been setting the fires in town.

  Two eight-foot-long tables were littered with various pieces of Tommy’s homegrown bomb-making equipment, and the computer, which he’d left on, was filled with searches related to arson and bomb building. The walls were papered with articles about the different fires and various lists and notes that Tommy had written to himself over the years.

  An old newspaper article, yellowed with age, sent a chill down Gavin’s spine. It was about the fire in the barn all those year ago, and next to it was the faded obituary for Tommy’s little brother.

  Haunted. That word rolled through Gavin’s head over and over again like thunder.

  That’s what Tommy Miller was and what Gavin had been—until he found Jordan again. And that was what had sent old Tommy over the edge. Until Jordan came back to town, Gavin had been alone like Tommy. Seeing Gavin find happiness with Jordan had been more than Tommy could bear.

  “Lik
e I said,” Rogers said around the cigarette in his lips, “firebugs are freaking nuts, and this squirrelly little bastard was no exception.”

  “It’s sad.” Gavin ran one hand over his head. “The letter he left behind said it all.”

  “The ironic part of the whole mess is that if you hadn’t saved him at the school and he’d died the way he wanted to, he never would have set that fire at the lighthouse, almost killing you and your fiancée.” Rogers dropped the cigarette butt and crushed it out on the floor. “It’s not sad, McGuire, it’s messed up. Hey, if a guy wants to kill himself, go for it. But taking other people out with you? Now that is completely screwed.”

  As the police finished gathering items from Tommy’s basement, Gavin strode upstairs but stopped by the small brick fireplace. Sitting on top of the mantel in a tarnished silver frame was an old Polaroid picture of Tommy and Jimmy. The two brothers smiled at the camera, fresh faced and frozen in time, the image a haunting reminder of what had been lost.

  Tommy had been right.

  It could have been him or Ronan who perished in the barn that day. But it hadn’t been—and Tommy was right about something else too. Gavin was lucky. Gavin McGuire was the luckiest son of a bitch on earth, and thanks to Tommy, it was a fact he’d never forget.

  * * *

  The fog of sleep lifted and Jordan peeled her eyes open but immediately squinted against the early morning sun that streamed through the windows of their bedroom. She stretched her stiff body, a satisfied smile curving her lips as Gavin’s warm legs bumped against hers. He mumbled something incoherent and draped an arm over her, immediately pulling her into his embrace. She settled her hand over his as he spooned up behind her, grazing a gentle kiss on her earlobe.

  Content. Pure, unadulterated contentment. That must be what this feeling was. It was a delicious combination of happiness and safety. She was home. Safe. Loved. How many years had she dreamed of a life like this—and now here it was, a beautiful, precious reality.