by Amie Denman
Not this year. Nicole eyed the tent she’d organized in the front yard of a formerly abandoned house on a side street in Cape Pursuit. Summer weather stretched from April until Thanksgiving in a coastal Virginia town. She didn’t have to hurry up and grab it before the snow fell. And she was starting to remember to slow down and enjoy it. Tonight was a perfect example.
“It looks great,” Jane said. Like the other members of the Cape Pursuit city council, Jane was dressed up and wearing a name tag. “Have I told you how glad I am you’re here? This is the part of being on the city council I have a love-hate relationship with. I love the project we did and I love a party, but figuring out how many chairs to set up and how much food to order and sending out invitations and calling the media...it freaks me out.”
“That’s my specialty,” Nicole said. She handed Jane a glass of water from the neat rows on the white-clothed table. “I used to organize travel and meetings all the time, and I was always in charge of putting together the holiday party and the summer barbecue for all the factory employees.”
“You’re a pro,” Jane said. “If I had to do this myself, we’d be eating pizza on the front porch and drinking out of cans.”
Nicole shrugged. “I like pizza and cans, too. This is just fancier.”
“And elegant. This is what I love about living in Cape Pursuit. It’s why I serve on the council. This town actually cares about the people who live here.”
“Even people like me who are still bunking with friends while they figure out their lives.”
Jane smiled at her. “Like I have it all together? You’ll figure it out.”
The church parking lot across the street, vacant on a Friday night, began to fill with cars. The Cape Pursuit city council made a goal a year ago that was finalized and being feted tonight. Three houses on this residential street had been foreclosed upon or otherwise abandoned in the mortgage crisis a few years back. Instead of letting them be auctioned, sold for a fraction of their value or carved up into apartments, the city council had bought them from the bank.
Using community volunteers, the three houses had been refurbished and would soon be available for sale. Real estate had recovered in the area, and the city leaders hoped to recoup their investment and hand over the keys to people who would be future citizens.
“The photographer from the Cape News is coming over,” Jane whispered. “You have to be in the picture with me.”
Nicole and Jane smiled for the picture. Glad I finally got a tan, Nicole thought as she listened to Jane answer questions about the project.
“We’d better be on the front page,” Jane said when the photographer had moved on to another member of the city council. “The front page article last week was about the man who drives the tractor raking the beach every night.”
“I think that sounds very important,” Nicole said, a grin lighting up her face.
“Of course,” Jane replied. She hooked an arm through Nicole’s and turned toward the tent exit. “But we’re much prettier.”
In addition to the grand opening and community tour of the homes, there was a silent auction to benefit this project and future ones like it. Jane and Nicole strolled over to the row of donated items for the silent auction. Jane had painted a street scene from Cape Pursuit to donate. It could have been any street in a coastal town, but this painting had the three renovated houses right in the middle.
“This one is beautiful,” Nicole said, pointing to the lavender house in the painting. “The color is risky, but it looks so perfect between the white and yellow houses.”
“That’s the nice thing about redoing three houses in a row,” Jane said. “You can coordinate them. Not many people get that chance.”
“I guess that’s why you don’t see too many lavender houses,” Nicole said. “It might cause friction with the neighbors.”
“There’s another reason,” a deep voice said behind them. Nicole turned and found Kevin looking over both their shoulders at the painting. He wore his fire department uniform and towered over her and Jane. “Some poor man has to go home with purple paint on his hands.”
Jane turned and clinked her glass against his can of soda. “Lavender looks good with your skin tone,” she said. “It takes a real man to pull it off. And besides, there was no one at your house except Arnold.” She paused and grinned. “I doubt he complained about it.”
“I took some teasing at the station when I showed up with purple paint in my hair.”
Jane put her hand on Kevin’s arm. “You poor thing. I’ll tell the other boys to stop picking on you.”
“Did you paint all these houses?” Nicole asked.
He nodded. “Took me most of the spring, working it in between my job and my other houses.”
“Thank you for volunteering all that time,” Jane said. “I really mean it. You’re mentioned in the official program for tonight, but I don’t think any of the guys on the city council realize how many hours it took to paint those houses. Especially the lavender Victorian with all the fancy trim.”
Nicole took another look at the houses and pictured Kevin way up on ladders filling in all the intricate details. It was an astonishing amount of work. And clearly not fair. Why does a man who is sexy, sweet, dedicated to his community, available and apparently interested in me have to be a firefighter? The universe is trying to torture me by dangling something right in front of me I’m afraid to take.
Kevin shrugged. “We were lucky with dry weather this spring. And Arnold always enjoys getting out of the house.” He pointed to a large southern oak in the front yard of the yellow house. “He spent hours under that tree. Probably killed the grass.”
“I can’t imagine all that work in your spare time,” Nicole said.
“I can’t stand seeing houses with peeling paint.” He shuddered. “Drives me crazy.”
“He’s a spontaneous painter,” Jane said. “Known to scrape and paint people’s front doors without being asked.” She raised both eyebrows. “I could tell you stories.”
“That story about me being arrested for trespassing is not true,” Kevin said. “Urban legend.”
“That’s what they all say,” Jane said.
The three of them stood in silence for a moment, sipping their drinks and casting sideways glances at the people arriving, the row of silent auction items and each other. Nicole wondered if she should have told Jane about the kiss she’d exchanged with Kevin. When Jane had asked her how the picture drop-off went, Nicole didn’t divulge any information, but she guessed her face probably betrayed her. There was no reason not to tell her best friend, except that saying it out loud made it more real. And she was afraid of letting her feelings for Kevin be real.
Silence hung like an anchor between the three of them now, and Kevin kept glancing at her as if he wanted to say something. Would he bring it up in front of Jane? And had Charlie confided in Kevin about Jane’s pregnancy? Firefighters were like brothers in arms...did they tell each other everything?
“I’m going to talk to the mayor and make sure he has an appropriate speech,” Jane announced. “His wife usually tells him what to say, but she’s out of town.” She swiveled and headed for a group of people assembled near a stage inside the large white tent.
And now they were alone. Not counting the dozens of people congregating on the front lawn and circulating in and out of the tent. Nicole pointed to Kevin’s uniform. “Either all your clothes were in the dryer or you’re on duty.”
“On the clock,” Kevin said. “Ethan and I are driving Big Red tonight.” He gestured across the street where the red ambulance was parked right at the exit of the church lot.
“Do you usually attend events with an ambulance?”
“Depends,” he said. “If we have the manpower, we send a squad to athletic events and things like the Homecoming Festival. That’s the first weekend in August. People co
me out of the woodwork and find all kinds of foolish ways to need our help. You’ll see for yourself.”
Nicole laughed. “I’m looking forward to it already.”
“This year’s Homecoming Festival is also the one hundredth anniversary of the fire department, so there’s going to be a big fuss. We should probably hire whoever put this party together to set up our party.”
Nicole considered telling him she was the one who organized this event to help out her friend, but she didn’t want to volunteer herself into throwing a party at the fire station. For so many reasons.
The evening sun tinted the tent and houses with coral and rose. Guests streamed across the street from the parking lot. Jane had advised Nicole to dress up because the silent auction and champagne crowd in Cape Pursuit tended to arrive in expensive cars and cashmere. She was right. There was also plenty of sparkly jewelry to complement the designer handbags. Men wore collared shirts and jackets, even in the heat of the June evening.
She felt Kevin refocus on her. She touched her simple necklace, the one with the gold heart her mother had given her for her birthday. She’d skipped carrying a purse so she’d have her hands free to take pictures.
“You look beautiful,” he said. “As always.”
“Really? Like the time I showed up to a house fire at two in the morning?”
“Absolutely.”
Nicole flushed at the compliment. The sleeveless black dress had a low neckline and she had almost chickened out of wearing it. Jane persuaded her to put on heels and show a little skin, and now she was glad she did.
Even though she shouldn’t be thinking about stepping closer to Kevin and inviting him to glance down the front of her dress. She also shouldn’t be thinking about that kiss in his kitchen two weeks ago. She’d tried hard not to think about it every day. Every time she heard a siren going past, every time a tall, dark-haired man walked past the gallery.
“I’ve been thinking about you,” Kevin said, his voice so low only Nicole could hear it.
“I don’t know how you find time to think with your job and your house painting on the side,” she said.
“That’s what my last girlfriend said,” Kevin said. He lowered his chin and chuckled. “But I’ve reformed in the past two years. Arnold’s helped me. I take time to think now.”
I used to think all the time. Planning out my day, my future, everything. And then I learned the hard way that life laughs at well-laid plans.
“I’m trying the opposite approach this summer,” Nicole said. “Relaxing and enjoying it.”
“Easy to do on an evening like this.” He pointed to the camera slung over her shoulder. “Are you the official photographer?”
“Unofficial. I did take pictures of each of the houses earlier this week. We framed them and they’re hanging in the entryway of each one.”
“If I get a chance to take the tour of the interiors, I’ll look for them.”
“And I thought I’d take some shots tonight. Maybe I’ll put them together in a collage for whoever buys the houses.”
“I think they’d like it. Nice to have a little history to go with a new house.”
They sipped their drinks. Champagne bubbles tickled Nicole’s throat and reminded her that tonight was a celebration. Kevin stepped a little closer.
“Did you help organize this party?” he asked. “I heard Jane was in charge, but I can’t picture her putting it together. She’s more the creative type.”
“She provided the vision, but I did the paperwork and crunched the numbers.”
“You two are a great team.”
Nicole smiled. It was so easy, chatting with Kevin. More than one woman looked him over as she walked past. Was she crazy for resisting him and not giving him a chance? Especially now that she knew what a great kisser he was?
Great kisser or not, he was still a firefighter. And her heart contracted in pain every time she thought about her brother. She doubted that would ever change.
“Make sure you try the food,” Nicole said. “The champagne is pretty good, too, but I think your chief would frown on that since you’re on duty.”
“The mayor, too,” Kevin said. He nodded toward the tent where Jane and the mayor were both looking closely at a piece of paper. “He’s technically my employer. And the city council.”
“So that’s why you’re nice to Jane.”
“It’s easy to be nice to Jane. And you.” Kevin reached out and touched Nicole’s bare upper arm. “Nicole, I was serious when I said I was thinking of you. I wonder if you might consider having a drink with me or grabbing dinner one of these nights.”
The rush of warmth through her body at his touch made her consider it, but her brain—despite the champagne—still prevailed. She took a long breath before answering, hating to quash the look in Kevin’s eyes. It was interest mingled with hope and genuine...something. Everything.
It would be so nice to say yes.
“Sorry,” she said. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
He dropped his arm and nodded, looking at the ground. His shoulders lowered and Nicole was on the verge of changing her answer just to see his smile and his eyes light up again. Maybe she was wrong to write the guy off just because of his profession. Because of what happened. Because of her own fear. Maybe she should consider giving him a chance.
The radio on his belt beeped and a dispatcher’s voice said something Nicole didn’t catch. Kevin snatched it and held it to his ear. He stood straighter and scanned the crowd, waving at Ethan when he found him. Nicole glanced over at the tent. Ethan had a pastry in one hand and his radio in the other. He had the same alert posture as Kevin. Both of them looked as if they could face down a wild animal or stop a train. Testosterone in action.
Ethan approached, parting the crowd with his rapid movement. He didn’t even notice Nicole as he and Kevin strode across the street. The two men wore the same uniform, but there was something about Kevin that made Nicole’s heart pick up speed and want to match his quick steps. Made her want to follow along just for a moment, just to make sure he was safe.
Kevin opened the driver’s-side door of the ambulance, glanced over at Nicole and raised one hand in a wave. He drove out of the church lot and roared down the street, the noise of the siren echoing off the quiet housefronts. Everyone in the crowd turned to watch the emergency vehicle depart, and then they went back to their conversations, drinks and food.
Nicole continued to watch the ambulance until it drove out of sight, and then Jane nudged her as she came up alongside her. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“What’s going on between you and Kevin? I felt like I was chaperoning the prom when I was standing between you two. I took my chances with the mayor and his horrible speech instead.”
Nicole laughed, glad to let her tension go. “Nothing is going on. As you are well aware, guys like Kevin are not on my list of eligible bachelors.”
“If you’re looking for an eligible bachelor, let’s start your search at the dessert table. I’m starved,” Jane said. “We need something to sustain us during the speeches.”
Nicole followed Jane toward the tent, but her mind was on the way Kevin had looked as he took off in the ambulance. That’s what it would be like, she thought. If she dated someone like Kevin. When duty called, he’d race off in a blur of lights and sirens. Where were they going? A medical call? Or were they driving to the station to jump in a fire truck and head into God knows what?
It was the not knowing she couldn’t face. It was a good thing she’d said no to a date with Firefighter Kevin Ruggles.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TWENTY FULL-TIME GUYS on the department, and he got stuck with the new guy on a Saturday night. Saturday nights always sucked during the summer. Drunk tourists fell out of their flip-flops or started fights in bars that didn’t end in their fav
or. Parents let their kids play too long in the hot sand and put in a call from a hotel over a sunburned and dehydrated toddler. Narrow streets in a town made for fifteen thousand people became the venue for reckless driving with out-of-towners looking for a good time and a parking place.
For some reason, the chief thought Kevin was the man to train Travis Bennett. The new guy was barely twenty-one and full of enthusiasm, but he’d only been in the department a few weeks. A Saturday night in June could be an ugly proving ground. Despite the kid’s new boots, Kevin liked the guy. He wanted to save people, wanted to be a hero. They all did.
There was a big-name local band on the beach until midnight. There would be fireworks after that. It was a long summer evening, the light taking forever to fade, and there were too many teenagers clogging the beach and the sidewalks. He and Travis had already been on an EMS call to the area and it wasn’t even seven o’clock. That case was just a cut foot from a broken bottle in the sand. The boy needed stitches and a ride to the local hospital. Kevin let Travis take the lead on patient care and do the paperwork. Sometimes it was nice to step back and just drive the ambulance, and it was good to let the new guy get experience on the less serious runs.
The call the dispatcher described now was different. “I’ll drive,” Kevin told Travis as they headed for the squad. They were going back to the beach, but this was a lights-and-siren call.
“You on the boat, Tony?” Kevin yelled to his cousin.
“Yep.” His face was grim. Tony and his shift partner got in the truck and peeled out of the station, heading for the downtown marina to the fireboat.
“Traffic is going to be a nightmare,” Kevin said. His new partner already had the lights going and flipped on the siren before they cleared the station. “You saw the way people were parked on our last call. That was an hour ago. They’re drunker now.”
