Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Luanna now lives in Maine with her dear husband, two college boys and two cats. When she's not torturing her heroes and heroines, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious.
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JULY
Breaking the Story
Michelle Libby
Everyone wants something from the editor of The Serenity Harbor Gazette Erin Ridge. Lucky for her this time it’s the hot firefighters in town. However, they are incredibly busy with a large number of fires on the island. Despite that she finds time to meet with hunky firefighter Seth Greenway for all of the details of the fires and the firefighters.
Seth knows he’s being set up with the darling of Serenity Harbor when he’s asked to be the subject of a story on the fire department. He can’t help but want to get to know Erin as long as they can keep things professional. Hurting her would mean being blackballed from the department, but saving her life becomes a daily habit and he finds himself being drawn to her magnetic personality.
When Erin accuses someone Seth knows of setting all of the fires in town trouble brews between the couple. She is determined to break the story without Seth’s support causing a rift between them. Erin wants to do what’s right and Seth has to determine what is more important, the firefighter brotherhood or love?
Dedication
This story is dedicated to my family, my husband and children, as well as my Maine Romance Writers family, who all have the patience of saints.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Roy Watson for his knowledge of ways to start fires with a model rocket. Any mistakes are purely mine.
Thank you to my editor, Lisa DeFosse.
Chapter 1
Fire in the park threatens hundreds of acres.
In a careless toss of a cigarette, a fire started on the access road to the National park. Firefighters were dispatched from Serenity Harbor, Northeast Harbor and Manset to combat the blaze. Flames could be seen from the top of Cadillac Mountain.
“The summer has been really dry. Any failure to put out campfires or any disregard for proper disposal of cigarettes can start a fire, which could burn down the entire island,” said hot, muscular park firefighter Seth Greenway.
Erin pushed back from her desktop and sighed. Obviously it was time for a break. There was no way she would be able to print that garbage. “Hot, muscular…” Blah. She so hadn’t noticed anything about Serenity Harbor and national park firefighter Seth Greenway. So what if he was tall, blond and built like a Greek God and loved to parade around the fire department without his shirt on. More women walked past the fire department every day just for the view. He was singularly lauded with helping the whole town get healthier through walking. Even tourists knew this was a highlight of a visit to Serenity Harbor.
She ought to do a story on that. She filed it away in her memory bank of ideas. It was late and she probably ought to head home to her cat and noisy neighbors. Really, more often than not, she spent her nights on the couch in the office of the Serenity Harbor Gazette. It was a lonely, sad existence in most people’s eyes, but she loved the thrill of the story, late deadlines and knowing everything that happened in her small town.
She stretched her hands over her head and rolled her neck. She glanced out the window at the fire station which sat directly across the street from her second floor office. Most of the trucks had returned from the fire scene and the firefighters were outside washing off the soot and grime from the day. It was evening so most of them had shirts on. She didn’t mind the shirtless men. It saved her money on purchasing the calendar, when she had the live, hunky firefighters to drool over in real life just outside her window. She watched them a few more minutes, but Seth wasn’t there. Most likely he was still on scene, since that was more his jurisdiction.
The thing with Seth was that although he was good looking, she admitted hesitantly, they really hadn’t had much interaction.
There would be a fire or an accident, she’d show up, he’d get the short straw to speak with the media. She’d ask questions. He’d answer them. She’d leave after taking a few pictures. Whenever they crossed paths in town, it was a small town after all, he would give her the head nod and keep walking. It was as if she was a necessary nuisance and he tolerated her.
Rolling her shoulders she scooted her chair back in front of the computer and started to close it down.
The knock at the door made her jump. Usually she had music playing, but she’d shut down Pandora. The sudden break in the silence was unsettling. She glanced at the time. The clock showed 7:30 p.m. She took a quick peak out the window. It was still light, but it wouldn’t be for long. The office help, Sandy, who worked Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, had left hours ago.
The frosted glass that was reminiscent of a private investigator’s office did little to let her know who was on the other side of the door.
Although she was a well-liked journalist, she always worried a little about getting hate mail or having someone come to the office to “teach her a lesson.” She eyed the baseball bat her father made her keep at the office.
The short haired person on the other side of the door was tall, broad shoulders and could easily take her in an altercation.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Seth.”
“Seth? Seth Greenway?”
“Yes, Erin. Open the damn door.”
She pulled the door open and dammit it if her heart didn’t do a little flip. He walked into the one room office and leaned up against the old wooden counter that separated her office and meeting space from the general public.
“Do you need to pay an advertising bill? What can I do for you?” If that wasn’t a loaded question, she thought.
“I wanted to check on you. That was a nasty fire in the park today.”
“I’ve been to worse.”
“Something about today seemed off. You sure you’re okay?” He bent down a little to look into her eyes. Was he checking to see if she was lying? Had she brushed her teeth after lunch?
She tried to smile effortlessly. “I’m fine. You didn’t need to check up on me.”
He shrugged. “There was something else.”
Her imagination ran wild. Something else? She had to get herself together. A little professionalism here. She ran her hands through her medium length hair as she waited for him to continue.
“I was talking to some of the guys at the station and they thought you might,” he paused. “Might like to do a story on what firefighters do other than put out fires,” he said rushing though the last part.
She looked out the window to see if she was being punked or if he’d been dared? No one was left in the parking lot at the fire station. She turned back to him. “You wanted to ask me this now? Tonight, after hours? You couldn’t have come over when I wasn’t alone? Like most normal people?” She felt irritated. She didn’t think it had anything to do with the fact that she thought he was going to ask her out, but instead asked her to do a story on him and his friends.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been fighting a wildfire all day. I only got back a little while ago, took a shower and then came over as soon as I could. I didn’t want to miss you.”
His hair was wet and she imagined the water running over his planes and angles, the direction shifting like that of a river every time it hit one of his ab muscles.
“Of course I’ll do a story on you guys,” Erin said. “Leave your phone number and email and we can set up a time when we can all get together to talk.” She slid a pad of paper with the name of the paper at the top.
He took it, picked up a pen and wrote down a phone number and an email address. “These are my personal details. I…well…maybe you
could go on a ride along with me to get the idea about what I do. The park is my area, more than anyone else’s.”
“I can check my calendar and get back to you about when a good time would be.”
He leaned in again. “Let’s plan to do it tomorrow.”
Erin swallowed audibly. “Tomorrow.”
“Hmmm. I have a five hour shift out in the park.” His voice had dropped to a deep, soothing, honey laced level and she almost lost the use of her bones.
“Tomorrow,” she stammered. “Tomorrow. Wait,” said gaining her senses. “I’m on deadline for this week’s paper. I can’t spend the morning riding around with you.”
He leaned away from her and she was able to finally take in a full breath again. His masculine scent and clean soap smell, parted and she remembered to be professional.
“That’s too bad. Let me know when we can do this,” he said, heading for the door. Just before he walked through it, he turned back. “Erin, I’m glad you’re okay.”
Chapter 2
Erin sunk down to the floor and leaned back against the counter. Her heart was beating like she’d run a 5K. Seth’s scent remained in the room and her reasoning skills which were usually on point were shorting out all over the place.
What had he really wanted? She was coming around…more herself…checking for ulterior motives. Did they need the story done to get money, promote their firefighter calendar? She tapped her fingers on her knee and her other hand held her chin up.
Whatever they wanted, she was going to give it to them. They saved lives and property – they were firefighters for goodness sake. They were the good guys.
She pulled herself up off the floor, shut everything else down and left for the night.
The night was somewhat warm and a smoky haze was blowing around town with the acrid smell from the fire earlier in the day. She was never afraid in her hometown. She walked the semi-deserted streets down to her apartment not too far off the main road. She preferred to walk rather than ride her bike and lug that upstairs to the office, and finding parking near her building was all but mission impossible.
* * *
Seth was picking her up in an hour and for the girl who usually dressed in 10 minutes, she was starting early to get ready for their trip into the park. She looked in the mirror at the latest choice, jean shorts and a colorful blouse. Nope.
She whipped off the shirt. She didn’t need a flowing shirt, she needed a bad ass shirt that said she was confident and wasn’t all goo goo eyed over the big, hunky firefighter.
She pulled on a shirt with The Gazette written across the chest. Yup that kept her on track during their interview.
After a little more pacing, she plopped in to her favorite chair, threw a leg over the arm and sighed deeply.
She knew she was being set up because of her job and what she could do for the department, but she also wanted this is be a real date with Seth. She wasn’t a serial dater, really she didn’t date at all. She was known all over town and the island. People were always in her business, they felt that they owned a piece of her. Having a relationship was just too difficult.
Grabbing her laptop, she cranked out the rest of the article about the fire in the park. She emailed the story to her work email and closed her laptop just as a knock came on her door.
“It’s open!” she called.
The door swung open and Seth strode into the room.
“That’s not safe,” he said even before saying “hi.”
“You should look through the peep hole.” He pointed to the door, then rolled his head back toward her and rolled his eyes. “You don’t have a peep hole.”
“Hi to you, too.”
“You know I could have been anyone.”
“We’re in Serenity Harbor. Who do you think will come get me?”
“Not the point,” Seth said. “Just keep your eyes open.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Erin grabbed her phone, camera, notebook and pen. She slipped on her sneakers. “I’m ready.”
“No tour of your apartment?”
“This is a business interview. No tour.” She sounded professional to herself. It was a good start. If she showed off her sparse apartment, it would be a future relationship killer. Her apartment was not full of knick knacks or anything other than the basics. Her bathroom wasn’t even loaded with beauty products.
Seth smiled, glanced around and with a hand on her lower back, ushered her out the door.
He stopped once they were out in the hall.
“What?”
“You locking up?”
“No. I never do.”
“Oh my God. Are you kidding me?”
“My neighbors watch out for me.”
Seth shook his head at her and walked away.
It was Erin’s turn to roll her eyes. She followed behind him out into the street. He had a Jeep with the top off. Her heart skipped a beat. She loved Jeeps and had always wanted to ride in one…and that it was red, fire engine red, was a bonus.
Hopping in to the car, she buckled in just before he hit he gas.
They flew across the island. She couldn’t ask him any questions because it was too hard to write, ask questions and hold on. He drove like he was going to a fire.
It only took 20 minutes to get to the entrance to the park. The female guard gave Seth a wide smile.
“Gretch. I’m taking Erin to the fire scene,”
The woman didn’t take her eyes off Seth. “I’m glad you’re okay. That was a scary fire. I get off work tonight at 5:30.”
To his credit, he looked over at Erin, grimaced and then back to the guard.
“Okay. Have a good day.”
He peeled away from the gate.
“That was interesting. Do you know her well?”
“Who Gretchen? Yeah. I guess.”
“She’s very beautiful.”
He slowed the car down and glanced in her direction. “Are you jealous?”
Erin felt her face flame. “Of course not.” She tried to give him a small smile.
“You’re cute when you lie.”
Erin scoffed before staring straight ahead.
The fire scene was a charred landscape of ash and trees turned black with no leaves or even small branches.
“This looks worse than yesterday,” Erin said, sliding out of the car. There were still puddles where the firemen worked to drown the fire.
“Yeah. It was a hard one to put out,” Seth responded joining her on her side of the Jeep. She pulled her black LL Bean backpack filled with everything she might need. Her 35 mm camera, a towel, notepad, pens, condoms, just in case. She slung it over her shoulder.
“What do you think happened?”
He cocked his eyebrow. “On or off the record?”
She shook her head back at him. “Nothing is ever off the record, even when you say it. Didn’t they teach you that at the fire academy?”
They started to walk in the blackened earth.
“There’s no official cause for this fire. Probably someone being careless with a cigarette butt or a match. People don’t think when they’re on vacation. They don’t necessarily know that we haven’t had rain for a month.”
Erin scribbled on her notepad.
“When will an official statement be made?”
Seth shrugged. “You’re supposed to be asking me questions about my job. Remember. Firefighter profile?”
She waved him off. “Where did this fire start?”
Seth showed off everything he knew about the scene, until his phone rung. Erin listened as he answered trying to hear what the other person was saying.
“’Lo?”
“Yup.”
“I’m at the scene now.”
“Bring my gear. On my way.”
Erin gave him a questioning look.
“There’s another fire, over at the golf course, near Serenity Harbor.”
Erin’s brain split between wanting to stay here and explore and going with him to get p
ictures and spend more time with him.
Glancing around she made a snap decision to stay.
“You go. I’ll find a ride back to civilization.”
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here.”
“You gave me the choice. I’m staying.”
He pursed his lips in a straight line. It made him look like a disapproving boss, but one you’d want to have spank you.
“I have another option, since you seem fond of them. Drive with me to the scene and then you can use my Jeep to come back here or go to the office or whatever.”
She agreed and walked back to the Jeep in front of him. What kind of a guy gives his keys to a woman he doesn’t know. She could be a terrible driver or a car thief.
Hey, it could happen, she told herself. “I know what you’re thinking, but if you don’t lock your apartment or check the peep hole, you’re not really a threat to my car.”
“Do you like your Jeep?”
“Erin. I know where you live and where you work. I know all of the people in town who have known you since you were in diapers. Abigail is fine with you.”
“Abigail?”
“The Jeep.”
Erin rolled her eyes. He named his Jeep. How quaint.
Chapter 3
The scene was a chaotic circus of fire trucks and people milling around with their cellphones pointed in the direction of the blaze.
This one was closer to town and could threaten homes. Seth slammed on the brakes, tossed the keys at her and leapt out of the Jeep weaving his way through the fray until she couldn’t see him anymore.
She sat a few more minutes watching men in fire gear run from truck to truck, one of them could be Seth, but she couldn’t tell.
A loud, obnoxious horn sounded behind her. Another fire truck had arrived. She slid across the front seat, jammed the key in the ignition and backed up to turn around.
Welcome to Serenity Harbor Page 19
