Why hadn’t some kind, sweet old woman taken him into her home when he had been a teen? Joel would have loved someone like Mrs. Clarkson, crazy outfits and all, if she had let him. But she wouldn’t have let him. Because no one wanted him in their family.
Probably still didn’t.
But he’d show them. After all, he was an EMT and a firefighter. He rescued people for a living. How could they not like him? In fact, that would be his way to win them over. If they saw him as Joel-the-firefighter, then they’d want him. Joel just needed to work hard to blot from their minds the memory of Joel-the-troubled-youth, Joel-the-runaway and Joel-the-orphan. Because he didn’t want their pity. He’d never wanted it. Only their acceptance.
At first, he’d been unsure about the idea of helping with the church fund-raiser because of the past, but when he had walked Dante the previous night, he’d realized that working with Shelby was his best hope for moving forward in Goose Harbor. Not only would he be the new firefighter in town, but people would think well of him for giving so much time toward rebuilding the lost church. This project was the perfect opportunity to win respect again.
“Oh, don’t you worry.” Shelby grinned at Mrs. Clarkson and then winked at Joel. “He’s not allowed to go anywhere because I need him.”
“Do you, now?” Joel stepped closer, bringing an almost instant pretty flush to Shelby’s cheeks. He’d never noticed the way her eyes turned different colors depending on the light. Her features were so small, they gave her a vulnerability that made him want to tuck her under his arm and take care of her.
Mrs. Clarkson chuckled. “It sure looks like Shelby’s not the only one who knows how to needle a body. I’ve seen this all before and I think I’ll take these old bones to get a seat and watch how this plays out.”
Had Mrs. Clarkson observed the way he’d looked at Shelby? Evidently.
Joel held out his hand to the elderly woman. “Do you want me to help you?”
“I may be old, but I’m still tough as Monday morning. Don’t you worry about me.” She waved and headed into the crowd.
Shelby looked at her hands and tugged on her sleeves so they reached the palms of her hands. “When I said I needed you, I meant for the fund-raiser, of course. That was...I hope you don’t...you know.”
Why did she always wear long sleeves? The thermometer must be reading in the upper eighties already and it was only morning.
“Of course.” He offered his arm in a playful gesture. “Shall we?”
* * *
Like in a black-and-white movie, Shelby took Joel’s offered arm and cupped her hand over his biceps. He smiled at her and she couldn’t help but shake her head good-naturedly at him. Other than Caleb, no other man walked around with her on his arm—especially not in public. But perhaps that explained everything. Joel was being brotherly. That was all.
Whatever the reason, he possessed a talent for making her feel at ease. Even when her brain was overanalyzing things, which she needed to stop doing around him because she kept making them share awkward moments—such as the one at the firehouse and just a minute ago.
Joel raised his eyebrows. “So, what’s the plan today?”
“I made these informational flyers.” She tugged a sheet of paper from the bag slung over her shoulder. Unable to sleep much last night, she woke up early and made handouts to give to the businesses. They described the fund-raiser and her hope of rebuilding the church. “I figured we could go door-to-door and use them to try to get donations for the silent auction.”
He took a flyer from her and scanned it. “Silent auction? But I thought we were doing a pancake breakfast.”
“We are. We’re doing both.” The tilt of his head told her she needed to explain. “What I mean is I thought it would help bring in more donations if we held a silent auction at the pancake breakfast.”
Joel handed back the flyer. “You do realize we’re doing this fund-raiser a week from today, right?”
“Yes.” She tucked the flyer into her bag. Maybe the silent auction was a dumb idea. “Why?”
“Well, it sounds like we still have a lot of kinks to work out before we can make a go of this. Do we even have items for the auction? I’ve helped with these kinds of events before when I worked in Indy. Auctions take a lot of work to run. I’m not trying to discourage you, so don’t hear me that way. Whatever you decide we need to do, I’m going to support it. My only caution is we don’t want to commit to something we can’t see through to the end. That’s all I’m saying.”
“There will be no kinks. Just work.” She motioned so he would follow her toward the businesses that lined the town square. “Are you afraid of a little work, Mr. Palermo?”
“Not at all. Lead the way.”
Two hours later they stopped by the firehouse to drop off their donations. The chief had offered Shelby the use of a drawer in his office for storing their supplies.
All the walking had caused her to work up a sweat so the air-conditioning inside the station was a welcome change. She’d been fighting the desire to roll up her sleeves all day. She knocked on the chief’s door.
“Come on in,” Wheeler’s voice boomed. Not because he tried. He just had one of those voices that always sounded as if he were shouting.
As they entered, he stood up and straightened some files on his desk. One had Joel’s name printed on the label. What sort of information did it hold? Probably just certificates for classes and training logs—those kinds of things. But what if the paperwork held deeper information? Like something that would help her better understand his past and get him to open up to her? She chided herself for being so curious.
“Looks like you two have been busy.” Wheeler opened up the blinds in his office. Sunlight flooded the room and showed trails of dust on every surface.
Shelby opened her bag to unload some of their bounty. “We spent the morning telling all the business owners about the fund-raiser and got some donations for a silent auction.”
Wheeler leaned over his desk to get a better look. “An auction. What a great idea.”
“Joel didn’t think so.” Shelby jutted her thumb at him.
“Hey.” Joel held up his hands. “I didn’t say that. I just don’t want you biting off more than you can chew and stressing out.”
She’d noticed he usually went quiet around the chief, as if he was nervous because it was his boss. Maybe he didn’t remember how kind Wheeler had been when they were kids. Of course, she thought of Wheeler differently because they shared a special bond. He was the firefighter who had lifted the beam off Shelby and carried her out of the blaze all those years ago. They’d stayed close after that. She couldn’t begin to count the number of times he’d visited her in the hospital as she’d recovered. He’d sent flowers to her after every single skin graft surgery, as well.
If she were being honest, Wheeler had become somewhat of a replacement father to her. She prayed he’d become a trusted mentor in Joel’s life, too, because even a thirty-year-old man needed someone to look up to.
Wheeler made three tsk sounds and shook his head. “I guess you don’t know Shelby well enough yet, but this lady is stronger than concrete. Nothing will stress her out.”
Perhaps she’d hidden her bad days too well if Wheeler thought of her like that. Even right now, stress bubbled just under the surface like water in an overheated teakettle. The mechanic had let her know her car was totaled, and she didn’t have enough money in her savings account to replace it. In fact, she didn’t have enough money in her savings to meet basic needs like paying rent and buying groceries for more than the next three months.
She already had called all her clients who didn’t live in Goose Harbor and told them she couldn’t walk their dogs or watch their homes while they were gone. She was losing so much money by not having a car.
After this fund-raiser, she would need to start applying to the stores in town to find a summer job so she could save up enough money to at least buy a junker and restart her dog
-walking business later on. Or figure out a way to work with dogs without having to constantly travel for work. That would be ideal.
Wheeler reached for the paperwork in Shelby’s hand. “Let’s see how you did.”
“Everyone was very generous. Founder’s Creamery gave us a certificate for one free cone a week for an entire year. Maggie gave us an overnight stay at the West Oaks Inn. Clancy at the hardware store is having a sign made that reserves a spot in front of his store for the rest of the year—which is huge because it’s so hard to find parking in the summer and he’s right on the square. Free parking passes to the beach. Cooking classes at The Butcher’s Block Café. A bunch of other stuff like that.”
“Sounds like you guys did great.”
Shelby stepped to the side to make room for Joel. She wanted him to feel like he was part of the conversation. “It was all Joel’s doing. Turns out he’s a smooth talker.”
Wheeler dropped back into his chair. “I could have told you that. I interviewed him!”
Joel shuffled his feet. “I’m standing right here.”
“Smile, son.” The chief rested his elbows on his desk. “Most people never get to hear others say kind things about them. Whenever you’re blessed enough to be in the room when someone’s complimenting you, soak it up and be thankful. Too many people’s lives are filled with hearing nothing but the negatives.”
Joel nodded once while he scuffed his hand back and forth over his jaw. “Shelby, are you ready to get going?”
“Joel’s taking me for a motorcycle ride.” Shelby offered the information to Wheeler as they headed out the room.
“Be safe.” The chief’s voice followed them out into the hall.
“I always am.”
Joel grabbed the handle to close the door as they left.
Shelby followed him to the section of the station where the men stayed while on duty. The living area smelled like a mixture of mustard and roast beef. Joel pulled his leather jacket out of his locker.
He pressed the worn leather into her hands. “It’ll probably make you too warm. I didn’t realize you’d wear long sleeves today. But I’d feel better if you wore my jacket, too. It’s a safety thing.”
She slipped it on. The fabric inside was soft from wear. Shelby pressed the collar to her nose when Joel wasn’t paying attention. It smelled like the cinnamon gum he always chewed.
They walked the two blocks back to the town square. Vendors at the farmer’s market were packing up their booths, but many people still milled around visiting. Joel pointed to his bike parked near the white gazebo.
Shelby didn’t know a lot about motorcycles, but she thought the kind he owned was a racing bike. Or something like that. It was small, with green detailing on the sides, and looked as if it could travel really fast.
All morning she’d pushed the thought of her motorcycle ride with Joel to the back of her mind. First, because she hadn’t been sure he’d remember or ask her to follow through on her promise from the other day. Second, because she’d wanted to focus her attention on the fund-raiser, which was proving difficult whenever she was around Joel.
Honestly, she felt a little like her thirteen-year-old self again, trailing after her brother’s friend with puppy dog eyes, hoping he’d notice her. And Joel had—well, not in a romantic sense. But she didn’t want that, did she? Of course she didn’t. She couldn’t entertain the thoughts of a future with a man like Joel. Friendship. That was all she wanted.
Friendship. She’d have to keep repeating that to herself, especially when he smiled at her the way he was right now. Her heart somersaulted beneath her rib cage, but that was probably because she was nervous about the motorcycle ride.
Chapter Seven
Shelby glanced at the people talking to each other in the square. In less than a minute, they’d see Joel and her take off on his bike. What would they think of little Shelby Beck doing such a thing? Probably that she was out of her mind.
Stop worrying what others would think.
Joel said she needed to take some safe risks to liven up her days and he was right. Through the years, circumstances beyond her control had come into her life, and they had been rough to deal with—the fire, Dad leaving, Mom’s quickly lost battle with cancer, and then Caleb’s wife, Sarah, passing away. Because of those events, the rest of her life—every aspect that she could control—had been safe. No waves. No boat rocking. She’d lived with Caleb, had decided to turn down her chance to go to college and stayed tucked away in Goose Harbor.
Only now she was beginning to see what using the excuse of security to avoid taking chances had cost her.
What had become of her childhood dreams of traveling? Of seeing the Rockies and visiting Australia someday? She’d made herself believe the risks of going on those long-wished-for adventures outweighed the joy of the journeys. But now she wasn’t so sure.
Joel handed her a black-and-red helmet. “Go ahead and put this on.”
“Where’s yours?”
“That is mine.” He pressed it into her hands.
“Shouldn’t you wear it?” She offered it back to him.
He took the helmet and lifted it over her head. “I’m more concerned with you being safe than me. Besides, if something did go wrong, you have people to miss you. I don’t.”
That wasn’t right of him to say. She wanted to correct him and tell him she’d miss him. But that would cause another awkward moment between them. And how could she miss him when she didn’t know him? Honestly, in the past fourteen years he hadn’t crossed her mind except for a couple of times. Somehow, the past week had changed that. If Joel did leave again, Shelby’s mind would wander to thoughts of him often. Hopefully that wouldn’t happen.
She held her hair together at the nape of her neck while he eased the helmet onto her head and fastened the strap.
“It’s probably a little big on you, but it’s better than nothing.”
Shelby felt silly. Were people staring? Her fingertips found the ends of the sleeves of the coat she wore, and she tugged down the fabric as far as it would go over her hands. Did the helmet make her look as ridiculous as she felt?
“Stop fidgeting. It’s a good look on you. Cute. I promise.” Joel swung onto the bike. “Go ahead and get on.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing. What if I do it wrong?” No longer doing somersaults, her heart jackhammered against her ribs. Her throat went dry. This was stupid. How had Joel tricked her into doing something so dangerous? People died in motorcycle accidents. Although, she supposed, they died doing mundane things, too.
Stop worrying. She could do this. Something small. Something out of her control.
“I’m going to teach you. Trust me. That’s all I ask.” He held out his hand. “Come with me, Shelby.” His voice was low and his eyes searched hers. “Go ahead and get on the bike.” She took his hand and stepped closer. “Now when you lift your leg over the seat, find the peg on the side of the bike. That’s where your foot goes. There’s one on each side.”
Following his instructions, she swung her leg over. She grabbed Joel’s shoulders to steady herself as she found the pegs for her feet. It felt as if the bike was going to tip over at any moment. “Are you sure two people can be on here?”
“Positive.” He twisted in the seat to make eye contact. “You’re doing great.”
“I’m just sitting.”
“There are only two things you need to do and you’ve already mastered the first. See? This is easy.”
“What’s the second?”
“Hang on.”
“Where do I put my hands?” She fumbled to find a handhold on the seat. How fast would the bike go? What if she fell off the back? “I don’t think I can hold on tight enough.” Her voice faltered.
Joel acted like he hadn’t heard her, even though he must have. “You have two options. Just behind the bike’s taillight you’ll find two handles. You can hang on there.”
Again, she grabbed Joel’s shoulder to steady
herself as she found the handles. They were so far back. She’d have to be almost to the very edge of the seat to get a good grip. “I can’t do this. I don’t feel safe. What’s my other option?”
“Hold on to me.”
“You won’t mind?”
“Not one bit.”
“Where will I...?”
“You’ll lean into my back, wrap your arms around my waist and keep your hands under my arms.” He held her gaze. There were only inches between them. “Honestly, it’s easier for me to balance the bike if you hold on to me and not the handles.”
“Okay. Since that’s better for you.”
“When we’re going, follow my body moments as much as you can. When we take a curve you’ll want to fight what I’m doing, but don’t. We’ll lean into the turns, and it’ll feel scary at first because your brain tells you to lean against the turn, but if you do that it can throw off our balance and make me lose control of the bike.”
She swallowed. “Maybe I shouldn’t do this.”
“You’ll be fine. We won’t go far this first time.”
“But I don’t want to topple the bike.”
“Shelby.” His voice was soft and warm. “You’re not going to do anything wrong. Not as long as you trust me. Do you trust me?”
“You’d never hurt me.”
“That’s my girl. Let’s go, then.”
He shoved up the kickstand with his foot and the bike rumbled like an angry lion. Her feet vibrated on the pegs, and she clenched her teeth as she adjusted to the feel of the engine. She wound her arms around his sides and fisted her hands into the fabric of his T-shirt. Joel nodded to her, leaned forward and then the bike moved out into traffic.
A part of her wanted to look around while they rode, and maybe she’d work up the courage, but at the beginning, she scooted as close to Joel as she could and laid the side of her head against his shoulder. Heat radiated off his skin through the thin cotton T-shirt. The side of her left hand pressed against the steady thump of his heart.
The Fireman's Secret Page 7
