The Fireman's Secret

by Jessica Keller

  At first, they traveled slowly because they were still in the residential part of town, but the moment the bike cleared the limits of Goose Harbor, Joel turned them onto one of the many country roads that lined the shores of Lake Michigan and kicked the bike into a higher speed. Wind whipped at her clothes as she clutched Joel’s shirt even tighter. The fabric would probably be stretched out when they returned to town.

  After a few minutes, she lifted her head from his shoulder and tried to take in the view while still leaning with him on the bike. Sand dunes, small homes and patches of tall trees flashed by. Lake Michigan was a blur of blue on her left and a vineyard a blur of green on her right.

  Joel leaned into a sharp curve and Shelby instantly realized what he meant about her head telling her to lean against it. She fought the desire and leaned into the turn with Joel and started to laugh. Had she been smiling the entire time? More than likely. If it had been safe to, she would have tossed her arms out to the sides and let the wind rush against her. She’d never felt so free in all her life. It was exhilarating. No wonder Joel loved this.

  The ride didn’t last nearly long enough. Fifteen minutes later, Joel slowed the bike down as they entered the residential part of town.

  At a stop sign, he turned and leaned back into her. “What did you think?”

  His face was inches from hers. Shelby’s vision raked over his warm hazel eyes, the slant of his tanned nose and then landed on his lips. “I loved it.”

  “I hoped you would.” He twisted back around and put the bike on course to deposit her on the doorstep of Gran’s Candy Shoppe. Joel dropped her off, but waited to leave until she was safely upstairs in her apartment.

  It was only after she heard the rumble signaling he was leaving that she noticed she still wore his leather coat.

  * * *

  Despite the warmth of the day, it tended to get pretty chilly by the lake in the evening. At home, Joel searched for his coat until he remembered Shelby still had it. No matter. He tossed on a hooded sweatshirt while Dante danced and whined around his feet.

  “Just a minute, boy. Your walk’s coming.” He jammed his feet into his shoes and clipped the leash on to his dog’s collar.

  Dante had a way of wiggling his whole body back and forth when he was excited. He butted up against Joel’s legs and looked up at him, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

  “You goof.” Joel ruffled the fur on top of the dog’s head and then opened the front door.

  His dog might have been old and have joint problems, but that didn’t stop Dante from plowing ahead when they went for walks. Especially late at night like this when nocturnal animals came out. Joel shoved a stick of cinnamon gum into his mouth and watched Dante for signs of pain because, left to his own devices, the dog would push through any discomfort.

  A few days ago, Joel scoped out trails in the area and had found one that started at the end of his street and wove through a small wooded area, which led to the beach. He steered Dante down the trail, letting the dog stop and smell whatever he wanted. Dante was cooped up in the house most days so he deserved as many sniffs as he could get on their walks.

  At the beach, Joel eased out of his shoes. His bare feet slapped the wet sand along the shoreline. Without intending to, his mind wandered over the past week and a half. One particular face kept popping into his mind. Shelby’s.

  It had felt good—more than good—to have her draped across his back as they’d sped down a long, winding road. She was the kind of person who’d always been missing from his life. Sweet, positive, loyal, trusting. And she believed in him.

  She was unattached, but a woman like Shelby wouldn’t stay single for long. He’d heard the men at the coffee shop the first time he and Shelby had gone out. They’d dated her and had missed out. They only said cruel things because of hurt egos, and their pride wouldn’t have been hurt so much if they hadn’t wanted their relationships with Shelby to work. If Joel didn’t make a move soon, someone else would.

  Sure, he’d told himself not to get involved, but not getting involved could make him miss out on something amazing. So why hang back? Perhaps, as long as no one figured out the truth about him, Joel could have all his dreams.

  “Who’s there?” someone called from the direction of the parking lot above the beach.

  Joel stopped and squinted, trying to make out the owner of the voice. It sounded familiar. “Miles?”

  “Oh, hey, Joel.” In uniform, Miles skidded down a small dune instead of taking the steps and joined Joel. “What are you doing on the beach so late?”

  “Walking my dog.” He dangled the leash. “Is that a crime in these parts?”

  “No.” Miles fell into step with him. “I just saw movement and wanted to check it out because we’ve had a lot of trouble with juveniles coming down here for drinking parties after curfew.”

  “If it helps, I haven’t seen anyone.”

  “Well, that’s good. Do you mind if I walk with you for a few minutes?”

  “Last I checked it’s a free country, Officer.” Joel laughed. Cops made him uncomfortable. Even Miles. But, tonight at least, he had nothing to hide.

  Miles nodded once and kept pace with Joel and Dante. What could his old friend want? Joel glanced at Miles. Cops didn’t just go for strolls while they were on shift. The officer had to be up to something, or investigating him for who knew what reason.

  Miles finally cleared his throat. “I’m worried about Shelby.”

  Shelby? Here it came. Caleb probably sent Miles to give him a stern talking-to. Joel decided to play along in the beginning just to see what Miles would say. “Worried?”

  “Did she tell you she met with a construction company the other day?”

  “She didn’t.” A hollow feeling settled in Joel’s gut. It bothered him that she hadn’t mentioned anything. But then, why would she?

  “Well, she signed a contract with the first company she spoke to about the church plan and—this is between you and me—I have a long history back at the station regarding the owner and his employees, and the scams they have run. I’ve received some warnings from other nearby departments, as well.”

  Joel stopped walking. “Scams?”

  “Shoddy work and plenty of corners cut.” Miles turned to face Joel. “The owner is smart, though. He flirts right on the line of legal and illegal activity, which means I haven’t been able to convince the county prosecutor to let me seek a warrant on him yet.”

  Joel’s hand fisted around Dante’s leash, and he commanded his muscles to relax. “You can’t let them work on the church, then. This project means a lot to Shelby.”

  “I know. It’s a shame. I wish I could have prevented her from working with them, but it was too late by the time she told me, and she never even consulted Caleb. Which is out of character for her.” Miles shrugged.

  “Why don’t you just tell her all of this?”

  “I shouldn’t be telling you any of it, let alone her. All of this information is from confidential police reports. I could get in trouble for what I’m telling you right now. Best to keep my eye on the company and catch them before anything goes too wrong with the church.”

  “You should at least tell Caleb.”

  Miles laughed once. “Her overprotective brother? Not likely. Listen, Caleb is my best friend, but if I told him he’d barrel at these guys ten minutes later and blow my investigation.”

  “But I don’t want Shelby hurt.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing you’re helping with the rebuild. You can stick close to her and make sure she’s safe.”

  Joel had only planned on assisting her with the fund-raiser. Being on-site while the church was built was not something he wanted to do. But if he avoided it and the men conned Shelby, he’d never forgive himself.

  So much for steering clear of the church.

  Chapter Eight

  Shelby ran her pen down the to-do list for the fund-raiser as Caleb carried the last box of supplies to his pick
up truck. Since she was carless for the time being, he’d been kind enough to lend her his truck for the evening.

  Would she and Joel be able to finish everything tonight? They’d have to.

  Caleb snapped the tailgate back into position. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come to help unload and set up everything? I wouldn’t mind.”

  Her brother asking to go either meant Paige had plans and he had nothing to do tonight, or he was concerned about Shelby for some reason. Perhaps he thought she was stressed about the event. Sure, she was. But she didn’t need her big brother trying to rescue her anymore. Not from stress—not from anything.

  “No way.” Shelby slipped her notebook into her bag. “Enjoy your last Friday night as a single man.”

  The truck keys rested in his hand. “I’ll still be single next Friday.”

  “Wedding’s next Saturday buddy. So your rehearsal is on Friday.”

  “Which I’ll still be single at.”

  Shelby fought an eye-roll. “Okay. Tonight’s your last free Friday. You know how it goes. From that moment you say I do, your time is spoken for. Go play basketball with the guys or something.”

  “I’m not really the go-out-and-celebrate-your-last-bit-of-singleness type of guy. I can’t wait to marry Paige. You know that. Speaking of it, Paige probably wouldn’t mind meeting us at the firehouse to help out tonight, either.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

  Shelby laid her hand over his phone to stop him from dialing. “No. You are both already helping with the event tomorrow, so let her relax tonight. Or go bring her flowers. Something besides spending the night decorating for a pancake breakfast.”

  He searched her eyes. “We wouldn’t mind.”

  “You said that already.” Why was he looking at her like that? As if he was trying to figure out a puzzle?

  “Because it’s true”

  Okay. Hard to believe, but he was being more persistent than usual, which needed to stop because she’d told Joel she’d meet him an hour ago.

  Shelby crossed her arms over her chest. “Out with it.”

  “With what?”

  “I know you too well, Caleb.” She stepped closer, just to let him know she wasn’t intimidated by him the way she used to be. “You have a reason for wanting to come along, and it has nothing to do with helping me work. How about instead of talking in circles for the next ten minutes, you just tell me what’s going on.”

  “You’re right. There is something more.” He looped his hand around the back of his neck. “I don’t know how to say this—”

  “How about simply spitting it out?”

  “It’s Joel.”

  Joel? What about him? Caleb couldn’t think that she and Joel... “Care to expand?”

  “I don’t like you two getting close and spending so much time together alone.”

  She tried to read the meaning behind what Caleb had just said. Was he upset she’d spent time with Joel and not him? Or that Joel hadn’t sought out Caleb’s friendship during his free time? Either way, her best option was to make a joke. Maybe then Caleb would loosen up or let go of whatever was dogging him.

  “Aw. I never took you for the jealous type.”

  His voice rose a notch. “Could you be serious about this for a minute?”

  Wrong thing to say.

  “Sorry.” Her mouth went dry. Caleb didn’t get upset with her very often. “I guess I don’t understand what you’re saying or why you’re upset.”

  “We don’t know him. Not well. It might be better to keep your distance.”

  “I don’t understand. He’s your friend.”

  “Fourteen years ago, you’d be correct. Today—” he shrugged “—I have no clue who he is right now, but so far I’m not impressed. He keeps to himself so much, and I know for a fact he skipped church last week. He takes you out on a motorcycle. You know how many people get killed on those machines?”

  Shelby crossed her arms. “Perhaps Joel’s not out to impress you.”

  “What I know about him isn’t great. He left here without a trace. All I know is he took off to Indiana, and I don’t even know if that’s true. How can we believe what he says?”

  “You’re seriously not making any sense. Did you already forget that you’ve invited him to your wedding?”

  “That was before he started cozying up to my sister. I have a bad feeling about him that I can’t explain. It’s a gut thing. Besides, even when he lived here before, he might have been my friend, but he was bad news.”

  She couldn’t believe what Caleb was saying. It was so out of character for him. Caleb usually spent his time encouraging the best out of people. Not ripping them down. There had to be more to his doubts about Joel than he was voicing. Did she want to know?

  No. She’d choose to hope for the best.

  “I can’t believe you. If this is how you talk about your old friends, I’d love to see how you talk about people you don’t like.”

  Caleb crossed his arms. “Did he or did he not take you out for a ride on his motorcycle?”

  Her brother knew about that? Well, of course he did—practically the entire town had seen them at the square. She swallowed hard. “What does that matter?”

  “Answer my question.”

  “He did.” Shelby raised her chin.

  Caleb’s eyes widened. “Do you have any concept of how dangerous that is?”

  “Yeah, actually I do. And know what? I loved it. If Joel offers to take me again, I’ll say yes.”

  “Don’t.” Caleb shook his head. “Please, don’t.”

  “I’m not a child, Caleb. When are you going to see that?”

  “When you stop acting like one.” At least he winced after he said that.

  Shelby spun away from him.

  He placed his hand on her shoulder and gently turned her around. “You’re the only family I have. I don’t want to see you hurt in any way.”

  Joel’s challenge in the laundry room came back to her. He’d been right. Because of Caleb’s overprotection, she had never lived life. Not really.

  Shelby shrugged away from her brother’s touch. “I’m sick of a safe life. I’m so tired of never taking any risks. I want to get on that bike and take off for Colorado and see the mountains. I want to jump on a plane tomorrow and head to London. I want to live. Is that so bad?”

  “Those are nice dreams, but perhaps Joel’s not the man to have them with. Not yet anyway. Let’s wait until we know who he is now better.” He spoke softly, probably trying to calm her down.

  “What’s the point? No one will ever live up to what you want them to be.” Her eyes burned with tears she tried to keep in. She gestured behind her, showing no one was waiting around. “I don’t exactly have a string of men hoping to spend time with me. You’ve seen to that most of my life and scared them all away.” She stopped him coming any closer by putting up her hand. “So far from what I can tell, Joel enjoys spending time with me. It won’t last forever—it can’t. But let me enjoy being his friend for now, okay?”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why won’t you let me be happy? What’s so wrong with that?” She swiped hot angry tears from her cheeks. Now her face would be red and blotchy when she arrived at the firehouse. Great.

  “Shelb, I want you happy. I want that most in the world. But trust me on this, Joel has a bad background and you don’t want to bring that into a relationship.” Caleb raised both hands to keep her from butting in. “Let’s say that, besides the bike, he’s an upstanding guy now. Even so, he’s a bad match for you because he grew up without parents. He’s never had the opportunity to watch a married couple that loves each other and learn from them. He hasn’t had a man in his life who’s taught him how to treat a woman right or how to be a good father. Because of all that, he’ll never be a good match for any Christian woman.”

  How could Caleb hold Joel’s childhood pain against him? Her brother’s words made no sense.

  “I can’t believe you of all people
would say something like that.”

  “Don’t allow your heart to get involved with him. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Caleb was used to having the last word in their conversations, but not this time. Not when he was acting so completely thickheaded. “You can’t hold his past against him.”

  “You have to if you care about your future.”

  “So tell me, are you planning on walking out on Paige someday?”

  “I’d never.” He stepped back as if he’d been struck. “Why would you say something like that?”

  “I mean, Dad walked out on Mom. So, by your logic, you’ll end up doing the same to your wife.”

  “It’s not the same. At all.”

  “But it is.”

  “Hear me out. I just have this feeling that—”

  Enough!

  “I’ve listened to you my whole life, and where has that gotten me? Safe in Goose Harbor.” She touched his arm. “I don’t blame you. I can only imagine what you felt and went through when you had to take over as man of the family, and then only years later, lost your first wife in such a violent way.”

  She hated bringing up Sarah’s death. No man should lose his young wife. She’d died so senselessly, shot outside the nonprofit she’d started to help inner-city teens in the troubled town of Brookside.

  Shelby sucked in a fortifying breath. “But I’m done letting your worry control me. Yes, you’ve gotten better about it. Tons better because Paige keeps you in check. But you need to stop telling me what I can and can’t do anymore, because I’m not listening.”

  “Shelby.”

  “I’m late. Give me the keys.” She held out her hand.

  He placed the keys in her palm.

  She closed her fingers around the metal and then swung open the truck’s front door. She and her brother never fought. Not like this. But he was wrong about Joel. Still, she couldn’t leave Caleb thinking she was so angry she wouldn’t speak to him. If the fire all those years ago had taught her one thing, it was that life could change in an instant. If something terrible happened, she’d never want a fight to be their last memory together.