In her place stood a vision of beauty. Her strawberry blond hair was twisted up with some kind of clip, and curls cascaded down from it. He couldn’t tell if she had on any makeup, but she must have, because the freckles were nowhere to be seen. And something she’d done made her eyes stand out until he thought he could get lost in them.
“Breathe, Son,” his dad muttered in his ear.
“Jessa, come in.” Elaine grinned at Jeb’s barely perceptible comment but hurried over to make her guest feel at home.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Well, let’s see. . .” Elaine wiped her hands on the towel that hung on the cabinet pull and nodded. “You can put the ice in the glasses.”
While she got Jessa started on her assigned task, Clint inwardly thanked his mom for giving him time to gather his thoughts.
“So, Clint?” Jessa asked over her shoulder as she divvied ice cubes into the glasses, “Did you recognize me without the ponytail?”
He grinned. Trust her to address his speechlessness head on. “You clean up real nice.”
“Thanks.” She turned back to Elaine. “Nothing like begging for a compliment.”
Clint smiled politely, but his pulse pounded in his ears. His career was over, his life in turmoil, his faith a wreck. Now was the worst possible time for him to meet the girl of his dreams. But his heart seemed to have a mind of its own.
Nine
“Y’all just visit while I bring the dessert.” Elaine stood, and Jessa started to rise too, but Clint’s dad waved her back to her seat.
“No, Jessa, you’re our guest tonight. I’ll help her.” Jeb rose and aimed a broad wink at Elaine. “She’s always trying to get me alone anyway.”
Clint and Jessa chuckled as the older couple left the room, still teasing each other as the door shut behind them.
“Are they always like that?”
“Always.”
“You’re lucky.”
“Don’t your parents tease?”
“Not much.”
“Well, some people are just not as. . .hmm. . .exuberant as Dad and Mom.” He grinned. “In case you were wondering, I was looking for a tactful word.”
“They’re wonderful.” The easy atmosphere in the McFadden place was in stark contrast to the tense house she’d been raised in.
She’d been a little nervous about eating supper with the family because she hadn’t heard from Clint since their lunch on Tuesday, but he’d acted completely normal. Her nerves had calmed as the meal had progressed.
She glanced at the mahogany mantel above the fireplace. Row after row of framed photographs lined the top. “Looks like they’ve raised a big family.”
“Yep.” He pointed to the large picture in the center.
Jessa stood and walked across the hardwood floor for a closer look.
“Just a bunch of ugly mugs, mostly,” Clint joked as Jessa perused the framed photographs on the mahogany mantel. “Of course, there might be one handsome one in the bunch.”
“Oh, really.” She pointed at the group picture, taken when the boys were teens. “This has to be you on this end. And the other three are your brothers?”
“Yes.”
“I always wanted a brother.”
“There were times when I was growing up that I would have gladly given you one of mine.”
Jessa chuckled. “I know what you mean. There were times I would have given you my sister, too.”
Clint shook his head. “Never wanted a sister.”
“I wouldn’t have figured you for a woman hater.”
“I don’t hate women. But when I was ten, my cousin came to spend the summer.” He nodded toward a blond smiling out of a small frame. “She was a girl.” A mischievous glint twinkled in his eye. “A teenage girl. That was enough to sour me on ever wanting a sister.”
“Do you have sisters-in-law?”
“Yep, two of them. Now, if either of them had come to stay, it would have been a different story. I’d probably have begged Mom for a sister. Or even if she’d been more like you.”
His unabashed grin turned Jessa’s knees to jelly, and she quickly turned back toward the mantel, leaning forward to look at the pictures in the back row.
The firefighter’s yellow hat shaded his eyes in the photograph, but the crooked grin was a dead giveaway. Jessa picked up the framed snapshot and peered closer at it. Clint was a fireman.
Why hadn’t he mentioned that rather important detail in all their conversations about heroes and fires? No wonder he’d sounded so positive about how to act at a fire scene when they were at the cabin the morning after.
“So, did you get settled into the guest room?” Clint spoke from behind her.
She spun around, picture still in her hand, to face Clint. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a fireman?”
His smile disappeared. Knitting his brows together, he shrugged. “I’m not anymore. So, it’s not worth talking about.”
He wasn’t anymore? The tiny red date stamp in the bottom left corner of the photo showed that it had been only two months since the picture had been taken. Curiosity prodded her to keep the subject open, but his attitude strongly discouraged further questions.
The hostile expression on his face now was a far cry from the happy smile in the photo she held. Her tongue grew dry in her mouth. Heart pounding, she turned back to the fireplace and carefully replaced the picture.
She made a show of looking over the rest of the photos. Good looks and winning smiles ran through this family like a golden thread through a tapestry. They all looked so strong and healthy.
She could feel Clint’s gaze boring into her back. He was probably trying to decide if she was going to let the matter drop or not. She spun around. “Nice family.”
“I like them.” He wasn’t frowning anymore, but his slight smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Before she could reply, Elaine and Jeb entered the room each holding a tray. Elaine looked from Clint to Jessa as if she suspected tension. “I thought we might want to take our dessert and coffee out on the deck.”
Clint cleared his throat. “I’m going to go on up to bed.” He nodded at Jessa but didn’t meet her gaze. “Hope you get settled in okay.” He dropped a quick kiss on his mom’s cheek. “Thanks for supper, Mom. Delicious as always.”
He was gone before Elaine could respond. Jeb balanced his tray with one hand and gave his wife a reassuring squeeze on her arm with the other. “Well,” he boomed, smiling at Jessa, “that’ll mean more dessert for the rest of us.”
Jessa returned Jeb’s smile, but for all his joviality there was no denying the concern that lurked in Clint’s dad’s eyes.
❧
Clint stomped up the wooden steps to his apartment. Jessa Sykes got under his skin. When she had latched on to that picture of him in his uniform, he had seen the multitude of unasked questions in her eyes. It was only a matter of time before they came tumbling out.
They were questions he wasn’t prepared to answer. Not for her, not for anyone.
Shame washed over him. He couldn’t bear for this woman who had proclaimed him as her “hero” to know what an absolute failure he was. What would she think of him if she knew the truth? Would she still call him a “hero” if she knew he’d been unable to save his best friend when he was only a few feet away? That now he was afraid of fire?
What a laugh. A fireman afraid of fire. That would be like a teacher afraid of kids or a florist afraid of flowers. Clint flung the apartment door open. To his amazement, the yellow pup ran to him, wagging his tail.
“Hey, Rapscallion.” Clint had no idea what Jessa had in mind to name the little pup, but he’d taken to calling him by the only moniker that seemed to fit. He reached out to pet the dog.
Instead of cowering and running away, the suddenly friendly canine jumped up at him. Clint looked over at the sofa and TV. He’d intended to veg out for the next several hours. To sit like he had every other night, mindlessly staring at the
screen, not even knowing if it was on or not.
Rapscallion apparently had other ideas.
When Clint grabbed the leash and bent down, he barely got his head turned in time to redirect the puppy’s sloppy kiss to his cheek. “Good boy.” Clint rubbed the dog’s nose. “Now be still.” To his amazement, Rapscallion stood without moving until Clint got the leash fastened to the collar.
As he gave the puppy an affectionate hug, a sudden thought occurred to him. Now that Jessa had moved into the house, he wouldn’t have any reason to keep the dog. His parents wouldn’t mind Rapscallion staying with her in the guest room. He probably should take him back to her immediately.
But then again, with it being her first night in almost a week to sleep in a real bed, surely she’d rather wait until tomorrow to have to worry about taking care of a dog. Holding tightly to the leash, Clint kicked the door shut behind him.
Rapscallion scampered down the steps and bounded into the small grove of trees next to the house. When the dog reached the end of the line, he pulled up and ran back to Clint.
“You’re getting used to the leash quickly, aren’t you, boy?” Clint kept his voice low, mindful of Jessa and his parents still enjoying dessert around back. After he returned Rapscallion to Jessa, the apartment would once again become the lonely prison it had been.
Ten
Four short hours ago, Jessa had gone to work determined to fix her faucet and get her life back on track. Since the shop was only open until noon on Saturdays, she’d been confident of having time to turn things around. But she pulled back into the driveway now, confused and worried.
Even with her frayed emotions dangling by a thread, she smiled at the sight of Clint throwing a stick for the stray pup. The man and his dog at play looked like a painting of simpler times.
She’d love someone to talk to, but after Clint’s abrupt departure last night, she wasn’t about to approach him. Maybe Elaine would be home. Before she could reach the door, though, his voice rang across the yard.
“Jessa!” He scooped up the puppy and waved. “Come on over.”
She returned the wave. The wooden swing he motioned toward hung in the shade of a big oak tree right in front of the lake. It looked so inviting. She tossed her purse on the small patio table by the door and ambled across the yard.
She wasn’t in a hurry to face Clint. From the moment he’d shown up at the hospital, her emotions had been in a jumble. The last thing she needed was a protector, but when he wasn’t trying to take care of her, he had the potential to be a really good friend. Or he had, until he’d walked out before dessert last night.
She sank onto the padded cushion beside him. “Hi.”
“Hey there. Since you’ve relocated, I thought you might want your puppy back. Mom and Dad won’t mind at all.” Clint sat and pushed the yellow pup toward her. The dog scrambled back into Clint’s lap. Jessa watched in amazement as the puppy tucked his face behind Clint’s arm with a whimper.
Clint gently stroked the dog’s nose. There was no mistaking the tender regard on his face.
She gasped loudly, suppressing a grin. “Clint McFadden! You’ve stolen my puppy!”
He blushed and ducked his head. “He’ll get used to you, too. Just give him some time.” As he spoke, he rubbed the dog’s shiny coat.
“I don’t think I want a dog that whimpers when I try to hold it.” She forced every trace of a smile from her face. “I guess I’ll have to find out where the humane society building is.” Truthfully, she’d never intended to keep the stray longer than it took to find him a good home, but Clint didn’t have to know that. She’d give him a taste of his own teasing.
“Well, if you really don’t want him. . .” His blue eyes twinkled, and she knew she hadn’t fooled him for a minute. “Rapscallion will be just fine staying with me.”
“Rapscallion?” She shook her head. “What kind of name is Rapscallion? I was thinking of Prince, or even Hero, after he woke me up in the fire.”
“Lucky for him I’m the one naming him then, huh?”
“Lucky. . .hmm. . .that could work.”
“His name is Rapscallion, and that’s final.” Clint pulled the puppy out from under his elbow and set him on the ground, then picked up a stick and threw it.
Jessa burst out laughing when the little dog tore after the stick, his short legs churning. When he flipped end over end, he stood, looked back at Clint, and tilted his head to first one side then the other. She laughed harder. “His name is longer than his legs.”
“Watch this.” Clint clapped his hands. “Come here, Rapscallion.”
“That’s supposed to prove he knows his name? He was halfway to you before you got the ‘here’ out.”
Clint scooped up the excited puppy. “Everybody’s a critic,” he said with a rueful grin, patting the dog gently. “Good boy,” he whispered.
“Seriously, I can’t really have a dog right now. When I find a place to rent, chances are they won’t allow pets.”
“I’d love to have him then.” He ruffled the pup’s hair. “We understand each other.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the birds fly over the placid water. She remembered how burdened she’d felt when she had gotten out of the car. What a difference a few minutes of laughter could make.
As if reading her mind, Clint cleared his throat. “You looked pretty bummed when you first got here. Everything okay?”
“I don’t know. I’m tired, I guess. On Saturdays, I run the shop by myself. Doris offered to come in today because of the fire, but I told her I could handle it.”
“Was it tougher than you thought?” His voice held genuine interest, but she couldn’t detect even a note of pity or a hint that he thought she needed help.
“In a way. You know last night at supper when your mom and I were explaining about the deranged faucet in my shop?”
He nodded.
“Today I decided to figure out what caused my perfectly normal faucet to go off the deep end.”
“And? Did you find the reason?”
“The screws on both the hot and cold handles were loose. Even though that’s an awfully odd coincidence, it would explain why I had a hard time turning the water off. But that still didn’t account for why the faucet itself went wild.”
“So. . .being Miss Independent, instead of calling a plumber, you tore into it yourself.” Clint’s grin took the sting out of his words.
Jessa rolled her eyes. “That’s exactly what I did. But when I unscrewed the head and took it apart, all I got was more questions.”
“What do you mean?”
“There was a part missing.” Before he spoke, she shook her head. “It wasn’t a part that could have dissolved over time. This was a key component of the faucet. . .gone with the wind.”
He smiled at her word choice. “You’re not in Georgia anymore, Scarlett.” But then his expression grew serious. “Why would anyone sabotage your faucet?”
“I honestly can’t imagine, but there is one more thing.” She quickly told him about the ‘You don’t belong there’ phone call. “I hadn’t given it another thought really until I found the faucet. It was probably just a wrong number.”
“Hmm. . .maybe. If the phone call was a wrong number, and the faucet an isolated incident, could it have been a practical joke? By one of your employees?”
Jessa considered the thought of Doris playing a prank. Definitely not. And Seth barely smiled when he got his paycheck. Physical humor didn’t seem his style. She shook her head. “It was working fine earlier in the day, so it had to be done while I was gone to the store. Doris had a church meeting at that time, and Seth doesn’t have a key. Besides, what’s the point of a prank if there’s no ‘gotcha!’ to top it off?”
“You said you worked alone today.” He ruffled Rapscallion’s head but kept his gaze on Jessa. “Maybe you just haven’t heard the ‘gotcha’ yet.”
“Maybe. We’ll see, I guess. Until Monday, I’m not going to worry ab
out it.” She pushed to her feet. “Right now, I’ve got a date with a cliff.”
Clint stood. “Who’s Cliff?”
“You know. Tall, rocky bluff—perfect for climbing?” Jessa blinked as the color drained from Clint’s face.
“Are you kidding?”
“No, I’m serious. I joined a rock-climbing club when I first moved here.” She thought the news that she would be with a group would soothe his apparently ruffled feathers, but she was wrong.
The original color came back to his face and more besides. “What? Almost dying in a burning cabin wasn’t enough excitement for you this week?”
His harsh words brought quick tears to Jessa’s eyes, and she jumped up to defend herself. “I didn’t find anything terribly exciting about losing everything I owned and ending up in the emergency room. You’ve obviously never experienced the exhilaration of taking a well-planned risk.”
He stared at her for a few minutes, their faces just inches apart. An incredible sadness filled his eyes, and he sank back down in the swing. He ran his hand through his hair. “Jessa, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.” In spite of his apology, she couldn’t keep the anger from her own voice, but she sat back down beside him.
“You don’t know what it’s like to face danger every day because you have to, not because you choose to. Risky sports and hobbies just seem like such a waste to me.”
“And you have a right to your opinion.” Jessa kept her voice level. She realized that, as a fireman, Clint had probably seen horrible things. It was natural for him to be cautious. But in that second, she also knew there was no possibility of a future for them as anything but friends. “When I’m rock climbing or kayaking or even parasailing, I feel totally alive. The danger proves that to me.”
“I don’t understand why you need that to make you feel alive.”
His voice begged her to make him see, but she couldn’t. She could never trust him with the truth. As protective as he was now, if he found out she’d ever been anything less than healthy, he’d be as bad as her family.
“Why don’t you skip the climb and let me show you how exciting an afternoon of fishing on the lake can be?” Clint’s crooked grin didn’t reach his eyes this time. She saw desperation there instead.
Through the Fire Page 6
