Whatever Nate said, it wasn’t good. Keith called his father back, told him something and pointed east. The post office was to the south.
Mandy sat in her seat, cold and helpless, despite the heat and the heavy fire gear. For all she cared, the post office could burn. It was her sister’s safety that mattered most. Images of her flitted through her head. Olivia wearing a Dalmatian costume for Halloween when she was a toddler. Olivia baking cookies from scratch with Grandma. Olivia in a pretty yellow cocktail dress going to her eighth-grade Promotion Dance. Olivia with an IV in her arm, her face paper white, her eyes half-closed against the pain.
“Hurry. Please hurry,” Mandy said to Ben.
“There’s another lawn fire on Woodson,” Keith said when Ben had the truck moving. He sucked on his inhaler and then sucked down water. “Dad and Nate can put it out with house hoses. Cloverdale Fire is on the way to the post office.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE POST OFFICE wasn’t on fire.
Ben couldn’t work up enough saliva to make a good news–bad news joke about that, because in the field beyond the post office a gray car sat in front of a flaming two-story farmhouse. Six-foot flames shot out of the front door and first-story windows. Thick black smoke hung like a damning raincloud over the roof. The house was at least seventy years old. The wood would be dry. Fast fuel.
Fast heart. Ben’s blood was pumping double time.
“Second story,” Dad wheezed. “Right window. Two live ones.” His eagle eyes had spotted the girls through the tree line.
“There’s a driveway to the right.” Joe pointed. “Turn here. Turn here.”
Ben did, careening over a curb to make the tight turn. “ETA on Cloverdale?”
“Twenty-five.” Dad got on the radio and updated the fire’s coordinates.
“They’re waving. They’re alive.” Mandy sounded as if she’d expected the worst. She didn’t realize the worst was yet to come. Second-story rescues during a fully engaged fire were unpredictable.
Ben wanted to floor it. He couldn’t. He had to take the engine off road.
“Whoa, big guy,” Joe said when Ben sent the engine off the gravel driveway. “The house is thataway.”
“We’ve got to come in sideways.” Ben hated that he had to slow down even more over the rough terrain. “Utley’s car is in the way and we need the ladder.”
“Where is Utley?” Mandy asked.
“On the porch,” Dad said, sucking in breaths like each one would be his last. “I’m in the bucket.”
“We all appreciate your heroics.” Ben shot his father a glance he hoped showed the man he wasn’t being sarcastic. “You work the ladder. I’ll go.”
Dad nodded, looking almost relieved.
“Gear on first.” Ben slowed even more to bring the truck around. “We have time to get the girls.” He hoped. “What we don’t have time for is rescuing rescuers. Clear?”
“Clear,” Joe said from behind him.
Ben glanced back at Mandy. “It’s gear on first or you stay in the truck.”
“Clear.” Mandy had tears in her eyes.
Ben began making plans. “I need Joe and Mandy to get Utley’s body off the porch and to safety, administer CPR if he needs life-saving measures. Other aid can wait for Cloverdale.” Neither one of them answered him. They were probably thinking Utley didn’t deserve saving, certainly not if it was at the expense of rescuing the girls. “Mandy, connect the hose and work the gauges like the chief showed you. Joe, send water in the front door and toward any stairs in case we need them.” Ben doubted the stairs still existed. The house wasn’t going to be saved. The flames were too high. Their goal would be to keep it from spreading to the field or the trees or to anywhere else in town. But new recruits needed small goals. And the work would keep Mandy from panicking.
Ben parked the engine close enough to fight the fire and far enough away that if the house collapsed it wouldn’t fall on the truck. The girls were hanging out of the window waving, shirts pulled up over their noses and mouths. The heat was intense. Smoke stung Ben’s nose and eyes.
“Ben!” Hannah’s face was streaked with tears. She held the radio in one hand and the neck of her T-shirt in the other.
“We’re coming,” Ben called up to her. “Hold on.”
“Mandy!” Olivia’s eyes were huge. She clenched the strap of her purse. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Mandy was trying to smile. Ben doubted the girls would see how hard it was for her to do so. “Ben’s coming to get you with the ladder.”
The crew suited up fast. While Dad set down the legs to stabilize the engine, Ben double-checked Joe’s and Mandy’s pressure gauges on their air tanks and sent them to the porch. Amazingly, the fire was still contained inside the house walls. The porch and an unmoving Utley weren’t burning. While they carried Utley to the far side of the truck where he’d be shielded from the fire, Ben and his father mounted the engine from the rear.
Dad bent over the ladder controls, breathing heavily but not moving anything.
“Hurry,” Hannah yelled. She began to cough.
Ben patted his old man on the back and tried to keep his tone light, fearing subtlety would be lost behind the distortion of the mask. “Do you remember how to make this thing go?”
Dad glared at him. Sweat dripped down his forehead. “I’m not dead yet.” He raised the ladder slowly and swiveled it toward the girls.
Utley lay on the dirt.
Ben spared a glance to Mandy, who’d connected her end of the hose to the engine and was priming the pump. “Is Utley alive?”
“He shouldn’t be,” Mandy snapped back. She paused and glanced up at him, her heart apparent in her eyes even behind her breathing apparatus. “You’re going to save them?”
He gave her a thumbs-up. “And then you and I are going to talk about the future for us and those two girls up there.”
She nodded. Her response wasn’t eloquent, but it gave him hope.
Dad bumped Ben’s chest with the back of his hand. “Go.”
Ben hesitated, staring up. A ladder. His feet could slip. He could fall. And the girls...
“You’re the best man for the job,” Dad said in his wheezy voice. “Bring our girls home.”
* * *
THE LIBBY LIVING ROOM was full that night.
Full of life. Full of joy. Full of family.
And full of the smell of eucalyptus.
Ben’s chest nearly burst with happiness.
Dad reclined in his chair breathing through his oxygen mask watching something on his phone with earbuds in. Mom passed around a tray of cookies she’d baked. Ben sat on the couch with Hannah in the crook of one arm and Mandy in the crook of the other. Olivia was snuggled up to her sister. The events of the day had drawn them together.
Home. That’s what it felt like. Ben drew Hannah and Mandy closer.
The actual rescue had been uneventful. Ben went up the ladder and helped the girls down. They’d been taken to the hospital as a precaution but were released with a clean bill of health.
The house hadn’t survived, but with the help of Cloverdale Fire they were able to contain the fire so it didn’t spread farther.
And Utley? He’d been taken away for psychiatric evaluation. He’d survived the ordeal with nothing more than a bump on his head.
Surprisingly, Dad had confessed to the mayor that his health wasn’t 100 percent and offered to step down. The mayor had turned to Ben and asked his opinion.
> Ben didn’t have to think twice about his answer. “As long as he knows his physical limits, he’s an asset. We need his experience and steady hand to help with the volunteers.”
Dad had hugged him and whispered, “You’ll be the next fire chief of Harmony Valley.”
Ben knew it was true. He’d learned to appreciate small-town living. He’d never give this life up to be a fire investigator.
“We’re going to need a bigger couch.” Mom handed Olivia a chocolate chip cookie.
“Don’t plan on me.” Olivia sat up straight. “I’m going to cosmetology school.”
“Yes, you are,” Mandy said firmly, her head resting on Ben’s shoulder.
Olivia’s chin went up. “And you’re not going to pay my way.”
“No, I’m not.” Mandy’s happiness reverberated through her voice and seeped into Ben’s chest like a gentle caress. “But I can cosign your loan.”
“What about all the...” Olivia lowered her voice. “...debt?”
“Well,” Mandy said slowly. “I found our grandparents’ will today. It’s signed and notarized and leaves the house to us, not Mom.” She’d shown Ben the will earlier, wanting a second opinion. He’d recommended she consult a lawyer.
“But Grandpa gave you his will.” Olivia frowned. “I saw it.”
“He gave us a handwritten note. Never notarized.” Mandy didn’t smile. The sting of what they’d been through the past two years was still too fresh. Once they sold the house, they’d be able to pay off Olivia’s medical debts, but they probably wouldn’t have enough to pay for her schooling. “I called a lawyer today to be sure. He said since Grandpa had been diagnosed with dementia, anything he wrote without validation by two different lawyers is void.”
“Can we check on the raccoon trap later?” Hannah piped up.
“Not tonight.” Ben tugged one of her blond braids. The last thing he wanted to do in the dark was to tangle with a raccoon.
“Are you still worried about Riley?” Olivia tossed her hands about. “She trapped us in that house and then as soon as I got the window open she abandoned her babies!”
“She was scared,” Hannah said staunchly, unwilling to back down.
“We were all scared,” Olivia went on, relishing the stage. “I didn’t jump out the window and leave you there, did I?”
“No, you didn’t.” Hannah studied her fingernails. They were painted green, and if she lined up her fingers just right a gray snake slithered his way from left to right. “And you saved Riley’s babies, too.”
“You owe me a purse,” Olivia grumbled. “I’ve got to save for a new cell phone.”
“How about another cookie.” Mom was enjoying the company and the girls.
Ben cleared his throat. It was time. “I called John Smith before dinner.”
Hannah leaped out of her seat, preparing to bolt. “Why?”
“I told him he wasn’t your father.” Ben held out his arms. “Because I am. And dads have first dibs.”
Hannah squealed and ran to him.
“I couldn’t let you go, peanut. I love you that much.” Ben squeezed her tight. It would take some paperwork to make it legal, and the much-relieved John had offered to start a college fund for Hannah, so maybe all the angst was worth it.
His mother came to stand beside him. “Ben, did you open—?”
“No.” He took out a folded envelope from his back pocket and showed her it was still sealed. He went to the fireplace, took a match from the mantel, lit the envelope, and tossed it in the grate. “I knew the answer in my heart all the time.”
The smiles from the women in his life made everything worthwhile. Made home worthwhile. Dad removed his earphones. “What’s the hubbub?”
“Hannah is ours.” Mom sat in his lap and kissed him. And then she squinted at his screen. “Hey, that’s Ben on the mound.”
At Ben’s questioning look, Dad defended himself. “Since Mom converted our VHS tapes to digital, I’ve been watching you and those lucky shorts pitch.” His voice turned gruff. “You had skill, son.”
Ben didn’t think his dad could have given him any better gift.
“You should have told me!” Mom flung her arms around Dad’s neck and bussed his lips.
“I wanna see.” Hannah climbed into their laps. “I’m Team Libby.”
“Grandpa Keith keeps us guessing, doesn’t he, Hannah?” Mom held the phone so that she, Hannah and Dad could all watch. “But we love him anyway.”
“Copy that.” Ben crooked his finger at Mandy. Only one thing could make this day more complete. “Come with me.”
“Where?” Mandy stood. She wore blue jeans and a navy blue T-shirt with the Harmony Valley Fire logo. It’d been a gift from Granddad at dinner. She was a long, tall drink of water, and Ben was a thirsty man.
“We have a date with Mr. Moon.” He took her hand and led her outside into the moonlight. He sat on the wooden picnic table and drew her to sit on the bench between his legs so she could look at the moon.
Mandy draped her arms over his knees. “What a day. And now it’s just you and me and Mr. Moon.”
“You were a trooper on those fires.” He massaged her shoulders. “You didn’t panic. You took orders and you got the job done.”
“I had a good fire captain.”
“Really? Tell me about him.”
She chuckled, the sound mixing with cricket song. “He’s strong and loyal.”
“Don’t forget honest to a fault.”
“I wouldn’t say his honesty is a fault. I think it’s pretty perfect.” She turned, moving to sit so she was facing him. “But he’s also patient and kind. Maybe he’s too handsome and confident for his own good.”
“You can never be too handsome or confident.” Ben threaded the fingers of one hand through hers. “He sounds like a man the smartest, hardest-working, prettiest woman in town can have a future with.”
Mandy nodded, her gaze warm and accepting. “I think he knows a thing or two about raising kids. Not that he couldn’t learn more.” She slid her free hand around his neck and drew him closer. “Some might even call him a keeper.”
Ben knew she wanted a kiss, and he was more than happy to oblige.
Just not yet.
“I have something for you,” Ben said when their lips were nearly touching.
“I certainly hope so.” She grinned.
Ben pulled back.
Mandy’s smile fell. “Ben?” She sounded unsure.
Ben had never been more sure of something in his life.
He took a ring from his pocket and slipped it on her finger. “It’s an old family heirloom.”
Mandy stared at the brass—her grandmother’s ring—and then lifted tear-filled eyes to his.
“I know we haven’t known each other long.” His palm cupped her soft cheek. “But when you find someone who makes you happy, and keeps you grounded, and understands the importance of telling secrets to Mr. Moon, you need to make a statement. About the future, about love and about kisses.”
Before he knew what hit him, Mandy was kissing him. And maybe crying a little but smiling through it.
The sliding door opened.
“That’s not how we told you to do it,” Olivia shouted, jolting the couple apart. “Tell me this isn’t going to be the way you do things because that was—”
“Perfect,” Mandy said, drawing Ben back to her. “You were perfect.”
* * * * *
; Be sure to check out the other titles in the HARMONY VALLEY miniseries from USA TODAY bestselling author Melinda Curtis:
MARRYING THE SINGLE DAD
A MEMORY AWAY
TIME FOR LOVE
A PERFECT YEAR
SEASON OF CHANGE
SUMMER KISSES
and DANDELION WISHES
Available at Harlequin.com!
Keep reading for an excerpt from HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO by Pamela Tracy.
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Holding Out for a Hero
Love, Special Delivery Page 24
