by Jaci Burton
Jackson slanted Rafe a warning look. “You know I can’t talk about personnel issues with you, Rafe. Even if it’s about your brother.”
If Kal hadn’t talked to him, Jackson would have said no. The shutdown meant he had. “Sure, I understand.”
They went back to work for a few minutes. Then Jackson stopped and leaned against the top of the shovel. “Did Kal talk to you?”
Rafe smiled at him. “You know I can’t talk about brother-to-brother conversations. Sworn to secrecy.”
Jackson grinned and shook his head. “Asshole.”
Rafe laughed, and they went back to shoveling.
Kal came out and handed each of them a tall glass of ice water.
“What did you do in there?” Jackson asked. “Take a nap?”
“Maybe.”
Rafe downed two gulps right away, cooling his parched throat. Cold water had never tasted so good.
“What were you two laughing about?” Kal asked. “I heard you inside.”
“Family and work secrets,” Rafe said.
“Nah. He was talking shit about you,” Jackson said.
Kal looked over at Rafe, who shook his head. “It’s all lies.”
“And I made lunch while I was in there. Now I’m going to eat it myself.”
At the mention of food, Rafe’s stomach grumbled. “You made lunch? What did you fix?”
“Does it make a difference?”
“No,” Jackson said. “You know we’ll eat anything. But what did you make?”
“Turkey sandwiches with avocado and chipotle aioli, and a watermelon salsa.”
Rafe dropped his shovel on the ground. “And we’re breaking.”
Kal laughed. “Thought you might say that.”
They went inside and washed up, then sat at the kitchen table where they’d grown up. It still bore the scars from elbows and forks and fights at the dinner table.
“You think Mom will want a new kitchen table at the new house?” Rafe asked.
Jackson looked down at the table. “Probably. This one’s pretty scarred up.”
“You’re the one who stabbed the steak knife in the wood when we argued over whether we were gonna stay here or not.”
Jackson shrugged. “I was fourteen, Kal. And I didn’t stab you, did I?”
“No, but it was a heated argument that night.”
“And as usual,” Rafe said, “I had to play the peacemaker.”
They both looked over at Rafe.
“I don’t remember it exactly like that,” Jackson said.
“I remember,” Kal said. “Rafe, you were on my side, arguing with Jackson that if he wanted to leave, he could go by himself, because you liked it here and you and me were staying.”
Jackson cracked a smile. “And I said I wasn’t going without the two of you. That’s when I got mad and stabbed my knife into the table.”
“Right when Mom walked back into the room,” Kal said.
Rafe nodded. “I give her credit for not flipping out. She just pulled up a chair next to you and asked if you were planning to stab one of us, or if there was something else making you mad.”
“Yeah,” Jackson said, his lips curving into a smile. “She was always so calm. It’s one of the things I love most about her. Her feathers are never ruffled.”
“Whose feathers?”
Rafe looked up to see their mother walking into the kitchen. Kal got up and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Hey, Mom. We were just reminiscing about the kitchen table. And Jackson’s knife mark in it.”
“Oh, that.” She laid her stuff on the table by the doorway. “And you think that didn’t upset me?”
“You seemed so calm about it,” Jackson said.
She slid in the chair next to Jackson. “To you, yes. I cried in my room that night, I was so afraid you were going to leave us.”
“Aww, Mom.” Jackson put his arm around her and tugged her against him. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“You’re home early today,” Kal said.
“Yes. We’re closing on the new house this afternoon, so I took half a day off.”
Rafe grinned. “Yeah? That’s exciting. This place should be ready to go within a week.”
“No worries. We actually have someone interested in buying the house already.”
“Really?” Jackson asked. “Who?”
“Glen and Paula English’s son, Tim.”
“I remember Tim from school,” Rafe said. “Didn’t he move to Orlando after college?”
Mom nodded. “But he just got a new position here. Tim’s wife, Stacy, landed a job already as well.”
“That’s great,” Kal said.
“Yes, it is,” their mom said. “They’re looking for a place near Tim’s parents because Paula is going to watch their twins. They know we’ve been fixing our house up to sell, so Paula asked me how soon it would be ready.”
“Not putting it on the market would be ideal,” Jackson said.
“I agree,” Mom said. “Tim and Stacy will be flying in this weekend, so they’re going to come by and look at the house. But it being just around the corner from Paula and Glen’s, if it works out and if they like our house, I’m hoping we can work out a deal.”
“We’ll make sure to have the backyard landscaping finished by then,” Kal said.
Rafe nodded. “Not a problem at all, Mom.”
“You all have been so good at pitching in to help us make this place beautiful again. I’m almost sad to leave.”
Jackson laughed. “No, you’re not. You have that big, beautiful house to move into that has everything you’ve always wanted. The office, the pool, that fancy bathroom.”
“You’re right. I’m excited about the new house. But I’ll still be sad to leave this place.”
Rafe figured she’d be sad to leave until she moved all of her favorite pieces of furniture into the new house and had a chance to decorate. Then she’d forget all about this place.
They finished up the yard work around five. Mom asked them if they wanted to stay for dinner. Kal stayed behind, but Jackson and Rafe went home.
The two of them kicked back for a while and played video games. After their team dominated one of the war games, Jackson laid his controller on the table.
“I need to go take a shower. Becks and I are going to eat and see a movie. Then there’s a club one of her clients told her about that we’re gonna check out tonight.”
He appreciated his brother making plans out of the house tonight. “Sounds fun. Have a great time.”
Kal had already texted that he was probably going to crash at Mom and Dad’s tonight because he and Dad were packing up some things in the garage.
So if Kal had already talked to Jackson about wanting to move out of Station 6, Kal might have a conversation one-on-one with Dad tonight about it. Or maybe he’d wait and go through official channels.
As Kal’s lieutenant, it was Jackson’s job to mention it to their captain when one of their firefighters was interested in transferring. Then Captain Mathias would bring it to the battalion chief—Dad—who would move things up the chain if they felt that particular firefighter was qualified for a new position.
Rafe was curious as hell about Kal’s situation. He wanted his brother to be happy. And if he wasn’t content on Ladder 6, it wasn’t good for the rest of the ladder team.
Not that there was anything Rafe could do about it other than wait and hope for the best.
Besides, tonight he had a date, and that was what was first and foremost on his mind.
CHAPTER 16
WHAT A DAY. THE ER HAD ROLLED IN ONE EMERGENCY AFTER another, ambulances had been lined up to bring in case after case and Carmen didn’t think she’d sat once the entire day.
All she wanted to do was go home, sit in a tub with a glass of wine and a good book, eat dinner and pass out early.
But she had promised Rafe she’d come over to his place tonight. He’d told her he was going to cook for her.<
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She could cancel. She could be honest and tell him she was tired. He’d understand.
She walked in the front door, hung her keys on the rack and tossed her bag on the table.
“You look beat,” her grandpa said as she made her way into the living room to press a kiss on his cheek.
“It was a long day.”
“You relax tonight. I can fix dinner.”
“No, I’ll take care of it. I’m going to grill you some chicken and asparagus and tiny potatoes.”
“Sounds good. And you mean us, right?”
She rested her thigh against the side of the sofa. “Actually, Rafe asked me to come over to his place for dinner tonight. Unless you think you need me.”
Her grandpa’s brows shot up. “A date? You have a date with Rafe?”
“Kind of.”
“That’s great. I like him, bebita. You two are a good match.”
“It’s just dinner, Grandpa. We’re not getting married or anything.”
“I need grandbabies.” He emphasized the last word with his soulful eyes.
She wasn’t falling for it. “Don’t look at me. I’m too busy to have babies.”
“Well, I’m sure not having them, so it’s gonna have to be you.”
She laughed. “Then I’ll see what I can do somewhere down the road.”
“I don’t have that many ‘down the road’ years left in me. How about you see what you can do sooner? Maybe even tonight?”
Her eyes widened. “Grandpa!”
He shrugged. “Just trying to hurry you along.”
“How about you let me fall in love with someone first.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll wait. But I think Rafe is a pretty decent candidate.”
She’d reserve judgement on that. After her disastrous first marriage, she didn’t trust herself at all where men were concerned. “I’m going to cook your dinner.”
She went into the kitchen, put the potatoes and asparagus on to cook and grilled the chicken. Fortunately, it was a quick meal, so she had her grandfather’s dinner finished in a hurry. While he was eating, she dashed to her room and jumped in the shower, making sure to shave all her critical parts—just in case they saw some action tonight.
Though she was so tired she might fall asleep right after dinner.
Some hot date you are, Carmen.
Hey, if Rafe Donovan wanted to date her, he was going to have to deal with the part of her that came home exhausted after a brutal shift. As a firefighter, she figured he’d understand what that was like.
After she dried her hair and applied a little makeup, she put on shorts and a T-shirt, not wanting to appear too fancy, then looked at herself in the mirror.
“Great, Carmen. You look like you’re ready for a trip to the grocery store.”
Would it hurt that much to step it up a bit, girl?
She huffed in disgust at the mirror. “Fine.”
She pulled off the shorts and T-shirt and stared in the closet, finally deciding on a cotton sundress that was casual, but still a little sexy.
But not too sexy. She didn’t want to give Rafe the idea that she was going over there for sex.
You want to have sex with him, idiot. What’s your problem?
Deciding not to overthink every damn thing, she slid her feet into her comfy white sandals and went downstairs to check on her grandpa. He was watching TV in the living room. She filled his water glass and set it down on the table.
“I’m right next door if you need anything,” she said. “And I have my phone on me.”
“I can take care of myself, Carmen.”
“I’ll be back in time to put you to bed.”
He looked up at her, glaring. “I can put myself to bed.”
“No, you can’t, and don’t try or you’ll fall.”
“Whatever. Pop back over at ten and you can help. Then you can go back over to Rafe’s.”
She frowned. “What if I’m tired and I want to go to bed at ten?”
“Then you’re not doing dating right.”
Even her grandfather was pushing her toward Rafe. “We’ll see. I’ll be back at ten. Love you, Grandpa.”
“Love you, too, bebita.”
At least she had an exit plan if she got so tired she couldn’t keep her eyes open.
She walked across the lawn and knocked on the door to Rafe’s house. It took a minute, but Rafe opened the door.
He wore jeans and a short-sleeved Henley that fit tight against his amazing chest and shoulders.
“You look incredible,” he said, smiling at her but keeping his eyes fixed on her face, which she appreciated.
“Thanks. So do you. Are we going out?”
“No. I just figured since I invited you over to eat, I should maybe not dress like I’m going to the beach. Come on in.”
It was a million degrees outside and even more humid than that. The fact he put on a pair of jeans was quite the sacrifice.
She followed him into the kitchen. He had two wineglasses out.
“White or red?”
“White.”
“Sweet or not?”
“Hmm. Not.”
He went to the fridge and selected a bottle of sauvignon blanc. He pulled the cork and let it sit.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“Intense. Exhausting. I ran from the second I got there until the end of shift.”
He swept his hand down her arm. “Those days are brutal. You must be wiped.”
“Kind of.”
He poured the wine into their glasses and grabbed both of them. “Come on. Let’s go sit in the living room.”
They took seats next to each other on the comfortable sofa. He handed her one of the glasses.
“Thanks.”
“A lot of emergencies today?” he asked.
She liked that he seemed interested in her work. “Yes.”
“Come on. Kick off your sandals, put your feet in my lap and I’ll give you a foot massage. You can tell me about your day.”
“Seriously?” Her feet ached by the end of her shift, and the one thing she always longed for was someone to rub them.
“Totally serious.”
She slid out of her sandals, shifted on the sofa and laid her arm against the pillow of the sofa. She rested her feet in his lap, balancing her glass of wine as she did so. He started off rubbing the arch of one foot, gently at first.
She resisted the urge to moan. It felt so good.
“That’s nice.”
“Good. So did you have ambulances stacked up?”
Oh, that’s right. She was supposed to be telling him about her day, but all she could think about was how he was using his amazingly strong hands to rub the soreness out of her aching feet.
“Right. It’s like they were lying in wait for me as soon as I got there. One critical emergency after another.”
He nodded, using his fist to roll the tension out of the ball of her foot. This time, she did moan, sighed and took a hard swallow of her wine.
She was in heaven, and if he never stopped rubbing her feet, she’d be okay with that.
“I know how that is,” he said. “Same thing happens at the station sometimes. It’s like you don’t even get a second to breathe the entire shift.”
“Exactly. You could go weeks with business as usual, and then all hell breaks loose in one day. That’s how today was. By the time I got home, I was beat.”
He shifted to her other foot, using his same tender massage, then looked up at her. “You could have canceled if you were too tired to come over. You know I would have understood, Carmen.”
“I figured you would have. But I made Grandpa dinner and took a shower, and the shower helped revive me a little.”
He smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too. And thank you for the foot rub. It’s helping in ways I can’t even tell you.”
She hadn’t realized how much she needed the emotional support, the fact he listened to her talk
about her day. She told her grandpa, of course, but never too much information, because then he’d complain she was working too hard and he’d feel guilty that she had to take care of him and the house, too. So she tried to downplay the grueling hours and the hard days.
She placed her wineglass on the table. “What did you do today?”
“My brothers and I finished up some yard work at my parents’ house. It’s ready to put on the market now.”
“That’s great. So when are they moving to the new house?”
“Pretty soon. Kal’s there tonight helping our dad pack up the garage. The son of friends of theirs is interested in buying the place, so they might not even have to put it on the market.”
“That’s fantastic. I hope it sells fast for them. I’m sure your mom is eager to get into her new house.”
He used his fingers to press onto the top of her foot, easing the sore muscles there. “She downplays it, but I can tell she’s excited about all the features in the new house. Especially having her own private office there.”
“Does she do a lot of work at home?”
He nodded. “If she’s on call. She always has court files at home. The current house doesn’t give her any quiet space to do that. The new place has a nice office where she’ll have some privacy to do her work and to take calls.”
“Perfect.”
Rafe had both of her feet in his hands now, rhythmically rubbing them. She lay back on the sofa.
“I’ve often thought about doing some renovations to Grandpa’s house.”
“Yeah? What kind?”
She yawned. “I’d like to reorganize the garage so I can do my crafting in there.”
“Crafts, huh? What kinds of crafts do you do?”
“I restore furniture. Or I would if I could find the space to do it. The garage is filled with some of my mom’s old things—things I’d like to restore if I had the space. But there’s just so much junk piled up in there, and I can never find the time to deal with it.”
“Huh. Maybe I can help you out with that.”
She yawned again, blinking to keep her eyes open. “You don’t have to do that.”
“What if I want to.”
“You could . . .”
CARMEN JERKED AWAKE. THE ROOM WAS DARK, BUT ONE thing she knew for certain was that she wasn’t in her own home.
