Hometown Fireman

by Lissa Manley

  Phoebe made a face rife with innocence. “Say what?”

  “Oh, come on, Phoebs. You think I should be interested in her.”

  “I didn’t say that,” she said, examining a strawberry as if it was speckled in gold.

  “You didn’t have to. Your little cross-examination spoke for itself.”

  “I was not cross-examining you.” She flipped the berry into the bowl. “Well, maybe I kinda was.”

  “Kinda?” He snorted. “You covered her personality, marital status, attractiveness, age and her skills with kids.” He pierced Phoebe with a dagger-sharp stare. “If that isn’t an interrogation, I’m a hippopotamus dressed in high heels and a skirt.”

  Phoebe shrugged. “Okay, so I’m interested in her.” A pause. “Are you?”

  He grabbed a berry and popped it in his mouth. “I take it you think I should be.” Ever since Phoebe had fallen in love with Carson, she saw hearts and flowers everywhere. Drew had stopped being that idealistic years ago. Failed love had a way of doing that.

  “Well, yeah,” she replied, as if he’d asked her if the sky was blue. “You need some romance in your life.”

  “Okay, I’ll bite. Why do you think I need romance?” For some odd reason, he was interested in her perspective.

  She turned dreamy eyes on him. “Because it’s wonderful.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad you’re so happy, sis, really I am. But love isn’t always wonderful. You of all people should understand that.” After her fiancé died, Phoebe had firmly believed there were no second chances in love.

  “You fought falling for Carson tooth and nail, and you sure didn’t like it when Molly did her matchmaking thing to you.” Molly Roderick, Phoebe’s best friend and the most successful matchmaker in Moonlight Cove, had initially been the one to push Phoebe toward dating Carson, the handsome new sheriff in town at the time.

  “I know, I remember,” Phoebe replied. “But I can look back on that now and see that all of my fighting Molly, and myself, was a waste of time. Second chances do exist—Carson and I are proof of that.” She speared Drew with her baby-blue gaze. “Take it from me. The right person is out there for you.”

  “And you think it might be Ally?” he asked, almost afraid to hear Phoebe’s answer, a bit surprised he’d even posed the question. Ally, it seemed, had worked her way under his skin more than he’d thought. Not good.

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Phoebe turned on the faucet to wash her knife. “But how will you know unless you give her a chance?”

  She made a good point. Which prompted him to change the subject slightly by saying, “Have you forgotten I’m leaving town soon?”

  “So that Atherton Fire Department thing is a go?”

  “Getting close,” he replied. “My interview last week went really well.”

  “That’s great,” she said, patting his shoulder. “How’s Dad dealing with that?”

  “Not well, but no surprise there.”

  “So he hasn’t come around at all?” She took the fruit salad to the counter.

  “Nope.” Drew doubted he ever would. “But I’m doing what I need to whether he’s with me or not. I can’t live my life waiting for his approval.”

  Phoebe propped a hip against the counter. “Good for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  She pinned him in place with a knowing stare. “So, now that you’ve changed the subject, let’s get back to you and Ally.”

  Busted. “Never could hide anything from you, could I?”

  “Not a chance,” she said with a grin. “As I was saying, don’t waste time making up reasons not to be interested in Ally.”

  He just looked at her, one brow at an angle.

  “You can give me all the excuses in the world, but I know what you’re doing because I was the same way. If you spend all your time rationalizing why you and Ally—or anyone, for that matter—would never work, you might be missing out on something wonderful.”

  Before he could toss Phoebe a profound rejoinder, the back door opened, and Heidi barreled through and tore into the kitchen, then back out again, Rex at her heels, his toenails clickety-clacking on the tile floor. As soon as he spotted Phoebe, he changed course and ran over, his tail wagging. Until he saw Drew. Instantaneously, Rex skidded to a stop on the hardwood, his head going down, a deep growl emanating from his chest.

  Phoebe whistled under her breath. “Wow. He doesn’t like you, does he?” She reached down and soothed the dog.

  “Nope.”

  “You think he ever will?”

  Drew went for the smelly dog treats on the counter Ally had told him to give Rex. “Ally and I are working on positive reinforcement.”

  “Maybe you should do the same.”

  Drew swung his head toward his sister, the treats forgotten. “Huh?”

  “Spend some time with Ally,” Phoebe counseled solemnly, her voice going soft. “Maybe you’ll discover, as I did, that letting someone into your heart has more positives than negatives.”

  He looked at the ceiling and let out a heavy sigh. Trouble was, that’s exactly what he was afraid of. And with a new job on the line and his dream finally within reach, he wasn’t sure making that discovery would be a good thing for him at all.

  Chapter Seven

  “So, when is Sadie going to have her babies?” Heidi asked Ally in between bites of spaghetti. “She looks chubby.”

  Everyone had finally gathered around the table in the dining room to eat the meal Ally had mostly prepared. No one had run from the table, gagging, or fallen over dead, so she assumed the food was acceptable.

  “I’m not sure, exactly, but soon,” Ally replied, giving Heidi a gentle smile. “She was pregnant when I rescued her, so there’s been a little bit of guesswork on when the puppies will actually arrive.”

  A pause. “What are you going to do with them after they’re born?” Heidi asked with a sideways look that spelled interest in big black letters.

  “Find them good homes when they’re old enough,” Ally replied. “She looks like a purebred golden retriever, so hopefully it won’t be too difficult to place them.”

  Heidi turned big blue eyes to Carson. “Dad, could we have one?”

  Carson paused, his spaghetti-laden fork halfway to his mouth. “Um…I don’t know.” He looked to Phoebe. “What do you think?”

  Phoebe looked up from buttering her bread. “You’re asking me?”

  “Well, yeah,” Carson said. “I’d really like your opinion.”

  “Oh, well, I love dogs, obviously.” Phoebe set her fork down. “But…this should be your decision.”

  “But what do you think?” Carson asked, leaning a forearm on the edge of the table.

  “I’ll go with whatever you want,” Phoebe replied.

  Heidi piped in. “Come on, Phoebe. I want you on my side.” She put her hands together in front of her. “Please, please, please?”

  “Let Phoebe decide for herself,” Carson interjected.

  Phoebe looked back and forth between father and daughter. “Wow, this is a lot of pressure.”

  “Guess you better get used to pressure,” Carson said.

  Phoebe looked confused. “Why?”

  Carson paused. “That’s what parents face every day.”

  “Parents?” Phoebe nervously shoved some of her curly hair behind one ear. “Um…what do you mean by that?”

  A hush fell over the room.

  Carson cleared his throat. “Well, I was going to save this for later. But now seems like a good time to make it official.”

  “Make what official?” Phoebe said in a strangled voice.

  “This,” Carson said as he pulled a velvet-covered black box out of his pocket.

  Her heart stalled, Ally watched in rapt awe as he got down on one knee next to Phoebe and took her hand in his.

  Phoebe’s jaw dropped low as she pressed a hand to her chest. Heidi bounced up and down in her chair, her face glowing.

  “Phoebe Sellers, I love you.” Cars
on flipped the box open with his thumb, exposing a gorgeous round diamond solitaire set in white gold. “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He reached up and stroked her cheek. “Will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?”

  A gasp came from Grace at the end of the table, and then Ally saw tears form in Phoebe’s eyes. But Ally knew without a doubt that they were nothing less than tears of sheer joy.

  Phoebe nodded her head, pushing her long, curly blond hair back with one visibly trembling hand. “Yes, yes, you amazing man. Of course I’ll marry you!”

  Heidi looked as if she was going to be the one having puppies; her face glowed and her eyes shone with pure, giddy happiness. Obviously she was thrilled with this turn of events.

  Ally’s heart fluttered; she could only imagine how wonderful it must be for Heidi to have someone like Phoebe as her mom, someone who would love her unconditionally and completely and would never leave her. Ally would be shouting the news from the rooftops. To Heidi’s credit, she stayed quiet—barely—while the romantic scene played out.

  Carson took the ring out of the box with a noticeably shaky grip and gently pushed it onto Phoebe’s left ring finger.

  “It fits perfectly,” Phoebe said as she admired the ring on her finger, her face aglow.

  “A perfect ring for the perfect woman,” Carson said, stroking her cheek, his brown eyes radiating pure adoration. “I can’t wait for you to be my wife.”

  Phoebe gazed up at Carson, her eyes glittering. “How did I ever find you?”

  “God brought us together,” he said simply.

  She nodded as tears crested and ran down her flushed cheeks. And then without a word she threw herself into his arms, sobbing, burying her face in his neck. His arms came around her and held her close, and he bent his head and whispered something in her ear.

  Ally got to her feet and watched the happy clutch from the end of the table, her eyes burning.

  Heidi cheered, Grace rose and walked over to hug Phoebe, and Drew beamed with happiness. Pretty soon the whole group was hugging and shaking hands and congratulating and crying, or in Grace’s case, blubbering.

  Drew pointed at Heidi. “Hey, Bo-bidy. Looks like I’m gonna be your uncle! How cool is that?”

  “So cool!” Heidi said, giving him a thumbs-up. “And how cool is it that I’m going to have a mom again?”

  As Ally stood there by herself watching the happy scene play out just as it should, her chest clenched.

  Have a mom again.

  The words seared her, for she’d never been able to say them.

  She was happy for everyone here, of course. But, as usual, she was on the outside looking in, a peripheral witness to others’ happiness, but not an actual part of it. She bit her lip as she smiled, determined not to ruin this moment for everyone else with her own self-pity.

  Sadie wandered over and gave Ally a long, significant look.

  “You need to go out, girl?”

  Sadie answered by waddling toward the back door, looking back at Ally once, her big dark eyes pleading as her tail wagged ever so slightly. Pregnant mama dog needed a potty break.

  Good excuse to take a time-out. Ally needed a breather, too. Quietly she headed toward the door, pausing while she wondered if she would ever find the kind of happiness Carson, Phoebe and Heidi had.

  She laughed under her breath. Somehow she was afraid all the time-outs in the world would never be enough to make that kind of pie-in-the-sky dream come true.

  *

  Drew looked up from hugging Phoebe and saw Ally leave the dining room, her shoulders riding a bit low. He let Phoebe go, craned his head and observed Ally following Sadie to the back door. Oh, okay. Sadie needed to go out.

  Ally stopped at the door, paused and then threw a lingering look back into the dining room, her expression ever-so-slightly tinged with…sadness? Resignation?

  Longing?

  Before he could figure the puzzle out, her gaze collided with his—bam!—and she froze for a split second, her eyes wide and unblinking. As if he’d caught her with her hand in the cookie jar.

  Or witnessed a reaction she hadn’t planned on him seeing…?

  He twitched his eyebrows together as he held her gaze, and then her face cleared, her shoulders straightened and she flicked up the corners of her mouth in a bright yet stiff smile. She turned and went out the door.

  He frowned as happy conversation swirled around him. Had her smile seemed fake? Forced? Yeah. Definitely. His curiosity radar pinged, and before he could stop himself, he was walking after her, reassuring himself with a quick glance Heidi’s way that Rex was occupied at her feet under the table and wouldn’t go into attack mode the second Drew approached Ally outside.

  Noting that she hadn’t turned the outdoor lights on, he flipped the switch as he opened the door; the last thing anyone needed was a fall in the dark.

  The cool night air washed over him as he stepped outside. The misty rain that had fallen for part of the day had stopped, but the fresh smell, edged in the earthy scent from the evergreen trees in the backyard, still remained. He breathed deep and kept going, drawn to the glimmer of indefinable yet worrisome emotion he’d seen in Ally; he needed to make sure she was okay.

  He found her standing clear out by the edge of the patio, looking off into the yard—presumably toward wherever Sadie sniffed around—her arms crossed over her waist, shoulders hunched.

  “You cold?” he asked.

  Ally whirled, pressing a hand to her chest. “Oh! You scared me to death!”

  With a raise of his brows, he said, “Sorry. I turned the light on and made plenty of noise getting out here.” He peered at her, noting how lovely she looked in the glow of the patio lights and how she did indeed look chilled. “You must have been pretty wrapped up in something not to hear me coming.” He took off his fleece jacket and held it out to her.

  After a slight hesitation, she took the jacket and laid it over her shoulders. “Thanks.” Her gaze skittered away. “Yeah, I guess my mind was somewhere else.”

  “Solving the world’s problems?” he asked, careful to keep his tone light, noninvasive. He didn’t want her to clam up on him.

  She smiled crookedly. “Nothing as profound as that.”

  “Then what?” He cast his gaze skyward. “Looking for constellations?”

  “No, but maybe I should be. The stars seem so much brighter here.” She followed his gaze up, then pointed. “Is that the Little Dipper?”

  He moved a bit closer, then looked in the direction she’d pointed, cocking his head, squinting. “I dunno. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never actually been able to see the Little Dipper.”

  “You know, now that you mention it, I’ve never seen it, either.”

  Going for levity, he threw out, “I’m not even sure it really exists.”

  She looked at him, chuckling. “So, what? It’s a giant astronomers’ conspiracy?”

  “Could be,” he said, rubbing his chin, half joking.

  “Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Hey.” He lifted a shoulder. “How do you know something exists if you’ve never seen it?” Seemed to apply to a lot of things now that he thought about it. Such as faith.

  Ally gave a pause, then a nod. “Ah. I see what you mean.” Another moment of silence. “Maybe because so many other people seem to believe in the Little Dipper you figure it must be there, somewhere, even though it seems like just a…story?”

  “Are those the same people who are constantly trying to convince you it exists?”

  “Now that you mention it, yes,” Ally replied, pointing at him. “Irritating, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, especially when they tell you that you should just take their word that it’s there, even though, well…” He looked up and scanned the dark, star-studded sky. “You can’t actually see it with your own eyes.”

  “And maybe you spend some time hoping it’s out there somewhere, but after a while, you give up because it seem
s so far out of reach?”

  Suddenly, their verbal gymnastics seemed silly. “We aren’t talking about the Little Dipper anymore, are we?”

  “Were we ever?” she asked with a lift of her eyebrows, her soft voice just a whisper in the dark.

  Drew shifted from foot to foot, then shoved his hands in his pockets, debating whether or not to ask her the obvious question or just turn around and go back in the house. His odd yet unmistakable curiosity about her won out.

  “So I’m deducing that you’re having a crisis of faith, too?” he asked.

  “Faith?” She shook her head. “Um…no. My faith in the Lord has never wavered.”

  He gave her a quizzical look.

  “I thought we were talking about love.”

  “Ah, our confusion makes some sense.” He inclined his head sideways. “Faith, love. They’re both hard to find.”

  A pause. “I’d like to believe love is out there. I mean, if I can have faith in God, I should be able to have faith in love.”

  He sensed more. “But?”

  “But my years in foster care taught me…”

  “What?” he asked, wanting, for some reason, to know what had happened to her. What, exactly, had shaped her into the strong woman standing before him.

  She looked right at him, her eyes full of the painful echoes of her past. “To never believe that anyone will ever love me.”

  Her statement ripped a jagged hole in his heart; he understood how mercurial love was. What a crying shame that a wonderful woman like Ally had been left with such a scar, that she would be burdened with such profound doubts. At least he’d had a family who loved him. She hadn’t. Suddenly, he regretted his line of questioning.

  “I’m sorry.” He touched her arm below her elbow. “I didn’t know…well, you told me about foster care, but not the details…” He trailed off, wishing he’d stuffed his interest and kept things impersonal, wondering why he hadn’t. What was it about her that intrigued him?

  “Don’t be sorry,” she said, all sincerity, her voice as soft as the wind rustling the trees. “Everybody has stuff to deal with, right?”

  He certainly admired her attitude. “Well, yeah, but it sounds as if you had it really rough growing up.” Unlike him. Sure, Dad was judgmental and had high expectations. But Drew had always known that beneath the bluster, his dad loved him and Phoebe. It sounded as though Ally hadn’t had that.