Burn So Good

by J. H. Croix

  Ella stroked her palm down his back and rubbed his cheeks, eliciting a loud purr from him. Meanwhile, my heart clenched and I hated to have our idyllic morning interrupted by the memory of those nasty texts last night. As much as they rattled me, it was stunning to consider that Ella had been dealing with it for over a year and a half now. I’d be stopping by to chat with Rex soon as I could today.

  Chapter Twelve

  Caleb

  Early that afternoon, I pushed through the swinging door between the fire station and the police station. Willow Brook Fire & Rescue was smack in the middle of downtown on Main Street. After my lazy morning with Ella, I’d headed into the station to respond to a local fire. In the off-season as a hotshot firefighter, we were still on duty for local fires and could still be called out to anywhere across Alaska if we were needed, but the summer season was the busiest time of year for us. My plan to talk to Rex right away had been put off while we dealt with the fire. No shock, but it was a woodstove chimney fire. Every fall, people started using their woodstoves, many not bothering to clean the stove pipe chimney. Leftover build up from the winter before, or debris left from wild animals nesting in them easily caught fire.

  After a quick shower once we were done, I went over to talk with Rex. Lightly knocking the back of my knuckles on the door, I called out, “Rex, you got a few?”

  Rex Masters glanced up, a smile stretching across his face. “Come on in. Good to see you, Caleb,” he said with a wave.

  “Always good to see you, Rex,” I replied. As he lifted up a coffee cup and then glanced into it with a frown, I asked, “Need a fresh cup of coffee?”

  “That would be great,” he replied with a wink.

  I stepped out and into the small break room across from his office, finding a full pot of fresh coffee there. Maisie, the station’s dispatcher, spoiled Rex rotten.

  Returning with the two cups of coffee, I glanced over. “Mind if I close the door?”

  Rex’s eyes narrowed, but he shook his head. I gathered he might be wondering why we needed privacy. Handing over his coffee, I closed the door and sat down across from his desk.

  “I’m guessing Ella was with you last night,” he offered by way of greeting.

  I almost choked on the sip of coffee I’d just taken. It wasn’t that I would’ve hidden anything from Rex, or from anyone for that matter, but he was her father. While I knew perfectly well she was approaching twenty-seven years old, it didn’t change the fact I didn’t particularly want to chat with her father about Ella spending the night with me. Not to mention, my feelings for her were miles and miles and miles away from being platonic.

  Rex chuckled and shrugged. “She’s a grown woman, and I always liked you.” Without waiting for me to reply, he continued, “Let me guess, you’re here to talk to me about that asshole who’s been stalking her online.”

  “Damn good guess. She mentioned she talked to her mom about it yesterday, so I figured Georgia talked to you.”

  Rex leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his coffee, his gaze considering. “Georgia’s fit to be tied about it, and I’m furious.”

  “I’m fucking furious too. I wish Ella had said something sooner.”

  Rex gestured toward his computer. “I just heard back from a guy I emailed down at the Portland Police Department this morning. I’ve asked him to send up Lance Wallace’s records there and whatever police reports Ella made about him. I’ll talk to Ella later today when I get home. I’m pissed they didn’t do more to help her, but I’ll see what I can do with what they have. He might not be in my jurisdiction now, but she is. I’ve also put a call in to my buddy in the Anchorage unit who deals with online crimes across state lines. How much did she tell you?”

  I pulled her phone out of my pocket. Before we went our separate ways this morning, I had her check to see if there was anything on it she didn’t want me to see. She’d laughed and said she led a rather boring life. Aside from texts with family and friends, that was it. Pulling up the texts that showed up last night from Lance, I spun the phone around on his desk and slid it across to him.

  “These showed up while we were having dinner. She didn’t want to tell me about it at first, but she did. We traded phones.”

  It didn’t appear Rex heard a word I said. He was scrolling through the messages, his gaze darkening with anger as he read them. He glanced up. “What the hell? I cannot believe this has been going on for almost two years.” He ran a hand through his hair with a ragged sigh. “She’s been through too much already. No one deserves this kind of bullshit.”

  It went without question that I understood exactly how he was feeling. I could imagine, as her father, his concerns and worries for her had their own weight.

  “Why do you have her phone?” he belatedly asked. As I’d guessed, he hadn’t heard my comment.

  “My idea. I suggested we trade phones. You guys know how to reach me, so that’s how you reach her now. I figure this way she doesn’t have to see his bullshit. I don’t want her worrying about it. Any suggestions on how I should respond?”

  Rex’s dark expression dissolved when he burst out laughing. “Fucking brilliant. But then you always were a smart kid,” he offered with an arch of his brow. Pausing, he took another sip of coffee. “Let me talk to my guy in Anchorage. I’d love to find a way to nail this guy with some charges. In the meantime, I’d say don’t respond at all. I know you’ll want to, but let’s not stir the pot. Make sure to save the messages and don’t respond to them. Actually, anytime he contacts that phone in any way, forward it to me.”

  When he slid the phone back across the desk, I quickly forwarded the messages to him. I hadn’t discussed this with Ella—mostly because I didn’t want her to worry more than she already had—but I knew it wouldn’t be easy not to reply. I wanted to tell the guy to go to fucking hell. But, I’d do whatever Rex suggested for now.

  Taking a gulp of my coffee, I set the cup down on the armrest of the chair, curling my hand around it as I looked over at him. “It won’t be easy, but I’ll do it. I don’t want her to see any more of this shit from him, so any thoughts on how to deal with her emails?”

  “Yeah Georgia mentioned those too. When I see her tonight, I’ll ask if she’ll forward the emails directly to me. He won’t know they’re being forwarded, but that way they can be on the record. Usually, assholes like this don’t do anything in person. It’s all about messing with people’s heads. I’m hoping now that she’s here, we can make this stop for once and for all. I’m not going to just sit back and wait though. This guy needs to be charged and I’ll find a way to make it happen.”

  “I’m so glad she finally told us what the hell was going on,” I replied, running a hand through my hair. Just talking about it sent a fresh wave of anger and frustration through me. I hated knowing this guy had been pulling this shit—leaving her scared and creeped out.

  Rex nodded. “You keep me in the loop, I’ll keep you in the loop. We’ll figure this out. With her having your phone, everyone’s gonna have to know what’s going on,” he said with a chuckle.

  I shrugged. “I know. She pointed that out too, but she said she didn’t care.”

  Rex eyed me for a beat, his gaze considering. “I’m glad you two reconnected,” he finally said.

  I didn’t want things to get awkward. I’d have bet his idea of how we reconnected and mine were probably quite different. I was saved from wondering how to navigate this topic when the station intercom went off, reporting an accident on the highway on the outskirts of town.

  Rex and I both shifted gears, parting ways to respond to the call. As I drove out with a small crew, I realized I was passing through the same section where I’d seen Ella’s car turned over in the ditch. More than a week had passed since then. I couldn’t have known she’d waltz back into my world and turn it upside down.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ella

  “Ella?” a voice called.

  Glancing up, a doctor I’d never met was
standing by the door to the reception area at the doctor’s office. When I met her eyes, she smiled, a hint of a question in her gaze.

  I stood from my chair, setting aside the magazine I’d been flipping through. “That’s me,” I said, giving a little wave as I approached her.

  After I’d left the hospital from my roll in the ditch, the hospital had automatically scheduled an appointment here for me. This was the one and only general medical clinic in Willow Brook. I hadn’t been here in years. Willow Brook Family Medicine had expanded from one doctor to two, or so it appeared. I’d been expecting to see Dr. Johnson, although by my calculations he had to be approaching seventy at this point.

  When I reached the woman, she held out her hand with another smile. “Hi Ella, I’m Dr. Charlie Lane. Please just call me Charlie.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Ella, but you already know that,” I replied with a quick shake of her hand.

  Gesturing me through the door, she closed it behind us. “Come on back. I understand you’re here to get some stitches removed.”

  “That’s the plan. They said it would be up to you to see if they were ready to be removed.”

  I followed her into a small room, and she closed the door, gesturing for me to sit in a chair beside a narrow counter against the wall. She slipped her hips onto a rolling stool with an attached table and computer monitor.

  As she clicked through a few screens, I glanced over at her. She had to be the youngest doctor I’d ever met, or so I guessed. She had dark hair with a whimsical streak of purple on one side and wide gray eyes behind her glasses. She wore a white lab coat and gave off an air of seriousness.

  “Looks like you’ve been a patient here since you were a little girl,” she commented.

  “Well, it’s the only clinic in town. I think Dr. Johnson was everybody’s doctor, right? Obviously, you’re new. With you here and all the upgrades, this place is totally different,” I observed.

  The entire office had been updated with fresh paint and new furnishings. Charlie nodded and smiled softly.

  “I am new here. I actually moved here from Boston. I always wanted to come to Alaska. When I saw this job, I jumped at it. I was actually born in Alaska when my dad was stationed here in the military. My parents moved away before I even started kindergarten, but it’s always been my dream to come back.”

  “Are you planning to stay?” I asked.

  She nodded, her gray eyes brightening. “I love it here. Willow Brook is ideal. It’s small, and it feels like we’re in the middle of nowhere, but we’re not too far away from Anchorage, so I can get my city fix if I need it.”

  “Exactly why I love it here too. Have you survived a winter yet though?”

  Charlie shook her head and smiled. “Not yet. Boston definitely has winter, but I understand it’ll be longer and darker here. I’m optimistic I can handle it just fine. Anyway, let me take a look at those stitches. Before we get to that, I have to do the usual and clear a few standard questions.”

  At my nod, she quickly asked me a run of questions, checked my blood pressure, weighed me and asked me if anything had changed since the last time I had seen a doctor. She didn’t say a word about my car accident ten years ago. It was a bit of a relief. For a while there, every time I went to the doctor that came up. But it had been long enough now that there wasn’t anything else left to ask.

  After that process, she gestured for me to sit on the examining table. Stepping to my side, she carefully brushed my hair back from my forehead to check the stitches. “Looks good. You ready for me to do this?”

  “Let’s do it.”

  She quickly removed them, so fast I barely felt a thing.

  “No bleeding,” she commented as she carefully dabbed the area with antiseptic. “No need for a bandage unless you want one. I’d recommend you use this cream over the scar for a few days,” she said as she handed me a tube of cream. “Be careful when you’re washing your face and things like that. The skin will still be tender for a few more days, but it’s healed up nicely. You shouldn’t even notice the scar once it completely heals.”

  “That’s what I was hoping,” I said. “Anything else?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. You’re done for the day.”

  “Well, it was nice to meet you,” I said as she walked me back down the hall. “I suppose I’ll be seeing you for anything standard from this point going forward.”

  With a smile, she nodded, stepping out into the waiting room with me. Once I turned away from her, my gaze landed on Jesse Franklin. Jesse was a friend of Cade’s, and I’d known him for years. While he hadn’t grown up here, his family moved here while I was still in high school after Cade had graduated. They’d become fast friends and stayed in touch even when Cade moved away for a while. “Jesse!” I exclaimed as soon as I saw him. “What are you doing here?”

  Along with being a friend of Cade’s, Jesse was also a hotshot firefighter. He flashed a roguish grin. “Just stopping to get my shoulder checked out. I dislocated it last week out in the field,” he explained, rolling his shoulder as he spoke.

  He gave me a quick hug when I reached him, ruffling my hair as I stepped away. He was as handsome as ever with his dark amber hair and green eyes that usually held a twinkle. He was like a brother to me. “Good to see you,” I murmured.

  “Good to have you back. Your dad and Cade are tickled,” he replied with a wink.

  Turning to say goodbye to Charlie, I noticed she’d gone quiet and her cheeks were flushed. Meanwhile, Jesse’s usual teasing demeanor faded when he glanced her way. “Dr. Lane,” he said with a nod. “I’m not late this time.”

  Dr. Lane, or rather Charlie as she’d asked me to call her, didn’t seem as relaxed with Jesse as she had with me. In fact, she seemed downright tense.

  “I’m hoping you’re going to clear me to go back to duty today,” Jesse added.

  Uncertain how to read what was going on, I figured it was best for me to go. I waved goodbye to both of them and slipped out.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ella

  A short drive later, I walked into Firehouse Café. I’d made plans to meet Holly for coffee this afternoon. Stepping inside, I didn’t even get a chance to look around before Janet was calling my name. She was walking by with a tray of dishes and looped her hand through my elbow.

  “Hello Ella!” She squeezed my arm with her greeting and next thing I knew I was in the kitchen with her as she emptied the dishes into a tray in the dishwasher area.

  “Who are you meeting for coffee today?” she asked.

  I grinned. Her enthusiasm was infectious. “Holly. I didn’t even get a chance to see if she was here yet.”

  Janet brushed a loose lock of her salt and pepper hair out of her eyes and shook her head. “Nope, she’s not here yet. I can go ahead and get your coffee though.”

  “Don’t you need to be out front?” I asked with a low chuckle.

  “Oh right,” she said with a laugh, immediately pushing past me through the swinging doors to the front. A young man was busy at the dishwasher and a young woman was busy at the grill. Janet always managed the counter here, one of the reasons I loved coming here. She had a way of brightening my day.

  Janet was a good friend of my parents, but then I supposed she was a good friend of everyone in town. Firehouse Café was a mainstay in Willow Brook, in part because of Janet. She was nosy and tended toward bossy, but she was warm and kind-hearted and would do just about anything for a friend in need.

  Following her back out into the café, I rounded the counter as she immediately started talking to whoever happened to be waiting. Holly was stepping through the door as I walked to the back of the short line.

  “Hey!” she said, pulling me in for a quick hug. “I’m going to hug you every time I see you for at least a year probably.”

  “I don’t mind, not one bit,” I replied with a laugh.

  We turned to wait in line together. “So your stitches are out,” she observed, her eye
s flicking up to my hairline.

  I hadn’t even bothered to check to see how I looked before I left the doctor’s office. I ran my fingers along the edge of my hairline, feeling the smooth surface of the fresh scar. “Yep, all gone. Dr. Lane seems nice. She asked me to call her Charlie. Have you met her yet?”

  Holly nodded. “Yeah. I haven’t had an appointment with her, but my mom did. I was there with her, and you know her, it was practically a job interview for the poor woman. Dr. Johnson is due to retire though, so I’m glad he found someone else. All the men in town are complaining though. I told Nate he should shut the hell up because Charlie’s totally hot. I mean, they can either have an old geezer checking them out, or a hot chick who’s smart as hell. Take your pick.”

  I burst out laughing. “She’s pretty hot, but I doubt the guys want to think about that when she’s checking on their rash or whatever.”

  Holly rolled her eyes. “I know. Men are just not used to the doctor thing. They avoid it like the plague.”

  We made it to the front of the line, and Janet smiled widely. As if though she hadn’t just seen me minutes ago. “Hi girls, what can I get for you?”

  “I’ll take a shot in the dark,” I replied.

  Holly rolled her eyes. “You and your badass coffee. I’ll take a mocha with toffee syrup and whipped cream.”

  “And you’re aiming for a sugar coma?” I countered, enjoying how easily we’d fallen back into our old banter.

  After we had our drinks, we snagged a table in the back corner. The tourist crowds were thinning out now that autumn was here, bringing cool days and frosty nights. Willow Brook, like many towns in Alaska, stayed very busy during the spring and summer. In particular, Willow Brook‘s proximity to Anchorage brought gobs of overflow tourists who enjoyed the convenience of Anchorage, but wanted a taste of the wilderness.