A Home for the Firefighter
Page 15
“Chocolate?” Josh asked as he held out his bucket. “Whoever picked this out got the good stuff, but it will melt fast on a hot day like today.”
Kate flashed a quick smile at her coworker and returned her eyes to the pageant queen ahead. “Just one piece,” she said as she dipped into the bucket without looking. She carefully unwrapped the candy while keeping most of her fingers on the wheel and took a bite. While on the road as a cross-country truck driver, she’d kept to a strict no-eating-behind-the-wheel rule. She was afraid that once she started snacking on those long lonely miles, she might never stop. This was different. Everything was different. Temptation in Cape Pursuit came in another form.
The fire siren blared an up-down wail just as she thought of Brady. Little kids clapped their hands over their ears but stood up and looked at the truck behind Kate as if it was a magical dragon.
“I think we’re getting passed by ants,” Josh said as he stood in the open doorway and tossed candy to kids. “This is going to be a melty mess if you don’t step on it.”
Kate laughed, but there wasn’t a thing she could do except pity the parade queen ahead of her who was baking in the open car.
After the parade, Kate dropped off her passengers and the trolley. The auto detailer had gotten the funk out of her car, but she left it under a shade tree in the lot at the office and decided to walk to the park instead. The streets were clogged with people leaving the parade route, and she was tired of being confined. She thought she’d beaten Brady to the park, but she saw him hop out of the fire truck and then someone else drove it away.
Of course, he had a plan. And there was no avoiding him because he saw Kate as soon as his feet hit the sidewalk.
“We’re meeting by the fountain,” he said as he approached. “My brother has our blanket and food, but don’t get your hopes up on the food. I wasn’t very creative with the sandwiches and chips.”
“I’m sure it’ll be great,” Kate said.
Brady put an arm around her shoulders and turned her toward the fountain where they’d meet his family—more spokes in the wheel of relationships she was trying to avoid.
* * *
BRADY OFFERED THE last prepackaged cupcake to Kate, Bella and then his brother, but they all turned it down. Even after a sandwich and a small bag of chips, he was still hungry, so Brady was happy to have the last dessert. It could be a long night at the station and who knew when his next meal would be? “You’re all missing out on the best desserts the convenience store near my house had, but I’ll finish off the box if you want.” It would have been nice to actually bake something and maybe even have Bella help. He wished he could remember helping his mom in the kitchen, licking the icing off a spoon, smelling birthday cakes rising in the oven.
No matter how many hours he spent at work, he would help Noah make a birthday cake for Bella and let her help ice it. The future was going to be different.
“You can have it,” Noah said. “Bella and I already had a bunch of parade candy, so our teeth are in the danger zone.” He sucked in his lips and made a funny face that made him look as if he had no teeth and his daughter laughed. Brady laughed, too, and he was pleased to see Kate smile and chuckle. Was she having a good time? Maybe the family scene wasn’t for her, but who could argue with a holiday picnic on a sunny day?
“You seem to be having fun,” a woman said as she stood over their blanket. She was skylined against the sun, and it took Brady a moment to realize who she was.
She was definitely an unexpected guest at their picnic.
“Mommy,” Bella screamed as she jumped up and hugged the woman’s legs.
Brady watched as his brother scrambled to his feet. Did Noah have any idea his girlfriend was going to show up in Cape Pursuit? A cold fist clenched Brady’s heart. Was Corrinne there to take her daughter away? He had known Bella staying with them could only be temporary, but he wasn’t ready to let her go just yet. Or his brother. What about the house he was hoping to buy? It wouldn’t be the same without family to live there with him.
Those thoughts swirled through his head and he knew his concern must have shown on his face because Kate’s hand closed over his on the picnic blanket. While Noah hopped up and gave Corrinne a hug and—Brady noticed—a long kiss, Kate leaned close to Brady and whispered, “I’m guessing this is a surprise.”
He nodded, unsure what to say as his brother’s family had a group hug on their picnic blanket.
“Family surprises are the worst thing about holidays,” Kate said with a small grin. “Although I guess it could be the best, too.” Despite his worries about the sudden appearance of his brother’s girlfriend, he smiled and relaxed for a moment. He hardly knew Corrinne, but he had to trust the fact that having her mother back was the best thing for Bella.
“Maybe I should go,” Kate said.
“Don’t. Please.” Brady had spent the previous Fourth of July holiday alone, and now he had Noah, Bella, Corrinne and Kate. He didn’t know how long any of them would be part of his life, but it was good, anyway. Maybe he needed to loosen up on his ideas about stability equaling happiness. Bella and Noah looked pretty darn happy right at that moment.
Brady greeted Corrinne with a friendly hug as soon as Noah and Bella allowed a little space around her, and then he pointed to Kate, who stood on the edge of the blanket as if she was considering escaping the family circle.
“This is my friend, Kate, and this is Bella’s mom, Corrinne,” he said. He wasn’t sure what Corrinne’s relationship was with his brother, and Brady wasn’t sure his brother knew, either, so calling her Bella’s mom seemed like the most accurate and safe description.
“Did you just arrive in Cape Pursuit?” Kate asked as she shook Corrinne’s hand. “You picked a busy day.”
Corrinne smiled and stroked Bella’s hair. “I wasn’t expecting the traffic. I’ve never been here before, and I had been led to believe it was a sleepy beach town. Not party central as it appears to be.”
“It’s not usually sleepy during the summer, but today is especially crazy because of the holiday,” Kate said.
Brady was grateful to Kate for making pleasant small talk, which gave him, Noah and even Bella a chance to absorb the idea of their visitor. What would it mean for all of them?
“Are you hungry?” Noah asked. “I think we cleaned out our picnic basket, but we could get something from one of the food vendors.”
Corrinne smiled at Noah, and Brady couldn’t help but see her look of pure love for his brother. Were things going to work out for them, after all? For Bella’s sake, he hoped so. “I’d love that,” she said.
Noah and Corrinne walked toward the food tents with Bella between them holding both their hands. Brady sat back down on the blanket and was relieved when Kate sat next to him, close enough that their legs and elbows touched.
“Okay,” Brady said. “And...wow.”
Kate laughed. “That’s about as speechless as I’ve ever seen you.”
Brady laid back on the blanket and closed his eyes against the sun. “It’s been a summer of unexpected moments, so I guess I should toughen up, but I have to say I never expected Corrinne to show up out of the blue.”
“She and your brother don’t have an official...relationship?”
Brady smiled as he felt Kate lie down next to him. Children, families and even bees buzzed all around them in the sunshine, but he felt as if he was on an island with Kate and somehow she was keeping him afloat despite the major uncertainty he felt about his family’s future.
“They used to, and then they had Bella, and then my brother—I think—went through a time when he didn’t...well—”
“You don’t have to tell me all this,” Kate said. “It’s none of my business.”
Brady wished he knew if she was just being polite or if she really wanted to maintain a layer of disinterest between her affairs and his.
He felt Kate stir on the blanket next to him and he opened one eye to find her propped on one elbow and staring down at him. “Have you always watched out for your younger brother?”
Brady closed his eyes. “More times than you can imagine. So it was hard to see him struggle.”
“You must have been glad when he and Bella came to live with you.”
“Ecstatic. And I’ll admit I was hoping they would stay. I didn’t get a chance to tell you my brother got that job at the bank he interviewed for the day you watched Bella. He’s supposed to start work tomorrow.” He and Noah had worked out a schedule for at least the next week where they would take turns working, watching Bella and taking her two doors down to a nice older lady who babysat neighborhood kids in the summer.
“That’s great,” Kate said. “If I know you, you probably already picked out a bedroom for your niece in the houses you’ve been dreaming about.”
Brady smiled but he didn’t open his eyes. “The sunniest one in each of them.”
“What will happen now?” Kate asked. He felt her shift next to him and he opened his eyes. “Do you think Corrinne will want to stay here, too?”
“I have no idea what she’s thinking,” Brady admitted. “I did notice she seemed happy to see my brother.”
Kate laughed. “That was definitely more than a friendly-hello type of kiss. Maybe wherever she’s been has given her some perspective and she realizes she better grab a good guy when she has the chance.”
If Kate would apply a fraction of that logic to her own relationship with him, Brady would be the happiest man at the Fourth of July picnic. Had she just admitted that being away from someone might make a person realize what she’d been missing? He touched her cheek with the pads of his fingers, thinking about the times she’d gone away that summer and how she’d seemed happy to see him when she returned. Were her clear lines softening a little?
Brady stretched up and touched a kiss to her lips. Kate returned the kiss, briefly, but then she sat up straighter and glanced around at the park as if she didn’t want to be caught kissing him in broad daylight. Did she really care what other people thought, or was she more worried that she’d let her own thoughts get away from her?
“I almost wish I didn’t have to go to work in an hour,” she said.
“Almost?”
She lifted one shoulder in a little shrug. “I like driving the trolley and racking up hours.”
“But?”
“I like being here with you, too,” she said, her voice low and meant for him. Brady didn’t know how much longer he could hold on to Kate’s attention and affection, but he’d be a fool not to enjoy it while it lasted.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
TWO DAYS LATER, Kate got up early and went for a long walk along the ocean before beginning her morning shift in the office and a fill-in afternoon shift driving the trolley. She’d had a lot of different jobs over the years, and there was always a halfway point where she started to feel a tiny tug of annoyance at the people she worked with, the place where she lived and the job she was doing.
She should be at that point. The summer was slightly more than half over for her, but as she watched the sun rise over the ocean, her thoughts were like the colorful reflections emanating from it. The pastel rays were still beautiful to her, and she wasn’t tired of the view. Sure, she would love the view from the window of an airplane wherever her new job would take her. It wouldn’t be possible to tire of something that would change nearly every day.
But for the first time, she admitted that she would miss Cape Pursuit. Okay. Second time. If she was being truly honest with herself, she had to confess that there was a reason she had come back for a second season when she had never done a repeat job before. Of course it was the sunrise and the ocean, she assured herself. And there was something very endearing and amusing about the bell on the trolley.
Kate returned to her apartment, showered and put on her uniform and picked up her tablet to check her email. In addition to the usual junk emails, there was a message from the airline school. She laid the tablet on the kitchen counter, took a deep breath and tapped the message to open it.
The first word was Congratulations, and Kate leaned on the counter in relief. She hadn’t really doubted her chances at admission, but her nomadic lifestyle over the past six years was, in the eyes of some people, a detracting factor. It was hard getting an employment reference when she never stayed in one place for very long. And a permanent address? Also a tough one. She had refused to use her parents’ address for the past several years, and she knew that she had been turned down for several jobs because of her unconventional life choices.
But this was a congratulations email. She scanned the rest of the message. It also said she had received a one-thousand-dollar scholarship that was—she recalled—fairly standard for all new entrants. To her surprise, the message also explained another potential one-thousand-dollar scholarship for applicants who were willing to commit to flying internationally for at least one year. An incentive for those who were interested in the long hauls.
Amazing. With potentially double the scholarship amount she had been expecting, Kate was closer to affording school than she’d thought. She could even chop off the last month of her summer job and leave at the beginning of August instead of the beginning of September. She wouldn’t need to chase the goal of winning the employee game to be a thousand dollars ahead.
Her first instinct was to wake up Holly and tell her the great news. Kate took one step toward her friend’s bedroom door but remembered almost instantly that she was gone. She could call her parents, but her father would be at work and her mother would probably be lukewarm about the news and ask her when she was coming home next.
Brady. He would be happy for her. Would almost certainly give her a big hug and a kiss and tell her how great he thought her news was...even if he didn’t necessarily think so. She could picture the light slowly dying in his eyes when he understood that the additional scholarship would mean she would be all over the world with her job and, worse, could leave Cape Pursuit earlier than she had planned.
She shouldn’t call him. It was selfish to use him just because she wanted someone to share her great news with, especially when the news might hurt him. But he would know sooner or later, and they were—sort of—dating for the summer, so he should know what her plans were.
Kate’s finger hovered over his number, but she decided to text him instead. It would give her time to think about what to say instead of letting the excitement in her voice give her news away.
Dinner tonight? I’m free starting at six and I have some good news to tell you about.
Kate waited. Brady could be at work saving someone or at home making smiley-face pancakes for his niece. After Corrinne had shown up unexpectedly on the Fourth of July, Kate had taken a step back, giving Brady and his family space. Was Corrinne staying at Brady’s house with all of them like a big happy family? Would she stay in Cape Pursuit, and what would that mean for Brady?
My shift ends at seven. Meet at my place?
Kate was tempted to say she would rather pick him up and choose the restaurant because this was her idea, her big news, and being the planner also left her in control of the evening. Also, going to Brady’s house could be awkward, especially if Corrinne, Noah and Bella were all there. She blew out a breath. He’d said “meet at my place.” That didn’t mean he would have a romantic table set for two and a photographer on hand to take family photos for the Christmas card. It was silly to read too much into four little words in a text.
Perfect, she typed into her phone.
Kate lingered over the word before she tapped Send. She used to know what her idea of a perfect day, week and life meant, but her thoughts were getting more and more muddled. Maybe she should leave Cape Pursuit early just to keep her thought-lines clear.
* * *
BRADY NEVER MINDED working beyond his scheduled hours. People needed help, and their emergencies were always more important than his planned trips to the grocery store or drive-through burger place. However, he glanced ruefully at his phone as he and Ethan returned to the fire station after taking a patient who had fallen in her home to the hospital. Five minutes past seven. Ever since Kate had texted earlier in the day, he’d been looking forward to seeing her. What was the good news she wanted to share?
On my way, he texted Kate.
Was she sitting in his driveway? He wished he’d had time to mow the lawn and get rid of the dead flowers in the planter on the porch. That red geranium needed more water than a house fire. He’d managed to keep one alive the entire previous summer, but somehow balancing the fire station, the trolley job and his brother and niece had pushed him over the edge into plant-neglect territory.
He would do better when the plants were on his own porch, even if he had to continue working two jobs to make the house payments and have some spare cash for home improvements. Owning his own place was going to be his ticket to happiness, especially if he could provide a home for his brother, too.
Want to reschedule?
Definitely not, Brady texted as Ethan backed the ambulance into the station. Be home in five minutes.
Home. After he sent the message, he wished he had used the word there instead. He didn’t want Kate to think he was trying to domesticate her and persuade her that his lifestyle was the one for her. He didn’t have a right to his rogue thoughts where he pictured her planting flowers in their backyard or hanging up curtains they’d just gone to the home improvement store to choose.
Brady set his truck’s cruise control to twenty-five on the side streets just to keep himself from speeding on the way home. When he pulled onto his street and saw Kate’s red Escape on the road in front of his house, it looked so right he had to catch his breath. He willed his heart to stop racing. He was home only ten minutes later than planned. As he parked, he saw Kate sitting in the one chair on his concrete front porch.