Blazing Love

by Chantel Rhondeau

  But it didn’t happen. I’ll just have to be careful where I go with him from now on. Unless we really do go to the beach some time.

  She hadn’t told Thayne, but that was one of her fantasies too. Living it out with him would be beyond great.

  Thayne squeezed her hand as they stood at Bonnie’s front door. “You ready for this?”

  Somehow, his concern made her more nervous. “You promised Bonnie would like me. Are you afraid that she won’t?”

  “No, nothing like that.” Thayne gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I’m more nervous about meeting Patrick. Mike calls him Patty, and it sounds so close to...”

  “Daddy,” Laura finished, understanding exactly. Thayne still missed his friend a lot. It must be hard to hear Carl’s son call another man that. No matter how much they talked about not being responsible, she knew Thayne still felt guilty about Carl. “Maybe he’s nice and you’ll hit it off. Those kids do need a father, you know?”

  “Yeah, and Bonnie needs a partner. I’m a poor substitute for Carl.” He sounded bitter.

  “She’s not replacing Carl. You know that.”

  He sighed deeply. “It’s hard though. Same way I felt when I first had to take Frankie on as a partner. But don’t get me started on work. Everything’s screwed up.”

  Maybe there was another reason he was so tense. “What do you mean? Screwed up how?”

  “I called the captain while you were getting ready, just to find out how his meeting with the big wigs went.” Thayne’s jaw clenched. “Let’s just say, I’m not in the mood for a party.”

  Laura wished he’d told her about that earlier. Now they were here, standing at his friend’s door, and needed to knock. But Thayne was obviously upset and shaken. “Do you want to go back to the truck and talk about it?”

  “Talking won’t solve anything. I’ll tell you later.” He rang the bell.

  The door opened immediately, as though the person had been sitting on the other side, just waiting for them. “Thayne.” A beautiful blonde held her arms out, and Thayne stepped into them, squeezing her tight and giving her a fast kiss on the lips.

  “Are we ready for this?” he asked her, smiling.

  “We have to be.” She caressed his face. “It’s time.”

  Something ugly coiled in Laura’s stomach as she watched them, a hard knot of hot jealousy. Thayne made Bonnie sound like nothing more than a friend, maybe a sister, but their greeting didn’t look very sibling like.

  Bonnie was on the larger side, like Laura, and a beautiful blue silk dress fit her curvy hips like a second skin before flowing around her legs and to the ground. Her blue-eyed stare was wider than Laura’s own. Bonnie was a knockout.

  I was worried about being overweight and not good enough for him. Maybe we have bigger problems. Am I a Bonnie replacement?

  Before Laura could examine that thought, Bonnie released Thayne and stepped forward with her hand outstretched, a wide smile on her pretty face. “It’s so nice to meet you, Laura. I didn’t know if this bonehead could convince you to come over after screwing up at the bar.”

  She knows about that? What does he do, tell her everything?

  Regardless of what was going on between Bonnie and Thayne, Laura needed to keep calm. She forced a smile and shook Bonnie’s hand. “It’s nice to meet one of his dearest friends.”

  Bonnie laughed and tossed her blonde tresses behind her shoulder, looking entirely too flirtatious for Laura’s tastes. “I think Thayne and I are a bit more than friends.”

  Laura’s heart pounded hard, and she made a conscious effort to relax her fingers and not ball them up. More than friends? Is she warning me I’m stepping on her territory? What’s going on here?

  “Uncle Thayne!” A little boy raced into the room. He squeezed Thayne’s legs in a hug. “Patty said we could all race. You too. I want to win.”

  Thayne momentarily made a face, likely at the Patty comment, but his features quickly smoothed over. “Sounds good. What’s the veggie selection tonight?”

  As Bonnie turned to answer, Laura had to wonder why Thayne, Bonnie, and the kids weren’t together as a family. They all obviously loved each other. She felt like an intruder in their happy scenario.

  “Let’s move this to the kitchen,” Bonnie finally said. “Emily and Patrick are waiting.”

  Laura trailed after the other three through the front room. Thayne didn’t even turn back to look at her, having one hand in Mike’s and the other arm linked with Bonnie’s. Laura had hoped her initial jealousy was just insecurity making her crazy, but he didn’t even check to see if she followed them. Let alone taking her hand and treating her like his date.

  Not that I have much choice but to follow. I’m in these ridiculous heels because Thayne insisted dressing nice was important to Bonnie, and it is a mile and a half to the nearest bus stop. I’d never make it.

  Not to mention her apartment burned down. She was essentially homeless. Where would she go? Plus, even if she made the trek to the bus stop, she couldn’t get on it. Her pass burned along with everything else. She was stuck for the night, watching the happy family that didn’t include her.

  ***

  Thayne looked across the table to where Laura sat between Mike and Emily. As the newest person to the group, the kids wanted to know her and insisted she sit with them. Mike was already half in love, flirting every chance he got. He shared food, hugging her constantly, and just seemed happy to be in Laura’s presence. Good thing the kid wasn’t any older, or Thayne might be jealous.

  He was a bit worried about Laura, however. She’d been quiet and nervously licking her lips through the entire meal. The only time she looked at ease was when speaking with the children. He hoped she wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack, though he didn’t know why meeting Carl’s family would provoke one.

  “I hear there’ve been a lot of fires lately,” Patrick said from his spot at the head of the table—Carl’s spot.

  Patrick was trying hard to be cordial, but Thayne couldn’t bring himself to like the man. He stole Carl’s place. Even if Thayne knew that wasn’t really true, he couldn’t help feeling that way.

  Bonnie turned, eyebrows raised. “I’ve heard about the fires too. What’s going on, Thayne?”

  “It’s bad,” he admitted. “Captain had a meeting today, and we’re definitely looking for an arsonist. It also seems the mayor’s office is against us.”

  Across the table, Laura looked at him sharply, her lips thinned and face drawn.

  What was that all about? She looked angry, though Thayne couldn’t understand why. There was something wrong in cat woman’s world, but they were at a party and needed to soldier through the meal. They’d talk later.

  “Arson?” Bonnie shook her head. “But why would someone do that? Our city is usually pretty safe. We’ve never had anything like this.”

  “Captain said the fire marshal and police are working together to figure it out. The mayor won’t hire the workers he laid off last month, and the department is overwhelmed. I guess there were two more fires today, one of them at a fireman’s house.”

  Bonnie took his hand in hers, concern in her entire posture. “Someone we know?”

  “No.” Thayne shook his head, squeezing her fingers in reassurance. “A probie from a different station.”

  “That’s crazy,” Patrick said. “I hope they figure it out soon. Scary to think about. Is there some pattern, like it’s all firefighters being targeted?”

  “No. They hit a church, some stores, and several apartment buildings, not to mention the fires out in the country that we don’t know whether they were related.” Thayne looked across to where Laura still sat silently. “Laura’s apartment burned practically to the ground yesterday.”

  “What?” Bonnie stared wide-eyed across the table at Laura, clearly shocked. “So you lost everything? That’s horrible. Do you need a place to stay? I bet I have clothes that fit you.”

  Thayne laughed. “That’s Bonnie for you,
Laura, always the caregiver.” He slung his arm around Bonnie’s shoulders, hugging her close. “I love that about you, Bon, but Laura’s fine. I’m taking care of her, and our cat.”

  “Your cat, huh?” Bonnie laughed and patted his hand. “Fine, I know you’ll take good care of her. Just promise me you’ll be careful at work. I don’t like the sounds of these fires. The kids and I would be lost without you.”

  “Don’t worry,” Thayne said in a calm voice. “Careful’s my middle name.”

  Not to mention, he now had someone to make it home to every night. He wouldn’t let Laura down.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Yep, that was awkward. But maybe I’m overreacting. I mean, okay, Bonnie kissed him on the lips twice and the cheek three times. They constantly touched and hugged. That could still be a sisterly-type friendship...couldn’t it?

  “You’re awfully quiet over there,” Thayne said, turning the truck onto his street. “You’ve hardly said two words since dinner. Anything wrong?”

  Maybe everything. You tell me Thayne. Which girl did you really want to spend tonight with?

  Instead, she shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  “Fine?” Thayne pulled into his driveway, shutting off the engine and turning to look at her. “Fine?”

  “Yep.” Laura yanked on the door handle and hopped from the truck. What could she say, really? I had to have misunderstood. I’m not a brunette Bonnie replacement. At least, I really hope not.

  Thayne caught her as she rounded the front of the truck, taking her hand in his. “Fine is woman speak for everything is horrible, and I’m about to get my head ripped off, isn’t it?” He attempted to cock a charming grin her way, but Laura slid her eyes away from his face, refusing to be charmed until she had more time to think.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” she said, a twinge of guilt tainting her words. “We’ve had a long few days and I need some sleep.”

  With a heavy sigh, Thayne released her hand and headed for the door.

  As they entered the house, Snips tore out from the kitchen area, crying loudly.

  Thayne bent and picked her up, holding her to his face and sweet-talking her. “Oh, poor thing. You think you’re starving, don’t you?” He made nonsense babble as he walked the kitten back into the kitchen and went about getting her an extra meal.

  Laura didn’t say anything further, going into the bathroom to change into the new pajamas Thayne had bought her and get ready for bed.

  The best idea for her was to go to sleep. If she talked to Thayne right now, she’d likely accuse him of wanting Bonnie, and she didn’t know what she’d do if he admitted it. Perhaps things would look different tomorrow. She hadn’t been entirely lying to Thayne, after all. She was exhausted. The past few weeks of dealing with her anxiety problems, pining after Thayne, and then her home catching fire would be enough to make anyone grouchy.

  Thayne was the best thing that had happened to her in a very long time. She didn’t want to screw things up over a spat of jealousy that could all be in her mind.

  I’ll just go to sleep without talking to him. Things will look better in the morning.

  She exited the bathroom and nearly bumped into Thayne, who stood in the hallway with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “We’re going to talk about whatever’s bothering you.”

  “No, please. Everything’s okay. I’m sleepy. I just need to go to bed.”

  His green eyes narrowed nearly to slits. “You haven’t said what you thought of Bonnie.”

  Because I don’t think you want to hear my opinion.

  “She seems nice. The kids are adorable.” Yeah, she could focus on the kids. That was safe.

  “You’re saying nice, but I’m hearing something else.” He leaned against the opposite wall. “What’s the problem?”

  “The problem?” Laura sucked in a few deep breaths, Thayne’s angry gaze provoking the beginnings of panic. After she felt a bit calmer, she shrugged, trying to act like this wasn’t a big deal. “Maybe it’s nothing. Did you notice that I look a lot like her?”

  “What? You don’t...” Thayne’s eyes were wide and he was clearly surprised by her observation. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  I must have read it wrong. This is embarrassing. It’s all in my head.

  “Never mind,” she said. “It seemed weird, that’s all.”

  “I don’t know why that would upset you.” Thayne relaxed his arms and took a step toward her. “Bonnie is a gorgeous woman, just like you.”

  As he closed in for a kiss Laura ducked down, dodging under his arm. “So you do think I look like her?”

  Thayne turned to face her, the anger back in his gaze. “So what if you look like her? Carl and I have the same type, what’s the big deal? Everyone has a type they’re attracted to. I assume you’re attracted to muscled bodies that make you think of Greek gods. What’s the difference?”

  “The difference?” Laura asked, her anger rising to match his. “The difference is I don’t have some Greek god waiting on the side, claiming to just be my friend, but kissing me on the lips and fawning all over me while you’re on the other side of the table watching! Not to mention, you had no problems talking to her about what your captain said, but when I asked you didn’t want to—”

  “Laura, that’s stupid to be angry about. I told all of you what the captain said, not just Bonnie. And for the record, she wasn’t fawning all over me. We’re friends. That’s how we’ve always been with each other.”

  “Oh, really? Always? Even when Carl was around?”

  No woman would ever act that way in front of her husband, even if she did do it in front of her new boyfriend. Whether or not Thayne wanted Bonnie, she wanted him. Laura was certain of it.

  Thayne’s face crumbled with pain, making him appear dejected and alone. “How could you say that? Carl is dead, damn you!”

  That cooled Laura’s anger like nothing else could.

  Damn it. I knew I shouldn’t talk to him tonight. I can’t unsay that. I know how he feels about Carl being gone.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “That was a lousy thing to say. I’m feeling insecure and jealous, but that doesn’t excuse it.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” He turned away, face red. “I’m going to watch the news. Get some sleep.” He started down the hall toward the living room.

  “Thayne, wait.”

  He stopped moving, but didn’t turn to face her.

  Tears welled in Laura’s eyes, and her nose felt itchy. She shouldn’t have said anything. Thayne had been so patient and kind with her, so understanding, and she was an ungrateful bitch. “Come to bed with me. Let’s talk this out. I didn’t mean to be jealous, things just felt weird tonight.”

  There was one thing she was sure of the more she thought about it. Bonnie did not look at Thayne as a brother. She wanted to jump his bones. But perhaps Thayne didn’t know that and really did want to be with Laura.

  Thayne turned slowly, jaw flexing and tensing as he clenched his teeth in time with Laura’s pounding heart. “I would never, ever throw Brian in your face,” he practically growled. “I don’t want to say what I’m really thinking right now, so no, I don’t want to come to bed and talk this out. Stay away from me.”

  Laura backed into the bedroom doorway, unable to hold in a sob.

  I’ve ruined everything before it even had a chance to start. Is this part of me punishing myself for Brian’s death still, or am I just unable to have a relationship?

  ***

  Thayne turned his back on Laura, doing his best to ignore the look of devastation on her face or that single sob. It would have been worse on her if he yelled out all the hateful things he was thinking rather than sending her away. But how could he have misjudged her so badly? She didn’t get him at all.

  He flopped into his recliner and snagged the remote from the coffee table, turning it to his favorite news station. As he watched the reports from the additional fires that had broken out in the
community over the day, Thayne found himself more worried about Laura than the arsonist destroying the city.

  Trying to be fair and assess how the night went from her point of view, Thayne could sort of understand. After all, he and Bonnie had always been close but became even closer after Carl passed away. And now that Laura pointed it out, it wasn’t exactly normal for Bonnie to kiss him all the time. He’d never thought about it before. He couldn’t even remember when that started.

  If he added in the fact that he hadn’t told Laura what Captain Smith said, but immediately talked about it as soon as Bonnie asked, Thayne could see why she might have felt excluded.

  He hadn’t wanted Laura worrying about the fire being at the firefighter’s house, especially not since Captain Smith told him the smoke alarms didn’t work, giving no warning to the people inside. There might have been foul play with the alarms themselves. If Laura knew that, she’d freak. She was already afraid of his job as it was. If she heard the arsonist was making it even more likely the fire crews had to go inside to rescue trapped people, she’d be terrified all the time. He didn’t want to do that to her.

  Eventually the culprit would be caught, but until then, he didn’t want Laura hearing about the alarm problem. The number of fires every day was bad enough. Luckily, she didn’t seem to share his obsession with watching the news. Maybe he could keep her distracted and away from the television for the next few weeks.

  Snips jumped into his lap, spinning in several circles before lying down.

  Thayne absently scratched her neck, wondering what to do about Laura.

  His phone vibrated in his pocket, startling Thayne and the cat, but he maneuvered carefully so as not to disturb Snips more and pulled it from his pocket.

  A text message, from Bonnie.

  Just wanted to let you know I think Laura’s sweet, if a little standoffish. What did you think of Patrick?

  Thayne quickly texted back. He seems nice. The kids sure love him. Can I ask you a question?