by Holly Jaymes
“Don’t go far, McLean. The mayor wants us close,” the Kirk said.
A few minutes later, we paraded ourselves up onto the stage. It was nice to hear the town praise and gratitude, but I wasn’t one for being in the spotlight.
Jerry introduced the fire chief, George Landers, who wasn’t a native of Eden Lake but had been around fifteen or twenty years. He’d been the one to recruit me to the squad.
“I can’t tell you how good it feels that Eden Lake wants to recognize these men. Running into a fire isn’t something everyone can do. These men risk their lives to protect Eden Lake and its citizens. Some of them do it without pay. So, thank you for your support. All these men and women were instrumental in containing the fire, but I want to give special recognition to a few of them. First, Lieutenant Kirk Simmons, who took charge of Haynesville Ridge, and Volunteer Firefighter Mason McLean for leading the way on building the firebreak that stopped the fire from crossing the meadow.”
There were hoots and hollers and whistles. I looked out over the crowd, spotting Willa. She was grinning, and her father was frowning. His expression wasn't wholly readable. It wasn’t a death stare per se, but it wasn’t gratitude. Then again, we hadn’t saved his house.
The fire chief recognized several other members of the team, and then thankfully, we were able to leave the stage.
Several men offered to buy us beers, one of which I accepted. I much preferred that type of thank you.
I winked at Willa as I passed not far from her toward the beer stand as her father and mother made their way up onto the small stage.
Once I had my beer, I leaned against a tree, wishing I could whisk her away to the waterfall instead of pretending I didn’t know her here.
Jerry introduced Mr. Haynesville. People clapped, but others started to disperse to other activities.
“My wife and I want to thank you for your wonderful warm welcome home to Eden Lake. As you know, Eden Lake is an important part of my family history, and being away is like being away from home. Like too many of you, we lost our beloved home up on Haynesville Ridge. No doubt, the firefighters here fought a brave battle, and we are grateful that they kept the fire from town and especially that all came home safe.”
Well, that wasn’t so bad. There was not one disparaging McLean comment. I’d half expected him to have blamed a long-dead McLean for sending the lightning strike that caused the fire.
“I know many of you who lost homes are probably feeling displaced and confused. You might be wondering why this happened to your home when others survived?”
I couldn’t imagine the trauma of losing everything and having memories torched to nothing. Even for someone heartless like Harrison Haynesville, it was likely a difficult thing to witness.
“No doubt, during a massive fire, it can get chaotic, and many decisions are made in a split second.”
There was something about his tone that had me on edge.
“But I have to wonder if the right decisions were always made. Again, I wonder if there were ulterior motives about some of those decisions.”
There was murmuring in the crowd. I scanned it for Willa, mouthing to her, “what the fuck?” She shrugged.
“I can assure you that I’m going to find out these answers. If our homes could have possibly been saved, we need to know, and people need to be held responsible.” Harrison’s eyes zeroed in on me.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, I thought. He was blaming me for his home burning down. Then again, it wasn’t shocking at all.
The murmur got louder, and someone yelled out, “Eden Lake firefighters are heroes.”
A collective “Yeah!” came out through the crowd.
“Yes, of course,” Harrison said, with that same smarmy smile he’d always give to appease the crowd. “But it’s important after a traumatic event that we evaluate so we can prevent it or have better management in the future.”
“Who are you?” someone yelled out, and that made me smile because it hit Harrison right where it hurt.
“My ancestors founded Eden Lake and sought a paradise where all citizens could live happily and safely,” he said.
Yeah, unless you’re a McLean, I thought.
Having had enough, I tossed my beer bottle in the recycle can and made my way to the car. Just because I was feeling surly, I messaged Willa telling her I was going to the waterfall if she wanted to join me. She wouldn’t, of course. Blood was thicker than water, after all.
Chapter 21: Caught
Willa
Oh God, oh God, oh God, went off like a mantra through my brain as my father essentially blamed Mason for his home burning down in front of a giant crowd of people.
When the chief recognized Mason for the firebreak, my father asked the man next to us about it.
“The firebreak is the barrier they built to try and stop the fire. Roads, rivers, places that are clear of ignitable things are what they look for, but often they have to clear it themselves,” the man explained.
“Why did they choose the spot? Why not higher up?” my father asked.
The man shrugged. “Maybe it was too late. The wind? I don’t know.”
My father then turned his attention to Mason, and if he had lasers in his eyes, Mason would have been dust. But he didn’t say anything, so I didn’t either. Maybe I should have because he was now on stage at a picnic to honor firefighters suggesting they made significant mistakes.
My phone beeped, and I saw a text from Mason. He was going to the waterfall. God, I wanted to go with him so bad. But I thought it would be best to spend my time getting my folks off stage and out of town.
I’m sorry. I couldn’t think of anything more to text back.
When they got off stage, most people avoided them, thank God.
I pulled them aside. “What are you doing,” I hissed.
My mother jerked back at my tone, and my father frowned. “Just what I said I’d do.”
“We’re here to honor firefighters, not blame them. If you want the town to love you again, this isn’t the way to do it.”
“If someone made a mistake or, more likely, let my house burn down out of spite, I want to know, and I’m sure all the other homeowners that lost homes up there would like to know too.”
I looked at my father like I didn’t know him. Growing up, I’d heard talk about him being ruthless, but he’d been a warm, loving father, so I’d never reconciled the two. When I was younger, my father's finances started tanking, and I was able to see his side of things and how the McLeans were sticking it to him. But now I saw just how deeply ingrained this feud was.
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
“I’m going to have an investigation, and I’m thinking of suing.”
“What?” I looked around, wanting to make sure no one heard this. “You’re going to sue the fire department that just saved your family legacy?”
“I’m going to sue that McLean bastard, who most assuredly let my home burn.”
I gaped at my dad. I looked to my mother, hoping she’d see how ridiculous this was.
“I doubt you’ll get much money,” my mother said. “He doesn’t look like he has much, except muscle.”
I didn’t know how much money Mason had, but he had substantially more than my parents thought.
I hated that my dad was going to create another senseless battle in the name of this feud.
I wanted to shake my father and tell him to grow up, but I knew that wasn’t the answer if I wanted him to back off.
“Maybe you should talk to the fire chief or investigator before you start accusing someone of allowing your home to burn down.”
“Oh, I will.”
But I couldn’t be sure that my father wouldn’t skew what he heard to fit his new vendetta.
“That was quite a speech, Mr. Haynesville,” Wyatt said, coming up to us and extending his hand to my father. “Wyatt Dalton.”
“Wyatt. I remember you,” my mother said with a silly smirk
to me. “You went to high school with Willa.”
“That’s right.”
“My Willa had a crush—”
“Mom!” God, could this day get any worse?
Wyatt grinned at me. “Is that so? I wonder what Mason would think about that?”
As it turned out, the day could get much worse. I shook my head and hoped he could read the pleading in my eyes.
“Why would Mason care?” I asked.
“Yes. What does that McLean boy have to do with Willa?” my father demanded.
Wyatt looked at me questioningly, and then said, “Ah, nothing. Just poking fun. Seeing if the old feud is still there.”
“It is a sorry state that the feud is still going on,” my mother said. “We’ve been gone for so long and looked forward to coming home. Why not leave us in peace? Instead, he burnt our house down.”
Wyatt frowned. “What?”
I shook my head, telling him it wasn’t a topic worth pursuing.
“I’m not surprised. That boy looks like a menace,” she said.
“Who? Mason?” Wyatt started to laugh but stopped when both my parents glared at him. “Sorry. Yes, he looks fierce, but he’s still an introvert.”
“Many psychopaths are introverts.”
“Dad!”
“All the McLeans aren’t right up here.” My dad pointed to his head.
Wyatt looked at me in confusion. I shrugged. What could I say?
I did all I could to talk my parents out of a lawsuit against Mason, but it seemed like the more I tried, the more they dug in. Finally, I gave up. As I left the condo that night, I thought about telling them Mason owned the place, but I was afraid of what they might do to it, so I didn’t.
“Why don’t you stay with us, Willa?” my mother said as I slung my purse over my shoulder.
“You two have had a long day. Enjoy your evening,” I said. During the ride back to Mason’s, I wondered what Mason would be feeling. Would he be pissed, or would he brush it off? Should I tell him about my father’s planned lawsuit? It could just be talk on my father’s part.
When I reached the house, the light was on, and the door was unlocked. My clothes weren’t on the porch, so he wasn’t kicking me out.
“Mason?” I called in the foyer. When I didn’t hear anything, I made my way to the back deck. He was in the hot tub, his head back, his arms stretched out along the rim with a beer in one hand.
“Am I interrupting?”
He didn’t open his eyes. “Depends.”
“Can I join you if I promise not to talk about my parents.”
“I don’t have a suit on.”
My lips quirked up as his comment let me know he wasn’t angry. At least not at me. “I don’t either.” I quickly undressed, noticing that he had two towels and robes on a chair as if he was expecting me.
I climbed into the tub. I considered sitting across from him, but the need to touch him was too strong. I waded across the water and straddled his thighs.
His eyes peeled open. “Well, hello.”
I slid my arms over his shoulders. I dipped my head and kissed him, parting my lips and slipping my tongue in to dance with his. He growled deep in his chest, and one hand gripped my backside, kneading it.
“I’m sorry,” I said against his mouth.
“I thought you weren’t going to talk about them.”
“I’m not. I just want you to know, I’m sorry.”
“You’re doing a good job of soothing the hurt.” He leaned forward and sucked one of my nipples into his mouth. I felt the tug all the way to my pussy. I wanted to take him inside me right then and there, inside the tub.
I rubbed my pussy along his hard cock, making us both moan.
“I want you inside me, Mason.” I lightly bit his earlobe, tugging on it.
“Condoms are—”
“No condom. I’m on the pill. I’m healthy.” I lifted my head to look into his dark eyes, hoping he wasn’t put off.
His breath hitched, and I was sure I could feel his dick grow against my belly. “You’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t sure.”
He straightened, sliding one hand up my back to my neck and the other splaying along my lower back as he pulled me against him and captured my lips in a hard, fevered kiss that had my toes curling.
A bang came from the front door.
“Ignore it,” I gasped as he lightly bit my nipple.
The banging continued.
“Fuck.” He groaned. “Let me get rid of whoever it is.”
Reluctantly, I moved off of him and watched his fine, hard-muscled body as it emerged from the water.
“Don’t be too long.” I rested my head on my arms on the rim of the tub as I watched him put his robe on.
He winked at me. “Keep the water warm.”
I turned and sat in the tub with my eyes closed, enjoying the quiet of the night. I thought I might have heard raised voices, but when I cocked my head to listen, they were gone.
“Willa?” Mason’s voice was tight.
“Hmm.” I turned to him feeling loose and happy.
“It’s your parents.”
It took a moment for his words to register. “What? Here?”
He nodded as he picked up a robe. “I invited them in, but they won’t come in, so they’re on the porch.”
Oh God. “Mason I’m sorry—”
He helped me with the robe. “Maybe you could just get rid of them?” There was something in his voice that wasn’t just angry, but also distant.
“I’ll talk to them.” I considered getting dressed. It was bad enough to be caught at Mason’s house, but to be naked to boot, my parents might stroke out. Then again, they saw him in a robe. Chances were they already knew the full extent of my and Mason’s relationship.
I waddled from the deck, through the kitchen to the living room, and opened the door.
“Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?”
“What are we doing?” my mother’s voice pitched up an octave. “What are you doing?” Her gaze took in the robe I was wearing. “With a McLean, no less.” This time her voice was a low hiss as if she was afraid someone might notice and judge me or her for my indiscretion.
“Why don’t you come in.” I opened the door wider, glancing to see if Mason was there. He was nowhere to around.
“We are not entering a McLean home,” my father bit out.
“I’m not having this discussion on the front porch for all the neighbors to see, especially in a robe.” Actually, I didn’t care that much, but I knew they would.
“Fine.” They stepped into the house just enough for me to shut the door. “What are you doing here, Willa?”
“How did you know I was here?”
“Not from you,” my mother scolded. “We saw some of your friends when we went to dinner. They mentioned that you and…and…this man were staying here. What are you doing here?”
“I’m spending time with Mason.” I wasn’t sure how to play this, so I figured the truth was the best option.
“He is a McLean.” My mother used that same low hiss. “Are you having your rebellious stage? Do you want to embarrass us?”
I laughed, and when they recoiled, I tried to rein it in. “I’m twenty-eight, a little too old to rebel, and there’s no reason for you to be embarrassed. Mason is a good person. He offered me a place to stay.”
“I can see the payment he’s demanded.” My mother pinched her face into disgust.
Anger and hurt flared. “It’s not like that. You’d like him if you gave him a chance.”
“He’s responsible for our house burning down.” My father used the same low tone as my mother.
“No, he’s not.”
“You’ve betrayed this family, Willa.” My father glared at me. “You know the history, and you choose to hurt us like this.”
“Mason doesn’t care about the feud. I don’t either. We never did.”
“What do you mean you never di
d?” my mother asked.
I let out a breath. “Mason and I have been friends since elementary school.”
“No!” my mother gasped.
“Impossible. We’d have heard about it,” my father dismissed my statement.
“It’s true. We might have been young, but we knew the score. Neither of our parents missed an opportunity to teach us about the feud. So, we became friends in secret. We've been friends all through high school.”
“His father ruined us, and you were friends with him?”
I looked down because I’d made the wrong decision to side with my parents then. “Did you ever consider that if you’d dropped the feud, maybe Mr. McLean would have helped you?”
“He’d never have helped.”
“Then why did you ask? And you need to be honest, dad, they didn’t ruin you. Your choices led to problems, and they simply chose not to help. I wonder if things were reversed if you’d have helped them. I’m disheartened that the answer is likely no.”
My father’s jaw tightened. “You don’t know all that has gone on.”
“I know you put Mr. McLean out of business. No wonder he didn’t want to help you. I also know you tried to ruin Mason’s younger brother’s future by sabotaging his scholarship. Even the children weren’t off-limits.”
“McLean was late on the loan. It was just business,” my father seethed.
“I’m sure he’d say the same about not helping you.”
“And that boy spoke vulgarities to your father. A boy like that doesn’t deserve a scholarship.”
“He was seventeen years old.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re an adult.”
“Well, I guess I see the McLean has turned you against us,” my father said.
“I’m not against you,” I said, hating the rift this was causing. “I just wish you could see how this feud is hurting everyone, and for what? What do you get out of it except more anger and bitterness? I don’t want to be a part of it, and neither does Mason.”
“Why not take up with Wyatt Dalton if you’re going to stay in Eden Lake.” My mother’s voice changed to sound reasonable. I knew this tactic, though. “He’s handsome and successful.”