Her dad looked tired. It had been a busy afternoon, but she’d never known him to have such deep lines around his face.
Owen took a swig of coffee and said, “Dad, how’s the campaign going? I’ve heard some mumbling at the Sugar Plum about Hennessy and how he represents new leadership.”
Burke Hennessy was running against her father for mayor. Like most people in Fitzgerald Bay, she’d known him for years and while there wasn’t anything she could put her finger on about the town lawyer, she didn’t find him trustworthy. Maybe it was that he was running against her dad.
Beside her, Douglas, never one to ignore a problem when he could confront it, spoke up. “Have there been polls? I’d like to know what we can do to put a more positive light on the family. It really seems like things have gone from bad to worse lately.”
She put her hand on his to quiet him. “We’re all trying, Douglas.”
Nick, sitting on the arm of Keira’s chair, cleared his throat. “I know I’m the new kid on the block, but it seems to me that the more you all act like nothing is wrong the weirder it is. Don’t be afraid to admit you need each other right now. Faith and family. I’ve heard each of you say it at one time or another. The way you guys count on each other—that’s what people admire about the Fitzgeralds.”
Fiona thought about Nick’s words. Faith and family. She’d let the stress of the last few days influence her feelings, leaving her wanting to hide in the busyness of getting things done. It had taken someone new to the family to remind her what was important.
Her mother would be proud of Keira’s choice of a boyfriend.
Fee dug in her pocket and came up with a photo. She held it out to Douglas, the brother sitting the closest to her.
“I was going through some old pictures in the clean-up effort today.” She held up a hand as her older brothers all tried to talk at once about how she didn’t have to do that by herself. “I found this one picture of Mom. It was after the first sundae night.”
Ryan smiled. “I remember that. I broke the window at the school with a baseball that day.”
Douglas laughed. “And I got detention for pressing an eraser into Mary Lou Carmine’s back and leaving a mark on her navy blue shirt.”
“I did nothing wrong because I was always good.” Owen put his arm around Victoria and pulled her closer.
His fiancée gave him a little push and laughed. “You’re forgetting I knew you then.”
“Marc McIntyre pushed me down at recess, so I bloodied his lip.” Keira shrugged. “I was in detention with Douglas.”
“And I skidded my bike down the big hill toward Aunt Vanessa’s house and ripped all the skin off my knee,” Fiona finished the recitation. “We were all a mess, every one of us trying to talk over the other one. Mom finally sat us each down on a stool at the counter island and grabbed the ice cream and every topping she could think of. When we were sitting there with our mouths full, she asked each of us about our day. And in her quiet way, she made it all better.”
Her father let out his breath. “It’s been a long time since you kids were at the stage where ice cream solved your problems.”
Fiona looked up at Hunter, sitting beside her. “Well, you would think.”
“Fiona had me stop at the grocery store on the way here. I’m not exactly sure what she bought, but there were four grocery bags full.” Hunter looked around the circle.
Keira was the first to her feet, streaking toward the kitchen door. “Dibs on the chocolate!”
She was quickly followed by her brothers. The newer members, soon to be added to their family, Merry, Victoria and Nick, followed a bit more slowly with Hunter.
Fiona’s dad looked into her eyes across the fire, the warmth of the flames radiating in his blue eyes. “Thanks, honey. You remind me of her, you know.”
She pressed her lips together. “Oh, Dad. You couldn’t have said anything that would mean more to me. I hope I’m as good a mom as she was.”
“You are.” A vaguely unsettled look passed over his face, but all he said was, “She was a good woman and so are you.”
He smiled and walked toward her. Taking her hand, he pulled her with him toward the kitchen, leaving her wondering if she had imagined the expression on his face.
“Don’t worry about anything, honey. You’ve got the best police department in the northeast on your side.”
She loosened her hand to give him a one-armed hug. “And believe me, the entire town knows who the best mayor to be our grandfather’s successor in Fitzgerald Bay will be. It’s just everyone was shaken up when Olivia died.”
“She certainly made an impact on our town in her short time here. Poor girl.” Her father stared into kitchen window where they could see the good-natured jostling of the Fitzgerald siblings making their sundaes, the children crowded at their feet. Hunter lifted Sean onto a stool so he could see. “About the mayor’s race, it doesn’t help that Burke Hennessy is making the police chief seem inept at handling the department.”
“Dad—”
He patted her arm. “You know what? It’ll all work out. Let’s go in before Douglas uses all the chocolate syrup.”
She walked toward the kitchen. “Don’t you think I’m smarter than that by now? I hid an extra under the kitchen counter.”
He laughed, the deep chuckle she remembered from her childhood, the one she rarely heard anymore. It was worth the trip over here just for this moment. Hunter had been right as usual. She needed her family and, apparently, they needed her, even if ice cream on a Saturday night could only make things better for a little while. This family had been through the wringer and by all signs, wasn’t through it yet.
FIVE
Hunter pulled into Fiona’s driveway and turned his head to look at her. “Do you remember the time that Jimmy talked us into filling Ryan’s socks with chocolate syrup?”
She chuckled softly, her face sweet in the glow from the truck’s instruments. “He was getting up at three in the morning to work at the docks with Uncle Joe. I remember you and Jimmy slept outside on the back deck that night just so you would be there when Ryan yelled.”
“Ryan was pretty mad.”
Fiona nodded in agreement. “He never did like practical jokes much. Not unless it was his idea to do the joking.”
“Jimmy was always getting me into trouble when we were kids.” He felt his smile fade away. “And then he spent the next ten years keeping me out of it. I miss him being around. He was a good guy.”
Her eyes were huge, luminous. “I know he was. He was just so…vivid. So alive.” The words caught in her throat, like they didn’t want to be said. “And now, when I try to remember, he’s not there. It’s been a long time.”
He took her hand and held it, being there as a friend, because it was the only thing he knew to do. He didn’t know how to take the pain away from her.
“I remember a hand holding mine when Sean was born, but when I try to see his face, I can’t.” She choked on the words.
His heart was breaking for her. “Fee…”
“No, Hunter, I have to say this.” She looked out the window. “I was so angry at first after Jimmy died and it was awful, but what’s worse is when the anger fades, all you have is the missing. And the missing hurts—so much. I have to move on now, Hunter. You understand, right?”
“It’s been two years, Fee. It’s okay for you to move on. I want you to be happy. Jimmy would want you to be happy.”
She nodded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I thought I was, but I think what I’d actually done is pushed all the feelings away. The fire the other day stirred everything up again, and I realized something. I’ll always miss Jimmy. But…I want to live. Really live. For Sean, but for me, too.”
The plea for understanding in her eyes cut him to the quick. He’d been there for her, yes. But he’d always put Jimmy between them. It was safer that way.
Maybe just this once she needed him as a friend—just him. He reached for her and pul
led her close. Her hair slid across his arm as she dropped her head to his shoulder.
“Life is scary. You make me feel safe, Hunter.”
When she relaxed against him, he rested his head against hers. “It’s going to be okay, Fee,” he said, over the pounding of his heart.
Hunter had held Fiona hundreds of times over the years. He’d forced himself not to notice the soft curve of her hip where his hand rested or that her head fit just in the nape of his neck. Or the way he felt now when she splayed her hand against his chest.
He was her friend. It was right for him to hold her, but safe? No.
With her in his arms, he felt anything but safe.
* * *
Hunter pulled into the parking lot at the firefighter training ground with his windows rolled down. The on-duty shift had prepared the course earlier in the day. The rest of them were meeting after church for an afternoon of friendly competition. Each of the firefighters, along with the volunteers from around the area, had to re-qualify in fitness every year.
Danny Fitzgerald sauntered up beside Hunter as he reached back into the truck for his turnout coat. “You know, Nate Santos says he’s going to beat everyone’s time today.”
Hunter grinned. “He can try.”
He pulled his Nomex hood over his head and settled it around his neck. Firefighters ran their fitness events in full gear. Fighting a fire required carrying a two-hundred-pound charged hose—or possibly a human being—in the middle of an eight-hundred-degree fire, while wearing seventy pounds of gear. It wouldn’t do any good to train without it.
All total there were about twelve career firefighters and about twenty-five volunteers who had gathered around as the chief blew the horn on the attack engine to start the competition. Fire Chief Mickey Fitzgerald shouted, “You’ll compete in two ways. By engine crew and by individual time. To qualify for re-cert, you must finish the course in seven minutes. To beat Hunter’s winning time from last year, you have to finish in 2:45.”
There was a chorus of yells, everything from “You’re going down, Reece” to “Get ready to suck wind.” He was used to it. He’d won the challenge the past three years.
The chief waited for them to quiet down. “A-shift is the returning champ of the crew competition.”
Nate Santos had lost to him by only a couple seconds last year and he was A-shift’s strongest competitor. This year, it would be interesting to see. Brennan Fox had been a strong part of B-shift’s team in the past, but Hunter hadn’t even seen him today, which meant that one of their team members would have to run the course twice.
It was a grueling event under any circumstances. One of them running it twice would put their team at a serious disadvantage. A-shift was looking very confident. Between Hunter, Max and the probie, their crew might have a chance if Brennan were here. Without him, it wasn’t looking good.
Hunter walked back to his truck for a drink and found Fiona sitting with Sean on his tailgate. Her hair was a shining copper penny in the sunlight. He lost his train of thought. He set his helmet on Sean’s head. “What are you guys doing here?”
She reached in her bag for sunglasses and slid them on her face. “I knew everyone would be here today, even the volunteers. I wanted to say thanks for the other day, so I brought a cooler full of drinks. It doesn’t hurt that it’s gorgeous today.”
“If you’re still here when this is over, we’ll go get some ice cream.” This he said to Sean and he was rewarded with a shout. He laughed and leaned around Fiona to get a drink from the cooler. “I’m gonna need this. I have to go first. And last—Brennan didn’t show.”
Fiona frowned. “He came into the shop the other day when he was supposed to be on duty, acting really weird. He looked awful. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but he looked like he could’ve been using.”
Hunter leaned on the edge of the tailgate and crossed his boots at the ankles, taking a swig of his Gatorade drink. “I need to go by and check on him.”
Someone let out a whistle and Hunter looked over. “I think that’s my cue.” He lifted his helmet off of Sean’s head and tucked it under his arm. “I’ll see you later.”
She called from behind him. “Have fun.”
In answer, he laughed. Firefighter Combat Challenge wasn’t called the toughest two minutes in sports for nothing. They were doing a modified version, but still, it would leave them feeling like Jell-O had more legs at the end of it.
He tossed his sports drink at Liam and walked to the starting line where he’d left his SCBA gear. Pulling up his Nomex hood over his head followed by the mask, he then popped the connector to the oxygen tank onto his mask. The helmet. The gloves. He clapped his gloved hands together and hoisted the forty-pound roll of hose to his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Someone blew the horn and he started up the stairs of the tower. At the top, he dropped the first roll of hose and began pulling the second roll up hand over hand. Every one of the drills was designed to emulate an actual part of firefighting.
Hunter dropped the roll of hose at the top and started down the stairs. About halfway down, he realized that the firefighters on the ground were running the other way. As he got to the bottom and dropped the hose, Liam walked toward him.
Hunter pulled off his SCBA and neatly caught the bottle Liam tossed back at him.
“We’re rescheduling. They’re responding to a brush fire in the next county. A-shift is going to be on backup at the station since we’re all already here.”
“Okay, well, I guess I got my workout for the day.” Hunter unzipped his coat and took a long sip of the drink. “I’ll see you Tuesday.”
Nate Santos jogged up beside them. “You got off lucky today, Hunter. Enjoy the last couple weeks of your record. You’re going down this year.”
“I’m scared, Nate. Really scared. And I haven’t forgotten you’re gonna owe me lunch at the end of it.” Hunter punched Nate in the arm and walked back to his truck.
Sean didn’t give him time to say anything. “Did you see the fire trucks leave? The sirens were really loud!”
“I did. And that means I’m off early for the day. You ready for ice cream?”
The six-year-old leaped from the back of the truck into Hunter’s arms. Hunter laughed. “Okay, let’s go. Fee? We can come back for your car.”
It was a brief reprieve but one he needed. Maybe for a few hours he could forget the danger and the drama and just be a regular guy. Maybe.
* * *
Sean ate two scoops of rainbow cotton candy ice cream with most of it ending up on his chin and shirt. He was having fun sticking his hands to the leather seats of Hunter’s truck and pulling them off as they drove down a back road just outside of town.
Fiona dug a wet wipe out of her purse and tried to clean him and the seats, but she was afraid that Hunter’s truck might never be the same. “Where are we?”
“I thought we might check on Brennan Fox since we caught a break this afternoon. He lives right on the line of the state park.” The truck bounced along the rocky road.
At the end of the lane was a cute log cabin with dormer windows, but the surrounding yard looked like it hadn’t been mowed in at least a couple weeks. Brennan’s SUV wasn’t anywhere around. Hunter parked the truck and shot a look of concern at Fiona.
He said, “Why don’t you stay in the car for now? I’ll be right back.”
She rolled down the window and watched as Hunter climbed the few steps to the front door. He knocked on the door, then walked to the edge of the porch where he could see around the side of the building. He glanced at her and shrugged before going back to the front door to knock again. A few seconds later a young woman answered the door. She had dark circles under her eyes and a cigarette in her hand. “What?”
“I’m looking for Brennan. Is he here?”
“Do you think I’d be answering the door if he was here?” The girl, who couldn’t have been more than nineteen, shot him a dirty look. Her cut-off jeans hung on her thi
n body. It made Fiona want to feed her, despite the surly look on her face.
“Will you tell Brennan that Hunter stopped by?”
The young woman closed the door without saying anything. Fiona doubted very seriously that Brennan would be getting the message.
Hunter slid into the driver’s side and shook his head.
“She wasn’t very nice to you.” Sean leaned forward in his seat. “Maybe she needed a time-out.”
Hunter laughed as he turned onto the main road. “Is that what your mom tells you when you get grumpy?”
Sean nodded. “Or a nap.”
“Who do you think that was?” Fiona had to wonder about Brennan. If he was spending time with her, it couldn’t be good for his career—or for him, personally. She was a little worried before, now she was really worried.
A few minutes later, Hunter pulled into a parking lot just off the main road. Fiona opened the door. “Where are we?”
“We came here in high school.” He pulled Sean out of his car seat and hoisted him up to settle on Hunter’s broad shoulders. Sean wrapped his arms around Hunter’s forehead. “Do you remember, Fee?”
As they walked through the trees, she had a vague memory of exploring these woods with Jimmy and Hunter. Jimmy’s house had been not too far from here, along the river. The narrow trail opened up onto a bridge made of stone, like so many of the old mill bridges around here.
Sean slithered down Hunter’s back onto the hard surface of the bridge, oohing in delight at the dark greenish-brown water of the river. “Can I go down there?”
“Stay along the path and you can collect some rocks to throw into the water.” Fiona leaned on the railing. “How did you even remember this place?”
As Sean ran to the side of the creek, Hunter’s eyes followed him, but he didn’t say anything for a moment, then shrugged. “After Jimmy died, I spent a few months thinking about all the things we used to do.” His cheeks flushed a ruddy red. “I went back to a lot of the places we used to frequent. We used to have paintball wars in these woods.”
The Widow's Protector Page 5