He tilted his head in apparent agreement as the waitress poured him a cup of coffee. He reached for the cream.
Fiona watched him, her mind reeling at what he’d just said. If he was a suspect in the arsons then that meant…
She couldn’t go there. She spooned sugar into her coffee and stirred it in silence.
The waitress was back with their order, quick service since they were the only ones ordering breakfast this late. Hunter didn’t answer. He looked up at the young woman and smiled. “Thanks.”
Fiona dropped her spoon. “I can’t even process this. They think you’re responsible for Jimmy’s death?”
Hunter looked up from the plate of food and glanced around the nearly empty restaurant. “Do you think you could say it a little louder?”
Fiona lowered her voice. “Which one of my brothers is responsible for this insanity?”
He poured syrup over the top of his pancakes and cut into them, shoving the first bite in his mouth, tearing into it like he’d never seen food before. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is how they got evidence leading them to believe that I had anything to do with—”
Hunter looked out the window, not finishing his sentence. He had been destroyed when Jimmy had died. She didn’t understand how anyone, least of all her brother, could suspect him. She put down her fork and reached across the table with her good hand to grip his hand in hers. “Listen to me. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you had nothing to do with Jimmy’s death.”
His throat worked and his eyes grew suspiciously moist. His voice, when he spoke, was hoarse. “I had to tell you what they were saying. I didn’t want you to hear it from anyone else. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about me, but you…”
“You couldn’t have set those fires. You would never hurt me or Sean.” As good as she knew those pancakes were, she wasn’t hungry anymore. She knew Hunter wouldn’t hurt them. “Someone would hurt us, though. And they want to take you down in the process.”
“Yeah. I think whoever it is wanted to drive a wedge between us. And between me and your family.” He picked up a bite of pancake and set it back down. “I called a lawyer, Fiona. They don’t have any real evidence, but they do have some things that point to me. And they’re going to say that I had motive.”
She blew out a disbelieving breath. “That’s ridiculous. What kind of motive could you possibly have had to kill Jimmy?”
He hesitated, then shrugged with one shoulder, looking down at his half-eaten plate of pancakes. “I got Jimmy’s job.”
There was undeserved shame in his voice, but too many other things crowded her mind right now. “What else?”
“Means, motive and opportunity, isn’t that what cops look for? I know about fire, understand it. They think I have motive. I don’t know what they think about opportunity, but the fact that I was right here during both fires that involved you and Sean couldn’t be good.” He rubbed his forehead. “I would think I did it.”
Fiona shook her head. “No, you wouldn’t. You would get to the truth, which is what we’re going to do. We’re going to find out who is doing this to us.”
Hunter didn’t speak, but after twenty years of being best friends, she knew him. “What’s bothering you? Other than the obvious?”
He looked at the fork in his hand as if he didn’t know what to do with it. When he looked back, his eyes were full of emotion she couldn’t identify. He tried anyway, for her. “I’m worried, Fee. I’ve never been afraid fighting a fire, but this…it has me worried.”
Her chest, already sore and tight, clamped down. Her breath rasped in. “Don’t be. We’re going to beat this.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute, then, “I’m not scared for me. I’m afraid that whoever is framing me is going to finish the job. And if the cops do arrest me, I won’t be able to protect you and Sean from whoever is doing this.”
Not looking at her, he reached for his coffee mug and his fingers briefly brushed hers. She wanted to grab hold and never let go. Someone was threatening her life, her security.
“Look at me, Hunter. Whoever is targeting us has no idea who they are taking on. We can figure this out together, I promise. I’m not afraid.”
She was terrified. For herself, for Sean and for Hunter. But she wasn’t going to go down easy.
SEVEN
Fiona wasn’t quite sure how she convinced Hunter to leave her at the inn. Maybe it was the pitiful bruise on her cheek, or the way she tried to get up and then acted like maybe she needed to sit for a while longer. Whatever his decision-making process, he was on his way back to her store to begin the cleanup and add to her list of things to do. She was on a surreptitious mission to the police department to see one of her brothers and she had a sneaking suspicion which one she needed to see.
After waiting until Hunter turned the corner into the alley behind the store and giving it another count of ten, she made her way out of the inn. Every step hurt. Every breath. It was like she’d been hit with…well, a heavy metal door. Probably she needed some more ibuprofen, but maybe adrenaline would work just as well.
The police department in Fitzgerald Bay wasn’t very large. It also wasn’t friendly. It wasn’t meant to be, but Fiona had never been scared to go in before and she wasn’t afraid now.
Pushing open the door with her good hand, she winced again at the ache in her ribs. Deborah Sandino, the dispatcher, looked up as Fiona walked in. A smile would be appropriate, but between the pain from the explosion and the burn in her gut at her brothers’ apparent decision to go after Hunter, Fee couldn’t quite handle it.
To Deborah’s credit, she didn’t try to make polite conversation, just opened the lock for Fiona to enter the restricted area of the police department. With every fiber of her being, Fiona felt the need to storm into her brother Douglas’s office. Unfortunately, her injuries were too severe. She couldn’t manage the righteous indignation that this situation deserved.
Instead, she stopped in the doorway to his office. Fitzgerald Bay’s police captain had his head buried in his hand as he pored over paperwork. She leaned against the door frame and waited for him to notice her. After a long minute, he looked up and jolted to his feet.
“Fiona, I’ve been trying to call you.”
She glared at him and his voice trailed off, the expression on his face slightly sheepish.
“We need to talk, Douglas.”
He sighed. “I can’t discuss the case with you and even if I could, I wouldn’t.”
“You will. Hunter didn’t do what you’re accusing him of. He wouldn’t do anything that would hurt me or Sean.”
Douglas had an uncharacteristically irritable look on his face. “You always think you know everything, but you don’t. I wouldn’t question Hunter if I didn’t have evidence—convincing evidence—that he is involved. You need to leave this alone.”
“He’s my friend. You, of all people, should know that.”
Douglas tossed the pen he’d been holding on to his desk and rocked back in his chair, giving her the superior-older-brother look. “He’s in love with you. He’s been in love with you for years. You’re foolish if you can’t see it.”
Fee jerked back. “You better keep looking for someone else to pin this on. If you don’t, I will.” She tried to whirl away, but the pain took her breath. She stumbled and nearly fell.
Douglas was at her side before she could blink, his arm supporting her gently. Tears filled her eyes. “Please, Douglas, let me go.”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not letting you go.”
She’d been blown up. Her store was destroyed. Her family was at risk. She’d had just about all she could take. “Promise me, you’ll keep looking for Jimmy’s killer,” she whispered.
“I will, Fee, I promise.” He let her go and she stepped away. “In the meantime, stay away from Hunter.”
She held up her head as she walked out of the precinct, feeling the eyes of everyone on her as she pass
ed. Grief gripped her, knotting in her gut like a stone. Two other firefighters had had to pull Hunter out of the building, kicking and screaming, to get him to leave Jimmy. She’d seen Hunter’s face when Jimmy’s body was carried from the rubble of that building. He’d been shattered, just as she had.
Oh, she knew, rationally, that statistics proved firefighters sometimes set fires. But with all her heart, she believed that someone else was behind these fires.
That same person was trying to frame Hunter and drive a wedge between them.
What her brother said about Hunter being in love with her—it was a stunning accusation. One she would have to think about. But it had no bearing on the case at hand.
Hunter would not do this. She would die believing it.
* * *
A firefighter knew a lot about putting out fires. A firefighter also knew a lot about cleaning up after fires. More time was spent on overhaul than putting water on flames. Looking around The Reading Nook, Hunter didn’t figure it would take more than a month to get things, if not back to normal, then at least up and running. The storeroom was more damaged than the actual shop.
He picked up a soggy little chintz-covered chair from the children’s area near the back. Fiona put her own personal mark on everything in this store—it’s what made it such a warm and welcoming place to everyone in the town. With regret, he tossed the little chair into a huge plastic bag that he’d brought in from his truck.
He really wanted to get all the damaged items out of here, then maybe he could get the firefighters over for a work day. Those guys could put up drywall and paint like nobody’s business. He heard a step and looked around.
Fiona stood in the doorway from the storage room. Her bruised face reminded him again just how close she’d come to being seriously injured. “Hey, I was just thinking if I could get all the debris cleaned up, I could get the guys from my shift to come over for a work day and we could get the majority of the renovation done.”
The corners of her mouth tilted up, but she didn’t smile. “That would be nice.”
Her lips were white with pain. He picked up a book off the floor, to keep his hands busy so he wouldn’t reach for her. “You need to sit down, Fiona. Why don’t you let me take you home? I can keep working here.”
“I’m fine.” She shook her head and glanced back at the door. “We have an escort. Nick is parked out back, watching.”
“I know. He followed me here from the inn.” As he picked up the next book, two photographs fell out and fluttered to the floor. “What’s that?”
She picked them up. “What were these photographs doing in there?”
He glanced at one of the pictures. “Isn’t that the Hennessys’ baby?” He’d seen the baby a few times. A cute little thing with huge blue eyes and a peaches-and-cream complexion.
“Yes, that’s Georgina.” Fiona smiled. “She comes in with her nanny for Story Time every week, even though she’s pretty little. That’s not her in the other picture, is it?”
“It doesn’t say. The picture looks like a hospital picture, though.”
Fiona gave it a closer study. “It doesn’t look like newborn photos taken here in the U.S. Is there an ID number on the bottom?”
“There is.” He handed the photo to her.
“That book the pictures were in…it’s about Clare County in Ireland? That’s the book Olivia was always looking at, showing us the places where she grew up.”
“Do you think she put the photos in the book?”
Tucking the pictures into her pocket, Fiona said, “I don’t have any idea, but I think I should give these photos to my father at the police department. He can decide whether they’re any use to the investigation into Olivia’s death.”
Hunter picked up another soaked chair and chucked it into the bag. “I need a shovel and a couple pairs of hands to really get stuff out of here. Maybe some of the guys can help after shift tomorrow.”
Fiona didn’t respond. She’d gone back to watching him with serious intensity.
Hunter stopped midmotion. “Listen, Fee, I shouldn’t have told you about the questioning. I don’t want you to worry about it. I just didn’t want to keep it a secret from you.”
“You don’t keep things from me, that’s what you said, right?”
“Actually it’s what you said, but no.” He smiled at her, despite his fatigue after being up all night. “I don’t keep things from you. We’ve been friends a long time, Fiona. Do you think I left something out?”
She took a step forward, took her time studying his face. “Are you in love with me?”
His heart began to pound in his ears. Surely he hadn’t heard her right. He’d spent the past thirteen years being her best friend. He’d convinced himself he wasn’t in love with her. Why was she asking him this now? “I don’t think I know how to answer that.”
Another step brought her close enough for him to smell the Sweet Pea perfume she always wore. “I don’t think it’s a difficult question, Hunter. You either are in love with me or you aren’t.”
“It wouldn’t be right for me to be in love with you. Jimmy was my best friend. You were his wife.” His mind was racing.
Her blue eyes burned into his. In her yellow dress, she was the bright spot of color in this ashy gray room. She came closer still until she was a breath away. The words were whispered with quiet strength. “That doesn’t answer the question. Tell me the truth. I think I deserve it.”
This was the secret that he’d never wanted her to know. The one thing he’d held close to his heart because even though once a long—a very long—time ago, he’d wanted more, what he really wanted was for her to be happy.
She was his friend. His best friend.
Her eyes widened. “Hunter?”
“It’s not like that, Fee. I’ve loved you since we were kids—that’s true. But I’ve known since the ninth grade that you weren’t the girl for me.”
Her face didn’t change expression, her eyes didn’t leave his. Five long seconds. Ten.
She slowly turned and walked away, her steps painstaking. He watched her leave, wanting to chase after her and grab her hand, beg her to come back and laugh with him. Have a cup of coffee, like they’d had last week. But last week, the arsonist hadn’t nearly killed her son and her best friend. The arsonist hadn’t exploded her business and hit at the heart of their town’s Main Street.
Last week, she hadn’t known he’d been in love with her since they were in middle school.
So, he watched her leave and prayed that he hadn’t lost her for good.
* * *
Fiona moved the clothes from the washer to the dryer one piece at a time. It was all that she could manage. She’d gone straight from the shop to pick up Sean at school, done homework time and bath time and read the required two stories all in some kind of fog, her mind on what Hunter had reluctantly admitted.
Had he meant that he’d been in love with her all this time? Had he meant that he’d been in love with her way back then and somehow just put away his feelings? Was that even possible? She and Jimmy and Hunter had been three friends for so long. And after Jimmy had died, Hunter had been her rock.
They’d grieved together, often sitting in silence because the feelings were so huge, they couldn’t put them into words. They didn’t have to. They just knew.
She closed the dryer with a firm slam. But now, she was thinking of Hunter in a different light. For so long, he’d just been there, a part of her life. The little things that she knew so well about him, like the way the dent in his cheek deepened when he was amused, or the way he shoved his fingers into his hair when he was thinking…those were the things that she found the most intriguing now.
She’d been surprised by him, though why she would be, she didn’t know. He was a handsome man, one who’d had every single girl in town after him at one time or another. He’d even dated one or two of them.
The thought of it now made her uncomfortable, which in itself was strange. Why
should she care who he had dated?
An idea whispered through her mind. She wanted to know whether there could be anything between them. For so long, they’d been “just friends.” Could they possibly make the leap?
The thought was tantalizing.
Without giving herself time to back out, she texted her cousin Bridget who lived two doors down to come stay with Sean for an hour or so. Bridget was a single parent’s lifeline. Because she taught at the school, she often kept Sean with her until Fiona got home from work. And with no kids at home, she was available after Sean went to bed in case Fiona had to go back to the shop for any reason. They were close in age and Bridget was more like a sister than a cousin.
As she waited, Fiona looked at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, the knowledge of what she was about to do bright in her eyes. Was she really going to go through with it?
The sound of a key in the door let her know Bridget had arrived. Her cousin’s black hair sprung away from her head in perfect ringlets. Fee stepped quickly away from the mirror. “Thanks for coming. I won’t be long. I just need to run a quick errand.”
“No problem. I’ve got papers to grade and you have Netflix.” Bridget winked, her eyes the same Fitzgerald blue as Fiona’s own.
A couple minutes later, she pulled up in front of Hunter’s house. He’d inherited the small cape-style cottage from his parents when it had been falling down, and piece by piece repaired it. Her favorite part was the farmer’s porch. When they were growing up, it had big holes in the wood.
But Hunter was good at fixing things. He’d painstakingly renovated his house. He kept the many apparatuses at the fire station in perfect working order. And after Jimmy had died, he’d been a large part in repairing Fiona’s heart. She turned off the car and sat there for a long moment.
Rethinking things wasn’t an option at this point. She didn’t want to think. She wanted to act.
Getting out of the car, she walked up the path to where his porch light welcomed her. She closed her eyes, whispered a prayer and knocked on the door.
A long minute passed while she stood waiting, her heart in her throat. Nothing. No sound from inside. She turned to go back to her car. It had been a crazy idea, anyway. She heard the door open behind her and slowly turned back around.
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