New Beginnings (The Girl and The Fireman Book 1)

by Amy Allen

  Jim stood six feet seven inches tall and had a shaved head. Stepping to Brandi’s side he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Using the name he’d called her since she was an actual child, he said, “Don’t worry about it, Princess. They are still sleeping.” Turning his attention to Lana, he smiled at the young woman. He gauged her to be about Brandi’s age for this life, maybe a year or two younger. “Hi, Lana, nice to meet you.” Returning his attention to Brandi, Jim added, “John not back yet?”

  Brandi shook her head. “Nope, Joshie is bringing him and Eric back when they get done next door.”

  Lana watched the exchange, smiling. She could tell the two had a close relationship. Looking at Jim, she judged him to be the same height as Craig and, even though she thought Joshua was better looking, she had to admit that Jim was also easy on the eyes. “Nice to meet you too, Jim.” With the mention of triplets, she now knew how many children Brandi had. Refocusing on Brandi’s words before Jim joined them Lana looked relieved at Brandi’s offer. “Mahalo, I’d love your help for shopping. But I think Rob will be paying for whatever I get. Since it looks like I’ll be home all week, whenever you have time would be great.”

  After telling Jim goodnight, Brandi led Lana back to hers and John’s bedroom. “How about tomorrow. Whenever is good for you.” Opening a drawer in her dresser, Brandi pulled out the extra two-piece she’d packed. Nodding, she handed it to Lana. “The bathroom is behind you if you want to try it on.”

  Lana smiled as she took the bikini and stepped into the bathroom, not closing the door all the way. “Tomorrow should be good. I’ll write down my cell number for you so you have it. Oh … this fits great. I love the color. You sure you don’t mind if I borrow it?” She stepped out to show Brandi only to hear a low whistle from the bedroom door. Looking over, she ducked her head seeing Brandi’s husband John.

  Brandi couldn’t help but smile as she moved to her husband’s side. Noticing Lana’s slight smile when John whistled, her smile grew. She wasn’t worried about John whistling at Lana. She trusted him. “Nope. I don’t mind. It does look good on you.” Looking at John, she asked, “Eric didn’t come in with you?” She wasn’t surprised when John only shook his head.

  Lana returned to the bathroom and pulled her jeans and tank on over the suit. Stepping back out, she smiled at Brandi and John. “Mahalo Brandi, and mahalo to you too, John. When you see Eric, would you tell him thank you from me too, please – for helping my brother and Craig. Joshua’s probably waiting for me, so I should get going.” Remembering something else, she added, “I wanted to leave you my number.” She watched Brandi turn and grab what looked like a journal off the bedside table. Taking it and the pencil Brandi handed her, Lana wondered how old the book was but didn’t ask. Opening it to a blank page in the back, she wrote her name and number down and handed it back. Smiling at the couple, she left the bedroom.

  Seeing Joshua by the door, she smiled. “I’m ready.” Not seeing her brother she asked, “Rob out in the truck?”

  Joshua heard a whistle and had wondered who it was, his brother-in-law, or Jim, especially when Lana came out dressed in her jeans, tank top and boots. He returned the smile, saying, “Then we’re off.” Calling out, though mindful that his niece and nephews were sleeping, he said, “Talk to you and John later, Andi.” Opening the door for her, Joshua followed Lana out. Shaking his head at her question, he told her, “Nope. He decided not to join us. Still wanna go?” He held the truck door open for her, hoping.

  Climbing up into the truck Lana smiled, relieved her brother decided to stay home. “Of course.” She could see his smile as he closed her door and went around the truck. As he got in, she asked, “What about fins, mask, and snorkel for me?”

  Reaching behind him, Joshua held up what Rob had given him for her. “He borrowed them from your mom’s gear.” Glancing at her as he started the truck, he wondered, “Did Andi have a suit you could borrow?”

  Glad her brother thought of it, she smiled. At the question, Lana nodded. “Yeah. I just put my jeans and top on over it for now.” Thinking of something else, she asked, “Do you have to work tomorrow?”

  Joshua realized why either John or Jim, though he figured it was John since Joshua knew it wouldn’t bother Brandi, had whistled when Lana said she’d put her clothes on over the suit, and he smiled at the thought of seeing her in a bikini again. He also found it nice that she was worried about his having to work with them going out this late. “Nope, not until Wednesday. We work two on, starting at eight a.m., and then four off. Even though it’ll be 48 hours straight we’re working, we do it in two shifts each day. 10 hour days and 14 hour nights. So I’ll be off Friday morning and won’t have to be back until next Tuesday.”

  Lana was happy he had the next day off too. If he had said he had to be at work in the morning, she would have suggested they wait, as much as she wanted to go out now.

  It didn’t take them long to reach his apartment in Kahului since there weren’t many cars on the road. Joshua shrugged as he followed her in. “It’s not much, but its home. Make yourself comfortable. I won’t be long.”

  She looked around. It reminded her of everything she’d had around her place. It made her a bit sad, wiping tears off her face, and still angry, but it wasn’t his fault she felt that way. She liked his place, it suited him. When she saw the dive gear, kiteboards, and fishing poles on the floor and against the wall, she suddenly smiled. Sitting on the floor, she checked a couple of the tanks to make sure they were full, and then checked the mouthpieces and lines for the regulators to make sure no holes and that they looked in working order. Satisfied, she put the dive gear she’d checked, as well as the dive lights, for the beach and underwater, that had been against the living room wall, next to the door only to turn around to find Joshua watching her with a smile. “Sorry. Needed something to do while you were getting ready.”

  “It’s fine. One less thing for me to do and I did say to make yourself comfortable. I’ll grab a couple of towels and we can go.”

  Since she knew she wouldn’t be able to just sit and wait until he returned, Lana decided to look around more. His apartment was about as sparse as her cottage had been. A sofa, a coffee table, and a nice size TV. Moving through what she guessed was a dining room, though it had no table and chairs, to the kitchen, had her quietly giggling. Why have a dining room table if you’re the only one there. The kitchen was tidy like he either ordered in or rarely cooked more than just heating up food. His fridge looked like hers had with take-out menus, but he also had a tide chart. His apartment looked lived in, though barely. But, because he and Rob had the same work schedule, she understood it, and she knew how much time Rob spent in his place – which was very little.

  Joshua was enjoying watching her look around. Moving to her, he rested a hand on her shoulder, smiling down at her. “I can show you the rest before we go if you want.”

  Lana grinned up at him. “Since I’m guessing the only other rooms are the bathroom and bedroom, I can wait.”

  He only nodded as he leaned down and kissed her. Feeling her stand on her toes to bring herself higher, her hands going to his shoulders bringing him closer, and her response to his kiss had him smiling to himself. He actually wanted to take things slow with her, even if he enjoyed kissing her and he could tell she did too. This was a first for him but he wasn’t going to look too deeply into why at the moment.

  Breaking the kiss, still on her toes, she leaned back and looked up at him. “I think you found another way to get rid of my anger. And, not that I’m in a hurry to leave, but are we going to go?”

  Joshua burst out laughing. When he’d finally calmed, he brushed his lips across hers again and then nodded. “So I don’t do anything you may regret later, yes, we are.”

  Lana only grinned at his words. She didn’t have to ask. Like when he’d grabbed her earlier, she could feel what he meant only this time she hadn’t stiffened at feeling it. Part of her wanted to know while the rest of her was
scared of that intimacy. Nodding, she lowered back down, her eyes showing laughter and mischief.

  Shaking his head and laughing, he took her hand.

  They each grabbed the gear she’d put at the front door and put it in the back of the truck when they got downstairs.

  As they headed to Maliko Bay, Joshua glanced over at Lana. “Wanna talk about it?”

  Lana turned in her seat so she was facing Joshua. “Am I that transparent?”

  Joshua shook his head. “No. But now that you aren’t occupied by something else, something seems on your mind.”

  She grinned at him. “I’m not complaining at how I was occupied.” She saw him smile before she continued with, “Yeah there is. But I’m not sure about it.”

  “Tell me. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure whatever it is out.”

  Lana sighed. “I want to be in on any investigation for my place.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s what I do, and went to school for.”

  “That makes sense, but do you want to put yourself through it. Do you really want to be in his head?”

  “I already am in a way. And I want to be out of it. I want to help get the proof that he did it.”

  They’d reached Maliko Bay. Pulling off into what there was for parking he shut off the truck and turned to look at her. “Talk to Hank Bennet then when he goes out to inspect the damage. Unless he asks first, wait to mention it to Rob since he’ll probably tell you he doesn’t want you to be involved. You have good reasons for wanting to be.”

  She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until she let it out when he finished. “Mahalo.”

  “No problem. Hang tight. I’m gonna take some of this to the beach and I’ll be right back.” Grabbing what he could for gear as well as his fins, mask, and snorkel, Joshua took them to the beach. Returning to the truck, he grabbed what else he needed from behind his seat then moved to her side of the truck and opened her door. Grinning, he said, “Now, let’s get wet.”

  Lana returned the grin, helping to grab the rest of the gear, including taking her own fins, mask, and snorkel from Joshua, before following him down to what there was of the beach. Sitting down on a nearby rock she removed her boots and socks. When she glanced up, she could see that he’d set up two lights together next to the towels he’d brought. Setting her boots and socks next to one of the towels, Lana then watched him walk a little farther down to place another light as she pulled off her tank top then shimmied out of her jeans, tossing them over with her boots, but being careful to not have her jeans and tank cover the lights. Seeing him standing and watching her, she smiled at him. “I take it you’ve been diving here during the day?”

  Joshua had stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her removing her clothes. He was hoping the water was on the cool side. Seeing her smile his brain started to semi-function again. Her question made him think for a minute. Finally comprehending what she was asking, and seeing her starting to look worried from his only staring at her, his grin returned. “Sorry. Yeah, I have.” As he walked back toward her, he pulled off his shirt. Reaching the towels, he pulled off his own boots, socks, and jeans and then picked up both vests, handing one to her. Noticing the look on her face before she hid it, he knew what he must have looked like when he was watching her, and he chuckled.

  Suddenly embarrassed, Lana looked down at her feet. Seeing the vest in front of her and hearing him chuckle, she took the vest and looked up. She was relieved when she only saw humor on his face. When he turned slightly, she could also see his eyes sparkling in the light causing her to relax. Though she hadn’t said it, she’d heard Rob mention how Joshua tended to go out a few times with someone before moving on to the next girl. This felt different, though. Like he was actually interested in her and not trying to play her.

  They went over what signals they would use, deciding using the light for the signals better than shining the light on their hands. Joshua handed Lana a weight belt and weights and they set them up with the amount of weight they each needed. They then hooked up their regulators and gauges to the tanks before putting their tanks on the BC vests. They put the vests on, as well as weight belts. They then grabbed their lights, fins, and masks, which now had the snorkels attached. Taking her hand, Joshua led the way out into the surf, going to where Lana was about chest deep and he was waist deep. Using each other they put their fins on followed by their masks before ducking under the water to clear the masks.

  Turning on their main light, they dove down with Joshua slightly in the lead. Lana couldn’t believe the beauty of it all, making sure she didn’t shine her light directly on any sea creatures. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Lana looked over at Joshua, seeing him motion for her to turn off her light. When she did she saw the most beautiful explosion of undersea sparks. She had a feeling it was some of the sea life but she’d have to wait until they were done to ask. Turning her light back on, she took his outstretched hand.

  They spent the next hour and a half that way. Holding hands when swimming along and stopping here and there to look. Lana was glad he suggested diving. The water relaxed her as nothing else could though she was starting to think that Joshua would also be a balm to her, even if she did end up being one in a long line.

  They headed back to the surface when they saw they were starting to get low on air. Reaching the surface and seeing the lights on the beach, they turned off the lights in their hands and swam toward shore. Once they were back close to shore, they stopped to take their fins and masks off, wading in the rest of the way.

  “What were those that looked like sparks when we turned off the lights?” Lana asked as they stepped onto the beach.

  Joshua had taken her hand again as they exited the water. This had been one of the better dives he’d had. He liked that she’d stayed close since she didn’t know the area, but had been interested in everything they’d seen. Smiling at her question, he replied, “It’s a variety of single-celled plankton. They give off light when they are disturbed underwater from a hand waving in front of them or a fin kick. You haven’t seen them when doing night dives before?”

  Lana shook her head. “No. But neither Rob nor Craig pay much attention to things like that. I think this was the most fun I’ve had diving in a long time.” She suddenly laughed and added, “But don’t tell my brother that.” She dropped her fins and mask on a rock before she took off her vest and took the towel he handed her, smiling at him.

  When she’d looked up at him with a smile when he’d handed the towel to her, he grinned. “I won’t tell Rob. And I’m glad you enjoyed it. I did too.” Dropping his fins and mask next to hers he started to take off his own vest but got distracted watching her start to dry off. When he noticed she’d sat down and had started to towel dry her hair, he remembered what he was doing and finished taking off his vest before grabbing his towel. “If you don’t want to get your jeans or top wet, just wrap the towel around you.” Grinning, he added, “It won’t hurt the truck to get wet.”

  Lana giggled. “Good to know.” Grabbing her tank top, she pulled it on and wrapped the towel around her waist.

  Wrapping his own towel around his waist, he asked “What charm is that in your belly button? I noticed it earlier but couldn’t tell what it was.”

  “Yesterday it was a dangle charm with a scale on it representing Libra. I changed it this morning after my run and shower so it’s a simple sapphire belly jewel. Like the Libra charm I have, well had, others that dangle. Unless I have some in the tote I took to work, this is the only one I have left at the moment.” She smiled slightly but was feeling sad. She was glad she wasn’t angry anymore.

  Joshua moved over to her, running a hand down her arm, though he hadn’t realized he’d raised his hand up. “I noticed that the one you were wearing tonight was different than yesterdays. And I hate to put it this way, Lana, but at least you and your two boys are alive. The rest of it is just stuff.”

  Lana nodded, looking up at him. “First, you ca
n call me Ki if you’d like. For the rest, mahalo. The wolves and I aren’t replaceable and yeah, the rest is just stuff. I am trying to remember that and be glad I wasn’t home.” She suddenly took a deep breath and found herself reaching up to rest a hand on his chest. “Nobody in my family, including Craig, asks about, or wants to talk about, what I was feeling seven years ago after everything happened. He killed a part of me with what he did. I was really glad I went through this change. I had hoped I could hide and not have him know where I was.” This was more than she’d ever told anyone and Joshua wasn’t brushing her off, he was actually listening. “Tonight he killed a bit more. And I have no idea how to get it back, or how to fix it. That’s also part of why I want to be a part of any investigation. To make sure he pays, though I would rather kill him for everything he’s put me through.”

  He didn’t answer since he understood her wanting to kill the man. He’d gone through the same feelings regarding the man who tormented his sister for a couple of centuries. He just put his arms around Lana, holding her close. He wasn’t used to whatever it was coming over him. He normally didn’t let any woman get under his skin like this or get this close to him. He usually broke the rule his family had regarding reading a person’s mind when he would read the mind of whichever woman he was currently dating and see if the woman wanted more from him. Now, he didn’t want to pull away or put Lana at arm’s length. He didn’t even want to attempt to read her mind even though Eric had suggested it. She was different. When he finally leaned back and looked at her, he gave a bit of a smile. “Ki. I like it. It suits you. And, if you’d prefer, call me Josh.” Seeing a tear slip down her cheek, he gently wiped it off. “For the rest, I’m sure it wasn’t easy telling me, but thank you for letting me in. If you’ll let me, I’ll help you with finding and fixing it.”