Feel the Heat

by Lorie O'Clare

  “They transported John to the hospital in an ambulance, but he didn’t make it.”

  “John is dead?” Mary whispered, dropping the cord as her eyes started burning. “Are you sure?”

  When Elizabeth laughed it sounded anything but humorous. “Unfortunately, we’re sure. He suffered from severe burns and I guess part of the house collapsed on him, or something. I don’t have all the details yet. We wanted to reach Nate Armstrong, too.”

  They wanted to tell Nate that John was dead? Nate wasn’t hurt. He wasn’t at the hospital. The relief rushing through Mary was so incredibly overwhelming it took her a minute before guilt set in. John was dead.

  “I’ll contact him.” She was numb. “And I’m terribly sorry.”

  “So am I.” Elizabeth mumbled her good-byes and hung up the phone.

  Mary stared at the switchboard in front of her. The computer screen had a glare to it and made her eyes burn worse. As terrible as this was, and it definitely was the worst thing that had happened in town in years, Nate was alive, but would be devastated.

  Nate and John had been attached at the hip since third grade. Around that same time, Mary had fallen head over heels hopelessly in love with Nate. She’d followed Nate around shamelessly, refusing to be left behind no matter where he went. The three of them were really tight during grade school and into high school.

  Nate taught her how to climb trees. He and John were the first to show her how to throw a baseball, shoot a hoop, and they learned to ride bikes together. They didn’t teach her any of these things willingly. Whenever they told her she was a girl and to go home, she grew even more stubborn and refused to budge. Mary couldn’t remember when she hadn’t loved Nate.

  And she’d just volunteered to break his heart.

  “Crap.” Mary stood, stretched, and pulled her headset off. She flipped the switch on her switchboard so she’d hear the phone ring if she walked away, and turned to the back break room.

  “The coffee is fresh,” Jeremy Meyers said. He had been on the force forever and possibly was old enough to be Mary’s father. Jeremy was a confirmed bachelor, though, swearing to all he was too devoted to the badge to settle down and play house. That didn’t stop his roaming eyes. He checked Mary out, taking his time, when she paused in the doorway. “How are you today, Miss Mary?”

  The numbness was spreading over her entire body. She didn’t have a clue how to break this to Nate. The few officers in the break room mumbled about her acting weird when she turned without a word and went back to her desk for her coffee cup.

  When she returned, all eyes looked at her expectantly. They would think something was wrong with her if she didn’t tell them about John. She might as well break it to all of them at once. It would give her practice for when she told Nate.

  “There was a fire over on Maple Street,” she began, looking at each of them when they stared back at her blankly.

  “Those are all old houses over that way,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “Faulty wiring will do it every time.”

  “John Corelli is dead.”

  “What?” Jeremy gawked at her.

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Are you serious?”

  Mary went through the process of getting coffee as the men behind her began all talking at once. She sipped and burned her mouth as she turned around.

  “Captain,” she mumbled, coughing and clutching her mug as the steam and thick aroma rose to her face. “Captain?” she repeated.

  Captain Steve Odgers just turned forty-two the month before. His wife had helped Mary decorate the station and brought in cupcakes for everyone. Mrs. Odgers was a cheerful lady, overworked and with several obnoxious kids who took advantage of their dad being captain of the police department. Captain Odgers, on the other hand, was a tough man to read. Mary was pretty sure he’d never thanked his wife, or Mary, for their work in preparing the office party for him. He seldom smiled or showed any emotion.

  Now wasn’t any different. He raised his gray eyes to her, acknowledging her with only a look.

  “I need to go to the hospital.” She wasn’t at all sure that would be the first place she went. The phone rang at her switchboard and she took a step backward, still watching the captain.

  He nodded once. “Meyers, take over on the switchboard. Hamilton, make sure you clock out.”

  Always a stickler over money and their budget. Captain Odgers didn’t offer a word of sympathy. He did give her the last two hours of her shift off, though. Mary accepted that as his form of offering condolences.

  The air-conditioning in her brand-new Volkswagen worked perfectly. Mary barely noticed the cold air giving her skin goose bumps, though. She stared ahead of her blankly at the street. She needed to call Nate.

  How long had it been since she’d actually talked to him? Mary knew it wouldn’t be a matter of him forgetting her. They were adults now. They were both wrapped up in their jobs and neither had much time to socialize. At least that was what Mary heard, since she seldom went out. Whenever anyone went to the local bar or to some event in town, she listened to who was present. No one ever mentioned Nate’s name. Just like her, he was married to his job.

  When she swallowed, her mouth was too dry.

  “Get it over with,” she scolded herself, her hands damp when she dug her cell phone out of her purse. The first thing she did was take the ringer off silent, as she did every day when she got off work. Then scrolling down to Nate’s name in her address book, she put the call through.

  It only rang once before going to voice mail. Mary hung up the phone. She couldn’t leave Nate a message telling him his best friend was dead. It was going to be weird enough after not talking to him or seeing him in a couple months to call and destroy him with the news about John. Maybe he already knew. There was a copy of the fire department’s rotation schedule inside. At the moment, though, she didn’t remember what it said.

  Mary left the police station, not giving much thought to her direction as she headed to the old neighborhood. She turned off the main street and took side roads, her surroundings pulling her out of her brooding. The park where they had spent so much time growing up looked small and boring. She spotted the tree they used to climb, but it seemed so insignificant compared to what she’d pictured in her imagination all these years. How long had it been since she’d driven over to this part of town? There hadn’t been a reason to come out this way after her parents moved.

  As she reached the four-way stop, which had marked the edge of their block growing up, Mary looked to the right before she turned. The first car she spotted parked on the street in front of his parents’ house was Nate’s Gran Torino. God! He’d looked mouthwatering hot when he used to cruise around in that car.

  Right now wasn’t the time to lust over a man she would never have. Not only was it a waste of time; it was also incredibly inappropriate considering what had just happened.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered, terror gripping her when a thought hit her. “What if Nate was with John at the fire when he died?” That would be the worst experience anyone could ever live through, seeing someone so close to them die. Nate would be a mess, unable to handle it.

  She parked her car in front of the house she’d grown up in, hoping she wasn’t stealing the parking place of whoever lived there now. When she opened her car door, suffocating heat immediately closed in around her. Mary took in the old neighborhood for a minute as perspiration beaded between her breasts and down her spine.

  “It doesn’t look the same, does it?” Nate hadn’t been behind her a moment before.

  Mary spun around, slapping her hand on the hood of her car, and stared at the man she adored and who’d been the star act in her fantasies since childhood. Had it been a couple of months since she’d seen him? She didn’t remember him looking this good the last time she saw him. And he’d always looked good, but now, this man would put a Greek god to shame.

  Nate had sure as hell filled out. He wore his black work pants
and T-shirt with the fire department logo on it, and suspenders that managed to add to the broadness of his shoulders. There wasn’t possibly a man in Meredith Curve, let alone all of Missouri, who could possibly look as good as Nate did right now.

  “It’s changed,” she muttered, her mouth so dry she would do anything for a cold glass of water.

  Staring at Nate didn’t help much. Roped muscle pressed against his shirt. The material stretched over his chest, and his arms were just as ripped. She shifted her attention to where his shirtsleeve ended and bulging biceps began.

  “I take it you’ve heard.” Nate was staring at her. His eyes still reminded her of melting milk chocolate. His voice lowered to a rumbly growl. “It shouldn’t have happened like this.”

  Nate had an impenetrable aura around him. It was an invisible barrier she’d never been able to crack her way through. But Mary saw the pain lining the creases in his forehead, and the way he pressed his lips together. It was hot as hell and her uniform itched, but she didn’t give that, or the way he always seemed so hard to reach, any thought when she walked into his arms.

  “I’m so sorry, Nate,” she murmured, and her eyes started burning again.

  Nate wasn’t ready for the hug. He told himself it was a perfectly natural thing to do and he should probably be prepared for a lot more of them once he headed down the street to the Corelli house. This wasn’t the Mary who damn near stalked him when they were kids, though. She wasn’t tangled pigtails and scuffed knees anymore. He’d noticed the small spray of freckles across her nose, but instead of looking like dots he wanted to connect with a pen, they now looked good enough to place soft kisses on.

  And her hair wasn’t tangled and in crooked pigtails, but instead she’d pulled it back with hairpieces and her soft curls reflected the sunlight and looked like melting gold. When she was a kid he remembered making fun of the color of her eyes. They were so noticeable they’d stuck out of her head. Now her dark blue, almost violet eyes were so sultry and appealing it was hard to keep his mind focused on the fact that this was just Mary Hamilton.

  She looked more like a seductive goddess who would be a perfect distraction from the nightmare that had happened today.

  Nate wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling how slender it was. She draped her arms over his shoulders and rested her head against him, letting out a sigh that made his insides tighten.

  “I told his family I would tell you. Since they mentioned it, I worried you were off work today. I couldn’t figure out what to say, though. And I didn’t want to break your heart. How did you find out?” she whispered, but didn’t move.

  Nate didn’t have a problem holding her against him for another minute. Her breasts were large, round, and soft. She was the best thing he’d felt against him in ages. Hell, when did Mary start looking so damn good? He’d known her since they were little kids, but he’d never had thoughts about her the way he was now.

  “I found out down at the station and went over to the hospital. My shift is on right now. Then I stopped in at the folks’ house before heading down to the Corellis’. Honestly, I really don’t want to go down there.” He wasn’t sure why he was telling Mary this. Like she cared. Obviously she was here to do the same thing. And their embrace was simply her consoling him.

  “I haven’t been to this neighborhood in ages.”

  Nate spotted another car approaching from the other end of the block and straightened. Mary must have sensed it because she pulled back, lifting her gaze to his. Damn if she didn’t have the most beautiful eyes. They were rare jewels and incredibly dynamic. They still stuck out noticeably, but now the captivating shade simply added to her beauty. They were too dark to be blue. Then he remembered her mother telling Mary her eyes were violet, like the flowers in the yard. They might be violet, but they were a hell of a lot more captivating than the small flowers he remembered that used to grow around Mary’s house.

  “I think it’s been at least three years or so,” she added, and shifted her weight.

  Nate blinked, realizing he probably was making her uncomfortable by gawking at her stunning good looks. He pulled his attention from Mary and watched a family park across the street. The wife in the car got out with a casserole dish in her hands. Hell, he didn’t have anything to take down there.

  “That’s right,” he said absently. “Your folks moved away, didn’t they?”

  “Yes, a few years ago, to St. Louis.” She was still watching him, probably wondering why he was standing on the sidewalk, not moving, like some lame idiot. “Would you like to walk me down there?”

  Her question didn’t register right away. After he watched the family cross the street and walk up the Corellis’ sidewalk, the gnarled tree in their front yard grabbed his attention. How many times had he and John climbed that tree, then made fun of Mary when she repeatedly tried climbing up after them?

  “What? Oh, sure.” He started walking but looked down at her blonde, soft-looking hair when she wrapped her arm around his. “We picked on you a lot growing up, didn’t we?”

  “You did?” She sounded surprised, but when she glanced up at him the corner of her mouth twitched upward. “You were ruthless and cruel, Nate Armstrong. What will you do to make up for it?”

  He could think of a few things he wouldn’t mind doing.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled, then focused ahead when they neared the Corellis’ front porch. God, it used to be ten times larger than this.

  “Now would you look there!” Mrs. Peabody, who still looked as old as she did when they were kids, stood just inside the front door and announced Nate and Mary when they walked into the Corellis’ house. “If it isn’t thing one and thing two,” she said, then laughed until she started coughing.

  Everyone in the living room, and it seemed half the town was already there, stopped talking, or doing whatever it was they’d been doing, and stared at Nate and Mary.

  “If I said it once, I said it a hundred times,” Mrs. Peabody continued when she’d finally quit coughing, “I always knew these two would grow up and fall in love. Aren’t they the perfect couple?”

  2

  Mary was ready to leave half an hour after arriving. The moment that old hag made a spectacle of her and Nate when they walked in the door, Nate had stiffened worse than he did when she hugged him, then separated himself from her. He’d managed to keep his distance, and keep at least a few people between them, ever since. She was starting to feel they were playing a game of cat and mouse. Whenever Mary made a move in his direction, Nate would excuse himself from whomever he was talking to and walk away from her.

  After standing in the kitchen and staring at more food than the Corellis would be able to eat in a week, Mary started toward the back door. She had made an appearance, would make a point of being at the funeral, but for now getting the hell out of there sounded more appealing than anything. It was bad enough reliving so many childhood memories, some good, some bad, but with Nate so close yet so incredibly distant to her, she’d be better off leaving and having a good cry, mourning two men, once she got home.

  More people entered through the front door and for a few minutes the conversation grew louder as greetings were exchanged and more casserole dishes were accepted. Mary used the moment to sneak out the back door and hurry around the side of the house to her car. As hot as a day as it had been, the evening was equally as muggy. It couldn’t rain soon enough to make her happy. The humidity could be cut with a knife.

  After sliding into her car, cranking it on, then adjusting her AC and fastening her seat belt, Mary sat for a minute, absorbing the atmosphere of her childhood neighborhood. There were so many good memories around her, and a few bad ones, too. That life seemed a thousand years ago. The fact that everything seemed so much smaller now as she looked at it through an adult’s eyes proved how long ago it was. They weren’t children anymore.

  Nate was anything but a child. Although, she mused, shifting her attention to his Gran Torino parked across the street, he
was still as stubborn now as he was when they were in school. He dodged her at least as well now as he did back then.

  “Maybe it’s time to quit chasing a fantasy,” she said out loud, leaning back in her driver’s seat as her car cooled down and the radio station she had on buzzed on about the local news and events in the area.

  She didn’t pay attention to what the newscaster said and instead stared at Nate’s car. Why had he always been such an obsession for her? They’d been out of high school for over ten years now. It wasn’t as if she saw him every day. Granted, with dispatching all emergency vehicles in Meredith Curve, she always knew where he was in town when she checked the shifts for the fire station. Not that it mattered. Mary was always at the police station tethered to her switchboard. Maybe that’s what kept Nate alive in her imagination.

  Obviously in real life she didn’t appeal to him now any more than she had when they were kids.

  “He never settled down, though.” The side of her who liked her fantasy was quick with the arguments. “And he doesn’t have a girlfriend.” Everyone knew firefighters were hot commodities in every woman’s eyes. “But I would make the perfect lady for him.” Her mother had been the perfect wife to a firefighter—Mary’s father. “Lord,” she muttered, and scrubbed her face with her hands.

  Mary yelped at the sound of someone tapping on her window. She jumped and her seat belt tightened around her. Nate’s hand was next to her driver’s side window, his knuckles ready to rap again. He dropped his hand when she pushed the button to lower her window.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you.” He looked tired. “You okay to drive home?”

  He thought she was sitting here crying. Well, better that than knowing what she’d really been doing as she zoned off in her driver’s seat.

  “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”

  Nate nodded once and stuffed his hands into his pant pockets. The act forced his T-shirt to stretch down and show off more of his rippled chest. Corded muscle bulged under the material, giving her a mouthwatering view from where she sat.