Hannah watched in amazement as Lee easily moved people and equipment around, pointing and directing with the precision of an orchestra conductor. In short order, he seemed to have things organized, and they made quick progress. Flames disappeared, and smoke lightened from black to gray.
Medics arrived from Durango and escorted Lisa, Charlie, and the girls to the back of the ambulance to check them out. Hannah joined the throng of spectators and continued to watch. She shivered in spite of the heavy coat she wore.
As things wound down, Lee walked over to her. If she hadn’t known who he was, she might not have recognized him with black streaks hiding his face and his hair matted to his head. He wore one of the fire department coats with reflective stripes across the chest and around the arms and held a helmet at his side.
“Hey,” he said.
“Are you all right?”
He nodded. “Sure. How about Charlie and his family?”
“They’re with the medics. I think everyone’s fine, though, thanks to you.”
Lee shrugged. “It’s what I’m trained to do.”
“What happened?”
He glanced back at the house. “Don’t know yet, for sure, but it looks like it started in the trash can. Charlie may have dumped out the charcoal too soon.”
“How horrible.”
“Yeah. Back part of the house is in bad shape, but at least they didn’t lose it all.”
She nodded, wondering how she’d react if her father’s house burned down. Remembering what Charlie had told her, she studied Lee’s face. Did he think about his father when he saw a house on fire? Was that what drove him to run into a burning building to save someone?
“I’ll ask Chief Bertrand to drive you home,” he said. “I’ll be here for a few hours yet. And then I want to make sure Charlie’s family has someplace to stay.”
“I can drop off a sandwich to you later, if you want me to.”
His eyebrows rose. “You’d do that?”
“Ham and Swiss?”
“Perfect.” He smiled at her for a long time, then turned and strolled back into the action.
Lee walked around the house once more, checking for hot spots. He didn’t see anything but knew how tricky smoldering wood could be. He’d check again before he left and swing back by in the morning.
As he started toward his truck, he spotted a sedan parked behind it and recognized the car as Hannah’s. The driver’s door opened, and she rose from inside.
“Hungry?”
He smiled. “Starved.”
“I brought two.” She handed him two sandwiches and a bottle of apple juice.
He leaned on the front of her car and unwrapped the first sandwich. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
In four bites, the sandwich was gone and he felt a little better. He drank down half the juice and then worked on unwrapping the second sandwich.
“Where are Charlie and Lisa?” she asked.
“Staying at her sister’s, three streets over.”
“And everyone was okay?”
He nodded. “A little smoke inhalation, but they’ll get over that.”
Hannah sighed and focused on the house. “What happens next?”
“I’ll keep an eye on it to make sure we didn’t miss any hot spots. The county will send over a fire investigator, and then an insurance adjuster will show up. Hopefully, we’ll get all the paperwork processed quickly so they can start working on repairs.” He took a bite of the second sandwich.
“I guess this is business as usual for you.”
He shrugged. “Fought a lot of house fires in Seattle, but this is the first time I’ve known the owner. Hadn’t really thought about that when I took the job.”
“Why did you take the job, Lee?”
He glanced at her, wondering why she was asking. How much of the truth was she looking for?
“Did it have something to do with your father?”
He swallowed hard and stared at the sandwich. “Yeah, in a way.”
“What happened that night?”
Lee took a deep breath and blew it out. “My old man was a mean drunk. He used to chase me around with his belt until I learned how to stay out of his way.” He looked up at the cloudless sky where stars twinkled as if the world were at peace. “That night, he got plastered and yelled at me about something. When I yelled back, he threw a bottle at me and told me he wished I’d never been born. So I left. I got back a few hours later and the house was on fire. He always smoked in bed. I figured he’d burn the place down one day.”
“You tried to rescue him.”
He huffed. “Yeah, well, the mean old bastard deserved to die. I don’t know why I tried to get him out.”
“Because he was your father, Lee.”
A lump formed in his throat. He’d never talked about that night with anyone except the police when they’d questioned him. He swallowed hard. “Last thing I said to him was that I wished he’d die and get it over with.”
He glanced at Hannah and found her studying him with tears glistening in her eyes.
“You didn’t mean it,” she said.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t. Hell of a thing to say, though.”
“Only because of the timing.” She squeezed his wrist. “It wasn’t your fault he died.”
“I know.” Ashamed of the tears burning behind his eyes, he continued eating.
She stood quietly beside him as he polished off the sandwich and juice.
Restored and in control once again, he stepped in front of her and handed her the bottle and paper wrapping. “Thank you, Hannah.”
“You’re welcome.”
He studied her face, just visible in the dim streetlights. He wanted more than anything to kiss her, tell her how he felt about her, and carry her back to bed for the night.
He drew a dark line down her left cheek with one sooty finger and smiled. Not even dirt could make a dent in her beauty. “Good night.” He winked.
“Good night, Lee.”
As he watched her drive away, he realized he only had two choices: He had to either tell her how much he cared or leave. There was no middle ground left for him. He couldn’t survive waiting in the shadows for her.
Hannah stood at the window of her bedroom, gazing out into the darkness.
The whole day had been extraordinary, starting with having sex with Lee in Charlie’s shop and ending with standing in front of Charlie’s destroyed house after the crowd had left, listening to Lee admit his worst moment to her. She could tell by the way he spoke that he hadn’t told many people about it.
Her heart ached for him. Many kids said hateful things to their parents in the heat of an argument. Most of them didn’t have to live with the guilt of that parent’s death before they had a chance to take it back.
Watching Lee at the fire had been extraordinary, too. She’d seen exactly what he was made of when he risked his life to get Amy out, and it didn’t surprise her. The more she thought about it, the more she realized he’d always been around to help those who needed it, not just her.
That must make it even tougher for him to live with his father’s death.
Sighing, she dropped the curtain into place and crossed back to her bed, where she covered her legs and returned the laptop to her lap. The bed seemed amazingly large without Lee in it.
“Back to work.” She had almost everything ready for the meeting. One more check of her notes and she’d give up for the night.
The phone ringing made her jump.
“Hello?”
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”
She closed her eyes. “No, Sterling, you didn’t wake me.”
“Sorry about running out on you earlier. I had an appointment I couldn’t get out of.”
“I’m not marrying you.”
Her statement met with a long silence.
“Of course you are,” he said. “We’ve known each other all our lives. We’re cut from the same
cloth. Who else would you marry?”
“Cut from the same cloth? We’re nothing alike, Sterling. I don’t even like you most of the time.”
“You’re just angry. Look, I’m sorry I announced it without telling you first. You’ll see that I’m right. Just sleep on it, and in the morning—”
“I’m not marrying you, Sterling. Are you listening to me?”
More silence.
“Why are you acting like this? Are you seeing someone else?”
“Listen carefully. I’ve never agreed to be your wife.” She huffed. “I went out with you because I thought we were friends. Now I’m not so sure.”
“I think you’ve said quite enough, Hannah. Before you say anything else you’ll regret, I’ll bid you good night.”
He hung up.
Why had she been so nice to him, anyway? True, their fathers had been friends, but that didn’t mean she and Sterling had to be. What was it Lee had said so long ago? That Sterling was pretty stupid for being so rich?
She smiled at the memory and returned her attention to the computer screen.
“Hey, Chief. Nice to see you.”
“Thank you.” Lee shook hands with yet another person he only vaguely recognized.
All seats in the room were full. People lined the walls, and many more listened from the hall. According to some of the older citizens, it was the biggest council meeting they’d ever had.
“Lee, I’m glad you’re here.” Charlie grabbed his hand and squeezed.
“How are the girls?”
“Fine, thanks to you.”
Lee shrugged. “Just doing my job.”
“Right.” Charlie stood beside him against the side wall and looked out at the crowd. “Quite a turnout, huh?”
The young woman Lee had talked to at the barbeque smiled and waved from across the room, and Lee nodded.
“I see you’ve met Ms. Nowicki. She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
Lee glanced at his friend. He wanted to tell him that playing matchmaker was a waste of time, but he wasn’t about to admit why.
“Well, I guess I better get this show started.” Charlie turned and strolled toward the front.
A long table stretched across the front of the room. Two city council members sat on each side of Charlie, and the treasurer and Chief Bertrand occupied two of the three chairs off to the sides. The empty chair must be for Hannah.
Strangely enough, Lee knew exactly when she entered the building, even before he saw her. Awareness skittered across his chest. He heard her footsteps as she made her way through the back crowd and then hurried up the center aisle.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said to Charlie as she placed a pile of papers on the table. She surveyed the room quickly, smiled when she spotted Lee, and then sat.
Those green eyes, focused on him, caused a rush of adrenaline that raised his heart rate as if he were a schoolkid again waiting for her to notice him. She looked fantastic, dressed in a black business suit and gray silk blouse, her hair pulled back.
Lee took a deep breath and blew it out.
Charlie banged a gavel twice. “I call this meeting to order.”
The hum of conversation dropped.
Charlie went through the first part of the meeting quickly, introducing the other council members and addressing questions left over from the last meeting. Lee kept losing track of the discussion as he watched Hannah. She made notes, answered questions, and glanced up at him twice.
“The next topic is the annual budget,” Charlie said. “I’ll turn it over to Ms. Hayward, our city manager, to lead the discussion.”
Hannah rose. “Thank you, Mayor.” She drew a flip chart out from against the wall. The first page held a bar chart.
“This was our budget last year.” As she pointed, she explained the general fund, where income came from, and which expenses had been approved.
Then she flipped to a very different chart with one extra-tall bar at the center. “These are the budget requests for this year. As you can see, the fire department has asked for a three hundred percent increase.”
Noise in the room rose again, and Charlie banged his gavel.
“I’ve reviewed the fire department request,” Hannah continued, “and I believe it’s not only valid but also necessary for the safety of our town. After speaking to Chief Bertrand and the council members, I believe we can reduce the other areas for this one year to about half of what was requested.” She drew lines through the bars. “As you can see, this would still leave us with quite a shortfall, even if we drained a large part of our general fund reserves.”
Lee’s stomach knotted. How the hell was he supposed to get the fire department into decent shape without funding?
An older woman raised her hand and stood when Charlie called on her. “We could have a bake sale to help raise money.”
“And a car wash,” a young man added.
The crowd began to offer suggestions without waiting to be recognized.
“How about a fair with races and games?”
“We could auction off the firefighters for a day.”
“I’d bid on the chief.”
Charlie banged his gavel again. “One at a time.”
An older man in the back yelled, “Why don’t you ask your fiancé to kick in a few thousand?”
People laughed.
“Okay, that’s enough.” Charlie raised his hands for quiet.
Hannah glanced at Lee and then squarely faced the crowd. “I don’t have a fiancé, despite rumors to the contrary. And in the spirit of full disclosure, any relationship I have with Lee Evans, the fire chief, has nothing to do with my recommendations.”
All heads turned toward Lee and then back to Hannah, and the hum of conversation rose again.
Lee stared at her. Had she just told the town they were seeing each other? She’d certainly announced publicly that she wasn’t marrying Sterling Mason.
“I appreciate the suggestions,” Hannah continued, “but I’m afraid we need more money than we can raise. The good news is I’ve started the application process for four different grants to help us out and I think our chances of receiving those grants are good. They would cover the shortfall for the fire department funding and we wouldn’t have to touch the reserves.”
The knot in his gut faded, and Lee smiled. No wonder Hannah’s opinion mattered to the town. She was good at this city manager stuff.
“I recommend we accept the budget currently agreed upon,” she said, “and that I continue to pursue the grants.”
One of the council members made a motion to follow Hannah’s recommendations that was seconded and approved. Hannah slid her chart back to its place against the wall, returned to her chair, and flashed a quick smile at Lee.
Unable to take his eyes off her, he missed the whole discussion on street improvements.
“The last piece of business,” Charlie said, “is understandably something I feel pretty strongly about. As most of you know, my house was damaged by fire last night. If it hadn’t been for the quick action of our new fire chief, Lee Evans, I probably wouldn’t be here tonight. And I know if not for his bravery, my family would not have escaped unharmed. I want to express my personal gratitude, as well as that of the city council of Tillman. Thank you, Chief Evans.”
Following Charlie’s lead, the city council and the entire audience stood and applauded.
Lee felt a new knot forming—one of raw emotion that swelled in his chest. He hadn’t been so touched by any award he’d ever received in Seattle. He looked out at the people of his hometown, then nodded his thanks to Charlie.
When Charlie’s gavel came down to end the meeting, the crowd surged forward. Townsfolk filed by to shake Lee’s hand and many stopped to find out about volunteering. By the time the crowd began to thin, the fire department had doubled in size.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Lee said, shaking Charlie’s hand again.
“I meant it. Besides, it looks like it was good for business.
”
“Yeah.”
Charlie glanced back at the council table and then stepped closer, dropping his voice. “Full disclosure? When did all this happen?”
Lee grinned.
Charlie shook his head. “I miss out on all the good stuff.” He playfully punched Lee’s arm. “See you later.”
After Charlie left, Lee watched Hannah talk to the remaining city council members for a while. She glanced at him once or twice but continued chatting. Feeling a little foolish just standing there, he slipped out the back door and strolled down the dark sidewalk toward the station.
Hannah had actually told the town about the two of them. He still couldn’t believe it. Not only did that suggest she wasn’t ashamed to be seen with him; it also implied she considered what was going on between them more than just sex.
He had to be careful not to assume too much. A lot of territory fell between more than just sex and being in love.
A car pulled up beside him. “Want a ride?”
He leaned down and smiled at Hannah. “Dangerous question.”
“Oh?” She smiled back.
“Maybe I should drive over, just in case I get a call.”
“All right.” She started to pull away from the curb but stopped. “Lee.”
“Yeah?”
“You can bring your toothbrush, if you want to.”
He laughed and nodded. “Okay.”
She drove off.
“Hot damn.” Hannah had just invited him to spend the night. Maybe the amount of territory was shrinking.
He watched her car disappear into the darkness as he hurried to the station.
8
“Why did you do it?” Lee pushed the porch swing back to start it moving.
“Do what?” Hannah sat beside him, her shoulder against his.
“You know what. Tell everyone about us.”
She laughed softly. “So we could sit out here on the swing together without worrying about getting caught.”
“That’s it?”
“Sure. What other reason could I have?”
Lee shook one of the chains supporting them. “Nice swing.”
“See?”
He looked at her. “This could still backfire on you, Hannah. A lot of people in this town remember my old man. A lot of people hated him, and for good reason.”
Feel the Heat Page 28