Fire at Twilight: The Firefighters of Darling Bay 1

by Lila Ashe

  She took out her cell phone and sent one short message to Samantha. “You’re right. I promise not to fix things anymore. You’re perfect the way you are.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  A week later, Grace paced in her driveway. It wouldn’t work.

  This couldn’t possibly work.

  Grace hoped it could make a difference, though. A start. Instead of the tin nicho she had on her wall where she held her hopes, this was another metal box, holding new hope. A red wagon, full of ice cream.

  Samantha whistled when she saw it. “That’s the most ice cream I’ve ever seen outside Skip’s.”

  Grace nodded, taking a visual inventory, making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Chocolate, strawberry, pecan praline, caramel swirl, vanilla, double chocolate fudge brownie, to start. That was the top layer of pints. Next to the ice cream were three jars of hot fudge, two of caramel and one butterscotch. She had four cans of whipped cream, and a large jar of maraschino cherries. She had paper bowls and plastic spoons.

  Grace looked at her sister. “You should have seen Rose’s face when I put all this on the check stand at the Mercantile. She thought I was kidding.”

  “What did you say? That you were having a party?”

  “No, I just told her the truth, that it was crow, and that I was going to eat plenty of it.”

  “Come on, Grace. I know you didn’t do or say anything that warrants this big an apology. What did you do? Punch the guy?”

  “Not quite.”

  “Did you tell lies about his mother?”

  Grace shook her head and grabbed the handle. “No. I tried to fix him.”

  “Oh,” said Samantha simply. “I’m not sure you have enough ice cream.”

  “Want to come? I’m walking to his house.”

  “Are you kidding? Yeah. I’m going to hang out with Justin soon, but I can put him off.”

  Grace’s heart stalled. “The guy who was driving that night you crashed?”

  “Yeah.” Her sister’s voice held a delicate challenge, one that wobbled. Samantha was scared, too.

  Grace wanted to say No. She wanted to say, You can’t. I won’t let you. But instead she said, “Of course. How’s he doing?”

  Samantha reached forward and threaded her arm through Grace’s. “He’s doing well.” There was a pause, and the women walked toward the corner, the wagon making a clunking sound behind them.

  “Good,” Grace said. She meant it. Her sister got to make her own decisions. All of them.

  “We’re not dating,” said Sam.

  Grace kept her eyes on the stop sign in front of them. “You’re not?”

  “He’s my sponsor. In AA.”

  “Oh.” The breath left Grace’s lungs. “Oh.” She squeezed her sister’s arm in hers.

  The wagon rattled. A girl on a bike sped past, shouting something over her shoulder at the slower, smaller girl riding behind her.

  “It would be okay if you dated him,” said Grace.

  Samantha just looked at her and smiled. “I know. I don’t want to. But I do know that. And you know what?”

  “What?”

  “I’m glad you do, too.”

  In front of them, the sun was setting over the water. Twilight was dropping over Darling Bay like a crisp sheet. Fog rolled in swiftly. Another cool summer at the shore. And Grace was with her sister, on her way to Tox. There was no way her heart could hold more hope than it did now, at this exact moment.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  It was nice having a dog to sit on his feet while he played cards with his friends, Tox thought. Everything might suck, and boy, did it ever, but poker and a dog did make things a little bit easier.

  Of course, Lexie cheated at cards, and for one long second Tox thought about calling her on it. This was his man-cave, after all. His garage. No one cheated at cards at his favorite card table but him.

  “What?” Lexie folded her legs underneath her on the orange chair. She was framed in front of the open garage door, and behind her, the sunset was scarlet streaks over palest blue.

  “Yeah, what?” said Coin.

  Tox narrowed his eyes. Hank said nothing and just raised. He usually raised.

  “I don’t trust you, woman,” said Tox. “That’s what.”

  Lexie laughed. Her lipstick was shining, and so were her eyes. Tox thought for a second about how Grace barely wore lip gloss. They were both beautiful women, but all Tox could think about was Grace.

  He had to stop.

  Grace.

  “Queen’s high,” said Coin as he won the hand.

  Lexie blew a pfft sound from between her teeth and then said, “See? Tox is right not to trust women. Dang Queen when I have the Jack …”

  Coin leaned forward to collect his cash. “I trust women.” He made an odd face in Lexie’s direction. He almost looked as if …

  Lexie didn’t seem to notice.

  Tox looked around the table in confusion. Was Coin trying to flirt with Lexie? Lexie from dispatch? That couldn’t be right, could it? They were all friends here. They’d played poker off and on for more than five years now. Coin had a kid for Pete’s sake.

  “That’s your problem,” said Lexie. “Yours and Tox’s. You trust women, and then they stomp on your heart. Although I need to point out to Tox that Grace is my friend, and therefore, I get to keep her and you can’t be mad at me for her doing any stomping. Besides, I think you stomped each other.”

  Mad at Lexie for staying friends with Grace? Never. Tox looked down at his new hand of cards and realized he couldn’t make heads or tails of it. He didn’t know what was high or what was low. He couldn’t tell what was red or what was black.

  All he could see were Grace’s amber eyes in front of him. Looking at him like he was something special. Looking at him like … almost like she loved him.

  That would be something, because Tox loved her. He knew that, more deeply than he’d ever known anything else.

  That was his whole problem, right there. He loved her. All of her, from that hair she barely fixed to those little ears that curled back so perfectly. From the adorable blush she got when he teased her to the heated flush she got when she was in his arms. From the way she stuttered slightly when she was mad to the way she thought she could fix the whole dang world.

  Tox had to get over it. Over her. He wasn’t good enough for her, and she knew it. She’d proven that by trying to fix him, and by the four aces in the deck in front of him, he wouldn’t be fixed.

  Tox wasn’t good enough to warrant the tune-up.

  Hank finally asked the question the other two hadn’t dared to. “When you coming back to work, buddy?”

  Tox shrugged. “You know.”

  Hank’s mouth slid to the right, the way it did when he was thinking. Tox hated that face sometimes. “Nah. I don’t know. How’s your neck?”

  “Good.” Hurt like a son of a biscuit right now, actually, but Tox wasn’t going to say that.

  “How’s your back?” asked Coin.

  “Fine.” It also hurt, but it was better.

  “How’s your head?” asked Lexie, leaning backward to grab a handful of chips from the card table behind her.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Chief said you had to get a psych.”

  Tox half-stood, knocking against the table so that everyone lurched for their beers. “HIPPA? No one’s heard of that? Confidentiality?”

  Lexie flapped a hand. “Oh, sue him, then. Make a pile of money and retire on medical.”

  Tox knew his jaw was hanging open.

  “I’m kidding,” said Lexie. “Jeesh. Besides, he said you took it on Friday and you passed.”

  Tox thumped back down into his seat. “Holy Helen.”

  Lexie lifted her shoulders and let them drop. “Dispatch knows everything.”

  Coin stopped staring at Lexie long enough to say, “Hey, are we expecting company?”

  Up the driveway, through the open garage door, Tox saw Grace.

&
nbsp; Pulling a wagon.

  He felt like rubbing his eyes, but he knew what he saw.

  It was the ice cream she was pulling behind her he didn’t quite believe.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  “Ice cream eating contest!”

  Grace announced in as loud a voice as she could, which wasn’t actually all that loud, given that she was staring at more people than she’d expected. And Tox.

  Larger than life Tox.

  He stood, and for one second, the sheer breadth of him reminded her of a comic book hero. She could almost see his cape.

  “What?” he said, bringing Grace back down to earth.

  She stuttered a little. “I-ice cream eating contest. I can eat more than you can.”

  Tox’s eyebrows flew upward. At the card table, Lexie barked a laugh and took a handful of chips. Behind Grace, Samantha started to giggle.

  “You what?” Tox’s voice boomed.

  “Are you up for the challenge?”

  Tox took a step toward her and Grace longed, with all her heart, to close the gap between, to press her body against his, to let him know what was inside her heart.

  Instead, she lamely held up an ice cream scooper and waggled it.

  Her sister laughed harder. Oh, no. If Samantha was headed down the hysterical laughter trail…

  “Bowl,” Tox demanded. His face was perfectly still. Unreadable.

  Grace handed him one and took one for herself. She opened the top of the caramel swirl with shaking fingers. This was such a stupid idea. Why had she thought it would be a cute way to apologize? She’d even thought it would be amusing to him, idiot that she was.

  There was no smile cracking the sides of Tox’s mouth.

  “Hey!” said one of the other guys, the one with the deep black hair. “What about us?”

  “Shut up, Coin,” said Tox. He squatted so he could reach into the wagon.

  “No! You can all have as much as you want. Help yourself.” Grace had never felt more awkward in her life, hosting an impromptu dessert party in the middle of Tox’s driveway.

  Uninvited.

  Unwanted.

  She thought—again—about what she wanted to show Tox. That she didn’t need to fix everything, that she could be as unhealthy as anyone else. As Tox put five scoops of ice cream, all different flavors, in his bowl, she realized this wasn’t the way. This was just her trying to fix everything again.

  Grace wanted to run.

  Instead, she bent at the waist and kept adding flavors so that her number of scoops matched his. Six, then seven. Then she made sure her bowl held the same river of chocolate sauce, the same mighty peaks of whipped cream.

  They stood straight. The sheer weight of ice cream in her bowl was making her arms heavy. She’d never be able to eat all this. Ever.

  Coin reached between them for a bowl. “Lexie, what do you want?”

  Lexie, who had been staring raptly as Tox and Grace battled for the maraschino cherries, said, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll get some in a bit.”

  “No, let me. Chocolate and vanilla, right?”

  Lexie looked surprised. Grace wondered for the first time if Lexie had ever thought about having a romance at work. She’d have to ask her that the next time she saw her.

  Now, though, it was time to eat.

  Grace followed Tox onto the grass. They sat, cross-legged. Methyl leaned against Tox and tried to take licks out of his bowl. Sunset had settled now, and street lights were popping on with audible snaps. The sky to the west was still dark violet, and the air was heavy and damp with salt.

  Grace normally loved this time of night.

  It was too bad she was about to pass out from nerves. And from annoyance at Samantha still laughing in the middle of the driveway. Hank stood next to her sister, a wide grin on his face.

  “Glad we have an audience,” said Grace around the first spoonful.

  “Can’t take the pressure?” Tox had already polished off what must have been a whole scoop.

  “Oh, I can.” Grace took another bite, ignoring the brain-freeze. “I’m just concerned about you.”

  Tox’s spoon slowed.

  Deep green eyes met hers in the dim light. They said so much, in a language Grace was afraid she didn’t speak well enough. Her breath caught.

  Tox said quietly, only for her ears, “What are you trying to prove?”

  Grace ate two more bites before she said, “That I don’t have to fix you.”

  “You’re saying I can eat ice cream whenever I want.”

  Grace felt despair flood through her like ice water. “It’s dumb. It’s so stupid. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

  Tox’s eyes got even darker. “I like it.”

  “You do?”

  “It’s just that this can’t work.”

  Grace’s head dropped. “I know.” She couldn’t prove herself with cream and sugar.

  “I’ll never be the person you need me to be.”

  Her head lifted. “What?”

  “I hurt people.”

  Dropping the bowl on the grass, heedless of the chocolate sauce soaking into his lawn, Grace pushed herself forward so that they sat, knee to knee. “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s all I’ve ever done. The Angel of Death. I bring destruction wherever I go, and I’m not doing that to you, too.”

  “No, no.” She touched his forearm lightly. He tensed under her hand, as if she’d hit him. “You have that all wrong.”

  “You obviously haven’t been paying attention, then. Did you know I don’t even have a job right now?” He set his bowl on the grass and leaned backward, looking up through the acacia branches. “Not really. I’m on leave. If my back doesn’t get right, if I don’t pass the psych, I’m out for good. I’ve failed at the only thing worth doing. And I’ve failed the only woman worth …”

  Grace held her breath. He had to finish the sentence. He had to.

  But he said nothing more. She watched the pulse under his chin where the dark stubble was thick.

  Behind her, Samantha had finally stopped laughing, her hiccups fading away to nothing. Grace heard a muffled whisper and then shuffling. Then the garage closed with an old motor’s whine.

  They were alone on the grass, under the stars. Grace looked up, too, and saw one wink at her. Methyl licked her hand. The lick and the wink were the signs she needed.

  They didn’t help with her nerves at all, though. Her voice shook as she said, “What woman? How did you fail her?”

  Tox brought his gaze back to hers. “You know exactly what I mean.”

  “You didn’t fail me.”

  “I did. I do. Everyday.”

  “You have your inhaler on you?”

  “What? Yeah. Of course.” He scrabbled at his pocket. “Do you need it?”

  “No. But you could save my life if I needed you to. But you know what?”

  “What?” His voice was strained.

  “I don’t need you to. I have a good life. And you do, too. Let me be near you.”

  “What if I fail? I do that so often—I can’t fail you.”

  Grace shrugged. “It’s love. You take your chances.”

  “What about that matchbook of yours?”

  “The one in my nicho?”

  Tox touched her wrist lightly, as if he thought she might disappear. “Yeah. You were scared of being burned.”

  “I thought that, yeah. But I just realized something.”

  “What?”

  Grace said carefully, “That’s where I keep my hopes.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Guess I was hoping for a firestarter.”

  Tox made a sound somewhere between a choke and a laugh. “I have a can of lighter fluid on the back porch if you need help with that. And it’s Clement.”

  “What?”

  “My first name is Clement.”

  Grace’s heart melted faster than the ice cream in the grass. They were so close now. If she leaned her head in, she could rest h
er forehead on his. He smelled of chocolate and something darker, something all him. “I like that.”

  “You can call me that, then.” He drew away an inch. “But only you. No one else.”

  “No one else,” said Grace.

  Tox kissed her then. In the kiss she could feel everything he was too scared to say, all the things she knew he’d tell her that night, when they were really alone, naked in his bed. He would tell her he wanted her to be there in the morning, and the morning after that. She would agree. There were so many things she felt on his lips, tasted on his tongue. But the most important thing, he said out loud.

  “I love you,” Tox said, his mouth on hers, his hand against her cheek. “Is that crazy? Because I do.”

  “Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. And I love you, too.” Grace grinned. Then she added, “Clement.”

  From inside the house, they heard Samantha’s giggle drift out the open window. At their side, Methyl licked at the ice cream in the grass. And overhead, a star winked down on Darling Bay.

  <<<>>>

  Did you enjoy Fire at Twilight?

  Read the rest of The Firefighters of Darling Bay series:

  Fire at Dawn: The Firefighters of Darling Bay 2

  Everyday Hero: The Volunteers – A Darling Bay Short Story

  And check out Cupid Island, where romance is tropical and sweet:

  Kitty’s Song: A Cupid Island Novella

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  Visit Lila at her website or Facebook or Twitter.

  … or keep reading for an excerpt of Fire at Dawn.

  About the Author

  Lila Ashe is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. She’s lived in the big city long enough to know she craves the stars at night, and living on the rugged northern coast of California is just right. Lila is happily married and addicted to all things romantic, including surprise getaways to San Francisco for clam chowder or overnight trips to Napa for wine, but she’s also found that being romantic at home can be even more exciting.

  Enjoy this excerpt from the next book in The Firefighters of Darling Bay series, Fire at Dawn:

  CHAPTER ONE