Colorado Fireman

by C. C. Coburn

  “I could bring takeout to your place.”

  Did this guy never give up? Carly could feel the walls of the supermarket closing in on her. She had to get out of there, had to get away from Jerry.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m…I’m seeing someone.”

  She saw the glint of jealousy in Jerry’s eyes before he managed to get his emotions under control. “That’s great! Who is he? Maybe I should check him out for you. Don’t want my best bud’s widow being duped by some shyster.”

  “I’m old enough to take care of myself, Jerry. But thanks for the offer....”

  ADAM WATCHED FROM A distance as Carly spoke to the other man. When she’d kissed him, he’d experienced a jealousy that went bone-deep and left his guts burning.

  He’d come to the supermarket with a couple of the other guys on duty to shop for tonight’s dinner. Rounding the end of the deli aisle, he’d spotted Carly and had been about to approach her when the other guy had walked up.

  Curious, he’d tried to gauge the relationship between them, but finally curiosity got the better of him.

  “CARLY!”

  Carly turned toward the voice calling her name. Adam! Thank goodness. She’d never been so relieved to see anyone in her life.

  “Hi,” he said, coming up to her. He looked gorgeous in his uniform, Carly thought. Real hero material. Funny how Jerry’s uniform and even Michael’s had never affected her that way.

  “Hello, Adam,” she said a little coolly, not wanting to alert Jerry to the fact that Adam was the man she was “seeing.”

  No one else needed to be dragged into her private affairs. She’d left San Diego behind two months ago, and as soon as she got out of this store, Jerry would be history. She refused to ever let him surprise her again.

  “Who are you?” Jerry demanded rudely. Carly could practically see the hackles rising on the back of his neck.

  Adam crossed his arms. “I’m—”

  “He’s the son of a good friend of mine,” Carly cut in. Jerry’s obsession with her gave Carly the uneasy feeling that if he knew Adam was more to her than just the son of a friend, it wouldn’t end well for Adam.

  Her eyes begged his forgiveness. He resisted for a moment and then backed down, offering his hand to Jerry. “Adam O’Malley. And you are?”

  Jerry stared at his hand as if debating whether to shake it or put Adam in a headlock.

  “Jerry Ryan. I’m a very close friend of Carly’s from San Diego,” Jerry said. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we have some catching up to do,” he said dismissively.

  “Funny, she never mentioned you,” Adam said, and Carly nearly groaned.

  “Adam, you and I hardly know each other. Why would I discuss my private affairs with you?” She regretted the word affairs as soon as she’d uttered it.

  Adam seemed about to argue.

  Carly needed to get out of there and fast. The sliced roast beef she was supposed to get from the deli could wait for another day.

  “It was nice seeing you both,” she said. “But I have things to do.” She turned to Jerry. “Have a wonderful holiday, Jerry. Bye.”

  Without giving him the chance to respond or swoop in for a goodbye kiss, Carly strode through the deli department, her head bent as she pretended to examine Sarah’s shopping list. She didn’t take a breath until she’d gone through the checkout and was seated in Sarah’s car.

  ADAM RETURNED TO THE ranch after his forty-eight-hour shift at the firehouse, but he was acting strangely. He was avoiding her, Carly decided. Probably upset about the confrontation in the supermarket.

  Seeing Jerry had unnerved her. So much so that she’d decided it would be better to keep her distance from Adam—at least until Jerry had left town. Although how long that might be, she had no idea. Like Adam, he worked a two-day-on, four-day-off cycle. He could be here another three days, or even longer, if he really was on vacation.

  CARLY’S APPOINTMENT BOOK was full. One of her clients was the mayor’s wife, Edna Farquar, a friend of Sarah’s. She had a massage booked twice a week, mostly to work on her neck and shoulders. From what Carly could tell, much of her tension was caused by the mayor’s pet pig, Louella.

  Carly remembered the sight of the pig at the fire, trotting around in red rubber booties as if she owned the place. She seemed very attached to Will, but when Carly had questioned Becky about it, she’d shuddered and suggested they change the subject.

  She smiled at the memory of Louella planting a wet kiss on Adam as he lay on the stretcher. Adam didn’t seem too fond of Louella, either. However, Carly would be meeting her in person—so to speak—tomorrow as Will was entertaining Louella and all the children at the ranch.

  Will and Becky had an interesting marriage; Will was a stay-at-home dad, while Becky worked as a county judge. Will seemed happy to take on the responsibility of caring for Carly’s children as well as his own and Luke’s three daughters. He was a born nurturer and, according to Alex, had a lot of activities planned for them the following day. He was also helping the children make and wrap a special gift for their grandfather Mac’s birthday. The following day, with Adam’s assistance, he was taking everyone skiing.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  Carly jumped at the sound of Adam’s voice. She’d been so absorbed in thinking about Will, she hadn’t noticed Adam’s approach.

  “Sure,” she said with a smile, trying to keep it light.

  Adam, having made the request, now seemed stuck for words. He cleared his throat, then ran his hand through his hair.

  “How was work?” she asked, mostly to fill the conversation gap.

  “Ah, fine. No serious fires.”

  “Good.” Carly waited.

  “Um…”

  “Look, if you’re going to say the other night on the porch was a huge mistake, Adam, that’s okay with me. I feel the same way. So let’s not draw it out. You’re a great kisser, but I don’t want to get involved with you.”

  Adam looked so completely poleaxed, Carly regretted her words almost as soon as they left her mouth.

  “Ah…” He shook his head. “That wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about. I was going to say I need to speak to my family in private tonight, so if you don’t mind, could you make yourself and your kids scarce?”

  Now it was Carly’s turn to feel—and no doubt look—poleaxed.

  “O…kay,” she said, feeling rebuffed. Adam could be positively blunt at times, and although she was aware of his abrupt manner, it still hurt. Why, Carly couldn’t say, but after feeling so much a part of his family, she now sensed that Adam was trying to shut her out.

  Angry with herself for caring so much and for letting her emotions show, she shrugged and laughed it off. “No hard feelings. Like I said, the other night was probably a mistake. I think we just got carried away with the moment.”

  Adam stared at her blankly, and she punched his shoulder lightly. “Lighten up, Adam.” She winced inwardly as she said it.

  He grunted and rubbed his shoulder. Without saying anything further, he strode toward the house, leaving Carly to wonder what he had to talk to his family about that was so important.

  ADAM WAS GRATEFUL THAT Carly had offered to have all the children over at the apartment. What he had to tell the family wasn’t fit for their ears. Cody was taking advantage of the school break to stay at a family friend’s ranch for a few days.

  Adam was stunned by his family’s reaction to his confession about who was really driving Rory’s car the day he died. The wailing he’d expected from his mom, the abject disappointment he’d expected from his dad, the loathing from his brothers and their wives—it didn’t happen. None of them showed less than their complete compassion, support and forgiveness. They were so understanding that Adam suspected Matt
might have prepared them for the news. But Matt was a man of his word. He’d have kept Adam’s confession to himself, taken it to his grave.

  Once Adam had answered their questions and assured them that he’d spoken to Jennifer Bennett, Matt said, “I’m glad we’re all here. I have some worrying news.”

  “What is it, darling?” Sarah asked, her attention diverted from Adam for the first time that evening.

  Matt stood and paced the living room floor. “Arson experts investigating the apartment building fire have discovered a link to Carly.”

  “Well, of course there’s a link to Carly!” his mother burst out. “She lived there!”

  “Mom, calm down,” Matt said. “You’re going to have to listen and let me finish. I don’t want to believe what I’ve been told, but arson investigators and cops deal in facts, and the fact is, Carly’s been linked to two previous fires.”

  “No!”

  “Mom!”

  “Sorry. Go on, dear. I’ll try to control myself.”

  “As we all know, her husband died in a warehouse fire in San Diego.”

  When everyone nodded, he continued. “Her name was also flagged in relation to the recent firebombing at the Colorado Grand Hotel. A few days after that, Carly moved to Spruce Lake. Then, just weeks later, the apartment building burned.”

  Silence descended on the room.

  “You can talk now,” Matt said into the silence. Then everyone started talking at once.

  “That’s complete B.S.!” Will said.

  “I agree!” Sarah chimed in.

  “This is surely just a coincidence?” Megan said.

  “How unlucky can one person be?” asked Luke.

  “You’re saying that Carly is an arsonist and that she deliberately put her children’s lives in danger?” Becky asked. “That’s not possible. She adores those children.”

  Needing to put an end to any further speculation, Adam stood. “I’m going over there and I’m asking her about this.”

  Matt pushed him back down into his seat. “You’ll do no such thing. Leave it to the officials to deal with any questioning.”

  “You can’t think she’s truly any threat,” Sarah said. “Otherwise, you’d have arrested her…or something.”

  “The evidence is piling up, Mom. In a day or two they’ll have their answer. I wanted to give you a heads-up.”

  “In the meantime, she’s over there in that apartment, watching our kids,” Luke pointed out.

  Megan, Becky and Beth couldn’t help jumping to their feet and racing to look out the living room window, toward the stables.

  Chapter Eleven

  Carly stared out the apartment window, down at the ranch house. All the O’Malleys had arrived nearly an hour ago. Carly had done as Adam requested and made herself and her children scarce. Luke’s girls and Nick had wanted to come, too, and all eight children were now watching a DVD, although Charlie was dozing off, unable to stay awake past his usual bedtime.

  As she filled a glass of water at the sink, Carly thought she spotted something in the yard below. A movement. Like someone snooping around. Hesistant to disturb Adam’s meeting with his family, she decided to investigate it herself.

  “Sash, would you and Nick mind keeping an eye on the kids while I take a walk?” she asked. “I won’t be long.”

  “Sure,” the girl said. “If we have any problems, I’ll ring the fire bell.”

  Carly knew the stables had several fire bells installed, one of them in the apartment. “That’s not a good idea. Someone might think there really is a fire.”

  “Nah, we use it for all sorts of things. Calling people for dinner and stuff. I’ll only ring it if someone’s really acting up or whatever. You go enjoy your walk.”

  Carly thanked her and pulled on her ski jacket, snow boots and gloves.

  “Lock the door after me, would you, Sash?” she asked, then stepped outside and waited to hear the lock click into place.

  A few minutes later, Carly went down the stairs and out the back door of the stables, hoping to come up behind whatever, or whoever, she’d seen moving in the yard.

  She knew it couldn’t be one of the ranch hands, since all three were in town celebrating Chuck’s forty-ninth birthday. Beth had told her she didn’t expect them back for hours. The large cabin they shared was annexed to the rear of the stables. The ranch dogs slept there, too. This evening the cabin was in darkness.

  Carly walked farther across the yard, then froze in her tracks at the sight of a fox near the corrals. It stopped and gazed at her, then loped off into the darkness. She shook her head. That must’ve been what she’d seen from the apartment.

  Since foxes didn’t scare her, Carly took a moment to breathe in the crisp night air. She turned away from the ranch house, not wanting anyone inside to see her in case they thought she was spying. Not that any of the O’Malleys would think that. Only Adam. He was so closed off, so suspicious of everything!

  As she trudged through the snow and out into the paddocks, a thought occurred to her. Why hadn’t the ranch’s dogs barked when the fox was in the yard? They usually went crazy if any wildlife was around. Luke had told her that bears often came into the area looking for food, but since the ranch had a strict policy about not leaving trash out, the bears soon moved on. However, this was winter and the bears were hibernating.

  Before she had a chance to ponder the dogs’ silence any further, the fire bell rang shrilly. Carly whirled around, ready to chastise Sasha for ringing the bell over some minor transgression by one of the younger kids.

  What she saw turned her blood to ice. The stables were on fire!

  She took off toward it, her feet barely touching the ground, her heart pounding with fear for the children inside.

  Just as she made it to the rear stable doors, she saw the front door of the ranch opening and people pouring out.

  She reached for the pull cord to turn on the stable lights, but nothing happened. Surely the electricity wouldn’t have cut out this soon?

  “Alex?” she screamed into the cavernous stables as she scrambled toward the apartment stairs. “Jake, Maddy! Where are you?”

  The sound of her voice was drowned out by the screams of horses, terrified by the smoke that was filling the stables, and the sound of splintering wood.

  She didn’t have time to register where that was coming from. The stables were lit by a small battery-operated emergency light near the front entrance. Those doors, closest to the house, were usually left open until everyone had turned in. Only the rear doors were kept closed.

  Carly got to the bottom of the stairs leading to the apartment at the same moment the children came tumbling down. “We’re here!” Alex cried. “We’re all okay!”

  Carly hugged and kissed them all as Sasha brought up the rear, a sleepy Charlie in her arms. The same couldn’t be said for Maddy and Celeste, who were alternately screaming and crying.

  Carly threw an arm around each girl and followed Alex, Jake, Nick, Daisy and Sasha to the front of the stables.

  The closed doors had been thrown open, and Adam stood there framed in the moonlight, smoke billowing into his face. He held an ax. “Why the hell did you lock the doors?” he yelled, and then pushed past her.

  “Get the children to the house,” Luke said, charging in behind him, followed by his brothers. Carly could see Luke doing a head count of the kids. “Dad’s called 9-1-1.”

  Shepherding the coughing children outside, she found Becky, Beth and Megan crossing the yard with Mac. “Come inside where it’s safe, Carly,” Megan said. “The fire department will be here shortly.”

  But Carly needed to stay and help. She passed the crying girls to Becky and Beth. Assured that all the children were in safe hands, she turned back to
the stables.

  “Where are you going?” Mac demanded. “Get in the house!”

  Carly had never heard Adam’s father raise his voice, but she didn’t stop to contemplate his manner, or the strange way Megan was looking at her.

  “I’ll help get the horses out.”

  “The boys and I will do it,” Mac said, but his command was lost in the sounds of whinnying horses as Matt and Jack led two of the terrified animals out of the stables, their heads covered with blankets.

  Needing to feel useful, Carly reached for their bridles. “I’ll take care of them,” she said.

  She turned and bumped into Mac.

  “I’ll take them,” he said, and grabbed their halters.

  Carly pivoted to see Will carrying one of the ranch dogs in his arms. “They’ve been doped, Pop,” he said, and placed the dog on the snow-covered ground, out of the way of horses’ hooves and any danger, if the stables collapsed.

  Beth appeared and took the halters of two more horses from Luke and led them toward the house, where Mac was tethering the first horses to the railing.

  Adam was nowhere to be seen. Fearing he’d been caught in the fire, Carly plunged into the stables. Through the thick smoke, she could see him way in the back, hosing down the hay in the loft, while Jack was beating out flames. The hay blazed fiercely, sending sparks dancing up to the ceiling high above them and raining down on Adam and the horses still trapped in their boxes below.

  Knowing there were at least a dozen horses still to be brought out, Carly wrapped her scarf over her nose. Her eyes burned as she opened the horse box closest to her. Finding it empty, she moved on.

  She jumped as a horse kicked ferociously at the box she was passing. She glanced inside and recognized one of Luke’s stallions. He’d warned her this one was ornery beyond belief. And now he was so terrified she could see the whites of his eyes through the gloom.

  “Careful of him,” Luke said, as he hurried by, taking two more of his precious mares to safety, followed by Matt leading their foals.