“Ridge, this is my new hire and friend River, who I am hoping to take over the assistant director position. And River, this is my husband’s cousin Ridge. His daughter is enrolling in the infant class.”
At first, Ridge was stunned into silence. He knew Carson was a small town and that he would run into his gorgeous neighbor every once in a while, but he hadn’t planned on the off-chance that she worked with Poppy.
“We. . .ugh. . .have met before.”
***
River wasn’t sure if someone could genuinely die from embarrassment, but she was convinced that she would be one of the candidates if it was possible. Of course, she would run into the man that had taken the leading roll in her dreams all through the night, and somehow, she hadn’t done him the least bit of justice. Even standing before her in a pair of faded jeans and a snug navy T-shirt pulled tightly across his chest, Ridge was far more attractive than her imagination had recalled.
And here she was in a pair of tan pants that now sported a large coffee stain from where she spilled it on her drive into work, and a polyester-blend shirt that was too sizes too big.
She felt frumpy and not put together, especially compared to her boss, who looked like a bohemian princess.
“We’re neighbors,” River managed to add to the conversation with a squeak.
“Oh my gosh, that’s right. You’re both in the properties Jameson and I overhauled. What a small world. As you can tell, I completely forgot about that. Honestly, I just get people in the homes and let the property management company handle the rest.”
“So, your brother-in-law Austin,” Ridge chimed in with a tilt of the corner of his full upper lip. River wondered if that was a move he had mastered as a teen or one later in life because it was certifiably panty-dropping inducing.
“You got it,” Poppy replied. “Now, since you’re both here, and I’ve finished the main tour, why don’t we head back to the infant room and we can check on your daughter.
In agreement, both River and Ridge dutifully followed Poppy back down the hall, where she touted off River’s background in childhood education and her work at a private school in Asheville. It took all of River’s strength not to blush when Ridge glanced at her from the corner of his eye, seemingly impressed, but she was certain that she failed.
She caught his eye and they smiled at each other, neither noticing that they had reached their destination and Poppy had stopped walking. If not, again, for his superhero reflexes, they both would have piled into Poppy’s back. Instead, it was just River and her clumsy nature that found herself running chest to back into her boss.
“Sorry,” she murmured as she tucked her chin to her chest in mortification. Luckily, her friend simply smiled and opened the door to the room.
River remembered the little girl Ridge had held in his arms the day before and grinned as her face lit up at the sight of her father.
“Dada!” she cried out joyfully with a pink teddy bear wrapped tightly in her fist.
River heard the instructor explain that the little girl had pulled it free from the diaper bag and that they’d write her name on the toy so that it wouldn’t get mixed up with the others.
Standing next to Poppy, River watched as Ridge interacted with his daughter, she learned was named Delilah, and lovingly pretending to eat the cereal she held out to him. She felt a pang in her chest for the first time, wondering if she’d ever have that sort of connection with a child of her own. There were various options available for her to have a child when she was ready, but River still hoped that she’d be able to have a loving relationship like the kind she envied from so many others one day.
A high-pitched squeal sounded in the room, bringing River back from her illusions only to find Delilah pointing in her direction. Ridge followed her gaze and she witnessed the full strength of his stare as he realized that his daughter was calling out to River. A shiver traveled down her spine and River felt it to the tips of her toes.
He may be a superhero, but he was proving to be dangerous at the same time.
With everyone in the room staring at her as Delilah continued to point and gesture in her direction, River stepped farther into the room and approached the child.
“Hi, Delilah. Do you remember me from yesterday? I’m your neighbor that brought the cookies.”
“Coo!” she yelled before shoving another handful of the cereal into her mouth.
“Cookies, that’s right. I bet you and your daddy are really going to like it here, what do you think?”
As if she understood, Delilah nodded her head and went back to her snack, dismissing both River and Ridge.
“Well, I guess that’s that,” he said from beside her and River turned to smile in his direction.
“Bet you hoped for a bit more fanfare, huh?”
“Maybe a few tears,” he joked in return and River found herself smiling without restraint, something she hadn’t done in longer than she could remember. “Guess I should head out while I can.”
Ridge only turned back toward his daughter three times to see if a pout was blossoming on her lips, only to find that Delilah was busy trying to get the attention of the little boy in the high chair next to her.
Standing back, River allowed Poppy to escort Ridge out of the building since she was his family after-all. And, of course, this gave her a moment to watch his defined backside through the glass doors as he walked back to his truck.
Somehow he must have felt her stare, even through the thick tempered glass, because as Poppy turned away, Ridge glanced right in River’s direction and winked before stepping into the cab of his truck.
Dangerous. One-hundred percent dangerous to both her head and her heart.
Chapter Five
Walking into the renovated fire department building, Ridge felt anything but elation, as he had expected. He felt selfish, melancholy, uneasy, and. . .turned on. All of the previous emotions were due to his daughter’s far-too-easy transition to the daycare. The latter was due to the neighbor that gave him quite a shock when she arrived as Poppy’s hopeful assistant director.
Even behind the baggy clothes she had worn, Ridge could vividly remember the outline of every curve of her body he had felt in his arms that were now hidden.
She had a story, one he could see flashing behind her eyes, but he knew that it wasn’t his business. Ridge had enough to worry about, especially with his ex-wife still on the fritz.
Greetings called out around him as he entered the common area. The two other men and one woman that would make up his crew were relaxed along a large sectional couch as they watched the news.
“Hey, son,” a familiar voice echoed into the room.
“Hi, Chief. Sorry about the delay.” Ridge felt that he needed to apologize about one hundred more times before the weight of guilt would start to dissipate. Tardiness wasn’t a trait a firefighter could rely on.
“No sweat. I remember those days and your aunt Amy stayed at home with the kids. Now, I know that you’re probably itching to join the rotation, but I have to do a few weeks of a trial period per the mayor’s orders. I’m sure you understand.”
“Absolutely.”
“In the meantime, let’s get your stuff stored in a locker and then you can start in on the daily chores.”
Ridge knew what that meant—cleaning the truck and fire station, checking the equipment's wear and life, and his least favorite part – laundry. As a teenager, he knew that Joseph ran a tight ship, even when he was the only man on staff.
Now that the town had blossomed and warranted more assistance, Joseph bucked from tradition and decided on a rotating schedule for the eight-person crew and volunteers. To provide a steady paycheck for his staff, Joseph opted for weekly rotating shifts and weekends. One week scheduled on day shift the next week would be the night shift. Ridge wasn’t sure how easily his body would adjust to the changes, but his uncle assured him that he’d be able to catch plenty of shut-eye.
His only concern was Delilah. H
opefully, his cousins were honest with their suggestion of help when he needed it.
Once Ridge settled his things into his locker, he made his way out to the group. Together they worked to complete their daily tasks and before Ridge knew it, his twelve-hour workday was almost complete.
He was thankful Poppy kept long hours at the daycare facility since many of the families had farms, wineries, or orchards and kept non-standard work hours.
The facility was packed when he arrived around 6:30 p.m. and he hoped that it wasn’t too late for Delilah. She liked to eat dinner a little earlier than that hour.
Walking through the main doors, Ridge’s eyes instinctively sought out his small and sexy neighbor, but she was nowhere to be found. Neither was his cousin’s wife. It was only then that he realized that they both must have left for the day.
Logging into the computer system at the door as Poppy had shown him, he designated Delilah’s check out of the facility then headed back to gather the little girl he had missed fiercely. She seemed to have sensed his arrival because she looked around the room in excitement until her gaze found him standing by the wall of cubbies.
“Dada!” she shrieked as she rocked into a standing position. On her chubby little legs, she waddled toward him and he knelt down to catch her in his arms. Embracing her tightly, he breathed in her sweet baby scent that was mixed with her strawberry shampoo.
“I put her bear in her diaper bag after naptime. A few of the other kids tried to play with it and she wasn’t having that at all.” Ridge turned to find Poppy standing at the door, glancing at his daughter affectionately.
“I figured you had gone home,” he told her as he scooped Delilah up into his arms, her head immediately resting on his shoulder.
“I stayed to make sure the pick up went smoothly.”
“Do you do that for all of the families?” Ridge asked curiously as he grabbed the diaper bag, glancing down at Delilah’s daily report placed in her cubby.
“Only by request, but you’re family, of course. And I was to ask if you wanted to join us for dinner tonight,” she requested expectantly.
Normally Ridge would jump at the chance not to have to come up with a meal for himself and Delilah, but as his daughter released an over-sized yawn against his shoulder, Poppy got her answer.
“She had a big day. Maybe we can get together again this weekend. It’s always nice to have everyone together.”
“Sure, that would be nice. I guess I should get this little one home and hopefully get her to eat a little before she heads to bed.”
Poppy walked with him to the parking lot, where she got in her own vehicle as he buckled Delilah into her seat. It seemed at that moment she realized that her pink bear was no longer in her grip and released a frustrated pout. Ridge quickly reached into the diaper bag and grabbed the bear Poppy had graciously placed right on top.
“Here you go. Let’s get you home.”
Ridge continued to check his rear-view mirror to see if Delilah fell asleep, but instead, she seemed to stare out of the window with droopy eyes. She was drowsy from the day but most likely over-stimulated and didn’t want to miss anything more.
Luckily the drive home was short and only interrupted by a short stop at the mailbox at the end of the driveway. Delilah garbled in the backseat as Ridge unlatched her and carried her from the truck.
He was surprised at the stack of mail he retrieved from the mailbox, but as he sifted through, he realized that it was mostly welcome letters from his neighbors and people in the community. One particular letter in a plain white sealed envelope caught his eye. There was no return address but the writing seemed familiar. But what really threw him off was the lack of street address under his name, meaning someone had dropped off the letter.
With Delilah safely secured in her gated area Ridge opened the letter to find a blank paper slip. Or what he initially thought was blank. Before he tossed it aside, he noticed the imprint of Penny’s name scrawled along the bottom edge. She had been there, to his house, to Carson.
Glancing over at his daughter, he pondered what he should do next. He didn’t want to leave her alone and now he worried that his ex was watching and waiting. But then, how come no one had been able to locate her yet.
Per his uncle, he had been in touch with the local Sheriff of Carson, who assured him that they’d reach out to Sunnyville and work together on the case to at least track her down and make sure that she was safe. But now Ridge couldn’t help but worry. Not just for Penny but for Delilah as well.
For a second, he tore his gaze away from the paper held tightly in his shaking hand and looked over at his sweet daughter. She had suffered enough already between shuffling back and forth between homes and then losing her mother altogether. Ridge wasn’t sure if he was prepared to weather another storm for her, but he knew he’d have to make himself ready.
Knowing he needed to handle the letter, Ridge threw some water into a pot, set the burner on high, and poured some spaghetti sauce into a smaller saucepan to make some spaghetti. While in the meantime used his mobile phone to reach out to the local sheriff and let him know about the blank letter. He assured Ridge that he would collect the letter from him in the morning if Ridge could seal it in a gallon-sized bag.
“What are you up to?” Ridge whispered to himself as he ended the call. Penny could be manipulative when she wanted and Ridge feared that this was now one of her many games.
He really didn’t want to uproot his daughter again, especially since it wasn’t challenging for anyone to track him down. Ridge knew that this move was the best thing for him and his daughter. Now he just needed to find a way to push the worry aside.
***
Something felt off as she walked up and down the aisles of the small market. Not only had a prickling on the back of her neck started the moment she grabbed her cart, but that inkling had continued and strengthened as she made her way toward the deli at the far side of the building.
“Excuse me,” River called out to a young man stocking shelves. She asked him if he knew whether they kept a specific type of bean in stock for no other reason but to be closer to someone in the unfamiliar space. Thankfully that nervous feeling that had been shadowing her dissolved into thin air as he showed her to that particular section of beans, then graciously assisted her with checking out.
Just as she stepped through the automatic doors with the market worker trailing closely behind, the strange feeling returned. River paused to look around the mostly empty parking lot and found nothing out of the ordinary. With a sigh, she and the worker made the way to her new SUV and filled the back with groceries.
“Hey, you’re my new neighbor, right? Ocean or something,” the man said as he began loading his own groceries into the trunk of his gray sedan. River meant to answer, she really did, but she was struck silly by the cocky man with his golf shirt's popped collar. She thought that was a fashion that had gone out decades ago. He was attractive, or so she assumed most women would think so, but River’s meter was stuck on scorching from her neighbor across the street.
With the sound of her back door closing, River jolted and recalled him asking her a question.
“River, yes. Paul, right?”
“Paul McCann, I work at the bank,” he said with an air of confidence she was sure impressed most people, just not her.
“That’s great.” Turning toward the teenager that had escorted her to her vehicle, she slipped him a five-dollar tip and grabbed the keys from her purse.
“Well, I’ve had a long day. It was good to see you,” she said to Paul politely.
“Want to come over for dinner tonight? Or maybe just dessert?” he commanded with a smirk that left River feeling dirty.
“No thanks, I have plans. Goodnight.” She quickly dismissed him as she ducked into the driver’s side of her SUV and locked the doors. River wasn’t one to lie, finding that it was easier just to tell the truth, but she figured this case was different.
Easing out of t
he parking lot, River watched from her rearview mirror as Paul continued to stand dumbfounded by the trunk of his car until a dark town car pulled up behind her, blocking him from her view.
It was later than River had expected when she arrived home and stored the full trunk of groceries in her kitchen. The sun was quickly setting behind the mountains bathing the town in bright oranges and pinks.
Out of instinct River glanced out her front window as she debated what to cook for dinner and saw a shadow move across the windows at Ridge’s house. She wondered how Delilah’s first day had gone. She had to force herself all day to keep from entering the infant room to socialize with the absolutely adorable child. Ridge was going to have to fight off the boys when she turned into a teenager, though she guessed he probably would enjoy that task.
Glancing at the fresh pie resting on the kitchen counter River made a split-second decision and grabbed the box and her keys, and headed across the street. She knew she probably should have changed, especially since the coffee stain still marred her pants, but she was too eager to see the man. Something she was definitely going to have to work on.
River rang the doorbell and only had to wait for a short moment before the door opened wide to a surprised Ridge.
“Hey,” he greeted with the same smile she had been dreaming about all day.
“Hi, I. . .ugh. . .grabbed a pie at the market and . .um. . .did you want to share it?”
“We just sat down for dinner,” he explained just as the scent of spaghetti wafted across her nose.
“Oh, of course, dinner usually comes before dessert. I can leave it with you,” River said as she held out the cherry pie for him to view.
“Did you want to join us? It’s about ready.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t considered an invitation to eat, but as the smells assaulted her senses, she couldn’t hide how ravenous she was. “I don’t want to impose. I just wanted to see how Delilah’s first day was.”
Behind the Flame: An Everyday Heroes World Book (The Everyday Heroes World) Page 5