Her Firecracker (The Fireworks Series)

by Laney Powell

  Carla looked around. Her lips pursed as she saw who I was talking about. “Oh, that’s Dick Freeman. He’s a nudist. The town got tired of fighting with him and compromised, so he’s not a complete nudist. But if you see him along the highway, he doesn’t bother with the pouch.” She rolled her eyes. “Says being completely naked is an important part of his daily constitutional.”

  Dave laughed. “He’s harmless. Wait till you see him for the fourth of July. He gets all patriotic.”

  I laughed. “That will be something to see.”

  “Enough of our local nudist,” Carla said. “Let’s get you settled, girl.”

  The rest of the afternoon was spent unloading my car, and the promised dinner and gossip. As it got dark, I told them to go home, and I’d see them in the morning. We planned to spend this week together going through their recipes. I waved them out the door, feeling happier than I’d felt in a long time.

  As the doors slammed on their car, I heard the rumble of tires on the road. I looked around to see the same car I’d seen at the gas station go cruising by.

  Was it my imagination, or did it slow as it passed the bakery? I shook my head, waved to Dave and Carla once more, and went back into my new home.

  It didn’t matter how handsome he was.

  Nate

  Holy shit. That was Tall and Brunette, wasn’t it? I couldn’t believe it. She was waving to Dave and Carla. That must be the woman they’d sold the bakery to. I’d heard they were retiring, and then all of a sudden, they had sold the bakery, and were as pleased as they could be.

  My mom and Carla were good friends.

  Hmm. I could go home, eat with my mom, and find out the scoop. Nothing like on the ground intel. Even though I was a native son, and worked for the fire department, I had nothing on my mom and her lines of communication.

  I could also go and knock on the bakery door, introduce myself, and find out about her that way. I considered it for a moment, glancing back at the bakery in my rear-view mirror, and then shook my head.

  Nope. Mom was a far better initial foray into intelligence gathering. I’d just need to be careful, so she didn’t get any ideas. Which meant I didn’t bring it up until we were in the middle of dinner, my dad sitting across from her eating woodenly.

  “I saw Dave and Carla today,” I said.

  Mom perked up. “Really? Where?”

  “They were leaving the bakery and a woman was standing in the door.”

  “Oh, that must be the woman who bought it. What is her name?” She stopped, fork in mid-air as she thought. “Serena! That’s it. Serena May. I remember thinking what a lovely name it was when Carla told me about it. They’re delighted with her, you know,” she said. “She’s from back east somewhere, I can’t recall where. But she came through here last year, and when she heard the bakery was for sale, she approached them. Or her friends did. But she’s here now. That’s good. Carla mentioned they’d be opening for the fireworks.”

  “Well, good. I hope she keeps up the muffins,” I said. Hot and sultry tall brunette aside, Carla made the best muffins. I always bought a box on my days at the station house. They were delicious.

  “I don’t know. Carla is all over the place these days,” Mom said. She shook her head and went into a list of all the ways Carla was all over the place. My dad got up and dropped his dish into the sink, making a crash. Without a word to either of us, he left the kitchen. My mom stopped talking, and I could see the tightening of her face.

  I changed the subject, and gradually, the tightness in her face eased.

  Mom shooed me away when I offered to do the dishes. Feeling like a teenager again, and a complete coward, I let her. I’d learned long ago she needed time alone to pull herself together.

  Lying in bed that night, I saw the woman at the bakery again. She was here in town. That could be good, or very, very bad.

  * * *

  The next two days were busy at the firehouse. We were getting ready for the next week or so when everyone would be working every day. This was our busy time, and we worked hard to make sure that there were no forest fires. That was an even bigger danger than all the people and their fireworks.

  On my second day back that week, Dave came into the firehouse. “Hey, man,” he said, offering me a hand.

  I shook it. “What’s doing? Bakery on fire?”

  “Well, you might say that, but not in the way you think.”

  “What do you mean?” I grinned at him.

  “The new owner has been baking up a storm. She’s throwing open the doors for the town today, giving you all a free tasting.”

  “Really?”

  He winked. “I advised against it, but it’s two to one over there, and not my money, so who am I to do more than say ‘Yes, ma’am,’ and go hand out fliers?” He thrust a piece of paper at me. “Show up, make yourself neighborly. She really is a good kid, and she’s busting her butt.”

  “Like we turn down food ever?” I said, taking the paper with a laugh.

  “Well, all right then,” he said. “I’m off. Momma’s orders are to hand out every one of these. Can’t come back until I do.”

  I laughed again, watching him walk away. Then I went to tell the rest of the guys on today that we were taking a break. We drew straws to see who would be minding the store, and the rest of us left to walk over to the bakery.

  As we crossed the street across the town square, I could see a good-sized group of people outside the bakery. It was a Tuesday, so today was slow on the tourist front. These looked to be the local people.

  “Smells great,” Carmine said.

  “Which is points for her,” Jason said.

  Everyone laughed. As we stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the bakery, people turned and the rest of the guys were absorbed into talk with others, but I eased around them, heading inside. I was looking for her. Serena May.

  She was standing near the counter, talking with a table of women and laughing. Her hands were on her hips, and she threw her head back a little as she laughed. Not like a pirate, or anything, but as a woman who knew her place in the world and wasn’t afraid to demand it.

  I liked that. Watching her made my cock twitch, and I forced myself not to go there. This was not the place to pitch a tent.

  “I figured it wouldn’t take you boys long after Dave stopped by,” Carla said, patting me on the arm. “Come and have a lemon honey bun.”

  “A what?” I asked, distracted in watching Serena talking.

  “A lemon honey bun. They’re delicious, and not too sweet. She’s got a good hand with pastry,” Carla said. “Normally I can’t stand honey buns, but these things are great. I had to step away from them after eating two.”

  I looked down at her. “Well that is one hell of a recommendation, so I think I will have one,” I said, allowing her to lead me to a counter filled with all sorts of pastries. As I bit into the bun, I tasted exactly what Carla meant. They were delicious. Eat enough of them, and I’d have to rub them on my ass, because that’s exactly where they were headed.

  “You were right,” I said to Carla.

  “Course I am,” she said, and having done her job of threatening my ass and my waistline, she sauntered off to find her next victim. I snagged another one and made a beeline for Serena.

  Serena

  I beamed as I looked around me, taking a minute to just savor the picture. The bakery was full, people were talking and eating and laughing. Granted, I wasn’t getting paid, but I wasn’t worried about it. I knew this was the right thing to do. With Carla and Dave helping, I knew I was on the right path.

  And I’d done it all by myself.

  As I was basking in satisfaction, I saw the guy from the gas station coming toward me. He was eating and had a lemon bun in his hand. I felt my cheeks get hot. Maybe he wasn’t coming to talk to me.

  “Hi,” he said, holding out the hand not holding the bun. “I’m Nate Devine, one of the firefighters here. You’ve just made customers for life by inviting u
s over. You also might run out of food, but that’s an occupational hazard, right?”

  Nate Devine smiled then, and his eyes crinkled at the corners. He was tall, taller than me, and his hair was brown. His skin was that golden tan you got from spending lots of time outside, which made his eyes look even brighter blue than they already were.

  Holy hell. And he liked my baking. I was in trouble.

  I shook his hand, hoping I didn’t sound stupid. “Serena May. I’m the new owner.”

  “Congratulations,” he said. “Carla and Dave think highly of you.”

  I smiled then, my pleasure overcoming the nerves this guy brought on. “I’m so glad. I really like them.”

  “We’re going to miss them,” he said.

  “I totally get that,” I said. “They have been nothing but wonderful, helping me. They didn’t have to do that.”

  “That’s part of who they are,” he said, shrugging slightly. “But back to you. What brings you out here?”

  “I wanted to make a change. You know, do something different, take a chance.” I didn’t know how else to explain it, and that was the line I’d been using. “I saw Milltown last year on vacation, and when my friends told me the bakery might be for sale, I jumped at it.”

  He nodded. “Taking chances is a good thing.” His eyes were watchful, moving carefully around the bakery, taking in everything he saw. But he was polite and maintained total interest in me. Which was… making me a little giddy. “These are amazing,” he said, tearing apart a lemon bun. “I’m a fan.”

  I smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. They’re one of my favorites, so I wanted to bake something I liked in addition to all the things I know most people enjoy.”

  “Serena May! Can I have you for a moment?” Carla called from the front of the shop. She gestured, encouraging me to join her.

  “Well, duty calls,” I said. “Thanks for coming in. I hope I’ll see more of—I mean, I hope I’ll see you again.”

  “You can count on it,” Nate said, his eyes locked with mine.

  The heat from his gaze sent a thrill right down to my lady bits. Holy hell.

  “Oh, hey, Serena?” His voice was quiet.

  “Yes?”

  “Welcome to Milltown,” he said. It sounded like an invitation. Or a promise.

  Or maybe I just hoped it was an invitation. He’d be really hard to resist. I smiled and walked to where Carla stood waiting. I was flustered. I knew my face was red, and probably my neck, too. I could feel the heat in them.

  What the hell did that guy have for breakfast? Take me, take me now powder? He was sex on two legs, the best thing I’d seen since avocado on toast, and very appropriately named. Nate Devine.

  Jeez, he was divine all right. He could divine all over me for as long as he wanted and come back for seconds. I hadn’t ever met anyone who made me respond like this, and that included the guy I was supposed to marry.

  Which meant I had to stay as far away from him as possible. I didn’t need to get burned again. I pushed the divine Nate from my mind, even though my body wasn’t quite as accommodating, and focused on the people Carla was introducing me to. That’s what I was here for. To build my business, and to build a life.

  Not fall in love. Not even in lust.

  I caught a glimpse of Nate talking with other guys wearing the same shirt he was. Well, perhaps a little lust from afar wouldn’t hurt.

  Much.

  Nate

  A totally sexy woman who can cook. I think I’ve died and gone to heaven—except she doesn’t seem interested in me. I watched her while we’re all hanging out and eating her food, and then once everyone is ready to head back to the station house, I don’t have any reason to stay.

  Liking to watch her bend and move isn’t a good enough reason. She’s comfortable with herself, and that is incredibly sexy to me. But I follow the rest of the guys back when they are ready to leave, thinking about how to get to know her better.

  Asking her out is the simplest way. Unless I’m reading the signals wrong, and she really isn’t interested.

  I frowned as I got back to going over the truck engine. But I keep seeing her moving around the bakery, her hazel eyes glancing over at me, and her messy bun and sunglasses when I saw her in the gas station in my head, and by the time I am ready for bed, I’m also ready for some personal time in the shower. I’m hard as a rock at all these thoughts of Serena May, and I’m going to need to take care of it myself.

  For now.

  Which is pretty hopeful thinking, considering I can’t even commit to asking her out to dinner. Fuck. I hate this. I step into the shower, and let the water run over me. My hand goes right to my cock, and I stroke it, thinking of her messy bun, her firm ass, and how I’d love to get both of them in my bed.

  I come quickly and hard. God, I’ve got to get a handle on this, on my fascination with her.

  The next morning, I wake and go about the chores at the station without even looking in the direction of the bakery. We’re changing out batteries on radios and heart monitors, so it’s easy to keep my focus off my personal dilemma.

  Then we get a call from dispatch. There’s a fire at the bakery.

  We geared up and drove the truck over. It seemed somewhat like overkill for a couple of blocks, but you never know with kitchen fires. As we pulled in front of the bakery, Carla and Dave are outside.

  Where is Serena?

  I kept it cool, letting Carmine ask the questions. He’s the guy in charge on our shift.

  “What happened? Where is it?” he asked Dave.

  “It’s out now, but we need you to look at it. There shouldn’t have been a fire,” Carla answered. Her brows creased with worry. “It started in the wall behind the ovens, but Serena grabbed the extinguisher and yelled for Dave to cut the electricity. I don’t know if that’s it,” tears fell down her face, “And I can’t believe this is happening…” she stopped.

  “It’s all right,” Carmine patted her hand. “Let us go in and check.”

  We head in, and I can see the messy bun of Serena moving around in the kitchen area. The bakery is all open, so there are no walls between the customers and the kitchen. There’s no active smoke, but that doesn’t mean a thing. We need to get her out of here and make sure the place isn’t about to go up.

  “Ma’am,” Carmine said, “Let us get in here and take a look.”

  As I get closer to her, I also see she’s pissed. “You’re going to have to tear up the wall, aren’t you?”

  “Probably,” Carmine replied. “But then if it is electrical—”

  “It is. I smelled it, and I was looking around, trying to figure out where it was coming from when I saw the wall start to burn behind the ovens,” she gestured to where the ovens were up against the wall on the left. “Dave cut the power quick, so I think that helped. And we were able to pull the ovens away from the wall, so they didn’t get fried. I hope, anyway,” her frown deepened.

  “Let us take a look, and we’ll go over the entire place,” he said, his tone soothing. This is why he was in charge. He was good at this with people who were panicking, or angry, or on the edge of losing it. “Devine, take her outside, and then get back in and we’ll track it.”

  I nodded. Stepping closer to Serena, I said, “Come on out. We’ll take it from here.”

  She crossed her arms. “This is my place. I don’t want to leave it!”

  “Serena,” I said, loving how her name sounded, “This is our job. We know what we’re doing.”

  She didn’t answer for a moment, and then I saw the tears glistening in her eyes. “Okay,” she whispered. She looked between Carmine and me. “Please find it. I can’t lose this.”

  Carmine nodded, and turned to the other guys, directing them to spread out and go over the whole building. I moved closer to Serena and put an arm behind her, guiding her to the door. I’m tensed, because I’ve seen these fires take out a building, and I want her as far away from here as possible.

  As we leave, a
nd she goes to stand with Carla and Dave, she rounds on me. “So, what happens now?”

  “You let us go over the whole building. Since this was in the wall, we need to make sure you’re not going to have another wall catch on fire. What’s upstairs?”

  “My place,” Serena says. “I’m living there.”

  I nod. It’s another fact to file away about her. I didn’t know there was an apartment up there—Dave and Carla have a house in town. I smile at her. “This is what we do, Serena. We’ll find it, and everything will be okay.”

  I reach over and pat her arm and then jog back into the bakery. We have a lot of building to cover, and I just promised her we’d save it. I hope I can keep my word.

  Serena

  It takes most of the afternoon for the fire department to go through the building. They determined that the fire started in an outlet behind the ovens—although not the outlet my big three deck oven was plugged into. The thought of having to replace that makes me want to sit down and put a cold towel over my eyes.

  While we’re waiting at the diner down the street, Dave calls an electrician, and I call my insurance company. Both are coming out before the end of the day to assess the damage.

  Dave and Carla felt awful. It’s evident in every word they say, everything they don’t say, and their whole demeanor.

  “We’re going to take care of this,” Carla said to me. “This is a problem that started with us, and we’ll fix it.”

  “That’s why I have insurance,” I said.

  “No,” she shakes her head. “We still have it as well. And we’re going to take care of it. We’ll have no argument,” Carla finished, sounding exactly like my mom. “And we’ll have you open in time for the fourth.”

  I stared, and the tears fell down my face. “Thank you,” I said. I hadn’t expected this, and I’d been on the verge of panic. I had to be open on the fourth. I needed the money. I wasn’t broke but working over the holiday was part of my plan.