by Carrie Elks
More than anything she’d felt nothing at all.
“When Will was growing up I read all these books about how to raise children and be the perfect parent, but none of them tell you how to deal with losing a daughter-in-law.” Janice lifted her hand to her chest, pressing her palm against her skin. “There are no etiquette books on what to do. I know, because I looked for one in Books By The Beach.”
Ember tried to bite down a laugh. Trying to find a book about this crazy subject was so very Janice-like. She took Janice’s free hand between her own and squeezed it gently. “You don’t have to know the right thing to do and say all the time. We’re friends, aren’t we?” Strange how natural it felt to say it. Ember missed their relationship too much to let a guy ruin it.
“We are?” Janice visibly relaxed. “Oh, I would love to be your friend. That would be wonderful.” She leaned forward to give Ember a hug. “Thank you, honey.”
“Any time.” Ember hugged her back, breathing in her floral fragrance. “And I owe you an RSVP; I’ll be there at your party.”
“You will?” Janice’s face broke out into a smile. “Oh that’s great news. Thank you, honey. Now get out of here. It’s late and I’ve got lots of cleaning to do. I’ll see you at the fair on Saturday.”
The air outside was quiet as Ember slowly pulled the door closed behind her and walked down the steps to her car. The driveway was empty now. All the other committee members had left twenty minutes earlier, when Frank had finally called an end to the proceedings. The only vehicles left were her trusty old Toyota and the Martins’ much smarter, much bigger cars. Ember pulled her key from her pocket and unlocked the door, sliding her fingers under the handle to pull it up.
“Hey.”
She jumped at the shock of hearing a voice. The handle snapped back on her fingers, pinching her skin, and she pulled it out with a curse.
“You okay? Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Lucas stepped forward, reaching for her hand. He frowned at the white skin on the pad of her finger. “Does it hurt?”
She shook her head. “Just a pinch. It was my own stupid fault anyway.” She looked around, wondering if anybody else was here, too. He must have been waiting for a reason, right? “I thought you would have gone home by now,” she said when she saw nobody else there.
Lucas shrugged. “Frank caught me on the way out. He wants some help on Friday night. I said yes, but he then took fifteen minutes to persuade me anyway.” Lucas grinned.
“The man never says one word where five or six will do.”
“True story.”
“But he has a heart of gold,” Ember said.
“He really does. I remember when I was about ten and wanted to buy my mom a little trinket for her birthday. I thought I had the right money, but when I counted it out I was fifty cents short. He pulled out a rag from beneath the counter and some spray polish. Said if I cleaned the shelves for half an hour he’d let me have it for fifty cents less.”
“Is that kindness or slave labor?” Ember asked.
Lucas laughed. “I’m still not totally sure.” He opened his mouth to say something, but then he hesitated, as if unsure whether to say it or not. He swallowed, his prominent Adam’s apple pushing at his throat. “I, ah, just wondered if you were okay after the other night.”
Oh. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for being there to help me.”
“Did you ever hear from that guy?” he asked.
“The one who didn’t turn up?”
“Yeah.”
She licked her lips. “No. I ended up deleting the app, so I doubt I’ll ever hear from him again.”
“Good riddance.” Lucas grinned. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
There he went again with the compliments. She felt that spark, the one that made her whole body feel weightless. Then she was smiling back, lifting her head up to meet his gaze, and for a second the air between them felt thicker than it should.
They were standing so close it would take less than a moment for them to close the gap. Ember’s breath caught in her throat. She could feel those little jolts of desire again, prickling up through her skin.
But the desire was quickly followed by fear. It was like a splash of cold water against her face. A reminder that she’d just recovered from the kind of pain she never wanted to feel again, and that opening yourself up to somebody exposed you to being stabbed in the heart.
“I should go,” she said quickly, reaching out for the handle again. This time she didn’t meet his gaze. “I have an early start tomorrow. Breakfast club at school.” She smiled but still didn’t look at him. “I’ll see you on Saturday at the fair.”
“You know, I could get used to you being around in the evenings,” Griff said, as the two of them lifted their boards onto the flatbed of his truck. They’d gone further this evening, over to the next cove. “Maybe you should stay in Angel Sands instead of going back to work. That way we can surf together every night.”
There was a teasing tone to his words that made Lucas grin. “Yeah, we can be the oldest surfers in town. You bring the muscle rub and I’ll bring the walking sticks.”
“Don’t knock it. It beats getting old gracefully.”
Lucas raised his eyebrows. “There’s nothing graceful about you, my friend. I saw the way you tumbled under that wave. You looked like a drowned monkey when you climbed back out.”
It was Griff’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “As far as I can tell you’re becoming a fixture in this town. First you volunteer at the fire department, next you’re helping Frank Megassey with the Angel Day Fair. I’m just waiting for you to tell me you’re falling for a local girl and getting married, then I’ll know that hell really has frozen over.” He rubbed his beard with his hand, grinning at Lucas.
“You’ll be waiting a long time.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
Lucas frowned. “What?” He tried to keep his face relaxed in spite of the frown that was trying to push down his brow. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
Griff pulled up the tailgate and locked it. Walking around the side of his truck, he unlocked it, pulling the front door open, and climbing inside. Lucas followed suit, sitting on the passenger side, his eyes still fixed on his friend.
“Of course you know what I’m talking about. I heard you’ve been taking girls out to the beach.” Griff pressed his palms to his chest and pouted his lips. “And I thought this was our special place.”
“Who told you that?”
“I know everything around here. People seek me out just to tell me stuff, I’m the keeper of all Angel Sands secrets.” He winked. “So is it true? Has a small-town girl captured your heart?”
For a moment Lucas considered denying it again, because he hated talking about this stuff. But then his need to confide in somebody about his feelings outweighed his natural inclination to laugh it off.
“Maybe.” He swallowed hard, waiting for Griff to laugh. But instead when he turned to look at his friend all he saw was concern. “I don’t know, man,” he continued, frowning. “She’s beautiful and she’s funny, but she’s fresh out of a relationship.”
“How fresh?”
“I’m not sure. A few months maybe.”
“That’s not fresh,” Griff pointed out. “That’s rancid. She’s probably ready for another date.”
“But she can do better than me,” Lucas said, shaking his head. “What have I got to offer her? I’m a firefighter. I spend half my life out on emergencies, the other half at the station. Most women would hate that.”
“Plenty of firefighters have relationships. I bet half your co-workers are married.”
“And the other half are divorced.” Lucas raised his brows. “Seriously, the job causes a lot of problems.”
“So what, you’re not going to even try?” Griff shook his head. “That’s messed up. And it’s not like you, either. You’re a strong man. Brave as hell. So what’s stopping you from making a move?”
I
t was a good question. Lucas pondered on it for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m going back to White City soon. That complicates things.”
“When are you going back?”
“In a couple of weeks.”
“You feel okay about that?” Griff asked. “After everything that happened?”
Lucas swallowed, deliberately looking out of his window at the beach to their left. “Yeah, I feel fine about it.” His voice was low. “I’m over it, it’s time to get back in the saddle.”
They stopped at a set of lights. He could feel Griff looking at him, even though he was still deliberately staring in the opposite direction.
“It was a terrible thing that happened,” Griff said.
Lucas felt that familiar tightness in his chest as he tried to take a deep breath in. A moment later he blew it back out. “Yeah, well what’s done is done.”
The light changed and Griff pressed his foot on the gas. For the next couple of minutes, until he pulled into Lucas’ cottage driveway, he remained silent. He parked, killed the engine, then turned to look at his friend.
“I know it sounds all kinds of sappy, and if you tell anybody else I said this I’ll deny it. But I’m proud of you, man. For everything you do, and I respect the hell out of you for it.”
Something about his earnestness hit Lucas dead in the chest, and it was all he could do not to get emotional again. Griff so rarely said something heartfelt – their relationship was based upon ribbing and jokes, after all. The fact he’d said it meant a lot.
“I appreciate it.” His voice felt thick as molasses.
“And if you’re brave enough to go back to work, then you’re brave enough to ask this woman out. White City isn’t that far away, an hour or so drive. People commute further than that, and yes, even firefighters. If you like her, don’t let that stop you.”
There was a truth to his words that hit Lucas right between the eyes. Griff was right, all his excuses were just masks to cover his fear. If he really liked Ember he should bite the bullet and tell her.
It was time to seize the moment.
16
This was definitely her favorite day of the year. There was nothing else quite like it. Ember closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in the aroma of popcorn, donuts, and sweet funnel cakes, as the sound of the marching band assaulted her eardrums while they practiced.
There were other sounds, too; the squeals of the volunteers’ children as they slid down the giant inflatables, laughing loudly as they reached the bottom and were caught in their parents’ loving arms. Then there were the shouts of the booth holders as they set up their wares, calling across to each other before they got too busy.
In the distance she could hear the creaking of the fair machinery. The Ferris wheel as it moved slowly around and the rollercoaster that dipped up and down, making their final test runs. Next to them was her favorite ride – the swing carousel – with empty seats that fanned out and up as it spun around and around.
Ember leaned on the counter of the ring toss stall. Frank Megassey had assigned her the first shift, assuring her she’d only need to work it until seven that evening. After that she’d have some free time to enjoy the fair with her friends. Though right now going home and curling up with a bottle of ice-cold beer sounded more appealing. Thank goodness the daytime shift wasn’t responsible for the dismantling. That honor had gone to the evening volunteers.
“We’re opening up. Are you ready?”
She looked up to see Frank Megassey standing in front of her. Although he was wearing his usual combination of plaid shirt and cream slacks, he was also wearing a bright yellow jacket with ‘Event Organizer’ emblazoned on it, carrying around a walkie-talkie that he spoke into every few seconds.
“Yes, I’m all set up.” She flashed him a big smile.
“Ring Toss is ready,” he repeated into the walkie-talkie. Ember tried not to let her smile become a laugh. Frank took this seriously – just as he should – but she couldn’t help but wonder what he would have done if she was running late.
Panicked, maybe?
“One of the team will be around with some refreshments soon,” he told her, still holding the walkie-talkie like it was his prized possession. “And we’ll be picking up your cash each hour, letting you have a running total of how much you’re making. Remember, the booth that makes the most money wins a prize.”
She nodded, trying to make her expression serious. “I remember.”
“The best of luck to you.” With that, Frank moved on to the next booth – the fishing hook challenge. A couple of minutes later, Ember saw Brooke, Ally, and Nicholas approaching, and she lifted her hand up to wave at them. Her lips broke into a grin as they rushed over to see her, Brooke and Ally reaching across the counter to give her a huge hug.
“Look at the smile on your face,” Ally said, lifting her head to grin at Ember. “You’re so at home doing this.”
“You always did love Angel Day.” Brooke slung her arms around Nicholas whose eyes were wide with wonder from looking at all the attractions. “It seems right that you’re part of it.”
“Is your mom coming?” Ally asked.
“She said she’d pop in, but I don’t think her heart’s really in it.” Ember shrugged her shoulders. “It was Dad who used to love the fair. Mom’s sad that it’s the first one without him.”
Brooke’s eyes softened with sympathy. “Of course she is. It must be so difficult on her. You, too.” She sighed. “Your first one without your Dad and Will.”
Ember hadn’t thought of that. She hadn’t thought of Will at all, save for a few brief moments at Janice Martin’s house when they’d talked about him. She’d been too busy looking for Lucas Russell to think about her ex-fiancé.
It felt strange and yet relieving too. Like her wound was finally healing over. And right now, she wanted to have fun, not think about the sad times. She leaned across the counter, smiling down at Nicholas. “Do you want to play the ring toss?” she asked him. “There’s a prize every time.”
“What kind of prize?” He sounded suspicious.
“Just a plastic toy,” she said, lifting up a basket full of free gifts. “But you know if you get a ring around all three of the blocks you get one of those giant teddy bears.” She inclined her head at the stuffed toys behind her. “I can’t guarantee you’ll win the bear, but I promise you’ll have some fun trying.”
“Can I, Mom?” Nicholas looked up at Brooke. She nodded and handed a dollar over to Ember, who passed three brightly colored rings to the boy.
“You can stand on that block,” she said, pointing to the crate they’d put there especially for children. “It will give you a better chance.”
When she looked up she saw they weren’t on their own. Behind Nicholas, watching them silently, she saw Lucas. Even with his brightly colored security jacket on, he still looked as good as she remembered. Their eyes caught and for a second her breath was trapped in her chest.
“Can I throw it now?” Nicholas asked.
She tore her eyes from Lucas’. “Yes, of course. Good luck, Nick.”
Ally gave her a strange look, then turned to see Lucas standing behind them. Her eyes widened at the sight of him. When she turned back to Ember there was an enquiring look on her face.
Thank goodness Brooke and Nicholas were there. Hopefully that would stop her friend from making any inappropriate remarks.
“Oh poop, I missed them.” Nicholas frowned.
“You still get a prize, remember?” Ember lifted the consolation basket up. Nicholas tried to hide his disappointment. He was such a good kid. He rarely complained, and always remembered his manners. But Ember couldn’t help but feel bad for him.
“I think you should have another go,” she said. She’d pay for this one herself.
“There’s a trick to throwing the ring.” The deep voice came from behind the little boy.
Ember looked up at Lucas, surprised. But then she saw his eyes soften as h
e hunkered down and talked to Nicholas. “You don’t want to throw them straight at the blocks. You need to give them a little lift, make them fly in an arc. Then they might land over the blocks and you’ll win.”
Nicholas nodded, his face serious. “Can you show me how?”
“You can’t ask him that, honey,” Brooke said gently. “I’m sorry, Mister.…” her voice trailed off. “He just really wants one of those big stuffed toys.”
“It’s Lucas.” He reached his hand out and Brooke took it, shaking it momentarily. “Lucas Russell, I’m a friend of Ember’s.” He looked up at Ember, a half-smile on his face. She couldn’t help but smile back. From the corner of her eye she could see Brooke staring at them both with interest.
“I can’t play the games since I’m working here,” Lucas said to Nicholas. “But I can help you play. How about you hold the ring and I’ll help you throw it.” He looked up at Brooke. “That’s if it’s okay with you, ma’am.”
“Sure. Go ahead.” Brooke was still eyeing Ember suspiciously.
Ember passed them three rings, then stepped back to allow Nicholas and Lucas access to the blocks. Ally leaned in, ignoring the counter between them, and whispered in Ember’s ears, “You’re a dark horse. No wonder you deleted the app.”
“Shut up,” Ember whispered from the corner of her mouth. Luckily Lucas and Nicholas were too busy concentrating to notice.
“He’s hot,” Ally said, her voice louder than Ember’s. She couldn’t help but wince. Even if Lucas didn’t hear, there was a good chance Ally would embarrass her anyway. “Is he single?”
“Yep.”
“Are you interested?”
“Why do you ask?” Ember whispered back. She felt like a teenager again. This was all so stupid, yet she couldn’t take her eyes off Lucas. Nicholas had climbed onto the step, and Lucas was behind him, his fingers gently curled around Nick’s wrist as he demonstrated the throwing movement.