Lying Hearts

by Kelli Callahan

  “Then let’s get to signing paperwork! Oh, this is so exciting. It’s my first sale as an agent, and I’m so glad it was with you, Luna! Welcome home,” she squealed and gave me a big bear hug.

  “Oh, wow, thank you, Marely. Couldn’t have done it without you,” I blabbered. I wasn’t too sure what to think from her sudden burst of affection. I glanced at London, giving her a ‘what the hell is happening’ expression, and she lifted her shoulders. She was just as surprised as I was.

  “What does this door do?” Oliver asked, clicking the bar across the door to unlock it, and it swung open to a back alley where it looked like bad things happened. I’d have to check it out. A delayed second later, a loud shrilling alarm blared through the shop, and all of us covered our ears. “Oh! That’s what the door does!” Oliver shouted and still left it open while he pointed at the damn thing.

  “Close the door!” everyone tried to yell over the alarm blaring at him.

  The annoyance from everyone jarred him out of his stupor. He jumped out of the way, and the door slammed shut, the metal rang once it clicked in place, but the alarm was still going off.

  “I just got a message from my employer!” Marely screamed, showing me her phone as we made our way outside into the cold air. “And he said the alarm is—” she still yelled as we came outside and then lowered her voice, “broken.”

  If the alarm didn’t turn off, that meant the fire department would come along with a few cops. I hoped, no, prayed like hell that the alarm would turn off, but I swore it got louder, screeching at the top of its lungs like a banshee.

  I didn’t want to see Easton again.

  The more he came around, the more my guard started to fall, and I couldn’t have that. My heart was safeguarded from him. It had to be. Bulletproof glass, concrete walls, and barbed wire fences blocked Easton from getting any more of me than he already had.

  I knew he was slowly chipping away at my barricades. I felt myself slowly crumbling to the mere hope that he and I could be… something, anything, and I was disappointed in myself for it.

  What did he have that other guys didn’t? If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be single.

  Sirens rang in the distance, and I lightly tapped my forehead on my knee in vexation. I knew it was impossible for the world to plot against me, but the cosmic universe seemed to have a funny bone because it kept throwing Easton in my path.

  Another set of sirens rang, only they were coming from the other side of town, and I flopped back onto the sidewalk, giving up on my efforts of just being left alone with my two friends and my parents. I wasn’t in Camden a damn week and I had no peace. Funny, since the town was so small that it was supposed to be peaceful.

  Yeah, small town life’s fooled everyone. They were more dramatic than a damn opera. Boston was more peaceful, and that said something considering trains and drunks always sounded in the night.

  My parents stared down at me along with London and Oliver. “Who is being dramatic now?” Oliver humored, the loud ringing behind him, causing my head to throb.

  “Shut up,” I grumbled, tossing my arm over my eyes.

  Oliver, London, and my parents snickered. They all sat on the edge of the sidewalk and waited for help to arrive. Marely was talking on the phone to her employer about what was going on, and I got little tidbits of their conversation about getting the contract ready. The closer the sirens got, the more the alarm got drowned out by the loud wails.

  All too soon and not soon enough, a firetruck and a police car stopped in front of the store. I sat up to see who it was, hoping that the universe was kind enough to grant me a small favor.

  “−−Luna! Luna! Are you okay?”

  “−−Luna!”

  “−−Are you safe?”

  Three Moore’s brothers barked at me as they left each vehicle. Ethan and Easton from the firetruck and Zeke from the police car. I started laughing, and London knew why and joined me in my fit. The universe was like, ‘screw your small favor; I’m upping the ante and making you go crazy’.

  Yes, well, message received.

  “Luna? What’s wrong? Did you hit your head, Moon? Baby, talk to me,” Easton’s voice was soft and soothing, and when I heard the pet name leave his lips, it stopped my laughter. I was entranced when I saw the real look of concern on his face.

  It wasn’t real. He was playing you.

  Once a liar, always a liar.

  “Why isn’t she talking? Luna? You’re freaking me out,” Easton said, cupping my face with his large, wide palms.

  The universe whispered in my ear, “You know what they say about large palms, right?”

  Cruel. So cruel, universe.

  My eyes fluttered shut for a moment, and the loud sirens faded in the background. Nothing else existed. It was just him and me. His warm, strong fingers against my cheek, the soft pants of his minty breath against my lips, and my eyes drifted over his face. The cut over his brow looked painful. I reached up with my fingers, forgetting where I was and who was around me and slid two of my fingers beside the wound. It was purple and looked like it needed stitches.

  “Baby?” he said again, brushing his thumb over my cheek, and it was enough for me to shake the weird fuzz that had taken control of my head.

  I quickly leaned away from him and crawled back to get out of his touching radius. I needed to get as far away from him as possible.

  “Luna,” his voice broke my name in half, and it was painful to hear the agony in the deep tremble emanating from his throat. “Luna, please—”

  “—Don’t touch me,” I whispered, terrified that just that simple touch made another one of my walls crumble, adding to the pit in my stomach.

  “It’s fixed,” Ethan said, strutting out of the shop like he was the man.

  “Oh, my hero,” I said, fisting my hands over my heart and giving Easton the cold shoulder. “Oh, whatever would we have done with you?” I batted my eyes playfully at Ethan, and he blushed.

  “Awfully chummy the two of you,” Easton said, a trace of anger lacing his words.

  I didn’t say anything, but I did give Ethan a goodbye hug. “Thank you.”

  “We will need to come back. The alarm isn’t up to code,” Ethan said, his suspenders hanging on the sides of his body, his arms bulging through the tight long sleeve shirt he wore, and I noticed London eyeing him. Who wouldn’t? Firefighters were hot, but the Moore brothers really stepped the ‘hot firefighter’ image up a notch.

  No woman’s heart was safe.

  All the men needed to hide their wives.

  Because the Moore brothers are a force to be reckoned with.

  “You okay?” Zeke asked, laying his hand on my arm. He had the blondest hair, the brightest green eyes, and a spitting image of his twin Ezra. Zeke was reserved, his voice deep and commanding. His outgoing side only comes out when his twin is around.

  London was looking at him too, analyzing which was better, the hot Moore brother in the cop uniform or the hot Moore brother in the firefighter uniform?

  Decisions, decisions.

  I liked the firefighter uniform, even if my opinion was biased because Easton looked better than all of them.

  “I’m okay, Zeke. Thanks.”

  “What the fuck?” Easton snarled, staring at the place on my arm where Zeke was touching me. Without another word, Easton headed toward the firetruck and slammed the door loud enough that it made me jump. I locked eyes with Easton, his defined jaw ticking with agitation, but his eyes told me the real story. He was jealous.

  It was only a matter of time before Easton found out the only brother that was isolated from me was himself.

  Chapter Ten

  Easton

  When I had heard the call over the speakers in the station about a fire alarm going off at the address Luna was at, I had already climbed into Ethan’s truck to go home and like hell I wasn’t going to hop on that truck to get to her to make sure she was okay.

  My heart hammered. I was scared. What
if I had just gotten her back into my life and something horrible had happened? I had to see for myself that she was alright. The ride there was only a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. I kept thinking the worst. Flames, burnt to death, injured, held hostage, a bunch of different scenarios ran through my head, but when I saw her sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, safe and unharmed.

  My world righted itself.

  And the way she looked at me, it gave me hope that she wanted us, that she felt something for me, but she fought it. And she was fighting it hard.

  And then my damn brothers acted as if they were good friends with Luna, touching her, hugging her, joking with her, making her smile.

  Those smiles were mine. I was supposed to be the man that made her smile.

  My brothers had a lot of explaining to do. I was furious. Just watching the interactions with Ethan and Zeke, I knew they had become more familiar with Luna. I didn’t want to talk to them right now, not while I was so angry. We needed a family meeting, but I wanted to go home, shower, and relax first.

  Only now, I was stuck in the fire truck with Ethan until we got to the fire station.

  “Easton—”

  “Don’t.” I held up my hand to stop him from speaking. I wasn’t ready to talk about the relationship he had with Luna. It would take longer than two minutes, which was how long we had until we got to the station. “I don’t want to talk about it. Whenever you get off work, I want all of us to meet up. I think everyone has some explaining to do.”

  Ethan let out a big breath, cheeks puffing as he did, and gave me a small chin tilt. He was dreading having to talk to me.

  I hoped my paranoia was wrong. I hoped that my brothers didn’t lie to me for years about Luna. I had begged them to help me make things right with her, asked for updates, anything that would get me closer to her, and they all always said that Luna wouldn’t talk to them. It was deceitful.

  It was on the same scale as my deceit to Luna, but now I had an inkling of what she felt like. It was a horrible feeling; only I wasn’t having anyone whisper horrible things in my ear about it.

  I stared out the window, watching the trees pass by, the small creek flowed next to us until it disappeared in the foliage of the forest. I couldn’t stop thinking about how complicated I made things. I deserved my brother’s betrayal. I hadn’t done anything to prove I deserved their honesty about Luna, not after how I treated her.

  We drove by the local mechanic shop that Hank and his three sons managed. It was rundown, car parts everywhere, and the shop didn’t even have a name, but no one took their cars anywhere else. Hank was the man to go to for everything. He even worked on the firetrucks and the police cars when they needed maintenance.

  His sons used to be my friends in high school, but when I disrespected Luna, their family friend, they cut ties with me. It was only hitting me now how many true friends rightfully turned their backs on me after that.

  Ethan backed the truck up in its usual spot, and I climbed out, slamming the door with all my might. A few other guys lingered, Thomas, Nickson, Keaton, and the battalion chief Locke. Locke stood with his arms crossed, towering over everyone with his giant height, which said something because most of us were over six-foot. Locke had to be reaching seven.

  “Easton, let's talk about this, please?” Ethan said as he jumped down from the driver’s side.

  “I just need to be left alone, okay? Give me time to think.” Not that time mattered. I’d need a miracle to get Luna in my arms again. At this point, it wasn’t even worth being mad at my brothers over. They did what they thought they had to. They protected her from me and damn it if that didn’t hurt.

  “East—”

  “Let him go, Ethan. His shift is over. You can talk about your feelings later,” Locke grunted, then with a slide of his eyes, he told me to get going.

  I didn’t give my brother one last look. I climbed into his truck, brought the engine to life, and did the one thing he hated. I revved the engine, letting the loud rumble vibrate the metal frame of the truck, and pumped the gas pedal, letting the black smoke billow into the air. I rolled down the window, laid my arm on the door, and watched as Ethan’s face went from patient to pissed.

  It was amusing.

  I was being an asshole.

  And I didn’t care.

  The realization made me stop doing what I was doing. I needed to change that habit if I ever wanted to get into Luna’s good graces again. I couldn’t be doing something that someone else didn’t like. I thrust the truck in reverse, put my arm around the passenger seat of the truck, and turned to look out the back window as I back out of the station.

  Right as I got onto the road, the bell rang in the fire station, and I almost stopped to jump in and help. Three calls in one day, that wasn’t normal, but right now, I was off the clock. They had it under control.

  I flipped on the radio and turned the dial to the local country station, only to find an announcement playing on repeat instead of music. It was on every channel too. “Damn it,” I cursed under my breath. I might as well hear what the good old town of Camden had to warn us about.

  “A dangerous inmate has escaped Main State Prison on foot. This inmate Willard Hopkins is an arsonist. He has burned over two hundred buildings and fifty people. He is a serial arsonist. This is an emergency broadcast. Maine State Prison is only a thirty-minute drive. They believe he is heading to Camden, considering it is close to his hometown of Lincolnville. Consider him armed and dangerous.”

  I whistled under my breath and turned the radio off and listened to the hum of the tires instead. Damn, I hoped that guy didn’t come to our town. We weren’t prepared for something like that. We didn’t have the manpower. We’d have to call in other fire stations from all around if fires got out of control like that. We’d never had an arsonist before or a murderer. Camden was a quaint, beautiful fishing town with miles of ocean views and the best seafood in the country.

  Who would want to set it on fire?

  I wasn’t worried about it. The guy would probably get caught before making it to our town. I decided to put it out of my head and drive down to the Hampton Mansion. I wouldn’t get bothered there. First, I’d stop for a six-pack of something; I didn’t care what, as long as it burned as it went down, I’d be fine.

  I was driving down the main road that hugged a cliff that lead out to the ocean. Nothing but sharp rocks and angry waves below. One wrong turn and I’d be a goner.

  My eyes felt heavy from the twenty-four-hour shift, and I rubbed them for a split second to bring life back into the heavy bags under them. Only when I blinked, I saw black smoke pouring into the sky, along with the wickedness of orange flames. I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw the fire truck coming up behind me, but I didn’t have anywhere to go. There was nowhere to turn into to let the truck by. The road was too narrow and dangerous. Many accidents happen here, but I wasn’t about to be one of them.

  I flipped on the emergency lights Ethan installed in the truck and did the only thing left to do.

  The pedal met the floorboard, and the rumble of the diesel amplified in the air as I sped down the road, getting to where the fire was. Shit, this was huge. This was the first fire Ethan would be fighting without me, and while I was mad at him, I couldn’t let him do this alone. The closer we got to the backside of town, the more I recognized the area.

  As the cliffs ended, the road opened wider, and that was when I notice cars on the side of the road. People were climbing out of their vehicles to watch the flames get higher and higher. The smoke was getting thicker and started to swirl its way through the trees. The locals had to cover their mouths with their shirts. They pointed to the angry hell piercing the sky, and I knew this was going to be the talk of the town for months, maybe years to come.

  Things like this didn’t happen here.

  Ash started to fall down on my windshield, and when I turned my wipers on, a smog of white smeared along the glass. I cleared it out of the way with win
dshield wiper fluid, but it was no use. The ash was coming down hard, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was snowing, but I did know better. This ash was someone’s home burning, a piece of their livelihood. The tires skid when I took a sharp left onto the street I was on earlier to rescue Ms. Williams’s cat. The closer I got, the thicker the smoke became.

  I could feel the heat already from inside the truck. My forehead started to sweat, and my palms gripped the steering wheel as tight as possible. Pulling off to the side of the street, I jumped out just as the firetruck stopped.

  The neighborhood had already been evacuated, but a few people lingered to watch the fire as if it were a show. Without gear, I couldn’t get closer to the house. My heart hammered in my chest when I saw the familiar burnt tree I climbed earlier in the day.

  It wasn’t just any house on fire.

  It was Ms. Williams’s.

  I ran as close as I could to her house. My boots hit the grass, and my eyes watered from the blistering heat pouring off the hungry blaze. “Ms. Williams?” I shouted for her, a part of me knew it was useless because the hiss and crackle of her house burning was too loud for anyone to hear.

  A mist of water drifted over my skin, and I turned my head left to see Nickson controlling the hose, aiming it right at the roof of the house. Ethan had on his gear, but I couldn’t let him go in there alone for a body check. I looked from the house to the truck, my eyes watering at the thought of something happening to my brother.

  Or maybe it was from the fire.

  Either way, no way in hell would anyone else have his six better than me.

  “You have to let me go in there with him!” I shouted at Locke, the Chief.

  He shook his head. “You’re too tired. You just got off a twenty-four-hour shift. I can’t do it.” He yelled over the fire roaring and the hose pumping water.

  “I’m fine. I swear. You have to!”

  “You’re going to have to sit this one out.” He slapped my shoulder.