“I can’t see the geese approaching Brutus. Susie is smaller than them. He definitely isn’t.”
Quinn relaxed against the back cushion. “I went to Cimarron City High School. I wonder if it’s changed much since I was gone. I’ve been so busy getting my house in order that I haven’t been by it yet or contacted my childhood friends.”
“Yeah, in the opposite direction of Firehouse 14. One of these days when you aren’t working, come by and have lunch with me in the teacher’s part of the cafeteria.”
“A walk down memory lane.” Did he want to go down that path? He left Cimarron City when Carol, the girl he’d dated in high school for two years, broke it off after they graduated then within months married Sam Voss. He’d found living here had made it hard for him to move on. Their constant presence had driven it home. She’d wanted to get married right away, but he’d wanted to wait a while as they settled into life after high school. Now he had no choice but deal with the reason she’d walked away from him. She’d been pregnant and had needed to get married even though the child could never have been his. They had pledged to save themselves until they married, which obviously she’d never done. God wanted him to forgive, but he hadn’t been able to.
“Quinn? Is something wrong?”
He blinked and focused on his guest. “Sorry. Just thinking about the past.” Which he’d known he would have to do when he made the decision to come home. His grandma was too important to him to let the past interfere with his responsibilities toward her. “I’m sure some of my teachers are still there.”
She grinned. “Did you ever have Mary Alexander? She’s the head of the English department and in the classroom across the hall from mine.”
He nodded. “Senior year. She was a taskmaster, but I learned to appreciate reading. That’s one of my pastimes.”
“What do you like to read?”
“Anything with a good story. I’m on duty for twenty-four hours then off forty-eight hours unless there’s an arson fire. I’ll often be working suspected fires on my time off.”
“But that’s not time off.”
“Being the arson investigator is my second job. There are two of us in the department.”
“Who’s the other one?”
“I met him yesterday. Cliff Butler. He’s been here a few months. I replaced the guy that had been the arson expert for the department when they only had one. Mac Zoner retired.”
“I know him. He goes to my church.” She checked her watch. “Which reminds me, I have to go to church early tomorrow. This is my week to be in the nursery.”
“I can’t believe it’s already ten o’clock. Brutus will be sad to see Susie leave, but he’ll have the walk tomorrow to look forward to.” And he would, too. Their three hours together sped by, which surprised Quinn. In Dallas, he’d dated, but no one had sparked his interest like Serena. He rose and moved around the coffee table.
Serena followed suit, stopping to pick up Susie from the floor next to Brutus. Her poodle wiggled, trying to get out of her owner’s hold. “This is a first, but I was prepared for it. She seems to have a one-track mind.”
His dog climbed to his feet and stood next to Serena, sniffing Susie. “I know what you mean. Brutus does, too. Wait a sec. We’ll walk you to your house, but I need his leash. Otherwise, I don’t think it’ll be easy to get Brutus back here.”
“Thankfully, I can carry my dog.”
Quinn hurried into the kitchen, snatched the leash off its hook, and followed Serena out of his house with Brutus between them.
Serena shivered. “The temperature dropped a lot in three hours.”
“That’s Oklahoma. Cold?”
She nodded as she snuggled Susie against her blue blouse.
Quinn moved Brutus to his left and placed his arm around Serena. A gust of wind kicked up. She pressed closer to Quinn’s side. He liked holding her. Time flew by in her presence. The evening was over before he realized it.
On her porch, she rotated toward him with Susie held between them. “Thank you for making my birthday special. I was just going to ignore turning twenty-seven, one more year closer to thirty.”
He winced. “I’m going to be thirty in several months. I’d better savor the time I have left.”
“Do you have many family members living in town, beside your grandmother?”
“No, I have a small family. My dad died five years ago. My mother returned to her hometown in Oregon. No other relatives here. Dad’s family was from Delaware, and a few distant relatives live there. His mother moved here when my parents did right before I was born. I stayed with Granny while Mom and Dad worked. Now it’s my turn to take care of her.”
“I hope I’ll get to meet her soon.”
“You will. She loves where she’s staying, but she’s wanted me to return to Cimarron City ever since Dad died. I finally have.”
“Family is important.”
“How about yours?”
“I have a small one, too. My father divorced my mother years ago. She remarried. I don’t have any siblings.”
“Neither do I.” Again, another thing they had in common. Was that why he was attracted to Serena? Quinn stepped closer.
Susie started growling and wiggling in Serena’s arms. “I’d better call it a night. I don’t want to have to chase her again.”
Quinn slanted a look over his shoulder toward the hedge then leaned close to Serena’s ear. “I’ll wait until I hear you lock the door.”
“See you tomorrow.” She pulled a key ring out of her pocket and unlocked her door.
“Don’t forget to turn on your alarm.”
“I won’t.” She entered her house.
“Call me when you get home from church. Then we’ll decide when to go for a walk.” He kept his voice low in case someone was on the other side of the hedge.
He waited until the sound of the lock clicked into place. Wanting to leave, Brutus tugged on his leash. Quinn released him, and his Great Dane darted toward the same place Quinn had searched last night. Quinn dashed around the corner of the green barrier between the two yards.
Using his flashlight app on his phone, he homed in on the area where he’d examined the night before. Nothing—not even the footprints were there. Dirt had been put over them.
Chapter Six
Serena couldn’t believe how much she’d been looking forward to seeing Quinn. If she exercised, it was in the form of going for a walk. She usually used the time to work through any problems she was having, especially with any of her students. But today, she didn’t want to think about school or her classes.
Not a cloud in the sky. The perfect temperature for being outside leisurely making their way to the park. Multi-colored flowers bloomed in everyone’s yard. All the trees leafed out, shading the sidewalk.
“How were the kids in the nursery this morning?” Quinn asked.
“Great. They got to play outside. What did you do?”
“I had a date with my grandmother for breakfast. Then I took her to her church.”
“Which one?” She slowed her pace as they neared Keith’s house across the street.
“The Church of the Redeemer.”
She stopped. “That’s mine, too. Who’s your grandmother?”
“Brenda Compton.”
“Not Taylor?”
“She married twice. Her second husband, not my grandfather, died four years ago.”
“You have a lovely grandmother. I’ve spoken to her several times.”
“She mentioned she knew you this morning.”
“Before we move on, the red brick, one-story house directly across the street is Keith’s house. One of his younger brothers is outside.”
“Okay. We probably shouldn’t stay here any longer.” Quinn continued their trek toward the park. “What’s Keith look like?”
“I’ll show you his photo in last year’s yearbook when we get back.”
“Good. I’d like to know what he looks like, especially if he’s the o
ne who brought Susie into my backyard.”
“I don’t think it’s him. He’s more in your face, but I could be wrong. Maybe nothing else will happen.” She prayed it didn’t. If she picked up and moved away from Cimarron City, there was no guarantee this wouldn’t happen in a new place—if this had anything to do with what happened in Mobile.
“Do other students you teach live around here?” Quinn asked as they crossed the road to Sooner Park.
“A few. A girl lives in the opposite direction on the same side of the street, and across from her, there’s another boy. Jamie isn’t in my class right now, but he was last year. Gina is one of my best pupils. An excellent writer. I’m encouraging her to go to college. She has such potential.”
“Next time we go for a walk, let’s go that way.”
Serena headed toward the path that led through a thick grouping of trees that shaded the trail. “Sure. We can go around the block. Sometimes I go that way as a change of scenery.” She liked the fact she had someone to walk with. Having another person to talk to was nice.
As they walked out of the grove, a field sprinkled with wildflowers stretched to a large pond where families of geese and ducks populated. “I can see why you like coming here.” Quinn’s arm brushed against hers as he moved over to allow a jogger to pass.
The touch sent goose bumps up and down her. “There’s a playground, a dog park, a couple of basketball courts and a large, flat area where kids practice soccer and other sports.”
While they went around the pond, Quinn tightened his grip on the leash as Brutus strained forward, wanting to go down to the water and join the birds. “Good thing I work out with weights.”
“He’d be dragging me down the hill.” Serena said with a laugh. Susie parroted what Brutus was doing. “And now I have to fight my own dog.”
“Heel, Brutus.” His Great Dane immediately fell back next to Quinn’s side.
“I’m going to send Susie to you for training. She thinks she runs everything and everyone in my house.”
“Small dogs need obedience training as much as a big one. I discovered that when a friend had a Chihuahua. He tried to chew my ankle every time I went to see my buddy.”
At a fork in the path, Serena spied Keith with his two younger brothers at one of the basketball courts. “There’s Keith.” She pointed toward the trio taking turns trying to make a basket.
As they walked past the court, a ball sailed through the air toward them. Quinn dropped the leash, saying to Brutus, “Stay,” and then he leaped up into the air and caught the ball before it went into the road that lead to the soccer fields.
Keith jogged toward them. “Sorry about that, Ms. Remington. My little brother gets excited when he shoots.”
“No problem, Keith.”
One of the teen’s brothers darted toward Brutus but stopped a few feet away, his eyes wide. “He’s huge!”
“If you want, you can pet Brutus. He’s well trained.”
While the other brother stayed next to Keith, the tow-headed boy, probably nine or ten, slowly made his way to Brutus with his hand held out. Quinn’s dog sniffed the child’s hand then sat calmly while being stroked.
“He’s almost as tall as me.” The kid’s eyes were still round as saucers.
“He’s bigger than most Great Danes.”
Quinn picked up the leash. “Do you have a dog?”
“Our stepdad won’t let us have one.”
Stepdad? When had Keith’s mom gotten married again? Did the stepdad have anything to do with Keith’s anger, which had been escalating since the first of school?
Keith with his hand on his brother’s shoulder next to him said, “Harry, come here. See you at school on Monday, Ms. Remington.”
She nodded at Keith then continued down the trail with Quinn falling into step next to her. “I noticed when Harry talked about a stepdad you were surprised.”
“I’ve seen a man come and go occasionally in the last several months, but I never thought she married him. And I can’t even say who I saw is the new stepdad.”
“Keith didn’t look too happy when his brother said that.”
“It could be that the growing anger I’ve witnessed in Keith is caused by this new man in his mother’s life.” Susie crossed in front of Quinn to be next to Brutus. With Quinn’s attention on Serena, he didn’t see the change. She quickly clasped his arm to slow his progress before he stumbled over her poodle.
He smiled. “I guess I need to keep my eye on the trail.”
When they arrived back at her house, Serena hated saying good-bye to Quinn. His presence made her feel safe. But for the past three years, she’d lived alone. She would go out back with Susie so there was no repeat of yesterday. Otherwise, her poodle would be inside with her with the alarm on. She didn’t want to depend on someone to keep her safe. She wasn’t totally helpless. After arriving in Cimarron City, she’d gone to self-defense classes and she had a gun that she knew how to use.
Serena withdrew her house key from her pocket. “Good luck tomorrow on your first day of work. On Tuesday, I hope you’ll let me know how it went.”
“Let’s go for a walk in the opposite direction on Tuesday after you get home from school.”
“How about five? It’ll give me a few minutes to unwind before I go exercise.”
He chuckled. “I don’t consider a walk exercise.”
She stared at his muscular arms. “That doesn’t surprise me, but I think it is.” She inserted the key in the lock and turned it. When she peered back at Susie, she found Brutus lying on the porch while her poodle climbed on him and rubbed against him.
“I guess our dogs are telling us they’re lonely.”
“What are you going to do with Brutus while you’re gone a whole day?”
“In Dallas, he stayed at the fire station with me. I might have that arrangement here when they see how effective he is with finding the source of fires. Until then, I’m looking into a dog service to walk him this week. So far nothing. Granny said she would come over, but I don’t want her to do that. Brutus, although gentle, is too much for her.”
“I can fill in with Brutus until you find a service when I come home from school.”
“Are you sure? It’ll be tomorrow and Thursday.”
“Yes. I have a feeling I’ll make Susie happy if I go over to your house and let them romp around your backyard. Then I can feed Brutus and make sure he has a big bowl of water.”
“I’ll take care of his feeding. When you train and work with an arson dog, the feeding is tied to his training and work at an arson site.”
“Really. That’s interesting.” She grinned. “Who knows? I might take them both for a walk.”
“I’d like a photo of that.”
She raised one eyebrow. “I thought Brutus was well trained—that all I have to say is heel, sit, or stay.”
“Let’s try it. I’ve always been the person who gave him commands.”
Serena scanned the area while she pictured in her mind being dragged down the sidewalk as she tried to control Brutus. Maybe she should take back her taunt.
Across the street, she spied Mr. Fowler leaving his house with his male companion. The older man was using his cane for the first time in weeks. Good to see that he was recovering after his fall three months ago. She started to wave to the eighty-year-old man, but he didn’t look her way. He hobbled to his car, and after his at-home helper assisted him into the vehicle, the guy hurried around to the driver’s side.
“Who’s that?”
Serena turned toward the door and pushed it open. “Mr. Fowler. His granddaughter works at the high school. She was so happy when she found Zach Davis. According to her, he’s great with her grandfather. With the help, Mr. Fowler was able to come home to live after being in the hospital and rehab center.” She stepped into the house. “Come in. I want to know how to control Brutus even if I don’t go for a walk with him.”
He followed her into her home. “This may take a littl
e time.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Nope, just a fact. It took a while for Brutus and me to work as a team.”
Serena smiled and strolled into the living room. “We’ll see.”
* * *
On his first day with the Cimarron City Fire Department, Quinn stood in front of a house destroyed by fire. He’d have to wait to go inside to look for the cause. Smoke drifted upward from the charred debris.
Chad Kincaid, a firefighter he’d gone to school with, joined him, streaks of soot on his cheeks. “I don’t think you were at the firehouse more than two hours and we had to go out on a call. Any thoughts on this fire.”
Quinn didn’t like to guess about a fire until he investigated. “Don’t know, but it went fast. Who lived here?”
“Mark Johnson.”
“The missing man?”
“Yep. I heard from a friend at the police department that they searched his house at the end of last week but didn’t have any information about where he is or what happened.”
Where was Mark? What caused the fire? He didn’t have a good vibe about what occurred here. Most of the time his gut was right, but there were some cases where his initial response ended up being wrong. “I don’t like to speculate until I investigate. Do you know Mark Johnson? I don’t remember anyone named that when we went to school.”
“No. From what I heard, he’d been living in Cimarron City for about five years.”
“Where does he work?”
“Boomer Accounting.”
“Any family here?”
“No.” Chad slapped Quinn’s back. “It looks like you’ll be working tomorrow, too.”
“Which means I’d better get to work and process this scene. I’ll need your help to cordon off what’s left of the house.” He walked to the fire department’s SUV he drove to the fire. He had a lot to do. He didn’t have a good feeling about this blaze, especially if he was right that there was more than one point of ignition.
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