CHAPTER TWO
It was Friday, and Ben was dragging. All he wanted was coffee, but when he entered the firehouse kitchen, a crew of eight sat around the massive oak table scarfing down breakfast. All eyes turned to him.
“Mansfield,” Simmons greeted. “We were just talking about going out tomorrow to celebrate Decker’s promotion. You in?”
Simmons should have known better. Ben hardly ever hung out with the guys. Even when he was one of them, it was rare.
“Maybe next time,” Ben said, filling his mug with the russet-brown nectar that would hopefully put a little pep in his step.
“If I had a quarter for every time you said that, I’d be frickin’ rich,” Franklin said. “You gotta loosen up, bro. Have some fun.”
“You guys have enough fun for the rest of us,” Ben said. “Besides, I have tons of fun at home.” He knew his coworkers thought of him as a hard-nosed, workaholic, but since he never did much to dissuade them of the notion, he could see why they came to that conclusion.
“Uh-huh. You think you’re too good for us, big shot?” Simmons jeered.
Ben huffed out a laugh. “Hardly.”
“Hey,” another firefighter chimed in. “How about the Fire and Ice game? We could use you. And we practice during the day, so maybe you could fit it into your busy schedule?”
“That’s coming up again already?” Ben said. The Fire and Ice game was an annual charity basketball game where a team of firefighters played a team of police officers.
“Every January.”
“Huh,” Ben said. He’d played the last few years and had a good time. Daytime practice meant he wouldn’t miss any of Maya’s games and would still have the evenings free to spend with her. “I’ll think about it.” He held up his mug in a goodbye salute and returned to his office.
Ben had been a firefighter in New Bern for ten years before studying and testing to become an arson investigator. Now, he worked banker’s hours and spent most of his day behind a desk.
He sipped his coffee and opened the file outlining his latest case—a dumpster fire, set intentionally, outside a big box store. Not very exciting, but it paid the bills.
A minute later, three familiar beeps rang out from the overhead speaker. “Two-car MVA at Trent Boulevard and First Street. Possible injuries. Code three,” a calm voice announced.
Half the muscles in Ben’s body reflexively made a move to stand. The other half remembered that wasn’t his job anymore. He relaxed back into his cushy chair and hoped the guys had gotten enough of their breakfast while it was hot. Sometimes he missed being on the front lines. Sometimes not. The inspector job was more stable. Better hours. Better suited to his situation at home.
From his office, he heard the heavy garage doors rumble open, and the sirens begin to wail as the ladder truck and ambulance pulled out of the bay. Out his window, the big red engine sped by.
His cell phone rang, and after checking caller ID, he answered.
“Hey, honey. Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”
“Hi, Dad. It’s study hall period,” his daughter, Maya, said.
“Oh, okay. What’s up?”
“I’m calling to ask if I can spend the night at a friend’s tomorrow. We want to see a movie and then have a sleepover.”
“Sure. That’s sounds fine.”
“Cool. You coming to my game tonight?”
“First game of the season? Of course I’m coming. Seven?”
“Yep. See you then. Gotta go. Bye.”
He looked at the photo on his desk and sighed. The little girl staring back at him was now closing in on eighteen. How had that happened so quickly?
Since the photo, Maya had shot up to almost six feet and was the star of her high school basketball team. Attending her game would be the highlight of his weekend. The guys razzed him about not having a life. They thought he didn’t hang out because he was stuck up or fundamentally opposed to having fun, but really, he just had more important things to focus on.
But as Maya, and lately, his mother, kept reminding him, she’d be off to college this time next year. They worried he wasn’t prepared for that, and maybe he wasn’t.
Thinking of his mother must have conjured her because not ten minutes later, she called.
“Just wanted to find out your schedule for Thanksgiving. When will you be here?”
His parents lived in Knoxville, and since Maya’s mom wasn’t in the picture, they always spent the holidays with his family.
“We plan to leave here on Wednesday morning and drive straight through. Should arrive about five. Maya has a game on Saturday, so we’ll have to take off on Friday afternoon.”
“All right. Don’t suppose you’re bringing anyone else? A lady friend perhaps?”
Ben sighed. “Here we go…”
“Oh, stop. I just worry about you. You’re a handsome man. Surely, there must be women throwing themselves at you.”
“You’re not wrong,” he said dryly. “It’s a constant battle.”
She laughed. “We’ll see you in a couple of weeks. Give Maya a kiss from us.”
He hung up and glanced at the calendar—two weeks until Thanksgiving. Maya had a few basketball games before then. Other than that, his schedule was pretty wide open. Work and Maya were really the only things on his plate.
Ian Knox poked his head in Ben’s office door. “Bro, the guys say you turned them down again to go out. I’m going. Come with?”
Ian was one of the fire investigators in Ben’s crew. If Ben had anything resembling a friend, it would be Ian. Even that was probably a stretch, but he liked him and wouldn’t mind hanging out with him. He tried to remember the last time he went out to “have fun.” It had been a while. Maybe it was time he started planning for life after Maya.
“Actually, Maya just told me she’s having a sleepover tomorrow, so sure. I’m in.”
“What?” Ian said, clutching his chest and feigning surprise. “I didn’t think it’d be that easy. But, hey, that’s great. Meet you there around nine?”
“Nine? My bedtime is ten.”
“I believe that.” Ian chuckled. “One drink. It’ll do you good to get out of the house.” Ian waved on his way out.
Ben worked till five, packed up his stuff, and drove home. Maya had already come and gone. The varsity team was required to cheer on the JV players, so she had to be at the school hours before her game.
He changed into jeans and a hoodie, walked Jasper, their ten-year-old beagle, and ate alone. The eerie quiet made him antsy, and he finally got up and turned on the TV.
Maya’s game was the home opener, so the drive only took ten minutes. He paid the minimal entrance fee and climbed to his regular seat at the top of the bleachers.
Pride overwhelmed him when they introduced the starting lineup, and Maya and her teammates ran onto the court one by one. His baby. All grown up. One thing he liked about the games was that they allowed him to study her without getting “that” look. She had his height but her mother’s beauty—long chestnut hair and pretty brown eyes. He knew she’d dated a little here and there but never really had a boyfriend. And thank goodness. He wasn’t ready for that.
Of course, he’d probably scared the crap out of her with his own high school love debacle. Jenna had been his girlfriend since freshman year. He assumed they’d grow up and get married. But when she got pregnant at the end of their senior year, her true colors showed.
He’d proposed, and she’d accepted, only to break his heart before any nuptials took place. Not even a year after Maya’s birth, she sat Ben down and told him she wasn’t meant for motherhood. That she wanted to travel the world and couldn’t be bothered with a child. Stunned to find himself an eighteen-year-old single dad, his whole life changed. After that, he had only one priority—and her name was Maya.
Maya scored an easy layup, and Ben cheered along with the crowd. At the bell signaling the end of the first quarter, Maya looked up and waved, a broad smile on her face. In moments like this, he had no regrets. She was the joy of his life.
Halfway through the second quarter, a girl he’d never seen before scored. A group sitting several rows down from him, clearly the girl’s family, cheered wildly. He could only see the backs of their heads, but one woman captured his attention. Out of the sea of blonds, she was the lone one with dark hair, nearly black. When she turned to talk to the person beside her, he caught the glint of bright blue eyes, a dramatic contrast to her hair.
Throughout the rest of the game, a strange tug kept forcing him to glance in her direction. She was pretty, no sense denying that. Not that he cared. From his view on the top row, he spied several other men eyeing her, including many seated next to wives.
The group seemed to be paired off. An older couple—the parents, Ben surmised. And four younger duos, three of whom juggled infants, all around the same age. The dark-haired woman was the only exception. He watched as she chatted away with the people around her, took turns holding a baby, and cheered for the new girl on Maya’s team, Bella.
After the game, Ben flashed a goodbye wave to Maya and headed home. After weekday practices, she’d come straight home and start her homework. But it was Friday, and their first game of the season, so she would shower and go out with her friends. Probably to get ice cream or coffee.
He returned to an empty condo, walked Jasper again, and settled on the couch with the latest Jack Reacher novel. A blue-eyed brunette butted into his thoughts more than once, but he tamped down any glimmer of attraction. Women weren’t a priority right now. Maybe, once Maya left for college, he’d consider dating. But until then, she remained his main focus and responsibility.