Chapter 10 Gisselle
Four days had passed since our mini-golf date and impromptu dinner at my place.
My mind drifted back to Liam's arms around my waist, his lips on mine, and the way he looked at me before his promise.
"Next time, I'm not leaving this early." We'd texted every day since, but our schedules hadn't aligned for another meet-up yet.
I refocused my attention on the inspection checklist. The community center's main entrance had given me hell for three days, but today my mind refused to cooperate at all.
I flipped to a fresh page. After all, I had a reputation to build.
I had come to Goodwin Grove for a fresh start, personally and professionally.
After Shelton left me doubting my own talent, I promised myself I would focus on my career first — no distractions, no complications, and no men who would make me question my worth or perceptions.
Still, Liam wasn't Shelton. Not even close.
Where Shelton had slick charm and hidden agendas, Liam was straightforward and honest to a fault.
What I saw was what I got: a man committed to his job, to his community, with walls built around his heart for reasons I was just beginning to understand.
Liam was a man who washed dishes in my kitchen as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I picked up my phone and called him.
"Hello."
"Hi, I hope your shift is going well. I thought I'd give you a quick call.
"I was thinking about you. Shift's quiet so far."
I couldn't suppress my smile. "Good to know you can be distracted, too. Some of us have actual work to accomplish."
"Says the woman calling me during business hours. What's distracting you, Ms. Daniels?"
I bit my lip, debating how flirty to be. "A certain promise about next time is making it hard to focus." My heart did a ridiculous little dance in my chest as I waited for him to respond.
Liam chuckled. "Tomorrow night. My place. I'll cook again. Seven p.m."
I grinned, all pretense of playing it cool abandoned.
"It's a date. Try not to get too distracted on your shift today. Those hoses can be heavy."
"Oh, I have a heavy hose for you!"
"Oh my God. Bye, Lieutenant." I laughed out loud.
Liam chuckled. "You started it. I'll call you later."
I tapped the end call button and tucked my phone into my pocket, still smiling. I adjusted my hard hat as I stepped through the chain-link fence surrounding the community center construction site. I nodded to a few of the workers who recognized me.
"Good morning, Ms. Daniels. I didn't expect you until tomorrow's inspection," the site foreman commented.
"Yeah, I know, but I needed to do a preliminary walk-through and check a few measurements." I checked off another item on my list as I examined the newly reinforced floor joist in what would become the main gathering space.
"We're in good shape. Everything's coming along according to plan," he noted.
"Looking good, Mr. Morrison," I commented back. He gave me a thumbs-up without interrupting his tasks.
I moved toward something that appeared to be water damage. Kneeling, I ran my hand along the concrete, checking for cracks or signs of moisture problems, when I spotted a darker stain.
"The hell…" I murmured, setting my clipboard to the side to better examine the discoloration.
Something was wedged under the floor joist, near the stain. It was a fabric of some kind, partially burned and stiff, with whatever had soaked into it. Using my pen, I pulled it out without touching it directly. It was a rag, and it smelled like gasoline.
I sat back on my heels, my mind racing. Had someone planned on burning my project?
My first instinct was to call Liam, but I was sure there were proper channels for this kind of thing to create a paper trail.
I stood and brushed the dust from my knees.
Mr. Morrison was now on the opposite side of the building.
I'd inform him after I filed the official report.
No need to cause panic among the workers when the fire hadn't actually been set.
I pulled out my phone to snap photos from different angles.
I then opened the measurement app on my phone to record precise distances.
I tapped on the web on my phone, clicking on the town's incident reporting system to file a report detailing what I'd found, attached the measurements and photos, and selected the recipients: the town building inspector, fire marshal, and police department, hit 'Submit,' and tucked my phone back into my pocket.
Questions swirled in my mind as I gathered caution tape and headed back toward the evidence site to rope it off until the officials arrived.
As I finished taping off the last piece of yellow caution tape, I turned to see a white SUV with 'GGFD' in reflective letters on the side.
I dusted the legs of my jeans, attempting to make myself presentable.
The SUV came to an abrupt stop, and Liam jumped out. Even from a distance, I could read the tension in his shoulders. He scanned the site until his eyes locked on me as he moved with a purposeful stride.
"Gisselle, are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine. How did you know?" I questioned, crossing my arms.
"I'm on the automated alert system for all fire-related incidents. Why didn't you call me directly?"
I shrugged. "I followed protocol the way I would for any other potential problems."
Liam's eyebrows shot up. "Potential problem? This is attempted arson and possibly connected to an active investigation."
"Look. I didn't want to be the woman who bypassed official channels because I'm seeing the fire lieutenant, okay? I wanted to handle this professionally."
"That’s what you're worried about? How this looks?"
"I wanted to be taken seriously. You know I'm already getting pushback from some of the council members."
Liam stepped back. "Show me what you found."
His abrupt shift back to professional mode caught me off guard, but I quickly recovered. "It's by the northeast corner foundation."
He followed me to the evidence. Liam crouched down, examining the stain and the rag's placement without touching anything.
"Did you touch any of this?" he asked.
"No. I used my pen to move the rag enough to confirm its identity. I then took photos, measurements, and everything I documented in the report."
Liam nodded, pulling out his phone to take his own photos. "Smart. This might be our guy."
A chill ran through me. "Why here? Why my project?"
His jaw tightened. "That's what I need to figure out. Who else knows about this?"
"Just us so far. I was going to inform the site foreman after I roped off the area, but then you showed up. Do you think the person who did this might still be here? Watching?"
"It's possible. These fires are too calculated to be random, and the timing…" He didn't finish his sentence.
Before I processed the disturbing thought, Liam closed the distance between us in quick steps and pulled me into his arms. The move was so unexpected that I froze for a second before melting into him. His arms tightened around me.
"Fuck, I gotta keep you safe."
Raw emotion broke through his professional facade. My eyes burned with unexpected tears as I allowed myself to feel it — the fear and violation of someone targeting my project. I clutched the back of his uniform shirt, holding on like he was the only solid thing in my life.
Liam pulled back, making eye contact. "I need you to consider something. I've already saved you from one fire, so until we figure out who's behind this and if it's connected to you personally or the building, I want you to stay with me at my place."
I blinked, sure I'd misheard him. "Move in with you?"
"Temporarily, until we know it's safe. My house has a security system, and I'd sleep better knowing you were safe."
We'd been dating, if I could even call it that, for barely a few weeks.
Moving in together temporarily would be a massive step forward in whatever this was becoming between us.
Part of me wanted to reject the offer immediately and insist I could take care of myself.
Yet another part of me couldn't ignore the deliberate placement of that rag.
I'd seen the genuine concern in Liam's eyes when he arrived.
Accepting help didn't always equate to weakness.
"What about my work? I have meetings, site inspections—"
Liam interrupted. "We'll figure it out. You can still come here to work, just with extra precautions, and you'll have somewhere secure to lay your head at night."
I studied Liam's face, seeing the man beneath, the one who'd bought me dinner because he thought I might forget to eat, and the man who'd texted me every evening since our first date.
"Okay," I finally agreed, resting my head on his chest.
This project represented everything I'd come to Goodwin Grove to build.
I tried not to think about how easily it could have gone up in flames, or about how quickly Liam had become someone I trusted enough to lean on even when my independence felt threatened.
Both revelations were equally terrifying.