Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
S ky looked up as Kristina came outside with a very wet Arlo. Sky was currently working on project “don’t think about that kiss with Becket.” She’d been working on it for three days, and so far it had been going well, but only because the doggy daycare was such a good distraction.
Sky scratched Bella’s head, the Chinese Crested Dog never far from her side. “How’d you do with your first solo wash?” she asked.
Arlo shook his wet fur, and Kristina scrunched her eyes as water splattered all over her.
Sky laughed. Arlo was a very large, very happy German Shepherd. He’d been attending the doggy daycare since Sky had opened the place and usually had a wash twice a week.
Kristina looked down at her damp clothes. “Well, I’m not sure who got wetter, him or me.”
“Even with the gown, it can be hard to avoid getting soaked.”
“I realized that pretty quickly. He’s lucky he’s cute.”
They were all cute. She swept her gaze over the dozen dogs in the outdoor play area.
Bella snuggled her head into Sky’s lap, and she grinned down at the dog.
“How does a doggy daycare compare to your previous office job?” Sky asked.
“I get a lot more wet kisses.”
She laughed. “I would hope so.”
“This move has been good for me. I needed a change.”
“I know that feeling.”
Kristina looked up, curiosity lightening her eyes. “I thought you grew up here?”
“I did. But then I moved away. It was great until it wasn’t anymore.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. It took her a moment to get more words out. “So I came back here because I needed some familiarity.”
Kristina’s brows furrowed, and she seemed to debate her next words. “Glad to be back?”
“Some days.” The days when her parents weren’t completely overbearing.
“Well, at least you have people here who care about you. I’ve been finding it hard to make friends. I went to the bar the other night but left after an hour because it felt weird drinking alone.”
Sky’s heart squeezed. “I’ll go with you next time.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know. I want to.”
There was a small pause before Kristina responded. “Um. Okay. Yeah, that would be fun.”
“Great. How about tonight? They do half-price jugs of cocktail at CJ’s on Wednesdays.”
“Jugs of cocktail?”
“Yep. It’s as great as it sounds.” Her watch beeped, alerting her that she had somewhere to be. “I need to run off to an acupuncture appointment, but I’ll text you the details.”
“Sounds good.”
Sky smiled before heading inside. She was actually looking forward to CJ’s. She needed a night out. Since returning to Amber Ridge, she hadn’t exactly been a socialite. In fact, the only person she really hung out with was her mother.
That was kind of sad, wasn’t it?
Dolly looked up from the front desk. “What’s put that smile on your face?”
“I’m getting some half-price cocktails at CJ’s tonight.” She grabbed her bag from the office.
“Damn, woman, and here I was thinking you’d gotten laid.”
Dolly’s words dragged her mind right back to Becket’s kiss. It was far from sex, but the way his lips had moved against hers, the strength in his arm as he’d wrapped it around her—it had felt like more.
She shook her head. Stop thinking about it, Sky. It was all for show.
She rounded the desk and pulled open the door. “Nope. I’ll see you tomorrow, Dolly.”
“There’s still time,” the older woman called as the door swung shut.
Jesus . Did that woman ever get her mind out of the gutter?
On her way to Clara’s home acupuncture studio, Sky cracked her car window open…only to frown.
Smoke. The smell wasn’t strong, but it was there, lightly lingering in the wind. And it immediately made her chest feel so tight that it became hard to breathe.
Memories tried to swamp her. Memories she worked so hard to keep deep inside.
She quickly rolled her window back up, but the subtle scent of smoke was still there, pulling her back to when she’d lost Charlie.
A lump formed in her throat, but she swallowed it. Sometimes just thinking about him made her want to fall apart. Not everyone understood. Her parents certainly didn’t. You had to have had a pet, loved a pet like family, and then lost them far too early, to get it.
When she reached Clara’s, she took a moment in her car to just breathe. But even when she knocked on the door to the garage Clara had converted into an acupuncture space, she still didn’t feel okay.
Clara opened the door and smiled. “Sky. Hi. Right on time. Come in.”
“Hey. Thanks.”
She hadn’t even gotten inside when Clara touched her arm. “Is everything okay?”
Crap. Did she not look okay? Or was this just Clara being Clara? The other woman had this freaky way of reading people.
“I’m fine. I just…I smelled smoke on the way here and got worried.”
“Yeah, I smelled it too, but I’m sure Becket and his crew have it handled.” Clara sat at her desk, while Sky took a seat beside her. “There’s something else though, isn’t there?”
Sky glanced down at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap. And the words just fell out of her. “I lost someone in Cheyenne due to a fire. My dog. It might sound silly, but—”
“It doesn’t sound silly. He was your family.”
She blinked back tears. “He was.”
Clara reached out and took her hands. “I’m so sorry.”
This time, she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
To her parents, Charlie had just been a dog. Sky had felt so alone in her grief. It was one of the reasons she’d opened up the doggy daycare. And it was why she ran so many fundraisers. Forever trying to make amends for being the reason Charlie lost his life.
She scrubbed the tears from her face. “I think this appointment couldn’t have come at a better time.” She’d been getting acupuncture for most of her adult life because it always made her feel good. Especially at stressful times.
Clara pushed her chair back. “Why don’t you hop up on the bed? I know just what points to do today.”
“Sounds great.” She slipped off her shoes and got comfortable on the bed.
Clara reached for Sky’s arm and touched her pulse. Clara always started sessions this way. All acupuncturists did. Sky had asked Clara about it once, and she’d said something about Qi and blood and organs…it had all gone over her head. She also checked her tongue sometimes, but she had no idea why she did that.
Clara turned and prepared the needles. “How’s everything else in your life going?”
Sky could have laughed. Between her parents and Tony and Becket, her life was somewhere between a comedy and a tragedy. But she hadn’t told Clara about Becket pretending to be her boyfriend because, one, she hadn’t seen her, and two, what was she supposed to say? Your brother has agreed to pretend to date me so my parents won’t set me up with a guy who smells like onions?
“It’s okay,” Sky finally answered. “I’m going to CJ’s tonight with someone from work, so I’m hoping some cocktails will fix everything.”
Clara turned back with a tray of needles. “Oh, I’m going to CJ’s too, with Indie.”
“What a coincidence.” Although, not entirely. CJ’s cocktails were popular in this town. “I’ll see you there.”
“You definitely will.”
Clara stared at her feet, and the moment the first needle went in, she felt the first bit of tension ease from her body. She had no idea how this worked, but it did. It was magic.
* * *
Flames burned in front of Becket’s eyes. Bright yellow flames that covered the ground around him.
He held the hose over his shoulder, pointing the water at the fire as Teddy held the body of the hose behind him. His crew was working with another station. They’d been out here for an hour, not only putting out the original fire but also all the spot fires. The damn wind wasn’t helping.
By the end, his crew was on the scene for another hour before the last of the flames were finally extinguished.
Thank God.
He pulled off his helmet and turned to Teddy. “You okay?”
Teddy nodded. “That was a big one.”
No shit. The biggest they’d seen in a while. The question was, what had started it?
They headed back to the road to see Wayne, the chief of Station 62, standing by one of his engines with his guys. They’d called Wayne’s station for backup when it was clear the blaze was bigger than expected.
When Wayne saw Becket and Teddy, he strode toward them. “Investigators are on their way, but I know the cause of the fire.”
By the tone of Wayne’s voice, Becket knew he wasn’t going to like the answer. “Tell me.”
“Arson. Just off Highway 58, someone doused trees and vegetation in gasoline, then set them alight.”
Becket’s muscles contracted. They hadn’t had an arsonist in town since he’d become chief. “I’ll let our sheriff know. Thanks for the backup.”
Wayne dipped his head.
Becket moved back toward his truck, his muscles tight, anger heating his blood.
“Shit,” Teddy cursed under his breath. “Someone set the mountain on fire.”
“I don’t know how people can be so sick in the head that they’d intentionally start a fire.” Fires were aggressive, and they didn’t show mercy. Give them oxygen, and they’d burn right through anything. They’d take lives. Homes. Everything in their path.
“Sick in the head is correct,” Teddy said quietly.
When they reached the engine, Becket climbed in and lifted his radio. “Everyone okay out there?”
He waited until he got confirmations from each of his crew members before calling his brother.
Jesse answered on the third ring. “Becket. How’d it go with the fire?”
“We took care of it, and my crew’s starting to clear out.”
“Good. The investigator there?”
“Not yet. But the chief from Station 62 believes it was arson. Gasoline was used to set the fire.”
Jesse cursed. “You’re kidding me?”
“I wish I was. Investigators will confirm.” He hoped the information was wrong, but Wayne had been a chief for twenty years—the guy knew fires.
“I’ll take some deputies down there and talk to the investigator,” Jesse said. “Are you okay?”
His back teeth ground together as he looked out the window. “We put our lives on the line putting out these fires. Finding out this one was intentionally set feels like a kick in the gut.”
Teddy grunted his agreement from the passenger seat.
“I know,” Jesse said firmly. “You did your part by putting it out, and if it’s confirmed this was arson, I’ll do my part in finding the perp. I don’t know what the hell’s going on in this town. Someone’s been breaking into houses and robbing people. Now someone’s setting fires.”
“Was there another break-in?”
“Last night. An elderly man’s house. Fortunately, he had dogs who woke up barking and scared the perp off, but they still got away with some stuff.”
Becket cursed.
“Anyway. That’s my problem. I’ll head down there now.”
No. It was everyone’s problem.
He hung up and radioed his team again. Once it was confirmed everyone was packed up and in the other engine, he and Teddy left.
Back at the station, Becket took a quick shower before heading to his office to write up the incident. A lot of people thought firefighters were always in the thick of the action, but that was a lie. Every incident had to be written up, and all the paperwork took hours. Some weeks, he spent way more time in front of his computer than putting out fires.
He was halfway through the report when he glanced at his phone for the hundredth damn time. He hadn’t seen Sky since the dinner with her parents and Tony last weekend. They’d exchanged numbers after everyone left, but neither had used them…yet.
Fuck it.
Becket: Are you avoiding me, Peaches?
Her response was immediate.
Sky: No more than usual.
Becket: Still processing my earth-shattering kiss?
Sky: Still processing the loss of my tree.
Becket: You really need to move past that. It’s not healthy to hang on to things for so long.
Sky: What’s not healthy is telling my parents that I was too shy to ask you out a month ago because you’re the fire chief. Talk about a big ego.
Becket: Nothing wrong with a healthy ego.
Sky: If you were with me right now, you’d be witnessing an eye roll.
Becket: I’d actually like to see that eye roll. Tonight?
Sky: Tonight I’m going out.
Becket: Where?
Sky: None of your business.
Becket: I’m your boyfriend, of course it’s my business.
Sky: Fake boyfriend, so no, it isn’t.
Becket: If you don’t tell me where you’re going, I might just get worried and call your parents looking for you.
Sky: You wouldn’t. You don’t even have their number.
Becket: I would, and I do. Your mom was all too happy to give it to me at dinner the other night. I think she’s really warming up to me.
The three dots popped up then disappeared. His lips tugged up. He could just imagine the frustration on her face.
Sky: Fine. I’m going to CJ’s with a friend, so no need to overreact and call my mother like a psycho.
Becket: Now it’s not very nice to call your boyfriend names, is it?
Sky: I’m not replying anymore.
Becket: It’s always so nice chatting with you, Peaches.
He was still smiling when a knock came at the door. Teddy leaned against the frame. “Hey.”
“Hey, a few of us are ordering lunch from the diner. Want anything?
“A turkey sandwich would be great.”
“Done.”
Teddy was about to walk away when Becket called him back. “Ted?”
“Yeah, boss?”
“You busy tonight?”
His brows lifted. “On a Wednesday night? My plan was to have a beer on my deck.”
“Want to have a beer with me at CJ’s instead?”
“A beer with my boss at the bar so I can win some brownie points? Hell yeah, I do.”
“See you there at eight.”
Teddy nodded and wandered back down the hall. Becket turned back to his phone, about to text Sky that he’d see her there…but he stopped himself.
It would be a nice surprise for his girlfriend.