Chapter Two
Evening stars dot the violet sky above Bearclaw Lake. The inspection crew has finished setting up searchlights around the section of the burned out B&B where the fire started.
Jesse and I walk the lakeside portion of the property. He and his guys are doing the night shift. Around us hangs the dull stench of wet bonfire. I'm betting the fire has lost its legs. “You ready for some overnight babysitting?” I ask.
“You're giving us the easy part, Crusher.” He’s the only young guy in the firehouse who uses my baseball nickname. Of course, Chief and the other guys have been calling me Crusher since the day I was a newbie.
I shake my head. “Nothing easy about it. The place is huge. And it’s tricky. We haven’t had a chance to do any overhaul. Just have to wait for the full demolition tomorrow. One of the excavators is supposed to arrive around daybreak.”
Jesse surveys the B&B’s charred exterior and the heavy-duty searchlights where Dec, the fire inspector, is piecing together the fire’s course. “We have anything definitive about whether it’s arson?”
“Not yet.”
“Sheesh,” Jesse murmurs. “If Dec’s set up for a long night, then he’s suspicious.”
Dec is thorough as fuck on a good day. On a day when he smells something’s off, and we’ve got a demolition scheduled in twelve hours, he’s not leaving any stone unturned.
Who would burn down a B&B? Or a digital detox retreat?
People are insane.
I keep seeing the shocked, devastated look on the owner Samantha's face when I told her about the B&B.
She’s…. Wow. I should’ve been more focused on gently breaking the news about her property. But, damn, I couldn’t stop looking. Dark hair that hangs around her shoulders and deep blue eyes. Fit and athletic, not crazy skinny. Tall and confident. My ideal.
I swear I detected the same jolt of attraction from her. But that was probably me being hopeful. I’m sure she’s married with kids and money to burn on digital detox retreats.
“You grew up here, right?”
Jesse nods. “Born and raised. Never left.”
“Don't blame you one bit.” We make our way toward the Fire Authority vehicles. “What do you know about the owner of this place? Samantha? She seemed pretty upset about the fire.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I've given myself up.
“Why, you interested?” he asks, not missing a beat.
I snarl at him. “She just had her business burned to the ground. I’m concerned in a neighborly way.”
Jesse looks at me like I’m full of shit. “Sammy’s been through a lot. Got divorced a few years ago. I heard it was bad. She moved back to Whispering Pines to start the digital detox retreat. She’s got a daughter, Lara.”
Sheesh. Divorced and a single mom. Then her business goes up in flames. She may be single, but I need to back off. Which is a real gut punch. I haven’t felt that level of attraction since I don’t know when.
It’s pretty much everything I hope to feel when I find my someone. I understand it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes there needs to be a little buildup before the spark takes hold. That’s the logic I’ve been using while cruising through the dating pool.
Jesse and I reach the wildland truck. “Chief will send in replacements in the morning,” I say as I get in the front seat. “Hope you guys brought the coffee.”
“You know we did.”
I give Jesse a wave and make my way over the lawn to the driveway.
The fire is out. No one was hurt. It’ll probably be an uneventful night. A peaceful night.
That’s what Whispering Pines delivers. Peace, security, and certainty. Now if I could find a woman to share that with. A woman who does to me what Sammy did to me. That’s what I’m looking for.
The kids sprint from their parents’ cars to the baseball diamond. Looks like today's going to be a high energy practice. It’s cooler than last week, but all blue skies and sunshine. I’m damn lucky this is how I get to spend my Saturday mornings.
I hold up my hand for a high-five.
Our catcher rears up and slaps my palm. “Whack,” he announces and runs circles around home plate.
“We've got a newcomer today,” Jake, my fellow coach, says as he joins me beside the aluminum bleachers.
“Really? This late in the season?” There's three more weeks left until we stop for the year.
“Lara Lane. She's new in town. Her mom’s from here. They just moved back.” Every nerve in my body fires. It can’t be. “Her mom’s Sammy Lane. Maybe you know her?”
My heart hammers. She’s coming. I haven't seen her since the afternoon of the fire. I also haven't stopped thinking about her. I keep going over every moment of the conversation in the forest. I see the slope of her cheek. The concern etched on her forehead. The soulful depth of her blue eyes.
I hear her words and come up with better responses. I should’ve been more compassionate and understanding. Except, I was in awe of how she made me feel.
This past week, every time I went into town, I wondered if I’d run into her. How could she have been living in Whispering Pines and I never picked up on it?
“Do you know Sammy?” Jake asks.
“I met her last week during the fire.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s some messed up stuff. I heard it was arson.”
How does Jake know it was arson? “We’re still working on the cause,” I lie.
There's no doubt the fire was arson. Someone ignited a pile of greasy rags in the B&B’s basement.
But there won’t be a public announcement until next week. Has Sammy already been telling folks that it’s arson? Or is the rumor mill spitting out stories?
“They’re here,” Jake says at the same moment I see her walking across the field between the parking lot and the diamond.
My lungs fill with a hard inhale. Heaviness settles into my groin. I can’t stop the purely physical reaction. She’s in leggings that show off long, strong legs under a dark, oversized sweatshirt. Casual, messy, sexy.
She and Lara wear matching LA Sharks baseball caps.
Which is crazy.
They look relaxed, chatting and smiling. It’s pretty carefree for a woman whose business just burned to the ground. She must be holding it together for her daughter.
“Sammy,” Jake calls out and waves her toward us.
Her gaze shifts to me, and she tenses. Is she surprised to see me? Upset to be reminded of the fire when she hoped to have a normal T-ball day?
“Thanks for taking Lara this late in the season,” she says, and hugs like Jake like he’s a pretty damn good friend.
“No problem. We’re glad you’re here.” He runs his hands up and down her arms like he’s warming her up. I never thought of Jake as a handsy guy, but he’s giving Sammy a lot of hands.
He turns to me, keeping on arm on Sammy’s back. “Maybe you know my fellow coach….”
“Yeah,” she looks down at my faded Fire Academy T-shirt. “He was at the scene of the fire last week. Thanks for all you and the other firemen did.”
“I wish things could’ve turned out differently,” I say with genuine sympathy, wondering what else I can say or do to make this better for her.
Jake releases her and gives me a slap on the shoulder. “Brady here is the only guy in Whispering Pines who played in the Majors. In Los Angeles, right?”
I nod at Sammy’s cap. “For the Sharks.”
“You played baseball for the Sharks?” Lara asks, looking up at me with the child’s adoration everyone wants, and no one deserves.
“For one season. Then I got injured and that was it.”
“Oh, that’s terrible, horrible, awful.” Lara's brow furrows in a way that reminds me of her mother.
“But now I get to coach T-ball, so it all worked out in the end.”
“I love T-ball,” Lara declares.
“Then let’s get started.”
Sammy gives Lara a quick hug. I watch from the corner of my eye as her shoulders sink when she takes a seat on the bleachers. I’m glad she feels safe coming to the field and letting us take care of Lara for an hour. If nothing else, I can show her daughter a few things about T-ball.
“Coach Brady,” Lara says after we give the kids their final instructions and release them to their parents. “What position did you play for the Sharks?”
I smile down at her. She’s a bright one and very serious about her hitting. Her warmup swings were as methodical as half the guys I played with. “I was on third base.”
“Did you like it?”
“Sure did.”
“Isn’t third base dangerous?” The question comes from behind me.
I turn and find Sammy. A smile tugs at my lips. How pumped am I that she’s curious about the sheer violence involved in fielding at third? “Some people think so. The balls come at us pretty fast.”
“I got hit by a T-ball once,” Lara says as Sammy swings an arm around her small shoulder.
“Was that when you were playing first base?” I ask.
“That’s right.” She grins. “It didn’t hurt.”
One boy taps Lara on the shoulder and tells her she’s “it.” She takes off like a bullet across the field toward the other kids scattered around, playing tag.
Alone with Sammy, I find myself folding my arms across my chest and switching into fireman mode. “How are things going?”
She shakes her head, the happy-mommy expression giving way. “I suppose things are going as well as they can be. I still can't believe it’s….” She looks around. “The fire was set on purpose. I’m still in shock.”
“I wish we could’ve done more to save the structure.”
She shakes her head. “You all did everything you could. You stopped the fire from spreading. That’s the most important thing.”
“I heard the insurance investigators have been to the property.”
“They agree with the Fire Authority about how things happened. So that makes it a crime.” She shakes her head disbelievingly. “But no one has a clue who did it. The police haven’t made any progress.”
She’s right on that one. Our inspector, Dec, said there’s no way to tell if the arson was targeted at Sammy's B&B or an instance of pyromania. The evidence is thin. “Do you and Lara feel safe?”
“We do. We’re only a few minutes from my parents’ house.
I haven’t told Lara the full extent of what happened.
I don’t want to cause too much disruption in her life.
” She looks over at Lara dodging every which way to avoid the tagger.
“The police say there’s no reason to think the arsonist was targeting us in particular. ”
“Even so, you’ve got to be careful.” The police are driving through Sammy’s neighborhood at all hours, checking for anything suspicious.
“If you need anything….” My face gets warm.
Where the hell was I going with this? Am I trying to give her my number?
“Well, you’ve got family and friends around town.
So, I’m sure you’re well taken care of.”
Sammy smiles like she knew exactly where I was going. “Yeah, it’s good having family around.”
“Hey, you guys.” Jake’s wife, Daphne, comes up to us. “Oh, Sammy.” She gives her a long hug. “I know you’ve got so much on your plate, but tomorrow we're having our final barbecue night of the season. Jake and I would love if you and Lara could join us. There’ll be a lot of familiar faces.”
Sammy opens her mouth like she’s about to decline when Lara comes bounding over to her side. “Mommy, please can we go? Lincoln has one thousand Pokémon cards. I really want to see them.”
Daphne bursts out laughing. “Not that many. But he’s got a lot. You should see them.” She turns to me. “Brady, you’re coming, right?”
“I’ll be there.” Suddenly, I’m psyched about a Sunday evening barbecue at Jake and Daphne’s.
“Great, then. Brady, you bring your potato salad. Sammy, don’t bring anything. Just you and Lara.”
“Yay, yay,” Lara cheers.
Daphne walks with Sammy and Lara across the field toward the parking lot. I turn to the piles of equipment on the bench.
Why the hell am I this psyched about getting an evening in the same place as Sammy?
Desire for a woman like I haven’t felt in ages.
I need to get my head screwed on straight. Sammy’s an arson victim. She’s a single mom. There's no chance of us being more than friends. I've got to stop thinking about her and set my sights back on the dating apps.