bucks.”
“Okay, true.” He winked at her. “Which you know firsthand since you were there.”
“Grandma?” Leah asked, shocked.
Elsie waved her off and continued to glare at Mr. Lyons.
He simply flashed blinding white dentures. “How about I use some of my ill-gotten gain to wine and dine you? The diner’s having a two-for-one special. My treat.”
“I have plans.”
“With that chain-smoking, stuffy, old, stick-up-his-ass Maxwell Fitzgerald?” Mr. Lyons asked.
“Why…” Elsie glanced at Leah. “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.” She wrapped her arm around Leah. “Good day.”
“Elsie?”
Elsie turned back to Mr. Lyons.
“You know I’m just having fun, right? At our age, it’s all we’ve got. Well, that and pumpkin pie night at the senior center. My offer of dinner stands,” he added more seriously. “Even after the special’s over.”
Elsie looked surprised as Leah led her out the door. They went home, and Leah made dinner. When Elsie had gone to bed, Leah took a long shower until she ran out of hot water. Afterward, she had a text from her self-proclaimed boyfriend.
Squinting her eyes to read it—because that always made things easier to take—she opened the text.
You can run, but you can’t hide.
Chapter 6
J ack’s earliest memory was being four years old and proudly wearing his dad’s firefighter hat to the dinner table. It’d been far too heavy for him, and he’d barely been able to see because it kept falling over his eyes, but his dad had laughed.
And Jack had loved the sound.
There’d never been a question of what he would grow up to be. He’d become a firefighter, like his dad.
Period.
His schedule at station #24 was busy but he didn’t mind the odd hours, or the job, really. No, it wasn’t jumping out of helicopters into massive wildlife fires—which he’d loved—but the work meant something.
And yet there was no denying he was restless as hell.
It was true that city firefighting could be exciting, but Lucky Harbor wasn’t exactly “city.” And if there wasn’t enough of that excitement to suit his adrenaline-junkie soul, he told himself that at the ripe old age of thirty-two, he’d learn to deal with it.
He was still waiting for his brain to do just that.
He and Kevin ran to work, and he had to admit his knee was slowing him down some. He really thought he’d just rehab it himself, but after months of working on it, he wasn’t so sure. And yet he’d been the surgery route before and knew what that would mean—an enforced down period. Since that didn’t work for him, his immediate plan was to ignore it until he couldn’t.
In the meantime, he did his best to fill his time with things that interested him. He’d become the county’s hazmat specialist and had gotten additional certificates in fire management and arson investigation. His off-shift hours were filled with whichever adrenaline rushes he could find. Paddle boarding with Luke. Mountain climbing with Ben. Women.
He’d had a good run there too, he could admit. In fact, he was right smack in the middle of a good run. Or had been—until Leah’s little bombshell.
It’d gotten out overnight that they were “dating,” and he’d already fielded an unhappy call from Kayla, a waitress he’d had plans to see later in the week, telling him not to bother to call her back.
There’d been nothing but radio silence from Danica, a local flight nurse he’d casually seen a few times. It wasn’t anything serious, nor would it be, but he hoped that meant she was on shift and not reading Facebook.
Facebook, the evil incarnate. Or maybe that was Lucille herself. Lucille was older than dirt, shorter than a yardstick, and Gossip Central. She’d posted the “news” of his and Leah’s relationship and then pictures of them together throughout the years. This included one of Leah’s middle school graduation, where his mom had made him wear a suit. Another of them at the pier with Leah
“Okay, true.” He winked at her. “Which you know firsthand since you were there.”
“Grandma?” Leah asked, shocked.
Elsie waved her off and continued to glare at Mr. Lyons.
He simply flashed blinding white dentures. “How about I use some of my ill-gotten gain to wine and dine you? The diner’s having a two-for-one special. My treat.”
“I have plans.”
“With that chain-smoking, stuffy, old, stick-up-his-ass Maxwell Fitzgerald?” Mr. Lyons asked.
“Why…” Elsie glanced at Leah. “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.” She wrapped her arm around Leah. “Good day.”
“Elsie?”
Elsie turned back to Mr. Lyons.
“You know I’m just having fun, right? At our age, it’s all we’ve got. Well, that and pumpkin pie night at the senior center. My offer of dinner stands,” he added more seriously. “Even after the special’s over.”
Elsie looked surprised as Leah led her out the door. They went home, and Leah made dinner. When Elsie had gone to bed, Leah took a long shower until she ran out of hot water. Afterward, she had a text from her self-proclaimed boyfriend.
Squinting her eyes to read it—because that always made things easier to take—she opened the text.
You can run, but you can’t hide.
Chapter 6
J ack’s earliest memory was being four years old and proudly wearing his dad’s firefighter hat to the dinner table. It’d been far too heavy for him, and he’d barely been able to see because it kept falling over his eyes, but his dad had laughed.
And Jack had loved the sound.
There’d never been a question of what he would grow up to be. He’d become a firefighter, like his dad.
Period.
His schedule at station #24 was busy but he didn’t mind the odd hours, or the job, really. No, it wasn’t jumping out of helicopters into massive wildlife fires—which he’d loved—but the work meant something.
And yet there was no denying he was restless as hell.
It was true that city firefighting could be exciting, but Lucky Harbor wasn’t exactly “city.” And if there wasn’t enough of that excitement to suit his adrenaline-junkie soul, he told himself that at the ripe old age of thirty-two, he’d learn to deal with it.
He was still waiting for his brain to do just that.
He and Kevin ran to work, and he had to admit his knee was slowing him down some. He really thought he’d just rehab it himself, but after months of working on it, he wasn’t so sure. And yet he’d been the surgery route before and knew what that would mean—an enforced down period. Since that didn’t work for him, his immediate plan was to ignore it until he couldn’t.
In the meantime, he did his best to fill his time with things that interested him. He’d become the county’s hazmat specialist and had gotten additional certificates in fire management and arson investigation. His off-shift hours were filled with whichever adrenaline rushes he could find. Paddle boarding with Luke. Mountain climbing with Ben. Women.
He’d had a good run there too, he could admit. In fact, he was right smack in the middle of a good run. Or had been—until Leah’s little bombshell.
It’d gotten out overnight that they were “dating,” and he’d already fielded an unhappy call from Kayla, a waitress he’d had plans to see later in the week, telling him not to bother to call her back.
There’d been nothing but radio silence from Danica, a local flight nurse he’d casually seen a few times. It wasn’t anything serious, nor would it be, but he hoped that meant she was on shift and not reading Facebook.
Facebook, the evil incarnate. Or maybe that was Lucille herself. Lucille was older than dirt, shorter than a yardstick, and Gossip Central. She’d posted the “news” of his and Leah’s relationship and then pictures of them together throughout the years. This included one of Leah’s middle school graduation, where his mom had made him wear a suit. Another of them at the pier with Leah
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