America's Bravest by Kathryn Shay

Rachel followed him.
    For a long time, he played with his kids in
the sand, squishing it between his toes with Lilliana and Mari,
then he took them into the shallow water while he kept a weather
eye on Joey, who swam out further with Tony and Sophia.
    “You’re different with your kids,” he heard
from behind him.
    Turning around, he found Sydney dipping her
feet in the lake. He glanced down. Syd had her two-year-old girl by
the hand. “Hey, Syd.”
    “Captain.”
    “Lily, look here’s Daisy.”
    Lily and Mari both rushed to the baby. “Hi,
Daisy.” They nudged Syd back, and each took one of Daisy’s hands.
“Can we play with her in the sand, Daddy?” Mari asked.
    Checking Syd’s reaction, he said, “Sure.”
    “I’ll watch them, Gabe. I’ve been playing
volleyball while Rachel took care of my little one. Why don’t you
go join the team and have a little fun?”
    He glanced out at the lake. “Joey’s still
in.”
    “Tony’s out there with them. Go ahead, let
down some.”
    That sounded good to Gabe right now, and so
did exercise, until he walked to the makeshift court. Ryan
O’Malley, along with a friend of his from high school and Rachel
played on one team. The other consisted of Felicia, a woman and man
he didn’t know and Brody.
    “Hey, Cap,” Ryan yelled out, using the
familiar term because he was at the firehouse so much. “Come on, we
need a fourth.”
    Wondering who was sending him this
punishment, Gabe ended up next to Rachel again. He didn’t know how
much he could take of being near her in a social setting and keep
his emotional distance. It had been a mistake to come to the
party.
    oOo
    The sun beat down on them as Rachel stood in
the server’s box, tossed up the ball and punched it over the net.
Felicia managed to slide in the sand and a pop it back. Brody sent
the thing hurtling over the net.
    Not to be outdone, his brother dived for the
ball and lobbed it up; Gabe spiked it over so nobody had a chance
for a save. Damn, he was good at everything.
    This feels wonderful, Gabe.
She’d
smiled.
You’re so good at this.
    Even though she was trying hard, she couldn’t
stop the memories that came out of the blue, sensual ambushes,
which struck without warning.
    “Hey, Rachel baby, where are you?” Ryan
asked. “You missed an easy shot.”
    “Oh, sorry. It won’t happen again.”
    Like her and Gabe.
It won’t happen
again.
    Forcing herself to concentrate, she made two
saves and a spike on the next plays. After the latter, Ryan raced
over, picked her up and twirled her around. “Hey, there, girl,
you’re hot today.”
    She hugged back. Over Ryan’s shoulder, she
caught Gabe’s stare. Intense and…jealous.
    This wasn’t what she wanted at all.
    oOo
    Gabe saw her go into the house from where he
sat at a picnic table eating a hot dog with Cal, who showed up
late. “The blog’s going pretty well, don’t you think?” the chief
asked.
    “Like gangbusters.” Gabe’s smile was genuine.
“Do you know they got a million hits last week? I have to admit,
some of their stories are funny.”
    “And moving.” Brody was nearby. “Licia’s
account of the women involved in the 9/11 search-and-rescue
operation made me bawl.”
    “I read Wellington’s post about being trapped
in the basement,” Cal put in. “Pretty scary.”
    “We got through it all right.” He glanced to
the kitchen again and could see her in the window. Rising, he said,
“I’m gonna go get another hot dog. Want something?”
    No one did.
    Instead of heading to the grill, he detoured
into the house and found her washing pans at the sink. Her back was
to him and he admired the feminine curve of her spine, the toned
muscles of her calves. He remembered how soft and smooth all that
skin was. “Need some help?”
    She glanced over her shoulder and swallowed
hard. “No. Go back outside.”
    Instead, he leaned against the counter and
folded his arms across his chest. “Why?”
    “You know why. It’s hard to be