America's Bravest (44 page)

Tony kissed her on the cheek. “See you
tomorrow.”

On her way to the door, she stopped at the
bar where Gabe was talking to Max. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have
to leave and wanted to say good-bye.”

Soft brown brows scowled. “I wanted to talk
to you.” He set down his drink. “Let me walk you to your car.”

“Um, okay.”

They left Badges and as Sydney strode beside
him, she felt…small. He was big and muscular, but still, she was no
weakling at five eight, a hundred and forty pounds. The notion
discomfited her. At her battered Jeep, she stopped. “This really
isn’t necessary.”

He stuck his hands in his pockets. “Saving my
life isn’t a big deal?”

“We all saved your life.”

“Not in my book. You did.”

“Well, in any case, you’re welcome.”

He pulled a card out of the pocket of his
jeans and handed it to her. “My daughter Amber sent this.”

“Oh.” She slid open the note and scanned it.
Thanks for saving my dad, Firefighter Sands. It’s just me and
him and I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him. He says you have a
little kid and I’m offering free babysitting whenever you need it.
I’m thirteen, btw.

She looked up. “This is so sweet.”

“Her mother died three years ago. Amber’s
possessive of me because we’re close. She got hysterical when I was
hurt, but after she calmed down, her first thought was to do
something nice for you.”

“Amber sounds like a doll.” She leaned
against the car. They were under some trees, but the April air was
warm. “I’m sorry about your wife.”

His expression was bleak. “Yeah, cancer. I
don’t know what I would have done without Cal.”

She cocked her head.

“His ex-wife, Laura, was Annette’s best
friend. We spent a lot of time together as a foursome and, at the
end, Laura was a godsend for Amber.” A bleaker look.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I kind of blame myself for the Erikson’s
divorce. Laura freaked after Annette died.” He rolled his eyes. “I
don’t know why I’m going into all this. I want to know about you.”
He nodded to a bench off in the grass. “Can you stay for a
minute?”

She checked her watch, knowing she should get
home, but drawn, somehow, to this man. “For a bit.” They crossed to
the bench and sat. The trees swayed above them and birds chirped.
God, she loved spring. “But you seem to know about me already.”

“I confess. I asked Cal. Then my daughter
showed me your picture on the blog the women in the department
write. It’s a great PR tactic.”

“Thanks. Self-defense, mostly. The reporter,
Parker Allen, has it out for us.”

“Yeah, Cal talks about that all the time.” He
sat back, stretched out his legs and linked his hands behind his
head. “So, tell me what makes Sydney Sands tick.”

She thought for a minute. “My kid. And
firefighting.”

“Why did you choose firefighting? It isn’t
the most common job for a woman. Especially a mom.”

“My
mother would agree with you.
She’s lives with me and helps out a ton, but she doesn’t like the
danger I’m in.”

“Danger lurks everywhere for everybody. There
are no guarantees in life. Annette was a teacher and was
safe.
Still, she’s gone.”

“That’s a great philosophy to live by.”

“So, what made you go into the
profession?”

“I had a tough childhood. I grew up in a bad
part of New York City. When the Anderson County Fire Academy set up
a firefighter class for inner city kids at my school, I went to it
as a way escape a very bleak future. Right after I graduated, we
moved to Hidden Cove because I automatically got in the recruit
class here.”

“So it wasn’t firefighting itself? It was
just a way to get out?”

“Actually, no. I was attracted the job
because the FDNY had a station house near us. The guys were
friendly and did a lot of work with the community.” She smiled.

“What?”

“I go back there every once in a while. They
can’t believe a bad kid like me is one of them now.”

“What about the rest? Personally?”

Suddenly, she didn’t want to tell him about
other parts her life. Not only was her history seedy, but she hated
talking about her failures. So she checked her watch again and
stood. “I have to go. I need to relieve my mom.”

“Oh.” He seemed disappointed. “Sure.” He
rose, too. “Thanks again for what you did for me. But I’m afraid I
have another favor to ask.”

Her brows arched.

“Can you give Amber a shot at babysitting?
She’s very determined and I know she’ll pester me until you let her
try it at least once. I’d provide rides for her back and
forth.”

Suddenly, Sydney got a funny feeling in her
stomach at the thought of seeing this man again.

“She’s a great kid. Everybody loves her. And
she’d had experience with my brother-in-law’s kids.”

“I’d have to meet her first. See how Daisy
likes her. But, yeah, sure.”

“Can we set up a time?”

“All right. How about my next shift off? My
mother works part time at her sister’s restaurant when I’m not due
at the firehouse.”

They set the date, and when they walked to
her car, once again he hugged her. This time she noticed his woodsy
scent—cedar with a hint of citrus—and how strong his arms were.
When he stepped back, she was off-kilter.

Wow. It had been a long time since her pulse
rate sped up and her heart started to beat faster from a man—and a
stranger. A very male stranger, but still…

“What’s she like, Dad?” Amber sat on the deck
of their house, computer on her lap, and didn’t even greet him when
he returned home. All she wanted, all she
had
wanted, was
to know about the woman who’d saved his life.

“Hello to you, too!”

She gave him Annette’s patronizing look and
kissed his cheek when he leaned over. Sometimes, especially when
she affected one of his wife’s mannerisms, she looked so much like
her mother with her blond hair and blue eyes that his heart
clutched. “Hey, Dad.”

Dropping down onto the chaise opposite her,
he smiled. “She’s very nice.” But not what he expected. For one
thing, she was
young.
But maybe that’s because he felt
ancient these days, even though he was only thirty-eight.

“How old?”

“Somewhere in her twenties.”

“Is she pretty?”

He wouldn’t say that about her. She was tall
and sort of tough-looking, but there was a womanliness about her
that was appealing. And she had beautiful, light brown eyes.

Huh! This was the first time he’d had a
thought like that about a female in a very long time.

“She’s attractive. Dark brown hair and brown
eyes. She looks like a female firefighter.”

“She butch?”

“Honey, where did you get that term?”

“Da-ad. I’m thirteen.”

“She’s more feminine than butch.” Time to
distract his daughter from Sydney Sands’ attractiveness. “She also
said you can babysit if you and her child hit it off.”

“Cool. I’m old enough to do that.”

“I know, honey. You’ve babysat for Bobby’s
boys.” Bobby was Annette’s brother, who missed her almost as much
as Max did and loved spending time with Amber. His wife’s parents
coveted his daughter’s visits, too.

“Yeah, but he’s family. This’ll be more
real.”

“I set up a time next week to go over and
meet her and Daisy, so we can see how it goes.”

“Awesome.”

He glanced at her lap. “What are you doing on
the computer?” He worried all the time about the sites she might
visit and the predators she might encounter. And he wouldn’t let
her have a Facebook page, either, which made her mad. They’d had a
discussion about the Internet, and he’d put some parental controls
on her laptop but still he was concerned.

“Reading the women’s firefighter blog.
Somebody name Felicia posted today that an arsonist is targeting
the department. She says she wants everybody to know what they’re
up against.” Her blue eyes darkened. “Dad, the fire at our business
wasn’t arson, was it?”

“They don’t think so.”

She nodded to the computer. “Sydney’s posting
tomorrow.”

“Ms. Sands, honey.”

“She saved your life. She’s practically
family.”

At first he’d thought his daughter’s
preoccupation with the woman was cute, but after four days of her
harping on Sydney, he worried. Amber tended to get obsessed with
things, and Annette had been effective at dealing with her
excessive enthusiasm. He was not the good parent his wife was.
“Baby, we don’t even know Sydney. You shouldn’t get too enamored
with the fact that she saved my life.”

“We’re gonna know her. I’m gonna babysit for
them.”

“Maybe. If you get along with her kid.”

“I will. I love kids. Uncle Bobby says I’m a
natural.”

“Don’t get carried away.” He stood. “I’m
going to do some work now.” He was running his business from home
until they moved into other offices, and his three employees were
doing the same. “Be good.”

“Yeah, I’ll only hit one or two porno
sites.”

“Brat.” He ruffled her hair, walked into the
house and down to the den. These days, his large colonial, with
four bedrooms, three baths, a finished basement and more rooms than
they used on the first floor, seemed empty. He and Annette had
planned to fill the space up with kids, but that had never
happened.

In his big office with huge floor-to-ceiling
windows, he sat down at his desk and booted up his computer. But
instead of going to his profit-and-loss sheets for his
quarterly
, The Heart of Hidden Cove
, the magazine he ran,
focusing on the good things in their picturesque town, he clicked
into the HCFD site and then the women’s blog. He told himself he
only wanted to see what Amber was reading, but in reality, he
wanted to peruse the back blogs to learn more about Sydney Sands.
God knew why, but he had the urge and followed it.

oOo

Daisy stuck her fingers in her mouth and
stared over at Max Delinsky and his daughter, Amber. The teenager
was gorgeous with thick blond hair, blue eyes and a
just-becoming-feminine body. She remembered that stage in her own
life and how awkward it was. Her mother had tried to help, but
Amber didn’t even have that solace. Was Max good with girl
things?

“Daisy, this is Mr. Delinsky and Amber.”

Her child, the love of her life, with her own
blond locks and gray eyes, stared at the girl. “Hi, Ambs,” she
said. She was talking pretty well but often shortened names.

“That’s right.” Amber’s eyes shone when she
got up and crossed to the child. Immediately, Daisy lifted her arms
for Amber to pick her up. “You can call me Ambs. It’s cute.”

The girl was gentle when she scooped Daisy
into her arms and straightened. She was also grinning so broadly,
it made Sydney smile. Glancing over, she saw the same expression on
Max’s face. When he smiled, he looked young and happy. At other
times, there was a sadness in his eyes that added years to his nice
features.

“You’re pretty.” Daisy hugged Amber.

“See, Dad,” Amber was saying. “She likes
me.”

“I see, Princess.”

A pang shot through Sydney. Daisy didn’t have
a father to call her nicknames.

Sitting on the floor, Amber picked up the
rings for the holder. “Want to play with the building blocks,
Daisy?”

In answer, Daisy took one and tossed it
across the room. “Play fetch.”

Max laughed and said, “Maybe we can leave
them alone here for a while. Let Amber have some time with Daisy.
We could sit on the porch.”

“Great idea, Pops.”

Sydney stood. “Go on outside, Max. I’ll get
the girls and us something.”

“Juicy,” Daisy bubbled. “And cookies.”

“Juice and cookies it is, baby.” She smiled
at Max. “Coffee or iced tea?”

“Iced tea would be terrific.”

They separated at the foyer of the house
she’d scraped to buy a year ago. Thanks to her crew at the
firehouse, much of it had been renovated, and Tony and Sophia had
given her Adirondack chairs for the front.

After bringing drinks, she dropped down in a
chair next to Max. “Amber’s a doll, Max.”

“The love of my life.”

“Funny, I was thinking the same about
Daisy.”

“Kids get to you, don’t they?”

“Uh-huh.”

He lounged back in the chair, full of
masculine grace. He seemed so comfortable with his body. She liked
the way his shoulders looked in a pinstriped oxford-cloth shirt
matching them with pressed jeans. On his feet were Dockers.
Actually, he dressed like Daisy’s father, Ken, a thought she
didn’t
like at all.

“So, Amber was on the blog again yesterday. I
took a cue from her and read it.” His eyes twinkled. “You were
fascinating.”

No one, to Sydney’s knowledge, had ever
called her fascinating. “Really? Which blog entry did you like
best?”

“I guess the one on being a mother. If that
didn’t affect the public’s impression of firefighters, I don’t know
of anything that would.”

“It was mixed, actually. Some people wrote in
that I shouldn’t be on the line with a three- going on
four-year-old.” She snorted. “They’d never say that about my male
colleagues.”

Taking a swing of his tea, he smiled. “Cal
says your department is more liberated than most.”

“Thanks to officers like him. And I’m lucky
my mom lives with us, so night shifts aren’t a problem.”

He glanced out at the lawn with its big oak
tree in front, the quiet street with a few cars parked on either
side. “Both my parents are dead. No siblings. Annette’s family is
in town, though.”

Sydney was an only child, too. Her mother
always said she couldn’t handle more than one. In truth, Sydney had
been
more
than she could handle.

“What are your wife’s parents like?”