Flame (Firefighters of Montana Book 5) (16 page)

Dex knew what his brother was really saying—
look after my baby girl—
and Dex didn’t need to reassure his big brother Dex would take a bullet for her.

“Let’s go, Uncle Dex. Bye, Daddy!”

Dex started the car, its old engine rumbling, echoing across the front yard at North Fork, and they waved goodbye as they rounded the drive and headed out to the front gate. It was a quiet Saturday morning on the road to Glacier Creek. The fall sun was shining through the front window, warming Dex’s cheeks and shining on Lila’s curls, but Sarah had made sure to send a coat for Lila in case it got cold.

As they drove away from North Fork, Lila was speechless for a full sixty seconds. And then the questions started.

“How long will it take to get there, Uncle Dex? Do you think they’ll have hot chocolate? I love hot chocolate. I was looking for Cady’s Cakes on the internet and there’s not even a website. Why isn’t there a website? There’s a Facebook page but there’s no menu. How can I decide what kind of cupcake I want? Doesn’t Cady like computers, Uncle Dex?”

Dex felt like he was being cross-examined by one of the suits from a TV crime show. “Whoa,” he said with a chuckle, checking the rear view mirror. “When did you get to know all this stuff about computers?”

“Uncle Dex.” Lila giggled, clearly feeling so sophisticated about the way she navigated the world. “Mommy’s taught me everything about computers. We look up stuff all the time.”

“You’ve got the best teacher in the world, you know that?”

“She’s not a teacher, she’s my mom.”

“Doesn’t she teach you stuff?”

Lila nodded. “Of course. But I don’t get to call her Mrs. McCoy or anything.”

“No, you wouldn’t, I guess.” They drove for a mile or two, looking out over lush green paddocks and fields, the sky cloudy in the distance, a portent of winter on its way.

Dex was struggling to find the right way to ask Lila about her life. Did she miss school? Did she miss her friends and playing in the schoolyard at lunchtime? And the hardest question, the one that tore at his heart—was she scared about what people would say?

In the end, he approached it the Uncle Dex way. “Hey, Lila.”

“Yes, Uncle Dex?”

“You know in that movie you like so much, the one with all the ice?”

Lila rolled her eyes and his heart melted for the thousandth time in her company. If she had sass she might just be able to handle what the world was going to throw at her. Because shit would get thrown. People could be cruel and misguided and total asshats.

“Of course I do. It’s my favorite movie forever.”

“Well, you know how Elsa sings that song when she figures out that she doesn’t care what people say about her?”

“Uh huh.”

“I reckon she’s really clever.”

“Me, too. I never care what anyone else says, except for Mommy and Daddy and you.”

Lila stared straight ahead at the open road, Dex turned his head to look out his side window so she wouldn’t be able to see the tears streaming down his face.

*

Cady glanced up,
past the Saturday morning crowd, at the very moment Dex pulled up into a parking spot right out the front. She sighed. So what if he was sexy and gorgeous and kind—none of those things meant he could park in a spot reserved for people with a disability parking permit. She took a deep breath, not particularly wanting to pick a fight with Dex over something some people considered trivial. To her wheelchair-using customers, it was anything but.

She pushed open the door.

Dex was already out of the car and around at the passenger side of his truck. The red door was swung open wide and just as Cady was about to call out to him, suggest he unload whatever he was unloading somewhere else, she saw a little girl with a mop of curls. They stepped back out of the way as Dex closed the door.

“That must be Lila,” Cady murmured to herself.

When Dex put out his hand to Lila and she put her left one in his, Cady held her breath at the sight of the happy young girl and her smitten uncle. And when Lila limped towards the sidewalk, Cady gulped in a lungful of air, whispering, “Oh no.” Her heart twisted, but Cady swallowed the sympathy she felt and knew from talking to her wheelchair-using customers wasn’t needed, and smiled.

“Hey there,” Cady called out. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the morning sun and propped the other on her left hip.

Dex looked up, careful to help Lila negotiate the gutter and then he gave Cady a serious expression. “Good morning, Cady.”

“Good morning, Cady.” Lila looked up at Cady, her face a mix of what Cady sensed was apprehension mixed with a good dollop of excitement.

“Well, now. You must be Lila McCoy. I’m so very pleased to meet you.” Cady held out her left arm to shake Lila’s left. She steadied herself, let go of her uncle’s hand, shook firmly, then held on tight again.

“We’ve come for a hot chocolate and a cupcake,” Dex said. “If that’s okay.”

They exchanged a loaded glance. Of course he was welcome. They were adults. Just because they weren’t seeing each other anymore didn’t mean they had to be strangers.

God, it was so good to see him. “Of course, it is. Please, follow me. I have the perfect table for my very special guests.” Cady ushered them inside to a table for two right in the front window. Not only was it warm with the sun shining in, but from this position, Lila could look out on to the street to observe all the passers-by and activity on Main Street.

“Uncle Dex. Look! I can see the flower shop. Can we go and get some flowers for Mommy and Daddy after this?”

Dex helped Lila sit and moved her chair closer to the table before sitting opposite her. “Sure we can. But, I don’t know anything about flowers. You’ll have to choose something nice.”

“I can help you with that. I used to work in that shop,” Cady added.

Dex glanced at her. Cady knew he remembered she’d made up the bouquet when his mother died.

“It must smell beautiful in there,” Lila said, lifting her chin.

Cady’s heart melted at the little girl’s attempt at being sophisticated and worldly. “It did, but you know what? I used to prick myself with the rose thorns all the time.”

Lila laughed and Dex looked seriously at her, which she found unsettling.

“So what can I get you today?”

Dex stood. “Cady, can I come and look at what you’ve got in your cake display over there? I’d like to surprise Lila. Will you be alright, Miss Lila?”

“Of course I’ll be all right. I’m not a baby, you know, Uncle Dex. You’ll just be over there.”

Cady smiled, remembering what it felt like to be eight-years-old with a desperate desire to be an older, more sophisticated girl. Life was simple when you were eight. She could have kicked herself at thinking that. It might have been for her, but life wasn’t so simple for Lila, would perhaps never be without its complications and its accommodations.

“We’ll be right back with the best cupcake Cady’s Cakes has.”

Dex followed Cady past crowded tables to the counter.

She stopped, looked back at the little girl. “God, she’s adorable.”

Dex smirked. “She’s eight years old going on twenty one.”

“I’ve never seen her here, with her mom or dad.”

“No.” Dex stood tall, keeping a careful eye on his niece across the shop full of people.

Cady eyes welled. “I didn’t know about her disability.”

He turned to her, his gaze direct. “I know. Not many people do.”

“Sarah and Mitch have kept her hidden away up there at North Fork, haven’t they?”

“Her rehab’s been slow. There have been ups and downs and Mitch and Sarah want to keep a close eye on her. They’ve built a wall around her. They want to protect her from people, what they might say and do. You think kids would be the worst, but, you know? Adults can be cruel. And stupid. Full of bullshit advice, too.”

Cady could hear his fiercely protective instinct in every syllable. And while it was great to have him as a protector now, Lila would grow up one day. Uncle Dex wouldn’t always be around to shepherd her and watch over her.

“They should be really proud of her.” Cady had never had the urge to have children.

She’d been too busy working, studying, and building her business and, having survived the almost unbearable loss of the two people most important to her, she hadn’t let herself think about opening her heart to a child.

Unbidden, uncontrolled, the thought whizzed by her in a flash—what would a child of hers and Dex’s look like? Would it have his independent streak or her need for being settled? A boy or a girl? Tall and blonde or shorter and dark. She willed the traitorous and impossible thought away.

“It’s good to see you, Cady.” The look in Dex’s eyes, so kind, so full of caring, still made her hold her breath as it had always done.

“It’s good to see you, too, Dex.” And she had to change the subject, to swing this around to business. “So, what can I get you both? Well, what can I get Lila? I know you don’t do cakes.”

Dex studied the display. “I’ll take that chocolate cupcake for Lila, that one there with the mile-high frosting and the pink marshmallow on top. And she’ll have a hot chocolate, too.”

Cady dug her hands in the pocket of her Cady’s Cakes apron. “With extra marshmallows?”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “She’d like that.”

“And a black coffee for you?”

Dex paused. “Wait a minute. Throw in a red velvet for me.”

Cady shrugged and shook her head. “Dex, you really don’t have to.”

He stood taller, taking a step closer to Cady. “I can’t bring Lila to Cady’s Cakes and not eat a cake. That would make me the worst uncle in forever, so make it a red velvet, thanks.”

Their eyes met and held for a moment. So much couldn’t be said now. How much she loved him. How much she missed him. If circumstances had been different… no, Cady had no right to think that or to want him anymore. She’d made her choice. She’d built her wall. There was a movement in the window and they both glanced to the table. A grey-haired lady was chatting with Lila, whose little face was serious and sad.

“Fuck,” Dex muttered and was at his niece’s side in what seemed like two strides.

Cady walked quickly behind him. Lila and the lady looked up.

Dex placed a protective hand on her shoulder. “Everything okay, Lila?”

“What a sweet little girl you have. My name’s Moira. I saw you come in a minute ago and I just had to come over and talk to young Lila here about her arm and her leg.”

Dex’s hackles rose. He’d promised Mitch and Sarah he would protect their daughter and what had he done? Gotten totally distracted by Cady and left Lila to the clutches of some old busybody. He felt like kicking his own ass.

“You have, have you? Lila, we can go if—”

Lila looked up at her uncle. “Uncle Dex, Moira’s husband has the same thing as me. He had a stroke and Moira says his arm and leg don’t work properly either. Just like mine.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Dex dropped his chin in a nod of appreciation to the woman. He’d thought the worst. He always tended to when it came to people. He held out a hand. “Dex McCoy, ma’am. I’m Lila’s uncle.”

“Very nice to meet you. My husband Harry uses a computer just like Lila does. She’s a very smart girl.”

“She sure is,” Dex said.

“It was so lovely to meet you, Lila. Maybe we’ll see you in Cady’s Cakes again. Perhaps I’ll bring Harry, if I can drag him away from his workshop. He still loves to tinker out there.”

“See you, Moira,” Cady said with a warm smile.

Moira looked at Cady and winked. Dex didn’t miss it.

“Have a wonderful day, Cady. And we’ll see you next Saturday.”

Dex waited until the woman passed on by before sitting down. He took a deep breath and searched his niece’s face. “Lila, do you mind people asking questions?”

The little girl shrugged. “People figure out I’m different because I can’t walk properly. I know the words to tell them so I tell them.”

“Well, that’s a good thing.”

He heard Cady clear her throat. “I’ll be back with your things.” Before he could see her face, Cady had turned and scuttled back to the counter.

*

Dex was so
glad he’d convinced Mitch and Sarah to let him give Lila this experience. The expression on her face was a thing of pure joy as she realised the chocolate cupcake with Montana mountain high frosting that Cady had placed on the table was all for her.