Safe From the Fire (2 page)

“Don’t
worry, I won’t burn the place down,” Fiona froze as the words slipped out of
her mouth, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

Grace
winced, but Adam only smiled ruefully.

“It’s
okay,” he reassured Fiona, “Really, don’t sweat it.”

Fiona
turned, mouthing a horrified
OMG
at Grace behind Adam’s back, and then
swiveled back, smiling.

“Let
me know if you need a new library card or anything.  Grace, a word.”

Grace
let herself be tugged a few feet away toward the main desk.

“Your
brother grew up hot!”  Fiona whispered as soon as they were out of earshot.

“He’s
too young for you,” Grace immediately retorted.

“He
is not. And that’s how I like ‘em,” purred the twenty-three-year old, with a
wink over her shoulder for Adam, “I want to hear everything when you get back.”

Rolling
her eyes, Grace knew that within thirty seconds, Fiona would be on the phone to
Evie Asher with the news of Adam’s return.  The serious deputy was relatively
new to town, and Grace and Fiona had taken an instant shine to the young woman,
pulling her into their regular girls’ night.  It didn’t hurt that Evie had
saved Colin Daniels’ life from a crazed stalker, and was now rocking his world
on all fronts.  The attractive mayor was one of Grace’s oldest friends and the
couple was so happy, it was getting annoying.

Grace
returned to her brother, snapping her fingers to pull Adam’s attention from the
sway of Fiona’s hips as she sashayed away.

“I
thought you were hungry,”

“I
am,” Adam murmured absently.

“Dreyer
Morton’s granddaughter is most definitely
not
on the menu.”

MATT
HARRIS KNEW THE second Grace walked in the diner without even looking up from
his mountain of eggs.  There was always a brief pause in the conversation, a
hitch, as the locals took in her latest outfit and her perpetually purple hair.

Judgmental
busybodies.

He
always wondered why Grace put up with it.  If it were him, he’d tell them all
to stick it where the sun don’t shine. 

Matt
loved Bright’s Ferry, had loved it since he had moved his mother to Sunrise
Glen across the bay after college in hopes that they could give her the care
and round-the-clock attention he couldn’t.  That was a dark time for him – his
father’s recent death had left him feeling conflicted and resentful and
relieved, and his ruined knee had destroyed his football career and left his
future uncertain and wide open.  Given how tight-knit the community was, Matt
assumed that it would take forever to make friends and find acceptance, but all
it took was some quick thinking when a stray sparkler set off the gazebo during
the Harvest Festival.  The town proclaimed him a hero.  That was eight years
ago, and he’d joined the fire department and been their hero ever since.

The
same couldn’t be said for Grace.  She was one of their own, but it seemed as
though most of the town had classified her as a “disappointment,” and wasted no
opportunity to remind her of that.

Matt
knew she was aware of him.  Her eyes darted briefly in his direction before
looking away, urging the scrawny young man with faded clothes and messy hair toward
her customary corner booth.  Matt barely noticed the young man at first,
because his eyes were busy eating up Grace.

She
was dressed down today, in what she would consider “work” clothes – a soft
black sweater dress over striped witch tights, dark eyeliner and violet shadow
highlighting her brown eyes that reminded him of warm chocolate.  Her hair was
pulled back in a loose cluster of braids, with purple tendrils caressing the
side of her face and the back of her neck.  The dress was demure, but hugged
the gentle curves of her sweet breasts and waist, and the more generous swell
of the most perfect ass Matt had ever seen.  Every last inch of her tied him
into aroused knots, but it was that ass that threatened to drop him to his
knees.

Matt’s
body went hot as he caught a glimpse of a hot pink lace bra strap peeking out
from the collar of her dress, and he couldn’t help going hard as he wondered if
she was wearing panties and garters to match.

If
she was wearing anything at all.

He
was exhausted from last night’s shift – an office building near the harbor had
gone up in smoke.  It was miraculous that they managed to arrive in time to
keep the fire from spreading.  Still, one look at Grace and all of Matt’s
fatigue disappeared.  He hoped he wasn’t drooling.

To
distract himself, he shoved a forkful of eggs in his mouth and chased it with a
swig of coffee, relieved and mildly disappointed when she finally sat down,
hiding her figure from view.  The young man said something and Grace laughed,
and his wry grin was so much like hers that Matt nearly choked.

“No
fucking way,” he muttered, wiping his mouth with a handy napkin.

It
looked like the firebug had finally come home.

GRACE
FELT A PANG as she watched Adam’s eyes widen at the sight of the tower of
pancakes Mary set in front of him, before he dug in like he hadn’t eaten in a
month.  She was relieved that Mary had greeted her brother with a pinch on the
cheek and a motherly kiss – one of the few people in town who would welcome his
return.  Grace was dying for answers, but contained herself while Adam inhaled
the pancakes like they were going out of style, taking the time to linger on
some of the changes she hadn’t noticed before.

He
was thin, thinner than she remembered, as though he hadn’t been getting regular
meals, and there were circles under his eyes and more shocking, faint scars on
his wrists.

A
botched suicide attempt?

Grace
swallowed guilt and sadness.  The first year after her brother was sent off to
juvenile detention for setting fire to three local homes, she’d done her best
to keep in touch, but Grace and her parents had struggled to get their lives
back on track, and she was ashamed to admit that about the time her folks had
decided to call it quits and leave Bright’s Ferry, Grace had stopped calling
and writing.  At eighteen, Adam had been let out, and simply disappeared. 
Grace had her hands full with her new job as Head Librarian, and before she
knew it, three years had passed.  Seeing him sitting in front of her, eating
pancakes, was surreal – it filled her with apprehension along with a curious
sense of relief.

He’s
not the same boy you knew,
she reminded herself, and sat back, nursing her
coffee, waiting for him to speak when he was ready.

Finally,
Adam pushed his empty plate back, grinning when Grace signaled Mary for another
round.  He leaned forward, clasping his hands together.

“So
I got out of juvie with nothing but this backpack and a hundred bucks in my
pocket,” he began, jumping in as though he was continuing a conversation in
progress, “and the last thing I wanted to do was come back
here.
”

Grace
started to respond, but stopped herself.

“I
hung around Boston for a few months, did a few odd jobs, panhandled a bit,
lifted a few wallets.”

Adam
flushed, looking down at the table, hands clenched tight.

“It
was wrong, I know, but I was pissed, and I just didn’t know what to do with all
that anger.  Things got a little hot in Boston, and I got into some trouble
with this gang…figured it would be smart to leave town.  I hitchhiked around
the country for a while, but I had no money, and I was still so fucking angry,
Gracie.  I really just wanted to take a gas can and burn down everything in
sight.  Finally I wound up under a bridge in Milwaukee, starving, freezing, and
it just seemed like the end.”

He
turned his wrists over, and Grace couldn’t help the tears as she traced the
scars with gentle fingers.

“God,
don’t cry, Gracie.  I’m okay, I promise.”

“You
sure?”

Adam
nodded.

“I
woke up in the hospital, and this guy, Jack Cooper, was sitting by my bed.  He
ran the local soup kitchen.  He was out distributing blankets and found me in
the snow, bleeding to death, and called for help.  He didn’t yell, didn’t
argue, just asked me if I wanted another chance.”

Adam
smiled, remembering.

“He
found me a therapist, gave me a room at the soup kitchen, and gave me a job.  Everything…got
better.  But I didn’t want to be a burden, and I started feeling like I should
be doing more with my life, so about a month ago I packed up and headed out.”

“Headed
here?”

“Actually,
I thought about California, opening a surf shack on the beach.”

“You
don’t surf.”

“Yeah,
I don’t do a lot of things.  And I realized that about a week out of
Milwaukee.  I’m not trained for anything.  I barely got my GED.  I didn’t want
to fall back into bad habits, since I’ve come so far.”

He
swallowed hard.

“I
called Mom.  It was hard.  But I’m glad I did – they sound happy.”

“Florida
is good for them.”

“They
said something about coming up for Christmas.”

Grace’s
eyebrows rose.

“Really? 
They wouldn’t do that for me.  Baby of the family strikes again,” she teased
lightly, her heart breaking for everything he’d been through.

Mary
set another stack of pancakes down in front of Adam, but he ignored them for a
moment, holding Grace’s gaze.

“I
was hoping you’d let me stay with you for a while.  I want to get a job here,
maybe make up for…well, for everything.  I thought I could take some classes
online, start working toward my degree.”

Grace
swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Do
you know what you want to study?”

“Not
yet, but I thought I could try a few things.  So…do you think that would be
okay?”

She
was nodding even before he finished.

“I
think that would be great, Adam.  But there are a few rules.”

“Anything.”

She
ticked them off with her fingers.

“As
soon as you have a job, you contribute to rent, utilities, and food.  You have
Dr. Griggs find you a good therapist and go every week, no matter what.  You
write a letter to the Carsons, the Mortons, and the Schwartz family, explaining
that you’re back in town and trying to make amends for the fires.”

Adam
nodded vigorously, but Grace wasn’t finished.

“And
most important of all, when the people of this town get in your face and push
your buttons, and they
will,
you
walk away. 
You will turn the
other cheek, you will take the moral high ground, and any other damned cliché you
can think of.  No fighting.  Period.  Got it?”

“I
promise, but Gracie…I don’t want to make things hard for you.”

“Since
when do I care what a few narrow-minded locals think?  You let me worry about
that.  You worry about you.”

She
glared at him for a long moment, and then nodded, reaching for a fork and
tugging his pancakes forward.

“Great. 
Half of these are mine.”

Grinning,
he clinked forks and joined her.

MATT
COULD FEEL HIS blood boiling and wondered what Grace and Adam Mallow were talking
about.  He’d given up any pretense of not watching them long minutes ago, when
Grace started crying.  The sight of her big brown eyes brimming with tears had
his stomach tightening, and he had to force himself to let go of the silverware
before he bent it in half.  Whatever that little punk had said to make her cry…

Matt
took a few deep breaths and ordered himself to calm down.  It was none of his
business, and even so, he didn’t think Grace would take it well if he punched
her little brother through the wall.  After a few minutes, they were smiling
and laughing and sharing pancakes, and Matt felt the knots ease a little.

You’ve
got it bad, Harris.

And
he did.  He had, ever since the first time he’d seen her walking toward the
library, her cute little glasses and rosebud mouth at odds with her tight
leather dress and boots and that wild hair.  She had a bubbly personality and a
whip-smart brain, was great with kids, and had an edgy, dark side that called
to something in Matt that made him uncomfortable, but pulled him in like a moth
to a flame.  Whenever he managed a few minutes of conversation with her, he was
walking on fucking air for the rest of the day.  Not to mention hard enough to
pound nails.

She’d
ruined him for other women.  Matt had always been a little shy to begin with, and
his sheer size intimidated most women, but he gave dating the old college try. 
However, since Grace had come into his life, most of his dates seemed a
little…insipid…and the few relationships that went as far as the bedroom left
him feeling unsatisfied, and were over quickly.  He knew that half the time, he
couldn’t even enjoy himself, too worried about losing control, too worried
about causing irreparable damage.  The past couple of years, he hadn’t even
really tried.  In fact, his last date had been with Evie Asher just after she’d
come to town.  She’d cut it short, which in retrospect had been the right move
– she and Colin were practically attached at the hip.