Burning Ambition (6 page)

“What are you doing up?”

Joe’s voice in the doorway behind her made her drop her mug, which shattered on the tile floor. Thankfully, the coffee that splashed on her was only lukewarm.

“You need to wear a bell around your neck,” she said, bending to pick up the large chunks of broken pottery and trying to ignore the racing of her heart. It wasn’t caused just by having the life startled out of her. Unfortunately. It had everything to do with the man who’d surprised her. She hadn’t felt this kind of nervous excitement since her crush on Dylan Morrison her first year at community college.

She glanced at Joe in time to see him smile. It must be late, because she couldn’t resist admiring how good-looking he was. Her tired mind was filled with the uninvited fantasy of him walking up to her and kissing her till her brain melted and her hands shook.

Oh, her hands
were
shaking. From too much caffeine, no doubt. Lack of sleep.

Faith found a dustpan and hand broom beneath the sink, and swept the little pieces. Joe mopped up the remaining liquid with paper towels.

“Test is tomorrow?” he asked, glancing toward the open book on the table.

“Technically today, I guess. I’ll go take it as soon as shift is over.”

They stood at the same time and her fantasy scenario of thirty seconds ago intensified. He came over to her at the counter and surveyed the coffeepot.

“Didn’t save any for me, I see.”

“Sorry,” Faith said, putting space between them. “Didn’t know you were a night owl.”

“Always have been. Didn’t know you were afraid of tests.”

“Always have been.”

Joe rinsed out the pot and refilled the filter for another twelve-cup supply. “That surprises me. You seem to know your facts.”

“I’m somewhat of a perfectionist.”

Joe chuckled. “And here I thought you were laid-back. Carefree.”

“Maybe in a different lifetime. So what’s up with coffee at three in the morning? Do you really have that much work to do or are you just afraid of the dark?”

“Never know what’s under the bed.”

“Want me to check if it’s safe for you?” she teased. “I hear there can be some pretty ferocious dust bunnies in the corners around here.”

“That’s what happens when firefighters can’t clean to save their lives.”

“They need better leadership, clearly.”

He didn’t seem to see the humor in her comment.

“You take your job very seriously, don’t you?” Faith asked, leaning against the counter next to him.

“About as seriously as you take yours.”

She nodded at the truth in that. “Did you always want to be a firefighter?”

“Either that or a Jedi.”

If she hadn’t spilled her coffee by dropping it, she would’ve spit it out at his reply. “Jedi training didn’t pan out?”

He cracked a grin and shook his head distractedly.

“How long was your dad the chief?” she asked. She vaguely remembered meeting Chief Mendoza a couple times, but she’d been so young then, maybe ten years old. At that point, the trucks and flashing lights had been much more interesting to her.

“Two years. That was before there was an assistant. It wasn’t three months after he stopped fighting fires and became chief that he found out about the cancer.” Joe’s face hardened as he tried not to give away his feelings.

“Lungs, right?” Faith did remember, very clearly, when his dad had died. The funeral had been gigantic, though she hadn’t been allowed to attend. It’d been on the news and the front page of the newspaper. Her dad had considered Joe’s father a mentor and had been struck deeply by his death.

“Yep. No doubt from everything he breathed in on the job.”

“I can’t imagine growing up without my dad,” Faith said.

“I was twenty-five when he died.”

“Oh. I guess you were grown-up.” She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Yeah.” His tone lightened. “Tell me I’m old.”

“I’d never say that to someone who can run faster than me.”

He studied her curiously. “So how is working in the same department as your dad going so far?”

“Going well,” she said, refusing to get into her worries. In general, it was an honest answer. “I always dreamed of working with him. He’s the reason I got into firefighting.”

“You two have always seemed close. I remember that even when you were a teenager.”

“Drives my mom crazy sometimes.”

“That’s what she gets for marrying one of the good guys,” Joe said.

“I wish she remembered he’s one of the good guys. Though he does make it difficult lately.”

Joe turned toward her and brushed her hair behind her ear. Her breath caught, and he retracted his hand, as if realizing he wasn’t supposed to touch her. “He’s kind of out of sorts, isn’t he?”

She looked down nervously, whether from the personal topic or the contact, she couldn’t say. “That’s one way to put it.”

“If there was something I could do to help, I would. I like your dad. Respect him a great deal.”

Faith nodded, wishing like crazy she had a clue how to help her father. “He needs something to keep him busy. The weekends with no work just about kill him. Evenings are long, too.”

“Does he have any hobbies?”

“His boat,” Faith answered. “But he’s been on it only once since I moved back. He seems to have lost interest.”

“Maybe I could persuade him to take it out. Get him to take me for a ride or something.”

“You don’t have to do that, Joe.”

He looked into her eyes with such concern she wanted to melt. “I want to. It’s not exactly a hardship having to go out on a boat.”

“Feel free to try. Don’t be surprised if he turns you down.”

As he gazed at her, his pupils grew wider, and the awareness between them jumped way higher than it should.

“I’m…going for Jones’s position,” Joe said, his voice hoarser than usual, kept low so that no one could overhear their…discussion about work?

Had she missed something? Was the awareness all one-sided?

“I know.” She blinked and tilted her head to the side. “Everyone knows. You and Captain Schlager.”

“I really want the job.” He didn’t step back, didn’t remove his hand from the counter right next to her body.

“You have a good chance, in my new-to-the-department opinion.” Then it dawned on her what he might be getting at. “Do you think I know something? Because of my dad? Believe me, he doesn’t—”

“No, Faith. Even if I thought he talked to you about it, I’d never ask you for that information.”

“Okay.”

Still confused, she started to move away. Joe gently caught her wrist and forced eye contact.

“I want…” He didn’t finish the sentence but his eyes told her exactly what he wanted.

Okay, then.
She hadn’t misread the signs. “I know.” She nodded nonchalantly, as if he’d just told her there were fish in the ocean.

Faith picked up the coffeepot and poured the steaming liquid into her mug. After turning away from him.

The current that had sizzled between them faded to awkwardness. Joe headed for the table and pulled out the chair next to the one she’d been sitting in earlier. “So…your test. What are you working on?”

“Really, I don’t—”

“Want help. I know. As your captain, I’m ordering you to sit down and let me quiz you.”

“That is so wrong, flaunting your position….” She kept her tone light.

“It’s in my best interest for my people to pass tests and earn certifications. Makes me look good.”

“With all due respect, I really need to change out of these coffee-soaked clothes and get some sleep.” She actually hadn’t planned to go to bed tonight, but lying in her bunk awake was preferable to sitting here awkwardly with him.

He looked at her hard, sizing her up as if he knew she just wanted to escape. But instead of calling her on it, he nodded once and said, “Good luck on your test, Faith.”

He sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes and checked the digital clock. Twenty after eleven. He must’ve dozed off since he’d hit the sack over an hour ago. A 7:00 a.m. shift came too damn early. “What’s going on?”

“I stopped by the Shack to get the nightly deposit. Chief is here.”

The Shell Shack was the beach bar Derek and his wife, Macey, owned. In the past year or so, it had become a regular hangout for the department, and while Chief Peligni didn’t usually join in the camaraderie, it wasn’t unusual that he was there.

“He’s tanked, Joe.”

“Chief is?” Joe was out of bed, pulling on his jeans without conscious thought.

“You got it. Kevin says he’s been here since six-thirty. Came in for a burger with Mayor Romero. Been drinking ever since.”

“Can you call him a cab?”

“In his state, I don’t think that’s a wise solution. Cab could take a while to get here, with all the spring breakers. I’m concerned about someone recognizing him.”

“He’s that messed up?” Joe couldn’t fathom the man he’d looked up to for years making a spectacle of himself. He’d never even seen the chief tipsy and couldn’t imagine how much liquor it would take to make him falling down drunk. If he knew the chief the way he thought he did, the man would be humiliated once he sobered up and realized what he’d done. But hell. Lately Chief Peligni wasn’t acting like the man Joe knew.

“I’m not sure he can walk on his own,” Derek said with some hesitation. “I’d take him home myself, but thought it’d be better for you to handle it. You’re tight with him, right?”

Joe couldn’t fault Derek for not wanting to get involved in the chief’s business—especially not this business. It’d be awkward enough for Joe. “I’ll take care of it. Can you stay with him until I get there?” He pulled a wrinkled T-shirt off the floor and shook it out.

“I’ll be here.”

“See you in five.” Joe ended the call and pulled the shirt over his head, trying to wrap his brain around the situation. Either he’d been sleeping harder than he’d thought or the chief had gone off the deep end.

Without his permission, Joe’s mind veered to Faith. Did she know what her dad was up to? He doubted it. She wasn’t the type to sit back and let her father self-destroy. After what she’d said the other night in the station kitchen, he suspected she’d take it hard if she found out about the chief’s current state. Though it wasn’t his business or his place to interfere, Joe didn’t want Faith to learn about her dad’s bender. Didn’t want her to be hurt.

He hightailed it the few blocks to the Shell Shack and turned into the small parking lot, taking the only available spot.

He jumped out, the brisk night breeze rustling the palms that lined the hotel lot next door. If the weather didn’t make a massive turnaround in the next few days, spring break visitors to the island were going to be mighty disappointed. Maybe it would scare away a few, but likely not enough to make a difference in the havoc the month wreaked on the fire department.

When Joe cleared the doorway, he instantly spotted the chief leaning heavily on the bar. The horseshoe-shaped counter curved around such that Joe had a view of the older man’s face. It was red, the skin droopy. His eyes were aimed downward but Joe could tell from here they weren’t focused on anything. The chief wore a light gray polo shirt—thank God he’d changed out of his uniform beforehand—and there was a wet splotch on the front.

Derek sat on the stool next to Chief Peligni, talking to him. He glanced up at Joe and shook his head slowly.

Joe walked around the crowded bar and stopped next to them. “Evening, gentlemen.”

Derek nodded in reply, looking uncomfortable as he stood up and let Joe take his place. Chief Peligni didn’t react for a few seconds. Finally, he raised his gaze and squinted. “That the captain?”

“It’s me,” Joe affirmed. The man reeked of a distillery even from two feet away.

Glancing around, Joe took inventory of the other bar patrons, relieved that everyone was too caught up in themselves and their drinks to pay any attention to the chief.

“Can I get you anything, Captain?” Kevin asked from behind the bar.

“No, thanks.”

Joe sat on the stool Derek had vacated and attempted to make small talk with the blitzed chief. To his comments about the weather and the crush of customers, Joe received unintelligible mumbles.

Okay, enough bullshitting. He needed to get Chief Peligni out of here and safely home. Wouldn’t be an easy task—the older man had gained weight recently and must weigh over three hundred pounds—but Joe would do it. The chief had done a lot for him over the years. Now it was his turn to return the favor.

“What do you say we get out of here?” Joe asked, standing.

More muttering he couldn’t understand.

“You need to sleep it off, Chief. Let’s go before things get any worse.”

It was too late, though, because at that moment, Faith’s gorgeous face appeared in the doorway and she looked anything but pleased.