Controlled Burn (4 page)

By the time he made his way upstairs, he could smell the big pot of chili that had been simmering for most of the day. There were some drawbacks to feeding a building full of guys chili, of course, but Chris Eriksson’s recipe was too good to resist. And anything
that simmered, slow-cooked or could be shut off and reheated made for a good meal because the dispatchers couldn’t say, “Hey sorry, but they’re eating so it’ll be an hour or so.”

The somewhat outdated space on the third floor never felt as small as it did at mealtimes, when the guys all came together. Cobb had come up, getting a break from the office in which the chief oversaw both companies.
His own guys from Ladder 37. Jeff Porter. Gavin Boudreau. Chris Eriksson. And the guys from Engine 59. Danny Walsh. Aidan Hunt. Scott Kincaid. And the kid, Grant Cutter. All together, they made a good team, and they were like brothers.

Then Rick watched Grant jostling for space in front of the shredded cheese and crackers with Gavin—who was only a few years older—and felt old. In some cases
he was starting to feel more like an uncle or other mentor to the younger guys, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to be
that
guy yet.

Once he’d scored a bowl of the chili and topped it with some shredded cheese and garlic salt, Rick went into the living room to watch the news while he ate. Most of the guys would hang in the kitchen and shoot the shit, even if it meant standing while they ate,
so he was able to grab a seat on the battered love seat with Aidan. Jeff and Scott were on the big couch, and Cobb was sitting in one of the wooden rockers.

Because they were all busy eating, he was able to watch the news in peace. There was footage of the roof fire and they watched the district chief give a statement for the cameras. Rick knew him, of course, but it wasn’t Cobb in front
of the cameras because they’d been called out when additional alarms were struck, so the scene wasn’t theirs. But he knew Joe and Marie would ask him about it later anyway since they were sitting in front of their television watching the same news broadcast.

He wondered if Jessica was watching it with them. Probably curled up at the opposite end of the couch from her grandmother, maybe wrapped
in the fleece blanket Marie kept draped over the back of the couch once the weather turned cooler. Even though they’d had a decent couple of days, the chill had to be a bit of a shock coming from San Diego.

“What’s so funny, Gullotti?”

Rick jerked his gaze to Cobb, who was scowling at him, his dark and caterpillar-like eyebrows almost meeting over his nose. “What?”

“They’re talking
snow in the forecast and you’re the only guy in the room grinning like somebody just told you there are naked twins waiting for you in the bunk room.”

“Oh, I didn’t even hear the forecast. I was thinking about something else.”

“What’s her name?” Scott asked with a smirk.

Jessica
. “Maybe I was thinking about the time you got stuck going through a window and I had to push you through
like that cartoon bear.”

Before Scotty could come back with a smart-ass response, the alarm sounded and they all groaned. Rick shoved his way into the kitchen to dump his bowl in the sink and then joined the stampede down to the bays.

As he stepped into his boots and pulled the suspenders on the pants up over his shoulders, he hoped this wouldn’t be a long call because chili was a bitch
to clean up after the fact. And as he grabbed his bunker coat and helmet off their hooks, he wondered what Jessica would think if she saw him on the late news in all his gear. A lot of women tended to find firefighters sexy, but he had no idea if she was one of them or not.

Rick swung up into the seat, scowling. He also had no idea why he cared.

* * *

After dinner was eaten—far
earlier in the day than she was accustomed to—and the dishes were washed, Jessica excused herself to her room. She’d heard her phone ringing in the distance while they ate, and that particular ringtone was only assigned to her father.

She hadn’t answered it, of course, but she hadn’t heard the voice-mail tone. That meant, if she didn’t call him back very soon, he’d try again.

“Are you
going to come watch the news with us?” Joe asked before she left the kitchen. “We watch the six o’clock news together every night.”

“The news?” She almost said no, because checking in on financial news online would be a more productive use of her time than watching highlights of budget fights and Boston sports games on the television. But there was something about the way he said it that
made it sound less like a polite question and more like an invitation to join them in a family activity. “Sure. I’ll make sure I’m finished in time.”

The smile on his face made her smile in return, thankful she’d made the right call. “Great. We’ll make extra decaf tonight.”

At least their third-floor tenant wasn’t around tonight, she thought as she went up the stairs to her room. Not
that she didn’t like him. That wasn’t the problem at all.

The problem was that whenever he was in the room, she had to resist the urge to look at him. She kept telling herself it was because he was tall and broad at the shoulder. Of course he’d draw the eye. But she’d also found herself wondering if his hands were as strong as they looked and what the scruffy beard on his face would feel
like against skin, and she was pretty sure neither of those things had anything to do with how much space he took up in the kitchen.

Jessica had just closed her bedroom door behind her when her cell phone rang again, vibrating in her pocket while playing the distinctive ringtone that signaled a call from her father. Sighing, she pulled it out. She’d been hoping to do a quick sweep of her
email and make sure nothing was happening at the office before calling him back.

Talking to him had been inevitable. While she hadn’t expected him to step foot in the office for several more weeks, at least, he usually checked in with her or Sharon every so often. As tempting as it was to mute the ringer and let his call go to voice mail, Jessica knew he’d only keep calling back until he
got through to her. And he would get angrier with each attempt.

“Hi, Dad.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

So he knew where she was, which meant he’d called Sharon before calling her. “I called to tell you about the message from the doctor, but you chose not to listen.”

“What is it you think you’re going to accomplish?”

“You told me to handle it. I’m handling
it.” More or less.

“Jessica, why didn’t you tell me my parents are involved?”

Because he hadn’t given her a chance to talk before barking out his demands and hanging up on her, like usual. But she recognized by his tone that he wasn’t in the mood to admit any fault on this one. All she could do was try to keep anything emotional off the table. “I wanted to solve their problem for you
as quickly as possible, and coming to Boston seemed like the most efficient way to accomplish that.”

“I expect your assistance when it comes to the company, but this is personal. My family is none of your business.”

Jessica was glad they were having this conversation by cell phone so he couldn’t see her actually look at the phone and cock her head sideways in an are-you-serious-right-now
kind of way. “I’m your daughter.”

“I know who you are. And you’re also vice president of Broussard Financial Services.”

“I am your
daughter
,” she repeated. “I
am
your family. That makes your parents—who are my grandparents, by the way—very much my business.”

He was quiet for a few seconds, and she waited, knowing he was pondering the best route to take. “I told you a long time ago
that they’re not our kind of people, honey. And you know how much I depend on you in the office. I can’t do it without you. I can hire somebody to help out my parents, but nobody can run this business for me like you do.”

In the past, she would have given in. Not because she was flattered. Regardless of the truth in what he said, she knew he was saying it to manipulate her. For years she’d
been telling herself that she let him get away with it because it made
her
life easier, not because it was actually effective.

But she wasn’t finished in Boston. The initial awkwardness of staying in the house with her grandparents was wearing off, and she was enjoying getting to know Joe and Marie. Their conversations were still of the getting-to-know-you variety, though. They were almost
comfortable enough with each other to maybe start having some heart-to-heart discussions and if she left for California now, it might not happen. Who knew when her father would free her up to return to the East Coast again?

They seemed hale and hearty enough to Jessica, but she reminded herself she was here to discuss their elder care options because Joe had ended up in the emergency room.
And they were both on a variety of medications. If she returned to San Diego and something happened to one of them before she could get back...

“I prefer to stay and continue working remotely while helping Joe and Marie consider their options,” she said firmly. “I have my laptop and my phone. That’s all I ever use in the office, and they have good Wi-Fi and don’t mind if I work at the kitchen
table. The staff texts me when they need to and, as you know, that’s how they usually communicate with me, anyway.”

“They don’t mind if you work at the kitchen table,” he repeated in a flat voice, and she realized she’d given away the fact she wasn’t talking to him from a hotel room. “Where are you staying?”

“I’m staying at their house. With Joe and Marie.” The silence went on so long,
Jessica glanced at her phone’s screen to make sure the call timer was still running and he hadn’t hung up on her. “The office is fine, Dad. Everything’s running as smoothly as usual. Sharon and I are in contact several times per day. And, as I said, I’m perfectly set up for remote work.”

“What about me? This isn’t an easy time for me, Jessica.”

A lifetime of conditioning kicked in and
she nodded her head, but when she opened her mouth, the words wouldn’t come out.

She didn’t want to go home, but she knew she wouldn’t get anywhere with him by playing the sentiment card. Instead she tried speaking his language. “They’ve already set up meetings for next week. Imagine how it would look if word got out you weren’t willing to help your own parents with their affairs. It could
be a PR disaster if word hit the right circles.”

“My parents do
not
travel in the right circles.”

Jessica closed her eyes and said a silent apology to Rick. “Their tenant could be a problem. They’re very close and he’s protective of them, so I wouldn’t put it past him to cause a fuss. And he works for the city, so he probably knows a lot of people.”

It was the truth, even if she
knew her father wasn’t envisioning a firefighter, but rather a guy in a suit at the city hall. She was in a tough spot because she wanted to stay with Joe and Marie a while longer. But she also couldn’t lose her father and possibly derail her career for people she’d just met, no matter how much she wanted to get to know them, so it would be a balancing act.

“You have clients,” he said, but
she could hear the weakening in his voice. He was probably nearing the point where he’d give her what she wanted just so he could get off the phone and have a drink.

“My clients are being taken care of. And Sharon’s the only person who knows why I’m here. Everybody else believes I’m wooing a potential client.”

“The meetings are next week?”

“Yes. I haven’t set up a meeting with a
real estate agent yet, though, but hopefully I’ll find one who can come out on short notice.”

“Don’t get too close to them,” he warned. “Keep our personal business to yourself. But I’ll let you stay until this matter’s resolved so I don’t have to hear about it again.”

She let the statement of granted “permission” slide. “Thanks, Dad. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Once he’d hung up, she
sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes to calm herself. Her father was always draining to a point, but never so much as when he was drinking.

After a few minutes, she opened her laptop and lost herself in her inbox and stock reports. She kept an eye on the clock in the corner of the screen, though, so when it was almost six o’clock, she saved everything and went down the stairs.

Joe was in his chair and Marie at her usual end of the couch. And there was a mug of what she assumed was decaffeinated coffee sitting on the coffee table in front of the other end. She smiled a greeting and then curled up in the corner before reaching for the mug.

“Thank you,” she said, and then took a sip.

“Are you okay?” Marie asked. “You look tired all of a sudden.”

“My father
called. He didn’t know I was here and he’s concerned about my not being in the office while he’s unavailable.” There. That was mostly the truth. She didn’t see any reason to tell them he was more upset that she was with
them
.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Maybe another time,” she said. “It’s time for the news, anyway.”

Because she seemed to live in a constant state of not-quite-warm-enough,
even in the house, Jessica pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and tucked it around herself as the news began.

“Oh, I wonder if Rick will be on TV,” Marie said as they started into a story about a roof fire.

Jessica didn’t lean toward the screen, but she tried not to blink as they ran footage of the fire somebody had taken with a cell phone. She wasn’t sure how she would tell
which one was Rick with all the gear on, but she tried not to blink anyway.

And when she didn’t see him, she tried not to be disappointed. And she
really
tried not to wonder if she’d see him tomorrow. According to Joe, Rick worked a twenty-four-hour shift and then had forty-eight hours off. Then he worked another twenty-four hours and had seventy-two off. This was his second of the week,
so he’d be home for several days.

And he’d already made it clear he intended to keep his eye on her. She just needed to remember it was because he didn’t trust her and not let herself develop a crush on the man. She was too old for crushes. And, in this case, it couldn’t end well.