Firefly Mountain (13 page)

“Want to get some air?” Patrick stepped back so he could see Gini’s face.

“Yes.” Her voice didn’t sound like her own.

Patrick slipped his hand into Gini’s and tugged her toward the doors. Once outside, he led her to an iron bench and sat. He patted the space next to him, and Gini eased down. Patrick stretched his long legs out, crossing them at the ankles. The creases in his uniform pants made Gini smile.

“I would have pegged you as an ironer,” she said.

Patrick looked down and thumbed the crease. “I’ve got a thing about wrinkles.”

“Allergic to them?”

“Something like that.” His hands rested at his stomach, and Gini watched his calloused fingers spread out. She thought about the way they’d felt against her skin a moment ago and had to look away.

“Anyone else get hurt today?” She focused her attention on the parking lot across the street.

“No. An instructor was treated for smoke inhalation, but that was it. Amazing considering the size of the fire. Mason wants us to investigate.”

“Another suspicious blaze?” Patrick’s use of the word
us
intrigued Gini. Did he mean they were a team? Could they be?

“Maybe. Won’t know until we get photos and Midas and I dig through the scene.”

“As soon as I see Jonah’s all right, I’ll get my cameras. I know you probably want to get in there and collect evidence.”

“The evidence will be there whenever we get to it. Your family needs you right now.” He stood. “Had enough air?”

When Gini nodded, Patrick took her hand again and led her back into the hospital. As they approached the waiting room, he released her hand and let her go in first. A doctor led Liz away when they entered.

“What did he say?” Gini asked. “Where’s Mama going?”

“They’re going to bring Jonah out in a few minutes.” Walter glanced over Gini’s shoulder at Patrick.

“Oh, this is Patrick Barre,” Gini said. “Patrick, my daddy, Walter Claremont.”

“Patrick.” Walter shook Patrick’s hand, but his jaw muscles tightened. Gini knew he remembered Patrick’s name, that he was the one who’d caused her to set the bush on fire at the fire department. Her father didn’t forget threats to his daughter’s—his family’s—safety.

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Patrick said.

“New to the department, right?” Walter asked.

“New to Vermont.”

“Like it so far?”

Patrick hesitated for a moment. “Yes. I believe I do like it so far.”

Gini knew her father was about to launch into his zillion question interview, but her mother came back into the waiting room.

“Who do we have here?” Liz looped her arm around her husband’s waist.

“Patrick Barre,” Walter said. “My lovely wife, Liz.”

Patrick took Liz’s hand, but looked back at Gini who smiled.

“Go ahead,” Gini said. “Say it.”

“You look just like her,” Patrick said.

“No doubt I’m her mama, huh?” Liz wrapped her other arm around Gini.

“No doubt at all, ma’am,” Patrick agreed.

“Now whom do you get your fine features from?” Liz cupped a hand to Patrick’s cheek as only a mother could get away with.

“Suppose I’m a little of what they both were.”

Liz clamped a hand onto Patrick’s forearm. “Oh, honey, your parents are no longer with us?”

“No, ma’am. Died when I was sixteen.”

Gini fought the urge to touch Patrick. He looked so vulnerable as he answered her mother’s questions. Made sense now why Raina had said he put protecting his sisters before his own needs. He’d probably had to.

“My, my.” Liz shook her head. “I hope Vermont is kinder to you, Patrick.” She patted his arm. “Well, it has to be kinder if you’ve made friends with my Jonah and Gini.”

“And now I’ve met you,” Patrick said.

Liz giggled. “What’s your favorite pastry, Patrick?”

Patrick’s brows furrowed as he looked to Gini.

“Tell her and she’ll make sure her bakery is well stocked with your favorite.”

“I see. Blueberry muffins,” Patrick said.

“Oh, Walter.” Liz’s face bloomed with a delighted smile. “Another blueberry muffin guy.”

“Yeah, well, he better keep his hands off my muffins.” Walter glanced at Gini.

“There’s plenty of muffins for everybody, Walter. Be nice.” Liz gave Patrick another smile, but whirled around when the doctor spoke.

“Here we are. One Jonah Claremont, slightly damaged, but still in good condition.”

Jonah sat in a wheelchair, his right arm in a sling that wrapped around his torso, bracing the arm to his side. He was a little rumpled, but Gini watched three nurses at the front desk send him interested glances. He managed some winks back to them. He was going to be fine.

“Poor baby,” Liz said as she took over wheeling Jonah. “Mama’s going to make you soup and fresh bread.”

“Because that mends bones,” Gini said, causing Patrick to clear his throat to mask his laughter.

“Hush, Gini,” Jonah said. “You know Ma’s soup is magic.”

“Ought to be,” Walter said. “The way she boils it up in that cauldron of hers. The question is can she get eye of newt this late in the season?”

“You go ahead and make fun,” Liz said. “When Jonah is up and around faster than is medically possible, we’ll see who’s laughing then.” She waggled a finger at all of them, Patrick included, and wheeled Jonah to the door. “Get the car, Walter.”

“Yes, dear.” Walter left and Jonah held out his hand to Patrick.

“I owe you one, man.”

“Consider it payment for the walls you removed this morning.” Patrick shook Jonah’s hand.

“Nah, dragging my ass out of a fiery barn is worth more than that.”

“I’ve got more work for you when you’re able.”

“Deal.” Jonah yawned.

“Want to come to our house, Jonah?” Liz asked.

“No, thanks, Ma. I want to go home. I’m tired.”

“Okay, sweetie.” Liz wheeled him outside where Walter had pulled the car up to the curb. “One of us can stay with you.”

“Actually,” Jonah said, “I had a specific nurse in mind.” He looked to Gini, who dug her cell phone out of her enormous purse.

“I’m on it, Jonah.” Gini winked as she dialed. “Hiya, Haddy. Got a favor to ask you.”

As Jonah let Patrick help him out of the wheelchair and into the car, he said, “If Haddy’s got a nurse’s uniform, this might be an excellent night. Chicks dig a man in need.”

Another nurse sent Jonah a smile as she rolled the wheelchair back into the hospital.

Patrick closed the door. “Chicks just dig
you
. Period.”

“When you got it, brother, you got it.” Jonah grinned, but Patrick caught the wince as he shifted in the back seat.

“Yes, he asked for you,” Gini said. “I swear to the Goddess, Haddy.” She rolled her eyes. “Fine, hold on.” Gini held out the phone to Jonah. “She doesn’t believe me.”

Jonah smirked and took the phone. “Haddy, are you saying you don’t want to take care of me?”

Gini heard Haddy’s muffled, “Jonah! You’re really hurt?” While Jonah talked, Liz climbed in the passenger seat, and Walter started the engine.

Gini looked at Patrick. “You want to meet at Meadow Cliff later?”

“If you’re available.” Patrick’s hands slid into his pockets, which disappointed Gini. After holding his hand earlier, she wanted his hands to be…available.

“Once he convinces Haddy to come over, he’ll be all set. Besides, Mama will make sure he’s well-fed and hydrated and medicated and whatever else her motherly instincts tell her he needs.”

“She’s used to tending injured firefighters, huh? Jonah told me your father was chief before Warner.”

Gini nodded, thinking now about injured firefighters.
Be careful
, that voice inside her head warned.

Hush
, she told it.

“Seven o’clock all right?” she asked. “I’ve got to stop home to feed my horses and get my other camera.”

“Sure.” Patrick pulled his keys from his pocket, and Gini flicked a glance to the way his fingers moved over the keys. How would those fingers feel trailing over her skin?

Patrick stopped home and made a quick sandwich in the small kitchen, which would eventually be a tavern-like room, complete with a pool table and dartboard. He had figured the less he had to leave his home, the better. Now he didn’t know if that was the right strategy any more.

He’d gutted the actual kitchen on his second day in the house, happy to have another kitchen to use in the interim. He couldn’t wait to get started on the maple cabinets he’d begun to design on his laptop the other night.

Now he sat at the wobbly table alone, munching his sandwich and thinking about Gini and her family. Her mother’s soft hand on his cheek as she asked about his parents. The protective look in her father’s eyes as he told Patrick to keep his hands off his muffins. Gini and Jonah must feel so loved all the time.

You have love too
. His sisters. He loved them both and knew they loved him, but the sense of unity that comes from an intact family was not something they had. Lost it about twenty years ago. No getting it back. Sure, his grandparents had done a fine job raising Raina, Julianne, and him, but it wasn’t the same as having one’s parents around. Nana and Papa were always a couple steps behind on the important matters with a generation between them and their teenage grandchildren. They did the best they could, and Patrick loved them for it.

But his grandparents were gone now. He and his sisters were truly alone. He’d pushed that thought away, but seeing Gini’s parents tonight and the way they all pulled together for Jonah left Patrick wanting. Wanting what, he wasn’t quite sure.

He finished his sandwich, downed a glass of grape juice, and fed Midas. Deciding that jeans and a T-shirt would be more comfortable for crawling around a burned barn, Patrick changed out of his uniform. As he pulled off the Burnam Fire Department polo shirt, his fingers brushed against his scars. Funny how he never got used to feeling them, seeing them. He always remembered they were there, but each time he made contact with the mangled skin, fresh revulsion surfaced from deep inside him. How could anyone else ever look at him and like what they saw?

Patrick washed his face at the sink in the bathroom and slipped on a T-shirt and jeans in the bedroom he was using. It’d be awhile before the master bedroom was ready. The mattresses stacked on the floor in the smaller bedroom were lumpy, but they were a place to sleep. He’d removed the mirror Raina had hung across from the makeshift bed the other morning. Hauled it out to the garage where he figured its next step was to the debris pile. The less mirrors in the house, the better.

“Midas.”

The dog trotted to Patrick’s truck and waited by the passenger door. Midas was the one creature he didn’t have to hide from. Midas knew all his secrets and wanted to be around him just the same.

“A dog’s all a man really needs.” Patrick rubbed Midas between the ears before opening the car door. When the German Shepherd jumped up into the seat, he turned and gave Patrick’s cheek a solid lick. “Thanks, buddy.”

Patrick slid into the driver’s seat and headed for Meadow Cliff. As he drove, he pictured Gini hugging him at the hospital. He’d been surprised by her action and more stunned at his—hugging her back. Holding a woman was not something he did. Too close, too much touching, too much at risk. The last woman he’d allowed himself to hold had ended up in his bed one moment and had made excuses for why she had to leave the next. He could have respected her if she’d said what was on her mind. That he was too damaged for her to look at, never mind touch, or make love to. He would have understood. He’d leave if he could too.

Gini’s hug had been different though. She was thanking him for helping her brother. A hug of gratitude, not seduction. And yet, why had it brought all his senses to life? Made his blood run hot in his veins? Flashed pictures of her body entangled with his?

He tightened his hold on the steering wheel as Meadow Cliff Park came into view. The early evening sun sifted through the broken framework of the center barn. Nearby trees rustled in the warm breeze, some of their leaves singed to a crispy black.

Gini’s SUV was the only other car in the lot. She leaned against the driver side door, that ginormous purse weighing down her shoulder. In a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that said “My Cat Is Smarter Than You” across the front, she looked so comfortable, so accessible.

So beautiful.

Patrick pulled his truck into the spot next to hers, and Midas let out a whimper.

“That’s what I was thinking.” Patrick gave the dog another good rubbing before grabbing his investigation kit and opening the car door. Midas crawled over him and ran around the truck to scramble to Gini.

It took all of Patrick’s energy not to do the same.

****

“Hey, boy.” Gini kneeled and Midas slobbered all over her cheeks, his tail wagging excitedly.

“
Asseyez
.” With that one word, the dog sat back, and something fluttered in Gini’s chest over the authority in Patrick’s deep voice.

“Did you train Midas yourself?” she asked.

“Yes. Met him as a puppy, trained him, and got him all certified.”

“Why French commands?” Not that she didn’t love hearing the language roll off Patrick’s tongue even if it was only one word at a time.

“Most people don’t speak French out on the streets in these parts, so there’s less chance of Midas getting confused. He’s likely to only hear French words from me.”

“What are the commands? What do they mean?”

“
Restez
means stay.” Patrick whispered the words so Midas wouldn’t think he needed to do all of them. “
Venez
is come.
Partez
is leave. To shake hands is
secouez
, and to smell is
sentez.
When I want him to sit, I say
asseyez
, and lay down is
couchez.
”

“Makes it all sound so sophisticated.” Gini smiled and wiped the cheek Midas had soaked. “Does he only work with you?”