The Fire Inside (17 page)

A ladder had been propped up right outside
the window. As he turned on the faucet, he saw shapely legs come
down it. He knew, intimately, who they belonged to. They’d been
wrapped around him in the not-too-distant past. He took a deep
breath and let it out slowly as he watched Tess hit ground level,
go to the cooler and bend over to get some water. Fuck! He tried to
avert his gaze, but he couldn’t. She had a fine ass, all toned. And
fine breasts, too. Fine…

“Jack?”

Shifting on his feet, he turned to find
Larissa behind him.

“I came to get some water.”

“I think the fridge is running. I haven’t
gotten to clean it yet.”

Jack watched her cross to the appliance.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you how your EMS classes are going. You’d
voiced some concern before the course started.”

“I haven’t taught a class yet.” She faced him
with a bottle in her hand. “When I was introduced, though, some of
the guys were rolling their eyes at me. Cory Cameron was with me,
and showed me respect so they did too.”

Cameron got around!

She sipped the water delicately. “I’ve been
meaning to ask you something, too.”

“What’s that?”

Her smile was thousand watt. “Have dinner
with me tomorrow night?”

Do it
, he told himself. Take the
advice you’d give anyone else in his situation. He made himself
say, “I’d love to.”

Before she left, she squeezed his arm. He
circled back to the sink to find Tess at the bottom of the ladder,
staring through the window.

o0o

The Erikson house on Hidden Lake was a
showcase. Dusk had settled, and lights around the water’s edge
glowed like yellow beacons. Tess had never been here before, and
she admired the structure: three levels, beautiful décor—from what
she could see of the inside—and the sprawling multileveled decks.
Parker had inherited it from her grandparents, Mitch told her, and
Cal had moved in after they were married. The Eriksons were showing
off their daughter, Madison, to the Malvasos.

Her cousin held out his arms. “Come on, baby,
come to Zach.”

The dark haired, blue-eyed clone of Parker
shook her head. “No!”

“You’re losing your touch,” Jenn teased her
brother.

Jack joined Zach at the front of the group.
He’d thrown on a gray Columbia sweatshirt, but she remembered all
too well what he looked like in a damp black T-shirt. “Nah! Come to
me, sweetheart.”

Madison’s face wreathed with a grin, and she
reached out both arms. Jack took the child. “You got taste, little
one.”

“I don’t understand. I have a way with
women.”

So did Jack. Tess could testify to that
fact.

“Not this time.” Jack kissed Madison’s head,
and Tess’s stomach tightened.

“Want to go for a walk with me?”

She gripped him around the neck. “Me no
walk.”

“How about if Uncle Jack carries you?”

“`Kay.” She laid her head on his shoulder,
cuddling into the warm-looking fleece.

“It’s amazing,” Cal said, sliding his arm
around his wife. “Maddie always goes to him like that.”

“Does he spend a lot of time here?” Zach
asked.

“Some.”

“That must be why she went to him and not
me.”

“Come on, I’ll soothe your battered ego.”
This from his wife, who dragged him toward the bar set up
outside.

Tess said to Jenn, “It’s wonderful to see him
so happy.”

“It took a long time for the two of them to
get together.” She turned to Tess. “Now we gotta find a guy for
you.”

Tess tried not to look after where Jack had
gone. Luckily, someone came up to her. “Want to go down by the
water, Tess?”

She smiled at Cory. His blond hair was
windblown and his face ruddy. “Yeah, sure.” Maybe he’d take her
mind off Jack, whom she’d heard earlier make a date with the
beautiful Larissa James. Untying her HDFC hoodie from around her
neck, Tess shrugged into it and followed Cory down the decks and
out to the water. The place had a dock, at the end of which was a
covered little gazebo. He said, “Let’s go down there.”

They took the twenty-foot span slowly. Tess
enjoyed the rhythm of the lap of the water on shore, the crickets
chirping and the scent of the lake.

When they reached the end, Tess laughed. “You
get me out here to sit in that swing with you?”

“Yep.”

She chuckled and sat.

He dropped down on the padded wicker, and
their legs touched. “Nice and cozy.”

“Uh-huh. Your intentions seem suspect, Mr.
Cameron.”

“Oh, they are.” He slid his arm around her.
Then he kicked the swing, and as they went back and forth, they
talked of the work they’d gotten done at the camp and how great the
concept was.

When they stopped talking, the silence was
comfortable. After a while, Cory turned slightly and took her chin.
She gazed up into his blue eyes. He must have seen permission in
hers, because he leaned over and brushed her lips with his. It was
fun, until she started to think about Jack, kissing her senseless
in the Inn last week. And in her bedroom weeks ago.

Cory grasped her arms, and she tried to
participate. Still, none of the fireworks came.

After he wound down the kiss and drew away,
he smiled. “That was nice.”

“It was.” Only nice. Why the hell kiss
somebody if it was only nice? But maybe she wasn’t giving him
enough of a chance.

They heard a bell and someone call out
“Chow’s on.”

“Hungry?” she asked Cory.

He stood. “Yes, but I plead the fifth on for
what. Come on, we’ll go eat.”

They hiked back up to the decks again. She
and Cory got separated in the crowd headed to the food in the
house. Tess eventually ended up in line without him…two people
behind Jack. Geez. He turned around when the queue stalled. His
expression, when it was directed at her, was glacial.

She gave him a quizzical look. He angled his
head toward the back. The buffet was on the bottom floor, and
darkness lay beyond the setup. When she didn’t move, he slipped out
of line, took her arm and led her away from the others, down a
corridor. They ended up in a large bathroom; he closed the door and
locked it.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” she said,
motioning to the place where they always seemed to find
themselves.

He didn’t joke.

“What’s wrong, Jack?”

His hand came out and he brushed her lips
with his thumb. It was calloused, rough, and the gesture made her
head spin. “Did you kiss him?”

Had his tone been jealous or angry, she would
have fought him. But it was sad.

The room suddenly seemed small, intimate.
“Jack, don’t.”

“I want to know.”

“Yes.”

“How was it?”

“What do you want me to say? That it was
milquetoast compared to your kisses? That I wished like hell it was
you?”

A smile broached his mouth. “That’s a good
start.”

Lifting her chin, she said as haughtily as
she could, “You’re going out with Larissa. I heard her ask you for
dinner.”

“I’m going because you don’t want a
relationship with me.”

“I said it was unprofessional. And, again as
I also said, I’m not sure I could ever trust you again.”

“That’s bullshit. You know now why I didn’t
contact you. Don’t make me explain it again.”

“I know what you said Jack, but the
explanation doesn’t make what you did hurt less.”

Moving in closer, he grasped her upper arms.
Squeezed her gently. “I obviously handled that wrong. I’m
sorry.”

“I know you are.”

His gray gaze darkened, making it the color
of dangerous smoke. “I hate seeing you with him.” His voice was
raw.

“We have to forge a life without each other.”
Even to her own ears, her voice sounded unconvincing.

“Yeah, look how that’s working out.”

She stepped back. “I should go.”

He didn’t stop her.

Until she reached the door. Then he was
behind her, slapping a hand against the wood when she tried to open
it. She pivoted.

“He won’t be the last guy who did this,” Jack
said, just before he took her mouth in a voluptuous, bone-melting
kiss.

They didn’t get caught in the bathroom this
time.

Except by their own feelings for each
other.

o0o

“You look lovely tonight, Larissa.” Jack
smiled over at the woman he had a date with on Saturday night. She
was dressed in a sleeveless blue sheath, the kind Elizabeth used to
wear. Her blond hair was up in a knot again, this time with loose
tendrils around her face. She’d be any man’s dream date.

Too bad she wasn’t
his
perfect woman.
Short choppy dark hair and liquid brown eyes kept superimposing
themselves over Larissa’s features. Though God knew Tess wasn’t
perfect.

“Do you think we should have gone to the
picnic at the Woodwards’ house?” Larissa asked.

“No. I’m fine missing it.” And missing Tess,
and whoever she was with tonight. Probably Cameron. Because of her,
because of them, he was determined to enjoy dinner and the
company.

“I like this place.” The Hidden Cove Hideaway
was an historic building at the edge of town that had been
converted to a bed-and-breakfast. Its cozy winter atmosphere had
been replaced by an outdoorsy spring one: windows were open and
wildflowers perched on tablecloths, which now sported yellow
napkins instead of black.

“I like it, too. Its restaurant is five-star,
and New Yorkers often come out here.” The place had guest rooms, as
well, so it was good for a hideaway, as the name suggested.

Larissa sipped the merlot they’d ordered.
“Did you pick it because it’s out of the way?” At his quizzical
expression, she said, “So no one would see us.”

“No. I told you I don’t think spending time
with you outside of the Academy is a conflict of interest.”

“Good. Let me say one thing about the Recruit
Concerns class. I don’t care what the kids tell you about me. And
if you have any pointers for what I can do better after the class
is over, please let me know so I can improve.”

“What a refreshing attitude.”

One Tess didn’t possess.

They picked up the menu. “Hmm,” Larissa said
after she perused it. “Do you like chateaubriand?” The dish, using
the best cut of beef, was served with an assortment of vegetables
and potatoes for two.

“Absolutely. Rare?”

“The only way to cook it.”

“Then, it’s settled.”

After they put in their order, he cocked his
head. “Tell me about your background.”

“A middle-class life in upstate New York. I
went to school for premed, then decided that being a doctor wasn’t
what I wanted. I liked medicine, though, so I became certified as
an EMT, then an EMS instructor with advance training.”

“You had a happy childhood?”


“Yes, I did. Fun teenage years. Good college
experience. I’m one of the lucky ones.” She smiled. “What about
you? Are you from Hidden Cove?”

“No, Brooklyn. Middle-class family, too. I
went to college at seventeen and graduated at twenty-one. Dad
wanted me to be a lawyer, but I’d been enthralled by the FDNY all
my life, so I went to John Jay for fire science. FDNY members were
instrumental in our instruction, and the fire department
psychologist took a liking to me, probably because I was so
interested in his job. I got into the department right away. After
a couple of years of firefighting, I decided psychology was my
calling, so I went back to school for my PhD.”

“I, um, heard you’d been married. And your
wife died.”

“Yeah, it was a fluke.” The old pain
surfaced. “It’s rare for women to die in childbirth in the modern
world. Unfortunately, Elizabeth had a bad heart, which no one had
caught before she delivered, and the stress was too much.” He shook
his head. “She had the best care, too, because her father was an
ob-gyn and she was treated at his practice by a highly regarded
female doctor.” He shrugged. “Life and death can be bizarrely
random.”

“So you came out here to Hidden Cove?”

“For my last semester of grad school. My
grandmother had moved here from New York. After I finished school,
the psychologist at the Hidden Cove Academy retired. I was young,
but I’d interned out here with him and the guys liked me.
Elizabeth’s parents were good about it, too, frequently coming from
the city to stay with the kids.”

Reaching over the table, she took his hand.
“I wish you hadn’t had such a tough life.”

“Thank you. I’m happy now with my work and my
twins.”

He told her about the kids over dinner. They
talked of her marriage, and her husband’s death. He hadn’t known
she was a widow.

“We have a lot in common,” Jack remarked when
she finished.

“Yes, we do.”

The night was still balmy when he drove her
home after dinner and escorted her to her porch. “I had a wonderful
time, Jack. Would you like to come in?”

“I enjoyed myself, too.” Which was true. “But
we have to be at the camp early tomorrow morning. Rain check?”

“Sure.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed him
lightly on the cheek. “Good night. See you tomorrow.”

Jack waited until Larissa was inside before
he left the porch and got in his truck. He liked Larissa’s company.
And the evening had been blessedly absent of tension and
resentment.

A nice change.

If the entire night hadn’t been characterized
with a lack of passion, the date would have been perfect. But hell,
maybe that would come. Couples his age didn’t experience a
white-hot attraction for each other right away. With
most
people it took time. Maybe he’d see where a relationship with
Larissa led.

o0o

Tess had refused to look for Jack at the home
of Ian and Lisel Woodward. They lived in the accessible condo where
Ian was residing when he met the Broadway star. “You’re house is
great, Ian,” she said from the kitchen where she’d gone to help get
out dessert. They were eating outside.