The Heat Is On (Boston Five Book 1) (17 page)

Ever since, Heath had wondered whether his suggestion had been too rash. At first, he’d suggested that he could climb up onto the neighboring roof to check for any air supply or vent options. As chief, his dad could have led the operation from the ground. But then Heath had jokingly asked him whether he was still able to climb the fire ladder at his age. If only Heath had kept his big mouth shut, he’d have been on the roof alone. But he’d lured the leader of the operation—his own dad—into following him up there. He could still hear the echo of his dad’s dismissive snort, calling his oldest son a greenhorn, still wet behind the ears.

Heath’s throat constricted as his mind wandered to the day, shortly before the disaster, that his dad had defended him in front of the whole department. Greg had teasingly asked why it was taking Heath so long to impregnate Hayden. And his dad had suavely put Greg in his place, making a joke at the expense of the older fireman and prophesying that Heath would make him a grandfather within two years. Heath was a true Fitzpatrick, after all, his dad had said. In bed that night, Heath had told Hayden about the exchange, and that, yes, he did want to make his dad a grandpa, give him a healthy grandson or granddaughter. In true Irish fashion, he wanted to name his first child after his father—Joseph or Josephine—another generation of Fitzpatricks. He’d told Hayden all this without thinking of the fact that her own father had long been dead and would not see his grandchildren grow up. And Hayden’s mom was living in a different state by then, which didn’t make it any easier for her. But when he’d tried to comfort her, finally realizing that his talk of grandchildren had led her thoughts down less happy avenues, she had shaken her head. And then she’d whispered that, while she still missed her own dad, she would be happy to make Joseph a granddad. She even liked the idea of naming their child after him.

Everything had seemed so perfect then.

Heath had been a gloriously happy man who lived with his fiancée in their own house, who planned to have children, who had a good, easygoing relationship with his siblings and parents, and who was working in a profession he loved.

All of that had gone down the drain in an instant.

Now, he was deeply unhappy, had broken up with his fiancée, whom he would not be having children with, and had moved out of the dream house, which said fiancée now wanted to sell. He was at loggerheads with his siblings, had buried his father, and was about to be suspended because he refused to tell all of this to a shrink.

Recently, he’d been asking himself whether it had been a mistake to break up with Hayden. God, he missed her like crazy, and she was constantly on his mind. He didn’t want to hurt her, and it pained him to think that his behavior was, in fact, hurting her. Ever since first grade, he couldn’t bear to see her cry, or to know she was feeling low.

But one look at his sorrowful mother reminded him he’d made the right decision. Did he want Hayden to suffer like his mom was suffering now? He couldn’t bear the thought of her sitting there at his funeral, receiving a damn flag, and losing the third fireman in her life. It wasn’t as if he risked his life every single day, but unfortunately, unforeseen accidents could happen anytime, and firemen lost their lives. It happened.

Hayden had lost her father in the line of duty when she was only nine years old. It had taken her a long time to recover from the blow. Her only remaining family had been his own. His dad had been her substitute father for twenty years, and now he’d died in the line of duty as well. She had grieved horribly, and it would not be fair to put her through this hell again, should something happen to him.

He loved her too much to take that risk.

“How are things at the station?” his mom asked, bringing him back from his long trance.

Regaining his composure, he cleared his throat. “Fine,” he murmured. “Kyle’s doing a great job. You should be proud of him.”

“Well, I am.” She winked at him over her shoulder. In that instant, the deep creases around her mouth disappeared. They were a new feature, one he didn’t like, just like the careworn expression that recently seemed to be on her face far too often. “I’m proud of all my children.”

Heath didn’t suppress an amused chuckle. “You certainly have enough of them.”

She smiled softly. “That’s your father’s fault. After Kayleigh, he absolutely wanted to have another girl, to even the score, he said.”

“But instead you got Kyle and Ryan.”

“Exactly.”

Her voice sounded extremely wistful. He cleared his throat and, feigning nonchalance, said, “Don’t worry, Mom. Kayleigh got along fine without any sisterly backup.”

“Oh yes, I know.” His mom dried her hands on the kitchen towel and turned to face him. “I’m not worried about Kayleigh. I’m worried about you.”

“Mom.” The corners of his mouth drooped. “There’s no need to worry about me.”

He was relieved when Kayleigh’s voice suddenly boomed through the house. He didn’t want to talk about his mother’s worries again. He still had no intention of going to see a shrink and pouring out his heart, which meant he would soon be suspended, and that news would get through to his mother soon enough.

“Hello, Mom!” Kayleigh shouted. “Do you have anything to eat? I’m starving!”

As she entered the kitchen, she saw her brother and frowned. After their clash at the pub two weeks ago, they hadn’t spoken a word to each other. For Heath, this wasn’t a new experience—Kayleigh wasn’t the only one of his siblings who didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. As a matter of fact, at the moment, Kyle was the only one he got along with. But even they didn’t talk about private things; they stuck with safer topics, like their jobs, or food, or sports.

Their mom grinned at Heath. “Looks like you’re not the only one who came here today to enjoy my cooking, darling.”

Heath crossed his arms in mock offense. “I came here for completely unselfish reasons, Mom. I just wanted to mow the lawn. I didn’t know you would be cooking my favorite meal. Hey, Kayleigh.”

“Hey,” his sister echoed in a slightly huffy voice, which made him grin.

Ellen Fitzpatrick kissed her daughter on the cheek, and then immediately reproached her. “What in heaven’s name have you done to your hair? It looks as if birds were nesting in there.”

“It’s been a long shift.” In her familiar blustering manner, his sister dropped her bag on the floor, pulled at her hair in an unladylike fashion, and opened the fridge to examine the contents. “I didn’t even have time to eat.”

“Then you’ll be glad to know I have more than enough here to feed you.”

“Mom’s making potato dumplings,” Heath informed his sister.

Her raised chin gave him a perverse enjoyment, even though she did it to show she was still miffed at him.

“Ryan should be here any minute, too. The four of us can eat together.” Their mom showed a hesitant smile and then went on to scrutinize her daughter’s messy hair more closely. “It’s a pity Kyle and Shane aren’t here, too, or it would be a real family dinner.”

“Don’t forget Hayden.” Kayleigh crossed her arms defiantly. “But if Heath doesn’t mind, I could call her right now and ask her to come.”

His relaxed mood was gone, and he glared at his belligerent sister, who glared right back at him.

“Mind your own business,” he grumbled, burying his hands in his pockets. Sometimes he still regretted never having been the kind of older brother who put spiders in his sister’s bed or pulled her hair. Maybe that might have helped nip that big mouth of hers in the bud.

“Please, you guys, I don’t want to see you fighting.” Ellen clicked her tongue and focused again on her daughter’s hair. She plucked at an unruly strand and combed her hand through it.

“Ouch! Mom …”

“Be quiet. How could you go to work looking like this? What are your patients supposed to think?”

Like an obedient elementary school girl, his little sister stood still and let their mother disentangle her unruly hair. “My patients are mostly drunken homeless people, Mom. They shouldn’t be worried about the way
my
hair looks, and they rarely are.”

“You’re not getting any younger.” Ellen tried a new tack, shaking her head at the tangles before her. “Imagine you meet a young doctor who isn’t married yet. What would he say when he saw your hair?”

“Don’t worry. When I think of the doctors at my hospital, all I can I hope is that my hair is enough to frighten them all away.”

The deep sigh Ellen released was worthy of an Academy Award, or at the very least, a Golden Globe. “Who knows who might notice you, if you didn’t run around looking like a scarecrow?”

Kayleigh made a face. “Mom, your logic says I should treat my patients while made up like a circus horse, all cleavage and high heels. After all, what if a hot young millionaire is brought in by ambulance and falls in love with me?”

Heath chuckled. “By ambulance? Whatever happened to the good old prince on a fine steed?”

His sister heaved a dramatic sigh and moaned, “Because of his hemorrhoids, the prince can no longer ride a horse. And I suppose he’ll be brought in for treatment because he caught the syphilis from some young hustler.
That
is the way the fairy tale would turn out today, Mom. Now tell me, do you really want me to straighten my hair for that kind of apocalyptic scenario?”

“Yeah, yeah, just keep making fun of me,” her mom countered. “But I’m going to tell you a tiny piece of wisdom my mother told me when I was a young thing: You need honey to catch a fly—not vinegar.”

“And I’m going to remind you of the fact that I inherited Grandma’s hair.”

“Kayleigh!”

But his sister’s patience seemed to have run out. She twisted free from her mother’s grip. “Besides, I don’t want to attract flies. They tend to sit on cow shit!”

Amused, Heath interrupted the back-and-forth. “When will the food be ready, Mom?”

“Why don’t you two go set the table so I can finish cooking it in peace? I don’t think talking about hemorrhoids, syphilis, and cow manure is helping any.”

Heath turned and walked silently into the dining room, and his sister followed, though she didn’t seem too happy about it.

“I’m surprised you found the time to pay Mom a visit.” Kayleigh’s voice was practically dripping with disdain. “Isn’t there some ho waiting for you to spend your evening with?”

“Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t beat you up more as a kid,” Heath answered, fighting for calm.

“You never beat me up,” she said.

“Believe me, that’s a mistake I deeply regret.” He went over to the sideboard and took out a stack of plates. “Haven’t you caught on to why I’ve been avoiding all of you for weeks now? I’m so sick of your damned accusations and criticism.”

He heard her disdainful voice at his back. “If you don’t want to listen to our ‘accusations,’ you shouldn’t have treated Hayden like shit.”

He gritted his teeth and gripped the plates so hard he feared he might break his mother’s favorite china. “Kayleigh, you have no idea what you’re talking about, so shut your trap.”

“What do you mean, I have no idea? You broke up with her, just like that!”

“Since when does Hayden need someone to defend her? Why don’t you mind your own business?”

“Hayden is my best friend, Heath. That gives me every right to give you a piece of my mind.”

His entire body stiffened. “You’re my sister, Kayleigh. Have you even thought of trying to see my side of things?”

“Your side?” She sounded incredulous. “You’re sleeping with other women—”

“No, I’m not,” he replied quietly, throwing her a disdainful glance over his shoulder. “You really ought to know me better.”

Her eyes widened in confusion. “Then why did you tell her that? You gotta know how upset that made her! Do you
want
Hayden to hate you?”

Heath didn’t need to answer because his sister had drawn the exactly right conclusions, and there was nothing he could add. But Kayleigh still didn’t seem to understand.

“Do you have any idea how awful she’s feeling because she thinks you’re sleeping with other women? Goddammit, Heath, how could you do this to her?”

“Kayleigh—”

“What do you think Dad would have said about this?”

Now she was bringing out the big guns. Mentioning their father made it so much worse. Heath set the plates aside, gripped the edge of the sideboard with both hands, and lowered his head. “Dad wouldn’t have torn me to pieces the way this entire family has been doing for weeks now. Why can’t you just leave this alone? It’s my life, and it really is none of your business.”

“Dad would be horribly disappointed with the way you deserted Hayden.”

“I did not desert her!” He banged his fist against the sideboard so hard that one of the crystal glasses inside toppled over. Whipping around, he shouted, “Dear God! Do you really believe that I vacated our house, payed off our loan, left her the car, and stay away from my family just for an end goal of deserting her?”

His sister raised her hands in a gesture of cluelessness. “Well then why are you doing all that?”

“Mom! I’m starving!” Ryan’s booming voice interrupted their heated argument. When he stuck his head into the dining room and spotted his oldest brother, his expression darkened. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be out on a hot date?”