Читать книгу The Widow's Protector - Stephanie Newton - Страница 11

THREE

The bookstore hummed with activity. It seemed that everyone wanted to come by and talk about the fire. Fiona didn’t want to talk about the fire. She slid a book into place on its shelf.

The fear lingered in the back of her mind as much as the smoky smell lingered in the air, but in the here and now, she couldn’t think about it. If she did, it could paralyze her. So instead, she focused on her business.

Mrs. Davenport had returned to look through the garden section. Fiona’s assistant, Merry, had five or six little ones for Story Time in the children’s section. The moms and nannies were gathered in a group of comfy chairs by the window pretending to look at books, but really just talking.

Fiona picked up a couple of Hollywood gossip magazines and dropped them off on the table next to those ladies, stopping to compliment Georgina Hennessy’s nanny, Delores, on her new hair color.

The scrapbookers were in the apartment upstairs cropping pictures. A year ago, Fiona had expanded to include a small selection of scrapbook materials in order to bring in new business. It had paid off. The crafters loved making a pot of coffee and sitting down for a few hours of serious scrapbook time. The dedicated space upstairs was perfect for crafting.

The chime on her front door rang. Nate Santos walked in, his typical toothpick clenched in his teeth. His black hair was a little mussed but in his FBFD T-shirt, he still drew a sigh from the moms sitting by the window as he walked in. She smiled a welcome. “Hey, Nate, you just getting off shift?”

“Yeah. I had breakfast at the Sugar Plum and thought I’d drop by to make sure you’re doing okay after the fire the other day.” He sauntered a little closer to the counter, pulled the toothpick out of his mouth and shoved it in his pocket.

They’d gone to high school together, but had run with different circles. He’d tried hanging out with Jimmy and Hunter for a while, but Nate had partied. Jimmy and Hunter would’ve rather been out on her little sailboat or crabbing with her at Aunt Vanessa’s, even in high school.

He picked up a book on golf courses around the country from the display by the register, looked at the cover and then put it down, finally making eye contact with her.

“We’re fine, Nate, trying to keep things as normal as possible, but it’s nice of you to come by.”

His fingers fiddled with a display of ink pens, picking them up and then replacing them as he wandered the length of her counter. “If you ever want me to hang out with Sean, just for some male bonding, I’d be glad to.”

Fiona wasn’t quite sure where Nate was going with this or what his motivation was. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but as sweet as it was for him to offer, he wasn’t exactly the kind of mentor she wanted for Sean.

“Luckily there’s no lack of males in my family. Sean’s got lots of guys around, maybe too many, when they get to butting heads.” She smiled again. “It’s really nice for you to think of him, though.”

Nate’s fingers stilled. “Nice. Right. Okay, I’ll be seeing you around, Fiona.” He shook his head as he walked toward the door, glancing toward the gaggle of women by the window who were openly staring at his muscular arms. He shot them a grin. “Ladies.”

Fiona rubbed a hand over her eyes. For the most part, she hadn’t had to fend off many advances over the last couple of years. Maybe the guys around here had figured she was still grieving or maybe they were scared of her cop brothers. Maybe Nate was just trying to be nice. Or maybe it was open season on the Widow Cobb.

Merry walked with the preschoolers to their moms and nannies in the front of the store. “Okay, mommies, we’re all finished. Today we did a project on the letter B and read a couple favorites by Sandra Boynton. We have the books we read today plus some others by the same author on the round table right over there. Let me know if you have any questions.”

The moms wandered off and Merry leaned on the counter by Fiona. “So.”

Fiona flicked her eyes up to meet her assistant’s pretty, brown, amused eyes. “So?”

“Nate Santos? He’s really cute.”

“Why is it that newly paired-off people always want other single people to get fixed up? I’ve known Nate since high school, Merry. He’s not my type. I’d tell you to go for it, except you’re off the market. My brother is a lucky man.”

Merry’s face lit up and she wiggled her ring finger so it caught the light from the display window. “Why, yes. Yes, he is. It’ll be official next month. I can’t believe it.”

“I can’t, either. I thought Douglas was a confirmed bachelor, way too set in his ways. I guess it just took the right woman.”

“Obviously.” Merry’s curls bounced as she laughed.

Fee reached under the counter and pulled out a stack of magazines and books wrapped with a blue satin ribbon. “I pulled these last night. I thought they might help with the planning.”

Merry’s eyes widened. “Oh, you darling. I can’t wait to dig into these—on my lunch hour, of course.” She grabbed Fiona’s face and kissed her cheek. “It’s going to be so much fun to be sisters for real.”

Fee laughed. “I can’t wait for that, too. Christmas is going to be really fun this year.”

One by one, it seemed that the Fitzgerald siblings were finding their mates. First it had been Merry and Douglas, then Keira had started dating Nick Delfino. Just last month, her brother Owen had declared his love for his high school sweetheart, Victoria Evans, the innkeeper.

It was nice to have something good to think about. She pointed to a dress on the front of Bridesmaids magazine that made her shudder and grinned at Merry. “Just don’t make me wear an avocado-green bridesmaid’s dress and we’ll still be friends when it’s all over.”

One of the moms from Story Time came to the counter with a stack of Sandra Boynton books. “I don’t know how you girls do it, but you always seem to know what the kids are going to like. I don’t think we’ll get out of here without buying these.”

Fiona began ringing up the books. “Now that’s what I like to hear. Children who like to read.”

The door chimed again. Fiona glanced up. Today must be the day for firefighters in the bookstore. It was Brennan Fox. He and Jimmy had been on the same shift until Jimmy had died and when Hunter made the move to B-shift, so did Brennan. Regardless, the fire department was pretty small. There were only twelve career firefighters. “Hi, Brennan, let me know if I can help you find anything.”

He didn’t say anything, just nodded and headed for the back of the store. She didn’t know him that well, but he looked terrible. Circles under his eyes, his dirty-blond hair sticking up all over his head, and he had at least a three-day beard, something a firefighter wouldn’t be sporting on duty.

“Hope you enjoy those, Marianne. See you next week.” She handed the bag of books to the young mom, but watched out of the corner of her eye as Brennan poked his head into her storeroom before grabbing a couple books off the shelf. Another nosy information seeker?

Brennan walked toward her with two books in his hands. “I’ll take these.”

“Sure thing, Brennan. You doing okay?” She rang the first book—Parenting: Birth to Three—and put it in a bag. He didn’t look okay. His hands were shaking.

“Fine. I’m in a hurry though.” He glanced around the shop and back to her as she rang up the second book—Tough Times Survival Guide—and added it to his bag. He handed her a couple twenties and told her to keep the change before grabbing the bag and rushing out the door. Weird choice of books. She knew he was a single guy with no kids, so maybe the books were a gift.

Also weird—Brennan worked B-shift and Hunter was working today. She made a mental note to mention it to Hunter. Something definitely wasn’t right with Brennan Fox.

* * *

Max Lavigne pulled the steak pinwheels out of the oven. The other members of B-shift crowded around. Max stopped. “Dude. Back off. They’ll be on a plate in about one minute.”

“Aah, that smells good.” Hunter leaned forward, imagining that first cheesy-rich bite. He had finished his workout an hour ago and was starving.

“Where did you learn to cook like that?” The rookie, Lance, looking about twelve with his freckled face and curly brown hair, pushed his way into the crowd at the stove.

“My dad was a chef.” Max slid the first steak onto a plate as the tones sounded. With a sigh, Max pushed the steak again onto the pan and shoved the entire thing back into the still-warm oven.

Hunter stepped into his turnout pants, pulling them up and over his uniform pants as the dispatcher gave the details of the call and listed a downtown address.

Danny Fitzgerald pulled his suspenders over his shoulders and grabbed his coat and hat as he ran for the attack engine. “Never fails. Dinnertime, we get a callout. Why?”

“Builds character.” Hunter slid into his seat and pulled the headphones down over his head. The probie firefighter jumped on board as the big engine roared out of the bay, pulling in his arm just in time to keep it from getting smashed as they turned out of the bay and onto the street.

“Dispatch, Fire-Rescue One is responding. Can you repeat?”

“Fire-Rescue One, this is dispatch. Respond to a bomb threat at 214 Cherry Street.”

Shock slammed through Hunter as the dispatcher repeated Fiona’s address. He shook his head trying to assimilate the information, regain his mental balance. “Dispatch, is the house currently occupied?”

“The house is unoccupied, Fire-Rescue One. Repeat, the house is currently unoccupied. Fitzgerald Bay police are on site. State police also en route.”

He looked at the firefighter sitting directly across from him—Fiona’s cousin, Danny. Danny obviously recognized the address, too. Any hint of complaint or teasing had disappeared. His jaw had hardened into a determined line.

Horn blaring, they went through the intersection and pulled up in front of Fiona’s. Red-and-blue lights flared across the gray shingles of her Cape Cod–style house. The four firefighters barreled out into the driveway, only to be met by Douglas Fitzgerald. “No one’s going in right now. You guys are strictly precautionary.”

Hunter gritted his teeth and held his tongue. Danny, on the other hand, had no problem getting in his cousin’s face. “What’s going on, Douglas?”

The back door into the kitchen on the side of Fiona’s pretty house was splintered, hanging by a hinge. Tension wound tighter. What had happened here? At dinnertime, Fiona should be here with Sean, doing homework and eating spaghetti while one of her assistants looked after the shop. Where was she?

He tried to push past the line of police but Douglas held out his arm. “Hold on, Hunter, there’s nothing you can do. We’re waiting for the K-9 team from the state police. They should be here in a few minutes and they’ll be able to tell us exactly what we’re dealing with.”

Fiona came around the corner from the back of the house. She looked calm, but when she saw Hunter, she broke into a run, hitting him full-on square in the chest. He folded his arms around her, pulling her close. The guys in his crew were watching, but he didn’t care.

He murmured against her hair, “You okay?”

She nodded against his chest and then stepped away, her eyes damp, which told him she wasn’t okay at all. Far from it.

“Sean?” Hunter eased back, but kept within easy reach of her.

“He’s safe. My cousin Bridget took him to her house today after school.” She pushed her fingers through hair that was falling out of its usually neat ponytail, shivering even though she was wearing a blazer over her T-shirt and jeans. “I keep thinking about that. What if they’d come here instead? My hands are shaking. I’m a mess.”

Quickly he placed Bridget among Fiona’s many cousins. She was the school teacher—taught fifth grade at Sean’s school and had been providing after-school care for Sean since he’d started at Fitzgerald Bay Elementary. If they’d been home when someone broke in, it could’ve been bad. “Fiona, the dispatcher said it was a bomb threat.”

“Douglas didn’t tell you?” She shot her brother a look. “When I got home the door was hanging on its hinges like that. I called Douglas and waited outside.”

Fiona paced two steps away and back again, clenching her fingers nervously. “Douglas went into the house to make sure the intruder was gone. He found the device on the desk in my office. It looked like the detonator on a bomb.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes. “What exactly did it look like?”

“Douglas, can you please come here?” She crooked her finger at her brother, the police captain, who was in conversation with Danny. He walked closer and she held out her hand. “Let me see the photo.”

Douglas handed her a cell phone and she turned it around to show Hunter. He studied it for a minute, trying very hard to school his features so she wouldn’t know what he was thinking. Her brother knew exactly what this was, which was why he had called in the accelerant-sniffing dog from the state police’s Arson and Explosives Unit.

Hunter put his arm around Fiona. “Douglas was right to call in for reinforcements. We don’t want to take any chances.”

* * *

Two hours later, Fiona learned the house had been cleared by the Arson and Explosives Unit. There was apparently no accelerant used. Whoever left the device in her home just wanted to scare Fiona.

The guys from the arson unit were out on the lawn, talking fires with Hunter’s crew. He was standing beside her waiting for her to get up the nerve to actually walk in the door.

“You know, we can nail the door shut tonight and you can come back tomorrow morning when it’s light. No one’s going to think less of you if you don’t go in.” Hunter leaned against the wall beside the ruined door.

“I’ll think less of me.” Fiona took the rubber band out of her hair, slicked back her red hair into a smoother ponytail and took a deep breath. There was no way she was letting fear get the better of her. Of course, she was spending the night at her cousin Bridget’s with Sean—she wasn’t stupid.

She also wasn’t a coward. She was definitely going in to see the damage before she left.

The door hung on its hinges, but she pushed it open anyway. Her kitchen didn’t seem to be too bad, but she kept a box on the counter with bills and things that needed to be addressed during the week. The box had been upended, its contents scattered over the kitchen counter.

The living room was the same, as if whoever had come through was looking for something in particular. The expensive stamps from her grandfather’s collection she had framed on the wall were still there, but the books on the bookshelf had been thrown all over the room. She swallowed hard, smoothing a hand over her hair again.

Hunter was right behind her. She didn’t have to do this by herself, a fact she’d reminded herself of every single day since Jimmy had died. It was so tempting to wallow in self-pity, but that wasn’t her style. She’d loved Jimmy and she’d grieved. But wallowing wouldn’t honor his memory.

Surviving every day became a testament to his life. Knowing she had Hunter to help gave her the strength to get through some really dark days. He’d been there, just like he was right now.

Across the hall was the office. She stopped in the door, her hand to her throat. Everything from every drawer and every shelf had been thrown around the room. The detonator had been left in the center of her desk. Now there was fingerprint dust all over the surface.

She took two steps into the room and crunched glass. Looking down, she saw a photo of her, Jimmy and Sean smashed on the wood floor. She’d known in her gut all along and now she had proof.

This wasn’t just a random attack. This was personal and it was vicious.

She picked up the photograph from the floor. Glass fragments rained down around her feet.

She turned it so Hunter could see it and raised her eyes to meet his. “Do you still think there’s a chance I’m not a target?”

* * *

Fiona swept glass from the broken picture frame onto the dustpan while Sean built a castle with his Lego pieces on the floor in the hall.

“Why aren’t we going to Granddad’s today? It’s Saturday. Bridget said everyone was going for a cookout Saturday if the weather was nice.” Sean didn’t look up from his Lego creation, since his dragon was smashing into the wall where he’d stashed the princess.

“We have a lot to do, bud. Mommy needs to get all this cleaned up before work on Monday.” Truth was, she just couldn’t face all the questions. Cops and firefighters were the best, loyal to each other to the end. She loved them. But they were nosy.

She just couldn’t take it, not today. And the family had enough to deal with, without adding her mess on top of it.

“It’s messy in here. I want to go play.” Sean’s voice edged toward a whine.

Fee took in a deep breath. Patience. She had a list and the list didn’t include losing her temper with her six-year-old. “We can play here, Sean. We’ll have fun.”

He stomped to his Lego blocks and she had to resist the urge to stomp her way back to the glass she was sweeping. Yes, it was just as well that she had too much to do cleaning up here to go to the family dinner. She might growl at someone.

The doorbell rang. Sean popped to his feet. “I’ll get it.”

“Sean, wait—” Before she could get the words out, he was gone. She followed him to the front door, which he wrestled open.

“Hunter!” Sean immediately ran for his Lego masterpiece. “Come look at this!”

Fiona looked into Hunter’s eyes and shrugged. “The dragon’s attacking the castle. These are dangerous and exciting times if you’re a princess.”

“I’ll say.” He followed her into the house and closed the door. “So, is there a reason you’re not outside enjoying the warmest day so far this season?”

She stopped midstep. “My brother Owen called you, right?”

Hunter chuckled. “How’d you know?”

“I knew it had to be one of them and he thinks he’s the boss of me. He’s only three years younger than I am, but the way Mom used to tell it, he always thought he was in charge.”

“Yeah, I remember that time that Owen and Douglas had to rescue us when the boom broke on your little sailboat. They were really mad that we went outside the cove.”

“Yeah, but I was really glad to see them, no matter how mad they were. So, they told you to come and get me?” She could totally believe they would do it.

“Please, Mommy, please, Mommy, please.” Sean bounced at her feet like a jumping bean. He had way too much pent-up energy.

Fiona leaned on the broom. “I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”

Hunter shook his head slowly.

“I’d have to change my clothes.”

He looked down at her rolled-up jeans and soft leather flats. “We’re going to be out on the lawn for a cookout. I think you’re dressed fine. Just grab a sweater.”

She hesitated another minute. There was so much to do here, but maybe he was right. It was a beautiful day.

Hunter walked into the hallway and stooped to look at Sean’s Lego creation. “That is an amazing castle you’ve got going. Is the towel the moat?”

“Yeah, and there are alligators with big, giant teeth, see?” Sean moved the towel to show the plastic alligators he’d tucked into the folds.

“Awesome.” He pounded fists with Sean. “You wanna go get a jacket?”

Sean whooped and ran for his bedroom, a tower of Lego pieces skidding away from his fast-moving feet.

Hunter stood and his eyes connected with hers. The same exact way they’d connected thousands of times since they were teenagers, but this time it felt different. This time she felt something different.

Maybe it was just that she’d been watching him with Sean. Maybe it had been too long since she’d looked at a man with anything other than brotherly affection. Maybe she’d just totally lost it. He was her friend.

“Fiona?” Confusion clouded Hunter’s eyes.

“Let’s go!” Sean ran into the hall. Fiona snatched him up, holding him between her and Hunter.

She didn’t know what had just happened, but she couldn’t help but feel she was treading on unsteady ground.