A Firefighter in the Family

Zac moved to the edge of the oak bar and leaned down so his voice didn’t carry. “Bad enough to think tossing the jackass in the Gulf might be amusing—yes. Bad enough to burn his eyesore to the ground—no. Now you know and can move on to the next person on your list.”

“You’re a bit belligerent for an innocent man, aren’t you?”

Yeah, he was belligerent. It felt like déjà vu all over again. “Anyone would be if unfounded accusations were being cast at him.”

She caught and held his gaze, and for a second he thought he glimpsed a sliver of the old Randi. He couldn’t help the yearning for what they’d once shared, what might have been, however ill-advised that might be.

“I’m not accusing you, Zac,” she said. “I’m just asking questions. Looking for the truth.”

Zac’s stomach knotted. The last time someone had questioned him about a fire and he’d told the truth, they’d rewarded him with handcuffs and a trip to jail.

He wouldn’t be falsely accused again.

Chapter Two

Zac huffed and turned away as he shoved individual wine bottles into a glass-fronted cooler to chill.

“You don’t seem to like me very much anymore,” Randi said, trying to sound as if she didn’t care one way or the other.

“I’m busy. I have a business to run.”

“Yeah, about that—what’s with the whole bartender shtick?” Not that he didn’t look yummier than any cold, fruity drink he could serve up.

Randi leaned one arm against the edge of the bar and stared at Zac’s back, a very nice, muscled back from what she remembered, and his tanned forearms. When he glanced to the side, she eyed his profile. Short, dark hair. Strong jawline. Stubborn. Why, of all the people in Horizon Beach, had she crossed paths with Zac Parker? And why did the mere sight of him still make her pulse race as if it were trying to break free of her veins?

A blonde in a pink bikini with a flowered wrap around her hips wandered up to the bar and asked for two beers. Randi waited while Zac turned, pulled the bottles from the cooler and took the girl’s money. He didn’t ogle the eye candy, and Randi was annoyed by how much that pleased her. Which made no sense, considering the circumstances the last time they’d seen each other.

He looked up, his expression casual. “You’re still here?”

“Let’s leave past animosity in the past, shall we?” She was here in her professional capacity, and what they’d once meant to each other wasn’t relevant to the task at hand.

“Fine.” He bit out the word as if it was anything but fine. As if to contradict his tone, he placed a lemonade in front of her. He glanced up, caught her gaze for a moment before breaking eye contact. “I have a good memory.”

She didn’t let it show, but she was shocked he’d remembered.

Zac leaned against a metal cooler and crossed his arms.

Why was he so hostile? She was the one with that right, not him. “I have to investigate every angle. You know that.”

“Dig to my birth certificate if it makes you happy, but don’t jump to conclusions before you know what you’re talking about,” he said.

Those words sliced at her. She didn’t rush headlong into things anymore. She’d learned her painful lesson.

“Nice to see you’ve matured since I saw you last.” She couldn’t help it. The bitterness just tumbled out. Better to sound bitter than brokenhearted, though.

Four lobster-human hybrids stepped into the bar and eased their sunburned selves into the chairs surrounding a nearby table. A surfer type approached the opposite end of the long bar, and Zac moved away without another word or glance in her direction.

Fine. She knew where to find him.

She noticed his liquor license on the wall. Why on earth was he tending bar instead of fighting fires? Oldham would have her believe Zac had started setting them instead. But no matter how much he’d hurt her, she couldn’t picture him as an arsonist.

Zac’s deep voice drew her attention. He was even sexier than she remembered—and what she’d remembered had been plenty sexy. Alone in her mind, she could admit she was still attracted to him, even if she couldn’t forgive him.

ZAC WATCHED Randi Cooke retrace her steps toward the burned-out condos, her wake sucking him back almost three years.

“Dude, you’re about to pop a blood vessel.”

Zac redirected his gaze to find Adam had sauntered back to the bar and was tapping his temple. “I’m fine.”

“Then I’d hate to see a man on the verge of a stroke.”

Zac turned to throw some empty cartons in the trash so he wouldn’t bite off Adam’s head. His friend had been a beach staple for barely two years, hadn’t been there when all hell broke loose in Zac’s life.

Adam took a drink of his beer as he watched Randi disappear over the dunes. “What’s the story with the babe?”

“No story.”

“Right.”

“We went out a few times, that’s all.” He wasn’t willing to recount all the details, but he’d give Adam enough to get him off his case.

“So, how bad was your argument with Oldham?” Adam asked.

“If you’re going to play cop, you can just go back to the pier.”

Adam raised his hands. “Chill. I’m on your side.”

Zac braced his palms against the top of the cooler. “Sorry. She just raised my hackles.”

Adam nodded but looked like he suspected there was more behind Zac’s reaction. “Understandable. Having the ex interrogate you—not exactly what you expected when you got up this morning.”

Actually, when he’d arrived at work and seen the devastation next door, he’d imagined such an encounter. But he’d figured on one of Randi’s brothers doing the interrogation. He wasn’t sure that wouldn’t have been better. At least he didn’t have any guilt wrapped up in his feelings toward them.

“Anything you want to share in case your Nancy Drew shows up at the pier asking questions?”

Zac shook his head. “There’s nothing to know. Oldham wanted to buy me out, I said no, that was the end of it.”

Adam stared at him for a moment, as if maybe he didn’t believe him. Well, that was Adam’s problem, not his. He was damned tired of explaining himself, especially to people who were supposed to be his friends.

RANDI WALKED out of her hotel room’s bathroom toweling the excess water from her long hair. After a full day of sniffing rubble and accompanying her while she interviewed witnesses, Thor lay stretched out on one of the beds watching the Eukanuba Dog Show on Animal Planet.

“Checking out the babes, huh?”

Thor licked his chops as a female husky strutted her stuff.

“You’re so predictable. It’s always the blue-eyed girls.”

Randi slipped into white cargo pants and an orange tee, thankful to be out of smoky clothes. She propped her pillows behind her against the headboard and pulled out her case notebook.

She scanned through the list of names and didn’t scratch any off, not even eighty-year-old Penelope “Busybody” Jones. Randi couldn’t imagine the woman who looked like Barbara Bush’s twin doddering across Sea Oat Road with a can of gasoline and a box of matches in the middle of the night, but she’d seen stranger things happen.

She leaned back and thought about Zac’s reaction to her questioning. Red-flag city. Her eyes drifted closed as she pictured his tight facial expressions, his tense body language. His finely toned body. She swallowed.

Even though his status as a potential suspect gave her the distance she needed from him, she couldn’t believe he was really guilty. But he didn’t have to know that. The mere thought of someone she’d once cared about, a fellow firefighter, being the culprit sickened her. But he wasn’t a firefighter anymore, was he? Why? After all, he’d once sacrificed friendship and the possibility of something more for the job.

Her cell phone rang, and she answered while making notes for the next morning’s itinerary.

“How’d it go today?” Steve asked.

Did her boss ever take a day off? “I should be asking you the same question. How’s the happy couple?”

“On their way to Cozumel. What have you found out?”

Randy shook her head. If there was one thing that could be said for Steve Preston, it was that he was dedicated to the job. If the entire state of Florida caught fire simultaneously, he’d find a way to have a working knowledge of every single case to which his investigators were assigned.

“Thor’s keeping his reputation intact. I sent a sample off to the lab, but it smelled like gasoline.”

“Suspects?”

“Well, the consensus is that the builder is a jerk and the condo project unpopular. The suspect list is turning into a cast of thousands.”

As soon as she hung up a few minutes later, her cell rang again. “Hello?”

“Hey, sis. Where ya staying?” Eric asked.

“The Coral Inn on Gulf.”

“I see the state is putting you up in the fancy places.”

“Ha-ha.” How good it felt to talk to him. The full impact of how much she missed him and the rest of her family made her suck in a shaky breath.

“Want some dinner?”

“You buying?”

“You’re the one with the cushy state job.”

Randi rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m making so much money I don’t know what to do with it all.”

“Okay, I’ll spring. Pick you up in ten.”

Randi slipped on a pair of white canvas mules, an oddity in her collection of dirty boots and athletic shoes. Even her running shoes were scuffed and smelly from her morning jogs.

When Eric pulled into the parking lot, Thor leaped into the bed of the black Dodge Ram without being told. Randi slid into the passenger seat.

“Hey, you clean up decent,” Eric said.

Randi sniffed the air. “You, too. I don’t smell you quite so much anymore.”

Eric punched her lightly in the arm, like he’d done as a kid. It caused a pang in her chest, and she wished things were that simple and carefree again.

“So, where we going?”

Eric didn’t answer, but he turned east, away from most of the town’s restaurants. Toward home.

Anger and anxiety made her muscles tighten. She stared hard at Eric’s profile, but he refused to look her way. “Damn it. You ambushed me.”

“Come on,” he pleaded. “It’s not like I’m dragging you to prison or the gates of hell.”

“No, just the land of thinly veiled hostility.”

“It’s not that bad, and you know it.”

“I don’t know it. You just refuse to see what’s right in front of your nose. Now turn around.”

“No.”

Randi looked at her brother in stunned surprise.

“Carol will have my hide,” Eric said, sheepish.

If there existed someone more determined than Eric to rebuild the burned bridges in the Cooke family, it was her sister-in-law Carol, Will’s wife. The irony never failed to strike Randi. If Will was strong and determined and sometimes bullheaded, Carol was every bit his equal but somehow managed to be a sweet person at the same time.

“That’s freaking fantastic.” Randi crossed her arms and watched the shops of downtown Horizon Beach zip by as Eric drove toward their parents’ house on the outskirts of town. She hated having control of a situation taken from her.

“Give it a rest. You’re here at Thanksgiving and Christmas. What difference does the day make?”

“I have time to prepare for the holidays.”

“So now you have to ‘prepare’ to see your family?”

“When half that family still holds a grudge against me, yes.” Not that there wasn’t cause. Still, it hurt.

“Randi, it’s time to move on.”

She turned toward her brother and pierced him with the stare that put fear into the hearts of otherwise heartless arsonists. “Did you happen to hear Will this morning? Did you notice I wasn’t exactly the person he most wanted to see?”

“He was tired. We were up all night.”

“Fatigue doesn’t put that look in a man’s eyes.”

Eric didn’t argue further, and Randi was sorry. She needed the outlet to vent steam. Honestly, she’d love to reconnect with her family, to experience the intense love and camaraderie they’d once enjoyed. But no longer could she hang out with her brothers and father and talk shop. It hurt that they didn’t seem to want to, either, but she couldn’t blame them.

When Eric parked in front of their parents’ two-story on Sand Dune Drive, Randi let out a long, anxiety-filled breath. The number of vehicles in the driveway and on the side of the street struck her as odd. “Why is everyone here?”

“It’s an engagement party. Karl finally asked Shellie.”

Despite her roiling emotions, Randi smiled. At least she was home for a happy occasion. Hopefully, everyone would be in a good mood. “It’s about time. So, that leaves you as the sole Cooke bachelor, huh?”

He smiled, looking relieved as the tenseness in his body eased. “Unless we count you.”

“We don’t, seeing as how I don’t even have time to date.”

“Hon, there’s always time to date.”

She thought of a romantic dinner on the beach, the sound of the waves and soft music mingling. Zac Parker appeared in her daydream.

Good grief, she must be rattled if she was fantasizing about the man who’d crushed her heart when she was already hurting. She needed a good, stiff drink and about a month in the Bahamas after this job.

She started to ask Eric about when Zac had left the department and why but decided she didn’t even want to utter his name and add to her current discomfort. Plus, she was itching to see Karl so she could offer a good-natured “I told you so.” She hoped he’d set aside the past for at least tonight, long enough to accept the sisterly barb.

Thor jumped out of the truck and padded after her.

“Stay,” she said when they stepped onto the porch.

He whined then plopped down on the porch and laid his muzzle on his outstretched paws.

“Trust me, boy, I’d rather stay out here with you.”

Randi trailed Eric as they passed through the empty living room and followed the sound of loud Cooke voices coming from the back of the house. When they reached the kitchen, their mother looked up from frosting a cake. Inga’s eyes widened. She set down the frosting and came over to hug Randi.

“Honey, what a nice surprise.”

Randi hated how she dissected her mother’s words for any hint of falseness.

Inga pulled away and wiped back a strand of her hair, still its Norwegian white-blond even at age sixty.

Carol stepped into the kitchen from the deck. In a house full of blond, blue-eyed Cookes, the petite brunette stood out.

“I’m so glad you came,” Carol said. She didn’t pause before crossing the room to give Randi an enthusiastic hug. Having such a true-blue ally felt good, even when Randi herself didn’t believe she deserved it.

Randi wondered if she would have been invited to this gathering had she not already been in town. The pang in her chest caused her to bite down on her bottom lip. She’d gotten on with her life after leaving Horizon Beach, but the passage of nearly three years had done nothing to ease the pain of her loss.

“So, when did Karl pop the big question?” she asked Carol, determined to get through the night without falling apart.

“Yesterday.”

“This is one quick party.”

“We wanted to cement the deal before Karl had second thoughts.” Inga laughed, well aware of her third son’s ability to slide out of things as if he were doused in oil.

“Good point.”

Carol snaked her arm through Randi’s. “Come on outside.”

Randi balked. “I think I’ll stay in here for a bit.”

“Nonsense. Karl and Shellie are out there taking a lot of ribbing. You don’t want to miss this.”

“I’ll—”

“You never win an argument with me, so quit trying.” She leaned close to Randi’s ear. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Randi had to laugh. At five foot two, Carol stood a full seven inches shorter than her and didn’t have near the muscle tone. Somehow, chasing a two-year-old around didn’t quite build the body the same way five-mile runs and swimming did. Still, Carol Cooke wasn’t someone ever bested in an argument.

Despite the tightening in her gut, Randi allowed her sister-in-law to lead her onto the deck filled with the scents of grilling shrimp and steaks and the sounds of her family.

The scene unfolded as if from one of those Matrix movies where everyone stops in midmotion. If she were lucky, she’d disappear before they remembered to move. She glanced over and saw her father, a once big and towering man, sitting in his wheelchair.

The wheelchair she’d put him in.

Chapter Three

“Add some shrimp to the grill,” Carol said. “We’ve got one more person who wanted to give Karl the teasing he deserves.”

Will, who was tending the meat on the grill, stared at them for a moment before turning his back and adding more shrimp.

The awkwardness eased gradually as conversations resumed, like the slow receding of a wave back out to sea. Randi wished she could ride that wave into open water, where the expanse of blue gently rolled and soothed.

Shellie crossed the deck and gave Randi a hug. She returned the gesture, grateful for another friendly face. If it weren’t for Eric and the women in this family, she’d be a total outcast.

“Randi, how have you been?” Her father sounded like he genuinely wanted to know, but the deep warmth and vitality his voice used to hold was absent.

“Fine, thanks. You?”

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they awaited his answer, as if he might suddenly yell, I’m a paraplegic, how the hell do you think I feel? Instead, he said simply, “Okay.”

Randi had to alleviate the tension or she was going to snap. She looked at Karl. “So, you popped the question. I remember saying I would relish this day so I could say, ‘I told you so.’”

Karl offered a half grin. “You’re not the only one.”

He sounded so forlorn that everyone, including his new wife-to-be, laughed.

The laughter broke the tension for a few moments, but when they sat down to eat, it returned. Randi stood to the side, not sure where to sit. She imagined that if she took a seat the brother next to her would move.

Considering they’d not done so during previous family gatherings, she didn’t know why she thought they suddenly would. Maybe it was the fact that a fire and not a holiday had brought her to Horizon Beach this time. A fire that would remind them all of that horrible day when their lives had changed.

But she needn’t have worried. Inga guided her to a chair between her and Carol. A safe zone where she had at least the sliver of hope that she’d be able to eat something.

Though conversations gradually picked up around her, the one topic avoided was her reason for being in town. Her brothers and father had likely picked the fire apart molecule by molecule, but none of that discussion materialized now. Not even Eric brought it up, though she caught him watching her a couple of times with an expression that said he wished he could make it all normal again.

Her mother reached over at one point and patted her hand, a loving gesture but one that fell short of demanding her other offspring welcome their sister with wide-open arms. Maybe Inga loved her while still holding her responsible for her father’s condition. Could the two feelings coexist?

Randi tried to take another bite of shrimp, but it seemed to expand in her mouth with each chew. When she attempted to swallow, it nearly choked her.

She looked over at her father, who was talking baseball with Josh, the second oldest and quietest of her brothers. The Great Avoider, they’d always called him, because he didn’t like conflict. He’d never said anything negative toward her regarding the fire that had ended their father’s career, but he hadn’t stood up for her, either.

They sat outside, so close to the ocean she could hear the tide coming in, but Randi couldn’t draw in a deep breath. How odd to feel she needed fresh air when she was in the midst of it. She stood and picked up her plate.

“Thanks for dinner. It was delicious.” She looked at Karl and Shellie. “Congratulations on the engagement.”

“Don’t leave so soon,” Carol said. “The party’s just getting started.”

“Sorry. I’ve got a ton of work to do.” Randi’s heart cried out for her father to ask her to stay, but he said nothing.

Before anyone could say anything, she hurried to the kitchen, deposited her food and paper plate in the trash. The door opened behind her, but she didn’t turn as she dumped the ice in her cup down the sink.

“I wish you’d stay,” Inga said, sorrow thickening in her voice.

Randi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry to rush, but I have lots of notes to go over and people to call before the trail goes cold.” She pasted a smile on her face as she turned to face her mother. “Thanks again for dinner.”

The sadness from Inga’s voice crept into her eyes, her mother’s heart knowing work wasn’t the reason Randi was departing so quickly. Inga sighed then went to the refrigerator and pulled out a large plate. “I know how much you love my cheesecake, so I want you to take a slice with you.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I insist. I have plenty.”

Randi watched as her mother placed the generous slab of cheesecake on a plastic saucer with a plastic fork and covered it with cling wrap. She filled a small disposable foam cup with strawberry topping. Randi’s mouth watered at the remembered rich, creamy texture of the dessert.

Inga handed the cup and saucer to Randi and kissed her cheek. “Call me before you go home. Maybe we can have lunch.”

Randi fought tears and nodded. “Okay.” She headed for the front door before she lost her composure. She hadn’t been this shaken in a long time. She was halfway to the street, Thor on her heels, when Eric caught up with her.

“Go on back and enjoy yourself,” she said.

“I’ll take you to your hotel first.” He sounded sad and sorry he’d forced the situation on her.

She stopped walking but didn’t look at him. She didn’t want him to see the tears threatening. “I’ll walk. It’s a nice evening.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah.” Without making eye contact, she lifted onto her toes to give his cheek a quick peck. “Thanks for trying.” She headed for the sidewalk that led back to Sea Oat Road.

She’d gone half a mile when she reached the first public beach access. She took the boardwalk over the dunes and headed for the compacted part of the shoreline where the edge of the waves wet the sand. She kicked off her mules and carried them in one hand as she let the feel of the sand beneath her toes comfort her.

She focused on the sound of the surf and the fresh feel of the breeze and imagined them both carrying her worries away. She remembered that from one of the dozens of self-help books she’d read when the nightmares and bouts of crying after the accident had finally worn her down to where she could barely function.

A therapist was probably what she’d needed, but Miranda Leann Cooke had enough of her father and older brothers in her to avoid a shrink and convince herself she could handle it on her own. For the most part, she’d done okay. For now, that would have to suffice.

As the sun dipped below the horizon and the first dim stars twinkled, Randi wondered if her walk on the beach had been the right choice. Couples soaking in the romance of the scene lined the shore, nuzzling on blankets or walking hand in hand. Other than a couple of joggers, she was the only solo stroller.

Not only could she not find comfort in family, the latest man in her life had decided that her job kept her away too much and had moved on to someone else. Pete hadn’t been her great love, but the loneliness still got to her during weak moments. And reinforced the fact that if she cared about someone, they always let her down.

Twenty-nine and unattached. It wasn’t as if her biological clock was ticking—she wasn’t even sure she had one. Still, it would be nice to have someone to share life’s ups and downs with, someone with whom to stroll on the beach, go on a dolphin-sightseeing cruise, someone to jog with in the mornings. Someone who wouldn’t abandon her.