Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

DUSTY

March in north Texas meant the beginning of spring flag football season and planning for summer training. I was only the assistant coach for the high school, so I sat in on planning meetings, but most of my free time was spent with my younger footballers and their short attention spans.

When I wasn’t at my day job, that was.

Station 4 was my home every few days for long, slow, 48-hour shifts. I loved my job, but it was never my dream to become a firefighter. When I had to fill out those forms in elementary school asking what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always had the same answer: quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.

But we can’t all be Dak Prescott.

So here I was, keeping my small town of Arcadia Creek from burning down and teaching the next Prescott how to land a tackle in my spare time.

Henry Gable sat at his desk, across from mine, tossing a football in the air and catching it. He was the high school’s head coach and uncle to my best friend, Tucker Fletcher. Almost everyone in this town was related in some way to Tucker, and since the Fletchers had taken me under their wing when I was young and nearly abandoned, I felt related to the entire town, too.

“We need funds.” Henry put the football on his metal desk with a thud and rubbed a hand over his face, leaning back in his squeaky chair. We shared a small office right off the boys’ locker rooms at Arcadia Creek High School, which smelled of stale sweat and rubber. “The car wash didn’t bring in nearly enough money last fall. If we’re going to take the kids to camp this summer, we need to get thinking.”

I spun my pen on my desk. “Do we have cost breakdowns? Facility, transportation, food, all of that?”

Henry’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Yeah. Even with the car wash funds, most of our kids can’t afford this camp on their own.”

I quit spinning the pen. I was one of those boys in high school who never would’ve stayed on the team if it wasn’t for the robust efforts of my coach—the worried man at the desk across from mine—and our fundraisers. Those summer camps were so important for the team. Not just for the skills practice and keeping the boys primed for football season, but also for the camaraderie and brotherhood they developed.

“We have a chance at state this year,” Henry whispered, almost reverently. “Brody can take us there. He has the team spirit and the talent to lead.”

“He’s also a bit of a hothead,” I mumbled. Watching Brody sometimes felt like looking into a mirror of my past, which wasn’t a good thing. Both of us raised by a grandparent, both of us abandoned by our parents as toddlers, both of us alone, poor, and quick to throw a punch.

I’d turned myself around. My parents were in and out through my earlier years, but I’d maintained a steady, healthy relationship with my grandpa, and he made me into the man I was today. Him and Coach Henry Gable .

Ten years later, Henry still wore a scowl and puzzled over how to help troubled youth on his team. The man deserved a trophy. Or, better yet, he deserved to coach a team that took him to state.

Brody had a chance. I shouldn’t be so pessimistic. If I could turn things around, so could he.

“I’ll be thinking,” I promised.

Henry sat up a little taller. “That date fundraiser your firehouse did a few months ago, you made a lot of money off that?”

My stomach tightened. I’d been part of a date raffle to earn money for the fire station, and Henry’s daughter had won my date. She’d been into me for a few years, but despite how honest I was about my lack of feelings, Gracie Mae hadn’t been able to take the hint. Or she’d flat out ignored it, which was far more likely. I’d been fairly blunt about wanting to remain just friends.

“Not as much money as the silent auction we did a few years ago,” I said. “What about a bake sale?”

“We need to think bigger.” Henry stared at the wall, his mind working. “What about another raffle, but we’ll keep you out of it.”

“No dates?”

“No dates,” he confirmed, then his gaze slid to me. “Unless you want to.”

I didn’t. Nothing against Gracie Mae, but taking her out was only fun when I forgot I was her date. She was a good friend. I just didn’t feel the connection that made me want to make her a girlfriend. I’d given it a solid effort over the years, but that sizzling, popping magic, feeling like I couldn’t wait to see her again once we left—I’d never had that with Gracie Mae. She was a wonderful person and a thoughtful friend, but that was all.

Not like the automatic zing I felt in my stomach when I saw the woman in the market. She’d looked so familiar, but maybe she just had one of those faces. She didn’t dress, talk, or act like she was from around here. The way she shot me down so swiftly left no room for misinterpretation.

Generally speaking, it wasn’t a habit of mine to flirt with a mom—which was exactly why I didn’t try. In fact, I was trying not to go that direction since I’d heard her talking to her kids. No one wants to get picked up in the middle of a grocery trip with two little kids in tow.

Or I imagined not, at least.

A knock rattled the blinds hanging over the door window. Gracie Mae pushed it open, her eyes falling on me for a full moment before shifting to her dad. “I brought you lunch.”

“Thanks, sugar.” His face crinkled into a smile, and he rose to take the bag from her, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. It smelled of burgers and fries from Gigi’s, making my mouth water. “You staying to eat with me?”

“Of course.” Her gaze moved to me, and she pushed her blonde hair behind her ear. “As long as I’m not interrupting.”

I stood, stretching my shoulders. “I need to get moving, anyway.”

“Be thinking about that raffle,” Henry said.

Gracie Mae’s eyes lit up. “Another date raffle?”

“No.” Henry dug around in the bag and pulled out a foil-covered burger and fries. “Just a raffle. Maybe we can convince Gigi to provide dinner at cost again.”

“She has a lot on her plate already,” Gracie Mae said, pilfering a fry from her dad’s red and white plaid paper boat. She ate it slowly, watching me. “Her niece just moved in, brought kids with her.”

My ears tuned in to this. This had to be the woman with the children I’d seen the other day. Suddenly, it clicked. I bet she looked familiar from the pictures Gigi tacks to her register.

“I heard something about that,” Henry said, taking a bite of his burger.

Gracie Mae wrinkled her nose. “Nasty divorce, apparently. ”

Those words, nasty divorce , made my stomach hurt. That woman did not need men ogling her in the grocery store.

“She probably needs a lot of support right now,” Gracie Mae continued. “You’re better off getting someone else to do dinner. Or make it part of the fundraiser? People can pay for a meal.”

Henry tilted his head to the side. “Something with little overhead.”

I rubbed a hand over my eyes, which made both Gables look at me. “Pancakes?” I suggested. “Or tacos?”

“Let’s think on it.”

“I’ll start working on a list of who we can talk to about donations. Maybe we should do a silent auction this time, let people drive prices up on their own.” My brain was already working out our options—businesses, parents, schools, small companies. There were a lot of people we could tap for donations. We should start putting fliers up to get the event on peoples’ calendars, maybe spread word as far as Beeler. “I can pick a day and get it on the school’s schedule so we know we have the gym.”

“Sure, auction it is.” Henry’s thoughts had already moved on to his lunch, but he raised his face. “I’ll put the deposit on the camp, then, or we’ll lose it. We need to flesh out a schedule, maybe get a few parents on board and form a camp committee.”

It was a good thing my schedule worked the way it did; I’d have time to do all of these things. I started my next 48-hour shift in the morning, so I planned to work on the fundraiser when all my tasks were completed at the firehouse.

“Let me know what day you choose and I’ll get Sharon on the flier for us.” Henry always pulled his wife in for our creative needs because she was much better than either of us.

“Will do.” I gave them a smile. “Y’all have a good day.”

I left them behind with a thunk as the metal door swung closed. Gracie Mae’s red car was parked directly next to my truck in the otherwise empty lot. I pulled out of the high school’s parking lot, making my way into town. I should’ve gone home, but the smell of Gigi’s burgers made me realize how hungry I was, so I made a pit stop for lunch.

I parked and pulled out my phone to text my buddy, Tucker.

Dusty

Meet me for lunch at Gigi’s?

Tucker

Can’t today. Out on Alburn with Grady.

I sent him a thumbs up before ambling inside and letting myself into a booth right in front of the window, sunlight streaming in. Tucker was a lineman for Arcadia Energy and Grady was his apprentice. If they were out near Alburn Road, they were too far, anyway. Since Tucker’s high school girlfriend came back to town last year and managed to get a proposal out of him, I hadn’t seen him as often. We still got together, but he was much busier in general.

Which was fine. I didn’t love June’s return. She’d hurt him so much in the past. I was a tough sell on their relationship, but I was getting over it.

I would. Really.

Eventually.

“What’ll you have?” Gigi asked, coming over with a tall glass of ice water and setting it in front of me.

“Bacon cheeseburger with a Dr Pepper, ma’am.”

She didn’t bother writing it down. Gigi fed me lunch most days. “Fries?”

I remembered Gracie Mae eating the fry slowly in her dad’s office and the way she’d looked at me. “Not today.”

She nodded, but her mouth was tight.

“Is something wrong?” I asked. “Anything I can do?”

Her face flushed, but she shook her head. “Nothing, sweet pea. Your lunch will be right out.”

Well, that was strange. Guess Gracie Mae wasn’t far off when she said Gigi had a lot on her plate. I pulled out my phone and found my calendar. A month was plenty long to plan an auction, right? Drafting an email to the building scheduler, I chose a day, threw in some alternative options to be flexible, and sent it off. Once we had a date and Sharon made the fliers, the rest would fall into place.

The bell over the door chimed, bringing with it the sound of kids chattering and a woman on the phone.

“No, that’s not necessary. I’ll—” She stopped, then lowered her voice. “I’ll call you back. Yes, I promise. I just need that birth cer—okay. Sure. Bye.”

My grocery store gal was here, by the sound of it. I glanced over my shoulder to see her toss her phone into her purse, frowning.

“The fireman!” Well, the boy had noticed me.

I shot him a grin. “Hello, future police officer.” Then I looked at his sister, once again clutching that pink animal and dipping her head shyly. I offered her a smile, and she hid behind her mom’s legs.

Her mom’s long legs, hidden under baggy pants. Stop, Dusty . This lady did not need me checking her out again.

“Come on,” she said to her kids, walking toward the back and utterly ignoring me. “Let’s get started on this paperwork.”

I faced forward in my seat again, pretending to be absorbed in an email on my phone, but this little family had my attention. A newsletter for a sale on cat beds did not.

“I don’t want to,” the boy whined. “I’m hungry.”

The mom sucked a breath through her nose, ostensibly for patience. “Let’s go and?—”

“Nova,” Gigi said, coming out of the kitchen with my burger. “Let me feed them.”

Her name took me by surprise. I was expecting a Jocelyn or Rebecca or something else equally dependable-sounding. Nova fit her, though .

“You really don’t have to. I need to finish these registrations, so I’ll just hop over to our apartment and get?—”

“Nonsense. It’ll only take a minute to whip up a few sandwiches. You do what you need to and I’ll take care of these two.”

“Okay.” Nova sounded more resigned than grateful.

So she wasn’t living with Gigi, after all. She was living in the building next door. Gigi’s house was down the road, wrapped in a porch and painted green, but she also owned the fourplex across the alley.

Gigi put my plate down. “Whoops. Forgot your drink. Give me a sec.”

“No worries, Gigi.”

She hustled the kids toward the counter and got them settled on stools, then went behind the counter to fill a cup with ice and Dr Pepper.

I lifted my burger and took a huge bite. Nova hesitated at the back door before approaching me.

I’d never chewed so quickly in my life.

“Thanks for the firetruck,” she said quietly, her eyes on mine. They were dark brown, tunneling through me. “I checked with my aunt to make sure you’re not a psycho, and you passed her inspection. But I would appreciate it if you didn’t do something like that again. I had to talk to my kids about accepting gifts from strangers.”

“It wasn’t a gift ,” I said quickly, then sipped my drink. Hopefully she wasn’t getting a whiff of bacon beef breath. “I was just trying to influence the next generation. You know, stop your son from making a mistake.”

Her eyes sharpened. “How altruistic of you.”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged, stretching my arm across the back of the bench. “Just doing my bit for society.”

Her arms folded over her chest. “Your bit? ”

Gigi stepped around her and set my Dr Pepper on the table. She eyed her niece. “Everything okay here? ”

“Dusty was just telling me how selfless he is.”

Nova knew my name. Not really a surprise, since she’d had to describe me enough to get approval from Gigi. Or maybe Mrs. Jefferson had given me away at the market. Either way, something about it sent a flush of heat through me. But I needed to keep a strong wall between us. No recently divorced mother, no matter how hot she was, wanted a random stranger hitting on her.

I dropped my eyes to my burger and took another huge bite. Nothing was sure to signal I wasn’t interested more than eating like a sloppy pig.

She took the message and walked away. When I looked up and caught her daughter watching me from the counter, I winked.

Gigi frowned at me. A blush spread over the girl’s little cheeks, and she spun to face the counter. Apparently I had a knack for driving the women in their family away.

Maybe I needed to take a break from Gigi’s lunches for a while.