Chapter 11

"It's the False Spring Potluck Picnic," Dominic explained over the phone as if he expected these words to mean anything to Liam. "You have to come."

"Dude, I do not know what you're talking about," Liam said, rolling his head against the back of the extremely comfortable armchair in his room at the BB. On top of being a very nice person, Monica Watson had top-notch decorating skills. When he went back to Boston, he was asking her where she bought this chair.

Dominic laughed. "Yes, okay, now that I am fully small town-ified, I apparently forget that not everybody is clued in to the Whale Harbor social calendar. Anyway, apparently every year, the first weekend where the weather is warmer, the whole town shows up to the fields by the high school to have a potluck picnic. I took the dog out for a walk this morning, and seven different people told me that it's my first year here so I can't miss it. And three of them reminded me to invite you too."

Liam was oddly touched by that. Even so…

"I don't know. I don't have a kitchen here, obviously. I don't want to be the guy who brings napkins to the potluck. Nobody likes the guy who brings napkins to a potluck."

Liam hadn't really been kidding, but Dominic laughed. A distant, feminine voice sounded on his friend's end of the call.

"Charity says nobody is going to mind, but if you want to earn your keep, you can help her man the Seastar Espresso booth for half an hour. She's gonna set up these giant urns of coffee and said she could use a strong guy like you to haul them." Dominic's voice got fainter, apparently as he turned to his girlfriend. "What about me? I'm strong!" Charity spoke inaudibly and Dominic returned to the call. "She said there's enough heavy stuff for everyone to prove how strong and manly they are. I think she's making fun of me."

Although the words might have seemed like a complaint, Dominic's tone was too happy to suggest that he minded this one bit.

Now it was Liam's turn to laugh. "Sure thing, Mr. Computer Programmer. Tell Charity I'll come so she's not dependent on your puny arm strength."

"You've been out of the dating scene for way too long if you think I'm going to relay that message," Dominic quipped before telling him where and when to appear. They hung up their respective phones, and Liam put aside his novel before jumping in the shower.

As he quickly washed and then dried his hair, Dominic's words echoed in his mind. It had been a long time since Liam had tried dating. He'd been so wrapped up with work that any romantic life had fallen completely by the wayside. Had that been a bad thing? That he'd turned firefighting into his whole life?

He sighed and pulled a heavy sweater over his head. He wasn't as stressed as he'd been before he left Boston, but the relationship between his sense of self and his job still wasn't entirely clear. Everything felt muddled, and Liam felt so exhausted by it.

He resolved to just enjoy the picnic for today. His problems would still be around tomorrow.

When he arrived at the picnic, he was surprised to see it was a much more involved affair than he'd realized. People had come out in full force and tables were laden with snacks, sides, and treats of all different kinds. The older couple from the Clown Fish Eatery—where Liam had enjoyed more than a few lunches after Monica's recommendation—had even hauled in a grill where a couple of young guys who Liam thought might work at the docks were cooking up burgers and hot dogs. A jumble of kids excitedly waited for the meat to cook.

He scanned the crowd, quickly spotting Charity's setup. She had a foldout table with a banner that said ‘Compliments of Seastar Espresso' draped over the front. Atop it sat four large urns, the kind they put out at the firehouse when the old timers from the VA group used their community room to trade old stories about ‘back in the day.' Liam grinned. He knew from experience that they weighed a ton. He bet Dominic's arms were killing him. That's what his friend got for showing off.

He crossed the field, dodging some kids who were racing about with all the pent-up winter energy that their small bodies could hold. As he reached Charity and Dominic, he couldn't help but call out teasingly.

"I thought you were going to put me to work, but I see somebody was too eager to impress a pretty lady, huh?"

He chuckled at the way Dominic winced when he raised his arm to wrap it possessively around Charity's shoulders. Yup, that was the sight of a man whose muscles would be aching tomorrow.

"Go flirt with someone else," Dominic groused good-naturedly. "Or even better, earn your keep by chasing after our children and dog. Those kids are absolutely scheming to feed Milo a bunch of hot dogs, which will definitely make him throw up later."

Liam winced sympathetically. That did sound gross.

"Now that you mention it," Charity said with exaggerated innocence, "Milo is staying at your house tonight, right?"

The couple chuckled, and Liam felt an odd pang. It wasn't jealousy, not really. Despite his jokey flirting, he wasn't interested in Charity, and it was easy enough to see that she had eyes for Dominic alone. But he found himself feeling something like longing for the easy happiness the two shared. They knew where their lives were heading. Liam envied that.

Before he could set off to hunt down Lucas, Addie, and Milo, the trio returned. Each child was carrying a plate piled high with hot dogs and chips. Lucas's hot dog was barely visible under all the ketchup he'd applied.

Charity frowned at their selections. "I do not see one single fruit or vegetable on those plates," she remarked mildly.

"Tomato is a fruit, Mom," Lucas pointed out. Ketchup was already smudged on his face.

"And potatoes are a vegetable!" Addie waved a chip in each hand.

Milo barked happily.

Laughing, Charity threw up her hands. "I guess you're right," she said. "But we're having real vegetables with dinner."

The kids nodded, but it was clear from the attention they gave their plates that they weren't really listening.

"You can't win 'em all," Dominic said sympathetically.

After scarfing down their plates with a speed that impressed even Liam, who had seen firefighters eat after a long workout, the children and dog hurried off to play with the other gathered kids. They were soon immersed in a complicated game that seemed like tag to his untrained adult eyes, but clearly had some inscrutable series of additional rules.

Dominic pulled a couple of fold out chairs, the kind that Liam associated with trips to the beach, from the back of his car, and the three adults sat and chatted while what seemed like half the town came up to grab a cup of coffee and greet Dominic and Charity. There were so many names that most of them filtered out of Liam's head just as quickly as they entered, but there was one that leaped out to him.

He was halfway through a burger and some truly top-notch slaw contributed by the owners of Harvest Grocery Store, when an older man with a truly impressive mustache approached the table.

"Oh, Bodie, hey!" Dominic said, wiping his mouth with a napkin and laying his plate aside. He stood, gesturing for Liam to do the same. "Liam, this is Bodie Radford, the Whale Harbor fire chief."

Liam laid down his plate, cutting his friend a sidelong glance. Real subtle there, Reeves, he thought. But he stuck out his hand to shake Chief Radford's proffered one.

"Nice to meet you, sir," he said respectfully. "My name is Liam Hiller. I'm a firefighter back in Boston."

"Ah, BFD," Bodie said. "I did a few years in Boston back in… well, let me say it was well before your time, son." He chuckled. "I'm tempted to do the whole ‘do you know so-and-so,' but I'm afraid of how badly I'd be revealing my age."

Chief Radford looked as though he was likely in his early sixties, the gray beginning to overtake the brown in his hair and mustache. Even so, Liam thought back to some of the people who were institutions in the Boston department.

"I'm not so sure about that, sir," he said. "Carl Fitzhugh has been there so long that I bet he was long before your time."

"Fitzy!" A laugh burst out of Bodie. "I haven't heard from that old fox in years! How's he doing?"

Liam regaled the chief with a take of the retired Captain Fitzhugh who, despite having officially left the force years prior, liked to contribute his "expertise" to the trainees.

"Pretty much he thinks it's funny to make them do all these old timey exercises," Liam summed up. "Makes 'em stand in formation and do calisthenics or whatever you call them."

Bodie wiped a hand over his face. "Son, Fitzy's been doing just that for nigh on thirty years now. Good to hear that some things never change." Then he asked the question Liam had been dreading. "What brings you to Whale Harbor then?"

Even though he'd been expecting the query, Liam had to fight not to wince. "Just needed some time off," he said evasively. "Clear my head."

The look Chief Radford gave him suggested that the man understood that there was more behind Liam's words. "That's a smart move, son," he said. "Some people think firefighting is all physical, that if you haven't been injured, nothing affects you. But the best firefighters I know are the ones who know when it's time to take a pause and assess beyond just the physical."

Again, Liam struggled not to react. He'd heard such things before, of course, but it hit him hard every time just the same.

Despite this, he had the impression that Chief Radford saw everything.

"Well, good for you, kid," he went on, sparing Liam the necessity of answering. "Although if you ever get a hankering to talk shop, I'm your man. I've been in this town for more years than I can count, practically, and I got enough stories to turn your ear for hours."

The chief kept talking, telling a story about a kid who loved firefighters and so had reported a cat stuck in a tree. When the firefighters arrived, they'd discovered that the ‘cat' in question was a stuffed animal. Dominic chuckled, looking around to make sure his kids weren't nearby getting any ideas.

Liam, however, was only half listening, despite the adorable nature of the story, because he'd caught a glimpse of fiery red hair.

Claire Boone. She was here.

He tried to ignore the way his breath caught at the sight of her, her hair gleaming in the early spring sunlight. Dominic, however, picked up on Liam's gaze. He nudged Liam in the side gently.

"Do you know Claire?" he asked. Bodie wore a gently teasing smile.

Even though he knew it was probably pointless, Liam tried to play his staring off. He shrugged. "I've met her a few times. Braden and I are doing some work for her."

Dominic didn't buy it. "Yeah, that's how I look at my work acquaintances too. Oh, wait, no, my bad. That's how I look at Charity, my girlfriend."

Liam scowled at him, but Dominic merely laughed.

"Go talk to her," he urged. "She's standing by herself right now."

"It's the gentlemanly thing to do, son," Brodie added.

Since this was what Liam wanted to do anyway, he followed their suggestions, but he did shoot them a glance over his shoulder as he went that said stop meddling.

When Claire saw him approaching, her face lit into a smile that Liam couldn't help but echo on his own face.

"Hey there!" she greeted happily. "I wasn't sure I'd see you at a town event!"

"Dominic Reeves called me and told me it was basically mandatory," he joked. "Said something about being driven out to the town limits if I didn't come… ?"

She gave a faux-solemn nod. "Oh yeah, that's standard. You only get reentry if you can sing all the words to the town song."

Liam narrowed his eyes at her. "You're teasing me about there being a town song, right?"

She laughed. "Okay, yes, I am. But would you be that surprised?"

They chuckled together and for a moment he felt tempted to reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. The impulse was strong and oddly specific. He stuck his hands in his back pockets so that they didn't get any ideas.

"How's the shop?" he asked instead. Work was always a safe topic.

Sure enough, Claire's face lit up again. "I did it!" she exclaimed. "I bought the storefront!"

"That's amazing!"

"It is," she gushed. "I mean, there's so much to do. Like so, so much. But I'm really excited, even about painting and all that stuff. Is that nuts?"

"Not at all," he assured her. "Although, if you ever feel like ‘so much' crosses over into ‘too much,' definitely give me a call. I'd be happy to help you."

"Aren't you working for Braden? I don't want to overwhelm you, especially since I know your time in Whale Harbor is kind of your quasi-vacation."

He shook his head to dismiss these concerns, even though her remembering sent a flicker of warmth through him.

"Braden just wrapped up his last big construction project, so he doesn't have a lot for me right now until the next one starts up. I have plenty of time to be your on-call handyman."

"Well, in that case, I'd love to hire you! Can we swap numbers so I can let you know when I need help?"

Why did he feel a little pulse of nerves as he got out his phone?

"Of course," he said. "Here, I'll text it to you, so you have it saved."

They exchanged contact information before an older man called Claire's name and she had to depart. She waved cheerfully over her shoulder as she went, telling Liam she'd see him again soon.

As he returned to Dominic, Charity, and their kids, he had an excited grin on his face. That was just because he was excited to have work, he told himself. But deep down, he knew it was because he was excited to have more opportunities to see Claire Boone…