Backdraft (2 page)

Laughing, Craig said, “You could always try Viagra.”

“Fuck off,” Dave said, launching a throw cushion at him. “I mean, I’m thinking maybe it’s time to look for a woman who’s more than just a pin cushion.” Dave loved women, respected them, but he found it difficult to consider a woman who would take him and his buddy on at the same time potential wife material.

“Got anybody in mind?” Craig asked, tipping the bottle to his lips.

“Nah, that’s the problem. Nobody around here does it for me.”

Craig shrugged. “Who says it has to be a hometown girl? You know hot women exist outside Brant Country, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but who says she’d be willing to pick up stakes and move here? Besides, you know long-distance relationships never work.” He found that out the hard way when Maya went off to school.

“Are you saying you wouldn’t be able to trust a woman if you couldn’t keep an eye on her 24/7?”

Dave was jealous, possessive, and he definitely had trust issues. The few times he tried to have a relationship, they were colossal failures. “Can you blame me?” he asked, glaring at his friend.

They had one unspoken rule. They never talked about Maya or that night. If they did, he feared it would re-open wounds that may never stop bleeding.

Craig looked at him a long time before asking, “How do you expect to have a relationship if you can’t trust your woman?”

Leaning forward, barely able to contain the rage bubbling up inside of him, he said, “I did trust a woman once. Wholeheartedly. You remember how that turned out, don’t you?”

“Hey, boys,” Ted Briar said, walking into the room. He walked directly to the coffeepot, pouring himself a tall mug of the steaming brew. “Y’all ready for the auction this weekend?”

After tearing his eyes away from his friend, Dave forced himself to draw a few deep breaths. He hadn’t allowed himself to consider confronting Craig about that night in years. He knew once he did, it would result in an explosion that neither one of them could contain.

“I can’t believe you’re making us do this. How would you like to get up there and parade around while women heckled you?”

Chuckling, Ted patted his round mid-section. “We’re trying to raise money for the hospital, boy. The only woman willing to pay money to date me would be your mother.”

Rolling his eyes, Dave said, “You’d be damn lucky if she would kick in. If she had to choose between spending her money on you or bingo, you know she’d play the game every time.”

Pointing his finger at his son, Ted said, “Don’t backtalk me, kid. I may be your father, but that wouldn’t stop me from firing your lazy ass if you give me reason.”

Dave laughed at the empty threat. He and his father had an easy banter born of years spent fishing on the lake when he was growing up and another decade learning the ropes at the fire station under the chief’s watchful eye.

“Whatever. You know you’d be lost without me.”

Grinning, Craig rose. “He may not enjoy being treated like a piece of meat, Ted, but I happen to get off on it.”

Slapping Craig on the back as he walked by, Ted laughed. “That’s the spirit, son.” Suddenly, the smile died when he looked Dave in the eye. “You got a minute? We need to talk.”

Dave knew that look. He’d done something to disappoint the old man and he was going to hear about it, whether he liked it or not. Pointing to the couch across from him, he said, “Sure, take a load off, boss.”

After claiming the seat Craig had just vacated, he sighed. “It’s come to my attention that you and Craig have been engaging in some pretty questionable behavior. I’m going to talk to him about it later, but I needed to hear your side of the story first.”

Shit. Busted. He had no interest in talking to his father about his sex life, and knowing his parents were clean-living, church-going people didn’t make it any easier. He would never understand. “What have you heard?”

“I know I don’t have to spell it out for you.” He paused, looking him in the eye. “Your mother was the one who brought it to my attention.”

“Goddamn it,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He should have known this would happen sooner or later. They tried to be discreet and usually propositioned women who were just passing through town, but apparently they weren’t careful enough. Once the local busybodies got wind of this, it would be all over the county by sundown. “How’d she hear about it?”

“One of the teachers at the school had a niece staying with her, Linda Morrow. Do you remember her?”

Damn it. That was a couple of months ago. They hooked up with her at the local watering hole. When she said she was in town visiting her aunt, Dave was already half in the bag and hadn’t thought to ask for her aunt’s name. Figured her aunt was one of the teachers who worked for his mother at the elementary school. “Listen, I’m sorry if you and Mom were embarrassed, but I’m a grown man. You can’t tell me who I can and can’t sleep with, Dad.”

He set his coffee down on the table between them and pointed his finger, his face getting flushed. “You listen to me, boy. Your mama and I have worked hard to become respected members of this community. As principal of that school, she’s responsible for instilling some values in those young people. How would it look to the parents if they found out her son was engaging in orgies?”

“For Christ sakes, Dad, would you keep your voice down? We’re in the middle of the fire station. Any of the guys could walk in.”

He leaned back, folding his arms across his chest. “At least you have the good sense to be ashamed of yourself.”

“Did I say I was ashamed of myself? I don’t think so.” But just the thought of his mother hearing about his antics from one of her co-workers had him squirming in his seat. He had no doubt she would slap him upside the head the next time she got her hands on him. The woman who had made thousands of pre-teens nearly wet their pants still had the ability to set him, a grown man, on edge. “What did Mom say?” He was almost afraid to ask.

“She wants to see you over at the house when you get off today.”

He wasn’t going to avoid her wrath. He would just have to man up and take it. “Fine, I’ll head over there now. Anything else?”

“Yeah, I want to know why.”

“Why, what?” Dave asked. Pretending he had no idea what his dad was talking about would buy him a few more seconds to come up with a plausible excuse, he hoped.

“Don’t be a smartass. Why would you share your woman with another man? That’s just sick.”

These weren’t “his” women and they weren’t Craig’s women. They were just women passing through his life on their way to another destination. The only girl he and Craig had ever really shared was Maya, and if he’d had his way, she would have been his, and only his, until his dying day.

“It’s not like that, Dad,” he said, lowering his head. In spite of his words to the contrary, he was ashamed of his actions. He wanted to be the kind of man that made his father proud, and he knew it would be a long time before he could erase this black mark from his record, if ever. “It’s not like these women are my girlfriends; they’re not.”

“That makes it even worse,” he said, shaking his head. “Jesus, don’t you have the good sense to worry about sexually transmitted diseases?”

He would give his last dollar to be able to get up and walk out of the room right now, but he knew his father was speaking to him not just as the patriarch of their family, but also as his boss, and no one disrespected the chief in his firehouse. It was an unwritten rule that all the firefighters, himself included, obeyed. “We always use protection.”

“Those things break sometimes, you know. What if one of these girls got pregnant? You wouldn’t even know who the father was.” He gripped his knees, leaning forward. “What in the hell is the matter with you, boy? You’re not a kid anymore. Why can’t you just find a nice girl, settle down, and have a couple of kids of your own?”

His family had been on his case about getting married for the past couple of years, and he’d always told them he would when he was ready. “Listen, I’ve been thinking about doing just that, okay? You and Mom can relax and stop worrying about me.”

“This is about more than that. You’re putting your career, your future, in jeopardy. Do you really think you’re going to get that promotion when I retire if you keep this up?”

He wouldn’t let anything jeopardize the promotion he worked his whole life to attain. Being a firefighter was the only thing he ever wanted, and earning the top spot would prove to himself and everyone else that he’d made the right choice. “Okay, you’ve made your point. I’m done with that shit, okay?” He raised his right hand, looking his father in the eye. “I swear.”

Chapter Two

The night had finally arrived and Maya’s hand shook so badly when she finally raised it to bid on him that she was afraid the whole room, including Dave, would notice.

He still looked incredible. The dark shaggy hair that was his trademark throughout high school was much shorter now, and the brawn that impressed girls and intimidated opponents on the football field was evident, even beneath a well-cut black tuxedo.

The chiseled face that haunted her for the past decade bore a dark shadow of whiskers that conflicted with his formal attire. It was obviously his way of telling them he would wear the monkey suit, but he was still the one calling the shots. The one thing that hadn’t changed was those gray-blue eyes, so painfully familiar they made her ache for all the years they had wasted.

Their gazes locked a few times during the night, and when he frowned, as though he was trying to place her, she looked away. She was careful to disguise herself in a long black gown, black wig, and mask. No one would recognize her as long as she kept to herself and refused to talk to anyone.

She feared the distinct raspy quality to her voice would give her away the instant she opened her mouth, so she asked Craig to tell Dave that their “date” had laryngitis and was on strict vocal rest. She only hoped he bought it.

“We have $500 from the lady in the back,” the mayor said. “Do I hear $550?”

Several other women were bidding against her, not that she was surprised. Dave was always the guy every girl wanted, and for a while he was hers. She swallowed the lump of fear that rose when his gaze drifted back to her and nodded, letting the mayor know she intended to go higher. Hundreds, thousands, it didn’t matter. Nothing would stand between them tonight.

“$550, do I hear $600?” The mayor paused, looking around the crowded banquet hall. “There you have it, ladies and gentleman; fireman Dave Briar, sold to the lady in black for $550.”

Earning dates with both men cost her $1,000, and to her, it was worth every penny. Regardless of how Dave responded to her surprise, she would have one more chance to prove to him that time and distance couldn’t diminish the passion they’d once shared.

Dave’s buddy and fellow firefighter, Brian Maxwell, slapped him on the back when they retreated to the backstage area. “How do you like that? Some crazy broad was actually willing to spend good money to go out with you.”

Dave laughed at his good-natured ribbing. “You’re just jealous ‘cause they couldn’t give you away. How embarrassing was that when your mother and sister started competing for you, Max?”

All of their fellow firefighters joined in the banter until the crowd finally dispersed, leaving only him and Craig. They hadn’t spoken since that awkward exchange in the firehouse a few days before, and Dave didn’t know what to say. Maya and their betrayal still hovered in the back of his mind, but this didn’t seem like the time and place to air their dirty secrets.

“We okay, man?” Craig asked.

“Yeah, we’re okay.” Dave didn’t know if that was true or not. He thought he’d put this behind him ten years ago when Craig came home from the rehab clinic begging for forgiveness, but now that he started to think about settling down, the pain he’d lived with during the months that followed surfaced with a vengeance, and he knew why. Maya was the one, the woman he should be making plans to spend his life with, but his friend’s selfish indulgence had cost him everything.

“You sure?” Craig asked, lowering his head. “I get the feeling you want to say something to me.”

He had so much to say. Why would he betray him that way? Who had initiated the sex? Were they in love? How many times did it happen? Were they planning a future together? He was dying to ask those questions when Craig returned home, but his recovery was tenuous, and he didn’t want to do anything to push him over the edge. Craig had suffered a lot, and Dave didn’t want to be the one who de-railed his progress.

In the years that passed, when Craig was finally stable, Dave began to fear the questions. What if Craig gave him answers he wasn’t prepared to hear? How would he cope if he learned that the only woman he ever loved never gave a damn about him?

“Dave? What is it? What the hell’s going on with you? You haven’t been yourself lately.”

He didn’t want to deal with this tonight, but he knew they would have to eventually. If they didn’t, it would erode their friendship, and the bitterness and anger would eat him alive. “Nothing. Hey, the same chick bid on both of us. Did you notice that?”