Blazing Hotter (Love Under Fire Book 2) (8 page)

Frankie had been too wrapped up in his misery, not realizing the effect his accident had on his mom. He rarely called her, not wanting to hear constant nagging about what he should do with his life, but obviously the entire situation had been as life-altering for her as it had for him.

As they finished dinner, Big Frank’s cell phone rang. He slipped it from his pocket and glanced at the screen. “Sorry, but I need to take this.” He stepped into the living room, his muffled voice coming through the wall.

Frankie only hoped it wasn’t his latest girlfriend on the line.

“You’re quieter than normal.” Cassie’s small hand brushed against his forearm before she jerked it back, looking for all the world as if his skin was poison.

She was definitely determined to stay his friend, but Frankie wasn’t going to have that. Now that he knew she was attracted to him as well, not caring a bit about the scars and limitations he suffered since she knew them almost as well as he did, he wasn’t letting her get away that easily.

Forcing a smile to his face, he scooted his right hand across to her, brushing her fingertips with the edge of his hand. While it was painful for him, Cassie didn’t shudder or draw away in the manner he expected most women would when being faced with his deformity.

“I’m okay,” he answered. “My dad gave me some disturbing news about him and my mom, but it’s not important.”

Her eyebrows drew together and she shook her head slightly. “Of course it’s important. What happened?”

It had been so long since Frankie felt he had someone he could confide in that he couldn’t resist. Maybe Cassie’s problems with this threat were bigger than a divorce, but she cared about him and wanted him to share his problems.

“My mom filed for divorce. She and my dad are both dating, and she’s pretty much stopped going to church.” He shrugged. “Maybe that seems like small potatoes compared to the flowers today, but I’m worried about her.”

Cassie closed her hand over the top of his, this time not pulling away. “It’s not small potatoes. You should call her, just to check in. When’s the last time you guys talked?”

“It’s been a while,” he admitted. “I haven’t wanted to deal with her, so I’ve been avoiding. I had no clue she was actually living near my sister now, and even less clue that she and Dad had split. I’ve been a bad son.”

“You’ve had other things to deal with.”

Maybe that was true, but that didn’t excuse him from checking out and ignoring the people who had always been there for him. His family might not agree about every little detail of his life, but he loved them all fiercely. It just drove home the fear he’d had running around in his head ever since the accident.

His mom believed so much in God and nagged about the depravity of sinners. Perhaps getting caught in that fire was his punishment for being a shitty son, a cocky player with the women, and overall a man who didn’t think about much beyond the glory of being a fireman and when he was going to get laid again. He deserved what he got because he’d been such an asshole. Maybe that was the reason he’d never fully recover.

“What are you thinking?” Cassie asked. “I don’t like that look on your face.”

He shook his head, realizing his smile had slipped. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I’ll call my mom sometime soon.”

If she wanted to press the issue further, Cassie was smart enough to know it wouldn’t get her anywhere. She simply squeezed his hand once before getting up and clearing away the plates.

“I wish I could help with that,” he called to her back as she stepped into the kitchen. “Doesn’t seem fair that you did all the work.”

She set the dishes on the counter, scraping leftover food into the garbage disposal before opening the dishwasher and loading them inside it. “You and your dad set up all the security. I think we’re even.”

Cassie returned to the table, pulling out her cell phone before sitting down. “I did research while I cooked, however. I don’t know if it was a good idea or not, but remember the lady at the shop said she thought the person who ordered the flowers was a stripper?”

Not exactly a road Frankie wanted to explore. If this had happened two years ago, he’d known all the strippers in town and wasn’t exactly a favored customer given some of his bad behaviors. He wondered if Bambi and Candy were still working at Guy’s Nite Out. He’d hate to run into either of them. Last time he saw Bambi, she’d gotten her friends to beat the shit out of him in the alley behind the club.

“I’ve been thinking about that too,” Frankie said. “I’m not sure going in and talking to every exotic dancer is going to get us anywhere. The lady might have been wrong.”

“I agree. That’s why I did some research.” She tapped on her phone, bringing up the picture gallery. “I went to the websites of both clubs in town and looked for performers who fit the description. Maybe Tammy could look at these pictures and pick out the right woman for us?”

Although he tried to swipe the screen sideways to show him the next picture on the phone, his scarred flesh couldn’t make the touch screen work.

Without comment, Cassie flipped it to the next photo, giving him a few seconds to look at it before going to the next.

They all looked similar, although some of the stage names visible under the pictures Cassie snapped made him grin. Lola Lapdancer and Horny Harriet got outright chuckles. These women were definitely more inventive than Bambi and Candy had been.

Speaking of Bambi!

“Wait. Go back a picture.”

Cassie complied.

There on the screen was the familiar shot of Bambi posed in her white lace teddy, the same picture he’d used back when he was trying to decide whether to date her or Candy. He’d shown this very picture to Thayne, right before Thayne told him he was an asshole for not learning her real name if he planned to date the woman.

In actuality, he’d planned to bang her. He didn’t think getting more than her stage name was required for that. Yet another sin to add to the list of reasons he was now stuck in a wheelchair.

“Do you know her?” Cassie asked.

What were the chances this woman would be the same who threatened Cassie? Why would she do it?

“This is Bambi who works over at Guy’s Nite Out, right?” he asked.

She nodded, her lips thinning marginally. She definitely didn’t like hearing he knew strippers, that was for sure.

“Look, I think I told you I was a punk before the fire.”

She nodded.

“Well, I once asked Bambi and her coworker to have a three-way with me.”

Cassie’s eyebrows rose and her face reddened, as though she was uncertain whether she should hit him.

“I see that look.” Frankie held his hands up in surrender. “Don’t worry. Bambi had me taken care of. Three guys jumped me and beat me so badly that Thayne had to come pick me up. Granted, she felt bad afterward and gave me a lot of whiskey to dull the pain until Thayne arrived, but I learned my lesson.”

Cassie nodded and her face assumed a more normal appearance. “Maybe that’s a good thing.”

Frankie let out a rueful chuckle. “Nice to know you’re happy I got beat.”

“Not that.” Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at him. “But you did deserve it.”

“Great. Now you’re laughing at me.” He pretended to pout.

“Oh, you poor baby. What do I need to do to make it better?”

Frankie wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “I can think of something.”

Cassie giggled and swatted his arm, hitting him lightly above his elbow. “Be serious. What I meant might be good is that if Bambi felt bad for getting you beat up, she might feel like she still owes you something. Maybe she can help us figure out who sent the flowers.”

The girl he intended to date wanted to meet a woman he’d once been a major asshole to? Sure, sounded like a good plan. Nothing could go wrong there.

“Why don’t we ask the florist first?” he asked. “If she can pick out the right girl, I’d rather not bother Bambi.”

B
ig Frank came back into the dining room, a wide smile on his face.

Cassie couldn’t help but glance at Frankie to see if he was okay. While she knew what divorce had done to her teenage self, she wasn’t sure what it would do to an injured firefighter. His guilt and need to call his mom endeared Frankie to Cassie even more, but it also worried her. If Big Frank was in the other room talking to one of his new girlfriends, that could be a major problem for Frankie’s sanity.

“Good news,” Big Frank said, somewhat breaking Cassie’s tense mood. “I’ve found an easier way for Frankie to get around.”

“What do you mean, Dad?” Frankie asked. “Cassie already bought me an electric wheelchair. Well, she and the guys, with help from the insurance company, bought it. Still, I can’t see what else could be helpful.”

“Oh, yeah?” Big Frank’s eyebrows rose high, clearing up the crow’s feet around his eyes but causing deep furrows in his forehead. “And how, exactly, do you intend to fit that electric wheelchair in Cassie’s car? If you’re playing detective tomorrow and going to the shooting range, I imagine you’ll need a van with a wheelchair lift to make your life simple. Even if they happened to buy a foldable model, I don’t think Cassie could lift something like that by herself.”

Cassie sucked in a long breath. She hadn’t considered that problem. True, the electric chair would help Frankie be more independent, but she hadn’t made a plan to get it from one place to another. “It’s isn’t collapsible,” she said. “Thayne wanted to get a heavy duty model, in the hopes it could handle rougher terrains and Frankie could go out with him more.”

“Like to a beach,” Frankie muttered, his face falling with utter defeat written in the thin slash his mouth made.

Unable to help herself, she patted his arm and then left her hand resting against his. “Their wedding plans aren’t your responsibility, Frankie. They want you there more than they want it on a beach.”

“Maybe Thayne does,” Frankie agreed. “But I can’t imagine Laura even wants me to come. I nearly killed her fiancé and now she’s had to put everything on hold because of me.”

And how long had that particular worry been eating away at Frankie? Cassie had no idea that was his concern.

“I talk to Laura almost every day,” she said, pressing her hand into his cheek and forcing Frankie to look at her. “Laura is not angry with you. If anything, she’s relieved that Thayne can’t fight fires anymore and is back in the ambulance as a medic. She feels guilty for liking that, but it’s easier on her knowing Thayne will never again go into a burning building, leaving her all alone if he gets himself killed.”

“But we could have died,” Frankie protested. “All because I thought I could be a hero and defied Thayne’s orders. The kids still died, Thayne was badly injured, and I’m...”

He closed his eyes as the alternative to looking at her since Cassie still wouldn’t release his face, but she didn’t miss the shine of moisture in his eyes before he closed them.

“You
are
a hero,” she whispered, hoping he could hear her sincerity. “No one holds you responsible and your friends all miss you. Not one of them is angry, least of all Laura.”

Big Frank crossed the room, pulling out his chair and clapping a large hand against Frankie’s other shoulder. “Son, you did what any firefighter in your position would have. You saw the kids, and you tried to get them out. That’s the whole reason we become firemen, to save people. If Thayne had seen them first, he would have led the way to those kids. Don’t think for one second you did anything wrong.”

After a few seconds of silence, Frankie heaved a loud sigh but nodded. “Thanks, guys. I’ll try to remember that when I start having bad thoughts. Sometimes, I think I deserve this for being such a punk. If Thayne had died along with the kids...” A shudder made his entire body tremble. “Things are bad enough as it is, but I could have never forgiven myself for that.”

Cassie had seen Frankie angry, belligerent, uncooperative, and downright juvenile in the course of their association when he didn’t want to participate in his therapy. Never had she seen this side to him. His remorse and guilt were eating him alive. He seemed to honestly believe he deserved what happened to him because he made a mistake and didn’t follow orders.

True, he was the type of man who propositioned exotic dancers and thought nothing of it before the accident, but that didn’t make him a bad person. She needed to speak with Laura. The sooner she could let her friend know about Frankie’s guilt, the sooner Laura could speak to him and help him see that she wasn’t angry and loved him like he was part of her family.

After a few more moments of quiet, Big Frank leaned back in his chair, assuming a business-like posture. “Enough of this. The past is the past. Don’t you want to hear how I’m able to help your transportation issue?”

Frankie cleared his throat before looking at his dad. “Sure. What’s the deal?”

“I have a van coming here right now, complete with a wheelchair lift. Not to mention, my buddy’s bringing all the stuff he has around the house. There’s a shower chair, a raised toilet seat with handles around it, and even a desktop that is cut to fit across the arms of your wheelchair so you can carry things around with you more easily. I thought that might be a better way to keep the gun when you’re in the house, rather than trying to keep it in a holster.” Big Frank looked at Frankie’s hands and then shrugged. “It’ll be an issue enough pulling the trigger if you have to shoot it, let alone getting it out from around your waist.”

“I don’t understand,” Frankie said. “Who’s bringing all this stuff, and why would they give it to me?”

“Well, he’s not exactly giving it to us.” Big Frank grinned. “But three thousand dollars for all of that seems like a good deal. I’m sure the lift on the van is worth more than that.”

Frankie shook his head. “No. Call him back. I don’t have that kind of money.”

“But I do,” his dad insisted. “Your mom and I had a fund we’ve been putting money into for the last ten years, saving up to go on a great vacation for our fortieth wedding anniversary. She agrees we should use part of the money to buy you this van.”