Burned (13 page)

“Speaking of your games, Lincoln,” Carter interrupted. “Do you know she has your trophies and ribbons on display at the house?  No matter who comes over, she makes sure to show you off.”

Lincoln laughed. “Oh my God, those are from my high school days!”

“I don’t care if they are from elementary school. You worked hard for those rewards. Baby, I know you’re hurting now, but that will pass. If you ever feel you are overwhelmed, don’t suffer through it alone, pick up the phone, hop on a plane, or drive to Chicago. If you can’t make it to me, I’ll come to you.”

“That goes for me too,” Carter chimed in. “I’m the oldest and should be there for you more. Lincoln, you are more than welcome to come live with me too. The kids would love to see you more.”

Lincoln pushed back the tears. Her family was truly her support system. “Mom already tried that, Carter. Besides, I have to stay here and keep an eye on Regan.”

“Hey, I resent that, Lincoln. I’m capable of taking care of myself and you,” Regan said with a frown.

“Girl, you would fall apart without me, and you know it. Orlando can only do so much for your diva butt.”

“I might be a little diva, but Orlando will agree I have toned it down.”

Lincoln chuckled. “Don’t believe her. Regan has Orlando wrapped around her finger. He will agree to anything she says.”

“Well, he is the only man here. Plus you got him to cook. How did you do that, Regan?” Lynette asked as she watched her future son-in-law prep the grill.

Carter looked over the rim of the glass as she drank the lemonade.  When a man entered the backyard, she asked. “Whoa, who is that?”

Lincoln and Regan’s head turned in the direction of Orlando. He was shaking hands with another man that had joined him at the grill. “That’s Nick,” Regan said. “He works at the same firehouse as Orlando.”

“I thought Chicago had fine ass firefighters but damn,” Carter said sucking her teeth. Putting the tumbler on the table, she adjusted her tank top. “How do I look?”

Regan smacked her lips. “Bring in the girls, Carter; you’re a married woman.”

“I would never cheat on my husband, Regan. However, there are no laws against looking at a beautiful man.”

Lincoln rolled her eyes at her sister. Carter was older by six years and married and looked fabulous for her age. She wasn’t as tall as Lincoln, but they shared the same skin color and body type. Carter was also super thin and always dressed to impress. Even at a backyard picnic, she was dressed in designer clothing from head to toe. As a correspondence journalist with the Chicago Tribune, she could easily afford to dress for success.

“Don’t you dare flirt with him, Carter,” Lincoln warned in a playful manner.

“And give me one reason why I shouldn’t?  As long as I’m away from home, I might as well have a little fun. No husband or kids until the wedding—I’m in heaven.”

Lincoln tuned out her sister’s mindless dribble as Nick’s familiar swag walked over to where they sat. The big smile slapped across his face warmed her in a certain spot. They exchanged glances as Regan introduced him to her mother and sister.

“Mom, Carter, this is Nick Barona. He’s also a firefighter and a good friend of ours.”

Lynette raised her hand. “Nice to meet you, Nick; I’m Lynette.”

Nick shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. Are you sure, you’re a mom?  You’re too gorgeous to be a mother,” he teased.

“Oh, I like this young man,” Lynette replied with a deep blush rising on her cheeks.

Carter stood up. “I’m Carter. I’m the oldest sister.”

“Geez, are you kidding me here?  No wonder Orlando is always smiling, he’s surrounded by you beautiful ladies all the time.”

“Nick is a bit of a flirt, so you all better watch out,” Orlando said teasing Nick as he propped his foot on the picnic bench.

Nick laughed. “Orlando knows I’m harmless. However, I meant what I said.”  He turned to Lincoln and released a sexier smile. “How are you doing, beautiful?” he asked slipping his arm around her waist.

Lincoln swore her heart dropped to her feet first then bounced back in her chest knocking the wind out of her. She stuttered,” I-I’m great and yourself.”

“Now that I see you, my day just got better.”

Lincoln shuddered from the silence of her relatives. She had some explaining to do. How she would explain she had no idea. Nick had never flirted with her like this before. She wondered if he was playing around or if this was usual for him since she really didn’t know him that well.

“I’m flattered.” She swirled the ice in her drink. “Can I get you something to drink?  Regan made spiked lemonade. It’s really good.”

“I’d rather have a beer if that’s okay.”

Orlando motioned for Nick to follow him. “Come on, Nick, there is plenty of beer in the house.”

Lincoln dreaded lifting her head to see the curious eyes of her relatives waiting for the scoop on her and Nick. “I feel you all piercing me with your eyes. There is nothing going on between Nick and me. We are just friends.”  She lifted her head to see Regan’s smirk widen. “Stop, Regan. You know how Nick is.”

Regan’s hands went up in a defensive manner. “I only know what I saw and heard.”

“Oh, so, you’re going to play stupid too. He was playing! Nick is playful like that.”  Moisture dampened Lincoln’s forehead as she tried to explain.

“She’s sweating,” Carter teased. “Isn’t that cute?”

Flustered Lincoln wiped her face. “You’ll trippin’, there is nothing between us.”

“Okay, that’s enough. Leave my baby alone,” Lynette ordered. “Lincoln, does Anthony know Nick?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Are they good friends?”

Lincoln sighed. “Mom, their friendship is complicated. And the question is irrelevant since I’m not involved with him.”

“Regan, Carter, give me a minute alone with your sister.” 

They left and Lincoln slumped on the chair thinking she’d made a mistake asking Nick to come. “Mom, I don’t need a lecture.”

“I don’t plan on lecturing you. Lincoln, I never worried about you too much because you have a strong will. You’ve been able to resolve any conflicts you’ve ever gotten yourself into without my help. I’m going to trust you know what you are doing this time.”

“Why isn’t anyone listening to me?  Nick has been a good friend to me. I’m not taking advantage of him and he isn’t taking advantage of me. Also, I don’t call him to complain about Anthony or to come hold my hand. The most we do is go to a movie or hang around my place to watch television. We haven’t done anything intimate and it has never come up.”

“That’s good; because, if you got into a relationship with him it would be disastrous, Lincoln.”

She covered her face and wished she had something stronger to drink than spiked lemonade. It was a little too late for her mother to explain the birds and the bees. So her guess was her mother didn’t approve of Nick being White. “Let me guess, if I was dating him, you wouldn’t approve because he’s White. You don’t have to worry about anything, Mom.”

Lynette frowned causing wrinkles to rumple the smooth skin of her forehead. “Have I ever interfered in any relationship you girls had once you were old enough to date?”

Lincoln shook her head. Her mother was making her feel like a teenager and she was scolding her for misbehaving. “No, ma’am.”

“Alright then. My concern is those two being friends, honey. If that man is hanging around with you, it will cause a conflict with Anthony. I don’t want you in the middle of that battle.”

 She sighed silently.
In the middle of it—I am up to my neck in it
. “I’ve heard it all and I know the consequences of coming between friends. Nick has females that he dates. I’m more like one of the guys that he can kick back with. There is no pressure from me.”

“Lord, touch this girl right now,” Lynette said looking up at the sky. “For Pete’s sake, girl, thirty is knocking at your door. If you want to believe he doesn’t have an interest in you, go ahead and believe that. But, people on the outside watching you two are seeing something else. He wants you. The question is do you have any feelings for him?”

Her emotions concerning Nick were muddled. She didn’t know what she felt for him for the reason that Anthony occupied so much of her heart. If she got too close to Nick, it would seem like a rebound to cover her pain and that was not fair to him. “Mom, this day is supposed to be about you and Carter. I don’t want to discuss my love life. Can we drop this, please?”

“I’ll drop it for now. Regan has gone out of her way to make us feel at home; I don’t want her to feel I don’t appreciate it.”

“Thank you,” she breathed.

*****

Orlando popped the top off the beer and handed it to Nick. “So what’s up, man?”

Nick took a long swig. “Nothing special.”

“Really?”

Nick raised a quizzical brow. “Yeah, really. What’s up with you?”

Orlando shook his head. “We can go back and forth with this all day. You know damn well, what I’m talking about. What’s with the terms of endearment with Lincoln?  Are you feeling her?”

Nick swallowed down more of the beer, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I think I am. I tried, Orlando. I tried to keep my feelings out of this. She’s so damn vulnerable on the inside that it hurts me. I have this nagging in my head that I have to protect her.”

Orlando slapped his hand across his forehead. “Nick, Nick, Nick…this was not supposed to happen. I asked you to look out for her, not make a move on her.”

“I haven’t made a move on her.” 
Yet
he said in his head. He drained the last of the beer from the bottle and tossed it in the recycle bin. “I’m speaking hypothetically, Orlando. Other than Ant hating me, there isn’t a damn thing he could do if I did pursue Lincoln.”

Removing two trays from the fridge, Orlando put them on the kitchen counter. He uncovered the seasoned steaks to check them out before covering them with fresh plastic wrap. He wanted them to be at room temperature before grilling. He did the same with the skewers of cubed chicken and vegetables. “Nope, there isn’t,” he replied.

“How would you feel if Lincoln and I did end up together?  Would you hate me?” Nick asked taking a corn chip from the bowl on the counter and popping it in his mouth.

“I wouldn’t have any resentment towards you if the love were real. If you are doing it to prove a point to Ant, then I would have a problem with it.”

“He is not worth that effort, dude.” He watched as Orlando gathered ingredients to make a salad. “Toss me a bowl and a knife. I make a mean salad,” he said washing his hands.

“Knock yourself out.” Orlando slid the ingredients to the other side of the counter. “Nick, you’re worried about what I think about you and Lincoln getting together, what would your father think?  I don’t see Lincoln being welcomed with open arms.”

Nick chopped through the onion. Each slice of the knife through the vegetable made his eyes water harder. Orlando’s mention of his father spoiled his good mood. “I don’t have shit to do with my old man and you know that.”

“I know that. But you do visit your mother in Queens. He will be there if you decide to take Lincoln along.”

He finished the onion and moved on to the carrots. He wasn’t a professional cook but knew his way around the kitchen. He came from a large Italian family. The Barona clan consisted of six children and a rocky marriage that lasted thirty-seven years so far.

When the Barona’s migrated from New York, Nick was the youngest and raised in Cleveland. Although, he only walked the streets of New York until he was ten, he carried the heavy dialect his family possessed.

Franco Barona was a retired firefighter and his mother, Isadora, quit her job as a school teacher to raise a family. The family moved to Cleveland with the dream to open an Italian restaurant. The restaurant competition in New York was stiff. In a city with less competition, Franco imagined his chance of success would be greater. He was wrong. The restaurant struggled to stay afloat from the day the doors opened. Franco closed the restaurant and returned to Queens to care for his ailing mother. With the rest of his siblings grown and on their own, Nick stayed after acceptance to the fire academy.

Orlando, as well as everyone else at the firehouse, knew the relationship between Franco and Nick was strained. Franco was not exactly a father figure. He was not a nice person at all and was the main reason there was a divide in the Barona house. His sisters were scattered across New York. His brothers were in different states also. The whole clan only got together at Christmas for dinner and that was more for Isadora’s sake. Franco just happened to be there.

Nick tossed the diced carrots in the bowl with the onions. “I’ll cross that bridge if it gets that far.”

Orlando shook his head and worked with the slab of ribs in the sink. “Well, you have my blessing if you want to pursue her. But if you hurt her….”

“Yada, yada, yada, I know; you’ll kick my white ass from here to Puerto Rico. I’ll keep what I feel for her under wraps but I don’t know if I’ll be able to totally stop them.”

“It’s like you said, Nick, she is vulnerable and I’m sure she’s not over Ant. You have to give her time and not rush her.”

Nick grinned. “She is getting there. When we first started hanging out, I was doing the calling. Now she is calling me to come over. Hell, she invited me here.”

“Oh man, that is one triangle I’m glad not to be a part of. When Anthony gets wind of this, he will blow his freaking stack.”

Nick raised his voice and said, “Fuck Ant!  He doesn't care he screwed up Lincoln’s life. He finally has what he’s always talked about wanting, a kid with Melanie.”

Orlando’s cell phone rang at the same time Nick’s went off. Nick wiped his hands and answered the phone. His skin crawled when he saw the number. Orlando’s face showed the same concern. It was the emergency number. The recording would require them to report to work on the double. A serious fire or another disaster had occurred and all firefighters, on duty or off, would be required to handle it.

“Let’s roll,” Orlando said taking off the apron.

They entered the backyard where the women were. “Hey, baby, we got a call, Nick and I have to report to the firehouse,” Orlando said.