Controlled Burn (20 page)

“The rest of our
guys are okay. Other companies had a few minor injuries, I guess. A guy slipped on the ice and broke his clavicle, and a few were treated for smoke inhalation, but nothing major considering it was fully involved.”

“I know you need to sleep now, but I was worried about you and I just wanted to see you for a few minutes when you got home.”

“Do you have any plans for this morning? You need
to work?”

She could hear the exhaustion in his voice and knew he’d be asleep in a matter of minutes. “There’s nothing that can’t wait.”

He muttered something she couldn’t make out and nuzzled his face into her hair. Then, a few seconds later, she felt his muscles go lax as he nodded off. Despite being an early riser, she’d spent a good chunk of the night tossing and turning herself,
so she was content to drift in and out of sleep for a while.

It was almost three hours before he stirred a little and rolled onto his back. Jessica waited until he resumed snoring and then slid out of his bed. He’d wanted the comfort of her being there when he first climbed into bed, but she suspected he’d probably sleep better now if she wasn’t lying awake next to him. Every time she shifted,
he stirred, and she was restless.

Last night had been scary even before the news broke about Danny. And then she’d been afraid for him and for Ashley.

But when she’d seen Rick limping toward her, his face haggard with exhaustion, the fear had settled into the pit of her stomach. He’d been in just as much danger as Danny Walsh had been, and it could just as easily have been him lying
in the hospital this morning.

Rather than roam his apartment alone or sit on his couch in silence, she went down the interior stairs and found Marie vacuuming the living room. Her grandmother hit the off switch when she saw her and gestured for her to sit down on the couch with her.

“Good morning, honey. How’s Rick?”

“Exhausted. And he hurt his knee somehow. He was limping when
he got home.”

Marie squeezed her hand. “He’s fine, then.”

“He was sound asleep when I left him. I think he will be for quite a while actually. I’m not sure what to do now.”

“We’ll make a casserole for the Walshes,” Marie said. “Something that can be put in the freezer and easily heated in the microwave. Ashley doesn’t need to be worrying about meals while her husband’s in the hospital.”

Jessica followed her into the kitchen. “How many casseroles do you think she’ll get?”

Her grandmother laughed as she pulled out her recipe box. “At least two dozen. Probably a lot more. Most of them will get thrown away when they need the freezer space.”

“But we’re going to make one anyway?”

Marie shrugged, her eyes serious. “Yes. It’s simply what we do.”

Chapter Nineteen

Rick killed the snowblower’s engine and looked around the driveway. They didn’t have any fresh snow, but the snowbanks along the edges were slowly creeping into the parking spaces, so he was using the snowblower to cut them back.

“I guess that woman’s right about the driveway looking bigger,” Joe said from the open garage door.

It had been the real estate
agent, after looking at photos she’d taken, who suggested some snow removal—or at least rearranging—would make the driveway look bigger, and that was supposedly a huge selling point.

Rick’s knee wasn’t too bad and he was happy to have the physical activity to help take his mind off Danny’s accident, so he’d volunteered to do it.

“I don’t know what the holdup is,” Rick said, pushing the
snowblower inside. “She gave you a value on the property last month. Why didn’t she just use that to list it?”

“I guess she gave us a pretty close ballpark figure, but to actually list it, she needs all kinds of photos and information. How old the roof is. The furnace. Crap like that. She wants to price it just right.”

“That makes sense, I guess. Prospective buyers will want to know
that.”

“Seems like a pain in the ass to me.”

“Yup.”

“Marie and I were talking last night. Jessica said the place we’re looking at is really reasonable and we could actually swing it even without a huge profit on the house.”

“That’s good. Means you won’t have to worry about it in the future if you end up with surplus in the bank.”

“It also means we could sell it to you
if you were interested in it. You’ve taken good care of this old beast—and of us—for years and we’d like to give you an opportunity to think about buying it before we go ahead and formally list it on the market.”

And then he named a price that Rick almost couldn’t believe he’d heard correctly. “That means a lot to me, Joe. You know I love you guys and this house, but you can’t do that. If
I want to buy it, and honestly I have considered it, I’ll pay you what it’s worth.”

“What’s a building worth? It’s the people that matter and you’re like family to us, so think about it.” Joe gave him a grin. “Besides, you can’t go spending all your money or you won’t be able to afford gas for that truck of yours.”

Rick laughed because it was true, if a little exaggerated. His truck
was so bad he’d changed the digital display so it showed the outside temperature instead of the average miles per gallon just because it was depressing, but he couldn’t hide the dent it put in his wallet. But he wasn’t driving around this city in a compact car for any amount of savings at the pump.

“I told Marie I’d talk to you about it,” Joe said. “But we haven’t said anything to Jessica.
No sense in muddying the waters if you’re not even interested to begin with, know what I mean?”

Rick nodded, his gut tightening. By muddying the waters, Joe meant displeasing their granddaughter, who probably wouldn’t like them making that big of a financial decision on emotion alone. “I’m definitely interested, but I don’t think I want to hide something like that from her. Things are complicated,
I guess.”

“Things always are, son.”

It was several hours before Rick got the chance to speak to Jessica alone. Joe and Marie were busy at the kitchen table sorting through boxes of papers, and he went upstairs to find Jess sitting cross-legged on her bed, scowling at her computer.

“Hi,” she said when she noticed him in the doorway. “Have you heard anything about Danny today?”

“Yeah. He’s going home, actually. Nothing to be done but rest and let the breaks heal. But no lasting damage.”

“He’ll be out of work for a while, then?”

“Yeah. Guys will rotate through and cover for him to get the extra shifts, but they’ll have to find a long-term replacement for him, unfortunately.” It was always hard when somebody new joined a company that had been together a long
time.

“At least he’ll be okay eventually.”

“Yup.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling awkward with her for the first time in a long time. “I wanted to talk to you about something. You got a minute?”

“Of course.” She closed her laptop and set it aside. “You look so serious.”

“I was talking to Joe earlier about the house, and he surprised me by telling me he and Marie
want me to have dibs on buying the house,” he said. “Not at the full asking price, though.”

“Really? What did they offer it to you for?” When he said the number, he wasn’t surprised when her eyebrows shot up. “Not at full asking price? Rick, that’s not even half of what it’s worth.”

“Trust me, I know.”

She stared at him so long, he had to fight the urge to squirm. He hadn’t done
anything wrong and he’d honestly thought they’d put the lack of trust when it came to the house behind them a long time ago. But he could practically hear the wheels turning in her head.

“I wish you’d say something,” he told her.

“What do you think I’m going to say? Of course I’m going to recommend they retract the offer and list it with the real estate agent. I’m not letting them get
screwed out of money just because they like you.”

Screwed.
The implication he’d deliberately masterminded the offer to screw over Joe and Marie hurt like a kick to the stomach, and the fact she’d think it of him made him angry. “Worried about your inheritance?”

The color drained from her face and she blinked at him for a few seconds. “Excuse me?”

“If they only get half what the
house is worth, they might burn through it and not have anything left to leave you.”

“I can’t believe you’d say that to me.” Red splotches shone on her cheeks, and her eyes sparkled with anger. “I couldn’t care less about an inheritance, and I thought you knew me better than that.”

“And I thought you knew me better than to think I’d take advantage of Joe and Marie.”

“Do you understand
my job is to protect people’s money? Maximizing investments is what I do, so what kind of financial advisor would I be if I stood back and let my own grandparents take a bath on their house?”

“Your grandparents might not have fancy finance degrees, but they’re not stupid and neither wants to leave the other unprotected in the future, so I’m sure they’ve thought this through.”

“They’re
letting emotion cloud their judgment. Feelings have no place in business.”

He rolled his eyes. “Did Davey have that cross-stitched on a pillow for you?”

When her mouth tightened and her eyes went flat, he realized he’d gone too far, but there was no taking it back.

“My success in financial planning has nothing to do with my father and everything to do with my education, instincts
and experience. Don’t sell me short, Rick.”

“I think you’re selling your grandparents short.”

“I’m sure you’d think so, since you’re the person who stands to benefit the most if I’m wrong.”

Rick blew out a breath and ran a hand over his hair. This had gone sideways on him in a way he couldn’t have imagined. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you.”

“We’ve obviously arrived at
the conflicting interests phase of our relationship. We always knew it would probably happen. I’ll sit down with Joe and Marie today and go through all of their options one more time, including a look at their long-term finances if they choose to sell you their home at a fraction of its value.”

“You’re phrasing it that way to make it sound worse than it is.”

“It’s an accurate representation
of the situation. I’m sure they’ll let you know what their decision is within a day or two.”

The dismissal was clear in her voice and he knew in her current mood, he’d probably have better luck beating his head against a brick wall than convincing her he hadn’t put Joe and Marie up to anything.

With a heavy heart, he turned and walked away.

* * *

“The last thing we wanted to
do was cause a problem with you and Rick,” Marie said, setting a big bowl of baked macaroni and cheese in front of Jessica.

The comfort food was killing her. And possibly her wardrobe. “You didn’t cause a problem with us. We simply have different philosophies when it comes to protecting your investments.”

“I know you see this old house as an investment,” Joe said. “That’s your job and
with the market the way it is, I guess it is pretty valuable. But to your grandmother and I, it’s a home. That’s what matters to us and it’s important to us that somebody loves it as much as we have. Sometimes there
are
emotions in business, no matter what your father and your business professors told you.”

“I’ve broken down the numbers for you,” she said. “You can see the impact it has on
your financial future.”

“Of course it has an impact,” Marie said. “But our future financial security doesn’t depend on the full amount. Your numbers show that we can live quite nicely with half the amount.”

“That’s true. It’s not what I recommend, but all I can do is suggest. Ultimately, it’s your decision to make.”

“I just feel so bad that you’re going back to California now,”
Marie said.

“I was always going back to California, since that’s where I live. And now that you’ve made decisions and have the ball rolling, I don’t need to be here. I can handle a lot of things via email.”

“What about Rick?”

Jessica looked at her grandfather. “What about him?”

“We’re not stupid. We’ve minded our own business, but it’s obvious you and Rick have been in a relationship.
If we hadn’t offered him the house without talking to you first, what were your plans going to be?”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “We hadn’t talked about the future.”

“But you must have thought about it,” Marie said.

“Of course I had. My father made a comment about opening an East Coast office to expand the business, but I wasn’t sure at the time if he was being sarcastic or
if he meant it. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to seriously consider it. I could still be a part of the family business I’ve helped build, while being here with you guys. And Rick.”

“That can still happen.”

“I don’t think so. It was fun while it lasted. Now it’s time for me to go home and get back to work.”

Joe wisely changed the subject to something he’d seen
on the news recently before Marie could get too emotional, and Jessica listened to them chatter back and forth until she could escape to her room to start packing.

How was it possible she’d accumulated so much stuff during her two stays in Boston? And ninety percent of it was stuff she couldn’t wear in California. She’d planned to leave it behind for her next visit, but if Rick was going
to buy the house, that wasn’t going to work.

With her mouth set in a grim line, she started sorting the few things she’d carry with her from the majority of it, which she’d ship to her address in San Diego. With one checked bag and her carry-on, she could probably bring home the things she’d want right away.

When she dumped her underwear drawer on the bed, her gaze fell immediately on
the yellow bra she’d worn to watch the hockey game with him. Picking it out of the pile, she sat on the edge of the bed, pressed it to her face and sobbed.

* * *

Rick was checking the air pressure in Ladder 37’s tires when his cell phone chimed. Technically they had mechanics who took care of all things maintenance related, but he liked to know what was going on with his own truck. And
it never hurt to make sure they were doing their jobs properly, either. In frigid temperatures, especially if they had the chains on, tire pressure mattered.

He pulled out the phone and read the words on the screen.
Jessica just left for the airport. Her plane takes off in three hours. Just thought you might want to know. Love, Marie.

For a second, he was amused by her message. Someday
she’d figure out she didn’t have to sign texts like they were letters because the contact information came through with it.

Then the message itself hit him like a wrecking ball. In three hours, a plane was going to take Jess back to California. If they left things as they were, it would be over. If there was no more communication between them, by the time she returned to Boston again they’d
be barely more than polite acquaintances who’d once been lovers.

He sank onto the bumper, feeling sick to his stomach. It didn’t seem possible he could spend the rest of his life without seeing those eyes smile at him again. He would never kiss her again.

She would be gone and, even if they crossed paths again, what they’d had would be nothing but a distant memory.

“You okay?”

He looked up at Gavin. “What?”

“You look like you got really bad news.”

There was no sense in trying to hide anything around these guys. “Jess is on her way to the airport to go back to San Diego.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I really liked her.”

“Me too, kid. More than liked, actually. I love her.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“No.”

“Not even on Facebook?”

Rick
rolled his eyes. “Seriously, are you even old enough to shave?”

“I’m old enough to know you don’t let the woman you love get on a plane without running after her. Have you ever even
seen
a movie, dude?” When Rick glared at him, the tips of Gavin’s ears turned red. “Uh, Lieutenant Dude.”

“I think all those movies were made before they changed the security procedures.”

“You’re a Boston
Fire officer.”

“I don’t think Homeland Security’s going to rewrite their manual for me.”

“I just meant you could probably talk somebody into having her paged for you, but misuse of power’s another way to go.”

“I had no idea you were trying to be a comedian, kid. You might want to keep the day job, and don’t spend so much time with Scotty Kincaid. You’re starting to sound like him.”

Gavin laughed and walked away, but Rick couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said. So they’d fought about how to handle the Broussards’ house. People in love fought sometimes and they got through it.

But Jess didn’t know he was a person in love. She didn’t know he thought they had something worth fighting for because he hadn’t told her. Assuming she knew it—could see in the way he looked
at her or feel it in his kisses—wasn’t enough. He had to say it.