Fire at Twilight: The Firefighters of Darling Bay 1 (20 page)

Behind her, Samantha had finally stopped laughing, her hiccups fading away to nothing. Grace heard a muffled whisper and then shuffling. Then the garage closed with an old motor’s whine.

They were alone on the grass, under the stars. Grace looked up, too, and saw one wink at her. Methyl licked her hand. The lick and the wink were the signs she needed.

They didn’t help with her nerves at all, though. Her voice shook as she said, “What woman? How did you fail her?”

Tox brought his gaze back to hers. “You know exactly what I mean.”

“You didn’t fail me.”

“I did. I do. Everyday.”

“You have your inhaler on you?”

“What? Yeah. Of course.” He scrabbled at his pocket. “Do you need it?”

“No. But you could save my life if I needed you to. But you know what?”

“What?” His voice was strained.

“I don’t need you to. I have a good life. And you do, too. Let me be near you.”

“What if I fail? I do that so often—I can’t fail
you.
”

Grace shrugged. “It’s love. You take your chances.”

“What about that matchbook of yours?”

“The one in my
nicho
?”

Tox touched her wrist lightly, as if he thought she might disappear. “Yeah. You were scared of being burned.”

“I thought that, yeah. But I just realized something.”

“What?”

Grace said carefully, “That’s where I keep my hopes.”

“Yeah?”

“Guess I was hoping for a firestarter.”

Tox made a sound somewhere between a choke and a laugh. “I have a can of lighter fluid on the back porch if you need help with that. And it’s Clement.”

“What?”

“My first name is Clement.”

Grace’s heart melted faster than the ice cream in the grass. They were so close now. If she leaned her head in, she could rest her forehead on his. He smelled of chocolate and something darker, something all him. “I like that.”

“You can call me that, then.” He drew away an inch. “But only you. No one else.”

“No one else,” said Grace.

Tox kissed her then. In the kiss she could feel everything he was too scared to say, all the things she knew he’d tell her that night, when they were really alone, naked in his bed. He would tell her he wanted her to be there in the morning, and the morning after that. She would agree. There were so many things she felt on his lips, tasted on his tongue. But the most important thing, he said out loud.

“I love you,” Tox said, his mouth on hers, his hand against her cheek. “Is that crazy? Because I do.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. And I love you, too.” Grace grinned. Then she added, “Clement.”

From inside the house, they heard Samantha’s giggle drift out the open window. At their side, Methyl licked at the ice cream in the grass. And overhead, a star winked down on Darling Bay.

<<<>>>

Did you enjoy
Fire at Twilight
?

Read the rest of The Firefighters of Darling Bay series:

Fire at Dawn: The Firefighters of Darling Bay 2

Everyday Hero: The Volunteers – A Darling Bay Short Story

And check out Cupid Island, where romance is tropical and sweet:

Kitty’s Song: A Cupid Island Novella

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. . . or keep reading for an excerpt of
Fire at Dawn
.

About the Author

Lila Ashe is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. She's lived in the big city long enough to know she craves the stars at night, and living on the rugged northern coast of California is just right. Lila is happily married and addicted to all things romantic, including surprise getaways to San Francisco for clam chowder or overnight trips to Napa for wine, but she's also found that being romantic at home can be even more exciting.

Enjoy this excerpt from the next book in The Firefighters of Darling Bay series,
Fire at Dawn
:

CHAPTER ONE

The guy just wasn’t getting it.

Lexie sighed and stepped on the pedal so her voice would carry to the firefighter who was on her last nerve. “2219 Ivy. Repeating. Two two one nine. Do you copy?”

Coin Keefe’s voice filled her headset. “Copy two two one nine. There’s still no one answering the door, and there’s no key where you reported. Can you call back?”

“Af
firm
.” Lexie knew she sounded short, but good grief, the call was for an eighty-two-year old woman who had fallen in her bathroom. She’d told him that. What, did Coin expect that the patient would get up and go unlock the door because they couldn’t find the key under the pink flamingo? Coin probably just wanted her to say pink flamingo on the radio again. Firefighters always got a kick out of the dumbest things.

Okay, maybe everyone at the fire department did. Last week she’d gotten to say that a person had slipped on a banana peel. In nine years of working dispatch, she’d never heard of that happening in real life. All the guys who tromped through dispatch to see if she’d really said what they thought they’d heard hadn’t heard of it, either.
No one
slipped and fell on a banana peel unless there was a laugh track attached. The victim, thankfully, was mostly unharmed.

The woman’s voice was weaker on the phone now. “Hello?”

“I’m still here, ma’am. We’re trying to get in to help you, but the key’s been removed from your hiding place.”

“Oh, no. I remember now. My nephew borrowed the key the last time he came over. Oh, dear.”

“Is there another way in?”

“Around the back, the sliding glass door should be unlocked.”

It wasn’t surprising. In Darling Bay, most people left their back doors unlocked, if not their front ones as well. Officially, Lexie disapproved of this, if asked for her dispatcher opinion. Of course it wasn’t safe. Crime happened, even in their small coastal town. But heck, it sure made the fire department’s job easier.

Depressing the foot pedal so the firefighters—but not the patient—could hear her, she said, “Engine One, the back slider should be open.”

“Copy.”

“Ma’am,” Lexie said to the woman, “I’m just going to keep you on the phone until they get in there, okay? I want to make sure you’re all right.”

“Honey, I told you, I’m not hurt. I just can’t move.”

A lot of elderly people thought this, until they tried to stand. Lexie hated that she took so many broken hip calls. Once the first hip went, many people lost their mobility, then their strength and their resistance to infection . . . “I know, but just stay on the line with me a little longer, do you mind doing that for me?”

“Just one strong young man should do it.”

Lexie smiled. “Okay.”

“Or two. I’m not a little person anymore. Two strong young men should do the trick to get me back on my feet.”

“I understand. I’m not that little, either.”

“Nothing wrong with that, honey. Can you just make sure you’re sending me the good ones?”

“The good men?”

“I mean the handsome ones. I don’t want the old ones. Oh, and I want men. Strong young men.”

“I picked up on that.”

“Do you even
have
any women working there?”

What an embarrassing question to be asked on a recorded line. “We do. We have three.” In the whole department, consisting of almost seventy firefighters, only three were women. Women belonged in dispatch, and always had. Not on the fire line. Or at least that’s the way the fire department in Darling Bay worked. It was a thing. Lexie hated it, but it was a thing.

“I don’t want any women. Waste of time when I need help.”

“They’re very strong women,” said Lexie.

“I’m sure they are. But they’re not what I want. Once I called 911 and all I got was a huge man who looked as if he drank too much and a couple of whippersnappers who seemed scared of me. You best not be sending me that group again.”

Lexie was having a hard time not laughing out loud now. That must have been Murphy’s crew. He’d captained Engine One before retiring a few years back, and he’d been the training captain so he always had the new guys with him. Murphy
had
liked his whiskey on his nights off. And his beer, and his ouzo, and his bourbon …

“No, I made sure the handsome ones are coming, ma’am.” It was true, actually. Tox was a big guy who struck women dumb as he walked past them while wearing his dark blue uniform. Lexie had seen it happen at Mabel’s Cafe too many times to count. Coin, with his dark black hair and quiet confidence, was classically good-looking, Lexie supposed. Maybe almost movie-star good-looking. Reporters always liked to snap his picture, his face coated with soot, after fires. And Hank carried his height well and had a very sweet smile.

“Oh, good. Just the handsome strong young men. That’s all I want.” She made a content humming noise in Lexie’s ear. Well, at least she wasn’t the panicked type.

“They should be with you any minute. Do you hear them in the backyard yet?”

“I don’t hear a thing, dearie. I can barely hear you.”

Lexie pressed the foot-pedal. “Engine One, patient’s still awaiting contact.” That should get them to move a little faster.

There was a pause and then, over the radio, came a startled yip. Then Coin’s voice, shouting. “Darling Fire, we’re inside the residence. Get her to call off her dog!”

“Ma’am,” said Lexie quickly. “Call your dog.”

“What? I can’t quite hear you.”

Coin keyed up on the radio again but barking was the only thing that came across. Wild, frantic, angry barking.

“It’s
really
important,” said Lexie loudly, “that you
call off your dog.
”

“But I don’t
have
a dog,” wailed the woman. “Where are the strong young men?”

With a stomp, Lexie said on the radio, “Engine One, you’re in the wrong house. Patient has no dog.”

Tox came up on the radio, roaring over the barking, “Two two one nine?”

“Affirm,” said Lexie crisply. “Ivy. Confirm you’re on Ivy?”

A long pause.

Then Coin’s voice came across the radio. “Darling Fire, we’re on Oak. We copy Ivy. Switching locations.”

Lexie flicked her mute switch so the woman wouldn’t hear her sigh. Then she said, “Ma’am, those strong young men are almost with you. They’re right around the corner, I promise.”

CHAPTER TWO

Of course it had to be Lexie on the radio. Coin thumped the side of the driver's door of the engine with his fist after parking in the bay at Station One. It would have to be her, when he was busy screwing up. Looking back on his almost ten year career, almost every time he'd messed up on a call, she'd been on shift to listen to him being a dumb-ass. That made sense-they'd always been on A shift together, and the dispatchers had the same 48-hour schedule as the firefighters did. Two days on, four days off. Not too shabby.

And that's why Lexie had heard him screw up. Again.

In the day room, he heard a chorus of laughter.

“Woof!” hollered Luke. “Grrrr.”

Guy Mazanti threw a stuffed dog at him.

Coin caught it one handed. “Really? Did you guys go out and spend money on this?” How had the truck even found time? They must have left the station as soon as they heard the call, because sure enough, the little old lady had just been a pick-up-put-back. No need to take her to the hospital. They'd only been out of the station a grand total of maybe thirty minutes. Forty-five if you counted the time spent at the house on Oak trying to repair the damage they'd done. And the truck crew had time to buy a stuffed dog to throw at him. “Very resourceful.” He tucked the dog under his arm and pushed the day room's swinging door.

“Hey!” yelled Luke. “We were going to give that to Methyl!”

Methyl was Tox's yellow mutt and spent A-shift days at the station. She had her own crate, full of the stuffed animals she loved. Methyl didn't need another one. The stuffed dog was Coin's now.

And it was time to face the music in dispatch.

Sure enough, Lexie was sitting at her terminal, head propped on her fist, her eyes wide. Those boisterous red curls were piled on her head and she had tired smudges under her eyes, and she was still the prettiest girl in town. “Hoo boy. I can't wait to hear this.”

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Fire at Dawn.