Raising The Stakes (Heartwarming Romance) (6 page)

“I think he might need some breath mints first.”

“Thought that was you.”

She swatted Liam’s arm. “My breath is minty fresh, thank you very much. Would you like some tea?”

He shook his head and sat on her side chair, his size dwarfing it. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

She sank onto the couch. “I have to be, right?”

“Right.”

“Or you’ll shoot Button.”

He regarded her gravely. “Wish you wouldn’t call her that.”

She hugged a pillow. “Why?”

“Because it makes her sound like a pet.” Liam leaned forward and the outdoorsy, masculine smell of him filled her senses. Normally, being alone with any man this late at night would terrify her. Instead, she felt alive and jittery, her stomach fluttering.

“If you pass tomorrow—” he continued.

“When I pass tomorrow,” she interrupted, lifting her chin despite her nerves.

He studied her, his strong face handsome. “When you pass tomorrow, you need to start thinking like a rehabilitator. If you treat the bear like a house pet, I’ll have to remove her.”

The thought knocked the breath out of her like ice water. “Button is going to make it here.”

She pictured the nearly finished enclosure, how the sides facing the house had been boarded up, the back open save for the fence. Would she only ever glimpse the bear through the feeding slot? How would she let Button know she wasn’t alone? It was important to have support after being attacked.

Liam nodded at her laptop. “Are you studying now?”

She nodded. “I’m not getting the material,” she admitted.

“Want me to quiz you?” Jinx had jumped into his lap and was kneading his stomach, purring like a race-car engine. He didn’t seem to notice the holes she’d punctured in his shirt as he petted her. When she turned and began shredding his pants, he pushed her tail from his face.

“That’s okay. I’m fine on my own.” He was acting kind, yet he was still a threat to Button if things didn’t work out. How to focus on the test with so many warring thoughts?

“So do you know whether or not all incoming wildlife should be treated with antibiotics to ward off infection?” he pressed, the fur in front of his mouth fluttering with every word.

Jinx’s purring filled the room as Vivie wrestled with the question. She’d seen it on the practice test but couldn’t recall the answer, so she went with her gut.

“Of course. It’s better to be proactive.” She tucked her jiggling foot underneath her opposite leg.

Liam pulled a protesting Jinx away and shook his head. “Wrong. Antibiotics are only effective against bacterial disease and some types of parasites, but not viruses. Plus, they have side effects. Misuse of antibiotics can cause development of resistant bacteria. Oral antibiotics can destroy delicate gut microbes, leading to diarrhea. Some types of antibiotics can cause fatal enteritis in some species. Antibiotic treatment should be given only after careful examination of an animal’s condition and consultation with a veterinarian.”

When he sat back, a smug look on his face, she remembered to close her mouth. “Do you have this whole manual memorized?”

Liam studied his hands, a wry flip to the corner of his mouth. “I have a photographic memory.”

Her eyes narrowed. “So you probably only had to read this once to know it, right?”

He nodded, abashed.

“Some people have it so easy,” she mumbled to herself. He had looks and brains, yet somehow she couldn’t resent him for it. The opposite actually, she thought, a blush creeping up her neck as she took in his strong jaw, dimpled chin and the width of his shoulders in his close-fitting T-shirt. He must have taken off his uniform shirt in the SUV...

“Why don’t you give your eyes a rest—I’ll read the questions and multiple-choice answers to you.”

Her traitorous heart leaped. That sounded good...too good...

“Why would you do that?”

His soulful eyes met into hers. “Because despite what you think, I’m on your side.”

She peered at him, sideways. “I want to believe that.”

“Do you think I want to put down the bear?”

“Button,” she contradicted stubbornly.

“Do you believe I would willingly harm her?”

She thought about his hard work this week, laboring during his vacation to make an enclosure that met code.

“No,” she admitted. “But you will if you feel you have to, and that’s as bad.”

“Yes,” he agreed, his voice low and level. “It is. So will you save me from doing something I don’t want to do and let me help you pass this test?”

She blinked at him in surprise. She hadn’t thought of it from his point of view. That he’d want her to succeed as much as she did. They might have different opinions on how best to raise Button, but they both wanted the bear alive. She could get behind that. She eyed Liam. If she wasn’t careful, there was a lot about this man she could support.

Vivie handed him the laptop and Scooter threw himself across Liam’s boots as if settling in for the evening.

“I was on question two hundred and sixteen.”

His scrutinized her over the screen. “How many of those did you get right?”

“A hundred?”

He glanced at her wall clock and settled deeper into the chair. “Guess I will have that tea. This is going to be a long night.”

CHAPTER FIVE

“S
TOP
CHEWING
YOUR
NAILS
. It’s not hygienic and besides, what will Officer Walsh think about those cuticles?”

Vivie yanked her finger from her mouth and glanced at the diner’s cat clock. Officer Walsh? Cuticles? Like any of that mattered. Okay. Maybe it did, a bit, she admitted to herself. She’d thought about him way too much lately.

But Button was most important—and her certification test results. She’d taken it yesterday and had spent a restless night going over every question she knew she’d gotten wrong.

“And staring at the time won’t make it go faster,” Maggie added, swiping a washcloth in wide circles along the counter.

Vivie dropped onto a stool and twisted back and forth, her sandals sliding along the metal base. “I know. But the test was hard. If I didn’t pass...”

Sister Mary waved a squirt bottle of hot sauce. “I put in a good word for you, Vivie. You passed.”

She smiled at one of her favorite regulars. “Wish I could believe that’s enough.”

“Of course you passed it,” their waitress, Lauren, reassured her. She patted Vivie on the back as she bustled by, carrying a laden tray one-handed. A family of five let out a cheer when she stooped and passed out shakes and burgers.

“I’m not sure,” Vivie groaned. In fact, the more she thought things over, the more she was certain she’d failed. Mastering recipes, graduating culinary school had been doable. She was a visual, hands-on person and watching and repeating what she saw got her through. But reading and memorizing... Not her thing. What if she failed Button? “It’ll be midnight in six hours. Maybe they’ll post the results.”

Maggie broke a daisy from one of the bud vases and tucked it behind Vivie’s ear, smoothing her hair. “I think when they said ‘results Tuesday,’ they meant more like 8:00 a.m., sweetie.”

Vivie dropped her head to the cool countertop, her heart beating fast. She needed to know. Now. Spending time with Button at the rehab center the past week had made her more protective than ever. And the cub’s excitement when she caught Vivie’s smell, that wriggling body, made her melt.

Holding Button as she fed her had filled Vivie with peace. Finally, she wasn’t focused on healing herself; she was helping another. If only she hadn’t struggled through her studies. Vivie pictured Liam in her living room until 3:00 a.m. the night before the test. He’d drilled her like a sergeant, not leaving until she’d gotten at least seventy-five percent right. Without him, she wouldn’t have had a prayer, Sister Mary or not.

He’d done more to help than she’d have ever imagined. Beneath that official, practical, tough persona was a kind, caring man. He didn’t want to hurt Button. Wanted Vivie to succeed. Yet it was hard to reconcile that with the threat he presented. He couldn’t be both ally and foe. Yet how to see him any other way?

A forty-foot enclosed structure now took up the clearing behind her house. Everything about it was built according to code. Its inspection had been expedited and preliminary approval granted through the DEC thanks to Liam.

He was Button’s savior, and her possible executioner.

Vivie shivered, imagining the sweet bear harmed. If only she had her test results.

The bell above the door jingled and a group of firemen entered. Across the room, Lauren madly scribbled on her pad as she took an order from an elderly couple who kept changing their minds.

“You want them, Maggie?” Vivie nodded at the concentrated testosterone overflowing one of their booths.

Maggie shook her head, her hand rising to her chin. “Have you seen the size of this pimple? No way.”

“Seriously?”

Maggie heaved out a sigh. “Don’t want to meet my potential husband with Mount Vesuvius on my face.”

Vivie grabbed some menus and studied her friend. “Why are you so convinced you’re marrying a guy in uniform?”

“Would you believe a psychic told me?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Vivie rolled her eyes then headed to the loud table.

“It was at a fair. In person. Not one of those hotlines,” Maggie called after her.

“Much more credible,” Vivie answered before reaching the firemen.

“How are you fellows tonight?”

Even seated, they were nearly at eye level with her.

“Tired. Been working a forest fire on Spruce Ridge,” the eldest in the bunch answered. “Could we have some water?”

“Sure. Have you got it contained?” Spruce Ridge wasn’t near her property but she hated thinking of the animals caught in a smoke-filled, burning forest or neighbors worried for their homes.

“It’s unusual to see a fire this early in the season, but we had a mild winter and dry spring. This one’s small and we’ll have it out in a day or two,” the man said, his voice hoarse. It sounded as though he’d been shouting for hours. Maybe he had. “If we don’t get some rain later this summer, the whole place could be a tinderbox.”

“Let’s hope not,” Vivie answered before turning on her heel and hurrying for the water pitcher. Back at the table, she filled up the glasses, took an order large enough to feed their entire station and headed to the kitchen window.

“Rowdy, hope you’re ready to get slammed.”

Her cook stopped chopping onions, tears streaming down his face, and nodded. “Whatcha got?”

She handed him the long slip and leaned on the wide ledge of the pass-through window. “So, no sunglasses today?” It was their trick to keep the onion juice from getting in their eyes when dicing.

Rowdy shook his head and brushed at his damp cheeks. “They fell off in Loon Lake while I was kayaking this morning.”

She imagined the isolated spot, the haunting calls of the loons as they swam with their offspring on their backs. What she would give for that peace of mind. She wondered what Liam had been doing this morning. Was he responding to emergency calls? Helping with the fire...? Concern shivered through her, taking Vivie by surprise.

“That’s too bad. Want these?” She took her pair of black-and-white polka-dot frames from her purse beneath the counter and held them up.

The sizzle of meat hitting a hot grill sounded as Rowdy placed the last of the burgers and turned. One side of his mouth lifted. “Don’t think I could pull ’em off.”

Maggie nudged in beside Vivie. “Sure you could, Rowdy. Own your masculinity. Real men wear polka dots.”

He grabbed handfuls of cut potatoes and tossed them into the deep fryer. “Not this man.”

“I’ll wear them,” put in Brett as he pushed by his bosses and entered the kitchen. “It’s all about who you are on a spiritual level. Doesn’t matter what society expects you to be...it’s your inner being, man.”

Rowdy grunted and flipped the burgers.

Brett loaded some dishes into the washer and shrugged. “You should get your chakras checked. Maybe you wouldn’t be allergic to tofu anymore.”

Maggie nudged Vivie. “Don’t see that happening.”

“Not in this lifetime,” Vivie whispered back, and the women turned, hiding their grins.

Automatically, Vivie’s eyes flew to the clock. Only fifteen minutes had passed? This waiting would kill her.

Another ring of the bell had her glancing at the door. Liam strolled in, exchanging a nod with the firefighters before sauntering to the counter.

His army-green T-shirt and khaki shorts fit him too well for her comfort. Vivie forced her eyes away. Her slamming pulse, however, didn’t cooperate, making her feel slightly dizzy as he drew close.

“Hey, Officer Walsh,” chirped Maggie. “We’re all out of raisin pie but we’ve still got some strawberry rhubarb if you’d like a piece.”

Sister Mary waved her fork. “Beat you to it again, Officer.”

Liam smiled at the elderly woman then slid onto a stool, his gaze on Vivie. “Strawberry rhubarb sounds good. And a cup of coffee. Black, thanks. How are you, Sister?”

She scratched at her white stockings and adjusted her head covering. “Itchy. Had to garb up for another retirement party this week. Forgot how uncomfortable uniforms are. Right, Officer Walsh?”

He nodded politely, though Vivie had to admit, he wore his as though it were tailor-made for him.

Maggie finished scribbling and bustled off, leaving the two of them alone. Vivie eyed Liam, noting the slight droop of his broad shoulders, his pale lips. Her self-consciousness turned to concern. “Long day?”

Weary eyes rose to hers. “Been helping out with a forest fire.”

“You don’t think it’ll come near my house, do you? Threaten Button?”

He lifted the mug, and his eyes closed as he gulped the strong brew. Absurdly, Vivie was glad she’d made a fresh pot a few minutes earlier. She wanted to please him. Crazy.

“No. Wind’s going in the opposite direction.”

“Good. Plus, my neighbors come home next week. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to their house while they’re away.” She moved aside as Maggie returned with the pie. “Still can’t believe their nephews are so bad. Muriel and Pete are the nicest people. They were the first friends I made after I moved into my aunt’s house.”

“And I was your second after you stopped supplying me pies and finally agreed to become my partner!” piped up Maggie.

“That’s because you wouldn’t quit pestering me.”

The friends grinned at each other. Vivie remembered the day she’d finally taken the chance and gone all-in with the money her aunt had left her. At the time she’d been nervous, but she’d never regretted the decision. She’d gained a business and a work family.

When Rowdy rang the pick-up bell, Maggie loaded the firemen’s plates on a large tray. “I’ll take these over.”

“What about Mount Vesuvius?” Vivie couldn’t resist teasing.

“It erupted a few minutes ago.” Maggie pointed at the flatter red spot on her chin, then headed away, her hips swinging as she neared the boisterous men.

Lauren whizzed by, scooped up some baskets of chicken strips and fries, and grabbed a bottle of vinegar. “These snowbirds are going to kill me. Do we even have an early-bird special?”

“No. But we have the senior discount. If that’s not enough, I’ll talk to them.”

Lauren nodded, grateful, and returned to her section.

“It’s busy, tonight.” Liam put down his fork. “And this is excellent.”

“Thanks,” Vivie eyed the pie, noting the overly browned edges, the way the crust hadn’t flaked when he’d cut into it. Last night’s baking had been a disaster because her mind was still full of the test and not on measurements, rolling or oven timers. A certain officer had also stolen a few of her thoughts...

“Do you think they’re dangerous?” Vivie asked, imagining the men close to her house. Moving to the isolated Adirondacks had made her feel safe. She didn’t want that faith shaken.

Swearing rose from the kitchen and Vivie automatically flipped on the radio. A smooth Sinatra tune covered up what sounded like someone burning alive back there, Rowdy’s usual noise for a scorched pinky.

“I’ll check on the drama queen,” Brett called, then rolled his eyes before striding through the swinging door.

She waited for Liam to stop chewing, trying not to stare at the firm set of his square jaw. Polka-dot sunglasses would have no effect on his manliness

“No. Not dangerous. They were cooperative. Though it turns out they were wanted in their own state for ripping off a convenience store.” Liam studied her. “The troopers will probably stop by to ask you a few questions.”

She nodded, a jerky motion, as fear soured her gut. The last time she’d talked to the police, she hadn’t been of much help. No, she’d told them, she’d never seen her attackers’ faces, hadn’t recognized their voices, hadn’t noticed anyone follow her as she’d walked to the subway after finishing the graveyard shift. They’d struck as unexpectedly as a thunderstorm on a sunny day, turning everything dark, a gray filter that’d cast a pall over her life for four years.

Only the Adirondack’s crisp blue skies, navy waters and deep green forests had returned the color to her life. She’d remembered to breathe here. Had carved a safe path from home to diner and back again that gave her the security she needed.

“You okay?” He squinted at her over a forkful of pie.

She gave herself a small shake. “Yes. Guess I’m just worried about the test results.”

He chewed slowly, his eyes faraway. “If only you knew someone with a password into the DEC system. Someone who could find out those results so that you wouldn’t have to—”

Vivie lunged across the counter and grabbed his muscular forearms. “Can you find out if I passed?”

He nodded, his mouth curling. “I could, since I saw the test administrator enter the scores a half hour ago.”

She snatched her purse and raced around to his side. “Let’s go.” With a hard tug, she got him on his feet.

“Maggie, I’m taking off,” she called. “Liam’s getting my test results early. Are you okay to close?” She was already halfway to the door, Liam in tow.

“No problem.” Maggie let go of one of the fireman’s suspenders and straightened. “Call me as soon as you know.”

“Me, too!” piped up Lauren who gathered the departed family’s tip and stuffed it into her apron’s pocket.

“I didn’t pay for the pie,” Liam protested as Vivie shoved him out the door.

“It’s on the house.” She pointed to his SUV. “Follow me.”

He shook his head. “My place is closer.”

She caught herself before she nodded. Fear unfurled in her, a shadow deepening the cracks that’d remained even after she’d put herself back together.

“N-no. I’d prefer my home.” Home was safe. It was what she knew. Where she was comfortable. That was as far as she’d let that line of thinking go.

He cocked his head and shrugged. “Okay. Meet you there.”

She nodded and got in her pickup, wondering at her initial response. Had she almost agreed to go to an unknown place...alone...with a man?

With Liam?

* * *

L
IAM
PUNCHED
IN
his password and tried not to focus too much on the woman pressed against his side. Her long caramel hair brushed his shoulder and gave off a wildflower scent.

“What if I failed?”

He found the right tab and pulled the mouse over it. “Ready?”