Page 13 of Return By Fire

“Kara,” I start, only to be cut off.

“No. I know what you’re thinking. Introduce Jed to Jennings’s child. I. Will. Not.”

“Remind me why, sweetheart,” I cajole.

“Because despite my numerous attempts to email Jennings—an email I know he checks...”

“We won’t get into the legality of you knowing that,” I interject.

“Jennings hasn’t reached out in almost eleven years.” I’d have to be dead to not hear the pain her admission costs her. Still, she powers through. “No, Dean. If and when Kevin wants to know more about his biological sperm donor, I’ll be the one to tell him. I won’t have it happen as fast as Jed can reach out and punch someone.”

I snort at my sister’s way with words. For as much as Kara’s been close mouthed about her feelings for Kevin’s father, she’s remarkably candid about Kevin’s genetics. Especially with my nephew. Remarks like “There are about sixteen different genes that make up your eye color, Kevin. I bet yours come from your biological father” aren’t uncommon around our dinner table.

Chuckling, I still swear my nephew rolled each and every one of them when Kara said that over a massive plate of spaghetti.

I’m returned to the present when Kara whispers, “This isn’t funny, Dean.”

“No, Kara. I was laughing about something else. Where’s Kevin now?”

She names our neighbor across the hall at the apartment complex who has a son a few years younger than my nephew. “I was just heading out to meet Jed.”

“Let me know if you need me for anything. I’m off shift in an hour,” I remind her.

“Wouldyou ...”

“Would I what, sweetheart?”

“Would you come? Meet me there?”

“I’d do anything for you,” I say automatically. It’s true. Looking back, I now recognize my parents were nut jobs long before they disowned me for having sexual preferences that didn’t align to their high and mighty standards. But Kara? The minute they placed her in my arms, she was the first human I loved unconditionally.

That love wasn’t misplaced. Kara’s devotion to me is as strong as mine is to her.

Her soft sigh, reminiscent of our grandmother’s, floats through the wires. “Love you, Dean.”

“Love you too.” Pressing End on the call, I frown before slipping the phone back in my pocket.

Something’s churning up my insides about my sister’s meetup with her best friend’s brother, and I don’t know what it is.

I guess I’m going to find out.

A gust of air escapes my lips before I bellow, “Silver, roll the hoses. Don’t make slip knots out of them.”

“Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!” The kid scrambles to do my bidding.

I clank down the stairs with one plan in mind: finish my shift, shower, and get to Kara.

CHAPTER NINE

I tug at the tailored shorts I’m wearing along with a silk Tommy Bahama shirt, feeling the restraint of both as I wait for Kara in the foyer of the restaurant we’re meeting at. “What I wouldn’t give to be in a damn bathing suit,” I grumble.

“At least then I’d recognize you. God, Jed. You’re stunning!” a voice exclaims over my shoulder.

I whirl around, and there she is—the woman who has been occupying too much time in my thoughts as of late.

Kara Malone is more lovely now than when she was a student working on her doctorate program in Juneau. Her light brown hair still cascades down her back like ropes of dark honey. Her amber-colored eyes and those adorable full lips that Jennings used to go on and on about are openly smiling. She holds out her hands and then she teases, “Forget stunning. It’s that smile that changes you from god-like to deranged like the rest of us mere mortals.”

I throw back my head and bark out laugh before scooping her up into a massive hug. Despite my deep-seated animosity about an issue she has no idea I’m aware of, she’s my sister’s best friend. Her comment is another reason why I’ve always loved spending time in her company. Kara Malone is quick witted and testy one minute, sweet as pie the next. “Kara. It’s been far too long.”

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