Page 10 of That One Heartbreak

“Mary asked me when I was going to date again.” Kate rolled her eyes. “Why is it that everybody wants to know that?”

“It’s the year thing,” Shana said. “They feel like they’ve given you some grace. Now it’s time to meddle again.”

“I wish they wouldn’t.” Kate shook her head. “I swear snakes are easier to deal with than them. Did you know that sex is good for sadness?”

Shana laughed out loud. “Who told you that?”

“Mary.”

Shana laughed louder. “Oh God, tell me she didn’t.”

But Kate just lifted a brow.

“Well, the woman is wrong about a lot of things, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day,” Shana said. “Sex is pretty good for everything. Maybe you should try it.”

“No thanks. I’ll stick to reading books in bed.”

“At least choose some raunchy ones.” Shana winked. “Have you checked out the latest Meghan Quinn book?”

“No,” Kate lied, because of course she had. She may not ever be ready to date again, but it didn’t mean she was dead inside.

“That’s good. Because it’ll make you want to have sex with every gorgeous, rugged man in town. Ask me how I know.”

But she didn’t need to ask. And there was only one gorgeous, rugged man she thought about when she read romance books.

And he was the one man she shouldn’t be thinking about.

Chapter

Four

“There’sa kid over there asking for you,” Nate, one of the new carpenters they’d hired called up to him. Marley was on the roof of the house, rolling out roof felt, getting ready to fix the shingles on top. “Says his name’s James,” Nate added.

Putting his power nail gun down, Marley looked over in the direction that Nate was pointing. Sure enough, there was James Connelly standing right outside the wire fence they always erected around their construction sites. He had his hands jammed in his pockets, and what looked like his school backpack at his feet.

Nobody had let him inside the gate. Good. Marley had spent enough time lecturing the crew about only allowing authorized personnel inside the fence. And even then they had to have a safety briefing and wear construction hats inside the fence. He’d seen enough building accidents to know that careless safety led to injuries.

Climbing down the ladder, Marley nodded at the new guy. “You guys can take a break. Grab a drink.”

“Thanks.” Nate smiled. “Want me to get you a coffee?”

“I’d kill for one.” He’d spent two hours last night on a call out. Nothing major, thank God – a small electrical fire that they’d managed to put out within minutes. But then there’d been the paperwork and making sure everything in the station was tidied up and ready for the next call, which meant he’d crawled into bed at two am.

And of course he’d been up at six, the way he always was. Tonight he was going to sleep like a baby.

Just as soon as he’d done his evening run.

There were always fewer volunteers available for the night time call outs. Most of the fire crew either had kids that they needed to be home for, or they had working hours during the day they couldn’t change. So Marley was always one of the first on a scene after the clock turned midnight.

He was just glad that last night had turned out not to be a big one.

The one they always dreaded. The one they trained week in and week out for.

He pushed that thought out of his head as he pulled open the mesh gate and walked out.

“Hey,” he said to James, pulling his hard hat off and running his fingers through his hair. “Is everything okay?”

“I need you to talk to my mom,” James said, shifting his feet.

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