Page 55 of Single Mom for the Firemen

Lara smiles, smoothing down Callie’s hair. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

And as I look at the two of them, I know this is one of many visits Lara will make to this place. As my best friend, she understands me completely. She’s not going to ask me to leave this place or these men, and she’s even giving me a way to keep working even from here. I couldn’t have asked for someone kinder or more thoughtful than her in my life.

“I think that calls for another lemonade, huh?” I announce, as I turn back to the cabin. All of a sudden, I’m in the mood to celebrate.

28

JAKE

I liftmy head as I hear a knock at the door, and I glance over to Killian who’s flipping through a book on the other side of the fireplace. He raises his eyebrows at me, as though to tell me that he has as little clue as I do as to who might be out there, and I get to my feet to see who it is.

I figure it’s some lost hiker, given that it’s a beautiful, warm evening. Sometimes, they see the cabin and wander over, just looking for directions before they get totally lost. But instead, when I open the door, my face cracks into a huge grin. It’s Vanessa and Callie.

“Well, what are you doing here?” I ask, leaning against the doorframe. Vanessa is carefully balancing a large pie in her hands—I can smell the sweet crust from here, the warm, welcoming scent of it drifting up to fill the air around us.

“I never got to bring you that pie that I wanted to,” she remarks with a shrug. “And I thought I would finally get around to making it tonight.”

“The pie…?”

“Remember, when we first met?” she replies, brushing past me and into the house, Callie hot on her heels. “There was that pie I burned. It set off the alarm. That’s why you were in my cabin in the first place…”

She makes her way straight to the kitchen, where Killian and Mason have gathered to see what the commotion is all about. She puts the pie down on the counter, and then plants her hands on her hips and looks around at us.

“So? Who’s going to carve it up?”

I can’t help but laugh. She always acts as though she owns the place, strolling in like she belongs here. And maybe she does. She has made herself so at home since she first got here, it’s hard to imagine a time when she wasn’t standing in our kitchen, looking expectantly around at the three of us.

“Well, as good as that looks,” Mason remarks, “I think it’s more a dessert than anything else, right?”

“Which means we need to cook something for our main course first,” Killian agrees. “It’s a beautiful night—you want to have a barbecue?”

Callie’s face lights up, and I can tell that she has already made the desicion for her mother. “A barbecue!” she replies. “Let’s do it, Mom!”

“You know I can’t say no to you,” Vanessa groans, laughing, and turns to the three of us. “You sure it won’t get in the way of…?”

“No, we’ll be close to the alarms,” Killian replies. “We won’t miss anything. Come on, let’s get everything set up…”

It takes Mason and me a hot minute to figure it out, but soon we have the barbecue up and running again. Soon, we’re slappingsome corn and vegetables on the grill, and the air is filled with the hot, delicious scent of barbecue.

I grab a few beers from the fridge and distribute them among us—Killian finishes bringing the chairs out just in time to grab the last one. We all settle down as Mason stands over the grill, Callie not far from him, though he makes sure to keep her at a safe distance so he doesn’t accidentally get her burned.

“This is so nice,” Vanessa sighs, tilting her head back and lifting her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. The way the hair tickles her neck as she moves, it takes everything I have not to lean over and plant a kiss against her throat, but I manage to restrain myself.

“Yeah, and we’ve got another few months of this too,” Mason remarks. “Hot nights, long evenings…”

“Though I guess Callie will have to be starting school soon,” I remark, looking over at the little girl. “Right? Back in the city?”

Vanessa flicks her tongue over her lips, a small smile curling them up as though she has a secret she can’t wait to share.

“Well, I thought it was going to be back in the city,” she agrees. “But…my friend, the one who loaned us the cabin, she’s told me that I can live there now. For as long as I want.”

All three of us turn to look at her in shock. For as long as she wants? I figured we had a couple of months left of her company at best, since she was staying for the summer, but now I’m hearing that she’s not going anywhere? That Callie is going to be here with her?

“Which means that we’re going to have to get Callie enrolled in the local school,” she remarks. “I might need help with theschool run too, but I have three guys I’m hoping I can call on for that.”

“Anything she needs,” I reply, without thinking twice. “Anything. Just let us know.”

“I will.”

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