Page 42 of All It Takes

“You’re not officially a feeding station,” Beck offered with a wry grin.

“Beck is the parenting expert,” Ward interjected.

“I’m the only one with two kids, so I’ve done it twice, dude.”

I watched as they teased each other, relieved Chase was distracted. I sensed he was perceptive and might pick up on anything going on between Tiffany and me. Just having him around reminded me of what had passed between us, more than once now. The thing was, I was falling for her. Hell if I knew how her brother would feel about that. Although we were on the same crew together at work, work didn’t mean spending a lot of downtime together, at least not yet. With it being winter, we did training exercises and occasionally subbed in for the town crew if they needed help here and there. Come summer, we’d be out fighting fires together all the time.

Our drinks and food arrived, and the conversation rolled along. We talked about the upcoming fire season and joked about who wanted to help with a new volunteer firefighter program Maisie was organizing.

Graham glanced over at Beck. “So whose idea was this volunteer program?”

Beck waggled his eyebrows. “Maisie, but not really because we used to have it before. Do you remember Carol?”

“Of course I do,” Graham replied. “She was the center of the universe at the station since I was a kid. Then Maisie took over.”

Beck nodded. “Carol handled the volunteer program. The year after she passed away and Maisie was originally just filling in her position—”

Russell cut in, “Maisie was cranky until you two got together.”

Beck chuckled. “It wasn’t just me. That was a rough year for her. The program kind of died on the vine, and nobody even thought to tell Maisie about it. She’s been saying she wanted to get it back up and running for a while now. I will definitely be helping with it. Don’t you guys break her heart by not helping.”

Levi, seated beside Beck, slid an arm around Beck’s shoulders, giving him a sideways back-slapping hug. “You know we’ll all help. If I recall, it was a rotation before. Also, once we get the high school kids through training, they do a lot of the work as long as the calls are close to town.”

Cade nodded from across the table, adding, “Their parents have to sign off. I want to say the volunteers can travel within twenty-five miles. I’ll have to check. My dad would know. He helps out with it too.”

Cade Masters was the superintendent for another crew, and his father was the chief of police in Willow Brook.

“I will definitely sign on to the rotation,” I offered after finishing the last bite of my hamburger.

“I’m in,” Chase offered from my side. He glanced at me, adding, “When they do the training exercises, I’m pretty sure you can bring Ross, right?” He directed his question back to the table in general.

“Think kids have to be ten and up,” Cade replied.

“If Ross wants to do it, I’ll bring him when he’s old enough,” I said.

A short while later, the group gradually dispersed. Chase happened to be walking out with me. I thought it was coincidental until he stopped with me at the back of my SUV.

“What’s up?” I asked as I glanced over at him. A chilly gust of air came off the lake behind Wildlands Lodge. My feet crunched on the packed snow of the parking area as I turned to face him.

“How do you feel about my sister?” His tone was deceptively casual, but I sensed the thread of protectiveness laced within it.

I took a breath as I studied him, contemplating my answer. As I was gathering my thoughts, Chase added, “Hallie mentioned something was going on with you two. I think she knows more than she’s telling me.” His lips twisted to the side.

I steeled myself. “I like Tiffany. A lot. I don’t think it’s my business to talk to you about us, though. In fact, I think she’s going to be rightly pissed off if she finds out you asked me anything.”

Chase’s chuckle was dry. “Probably. She’ll definitely be pissed off at me, but I don’t really care. If she’s pissed off at you, well, I guess you’ll have to deal with it then, won’t you?”

I eyed him for a moment, lightly scuffing my toe across the ground. “Look, I didn’t plan on this.”

“I’m sure she didn’t, either. A part of me is pissed off at you, but obviously, Tiffany’s an adult. She doesn’t date. To my knowledge, she’s never had a serious relationship.”

“Never?” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my tone.

He shook his head. “Not that I know of.” He was quiet for a moment, appearing to consider his thoughts. His words were measured when he spoke again. “I don’t know how much she’s told you about our mom, but she did a number on us. Our dad is great, and completely solid, but things were tough with our mom. Tiffany had it even worse than I did. When our mom wanted to chase after whatever latest job, she would drag Tiffany with her, and our mom was”—Chase paused, shaking his head slightly—“confusing for a child. She ignored me more than she ignored Tiffany and then was downright harsh toward Tiffany when she was a teenager. Trust doesn’t come easy to my sister. I guess that’s what I’m saying.”

My heart clenched. Maybe I didn’t know all the details, but something about the way Chase described the situation struck me. I also recalled the guarded look that passed through Tiffany’s eyes with more frequency than I wished. I already knew trust didn’t come easy for her.

“Okay,” I finally said, uncertain how else to reply. “I would never hurt her.”

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