Chasing the Fire (Backdraft, Fully Involved, Flashover) Read Free Page A

of
coffee. “Let’s sit down.”
    They took seats in the sleek, oak breakfast
nook he, Janie and his buddies had constructed after they’d bought
the house. “You’re thinking about Ben, right?”
    “Of course. I was shocked to see him after
all these years.”
    “Me, too.” She stared at him. “Was it hard
for you, leaving him at the scene?”
    “No. The ambulance came. He had what he
needed. Besides, I was worried about you.”
    “Aren’t you worried about him?”
    “When hell freezes over.” He would have
preferred to lie to Jane, to pretend he was forgiving like her, but
he was always straight with her. They promised each other they
would be.
    She sipped her coffee and he noticed she’d
put on the ring he gave her when they were sixteen and a
cheerleader had tried to seduce him. It was a promise-of-fidelity
symbol and she wore it everywhere but work. “Well, I’m
worried.”
    He raised his eyes to the ceiling. “Here we
go again.”
    “No, it won’t be like what happened before.
We were kids when your dad got in trouble.” She picked up his hand
and kissed it. “We know how to work out our issues now.”
    “Maybe. I can’t stand the thought of the
bastard coming between us again.” He shook his head. “And hurting
Mom and Abby like the last time.”
    She opened her mouth to say something, then
closed it. After a minute, she asked, “I’ll go with you today to
tell your mom he’s back.” They were both off shift.
    “I’m not going to tell her. I have to protect
her from him. We all thought he went to New York City after his
two-year stint in jail. She doesn’t need to know any
different.”
    “Rye, you can’t keep the fact that he’s back
from Mave. And Abby will be furious if you don’t tell her.”
    “I won’t let them be hurt by this again! He
can crawl back into his hole and we can forget we even saw
him.”
    “That is so not going to work.”
    He slapped his hand on the table. “No, Jane.
I’m not bringing them in on this. And this can’t come between us
again. Don’t you remember how it was last time?”
    Her face closed down. And her eyes turned
grim. He still remembered the strained quietness of the house,
spending their free time away from each other, the lack of
intimacy. He’d hated the breach they’d both caused by their
stubbornness. “Look, I know he was like a father to you when yours
died, but what he did…I can’t forgive him.”
    She shook her head. “After fifteen years
together, I still don’t know this side of you.” Drawing back, she
took a deep breath. “All right. Let’s not discuss him. It’s too
painful for us both.”
    He brushed his hand down her hair. “How do
you feel this morning?”
    She smiled. “Good enough for what I know you
want.”
    “That’s my girl.” They both stood and he
slung his arm around her neck; she slipped her hand around his
waist. “I need the oblivion of some hot, monkey sex.” He kissed her
head.
    “I can do that for you.”
    oOo
    JANE NEVER KNEW what she was going to
get from Riley when they made love. As they walked to the bedroom,
she remembered their first time. They’d been sweethearts their
sophomore year in high school but too young for sex, so it wasn’t
until after the Junior Prom, when they’d rented a hotel room in
Camden Cove, that he’d taken her on their first flight to intimacy.
Since both of them were novices, they’d fumbled and it wasn’t good
for her, but he’d made up for it by, of all things, asking his
sister for pointers. The two of them had been close, and Abby had
been like a sister to Jane, so she’d given them pretty explicit
instructions, some books for them to read, and a hefty number of
condoms. By the time they graduated, their sex life was great for
both of them. And neither had ever slept with anyone else. For a
nerd and not a very pretty one, she considered herself lucky to
have snagged the school football star and Prom King. The nice thing
about it was he’d