Safe From the Fire Read Free

anything.  I barely got my GED.  I didn’t want
to fall back into bad habits, since I’ve come so far.”
    He
swallowed hard.
    “I
called Mom.  It was hard.  But I’m glad I did – they sound happy.”
    “Florida
is good for them.”
    “They
said something about coming up for Christmas.”
    Grace’s
eyebrows rose.
    “Really? 
They wouldn’t do that for me.  Baby of the family strikes again,” she teased
lightly, her heart breaking for everything he’d been through.
    Mary
set another stack of pancakes down in front of Adam, but he ignored them for a
moment, holding Grace’s gaze.
    “I
was hoping you’d let me stay with you for a while.  I want to get a job here,
maybe make up for…well, for everything.  I thought I could take some classes
online, start working toward my degree.”
    Grace
swallowed the lump in her throat.
    “Do
you know what you want to study?”
    “Not
yet, but I thought I could try a few things.  So…do you think that would be
okay?”
    She
was nodding even before he finished.
    “I
think that would be great, Adam.  But there are a few rules.”
    “Anything.”
    She
ticked them off with her fingers.
    “As
soon as you have a job, you contribute to rent, utilities, and food.  You have
Dr. Griggs find you a good therapist and go every week, no matter what.  You
write a letter to the Carsons, the Mortons, and the Schwartz family, explaining
that you’re back in town and trying to make amends for the fires.”
    Adam
nodded vigorously, but Grace wasn’t finished.
    “And
most important of all, when the people of this town get in your face and push
your buttons, and they will, you walk away.  You will turn the
other cheek, you will take the moral high ground, and any other damned cliché you
can think of.  No fighting.  Period.  Got it?”
    “I
promise, but Gracie…I don’t want to make things hard for you.”
    “Since
when do I care what a few narrow-minded locals think?  You let me worry about
that.  You worry about you.”
    She
glared at him for a long moment, and then nodded, reaching for a fork and
tugging his pancakes forward.
    “Great. 
Half of these are mine.”
    Grinning,
he clinked forks and joined her.
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    MATT
COULD FEEL HIS blood boiling and wondered what Grace and Adam Mallow were talking
about.  He’d given up any pretense of not watching them long minutes ago, when
Grace started crying.  The sight of her big brown eyes brimming with tears had
his stomach tightening, and he had to force himself to let go of the silverware
before he bent it in half.  Whatever that little punk had said to make her cry…
    Matt
took a few deep breaths and ordered himself to calm down.  It was none of his
business, and even so, he didn’t think Grace would take it well if he punched
her little brother through the wall.  After a few minutes, they were smiling
and laughing and sharing pancakes, and Matt felt the knots ease a little.
    You’ve
got it bad, Harris.
    And
he did.  He had, ever since the first time he’d seen her walking toward the
library, her cute little glasses and rosebud mouth at odds with her tight
leather dress and boots and that wild hair.  She had a bubbly personality and a
whip-smart brain, was great with kids, and had an edgy, dark side that called
to something in Matt that made him uncomfortable, but pulled him in like a moth
to a flame.  Whenever he managed a few minutes of conversation with her, he was
walking on fucking air for the rest of the day.  Not to mention hard enough to
pound nails.
    She’d
ruined him for other women.  Matt had always been a little shy to begin with, and
his sheer size intimidated most women, but he gave dating the old college try. 
However, since Grace had come into his life, most of his dates seemed a
little…insipid…and the few relationships that went as far as the bedroom left
him feeling unsatisfied, and were over quickly.  He knew that half the time, he
couldn’t even enjoy himself,