12-Alarm Cowboys (3 page)

“Good. I need another drink.” Chris ambled back into the living room.

“I’ll be out in a minute. You all go ahead,” Adam said to Jacob and turned back to Brynn. “Are you going to be okay?”

She put her hands on her hips in a show of bravado. “What’s it to you? Don’t you have your own woman to worry about?”

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

Something flared in her eye. Something like… relief. Adam frowned.

“Well, go on, get out of here—your buddies are waiting.” She nodded to the door.

“Brynn—you don’t have to stay with—”

Her brows lowered and suddenly she was furious. “Get out, Adam. Now.”

Brynn watched the
fire truck pull away from her driveway and wind on back toward town. Adam was just as handsome as he’d ever been—and entirely off limits. Brynn had first noticed him in fifth grade when he still cared far more about sports than girls. His best friend at the time had been Steve Hill, a small, bookish boy who tended to wince when a baseball came within three yards of him. All through that spring the boys at Chance Creek Elementary played ball at recess, and every single day Adam said the same thing. “If you pick me, you pick Steve.” Since Adam hit more home runs than the rest of the boys combined, Steve played a lot.

Brynn had envied Steve his protector. If only someone would stick up for her and Netta at home like that, maybe her parents would stop drinking so much and there’d be money for music lessons or new clothes. Maybe they would stop throwing so many parties and she and Netta wouldn’t have to barricade themselves in their bedrooms or risk strangers waking them up in the wee hours “just to chat.”

Maybe she’d feel worthy to date a boy like Adam.

By the time he noticed her back she’d been far too ashamed of her family to say yes when he asked her out. She’d made a plan and meant to stick to it. She’d graduate with honors, get a scholarship to college, leave Chance Creek and her parents behind her and start over again far away.

But Adam was tenacious and she’d finally given in and gone on a date with him.

Just one, though.

Up close he’d been even more handsome. Away from their friends they’d found lots to talk about, and in the space of dinner, a walk down Main Street, the wait before the movie started, and the drive home, they covered everything from their favorite bands and television shows to their hopes and aspirations—and their deepest secrets.

“I love Chance Creek. I’m going to stay right here,” he confessed. “I’ll ranch with my folks, but I’m going to fight fires, too.”

Her heart had throbbed with pain. That was that. If Adam planned to stay in Chance Creek, she could never go out with him again. Her heart breaking, she told him about all the accidents and hoped Adam would understand why she had to leave. He’d kissed her everywhere she’d been hurt as if that could cancel out the pain. It almost had. When he kissed her on the mouth she’d nearly lost her resolve. His touch electrified her but no matter what he said or did, Brynn knew she couldn’t be with him. She’d made herself pull away finally and she’d stayed away from him ever since, but Brynn still ached for Adam.

And she still couldn’t be with him.

“He’s as stuck on you as he was in high school,” Chris said from behind her, bringing her back to the present. “Pathetic.” He crossed the room and opened the fridge to grab a beer. “Better get another case tomorrow. We’re low.”

“Write it on the list.”

“Like hell I will. That’s your job.”

What’s your job?
she wanted to say. Instead she glanced at the calendar on the wall. Seven more days. Seven more god-awful days of living with Chris. Of wearing his name like a chain around her neck. Then she’d be free.

But she had to make it through those seven days without Chris knowing that anything was going to change. “Fine. What do you want for dinner? This bacon is done for.”

“Well, since dinner’s going to be late, it had better be extra good. And don’t think I’ve forgotten what we were doing when we were so rudely interrupted. You’re going to finish what you started.”

Brynn didn’t answer that. She’d never slept with Chris Price. Not even once. He’d tried to make that part of the bargain up front, but she’d let him know that was where she drew the line. She’d support him on her lousy grocery clerk salary. She’d cook and clean and wash his clothes. She’d be a wife to him in everything—except between the sheets. Chris found his fun elsewhere and enjoyed his work-free, lazy-ass lifestyle.

Until now.

She wasn’t sure what had changed. Had someone figured out their unusual deal and made fun of him? Did he think she’d spilled the beans about their lack of relations to a friend?

Or did he know his time was running out?

She prayed to God it wasn’t the latter. If it was, she was in trouble. So was Netta. She hadn’t seen or spoken to her sister in nearly five years. Not since the night of the fire, when she’d scooped Netta up off the street in front of the old Chance Creek Five and Dime, shoved her in the family’s GMC truck and driven her to Billings. She’d dropped Netta off at the Greyhound station, given her seven hundred and fifty dollars—every penny she’d saved—and told her to run like hell and never come back.

Netta never had.

She had to believe her sister was all right. That she was free at last from everything that had ever gone wrong for them here.

Because otherwise all she’d done was for nothing. All the years she’d sacrificed would be meaningless. Chris Price, a drop-out closer to Netta’s age than hers, had been waiting for her at her family’s run-down house on the edge of town when she got back hours later. He’d stepped out from the shadows under tree at the corner of the yard and crossed the grass to meet her at the front steps. She’d never been free from him since.

He’d seen what Netta did. Knew exactly how to use the information to his advantage. He laid out the rules of their relationship right then and there. They’d date for a month. Get engaged and married soon after. She would provide for his every need. Brynn balked when he’d lowered his head to hers and tried to kiss her, and after a few clumsy scuffles, Chris agreed that her providing for his
almost
every need was good enough. He wanted a meal-ticket more than a warm body in his bed. But if she wouldn’t put out, she couldn’t complain if other women did.

Brynn agreed, and the noose of Chris’s demands tightened around her neck. She’d understood during those fifteen minutes on her front lawn that in saving Netta, she’d given up her own life. She’d quit school only a month before graduation, increased her hours at the Chance Creek Market to more than full time. Gave up her dreams.

It was worth it.

It had to be.

It was Adam who’d saved her from despair during those first few weeks and given her the strength to go through with a wedding that no one could understand or celebrate, and he didn’t even know it. She overheard him talking with the other firefighters one day when they all came through her line at the checkout counter. By then, the fire at the Five and Dime had been determined to be arson, but the perpetrator hadn’t been found.

“The police will find him in the end,” Jacob had said. “They always do.”

Her heart had squeezed in fear.

“Unless he keeps running until the statute of limitations is up,” Adam pointed out. She had a feeling he was trying to sound smart in front of her. He didn’t have to try. Already caught in Chris’s snares, she longed to tell Adam everything and ask for his help. She knew he’d do whatever he could.

It wouldn’t be enough, though. Netta would be caught and go to jail.

“Statute of limitations, my ass,” Jacob had said. “They’ll catch him by the end of the month.”

But they hadn’t. She’d gone home from work that night and looked up the statute of limitations for arson, and nearly wept with relief when she discovered it was only five years. Five years—she could do anything for five years, even marry stupid Chris Price.

She kept working at the market. Kept living for the days when Adam came through her line, and listening in on his conversations with his friends when he did. Kept shrugging when anyone asked about her sister and telling them that Netta was happy in her new life.

She’d done it. Lived like a slave for four years and 358 days. Only seven more to go.

So why had Chris decided to go back on his word now?

She placed an unopened bottle of whiskey on the counter. “This is for the weekend. Don’t touch it while I’m gone.”

“Gone where?” He appeared in the doorway again.

“To get your supper, what do you think?”

“All right. Just get your ass back here quick.”

Now that she wouldn’t do. She’d drive as slow as molasses into town to pick up some burgers from the Burger Shack and even slower back again. Meanwhile he’d be all over that bottle like stink on a skunk.

She hoped.

‡

“B
et you a
buck you miss.” Two days later Jacob leaned on his pool cue and watched as Adam got ready to take his turn.

“You’re on.” He leaned down and lined up his shot, pulled his arm back—

The fire alarm’s shrill clanging split the air. Adam jumped and the cue slipped, knocking the ball sideways.

“You owe me a buck,” Jacob called as they sprinted for their gear.

“It’s up at the Price place again,” the chief yelled out of his office. “Probably another grease fire, but answer the call as if it isn’t.”

Adam didn’t need that particular lecture. Brynn was in danger. He’d get there as quick as he could. Not that she cared.

Ten minutes later he was facing a furious shapely blonde again.

“It’s this damn stove. I swear that burner gets too hot.”

“It couldn’t possibly be your lousy cooking, could it?” Chris spat from the living room. He was far more pissed off than he’d been two days before, and Adam got the feeling the man had been thwarted in something. He just wasn’t sure what. Brynn was agitated, her movements jittery as she tried to set the kitchen to rights.

“I’m going to look around.” Without waiting for an answer, Adam walked through the house, but all he saw were Chris’s messes and Brynn’s attempts at orderliness. When he completed his tour he found Brynn alone in the kitchen. He could see Chris out front on the porch with the other firefighters. “Brynn, what’s going on with you? Did you and Chris have a fight?”

“All we do is fight.”

“Why the hell do you stay with him?” His frustration gave his words an edge.

“Because I have to!” She bit her lip and turned away.

Adam stilled. “You have to? Why?” When she didn’t answer he spun her around. “Why, Brynn?”

“I can’t tell you.” She glanced toward the door. “It won’t be forever.”

His heart lurched. Was she planning to leave Chris? “How long?”

Chris strode back through the door. Took in their proximity. Adam realized he’d put Brynn in danger by having this intimate conversation. He bent closer, feigning an anger toward her he wanted to aim at her husband. “You keep your ass in the kitchen when you cook, Brynn! And get that stove looked at. You hear? You’re wasting tax-payers’ money.”

He stormed out of the house and prayed his trick would work. He couldn’t live with himself if he thought Chris might take his jealousy out on her. It killed him to know Chris would be with her tonight while he was stuck helpless at the station. By all rights he should be married to Brynn and sharing a home with her. He’d been far more loyal to her than Chris had ever been. Adam would admit it was her pretty face that first attracted him when they were young, but it was her pride and determination that had hooked his heart. He’d tracked her down in the library most lunchtimes in high school and even though she wouldn’t flirt with him, let alone date him, she would study with him—as long as he didn’t talk too much. He never won her heart, but he’d brought his grades up higher than they’d ever been while he was chasing her. He had known she wanted to leave Chance Creek and he’d understood why, but it had always bothered him. He wished she could see that Chance Creek was special—as worth fighting for as she was. It wasn’t the town’s fault she’d had it rough; her parents’ drinking was the problem. If she had married him, all that would have changed. Together they could have made Chance Creek a paradise.

Instead she’d managed to make it a living hell. Adam was determined he’d figure out what was happening up at the Price place. Brynn had told him once he couldn’t save her.

She was wrong.

Four more days.
She just had to get through four more days. As Brynn gathered her car keys to run to town and fetch another takeout meal, Chris grabbed her arm. “You heard Adam. No more fires, Brynn.”

“Of course not. I won’t use that burner again until it’s fixed.” She tugged her arm away. “Burgers tonight? Or do you want something different?”

“You know what I want.” He blocked her way to the door.

“We agreed up front you weren’t getting that.”

“I changed my mind.”

Panic filled her, but she pulled herself up to her full height and raised her voice. “I’ve worked all day, I’m hungry and tired and I want my dinner!” Chris pulled back in surprise. She took advantage of the opening, pushed past him and ran out the door.