TRENT HADN'T PLANNED on going by Hawk's, but somehow he ended up two blocks away from his newly acquired business. His manager had probably spent the day cleaning, fixing, and categorizing. No doubt she had the place shaping up. She was probably on her way to turning the ramshackle mess into a real business.
By island standards it was early yet for the evening—not even nine o'clock. The Sunday streets were quiet. He figured he may as well go over and look at whatever she'd been up to. She had to be gone for the night. Serious business professionals needed their eight hours of sleep. Especially ones who wanted to pry into the personal lives of their bosses. Why did she find it necessary to ask about his father? Couldn't she see that he didn't want to talk about it?
The truth lingered in the back of his mind—he did want to talk about the messed up relationship that never got fixed. He needed someone to talk too, even through opening up was the most frightening thing he'd ever faced. Deep inside, he knew she would be a gentle listener and wouldn't pity him, but would see the anguish for what it really was—pain, plain and simple.
But could he really trust her? Believing in her, and believing that she'd stick around even after she got what she wanted from him was almost as terrifying as facing up to his past.
He crossed the street and cut through one of the tiny backyards near the stable. A group of college kids sitting on a back porch laughed and toasted him with cans. Half-heartedly he waved back. The music from their radio drifted behind him, adding to his loneliness and isolation.
Their laughter faded as he got closer to Hawk's. The evening was clear, so when he spotted a column of dark smoke trailing into the sky, it looked very out of place. The color was too dark and thick to be coming from a barbecue. Smoke like that could only be coming from ... a fire.
He took off with a jump, dashed the last block to Hawk's, leapt over the fence and barreled into the barn. Once inside he paused and tried to see where the fire might be coming from. Still panting from the run, he turned left away from the office toward the hayloft.
A cloud of smoke waited at the end of the aisle. He paused to listen when he heard a sound. To his horror he heard the noise again, a barely audible cough.
He leapt forward and shouted into the smoke. His eyes were beginning to tear and he blinked against the moisture. “Hello! Who's there?"
No one answered, but he heard more coughing. Someone was up in the loft. He shouted again. “Hang on. I'm coming."
Off in the distance the wail of the fire truck and the siren of the ambulance grew louder. Help was on the way, but he couldn't take the chance it would arrive in time. He had to find whoever it was and get them out of there. There was no telling how long they'd been breathing in the poisonous gases of that smoke.
Stepping through the cloud, he hurried along the wall until he found the ladder that led to the loft. The smoke was thicker at the top and soon he was coughing, too. Each hot breath burned his throat. All he saw was the swirling, mean gray air.
He searched the small loft with his arms and tear-filled gaze until he spotted a figure hunched in the corner. Keeping himself low, he crawled over to the person until he could touch the body.
Louise.
She coughed again as she swayed toward his voice. He summoned one last breath and reached for her. He wheezed from the effort, but he had to get her out of here. The firemen arrived below and called out, but he didn't have any breath left to answer.
After swinging Louise over his shoulder, he crawled on his knees to the ladder. The smoke had thickened so much that he could barely see the edge of the loft, but luck was on his side, someone appeared at the top of the ladder and took her from him.
The fireman shouted over the hissing of the hoses. “I got her, pal. You come on down after me."
The pain in his lungs prevented Trent from speaking, but he managed a nod. The man disappeared. Trent swung his leg over the top rung and worked his way down.
By the time he reached the bottom of the ladder, the smoke had already begun to clear. The stink of burnt, wet hay filled the small room. Someone grabbed his arm and pulled him outside into the fresh night air. His throat burned and his lungs felt like they were going to crack, but he pulled in a long breath anyway.
"Louise?” he mumbled to the man holding his arm.
The man pointed across the yard.
Trent sagged with relief when he saw her sitting up, coughing, but alive and breathing on her own.
"Come on buddy,” the man guided him across the yard and sat him down beside Louise. He leaned close, “You okay?"
Trent nodded, tried to say thanks, but ended up coughing instead.
The man patted Trent on the shoulder. “No need to say anything. Relax, and the medic will be by to check you out."
Trent slumped against the fence as the man jogged off and disappeared through the barn door.
A medic appeared, took care of Louise and then examined him. He let the man go through his routine, but he barely heard the orders to take it easy and see the doctor tomorrow. All he could think about was Louise.
She'd finally stopped gasping for air. Her face was covered with black smudges and bits of straw stuck out from her hair. He wanted to ask her everything; like what was she doing in the hayloft? How had the fire started? Did she realize how badly she'd scared him when he saw her doubled over? But when he gazed into her eyes and saw fear, he kept his mouth shut.
LOUISE WANTED TRENT to stop staring at her and put his arms around her. Fear churned through her, even though she was safe. What would've happened if he hadn't come by? She was thankful he had, but hated that she'd put him in danger.
Trent's coughing finally stopped. “You okay?” he asked.
Louise reached for his arm. “They already checked me over. I'm fine thanks to you. You saved my life."
He shook his head. “No, Louise. The firemen would've gotten here in time.” He turned toward the firemen putting away their equipment. “Let's not talk about it."
One of the men came over, knelt between them, and pulled off his hat. “Not much damage, really."
Trent pointed at the barn. “But there was so much smoke, I figured the whole place was going up."
The fireman shrugged. “The hay that caught fire was wet. That'll make a lot of smoke.” He looked from Trent to Louise. “You two okay?"
"I'm fine,” she answered with a nod toward Trent. “Thanks to him.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw him turn away.
The fireman nodded. “You're a lucky girl, that's for sure.” Then he laid a well-aged hand on Trent's shoulder. “You okay, son?"
His face was solemn. “Yes, I think so. Thanks for your help."
When Louise echoed Trent's appreciation, the fireman brushed off the thanks the same way Trent had pushed away her gratitude a minute ago.
"You folks take it easy tonight. Tomorrow will be soon enough to take care of the mess. I'll be by in the afternoon to check on things.” With that he pushed himself up and headed to his crew.
The men moved swiftly, efficiently packing up their equipment. Within a few minutes they had everything back on their truck and were pulling out of the stable yard. The people who had gathered by the fence to watch the excitement wandered off.
The silence that settled around them seemed strange in the wake of the chaos. Aside from the lingering odor, the only thing that remained as evidence of what happened were the tire tracks criss-crossing the yard.
Trent smacked Louise's leg in an uncharacteristically playful gesture. “You thinking about where the insurance papers might be?"
After a few muddled seconds, Louise chuckled. “No, I wasn't. Really."
He shook his head, to tell her he didn't believe her. “Okay. You were thinking about how long the clean up would take."
She smacked him on the leg. “I
wasn't
.” But now that he brought it up she was curious. “Let's just go have a quick look."
He hauled her to her feet. Once up, he took her hand as though it was the most natural thing in the world and led her across the yard.
TRENT STAYED BESIDE Louise. Most of the smoke had blown off but the stench still lingered. Fear showed in Louise's eyes, in her walk. She was obviously trying to ignore it, but her panicked reaction made her stall by the door.
He moved closer and wrapped his arm around her trembling shoulders. “You're fine now, honey,” he encouraged. “I'm here."
The muscles in her back softened and she let him take her into the barn. They stepped down the aisle in silence and stopped when they reached the doorway of the small hayloft at the end.
The stink of burned hay and puffs of smoke remained in the air. Black smudges covered the walls and the feedbags. Trent scanned the room. Where had the fire started? He couldn't make any sense out of the scene before him. He would ask the fire chief for the details tomorrow.
Only a short while ago, the room had been filled with black clouds. Illuminated now by a bare bulb hanging behind him, it looked bleak but hardly life threatening.
"The fireman was right. There isn't much damage. We'll have it cleaned up in no time.” He gave Louise's shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Tomorrow."
He reached up and pulled a few pieces of straw from her golden hair. A single tear rolled down her cheek. The desire to comfort her took over and he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders.
She sobbed and leaned into him. The pressure of her body as she sagged against him made his muscles tense. Her sweet acceptance of his comfort tugged at his heart. Throwing all his intentions to keep his distance from her, he pulled her closer kissed her.
She clung to him. It was as though, for that moment, he was the most important thing in her world. She wanted him. More than that, she needed him. A current of some nameless emotion surged through him and he felt powerfully alive.
Trent reveled in the sensation. Her acceptance of him was so complete, it went straight through to the darkest parts of his soul. There in the burnt mess surrounding them, he gave a little of his heart to her and she tenderly accepted it.
LOUISE CLUNG TO Trent. The warm caress of his lips eased away what had moments before been unrelenting panic. Never could she remember being more terrified or longing to be held by someone so desperately. The need frightened her almost as much as the fire. The tears she'd been holding back flowed freely down her cheeks.
Trent pulled back to wipe them away with his thumb. “Everything's going to be fine, sweetheart."
She let out a shaky breath. “I know, it's just that, it happened so suddenly and—"
"How did it happen?” He settled his hands on her waist.
With a sigh she curled into him. Of course he wanted to know what happened. His business almost burned down, so he had every right to ask questions. But she really didn't want to talk. “Do we have to talk about it right now?"
"No. Not now.” He placed a short kiss on her forehead then stepped back to take her hand. He led her out of the barn, across the yard, and through the gate. She followed along silently, glad to be near him.
Still holding her hand, he guided her down the sidewalk. It didn't take Louise long to realize he was taking her to Sally's. Even though she wasn't ready to be alone, she didn't do anything to stop him. The horrible event had taken all her strength, and it was all she could do to keep her feet moving.
LOUISE AND TRENT reached the pretty white gate that surrounded the rooming house. Much to her relief, he passed Sally's porch. They wandered to the dark shoreline and continued past the tall grass that grew in the sand. After a moment Trent stopped and she recognized the spot as the same one where she'd watched the couple stroll hand in hand only two days ago. She wasn't about to fool herself though. She and Trent were nothing like them. That couple had been in love.
The splendor of quiet lapping the lake water as it rolled onto shore mingling with the night breeze was wasted on them. Just like the beauty of the white and yellow boat lights blinking far out in the lake. The delicate wind carried music to her ears. The soft romantic song made her feel even worse, if that was possible.
Trent had drifted away to stand farther down the shoreline. The moonlight highlighted his tall, lean silhouette and she unwillingly remembered how safe she felt wrapped in his arms. The distance between them felt like miles rather than feet. It was better that way.
Having an affair with her boss was a one-way trip to failure. Especially this boss. He was so confused about his father he'd closed off his emotions. As if that weren't enough, he didn't understand her, didn't support her goals. She wanted, no needed, to make Hawk's a success. That was her ticket to happiness. Not a messed up, short term relationship with Trent.
As though he felt her stare, Trent turned and smiled. Logical thought and good sense evaporated. He took her breath away. The tiny crack in her heart spread wider. The anguish sliced straight through her soul. How could he smile now? At a time like this?
Before she could answer, he pulled her into his comforting arms. She should've held back to protect herself, but she didn't. She stepped willingly into his embrace.
It was amazing to feel protected and safe. She pulled in a long breath and savored the scent of him.
"I'm glad you're all right, Louise. For a few minutes I thought you were going to be, well, sick, or worse...” He gazed over her shoulder at the rippling water. “I was scared to death. I don't want anything to happen to you."
Louise swallowed against the rush of unexpected emotions swirling inside her. “I, you—"
He hushed her with a kiss. This one wasn't reassuring like the one in the barn. It was possessive and demanding.
With the warmth of his body surrounding her, she matched his passion with her own. It made no sense, letting herself go. But then she reasoned, her reaction to him was because of what happened in the barn and how frightened she'd been. Nothing more. Any other woman would've needed reassurance, too. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him as tightly as he held her.