Heating Up (12 page)

The first guests to arrive were Sloane and Brady. They each carried a big bowl.

“What have you got there?” Aidan asked.

“Potato salad and spicy slaw.” Brady stuck his bowl under Aidan's nose.

Aidan raised his brows. “A busman's holiday?”

“No.” Brady shared a look with Sloane. “We didn't want to starve.”

“Who else is coming?” Sloane examined the yard, checked out the flag bunting Dana had tacked to the porch railing and seemed to approve.

“A couple of guys from the firehouse and you and Brady.”

“That's it?”

“I'm new in town; what do you want, a Cubs crowd?

“Dana knows people.”

Aidan searched the yard for her, and when he couldn't find her, figured she'd gone inside. “Because of the short notice her friends were all busy,” he said. In all honesty, he didn't think she had any friends to invite.

The fact that she seemed content enough to plan a nice gathering for his new Cal Fire friends—and to be included—both saddened and touched him. Sue had always been more interested in impressing people she thought were worthy—their lawyer, accountant, and anesthesiologist neighbors. Firefighters were just a little too blue collar in her book, even though all the members of his family were civil servants. From what Aidan could tell, Dana didn't have a snobby bone in her body; she just wanted acceptance.

Given her smarts, beauty, success, and sense of humor, she should have a wide social circle. He certainly enjoyed being around her, and not just because he wanted to get inside her pants, which he did.

Brady checked the coals on the grill. “Those aren't hot enough.”

Aidan was too distracted scanning the area for Dana to pay attention to barbecue temperatures. “You got this for a few minutes? I've got to go do something.”

He went inside and found Dana sitting on the edge of her bed in her room. “What are you doing?”

“Uh . . . just waiting until people get here.”

“People are here . . . my sister and Brady. We're outside.”

“I just thought maybe you wanted some time alone with them.”

“Why? She's my sister. Come on.” He pulled her up, and she followed him outside.

By then, Hutch, and a woman Aidan presumed was his girlfriend, and Kurtis and his wife had arrived. They greeted everyone and made room in the cooler for the drinks they'd brought. Hutch treated Dana like they were long-lost friends.

“I brought fudge,” he said and put a white bakery box on the dessert table.

Dana pointed at a red glass bowl. “Stars.”

“Hot damn.” Hutch grabbed a handful.

Brady watched the exchange and said, “Calloway stars?”

“You bet. And Hutch's family”—she nodded at the firefighter—“owns Oh Fudge! in Glory Junction. Have you tried it? They make amazing chocolate.”

“Are you kidding?” Sloane said. “That stuff is like crack. Every time we're there we get a piece.”

Hutch beamed, undoubtedly proud of his family's enterprise. It was generous of Dana to make such a big fuss over the small-town fudge shop—Aidan hadn't been to a tourist place yet that didn't have one—when it sounded like her family owned the Godiva of the West.

Brady took over the barbecue, flipping burgers and pouring beer over the dogs, getting a good steam going. When Aidan tried to take over, Brady brushed him away.

“It's best to leave it to the pro.”

“I've got a news flash for you,” Aidan said. “It's not that difficult.”

Brady laughed, and they both stood around the grill making small talk. Aidan thought his sister's fiancé would make a fine addition to the McBride clan. The guy could hold his own in the smart-ass department against Aidan and his two brothers, and he loved Sloane. Like really loved her; it was written all over his face.

His family had loved Sue. She'd gone to Zumba, or whatever the hell you called it, with his mother every week, had taught his old man how to make the perfect Manhattan, and had generally classed up a house filled with roughnecks. His brothers all thought she was smoking hot, which had made Aidan feel like a stud. And Sloane, the toughest critic of the bunch, had embraced Sue like a sister. He didn't think she or his mother would ever get over losing her from the family.

About three years ago, he'd met her at a Coats for Kids fundraiser in which CFD were big sponsors. She'd gone with her mother, who never met a charity she didn't like, and he'd attended with a contingent of firefighters. One look at her in a strapless black gown and a mass of red corkscrew curls and he was a goner. Just dead.

The organizers made sure to put a firefighter at every table and Aidan made sure to sit at Sue's. They talked so much, they barely touched their four-hundred-dollar plates of food. Hey, it was for a good cause. Kids got coats and he got Sue. He left with her phone number in his phone and a tentative date to meet for coffee. Soon, coffee turned into drinks and dinners and parties. The first time they'd slept together, she blew his mind, dancing for him under the stars on his balcony before they made love.

Those early weeks were like a dream, spending entire days in bed, wrapped in each other's arms. Sometimes they'd go away, stay at a fancy hotel with a hot tub or camp in a tent under an awning of trees.

Eventually, real life intruded and the romance didn't seem quite as shiny or as perfect. Sue began to complain that his work hours were preventing them from having a normal social life. Like her mother, she enjoyed attending charity events, the symphony, and the opera. Her father had left her a comfortable inheritance when he died, and although she wasn't rich, she could afford to attend some of Chicago's glitzier affairs. He attempted to explain to her that his job would never have banker's hours. At first, she tried to be understanding, but his unpredictable schedule became a constant bone of contention between them. It got to the point where she threw crying fits when he had to leave for the fire station.

“What do you want me to do, Sue? This is my job.”

“Why can't you do what Eddy did and become a consultant? It pays better and you'd have regular hours.”

“Because I don't want to be a consultant. I love my job.”

“More than having a family?”

He didn't see how they were mutually exclusive. His father had raised four kids while working for CFD. More than half the employees in the department had families.

“You're being selfish,” she accused.

“How is doing what my family has done for three generations being selfish? Sue, you knew what I did when we started dating.” That was the thing; she wanted to change him. Wanted him to wear a suit and a tie, make a six-figure salary, hang out with Biff and Buffy, which no way, no how, would ever be in the cards.

“At least we should get married,” she said. “We're not getting any younger and when we start having kids, you'll want to have a nine-to-five job.”

“And if I don't? You think that's a good way to test a marriage?”

By the third year, they'd decided to live together so Sue could go back to school and get her teaching credential. She'd been a technical writer but was bored brainless. Aidan was trying to get promoted in the Office of Fire Investigation Division. The hope was that living under the same roof would give them more time together as their careers grew more demanding. Aidan knew that cohabitation before marriage was a big compromise for Sue, who subscribed to the whole why-buy-the-cow adage, but he wasn't ready to take those vows. The honest truth was, he was having serious doubts about the relationship, which was effed up because Sue loved him and everyone loved Sue.

Anyway, he never got the chance to question those second thoughts because two months after moving in together, Sue's mom died from a stroke. Aidan, and by extension his parents and siblings, were her only family now. She needed him more than ever, and he didn't want to let her down, not when she deserved security. That was when she became obsessed with having a baby.

“As soon I move up in rank we'll get married, Sue, and have a baby.” But at the back of his mind he knew he was lying.

Apparently, she knew too, because six months later she moved out and started seeing Sebastian at the school where she was finishing her teaching program.

“So if you don't mind me asking, what's going on with you and Dana?” Brady asked, pulling Aidan out of his thoughts.

“We're just friends.” He cast an eye over the partygoers and found her standing by herself, reorganizing the salads. “Jeez. Hang on a sec, I'll be right back.”

“Don't worry about me, I've got it covered,” Brady called.

Aidan walked across the yard to Dana. “Are you not having fun?”

“I totally am,” she said.

“Then why are you here alone?”

“I just wanted to neaten the table up a little.”

He gently clasped her shoulders. “You don't like parties, do you?”

Dana let out a breath. “It's not that I don't like them, I'm just not good at mingling and making small talk. The truth is, I haven't had a lot of practice.”

“Why not?” He cocked his head to the side. “It's not like you smell or anything.”

She tossed him a flippant smile. “I wasn't that outgoing as a kid, and after my brother died my parents and I sort of became recluses. By the time I got to college, I kept to myself.”

“But you're a friggin' real estate agent, a salesperson. Don't you have to be good with people for that?”

She shrugged. “It's a job and I'm good at my job.”

“Hang with me, then.” He draped an arm around her shoulder.

“You don't have to, Aidan. Go talk with your friends. I'll be fine. I actually like watching people.”

They both heard a car door slam at the same time. A few minutes later, Harlee, Colin, a cop Sloane worked with, and a woman with red, white, and blue hair—no shit—strolled into the party. Harlee saw them huddled together and wandered over.

“I hope you don't mind that we're crashing your barbecue,” she said. “Sloane invited us.”

“The more the merrier.” Aidan grinned and watched the cop and Colin add more drinks to the cooler.

“I would've invited you,” Dana stammered. “We just decided to have something yesterday and I figured you were already busy.”

“We planned to bowl, but the place is packed with senior citizens. The Nugget Mafia is monopolizing two lanes.”

“The Nugget Mafia?” Aidan asked.

“They're a group of old-timers who think they run the town,” Harlee said. “One of them is the mayor, Dink Caruthers. And Darla's dad”—she nodded in the direction of the chick with the flag hair—“he's Nugget's never-going-to-retire barber.”

Aidan figured there was a story there. But before he could ask more, flag hair joined them.

“Hi. I'm Darla.” She shook Aidan's hand and reached out to stroke Dana's hair. “You need a moisturizing treatment.”

Dana combed her fingers through the spot on her head Darla had just touched. “I do?”

Aidan tightened his arm around Dana protectively. After being with Sue all those years, he knew how catty women could be.

“You've got gorgeous hair, but with the dry weather . . . come into the barber shop and I'll fix you up. Maybe a little trim too.”

“She did mine yesterday,” Harlee said.

“Okay,” Dana agreed.

He gave her a quick squeeze, and it didn't go beyond his notice that the other two women exchanged glances.

“You should come in too,” Darla said and ran her fingers through Aidan's hair. She was an oddball, that one. “Nice and thick. I could thin it a little. So how are you liking Nugget?”

“I like it.” He backed away a foot or two. “You live here long?”

“My father did. But I grew up in Sacramento with my mom. I only moved here permanently two winters ago.” She gazed around the yard at the lanterns. “Looks so festive, right?”

“Dana did that,” Aidan said.

Sloane caught sight of them standing together and came over to greet Harlee and Darla. “You guys made it.” Both women hugged Aidan's sister. He didn't realize she had so many friends here.

“Is that Hutch over there?” Darla said, squinting at the group assembled near the grill.

“Yeah, you know him?”

“I cut half the guys' hair at Cal Fire. Hutch comes in occasionally but mostly uses a place in Glory Junction and probably pays twice the price. Everything in that town is a rip-off.”

“So, Dana, there's a rumor going around that a big corporation is buying the Rosser place,” Harlee said. “I'd love to get something in the
Trib
about it. You know anything?”

“It's not even close to being a done deal,” Dana said, and Harlee's eyes grew round with excitement.

“There's actually some truth to it? I assumed it was bogus, like most of the rumors in this town. How do you know about it? Are you representing the buyer?”

“I can't really talk about it. Sorry.”

“Can you talk about it when it's a done deal?” Harlee asked.

“I don't think so. But you'll figure it out.”

“Whoa, you make it sound big. Are the buyers planning to build a resort or something?”

Sloane and Darla seemed just as curious as Harlee and started peppering Dana with more questions. Evidently, this passed as big news in Nugget. He really needed to get back to the grill to relieve Brady, but he didn't want to leave Dana to fend for herself against the nosy vultures. But Dana surprised him by laughing at her interrogators.