When Sparks Fly (51 page)

*

Jean made the familiar trek to Laurie’s room after the buses left and found her on her cell phone. Stepping back to give her privacy, she saw Laurie motioning her to come into the room.

“I’m so excited Emma! We’ll be ready for you and when you arrive, I’ve got a gorgeous detective for you to meet!”

Hanging up, she looked at Jean and said, “It’s final. She got the job at Fairfield High School and moves in a month when this school year is over.” April had come in, bringing warmer weather and with it the promise of her beloved aunt soon joining her in town.

Hugging her friend, Jean knew how much this meant to Laurie.

Settling down in the chairs for a chat, Laurie looked at her. “Hmmm, so how are things going with Dad?”

Jean blushed and said, “Are you sure you want to know?”

The burst of laughter from Laurie was welcome to Jean’s ears. It had been a long time since she had heard her friend genuinely laugh.

“Yeah, I’m sure. You have to understand that even though I call him ‘Dad’ now, it’s not like I’ve known him as my dad when I was little. So while it may have seemed weird to think of my mom as a sexual being…Brock is really just a man to me.”

Jean nodded understanding, saying, “Well that’s good to know.”

“Sooooo?”

“We’ve been seeing each other most nights that we can. He’s going to talk to Mac today about working at the fire station and that will take up some nights. But we’re…um…progressing.”

“Progressing? You can’t give me more than that?”

“You want details?” Jean asked, blushing.

“Yeah. What do you think girlfriends are for?” Laurie added.

Just then Carol popped in the door. “Hey, I thought I’d find you two here. I was passing by and saw your yellow bug still in the parking lot.”

Jean looked at the beautiful, petite blonde and watched as Laurie patted the chair next to them saying, “Come on in. Jean was just getting ready to share the details of her nights of passion with Brock.”

Carol smiled, plopping down quickly. “Ohhh, do tell.”

Continuing to blush, Jean answered, “There’s not much to tell. We see each other when we can, and the other evening we…well, he stayed and we…”

“You had amazing, knock your socks off, rock your world sex, right?”

The three women laughed and Jean had to admit that Laurie was absolutely correct. “That’s exactly what happened.”

Sobering after a minute, Jean looked at her two friends and asked, “Do you think it’s right to move Rick’s picture? The one by the bed?”

“Oh honey, yes. It’s been fifteen years. I think it would be perfectly fine to move it,” Carol said.

Laurie nodded her agreement. “It doesn’t mean you don’t remember your first husband, your first love. But do whatever makes you comfortable.”

“Well, Brock has a woman’s tattoo on his heart, so he can’t remove his past reminders quite so easily.” She saw their fallen expressions and quickly added, “Oh I don’t mind. It was a long time ago for him too. In fact, Laurie, it’s your mother’s name.”

Laurie’s eyes widened as the realization sunk in that he really did love Sarah. “Wow, I had no idea. All these years…”

“I’ll keep my wedding photo on the mantle, but I thought I’d take down the one next to the bed.”

Carol nodded her understanding. “I know that men hate being reminded of anyone from our pasts.”

Laurie giggled saying, “I was a virgin, so Rob had no worries there. Me, on the other hand, for months we kept running into his fuck-buddies and one-night stands. I swear he must have slept with most of Fairfield.”

Seeing her friend’s faces, she quickly added, “But that has died down. Now it seems as though everyone is finally understanding that we’re together.”

Jean, wanting to get her friends’ minds off of sex said, “Laurie, tell Carol your news about Emma.”

Squealing her delight, she told her of Emma’s plans and they began to plot how to get Jake and Emma together.

*

That evening over dinner at his new efficiency, Brock told Jean about his new job and the firefighting training he was beginning. She sat at the little booth-table in his new apartment and looked at him, seeing his enthusiasm. He was a quiet man, but tonight she could see a different side to him. One filled with purpose. One filled with joy. And that was when it hit her; she was falling in love.
When did that happen? I’ve only loved one man in my whole life and after only a few weeks…I now love him too?

Brock noticed the look in her eyes, having gone from interest to almost fear. Reaching over to take her hand, he gave a gentle squeeze and asked, “Are you all right, sweetheart?”

Sucking in a deep breath, she nodded. “Yes. I just…well with all that you’re telling me I guess I’m realizing that your time here in Fairfield is going to be extending.”

He leaned over cupping her face with his hand and confessed, “You have a lot to do with that, you know. I hope I’ve never given you the impression that I thought this thing between us was just a temporary time-filler.”

“No, no. You haven’t. I guess I just wasn’t sure where we were going…other than possibly to bed,” she giggled.

He stood quickly, pulling her up with him. “Well, let’s check it out, darlin’.”

Her heart full, she followed him over to the bed and felt him grasp her by the hips as she leaned over to pull the comforter down. Stripped in just a couple of minutes, she resumed that position as he took her from behind. Moaning as he reached a long dormant place deep inside of her she quickly came, followed by him.

Later that night, as he held her in his arms, he watched her beautiful face as she slept.
Sarah, I only had one night with you but you’ve held a special place in my heart for the past twenty-five years. Not gonna forget you darlin’, but now it’s time to share that spot with someone else. Someone your daughter approves of.
Brushing the hair back from her face, he kissed her forehead, knowing he was falling in love with the woman now in his arms.

‡
Chapter Six

The next month passed quickly, as everyone felt the pull of spring love in the air. Carol and Tom had just married, Rob and Laurie had gotten engaged and moved in together. Emma was arriving imminently and Jake was concerned about being set up with Laurie’s older aunt. Laurie and Jean were in the final days of the school year, trying to maintain some semblance of order over the students and Brock had firmly established himself in the fire station.

So far, Hank had been nothing but a model employee and Brock made sure to take time to hang out with him, getting to know him. Over twenty years in the military around young recruits had given him excellent instinctive skills in reading people; and he agreed with Mac’s assessment. There was something off about Hank. Nothing overt, but an underhanded sneakiness that crept out.

It was near the end of May, on an evening shift that had been long and slow, when Hank stopped by the dispatcher’s office and told Brock that he was going to head out to get some burgers. “I’m gonna take the squad ’cause I’m real low on gas in my truck and that’ll just make me closer to the action if anything happens.”

Brock grinned and nodded, noting the time he was leaving. He made a call to Mac to let him know.

“Thanks Brock. Rob and Laurie are over here visiting. I’m gonna have Laurie stay with us a bit and send Rob out scouting around. Did he say where he was going?”

“No, but if he’s going out for burgers, there’s that place on the outskirts of town that stays open twenty-four hours.”

“Gotcha. I’m calling in a replacement for you and have you meet Rob out there.”

Within thirty minutes, he and Rob pulled up to the Burger Shack, seeing the rescue squad parked to the side. Pulled into the parking lot, they could see inside the lighted building. Hank was nowhere to be seen.

“Where do you think he is?” Rob asked, looking around.

Brock sat silent for a moment, hating the answer to that question that was rolling around in his mind. Sighing heavily, he said, “Rob, I’ve been around young recruits that just couldn’t think with anything other than their dicks. They’d get a break, haul ass off the post and hit the closest bar, fucking everything they could.”

Rob looked over at the tired face of the man sitting next to him. “What’re you saying?”

“I think we need to go look in the back of the squad truck.”

“Oh, fuck,” Rob bit out.

The two men climbed out of Rob’s truck and walked over to the squad. Rounding to the back there were definitely noises coming from the inside.

Each man took a handle and slung the doors open wide.

“Jesus, fuck,” Rob growled, taking in the scene in front of him.

Hank’s pants were down around his ankles and he was pounding into a naked woman with another topless girl sitting next to them. She screamed and covered her breasts while Hank cursed as he tried to turn to see what was behind him.

“Hey man, this is consensual. I just got here and they wanted to see the squad. We just were having a little fun.”

An empty whiskey bottle on the floor rattled around as one of the women tried to sit up and cover herself.

“My dad’s gonna kill me,” moaned the girl who had managed to get her bra back on.

“How old are you?” Brock asked.

Her face registered guilt as she glanced over at Hank.

“I asked a question young lady,” he sternly prodded.

“Sixteen, but he said it’d be okay.”

Rob was on his cell, calling not only Mac but Jake as well. Giving them the location, he looked back at Hank. “I’d get my pants on if I were you unless you want your dick in your mug shot, asshole.”

“Come on guys, I’m just havin’ some fun. I had no idea she was under eighteen. That’s on her, man. That’s her fault.”

Mac and Jake pulled up at the same time, both getting out of their vehicles and stalking over. Rob grabbed his dad and said, “Chief, let Jake handle it.”

Mac caught the implication in his son’s statement and halted immediately. “Oh, fuck it all to hell, son.”

“Yeah, dad. Yeah.”

Jake rounded the back of the ambulance and saw the pissed off mayor’s son and two women, one clearly under-aged and crying. He pulled out his cell and called the station. “Need a female officer at my location, stat.”