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“Aw, Mom, I know about the fire.”
“You know, Lizzy, I have to agree with Darcy. You’re a terrific cook.” Joshua took another bite of his spaghetti. He wished he could ease the heavy tension in the room.
The vulnerability he glimpsed in Darcy’s eyes melted through his defenses. He found himself wanting to help her through the pain he knew she was experiencing. Her smile touched his heart, urging him to comfort. After Carol’s betrayal he hadn’t thought that possible, and was surprised by the feeling.
Lizzy blushed a nice shade of red, her eyes twinkling. “You always do know just the right thing to say, Joshua Markham.”
Shamus snorted but continued eating.
Sean added, “He’s right. I love your spaghetti.”
Darcy slid a glance toward Joshua. Her smile reached deep into her large brown eyes, fringed in long, black lashes. The beat of his heart accelerated. He gripped his fork tighter.
“I agree with my son, Lizzy. But if I remember correctly, you make a great lasagna, too.” Darcy’s shoulder-length blond hair fell forward and she pushed it behind her ears.
With the conversation turning to favorite foods, Joshua sat back, watching the exchange at the table. The lively gleam in Darcy’s eyes made her whole face light up. He tried to picture her breaking in a yearling, but couldn’t. She was petite, not more than five foot two.
When Lizzy served sliced peaches and ice cream for dessert, Sean snapped his fingers and said, “I’ve got the perfect name for the new filly. Peaches.”
“Not a bad name, son.” Shamus frowned at Lizzy, who had handed him a bowl of peaches without the vanilla ice cream.
When Joshua’s cell phone rang, everyone shifted their attention to him.
“Sorry.” He retrieved his phone from his pocket and checked the message. Tension whipped down his length as he surged to his feet. “I have to leave. There’s a fire at the Coleman farm.”
Darcy’s eyes widened and she came to her feet too, her napkin floating to the carpet. “A barn?”
A new tension descended in the room. “Yes,” Joshua said as he headed toward the door.
Chapter Three
“Mom, let’s stop. I want to see where Joshua works. Maybe Arnold’s there.” Sean bounced up and down in the front seat of the truck, pointing to the fire station at the end of the block.
“Hon, I still need to pick up some things at the store and there’s a lot to do back at the farm.”
“Pleease, Mom.”
Pausing at the stop sign, Darcy chanced a look at her son. The eagerness in his expression shoved away all her doubts. Just because she had thought about Joshua Markham several times in the past forty-eight hours—okay, more than several times—didn’t mean she couldn’t pay him a visit, then go her merry way. “All right. But we can’t stay long. And if he’s busy, we’ll need to leave.”
“Sure.” Sean stretched his neck to get a better look at the fire station as Darcy pulled into the driveway and parked behind the building.
“Hon, he might not be here.”
“He is.”
Suspicion began to form in her mind. “How do you know?”
Sean ducked his head to the side and studied the scenery out the side window as though fascinated with the brick wall several feet from the truck.
“Sean.”
“Uh—” He stared down at his hands fidgeting in his lap. “I called him this morning.” Her son’s voice was barely audible.
“Sean, you know better than to bother a busy man.”
He lifted his head, turning his appealing look on her. “But, Mom, he told me I could play with Arnold. I wanted to find out when.”
“That doesn’t mean you have an open invitation to visit him at work or to call him anytime you want.”
“Yes, I do.” His grin split his face. “He invited me this morning. Said I was welcome to come by anytime they were there.”
“Only after you called.” Darcy gripped the steering wheel and thought about backing out and escaping before anyone saw them. Her dream about the fire last night was filled with the image of the smoke and fog parting and Joshua walking toward her. Everything had dimmed except the man in the fire gear striding toward her with exhaustion evident in every line of his handsome face. Confidence had marked his stance as he’d come to a stop in front of her. His blue eyes had gleamed in the early morning light, drawing her toward him—dangerously close.
The flashback to the previous dream made beads of perspiration pop out on her upper lip. Darcy brushed them away. What am I doing? I have no business thinking about Joshua Markham in any terms other than as a firefighter and an acquaintance. She started to switch on the engine and leave before anyone knew they were there. She would find some excuse to give her son.
Too late. Joshua waved from the door and strode toward them.
“See. He’s expecting us.”
Darcy wanted to hide. She felt the heat suffuse her cheeks as the man walked to the truck, a smile of greeting on his face. The first thing she thought about was the dusty jeans and the old worn shirt she wore. Why hadn’t she changed before coming into town? Why did she care? Her record with men was no good. She just had to think about her husband and father to confirm that.
Joshua stopped on her side of the truck, his face framed in her window, only a few inches from her. She rolled down the window and forced a smile to her lips. “Is this a bad time to come?” Please let it be, she silently added, even as she responded to his heart-melting grin, her pulse accelerating.
“It’s been quiet around here.”
“That’s good” was all she could think to say with the man dominating her space, his musky scent surrounding her.
“Yeah, we feel the same way.”
“Where’s Arnold?” Sean asked, unbuckling his seat belt.
“He’s in the station. Come on in and meet the rest of the guys.”
Sean hopped from the truck before Darcy could say anything. Joshua opened her door, and she slid out, glad to see her legs would support her weight. Her son ran ahead while she and Joshua walked at a leisurely pace toward the building.
“I checked with my friend about a puppy for Sean. It’s fine with him. In fact, he can have the pick of the litter.”
“How much are the puppies?”
“Free. He just wants to give the puppies good homes.”
Darcy halted, causing Joshua to do the same. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I told him I didn’t want the pick of the litter.”
“So Sean gets it instead. I can pay for a puppy. I know teachers don’t get rich teaching, but—”
“I wanted to do this for Sean.”
“Why?”
“I can remember my first dog when I was growing up. Lady was so special to me. I want Sean to experience that.”
“But—”
Joshua held up his hand to stop her protest. “If you saw my house and the animals I have, you wouldn’t say anything. I don’t need to take on another pet.”
“How many do you have?”
“Three dogs besides Arnold, two cats, a rabbit and an aquarium full of fish.”
“Don’t tell Sean. He’ll be begging to come over.”
“I’ve never bought one of those animals. Either people give them to me because they don’t want them anymore or they are left in my yard.”
He was a large, muscular man in a dangerous profession, but underneath everything he was a softie, taking in strays. There had been times when married to Clay that she’d felt like a stray, wandering from city to city looking for a permanent home. She was glad now that she and Sean had one in Panama City. This spring had been the beginning of their second year there.
Sean stood at the door to the fire station, waiting for them. He hopped from one foot to the other. “Come on, Mom,” he finally shouted when he couldn’t contain his impatience any longer.
“Do you want me to tell him about the puppy now?” Joshua said in a low voice.
“You might wait until later or he’ll want you to leave your job and show him the puppy.”
“I’m off on Sunday. How about after church? We can leave after the eleven o’clock service, pick up something to eat for lunch, then go to Ned’s. Sean can pick out the puppy he wants.”
Darcy didn’t say anything for a few seconds. She’d made plans to start going to church again with Lizzy. She’d gotten out of the habit when married to Clay. They had moved so often it had become difficult to find a place to worship where she was comfortable—at least, that was the excuse she’d given herself over the years.
“I’m sorry. I’m assuming you’ll be going to church while you’re home. I can meet you at Ned’s place if you want.”
“No. Lizzy mentioned something to me the other day.”
“You can come with Lizzy, and then I can bring you and Sean home later. I should have the results back from the lab by then and I promised your father a report on what I found.”
Sean danced around. “Mom! I’ve got to go.”
Joshua chuckled. “I guess we’d better get inside.”
“It was that pop he drank on the way into town.”
Joshua reached around Sean and pulled the door open. “The rest room is down the hall on the left.”
Her son shot down the corridor and disappeared into the bathroom. They waited by the entrance until he came out into the hall. He headed straight for them with determination on his face.
“Where’s Arnold?”
“Probably watching TV.”
“He watches TV?”
“Yep, I’m afraid so. Nasty habit he’s gotten into. The last time I saw him he was in the living area in front of the set.” Joshua gestured to the right.
Sean darted ahead of them into a large room with several couches and chair. A table that sat twelve was off to one side in a spacious kitchen of gleaming stainless steel. Arnold was where Joshua had left him, perched before the big-screen television set, his head resting on his front paws.
“He really does watch TV,” Darcy said in astonishment.
While Sean kneeled next to the black Lab, Joshua chuckled. “Like I said, a really nasty habit he developed. He likes the noise, and when a dog appears he begins to bark, which doesn’t always sit well with the other guys who are trying to watch the show.”
“What does he do when a cat appears?” Darcy watched her son rub the length of Arnold’s back, then bury his face in his fur.
The dog rolled over, his tail wagging.
“He loves cats. His best buddy is Ringo, a white male cat that found me about two years ago and adopted us. When we’re at home, they are usually inseparable.”
“Hasn’t Arnold heard a cat is a dog’s enemy?”
“Apparently not.”
An older man came into the room, Joshua introduced him to Darcy and Sean as his captain. When he left, another man, younger, entered and waved at Darcy.
“Joshua said something about you and your son coming to visit this morning.” Glen hugged her. “I haven’t seen you since right after high school graduation.”
“We went to school together since kindergarten,” Darcy said to Joshua, then turned back to Glen. “I heard you married your high school sweetheart.”
“Nancy and I will have been married ten years come this July. How’s your father doing? I’m sorry about the fire at the farm.”
“He’s the same. Thinks he can single-handedly do everything around the farm.”
“That sounds like Shamus. Well, it’s my turn to make lunch so I’d better get going before I have seven guys breathing down my neck.” Glen made his way into the kitchen area and opened the refrigerator.
“Sean, would you like to go on a tour of the station?” Joshua asked.
Her son glanced up. “Can Arnold come too?”
“Sure, if you can get him to move from the TV set.”
Sean leaped to his feet and patted his leg. “Come on, Arnold.”
The black Lab lumbered to his feet and nudged Sean’s hand so he would continue rubbing him behind the ear.
“I think your son has a gift with animals.”
Darcy thought of all the times Sean had wanted a pet and Clay had refused to let him. She thought of how her son had taken to the farm as though he’d grown up there, doing chores, helping take care of the horses and other animals. Her throat closed. She should have brought Sean to the farm sooner. For her son’s sake, she should have put her past with her father behind her. It had taken a crisis with her father to get her back home. But the minute she had stepped on Shamrock land, all her insecurities, doubts and guilt had flooded her, as though she’d never left ten years ago.
“Wait up, Darcy.”
Darcy turned to see her best friend from high school hurrying toward her from the back of the church. For a few seconds she lost Jesse Bradshaw in the crowd, which was not unusual since her friend was only five feet tall. Darcy stepped to the side to allow the other parishioners to pass while she waited.
“I should berate you, Darcy O’Brien, for not coming by to see me, but I know you’ve had your hands full with your father’s illness and the fire. I’m sorry.” Jesse Bradshaw hugged Darcy. “I’m missed you.” She pulled back to get a good look at Darcy. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
