Kathleen Y'Barbo - Her Holiday Fireman

Leah made a face and Ryan chuckled despite his dashed hopes. “Apparently the new science teacher at the high school got to the place before me. Oh well.”

“Oh well indeed.” She set the paper aside. “I’d offer our barn but I don’t think it’d be too comfortable what with the holes in the roof and the lack of heat or plumbing.”

He followed her gaze out the window toward a broad expanse of rolling grassland populated with a dozen or more golden palomino horses. Off in the distance was a building of substantial size, its wooden exterior silvered with age. Just beyond the barn was a smudge of black on the horizon, possibly the burned ruins of a home. His interest immediately piqued.

Ryan’s attention returned to the barn. “Is that yours?”

“It is,” she said, her voice soft, almost dreamlike. “It’s been in the Berry family for generations. The house, too. Or, rather, it was until recently.”

He shifted to look at the ruins again. “It burned?”

“Yes, back in March.” She shook her head. “Hey, you know what? There are a whole bunch of weekly rentals here that I bet are sitting empty. I’d rent you ours but I’m living in it right now.” She shook her head. “Don’t ask.”

He laughed. “All right. Any suggestions where to start?”

“I’ll make a call. How can I reach you?”

Ryan tore off a corner of one of the real estate papers and reached for a pen. Jotting down his cell phone number, he handed it to Leah. “Don’t need much. Just a place to sleep and maybe a yard for the dog. Beach view would be ideal, but I doubt that’ll happen.”

He could hope though. Nothing like waking up to the sound of waves just outside his door.

Leah’s brows gathered. “You have not because you ask not. At least that’s what the Bible says. So, you start asking and I’ll make a call or two and see what I can find out. When do you need the place and how long are you planning to stay?”

“Now,” he said. “Last week, really. It’s already Wednesday and I start work Monday morning.”

“Oh, goodness. Okay, so how long?”

“Six months?” By then he’d have fulfilled his promise to Jenna and could be on his way back to the Houston Fire Department. At least that had been the plan when he had applied for his leave of absence.

The redhead folded the paper in half and slipped it into the pocket of her jeans then rose. “I’ll get right on this. In the meantime, can I bring you some pie? It’s—”

“Banana cream,” he said along with her. “Yes, please, but maybe I ought to get it to go.”

Again her brows furrowed. “Why’s that?”

He nodded toward the old cook who’d been eyeing them suspiciously for the past five minutes. “I’m guessing I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

“Ignore Orlando. He tends to be a bit overprotective.”

Ryan snatched up the check and opened his wallet. “Nothing wrong with that. So how about I settle up this bill while you box up a slice of pie?”

Only when he climbed behind the steering wheel of his Jeep with the pie on the seat beside him did the reality of what he’d just done hit him. Not only had he invited a strange woman to sit with him on what would have been his first wedding anniversary, but he’d ended up giving her his phone number.

Closing his eyes, Ryan rested his head on the back of the seat and let out a long breath. When would this get easier? As he backed out of the parking lot of Pop’s Seafood Shack he had a feeling things were about to get a whole lot worse before they got better.

Chapter Two

Orlando now stood at the entrance, his stance unmistakably paternal. “What happened over there?”

“Just helping a stranger to find a place to live in Vine Beach. Apparently he’s taking Pop’s old job as fire chief.” At Orlando’s surprised expression, Leah continued, “It’s fine. He seems nice. I told him I’d make a couple of calls.”

“How about you let Riley Burkett help that stranger?”

She thought of the Realtor whose recent marriage to the town veterinarian’s mother had caused him to scale back on his real estate business. “I thought he wasn’t going to work during the off-season.”

Orlando shrugged. “Won’t know unless you ask him.” His eyes narrowed. “Besides, you don’t know this man from Adam and I’d rather you not get too involved in his personal life.”

She shook her head. “Are you serious? I don’t know a thing about Ryan other than the fact he’s looking for a place here.”

“Ryan is it?” Orlando shook his head.

Leah linked arms with Pop’s best friend. “He’s the new fire chief, remember? I was just being nice.”

Orlando gave her a skeptical look before placing his weathered hand over hers. “Any fellow who wants to spend time with you will have to spend some time with me first.”

She almost opened her mouth to remind Orlando that she was, in fact, well past the age where she needed that sort of supervision.

“I’ll be sure to let you know soon as a fellow wants to spend time with me. Now, go on home. I don’t mind finishing up here.”

“I’ll go, but lock the door behind you.” Orlando paused to glance across the highway. “Guessing you’ll make a stop at the stables before you go home.”

She shrugged. “Until I can afford to hire someone to do it, I’m in charge there, too.”

Orlando’s expression softened. “Maybe it’s time to let those horses...”

“Go?” Leah shook her head as she thought of the half-dozen palominos that were left of the once-expansive Berry herd. “I can’t do that, Orlando. Not yet.”

She released her grip on the man who’d taken over where Pop left off then felt the unexpected sting of tears. With a quick hug and a word of thanks, she sent Orlando on his way. Then, turning the lock behind her, Leah set to work. By the time she stopped, the place had been thoroughly mopped, shined and polished, though it didn’t really need a bit of it. But she felt better, or at least she’d worked out the majority of her frustration.

Pop had been decidedly worse when she’d visited this morning. Though she knew she’d eventually lose him to Alzheimer’s disease, Leah mourned every step on the way down the slippery slope.

A few minutes later she’d locked up and driven the short distance across the highway to her favorite part of the family property, Berry Hill Stables. Carefully avoiding looking over in the direction of the burned-out shell that remained of her family’s pre–Civil War home—the latest casualty of her father’s inability to function safely on his own—Leah turned toward the pasture. There the last remaining horses from the once-plentiful herd were waiting.

“No ride today, Maisie,” she said as climbed up on the bottom rung of the fence and petted the palomino mare’s sand-colored mane. While Leah was busy with Maisie, the mare’s partner in crime, a glorious filly named Boo, ambled up and nudged at the pocket that both horses knew would contain their favorite snack.

Leah pulled out two apples, offering one first to the impatient Boo then to the more tolerant Maisie. The sound of tires on gravel caught her attention, and her heart sank.

“Oh, please. Not today,” she said under her breath.

Jack Murdoch—land developer, current mayor of Vine Beach and an old friend of Pop’s—honked his horn, sending the skittish Maisie and the rest of the herd galloping for open pasture. Boo, however, munched on her apple from a safe distance as the pickup approached. By the time the old man pulled his truck to a stop a few feet away and turned off the engine, Leah found she could force a smile. No matter how she felt about Mayor Murdoch and his real estate investors, she’d not allow him to see it on her face.