Kathleen Y'Barbo - Her Holiday Fireman

She chuckled. “No. Pop wouldn’t hear of it. He insisted I get my education and see the world.”

“And you did?”

“I did.”

When she didn’t seem inclined to elaborate, Ryan continued. “But now you’re back in Vine Beach.”

“I am.” A trio of gulls screeched overhead, temporarily distracting her. “So, Ryan, what makes a Houston fireman decide to leave the big city behind and take a job in Vine Beach?”

Interesting. Either Leah didn’t want to talk about herself or she didn’t want to talk about the fire. He took a bite to stall the answer that he didn’t want to give.

“Miss Leah!” a child squealed.

Ryan followed the sound to spy a fair-haired girl of no more than seven or eight racing down the path. A few steps behind came Riley Burkett carrying a pair of cane poles and a small cooler.

Giving thanks for the welcome redirection in conversation, Ryan left his sandwich and climbed to his feet. “Hey there,” he said.

“We meet again.” Burkett grinned at Leah as she rose to hug the girl. “Hope we’re not crashing the party.”

“No,” Leah said. “Not at all. Ryan and I were just having a sandwich to celebrate his new lease.”

Ryan gave her a sideways look. Is that what they were doing? Celebrating? He hadn’t thought of it that way, but the idea bore considering.

“’Preciate you giving Ryan my number, Leah,” the older man said as he set down the cooler at the edge of the dock. “I think he managed to find a nice enough place, don’t you?” He winked at Leah.

Leah shook her head, puzzled. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen it. But it sounds nice.”

Riley looked confused. “I thought—”

The girl raced past to tug at Burkett’s sleeve. “Grandpa Riley, can we fish now?”

“Sure we can, Brooke.” He nodded toward Ryan. “But first I’d like to introduce you to a new friend of mine.”

She looked up at him all eyes and freckles and her smile revealed two missing front teeth.

“I’m Ryan,” he said as he stuck out his hand to shake. “What’s your name?”

“Brooke Wilson. Just Brooke, not Brookie. My daddy calls me Brookie but he forgets I’m not a baby sometimes.” She gave Ryan an appraising look. “Are you Miss Leah’s boyfriend?”

“No,” he said in unison with Leah. Chuckling, he added, “Pleased to meet you, Brooke Wilson.”

Leah nodded toward the cooler. “How about I help you bait your hook and we see what you can catch?”

She brushed past Ryan to take the cane pole from Riley. Brooke reached into the cooler and handed Leah something that looked strangely like a piece of hot dog.

“What’re you using for bait there?” Ryan asked as he moved toward them.

“My lunch,” Brooke said. “Grandpa Riley promised if I ate one of my hot dogs I could take the other two fishing.”

“Hey,” Riley said. “At least it got her to eat her lunch. You have no idea how hard it is to get that child to eat. She’d rather do just about anything instead of sit down for a proper lunch. Everything’s yucky. Except hot dogs, that is, but only occasionally.”

Leah finished fitting the bait onto the hook then tugged at the girl’s ponytail. “Shouldn’t you be at school?”

“Teacher workday, apparently,” Riley said. “Her sisters are busy working on their Girl Scout cooking badges with Amy, so Susan and I were treated to an afternoon with Brooke.”

“Lucky you,” Leah said, and her tone and expression showed she meant it. “Come on, Brooke. Let’s go see what you can catch for dinner.”

She screwed up her face into a grimace. “Fish are yucky.”

Riley chuckled. “See what I mean?”

“Cute kid,” Ryan said.

“Yes, she is.” He looked past Ryan, presumably to watch Leah and Brooke for a moment. “My grandbabies are the blessing I never expected I would have.”

“Oh?”

The Realtor returned his attention to Ryan. “I married young but my first wife and I were never able to have children. When she passed away I didn’t think I’d marry again, much less inherit grandchildren in the bargain. Then I met Susan at church and got to know her. Before long she and the Lord changed my mind about marriage.” He shook his head. “Her son Eric’s the town veterinarian. He’s married to Amy, who gave birth to my grandson six weeks ago.”

“That’s great, Riley,” Ryan said.

Brooke squealed, and Ryan turned to see that the girl had indeed caught something. Leah had kicked off her sandals and now stood with the waves lapping at her ankles as she held the fishing line a few inches away from the hook. At the end of the line was a wriggling fish. From this distance it looked like a small flounder. November in Texas. Ryan smiled. Where else could a trip to the beach less than two months before Christmas include getting wet without shivering?

“Be right there, honey,” Riley called before he once again regarded Ryan. “All I know is that God sure turned my world upside down, but everything worked out okay.”

He watched Burkett trot away. God had turned his world upside down, too. Would he ever feel that way? By the time he’d said goodbye to Burkett and his granddaughter and deposited Leah back in front of the beauty salon, he still had no answer to the question.

“You’ve been awfully quiet,” she said as she reached for the door handle.

“Just thinking,” he said. “Sorry about that.”

Her smile was genuine. “No, it’s fine, actually,” she added after a moment’s silence.

“Leah,” he said slowly as he once again attempted to ask about the fire. “Tell me about what happened to your home. The fire, I mean. If you want to.”

“Not any more than you want to tell me why you’re in Vine Beach, apparently.”

She looked away. “I had a nice time.”

So he’d hit a nerve. Ryan paused only a second before deciding to allow her abrupt change of topic. “Me, too.” He slid her a grin he hoped matched hers. “Guess I’ll be seeing you around Vine Beach.”

“Count on it,” she said, as she returned her attention to Ryan. “Especially if you like the food at Pop’s.”

“Which I do.”

She climbed out to lean against the door. “Banana cream pie’s our specialty, you know, but my favorite’s the buttermilk.”

“Buttermilk pie? No, thanks.”

She straightened to close the door then regarded him through the open window. “Have you tried it?” When he shook his head she continued. “Then don’t knock it until you have. Now take care, fireman. I’ve played hooky from the restaurant for too long. Orlando’s going to be wondering where I’ve been.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said to her retreating back.

A thought occurred and he leaned out the window to call her name. When she turned to face him, he said, “You didn’t tell me what days you offer buttermilk pie.”

Again she smiled. “Every day,” she said. “Lunch and dinner.”

His laughter echoed in the suddenly empty Jeep as he watched her toss her red hair in the breeze then climb into an SUV parked a few spaces down. He was still watching as the vehicle pulled away and disappeared down Main Street.

Again the question of what God might be doing tugged at his mind. And again, no answer came. But he did have a new job to prepare for and a dog waiting back in Houston for a ride to his new home. And that was enough to think about for now.

That and the twinkle in Leah Berry’s eyes when she invited him to Pop’s for buttermilk pie.

What would happen to that twinkle when Leah found out he was about to start digging for information on the mysterious fire that destroyed her family’s home?

Chapter Four

Ryan shifted into Reverse and was about to pull out onto Main Street when he spied Mayor Jack Murdoch standing beside his truck. As their gazes met, the mayor motioned for him to stop.