Marta Perry - Hero in Her Heart

“Tomorrow will do as well, won’t it? My sister needs to get back.”

Nolie nodded reluctantly, probably fearing that if he once got away from her, he wouldn’t be back. “All right, tomorrow. Is two o’clock all right?”

“Two it is.” He was already moving toward the door. He’d agree to just about anything right now that would get him out of there. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

When he saw Nolie tomorrow, he’d have figured out how to turn this into a stepping stone. Nolie thought they were stuck with each other, and maybe that was true. But if he had to do this, there had to be a way he could use the situation to get himself on active duty again, the sooner the better.

It took a half hour to drive home, and by the time they arrived, the pep talk Terry seemed compelled to give was wearing thin. She meant well, they all did, but nobody seemed to understand that he had to deal with this situation in his own way.

Seth and Ryan were playing one-on-one in the driveway, so Terry stopped at the curb.

“Thanks, baby.”

“Ryan’s the baby,” Terry snapped back automatically.

He grinned, a bit of his good humor restored. “I’ll tell him you said so.” He started toward his brothers.

“You’re not going to play ball, are you?” Terry asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

Ignoring the question, he kept on going. His family alternated between treating him as if nothing had happened and acting as if he were an invalid.

Ryan missed the ball, and he grabbed it.

“How about taking on some real competition?”

He read identical hesitation in both pairs of eyes.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Seth said. “I thought you weren’t supposed to get stressed.”

“You think beating you is stressful? Think again.” He dribbled the ball. “Or are you afraid I’m going to fall down on the driveway in a fit?”

“Of course not.” Ryan made an unsuccessful effort to steal the ball.

He dribbled past him and shot. The ball rolled around the rim and bounced out. “I’m out of practice.”

“You’d better take it easy on that leg, or Mom will be out here yelling at all of us.” Seth grabbed the ball. “How did it go today?”

He shrugged. “The net is closing. She claims she tried to get the foundation let her use someone else, but Henley wouldn’t.”

“The chief won’t back down, either. If Dad couldn’t budge him, no one will.”

“I don’t see a way out.” He’d snatch it like a loose ball if he did, agreement or not.

“Look, it won’t be so bad.” Seth was determined to look on the bright side, but that was Seth, everyone’s friend. “Even if you don’t need the dog, it won’t hurt to play along. You can use the time to get your leg strong again, so you can get back on duty.”

Ryan popped the ball out of Seth’s hands. “Bad advice. Good old reliable Seth, always playing it safe.”

Seth flushed. “That’s a lot better than taking stupid risks.”

He glanced from one to the other. Did that mean Ryan had been skirting the edge again at work? A firefighter couldn’t be paralyzed by danger, but he shouldn’t flirt with it, either.

“What have you been up to, Ryan? I keep hearing talk that you’re taking a few too many chances these days.”

Ryan shrugged, giving him a cocky look that said he thought he was indestructible. “Maybe I’m trying to live up to my brother, the hero.”

The flip words drove like a knife into his soul. “I’m not a hero.” If he really were a hero, he’d have found a way to save the men who’d died beside him. “Don’t you try to be one. We don’t need any funerals in the family.”

“Hey, lighten up. I didn’t mean anything. I just think you ought to risk turning on the famous Flanagan charm, that’s all.” Ryan grinned. “Believe me, a plain Jane like that woman would eat it right up. And a few words from her might sway the chief’s opinion about when you can get back on the line.”

Ryan might actually have a point, although he wouldn’t tell him so. Only there were a couple of problems with his scenario.

One was that he was no Ryan, able to turn on the Flanagan charm at a moment’s notice.

And the other was that Nolie Lang wasn’t plain. Somehow his image of her had changed over the afternoon. In her own setting, Nolie had metamorphosed. He saw again her tenderness as she worked with the child. Pictured the passion in her eyes when she defended her work.

No, Nolie was definitely not plain. But she was definitely trouble.

Nolie spotted the car pull into her lane the next afternoon as she finished her session with Danny. At least Gabe had come. And on time, so she could get on with her goal for the day.

Two goals, she amended. The first was to get him to bond with his dog—a professional goal, one she understood how to approach.

However, she also had a personal goal, and that was trickier. She had to stop herself from responding to his sheer animal magnetism.

Claire, of course, had picked up on that instantly the day before. Given how their friendship had begun, Claire could honestly say she knew more about Nolie than anyone, and she’d seen that betraying flush. Claire had insisted that Gabe felt something, too, claiming she could always tell.

Well, certainly Claire dated more than she did, but that didn’t make her an authority on someone like Gabe Flanagan. A lot of emotions welled up when an active, driven man like Gabe had to confront a life-changing injury. That didn’t mean any of those emotions had to do with attraction.

She hadn’t felt anything, and neither had he. That was what she told Claire, and what she kept telling herself. Unfortunately Claire hadn’t believed it.

And as for her—well, if she believed herself, why then was she wearing a knit sweater with her jeans instead of her usual T-shirt? And why had she bothered touching up her lips with lip gloss and letting her hair swing loose on her shoulders?

Claire’s acid comments about her everyday attire came back to her, making her smile.

If you won’t dress a little better for Flanagan, then at least have pity on those poor chickens. It’s a wonder they’ll lay a single egg, having to look at you in that ragged T-shirt every day.

Well, she hoped the chickens were happy. When Claire called later for a report on the day, she could at least say she’d taken her fashion advice.

“Nolie?” Danny tugged on her arm. “Do you think I could meet him?”

“I don’t see why not.” She waved at Danny’s mother, who waited by her van, then wheeled him toward Gabe.

He leaned against the car door, apparently talking to his sister, but he straightened at their approach.

Nothing. You feel nothing, remember?

“Hi. I have someone here who wants to meet you.”

Gabe’s eyes seemed to darken, and she remembered too late his reaction when she’d suggested he talk to Danny about his seizure disorder.

“Danny, this is Gabriel Flanagan.”

“Hi, Danny. It’s nice to meet you.” Whatever he felt, he masked it as he held out his hand.

It was a long moment until Danny got his muscles to cooperate so that he could extend his hand. To his credit, Gabe didn’t show by the smallest flicker that he noticed that. Gabe made some comment about Lady, and they talked dogs as she bent to the car window to greet Terry.

Gabe’s sister was on the cell phone, but she smiled and waved.

By the time Nolie had straightened, Danny’s mother was wheeling the boy away. She could tell by the boy’s beaming face that it had gone well.

Terry leaned across the front seat to get Gabe’s attention. “I’m sorry, but I’ve been called in to work. I’ll try and reach Mom to pick you up.”