“Why did you call the board of aldermen and lie about me?” Maybe he was so groggy that he’d answer a straight question.
“Lie? I bloody well didn’t lie, Kendra.”
Bloody? Jesus, he really was going all the way with this Brit thing.
“I said that our contract is still in force and it would be hard for you to give another job your full attention.”
The hypocrisy…
“You took another job!”
“And look how difficult it is to give any time to Explastica. I do try.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I try a little.” She could picture his smirk. “Every other Friday for about an hour.”
“So you can claim you’re still in it?”
His tone turned virtuous. “Just because I’m trying to bring in some income until Explastica gets off the ground doesn’t mean I’m giving up on it. I’m over here rooting for you to line up the funding for the next phase.”
The unfairness made her want to scream. “I need to earn a living too.”
“You are. Working at your dad’s restaurant, I hear. Mark Jordan told me all about the Blue Balls.” His mocking tone, with that extra British flair, made her face flush with heat. “That’s fine, I don’t want you to starve, darling. I just don’t want you to put all your talent and energy anywhere important. Glorified waitress is acceptable. Running an entire town isn’t.”
Glorified waitress? Oooo, that fucker, what a low-blow.
Don’t react. Pick your battles.
“Well, what can I say, Dom? You won. I didn’t get the job. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much luck with the funding. Very slow progress on that front. And all the others, come to think of it. The company’s going nowhere.”
“I have faith, darling.”
She gritted her teeth together. “You can’t do this forever.”
“Can’t I? Did you ever think that maybe it was all part of a bigger plan?”
“What are you talking about? What bigger plan?”
“I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here. Working for a large corporation like Global Solutions is eye-opening. It could benefit both of us down the line.”
Both of them? What was Dominic playing at? Did he not want to abandon Explastica after all? Or was he just covering his bases? Knowing him, that was probably it. Dominic would always have a plan B and beyond, all the way up to Z.
“Here’s the thing, Dominic. I don’t believe anything you say anymore. You can keep messing with my job opportunities until you get tired of it, but I’m not going to ever trust you again. I’ll buy you out eventually. I’m patient.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I can be. It’s better than letting you fuck me over again.”
“You don’t want to admit it, but I did you a bloody favor by making sure you didn’t get that job. You’re so talented. You’d be wasted in that little dot on the map.”
“You mean, my hometown,” she said hotly. “The place I love, the one you could never be bothered to visit, not even once.”
“Is that still bothering you? After all this time? It almost sounds like you’re not over me.”
And he was gone.
She slowly let the phone drop onto the bed next to her. She realized her eyes were dry from staring at the scattered stars on her ceiling for so long. Allowing her eyelids to fall shut, she let her mind go empty. This was too confusing. What did Dominic want? More than a buyout, no doubt. Maybe he just enjoyed tormenting her?
She could call her mother, who’d blasted Dom with all kinds of names after the breakup. But she knew exactly what she’d hear from Mama. He’d better not mess with me and mine.
Besides, Mama had enough on her hands since today was a chemo day for Granny.
What if Dominic was telling the truth about his reasons for leaving? He’s not. He’s a liar.
What if he was right that she wasn’t over him?
No. He’s wrong. I don’t want him anymore.
Then why was she still buzzing with the adrenaline of that conversation? Because he’s no good.
Images drifted through her mind. The quarry lake, shining like a green mirror. Jason diving off the cliff, his body tracing a perfect arc through the air. Their laughter echoing off the rock walls.
Jason. The thought of him steadied her. Suddenly she was able to breathe again. She picked up her phone and sent him a text. Tonight?
Nineteen
For the next couple of weeks, Jason held his breath, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. Would Kendra decide she’d had enough of this rebound experiment? Would Dominic rule her thoughts while she tried to figure out his chess moves?
But none of that happened. She came over almost every night, and in between, they texted, FaceTimed, went to the movies, had pizza with friends, and generally acted like any other couple.
When he asked her if she’d talked to Dominic, she told him it hadn’t gone well. “I don’t want to think about him. That’s just falling into his trap.”
After enough time had passed, he let out a sigh of relief. They’d dodged the Dominic bullet. When word spread that Gretchen was pregnant, the path forward looked even more hopeful. No one was lurking out there ready to torpedo their relationship. Was it actually possible that they had a future together, him and Kendra?
He’d never felt so solid, so sure about himself. He was the damn fire chief, and he knew how to make Kendra happy. Those two things transformed him from the inside out. He loved being with Kendra, loved the way they laughed together, made love together, the way they could talk about anything and everything. Good God, it might be even more than that. Could it be…love?
Whatever it was, he didn’t want it to end.
He wanted this summer to last forever, too, but it was drawing to a close. Labor Day came, and Holly went back to school. The town began to empty out as the tourists went back to their regular lives. The days were still hot, but they didn’t last as long, and the nights were chilling down. At least, they were outside. Inside, with him and Kendra, they kept getting hotter.
One day in mid-September, Colleen poked her head into Jason’s office at the firehouse. “Got a minute?”
Damn it. He’d been in the middle of a hot text to Kendra. He raised a finger, telling her to wait a minute, then quickly finished his thought.
Want to make out in the fire truck later? I’ll show you how my fire hose works.
Kendra always cracked up over his ridiculous firefighting double-entendres.
As long as it gets me wet, I don’t need the details, she answered.
Okay then. Game on. He clicked his phone off and beckoned for Colleen to come in. She plopped down onto the chair facing the desk and crossed one ankle over her knee. Her silver-sprinkled dark hair hung in a braid down her back. She was in her late thirties, and one of the best volunteers on the crew. “I have a problem.”
“Okay.” All of his crew members seemed to have problems, and they all wanted to dump them on his shoulders. He couldn’t remember ever going to Thomas Cooper about his problems, so either he was doing something wrong or they had very different leadership styles. “How can I help?”