“Since my dad did me a favor by taking my twenty-four-hour shift because someone wanted to camp on our actual birthday…”
“That’s part of the tradition,” she said.
“True, but I’ll have to make it up on Thursday. So, I’m on duty until Friday. Why?”
“Let’s come back here.” She lifted his hand and kissed his knuckles. “We can start making next year’s best-of list.”
He kissed her again, wanting so much to tell her he loved her, but knowing it would send her on an I have a million years of school ahead rampage.
“It’s a date, E.” He gave her one more kiss.
They didn’t talk much on the way back to Bitter Bark, but held hands and listened to Tim McGraw because “My Best Friend” was her favorite song. And it sure felt right for this moment.
It wasn’t until he turned the corner onto his street that Declan reached over to turn off the music.
“Did I forget a Kilcannon event or something?” he asked, skimming the additional cars on the street and recognizing Aunt Annie’s van and his cousin Liam’s truck. Uncle Daniel was here, too. “Didn’t you say there’s a mastiff surgery this morning?”
“Yeah. Dr. K should be at the office.”
The first spark of something worrisome flickered in his chest and then flared when the front porch door opened, and Gramma Finnie walked out.
“She doesn’t look happy,” Evie said, leaning forward to better see the sixty-something woman, whose graying hair looked wild and her face blotchy. “Think you’re busted for stealing her booze?”
“I don’t know.” He scanned the cars again, seeing his younger brother’s Jeep parked in the driveway, but not Dad’s Tahoe. And his shift had ended three hours ago.
As he got out of the truck and reached into the back for his pack and the sleeping bag, he saw Gramma Finnie dart back inside, the screen door slamming. What was going on?
Evie came around the truck to get next to him, giving him a questioning look and reaching for his hand. “Looks like your entire family is here.”
His gaze moved to Dad’s empty spot in the driveway. “Not all of them.”
Just then, Uncle Daniel stepped outside, and right behind him, Aunt Annie. Instantly, Declan let go of Evie’s hand and hurried toward his uncle, who he could see, even from fifty feet away, was…not right.
“Hey, Uncle Daniel,” Declan called, forcing his voice to be steady even though his throat was closing against his will.
Where was Dad?
“Declan.” He saw his uncle take a deep, steadying breath, his broad shoulders squaring as if he were about to go into battle. Or deliver some kind of bad news. “I need to talk to you, son.”
Declan stopped mid-step, staring at the man coming toward him, trying to read his expression, which looked…ravaged.
“Is everyone okay? Mom? Ella? The boys?” But even as he went through his family, he knew. Deep in his gut, he knew. He knew.
Where the hell is Dad?
His aunt hung back a few steps, her permanent smile gone, her face swollen from crying.
Uncle Daniel reached him, holding out both arms. Declan didn’t move as he could almost feel parts of his brain start to shut down.
His uncle put his big doctor’s hands on Declan’s shoulders, squeezing lightly as he closed his red-rimmed eyes. “There was a call last night. A house fire.”
Declan stared at him, the thrumming of blood in his head so loud it sounded like the words were spoken underwater.
“And something…went wrong.”
Oh God.
Declan had never seen Daniel Kilcannon cry. That was the only thought that could register as his uncle’s entire face seemed to fold as he started to weep. “We lost him, son. We lost your father.”
What? He mouthed the word, but nothing came out. No sound. No breath.
“I’m so sorry.” Uncle Daniel folded strong, sizable arms around him, but Declan couldn’t hug back. He stood stiff and immobilized as more parts of him shut down. His thoughts. His heart. His feelings. One by one, everything froze. It was the only way to keep from throwing his head back and howling in agony.
“Dec, I’m so sorry.”
“Dad.” He managed to croak the word, pulling back. “What happened?”
His uncle didn’t answer right away, glancing instead to Evie. God, Declan had forgotten she was there. Suddenly, Aunt Annie came to Evie’s other side, sliding an arm around her waist.
“Gloriana House,” Uncle Daniel whispered.
Evie gasped, but Aunt Annie squeezed her. “Your family is fine,” she said. “Your parents and grandparents got out safely.”
“And Taddy?”
“Yes, they got the dog,” Aunt Annie assured her. “The house is only partially damaged.”
Gloriana House? Dad died saving Evie’s family home? Declan felt himself taking steps backward, dropping his pack and the sleeping bag, trying—and failing—to process the world coming down around his shoulders.
“Why…why didn’t you come and…” His voice trailed off. He knew why. Because he’d picked the most secluded, secret spot on the mountain where no one could find them.
“Liam and Shane drove all over the campground, son, as soon as we heard around four in the morning. But they couldn’t find you.”
He closed his eyes, imagining his cousins looking for him last night. Then, he shook off the thought and forced his brain to work like a firefighter’s. “Are they still at the site, doing S&O?” No way that salvage and overhaul would be done by eight on a fire that started in the middle of the night. “I need to—”
“You’re not going there,” Daniel said, his voice leaving no room for argument.
“How did it start?”
“No idea yet. It was contained quickly, though.”
Not quickly enough. “But what happened?” How could his father, a skilled and vigilant firefighter, not walk out the way he’d walked in?
“All we know is a second-floor overhang collapsed on him, and he…” Daniel swallowed. “They haven’t even started the investigation, son.”
“Anyone else?” Declan asked, his voice tight.
“George Rainey, his partner, managed to…” He heaved a sigh. “He got out in time.”
But Dad didn’t?
How was this possible? Declan closed his eyes, seeing flashes of white behind his lids as he bent over and let out a silent scream.
No. Not possible. Not Dad. Not Joe Mahoney. Not his hero, his mentor, his whole world. His father.
“Oh, Dec. I’m so sorry.” Evie draped over him, but her body felt heavy and hot, and he couldn’t bear the weight of her grief on top of his.
He eased her off, standing straight, digging deep for reason and sense and the ingrained responsibility that his father had carved into his heart. If he was broken, what about the rest of his family?
“Where’s Mom?” he asked on a ragged whisper, looking at the porch where Gramma Finnie stood arm in arm with his cousin Molly.
“She’s inside,” Uncle Daniel said. “Everyone’s waiting for you.”
Waiting for him to come back from the mountains, where he’d been having sex with Evie while his father had been…covering his shift. And dying for him. And saving her family.