Charming the Firefighter
His triumphant grin collapsed. “Nine? I’m sixteen.”
“I’m well aware of how old you are, Andrew. I did give birth to you. And yes, nine. Tonight’s a school night.” He’d started his junior year at Shady Grove High last week. “I don’t want a repeat of what happened last year with your grades.”
“Whatever,” he mumbled, as if she hadn’t given in to him. As if he couldn’t care less that his grades last semester showed a marked lack of effort.
He sent a text, his fingers flying over the buttons.
Used to be a time when she could brush his hair back, make him smile and laugh. Those days were deader than her marriage vows.
“I’m gonna shower,” he said, tugging off his sweaty shirt. He dropped it on the floor—two feet from his clothes hamper.
With a grimace, Penelope picked it up by the hem, the fabric pinched between her thumb and forefinger. “Do you have some sort of genetic defect that stops you from putting your clothes where they belong?” she asked, tossing the shirt into the wicker basket. “Or do you leave them scattered all over simply because you know it bothers me?”
“That’s just a side benefit.” And he rapped out a da dum dum on his dresser.
A joke? Wow. Give the kid his way and suddenly he was a comedian. She turned. Her smile froze, her breath locked in her lungs. The safe, secure world she’d worked so hard to build for them shifted, leaving her thoughts tumbling.
No. Please, God, not again.
“Andrew,” she wheezed on an exhale, and worked to keep her voice calm as she closed the distance between them. Focused on clearing her expression. No sense worrying him. Not when she wasn’t sure what was going on. “What happened to your back?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“You...you have a bruise.” Clearing her throat, she lightly touched his lower back, to the right of his spine. “Here.”
Turning to the mirror, he twisted so he could see what she was talking about. He shrugged. “I must’ve bumped into something.”
“I think you’d remember bumping into something hard enough to leave that big of a mark.” It was at least the size of her fist, the center a dark purple, the outer edges bleeding into yellow. “Do you...do you have any other bruises?”
Another shrug. “Not that I know of.”
But he had this one. One he’d seemingly been unaware of. Fear rose in her throat, threatening to choke her. “Do your joints hurt? Have you noticed being more tired lately? Have you been getting headaches?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, no and yes. Right now. A big one.”
“Not funny,” she murmured. This was serious. Couldn’t he see that? Spinning him around, she searched his body for more bruises. His appetite was still strong and he’d put on weight, not lost it. She reached up to check the lymph nodes in his neck.
He jerked away. “Jesus! Knock it off. I’m not sick again.”
“I know you’re not,” she said quickly, as if her words alone could make the statement fact. But she’d already learned the hard way that all the wishing, hoping and praying in the world couldn’t change what was. She tried to smile. “But I’ll make an appointment with Dr. Franklin tomorrow to—”
“I’m not going to the doctor.” He stabbed his fingers through his hair, making the strands stand on end. “Look, the truth is, I didn’t bump into something. I got it playing dodgeball in gym the other day.”
Relief made her knees weak. Her head light. He wasn’t sick. The leukemia hadn’t come back.
Thank God.
But he had been hurt. Could have been injured even worse. What if he’d been hit in the head and gotten a concussion?
“No school district should be allowing a game like that to be played in gym class,” she said, her fury and indignation growing. “First thing in the morning I’m going to call the school—”
“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you! I knew you’d freak out about it and it’s nothing. It doesn’t even hurt. And the last thing I need is you making it into some big deal.” He yanked open a drawer, grabbed a pair of socks and underwear, then shoved it closed hard enough to shake the dresser. “It’s a bruise. Not the end of the world. Not cancer. So don’t even think about calling and bitching out the gym teacher, because I’m the one who’ll have to take a bunch of shit if you do!”
He stormed out of the room, across the hall and into the bathroom. Slammed the door shut as if to punctuate his little tantrum.
She hunched her shoulders. Bit her lower lip. A moment later, the shower started.
He didn’t understand that she was simply doing her job as his mother. He resented everything she did for him. The healthy food she prepared, the doctor appointments she dragged him to, the tests and blood work. Even a simple question about how he was feeling set him off.
She worked so hard to keep him safe. Healthy.
And all it did was make him mad. But she was the one who suffered. She had to live with him, had to deal with him, day in and day out. His choices, actions and rotten, disrespectful, ungrateful attitude were her problems.
She just prayed they weren’t her fault.
CHAPTER TWO
“YOU GOING TO lie there all day?” James Montesano asked, tossing the basketball from one hand to the other.
Rolling onto his back, Leo Montesano squinted at the people peering down at him, their heads shifting as if they’d been detached from their bodies. Huh. Floating heads. That would make a great name for a rock-and-roll band.
James kept up with the ball tossing. Back and forth. Back and forth.
It drove Leo nuts.
He wanted to tell his brother to knock it the hell off, but the breath had left his lungs when he’d done his face-plant, and he couldn’t speak.
Next to James, their brother, Eddie, wiped his forehead with the hem of his T-shirt, dislodging the frayed brim of his black Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap. On Leo’s other side, their younger sister, Maddie, smirked.
All three had dark hair, heavy eyebrows and deep, end-of-summer tans—traits Leo shared. About the only resemblances between him and his family. Because if the situation had been reversed and one of them were flat on their back, he’d be offering a helping hand.
They just waited for him to get his own ass up off the ground.
You’d think there would be a time or two when the odds were even among the Montesano siblings, but more often than not it was three against one.
Them against him, usually.
That was what he got for following his own path, being his own person. Freedom, yes. But also a lot of grief.
“Well?” James asked, as if Leo’s being bruised and sporting a possible head injury was ruining his entire day.
Leo squeezed his eyes shut, but as soon as he did, flashes of memory from last night’s accident scene bombarded him and he opened them again. At least when he did, everyone’s heads stayed put. And the images disappeared.
He shot James the middle finger.
“Guess he’ll live,” Eddie said before walking away.
James gave the ball extra spin as it moved from hand to hand, his dark eyes hidden behind a pair of aviators. “Too bad. I was hoping we could find a sub for you.”
“Your concern is touching,” Leo muttered as he shifted into a sitting position, the blacktop burning the palms of his hands, the bright sun warming his bare shoulders. He and James were both shirtless—no big deal when it came to playing a game of shirts versus skins, but not so great if you were pushed to the freaking pavement. His knees and palms—which had taken the brunt of his weight when he’d gone down—were scraped and stinging. He rubbed his hands against the sides of his shorts and glared at his brother. “Really. Warms a man’s heart to know his family cares so deeply for his well-being.”
“You want concern? Stop trying to turn a fun pickup game among family and friends into a grudge match.”
“Hey, don’t blame me. I’m the innocent victim here.” He jabbed a thumb in Maddie’s direction. “She’s the one who tripped me.”
“I’m not sure what you’re accusing me of,” Maddie said with a sniff and a lift of her chin, all affronted and lying through her teeth. “I was merely setting a screen.”
Eyes narrowing, Leo got to his feet. “You’re not supposed to move when you set a screen. Or stick your foot out.”
She lifted a shoulder and sent him a small, evil grin. “Oops.”
“You could at least try to pretend it was an accident and not a blatant act of aggression.”
James’s eyebrows rose above his sunglasses. “Blatant act of aggression? What have we told you about watching CNN? It’s only for grown-ups.”
Leo snatched the ball from James, and considered—briefly and with much relish—shoving it down his brother’s throat. Instead, he took three steps and heaved it over the ball hoop into the yard.
“I’ll get it!” called Max, Eddie’s eight-year-old son, scrambling after it.
Leo lifted a hand but couldn’t risk having his attention diverted. Not when Maddie, wearing a pair of cutoffs and a red Montesano Construction T-shirt, was sauntering closer and closer to him, her stride aggressive, her long dark ponytail swinging in agitation.
She was moody, unpredictable and capable of turning on a man at a moment’s notice.
“An accident?” she repeated, her tone cold, her shoulders rigid. “Like you ‘accidentally’—” she made air quotes, her brown eyes flashing “—rammed your elbow into Neil’s stomach when he went in for that layup?”
Now it was Leo’s turn to grin, although he was pretty sure his was way more charming and, yeah, even more smug than hers had been. “Incidental contact.”
“That is such bull.”
“I was guarding my man. A little jostling for position is part of the game.”
He didn’t know what she was bitching about. Her boyfriend—or whatever title she preferred to give Neil Pettit—played in the NHL. He got pushed, rammed into and hit for a living. Now he couldn’t handle someone playing tough defense on him in a friendly game of three-on-three?
Was it any wonder Leo couldn’t stand the arrogant bastard?
“How about we save this discussion for another time?” James asked in his calm, big-brother-to-the-rescue way. “Let’s finish the game before it’s called on account of darkness.”
Leo broadened his smile, knowing it would irritate the hell out of his baby sister. “Truce?”
He held out his hand. She looked as if she’d rather bite it off at the wrist and slap him with it a few times than shake it. “Do you really think I’m dumb enough to buy that?”
“That hurts.” He slung his arm around her shoulders. “I’m nothing if not sincere—”
“A sincere, and sweaty, pain in the ass,” she said, shoving his arm off.
He put it right back on her shoulders. Squeezed her to his side.
“And,” he continued, having learned early on it was best to ignore much of what his sister said, “I have nothing but the highest regard for you and your intelligence. You’re one of the brightest people I know.”
All true. But her taste in men sucked.
This time she ducked out from under his arm and stepped back. “Save it. I’m not one of your brainless bimbos—”
“Bimbos?” He laughed, hoping it didn’t sound as forced as it felt. “Did we time-travel back to 1952?”
“Yes, bimbos. Who hang on every word you say, simpering and sighing and batting their lashes.”
“I got it!” Max called, his round face red, his breathing heavy as he ran to the edge of the driveway, the ball clutched to his chest. “I got it, Uncle Leo!”
Leo held his hands out and neatly caught Max’s wobbly pass. “Thanks, bud.” He spun the ball on the tip of his forefinger. Winked at Maddie. “Can I help it if women think I’m amazingly witty and incredibly charming?”
“That’s only because they don’t know you,” she grumbled before walking to Neil and accepting the bottle of water he held out to her.
Leo let his smile slip. He bounced the ball twice—hard—then forced himself to tuck it against his side instead of winging it through the air again. Made sure his movements were easy and casual as he grabbed his own water and drank deeply.
He wished it were a beer. Or better yet, the slow, smooth burn of a Jameson. After the night he’d had, he could use a drink. But he had to report to work in a few hours.
And he was afraid once he started drinking, he might not stop. At least not until he had a decent buzz, one that blurred his thoughts and dimmed his memory. Until he could no longer remember the pain in Samantha Coles’s eyes. Could no longer hear her voice pleading for him to help her.
His fingers tightened on the bottle, the sound of crushing plastic loud to his ears. He finished the water and tossed it aside. Pushed all thoughts of last night from his head.
A drop of sweat slid from his hairline and down his temple before disappearing behind his ear. He wiped his forearm across his brow. The bright, late-afternoon sun burned the tip of his nose. It was hotter than usual for Labor Day in southwestern Pennsylvania, and his parents’ picnic was in full swing.
Family, friends, neighbors, coworkers and even a few college coeds—his mother’s classmates in her pursuit of finishing her degree—littered the wide, open yard, and spilled out of the two-story house and onto the large deck. The air smelled of grilled steaks and burgers. The muted sounds of Foreigner’s “Head Games” could be heard under all the conversation. The occasional good-natured cheer and burst of laughter rose from the group playing volleyball in the side yard.
Another successful party. Even though she was now a full-time student, having enrolled in Seton Hill University in Pittsburgh last year, Rose Montesano still found the time to entertain the masses.
Which was why Leo went to more than his fair share of gatherings, picnics and mandatory Sunday dinners. Having a large family who all lived in the same town had its share of perks—free meals being at the top of that list.
Across the driveway, Maddie and Neil stood so close together, you couldn’t get a breath between them. She rose onto her toes and said something in Neil’s ear. He grinned at her, then slid his hand to settle on her ass.
Leo’s right eye twitched. Having family close by also had more than a few drawbacks.
Such as watching your baby sister get back together with the loser who had broken her heart.
“Are we playing ball or what?” he called.
Facing him, Maddie readjusted her ponytail. “Just waiting on you, Princess.”
They resumed play, Maddie, Neil and Eddie against Leo, James and Ryan Pyatt, one of Montesano Construction’s employees. After fifteen minutes of hard play, the score was tied, twenty all. Whoever made the next basket would win the game. Maddie dribbled, looking for an open player while James guarded her.
“Switch, switch,” Leo told Ryan when Neil set a screen on the kid.
Ryan veered left and blocked Eddie while Leo spun right to guard Neil. They fought for position under the basket, pushing, shoving and bumping.
Maddie passed the ball to Eddie, who shot. It bounced off the rim. Leo went up for the rebound, shoulder to shoulder with Neil. He had a few inches more in height, but Neil had the advantage of being a professional athlete. He came down with the ball and pivoted and Leo knew he was going up for the shot.
The restlessness, the edge of frustration and anger Leo had tried to keep contained since last night built, bigger and bigger, until he was afraid he was going to explode with it. His muscles tensed, his body shook. He wasn’t going to lose. Not today.
Not to Neil.
Leo leaped up and with a low growl, spiked the ball out of Neil’s hands.
That he almost took Neil’s head off in the process was, to Leo’s mind, merely a bonus.
Breathing hard, Leo sent the son of a bitch a cocky grin. “You should stick to hockey.”
As he walked past him, he bumped into Neil’s shoulder with enough force to knock him back a step.
Leo grabbed the ball, then jogged over to the edge of the driveway. He bounced the ball at Maddie. “Check.”
“What the hell is your problem?” she asked, which was a neat trick seeing as how her lips barely moved.
“No problem. Just playing the game.”
“That how you want it to be?” She gave a sharp nod, then got into a crouch, her mouth set. “Fine. Don’t say you didn’t ask for it.”
And she shoved the ball into his stomach.
She’d always had a mean streak.
Eyes on her—because despite popular opinion, he wasn’t a complete idiot—he dribbled, keeping the ball low to the ground, his knees bent. James and Ryan worked to get open, James lifting his hand.
Maddie swiped at the ball, but Leo sidestepped. She was fast, he’d give her that. What she lacked in finesse and actual talent, she more than made up for in grit, determination and aggression.
They’d taught her well.
He faked left, then went right. Maddie stuck to him like a second skin, bumping and shoving as he made his way to the basket. He went in for the layup. Maddie jumped to block him.
And punched him in the jaw.
His head jerked back. His teeth snapped together and he landed awkwardly on the side of his foot. He stumbled, then caught his balance, juggled the ball, but it was too late. Maddie snatched it and sent Neil a beautiful bounce pass as he ran to the basket.
The show-off dunked it.
Bastard.
“Foul!” Leo waved his arms as if to erase the point from the imaginary scoreboard. “No basket. That was a foul.”
Maddie blinked at him innocently, which he didn’t buy for a minute. “Was it?” She made a show of looking around the driveway. “Funny, but I don’t see a ref here. And I certainly didn’t hear any whistle so I guess you’re wrong—which, as you know, is one of my very favorite things to say to any of my brothers, but right now I’m taking extreme pleasure in saying it to you in particular.” She patted his cheek. “You lost. Deal with it.”
He edged closer. She, of course, wasn’t the least bit intimidated. “You punched me.”
“I wouldn’t call that a punch,” James said as if he had the right to stick his fat nose into their conversation. He turned to Maddie. “If you’re going to jab, keep your elbow in. And don’t tuck your thumb under your fingers or you’ll break it.”
Something they’d told her at least a hundred times.
She was just too stubborn to listen to them.
She stretched and bent her fingers. Shook out her hand. “Everyone’s a critic. Should I try again? I promise to have better form this time.”
Leo gingerly touched the tip of his tongue to the cut on the side of his mouth. Tasted blood. “You deserve a broken thumb for that sucker punch.”
She wrinkled her nose in faux concern. “Looks like it hurts. A lot.”
“It does.”
“Great. Then my job here is done. Now maybe you’ll stop being such an ass.”
“I doubt that,” James murmured.
Leo bit back a snarl and kept his focus on Maddie. “If I need stitches, I’m going to be pissed.”
“It’s a scratch. Suck it up. Although it would be a real shame, messing up that pretty, pretty face with an unsightly scar.” She edged closer and lowered her voice. “But nothing less than what you deserve for trying to antagonize my boyfriend all the freaking time.”
“Just because you’ve forgotten what he did, how he treated you, doesn’t mean I have.”
“Yes, I’ve completely lost any and all memories from the past thirteen years,” she said drily. “Look, Neil and I both made mistakes. It’s not forgetting. It’s forgiveness.”
He couldn’t believe someone as smart and self-assured as Maddie was willing to put herself in the same situation she’d been in at sixteen. Loving Neil Pettit. Trusting him to be there for her and Breanne, their twelve-year-old daughter.
“Maybe I’m not in a forgiving mood,” Leo said.
“You don’t have to be. Neil didn’t ask for your forgiveness. And if you don’t stop acting like such a jerk, Neil, Bree and I will be forced to skip these family get-togethers.”
“Blackmail, Maddie? That’s beneath you.”
She nodded, not looking the least bit guilty. “And you acting like some overprotective brother is getting old. It’s awkward and irritating to listen to your snide remarks and put-downs to Neil every time we get together. Don’t think Bree hasn’t noticed, too. Or that it doesn’t bother her.”
Leo’s shoulders wanted to hunch so he jerked them back. But he couldn’t stop himself from glancing toward the deck, the last place he’d seen Bree. She was still there, her chubby legs curled under her as she read a book, the sun glinting off her short cap of dark hair.
Though many, many women had fallen hard for him, there were only three he could truly say he’d ever loved. His mother and his sister were near the top of that list. But the number-one spot was held by the only female who’d ever had him wrapped around her little finger.
His niece, Breanne.
Ever since he’d held her as a red, squalling newborn, he’d been hooked. He’d been eighteen and she’d been his first in many ways—first baby he’d ever held. First bottle-feeding and diaper change. First time losing his heart.
He’d do anything for her.
Too bad she didn’t need him any longer. She had her father back in her life.
For now.
“Do you really think Neil’s going to stay this time?” Leo asked harshly. “Just because he’s stuck it out this long doesn’t mean he won’t change his mind or take off again.”
It had been over a year since Neil and Maddie had reconciled, but nothing had really changed. Neil still played professional hockey. Sure, he’d recently been traded to the Blue Jackets, but they were based in Columbus—a three-hour drive from Shady Grove.
“I know he’s going to stick,” Maddie said.
Leo shook his head sadly. “I feel sorry for you for believing that.”
Her eyes got all squinty. Never a good sign. Swear to God, if she hit him again, he was dumping her crazy ass in the pool. Luckily, she kept her hands at her sides.
“I trust him and what we have,” she said. “Neil and I are together and we’re going to stay together so I suggest you grow up and get over this stupid, adolescent rivalry or whatever it is you have with him. Or be prepared to lose me and Bree.”
She stomped off, headed directly to Neil and into his arms. He kissed the top of her head.
Leo wanted to punch something himself.
“He abandons her and Bree,” Leo muttered when James joined him, “and I’m the one she socks in the jaw?”
“Quit whining,” James said. “It’s a scratch.”
Leo jabbed a finger at his injury. “Does this look like a scratch?”
“Yes. Rub some dirt on it and we’ll start another game. Get some of our pride back.”
“Easy for you to say.” Leo carefully ran his tongue over his bottom lip, wincing when he reached the gash at the corner. He bent and retrieved his T-shirt from the grass. “You’re not the one bleeding.”
“You deserved it.”
Leo snagged James’s water bottle and took a drink. Swished it around his mouth while Eddie joined them.
Leo spat onto the grass. “Deserved to be viciously attacked?” Eddie rolled his eyes. Leo narrowed his own. “You have something to say?”
“It was a foul,” Eddie said, like some freaking Zen master brushing aside Leo’s dark scowl and low growl with his own calm expression and quiet tone. “Not a mugging.”
Leo’s free hand fisted. “Who asked you?”
“What are you?” James muttered. “Thirteen?”
Eddie’s mouth turned down, his shoulders rigid. Maybe not so Zen, after all. “You asked, you idiot.”
Stepping between them as he had so many times in their lives, James made a tsking sound. “Name calling.” He faced Eddie, tossed him the ball. “Just walk away. You know this isn’t about you.”
“Maybe not,” Eddie said, “but he’s obviously jonesing for an ass-kicking. I’m happy to oblige.”
Leo shifted to the left, but so did James. He peered around James’s shoulder. “You want to go, Eddie?”