Page 10 of Wildfire (Owl Creek #1)

Cole is the kindest man I've ever met. I want to do something nice for him, to show him how much I appreciate everything he's done for me.

I think about writing him a song. I could record it on my phone and send it to him before I leave.

After I shower and put on my pajamas, I sit on the bed and start strumming my guitar.

When I am alone in the quiet, I can lose myself in the music, and tonight, the stars are aligning.

I feel a melody, and the lyrics emerge as I close my eyes and think of how much my life has changed in less than forty-eight hours.

I have a quiet, safe home on a lake. I have a job with a great boss who treats me with respect. I live next to a sweet guy who is a whiz in the kitchen. Seriously, I could get used to that. And I will be living my dream in just a couple of weeks.

I stay up later than I should, working on the song before I crawl into the cozy bed and pass out from exhaustion.

Early in the morning, I hear a gentle knock on my door. I crawl out of bed and open it, knowing it's Cole.

He's holding a tray with a pot of tea, scones, butter, jam, and two hard-boiled eggs.

"Want to come in for a minute?" I step aside to let him in.

"I shouldn't. You look like you just woke up, and I want to give you a chance to get ready."

I grab the tray and thank him, watching him walk down the stairs leading to the path connecting the garage and his house. Just before he mounts the stairs of his home, he turns and looks at me.

His piercing dark eyes find mine, and I feel a zap of energy hit between my legs. I smile and slink inside my apartment.

The scones are warm, melting the butter before I scoop thick raspberry jam on top. Sitting at the tiny kitchen island, I pour some tea and review my lyrics, making a few notes while cracking my eggs and peeling them. The words aren't quite what they could be, but it's a good start.

When I'm done eating, I throw on my clothes and pull my hair up in a high pony to keep it out of my face while working.

I head down the stairs and walk the distance to Callie's house.

When I arrive, there's a truck in the driveway that wasn't there the last two days.

It's old but sleek. It looks like a classic, with a candy apple red coat of paint.

I don't see anyone around, so I get closer to admire the details.

As I reach out to run my finger down the chrome, I hear a booming voice behind me.

"You touch it, you polish it."

I swing around to see a large, handsome, gray-haired man walking toward me with a broad, welcoming smile. When he reaches me, he sticks out his hand to shake mine.

"I'm Buzz. You must be Renée."

His grip is firm but not crushing.

"Nice to meet you, Buzz. I heard you were at a robotics competition."

"Gotta stay busy in my retirement. Otherwise, the buzzards will come for me." He winks, and I wonder again where he got the name Buzz.

"That's really cool. I don't know anything about it, but I'm sure the kids love it."

"Gives them something to do besides taking shop class." He puts his hand next to his mouth to pretend to tell me a secret even though he's still speaking at full volume. "Don't tell my wife I said that. She'll kill me."

"What did you do?" Callie walks toward us with her safety glasses propped on her forehead. When she reaches us, Buzz looks at her like she hung the moon, and I feel a tug in my chest.

"Ready to work?"

I nod in response and bid Buzz goodbye over my shoulder before I follow her to the garage, where we're working on the gazebo.

"You did a good job yesterday with the cutting and fitting. Let's sand down these pieces before we start to assemble. Don't want anyone getting a splinter, now do we?"

I smile and set to work, and Callie turns on the same music I heard at Cole's.

"Is this the band that's playing on the opening night?"

"It is. You heard of them?"

"I heard them last night at Cole's. They're called Frayed Edge, right? They're incredible. This is the sound I'm hoping to create with my music when I start playing.”

"I didn't know that you play. Guitar?"

"Yeah."

"Sing too?"

My face flushes as I nod.

"You've got the voice for it. Nice and smokey. You're not a smoker, are you?"

"Nope. I never touched the stuff. I guess it's just how I sound. I remember my mother having a voice similar to mine—at least, I think that's how she sounded."

"You wanna meet the band? See if maybe you can play a number with them?"

My mouth falls open in shock.

"Better close your mouth, or you'll get sawdust in there."

"Can you really introduce me to them?"

"Of course! I booked them for the event. They're rehearsing tonight at the town grange hall, where the party is. Why don't we head over there after work?"

My heart leaps in my throat. I've never met a band that had recorded albums before. I haven't even made it to L.A. yet, and things are already happening for me.

It must be a sign!

"That would be amazing. Thank you so much, Callie."

She smiles and starts prepping to work on one of the boats sitting outside under the canopy. We fall into silence as we linger in our separate thoughts. As she heads out to where the boats are, she turns to me.

"You keep doing this level of work, and I'll have more where it came from."

As I watch her walk away, a scene flashes in my mind of me working alongside Callie and playing in a band right here in Owl Creek. As soon as I see it, I shake the thought away.

I'm going to Los Angeles. It's where I'm supposed to be.

Buzz brings out some hot tea for us before lunchtime, and we sit around the picnic table chatting.

I love watching these two together. Even though I know they've been together for years, they still act like newlyweds.

He gets a far-off, soft look on his face every time he looks at her, and she is constantly touching his arm, rubbing his back, or leaning her head against his shoulder.

We laugh, and Buzz tells stories about the boys when they were younger.

Cole was the serious one, always looking out for his little brothers, who found endless trouble.

Working in the shop was the only thing that held Caleb's attention and saved him from any serious problems as a teenager.

Cody, the other twin, was a bit more manageable but always seemed to bring injured wild animals home, making life hectic.

In addition to that, he was more intelligent than all the other kids at school, so he struggled to be engaged.

I hear a vehicle rumble, which tears me out of my reverie. I see Cole's truck coming down the driveway, and my heart skitters in my chest.

"Your cheeks are looking a little rosy there, Renée." Buzz watches me as I press my hands to my head to straighten loose hair.

"It's because you're so funny, Buzz. You've had me in stitches."

He winks and then gets up to greet Cole as he walks to the table.

I watch them hug, and I think my eyes almost pop out of my head.

I've never seen my dad hug my brothers. These two big, strong, manly men aren’t afraid to show their love for each other, and it makes my chest tingle with affection for them both.

Cole sits beside me, and Callie gets up to bring the lunch. "Buzz, help me get the food." She pinches his arm playfully, and they walk into the house, leaving Cole and me alone.

"You aren't working today?"

"I am. I just thought I'd stop by and see how it's going here. And my parents are creatures of habit, so I knew there'd be some food involved, too."

"I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"There had to be an important reason you came by."

His gaze catches mine, and I watch his eyes scan my face, hesitating on my lips before looking back up again.

"There is an important reason. I want to know if you want to go grocery shopping after work?"

This man. Always thinking about other people.

Before I can respond, a crackling sound emanates from his truck, and he rushes over to listen.

"I gotta go! Tell my folks I have to respond to a fire."

He jumps in his truck and tears out of the driveway just as they walk out the back door and across the deck toward where I sit.

"Fire call?"

"Yup."

Buzz looks concerned as he sets a bowl of potato salad and a plate of chicken on the table.

"There's been too many fires already this season." He exchanges a glance with Callie as she brings out cutlery and tableware.

"Is there anything else in the house I can grab?" I climb out of my seat, trying to escape the worry creeping into my body. I don't know what is going on, but the looks on their faces are setting off alarm bells in me. I know Cole is a pro, but suddenly, I feel panic take hold.

"There's a bowl of green beans on the counter you can grab."

I rush into the house to try to move the feelings. Anything to get them out of me so I can return to being the stranger he was kind to, not someone starting to care for this family.

When I enter the house, I find the food just as my cell phone chirps out a text alert. I know who it is before I even look at the screen, and my ears start to pound to the rhythm of my heartbeat. Pressure rises from my chest to my head as I stand still in the airy kitchen, paralyzed.

Here I am, eating food with this kind and generous family that made me feel more welcome than my own family ever had—or at least since my mother died.

Everything broke when she passed away. She was the center of our universe, and when she ceased to exist, we were like four planets with no gravitational orbit. We were floating around, bumping into whatever was in our way, often destroying it in the process.

I left for my well-being, but I know they are trying to pull me back. Somehow, my absence is a further disruption in whatever universal order we created after Mom died. And the guilt of slipping out in the early morning hours is starting to eat away at me.

I take a deep breath and swipe the bowl of green beans off the counter. I am not going to let my broken home life ruin me. Not anymore.

"Get lost in there?" Buzz hollers out.

I offer him a weak smile, but he doesn't miss a beat.

"Hey, kiddo. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I was uh…"

"Have you heard the story of how Callie and I met?"

I perk up. He's letting me off the hook.

"It all started when I was driving into town after doing a house call for Chief Johnson.

He'd been laid out after falling off a ladder, cocky young buck and all, and of course, Murphy's Law dictates that was exactly when his old Chevy would start having trouble.

So I was driving back into town to grab some parts at the shop when I saw this beautiful woman walking down the road with a kid by her side and two babies strapped to her body. One on the front and one on the back."

I shoot a look at Callie. She just smiles and raises her eyebrows in response.

"So I pull over and ask her if she needs a ride. Turns out her old junker had broken down in almost the same place yours did—"

"Mine's no junker, Buzz."

"Pardon me." He winks. "Anyway, I gave them a ride into town, towed the car to the shop, and the rest is history."

"So you met the way Cole and I met?"

Buzz and Callie look at each other mischievously.

"Sure did." She pipes up.

"Huh. Maybe that stretch of road is cursed."

"Blessed is more like it." Buzz wraps his arm around Callie's shoulder and presses a kiss on her head. "Those four were the best thing to ever happen to me."

"But it took a while for the town to warm up to me. Things were different then, and Buzz wasn't exactly an eligible bachelor. People thought I stole him from—"

"You did no such thing. I'd already made my intentions to part ways known. You were just the town scapegoat."

"You were dating someone else?"

"The mayor's daughter. And he didn't like that Buzz chose me, a woman with three children, instead of her."

"But I didn't. I had already ended it the day before. However, she decided to paint another picture to make herself a victim. Wanted pity, I guess."

"What happened to her? The mayor's daughter?"

"Married the owner of the hardware store instead."

"So she's still here?"

"Yup, she's got a lovely family of her own—something I couldn't have given her, so in the end, it was just water under the bridge."

"You couldn't give her a family?"

"Had testicular cancer as a young man. Made me infertile. I never would have been graced with a family if Callie hadn't come along."

I can't believe how forthcoming he is. My family is so guarded. Even my father, whose care I was in charge of, kept things from me. Especially how much he was drinking.

"That's quite a story. Thanks for trusting me."

They exchange looks again, and then Callie stands up to clear the plates.

"Please, let me get it." I shoot my hands out to clean up before Buzz stands up and lets out a friendly growl.

"You two have work to do. I'm clearing lunch."

Callie winks at me and waves so I can follow her back down to the garage. We settle into a companionable silence as we work. After several minutes, she pipes up.

"What are you running from, Renée?"

I choke on my breath and steal a glance at her. She's eyeing me, and I suddenly feel the temperature in the room change.

"I know a runner when I see one. I was running, too."

"What did Cole tell you?"

"Nothing. He doesn't have to say anything. I can tell by the way you hold your body. It seems to me you're protecting yourself from something. You're safe here."

"It's not… it's not like that. Nobody was hurting me."

"But you are running."

"I'm running towards , not away ."

"That's a great story, but I know there's more. If you ever need to talk about it, I'm here."

I don't know why I'm not telling her. I’m sure I can trust her.

Maybe it's because I don't want to get any closer to her than I already feel.

I don't want to start feeling things that will make leaving harder.

No matter what Cole and Callie have done for me, I have to get to Los Angeles.

I have to give myself a chance to do something for myself.

"Thanks, Callie, but there's no story to tell. I'm grateful for the job and introduction to the band tonight, but I don't need to talk about it."

That is a lie, but I have to stick to my guns.

"Alright. But the offer is always on the table. In the meantime, let's show you a thing or two about building boats."