His Heart Aflame (Beach Haven Book 2) Read online

  “I--I’ll think about it.”

  “That’s all I ask.” She turned on her heel and walked away from him, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. He didn’t try to follow her, and she didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved. She could see him standing in the doorway of his family business, watching her get into her trusty little Honda, and she offered up a silent prayer that please, please, please let the car start just this one more time.

  She was rewarded with the sputtering roar of the engine, and she threw it into gear to back out of the parking lot onto the busy street. Somehow, the warmth and cheer had gone out of the early summer day while she talked with him, and she could see ominous dark clouds rolling in from the west.

  Terrific. Just what I need, she thought. Looks like the sky and I are both going to have a good cry together on the way home.

  Chapter Twenty

  It took every ounce of strength Sean had to stop himself from chasing her out into the parking lot and stopping her before she could get into her car. She was right, of course; leaving Beach Haven was the coward’s way out. He couldn’t tell her that he wasn’t leaving because of the rumors and dirty looks; he had to leave town because everywhere he turned, he saw something that reminded him of her.

  He leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window and closed his eyes, trying to forget the way his skin tingled every time he touched her. It wasn’t love, he told himself. It was just desire. Plain old ordinary lust. He couldn’t love a woman he couldn’t trust, and he just couldn’t trust Maggie. Not after all of her lies.

  “That took chutzpah for her to come here,” his mother said from behind him.

  Sean smiled in spite of himself. His mother was forever trying out new words and he wasn’t quite sure she truly understood them. “’Chutzpah’?” he echoed.

  “Guts. Spunk. Courage. Balls.”

  “My mother did not just say ‘balls’.”

  “Chutzpah.”

  “Fine, so it took courage to come apologize to me. Or maybe she’s just a really good actress. Since when are you on her side?”

  Suzanne held up both hands defensively. “I’m not on anybody’s side!” she protested.

  Sean turned away again to stare at the empty parking lot.

  “I just think that maybe you owe it to yourself to listen to what she has to say,” his mother said quietly.

  “I thought you didn’t like her, Ma.”

  “I don’t know her. But I know my son, and I’ve never seen a woman get to you like this before.”

  “She lied to me. About everything. She was willing to stand there and let me lose my job, my reputation, everything that’s important to me. Maggie Reynolds doesn’t care about anyone but herself. I can’t trust her, Ma. I just . . . can’t.”

  “Can’t trust her? Or can’t forgive her?”

  “Is there a difference?”

  “You’re the only one who can answer that, Son.” Suzanne patted his cheek and walked away, leaving him there to stare unseeingly at the fat raindrops that had begun to splatter against the glass.

  Outside, tourists were scattering to get out of the rain. They ducked into shops and restaurants, or dashed down the sidewalk toward the hotels as thunder rumbled ominously from the west. Absently, he checked to make sure he had his pager attached to his belt; a spring storm like this could easily whip up into something far more dangerous.

  Sean’s stomach growled noisily. Thunderstorms always made him hungry. And if he was going to be perfectly honest with himself, he really hadn’t been eating well in Maggie’s absence. He’d tried, but everything seemed to taste like sawdust, even his favorite dishes from Ronda’s Place. He thought about running down there now for one of Ronda’s trademark grilled cheese sandwiches, but reconsidered when he remembered that he had met Maggie there for the first time.

  Damn it, now she’s ruined my favorite restaurant too! Sighing, he pushed himself away from the glass and headed back into the back to finish the tune-up on Jacqueline Davis’ Jaguar.

  He heard the tones go off. “Beach Haven Fire, prepare for dispatch,” the woman’s voice said.

  “Gotta go, Ma!” he shouted, sprinting out the door and around back toward his truck as the rest of the call came through.

  “Car-tree PI, corner of 102nd Avenue and Forty-Sixth Street.”

  He felt like cheering because he finally had something interesting to take his mind off of Maggie, and was immediately ashamed of himself. PI stood for “personal injury.” Only a ghoul would cheer over something like that.

  Griswold and Hale radioed in that they were each taking a truck. Sean called in after them, alerting them that he would be going “direct” -- in his own personal vehicle.

  The corner of 102nd and Forty-Sixth was notorious, especially on rainy days like today. The two roads met up at an awkward angle that really impaired visibility, and the fire department was usually called out for an accident here every couple of months. Most were relatively minor, but some created the kind of accident scenes that left him with nightmares for months afterward.

  He slowed as he approached the corner, where a small crowd had gathered around the two fire trucks. As he hopped out of his truck, Griswold looked up and waved him back, trotting in his direction.

  “Back in your truck, Spiffy,” he ordered.

  “Why?”

  “You’re not responding to this one. We’ve got it under control.”

  Sean looked back and forth from the crowd to his commanding officer, and comprehension slowly hit him. “It’s Maggie?” he asked.

  Griswold nodded.

  “How bad?”

  “Hard to tell. Looks like she had a blowout and skidded off, sideswiped a tree. She’s -- hey! Get back here!”

  Sean ignored him. Maggie’s beat-up old Honda was a mangled mess, its passenger side crushed in against a large oak tree. He could see two of his fellow firefighters working to open her door, and Alex Hale had climbed into the backseat to stake care of Maggie.

  Alex looked up when he peered in at them. He looked at Alex, suddenly afraid to look at Maggie.

  “How are we doing in here?” he asked.

  “Doing good,” Alex told him. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  “Is that Sean?” Maggie’s voice sounded surprisingly steady.

  “It’s me, Maggie.” Swallowing, he forced himself to look at her. She had a few scratches from the broken glass, but seemed relatively unscathed. Alex had fastened a C-collar around her neck just in case of any neck injuries, which meant that Maggie couldn’t turn her head to look at him.

  “Tire blew out,” Maggie mumbled. “Airbag went off. Stupid.”

  “That stupid airbag saved your life,” he pointed out.

  “No, I meant I was stupid to come here.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that.

  “You’re both stupid,” Alex chimed in. “Now, Maggie, I want you to stay where you are when they get that door open. Let us do all the work getting you out, okay?”

  “I’m not hurt, Alex. Just stuck.”

  “Humor me. We’re going to send you to the hospital anyway, just to get you checked out.”

  “But--”

  “Maggie.”

  Something passed between the two women. A look of silent communication. After a moment, Maggie bobbed her chin in a gesture that would have been a nod without the bulky collar.

  Before Sean could ask any questions, he was shoved roughly out of the way as the others finally managed to remove the crumpled door. Maggie started to climb out by herself, but one sharp word from Alex convinced her to let the firefighters help her out of the wreck.

  He’d responded to countless car accidents over the years, but this was the first time he remembered ever feeling so useless. He couldn’t remember even the simplest steps of basic First Aid. All he could do was stare helplessly as others took care of her and prepared to lift her into an ambulance.

  “Wait!” he cried. “I
need to talk to her. Just for a second. Maggie, I’m sorry. I’ve been a jerk. I . . .” his voice faltered. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m a mess--”

  “You’re beautiful,” he repeated. He caught her hands in his own and looked down into her scratched and dirty face. “I believe you. I believe you about everything. I’m so sorry I sent you away. Please, give me another chance.”

  “You’re just freaking out because my accident scared you.”

  “Well, yeah. But it’s more than that. When I saw your car and thought that . . . when I thought that I might never get a chance to see you again, to hold you, I realized something. I don’t want to be without you, Maggie. I need you.”

  He leaned in closer until his lips were nearly touching hers. “I love you,” he whispered, and gently kissed her.

  She kissed him back, as much as the bulky C-collar would allow. After a moment, he pulled away and swiped at a stray tear on her cheek. “I’m going to follow you to the hospital,” he told her. “And when they’re done, we’ll talk, and we’ll figure everything out.”

  “There’s more to figure out than you think,” she whispered. “I didn’t just come to Michigan to apologize. I came to tell you that I’m pregnant.”

  He looked up to see Alex nodding at him. Maggie bit her lip, watching him closely.

  “Maggie --” He tightened his grip on her hands and tried to control the goofy smile that he felt spreading across his face. Then, the smile was gone and he straightened up to look around at the crowd of faces around him. “What the hell are you people waiting for?” he bellowed. “Get this woman to the hospital -- now!”

  “I need to tell you one more thing,” Maggie called out.

  He gaped at her. Good lord, what else could there be?

  “I love you too, Sean. With all my heart.”

  Epilogue

  Maggie was glad to be awakened from a terrible dream when Sean slipped quietly into the bed beside her. He smelled of wood smoke, and he was shivering as he snuggled up to her back and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Everything go all right?” she asked sleepily.

  “Just peachy. Garage fire, but we saved the house. Sorry to wake you.”

  “That’s all right. I was having a nightmare anyway.” She shuddered.

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  “Nope.” It had been pretty silly, really, and it was quickly fading away. Something to do with reality TV and Lindsay Newman chasing her around with a giant contract.

  Sean’s hand slid lower, to rest on her belly. “Our peanut isn’t sleeping well, either,” he chuckled.

  “Tell me about it. He’s been kicking like crazy all night long.”

  “I’m telling you, it’s because he heard the tones drop. He wants to be a firefighter, just like his daddy.”

  “Let’s get him out of diapers first.” She smiled, content to feel her husband’s breath stirring the hair at the nape of her neck. His breathing evened out as he drifted off to sleep, tired out from fighting the fire in tonight’s sub-zero temperatures.

  She was bone-tired, too, but stayed awake a little longer, enjoying her baby’s kicks and her husband’s soft snores. It was hard to believe that so much had happened in seven short months.

  Ben Jacobs had been delighted to find all kinds of loopholes in Lindsay’s contract, and Sean and Maggie had used the money from the show to become part-owners of Ronda’s Place. Maggie had been learning more every day about the fine art of preparing good food, simply prepared, that kept the people coming back. Ronda, in turn, gave her a chance to experiment with some bold new recipes that brought in a whole new crowd.

  Maggie stretched and shifted, trying not to wake Sean. He was worn out, too, thanks to the upswing in business at the garage after his mother started dating the fire chief. For some reason, people who were quick to think the worst of Sean had been just as quick to embrace him once again when they realized that Griswold had never lost faith in him or in his family business.

  Sean still claimed to be in complete denial about their relationship, but Maggie noticed that he had started teasing Griswold by calling him “Pa” every once in a while.

  She stifled a laugh as she thought about the expression on Griswold’s face the first time he’d been called “Pa.”

  “Having trouble sleeping?” Sean murmured now.

  “Just thinking,” she said.

  “’bout what?”

  “You. The peanut. Life in general.”

  “Mmmm.”

  “Reality TV.”

  “ . . .mmh?”

  Maggie chuckled. “I forgot to tell you earlier about a commercial I saw today for a new season of Battle of the Brides. Devon Rock is going to try it again, but this time there will be twenty contestants.”

  “Wow.”

  “It gets better. Lindsay called me and offered me my own spin-off: Battle of the Grooms, with twenty eligible bachelors competing for my hand.”

  “You turned her down, right?”

  “In a heartbeat. Told her I already married my fireman, but I recommended my old roommate Amanda for the show. That girl loves her reality TV.”

  “You’re really twisted, you know that?” He was grinning; she could hear it in his voice.

  “All part of my charm.”

  “Maggie, my darling, I love you, but you’re driving me crazy. Go to sleep.”

  “I love you too.”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  Warm and cozy, wrapped in the loving arms of her husband, Maggie drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep. Shortcut Maggie had finally figured out how to follow through when it mattered.

  If you enjoyed your visit to Beach Haven, please take a moment to leave a review at Amazon.com.

  To learn more about my upcoming books and projects, please take a moment to sign up for my free newsletter. You can also visit my blog at ajgoode.com, or follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

  Other Books By This Author

  The Beach Haven Series

  Her House Divided

  Love’s Little List

  Their Love Rekindled (Coming in 2015)

  Others

  Have a Goode One

  Please stick around for a sneak peek at the third book in the series, Their Love Rekindled!

  Their Love Rekindled

  Chapter One

  Cassie Garcia pulled back the corner of the lace curtain to peek outside one more time. Yes, Aaron was still there, pacing across the majestic front porch of his mother’s home, just as he had been doing for the last fifteen minutes. He had turned up the collar of his leather jacket against the November wind, but she could see that his cheeks were red and his blue eyes were watering from the frigid gusts.

  Still as stubborn as ever, she thought, letting the curtain fall back into place. She wrapped her scarf more tightly around her neck and struggled to close the top buttons of her coat over it. There had been a time when she would have gone hatless, just like the man on the porch, but she had long since reached the age at which practicality won out over fashion. She pulled her warm knit hat down over her ears and reached for her mittens, listening to his steps outside.

  If he was just going to pace around out there, she was going to have to slip out the back door and make it to her car without ever having to see him face-to-face.

  Cassie bit her lip, hesitating. That was the coward’s way out, and she was anything but a coward. I’m just assessing the situation, not spying on him, she told herself, studying him around the curtain once more.

  She had to admit that he was as handsome as ever, even with his wind-reddened face. The leather coat and dark jeans did nothing to disguise those long, muscular legs or his broad shoulders; she took a deep breath in spite of herself when he turned again and she caught another glimpse of the strong jaw and full lips that she remembered so well. She was absurdly pleased to see that he hadn’t spent any of his new money to fix the nose that he had broken in te
nth grade. The little bump at the bridge had been one of her favorite spots to kiss when they –

  No. She refused to allow herself to think about kissing Aaron Tanner. That was a part of her past, and they had no future together. End of discussion. Enough. She straightened her shoulders and reached for the doorknob. She had places to be, and if leaving here on time meant that she had to come face-to-face with Aaron, then so be it.

  Unfortunately, he seemed to reach the same decision at the same moment, and he shoved the door inward just as she reached for it. She tried to turn away, but the door hit her full in the face and sent her sprawling backwards. She heard his startled exclamation and felt his arms go around her as he caught her to keep her from falling.

  “Are you all right, Miss? I am so –Cassie?” His familiar voice touched her soul and rose a full octave in surprise when he recognized the woman in his arms.

  “Hello, Aaron.” She rubbed her nose and tried to focus on anything but his face.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Checking for blood, at the moment.” She looked at her fingertips. Nope, no nosebleed.

  “I didn’t know you were standing there,” he apologized.

  There was no helping it. She was going to have to look at him. At that thick reddish-brown hair that he was now wearing so much shorter than he used to. At those blue eyes that still seemed to be able to see right through her. At those lips that had she suddenly realized she still hungered for.

  “Ummm . . . let go of me?”

  He grinned. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, please.” Still, she made no effort to pull away from him. Even after all these years and all that had happened between them, there was something that just felt right about being in his arms.

  And that was wrong.

  She shook herself and pushed away from him. “I have to go,” she told him.