Where He Belongs

So what could he do? Erin couldn’t afford to hire out the work, and she would refuse to let him pay. But he couldn’t leave Millstown with her house in this condition.

He straightened. There was only one solution and Erin wasn’t going to like it. She had to sell Mills Ferry.

“So here you are,” she said from behind him. “I wondered where you’d run off to. Max called to see if you have time to sort through some boxes.”

He turned as she crossed the room. His gaze swept her high, full breasts, down the length of her shapely thighs, then jerked back up to her eyes. Her gentle, knowing eyes.

His heart rolled in his chest. She had the damnedest effect on him, making him want to ravish and protect her.

She stopped beside him. “So what are you doing up here, anyway?”

He eyed the fiery hair smoldering in the soft morning light, the familiar set to her jaw, and knew that she would resist this. “I thought I’d check out the house, see about fixing some things while I’m here.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Wade, I told you—”

“Yeah, I know. That you don’t need my help. But I’ll be bored just sitting around filing papers. Besides, I’m good with my hands.”

Her cheeks flushed and she looked away. The memory slammed into him again, that vision of his hands sliding over her bare, ripe breasts, her naked skin shimmering pale in the moonlight.

He forced himself to breathe. “I just want to help, okay?”

She looked back at him and a frown creased her forehead, her practicality warring with pride. After a moment she sighed. “Fine. Feel free to hammer away. Lord knows the place needs work.”

Did she have any idea how much? He rubbed the back of his neck. He wanted to repair her beloved house and make her happy, but as every smokejumper knew, you couldn’t catch every fire. Sometimes you just had to let one burn. And it wasn’t practical to fix Mills Ferry.

“It needs more work than I expected,” he admitted. “And it’s going to be expensive. Have you considered selling the place?”

“Selling it?” Her soft mouth sagged. “Oh, I could never do that. It’s been in my family for ten generations. It was on the Underground Railroad, you know.”

“And it was a hospital in the Civil War, and there are bloodstains on the floors to prove it. You gave me that tour in fourth grade.”

The edges of her lips curled up. “That day was the highlight of my life until then. I couldn’t believe everyone wanted to see my house. It was the first time I felt important.”

“Yeah.” It had been the highlight of his life, too. The two motherless kids had forged a bond that day that had endured for years.

Of course, Erin had a mother back then; she’d just cared more about her jet-setting lifestyle than making a home for her daughter. She’d dumped Erin off in Millstown so she could flit around the globe.

Erin leaned against the wall. “I was stunned when my mom dropped me off here. After all those years of traipsing around the world, getting pawned off on strangers, I suddenly had a home, a history, a place where I really belonged.”

Her eyes met his. “I’d feel like a failure if I had to sell. My family’s kept this house through all sorts of disasters—the Civil War, the Depression… I’d feel awful if I lost it now. Besides, I love this house. I don’t want to live anywhere else.”

The place had character, all right. It had fascinated him as a kid—the slave quarters under the house, the ruined mill along the river, the bunkers from the Civil War…

But it was the turret off the third floor that really fired his imagination. He still remembered when Erin had grabbed his hand and led him to the top. He didn’t know which had impressed him more: the fairy-tale house or the princess who’d chosen him for her friend.

“It’s a great house,” he agreed. “But it needs a lot of work.”

“I know the roof still leaks.”

“The roof is just the start. We’re talking major repairs here. Foundation joists. Sagging floors.”

“Is it really that bad?” Her exquisite green eyes searched his.

He handed her the list he’d compiled.

Her forehead creased as she studied it, then she turned her gaze to the window. After a moment her shoulders slumped.

She looked defeated suddenly, vulnerable, and he wished that he could protect her. He wanted to kiss the worry from her wrinkled brow and shelter her from the harsh side of life. But this was her house and she had to know the truth.

His gaze roamed the smattering of freckles across her nose and the soft, lush curve of her lips. Then she shivered in the unheated air, and his gaze dropped to her breasts.

His body instantly hardened, which came as no surprise. He’d responded to Erin for years. And not just physically. Even when they were kids, he couldn’t resist her. He’d do anything to make her happy.

He’d sure as hell tried. He’d given her the night she’d wanted, then left so she could find the man she deserved.

She handed him back the list with a sigh. “It looks like a mess, all right, but I’ll figure something out.”

“What’s there to figure out? You have to sell.”

“And I told you I can’t do that.”

He jammed the notepad into his back pocket. “I know you don’t want to, but—”

“I can’t. So let’s just drop it, okay?”

“Drop what? Erin, you have to face facts. This place is falling apart.”

“And I said I don’t care.”

“But—”

“I’m not keeping it just for my sake. Oh, I love this place, and it’ll kill me to let it go. But I can’t sell now, not while Grandma’s alive. I owe her everything for taking me in. And I could never put her out of her house.”

He tried for a reasonable tone. “I’m not saying you should dump her on the street. But you could buy a condo, or maybe put her in a nursing home. It would be cheaper than maintaining this place.”

She shook her head. “I tried that. Well, not a nursing home exactly, but a day-care place for the elderly. It was after she got out of the hospital and I had to go back to work.