The Firefighter's Family Secret

“Just as well,” she said, and a smile flitted across her face. “If you got bit while you were staying here, it might put a dent in our tourism industry.”

He arched a brow. “Stone Gap has a tourism industry?”

“Well, only if you count the Fullertons, who come down every winter to vacation with the Whitmans.” Then she glanced at him again, and her cheeks grew pink. “Well, them...and you, of course.”

“Of course.” He looked down and noticed another place setting and a second menu at the seat across from her. For a date? Colton had no right to care whether Rachel was dating anyone or not, but a part of him did. He knew he should just let the conversation drop, let her go. He was leaving town in a few days, after all, and anything he started with this beautiful woman he would never be able to finish. Except he couldn’t seem to get his feet to move. “I wanted to thank you for the fishing advice you gave me.”

She waved that off and gave him a smile. A genuine one that brightened her eyes, her whole face. Something deep inside Colton warmed. “It was nothing. The advice comes free with the purchase of the rod and reel.”

Maybe so, and maybe she wasn’t interested in him, but in that moment Colton decided he wasn’t going to walk away with regret a second time. So maybe he was only going to be in town for a short while. And maybe she was waiting on a man. But he loved the way she smiled and especially loved the way she blushed, and he didn’t want to return to his seat without knowing when he was going to see her again. “Let me take you to lunch tomorrow.”

“Oh, I can’t.” She shook her head. “I’m working and it’s...difficult for me to get away.”

“Then dinner.”

“I have... I, uh, don’t think I can. I’m sorry.” Another head shake, this one a little slower and sadder.

“Are you just playing hard to get?” He grinned. “Or are you really this busy?”

“No, really, I am this busy. My life is...complicated right now.”

“Join the club. Mine is a bit of a mess.” He glanced again at the second place setting and decided maybe she simply wasn’t interested in him. “I’m sorry. I should let you get back to your date.”

“Good Lord, don’t do that. This poor girl hasn’t had sex in months.”

Rachel turned red as a beet. Colton spun around to find a short brunette with a big smile and an even bigger purse pulling out the second chair. She thrust a hand toward him. “I’m Melissa, her married best friend. Who is desperately trying to get Rachel back into the dating scene again before she shrivels up and dies like a prune. And you are...single and employed?”

He laughed. “Yes to the first, and sort of to the second. Colton Barlow. I’m a firefighter in Atlanta.”

Melissa grinned up at Colton, then shot another grin at Rachel. “He’s cute, did you notice?”

Rachel looked as though she wanted to run from the restaurant. So Colton pulled up another chair, spun it backward and straddled the seat. Which only made Rachel blush harder and piqued Colton’s interest more. “Maybe,” he said. “Seems like a nice enough town. With a lot of nice people.”

Melissa nodded. “Very nice. Rachel here is—”

“Trying to order dinner,” Rachel cut in. “Did you look at the menu yet, Melissa?”

Melissa waved a hand in dismissal. “I know the menu here. It never changes. Whereas the population of Stone Gap, well, looks like that is changing. And weren’t you just saying the other day that there were no good men to date in this town?”

Rachel choked on her water. Colton choked back a laugh then cleared his throat.

“Then maybe you should take me up on my lunch invitation,” Colton said to Rachel. “So you can eliminate one more single man from the list.”

“He asked you to lunch?” Melissa said. She leaned across the table. “And you said no? Why on earth did you say no?”

“I’m busy and—” Rachel threw up her hands. “I am not having this discussion. I’m ordering some food.” She signaled to the waitress. A young blonde came bouncing over to the table, readying a pad of paper.

“What can I get you?” the girl said. She chewed a stick of gum while she talked, which added a snap to each syllable.

“I’d like the fish tacos,” Rachel said. “And a glass of chardonnay. Melissa?”

But Melissa wasn’t paying attention. She was staring at Colton as if he was the last man on earth and she was going to wrap him up and deliver him to Rachel for Christmas. “Did you say Barlow? As in related to Mac, Jack and Luke?”

He nodded. “They’re my half brothers.”

“Well, then, that’s a whole other vote in your favor. Everybody loves the Barlows.” Melissa leaned in toward Colton and lowered her voice. “Rachel is a bit...stubborn, and she is busier than anyone I’ve ever met, but believe me, she is worth whatever hell she puts you through to date her.”

“Melissa!”

“What? I’m just making a case for you.” Melissa grinned. She turned to the waitress, who was standing there, tapping her pen on her pad. “Bring me the seafood salad. Those darn kids have left me on a perpetual diet. And for the gentleman—”

“Who isn’t staying,” Rachel cut in.

“See what I said? Stubborn.” Melissa grinned at Colton. “But don’t let that... Oh, look. It’s Bobby and Della.”

Colton turned and saw his father, standing by the hostess station with another couple, and Della, his wife—and the mother of the other Barlow boys. At the same time, Bobby noticed Colton, and he stiffened. He whispered something to Della, and she turned toward Colton. She worked up a smile and gave Colton a little wave.

Colton stared toward Bobby, but a pained look filled his father’s face. The other couple, unaware of the tension filling the restaurant, started chatting with Bobby. He gave Colton a half nod then turned his attention back to the people he was with. A second later the hostess gathered up a pile of menus and started waving toward a table on the far end of the room.

A deep ache started in Colton’s chest. The father he’d always wanted, the father he had finally found, and despite the auspicious beginning they’d had at Jack’s wedding, Colton could tell Bobby still looked uncomfortable with the idea of welcoming his illegitimate son into the family fold.

It was a small town, after all, and that meant they would inevitably run into each other. Colton told himself he hadn’t expected a warm, familial welcome, but—

He had. He’d hoped for some Hollywood reunion, with his father trotting him around town with pride, telling everyone that Colton was his son.

A son who let two of his best friends die in a fire? Did you really think he’d want to spread that news?

Colton shook off the thoughts. If he let the guilt in, he knew it would take over every thought, and he’d be stuck in that limbo he’d barely climbed out of. He needed to move forward, make a new start. Not dwell on the past and choices he couldn’t undo.

“I’ll let you ladies enjoy your dinner,” Colton said, then got to his feet. He crossed over to Bobby and Della as they made their way through the room, thinking maybe he had misread the look on Bobby’s face. But no, the closer Colton drew, the more Bobby’s face pinched, and the deeper the dread sank in Colton’s gut.

“Hi, Colton,” Della said. She was a warm and welcoming woman with dark copper hair and a wide smile. Colton had liked her on the spot. If there was one word he associated with Della Barlow, it was grace. Despite finding out her husband had had an affair, and that the relationship had produced a child, Della had treated him as one of the family. For that, Colton was grateful.

“Yeah, uh, hi,” Bobby said. The five of them had stopped in the center of the restaurant, twenty feet from the empty table. “Nice to see you again, Colton.”

A tall, thin man with glasses as round as salad bowls looked over at Colton with a mixture of familiarity and confusion. “Come on and join us, son.” The man squinted. “Wait. Are you Mac?”

“No. I’m Colton.”

“Colton?” The man looked at Bobby. “Who’s Colton? One of the cousins?”

“Yeah, uh, look, why don’t you go grab the table, Jerry? Della and I will be right there.”

“Sure, sure.” Jerry and his wife took a seat at the table and accepted menus from the hostess. They sent over one more confused glance in Bobby’s direction.

“How...how are you?” Bobby said.

“Good. Pretty much the same as yesterday.”