“Always thought you two . . .”
Laurel drowned out the conversation happening behind her. Too many locals had opinions about the two of them, and she didn’t care to hear which side Arnie was on. It wouldn’t change anything. She stared at the two heads in front of her, uncertain whether the line was too long or too short. The sooner she had her coffee, the sooner she’d have to hear whatever it was Chase wanted so badly to tell her. A knot twisting in her stomach warned her she wouldn’t like it.
“Heard there was a fire north of town last night,” Laurel overheard Arnie say to Chase as she stepped up to the counter and ordered. “Anyone hurt?”
“No, no one was there.”
Laurel hated to admit her curiosity was piqued. When she and Chase were first married, he was only a volunteer firefighter working seasonal jobs with demanding hours and solid pay. But when they found out they were pregnant, Chase vowed to find something more stable with benefits and set his sights on one of only two paid positions with the fire department.
After she left town five years ago, she expected him to abandon that pursuit. She never thought he was passionate about the position that promised more paperwork and politics than fieldwork. She still found it surprising that he was the deputy fire chief, second in charge of the whole fire department.
Maybe I was wrong about what he wanted.
“It was that old shack off Jack Rabbit Creek Road, wasn’t it?” Arnie asked. In the brief silence that followed his question, Laurel caught Chase nodding from her peripherals. “Thought the department was going to burn it for practice last summer.”
“Everything dried up before we had a chance. Couldn’t risk it,” Chase answered.
“However it happened, I’m glad that eyesore’s gone.”
“A lot of people are.” Because Laurel knew him, she recognized the evasiveness in his answer. Something bothered him, and she hated even more that it botheredher. She’d always care about Chase. That much was inevitable. But this unbreakable thread-thin connection that existed between them should have broken by now.
“Here you go.” Charlene held out a fresh coffee to Laurel. “Try not to dump this one out, okay?” Her eyes twinkled as her gaze flickered to Chase, then back to Laurel. “Unless he deserves it, of course. Then, by all means.”
“I’m not with him,” she said quickly, her cheeks heating. “He was just—”
“You’re blushing, sweetie.” With a wink, she moved to finish Chase’s cup, leaving Laurel to duck her head and pretend to search for stoppers she already knew were on backorder. It was only that Chase Monroe had caught her off guard this morning that she was acting this way. After a solid cup of coffee, distance, and a two-hour nap, she would have her head on straight again.
She took a deep sip, allowing the caffeine to filter through her veins.
“Don’t want to take any chances on that one, huh?” Chase’s teasing voice forced her eyes open. She stepped out of the way in time to avoid his reaching arm securing napkins. “Me, either.”
Laurel checked her phone to avoid the mischievous gleam in his eyes, willing a text or call. Didn’t Melly need diapers, or wasn’t Cody short a kayak guide?Of all the mornings for everyone to go radio silent.
“Let’s take a walk.” Chase touched her shoulder, urging her toward the door.
“I don’t have much time.”
He held the door open, obviously seeing right through that lie. “It won’t take long.”
Laurel eyed her car longingly, but where would she go? The books were caught up. Haylee and her mom were both cranky from a sleepless night, no doubt fighting over the remote. Kinley and Ava were working, as were her brothers. “Fine, but make it quick.”
Together they strolled down Main Street toward the water as Laurel sipped on her coffee. Already she wished she’d asked for two. She scanned for Ed, but saw no signs of the moose that had popped up out of nowhere.
“Ed’s probably running laps around the town after that sugar rush,” Chase offered, causing her to laugh.
A sliver of tension disappeared, allowing Laurel to look ahead and appreciate the bright blue sky that held only a dusting of wispy clouds. The mountaintops welcomed the bright June sun in all their glory. Moments like these made her remember why she loved it here so much. One only had to stare off into the beauty to feel as if even the toughest days were conquerable.
Her happy thoughts were short-lived as the bay approached too quickly. Laurel was less at peace and more desperate to avoid Chase’s news every second possible. The knot in her stomach was back with a vengeance. She stalled, checking her phone, willing it to ring. Surely Mom needed her to grab some milk or Dad wanted her to rerun some figures for the store. At this rate, she’d even welcome a call from her middle sister, Sadie. She wasthatdesperate.
“What’s up with that fire?” she asked. “The one Arnie Powers was asking about.”
“Old shack burned down last night. That’s all.”
Laurel raised an eyebrow at Chase, staring at him through a yawn of his own until he met her eyes. “There’s something more. You’re worried about something.”
They crossed the last street before the water and Chase nodded toward a bench that overlooked the bay. A couple of joggers ran along the sidewalk in front of it before he sat down. “We haven’t had enough rainfall this year. That fire could’ve been a whole lot worse.”
“Do you think it was an accident?”
