“You didn’t need this on top of the arson problem, did you?” she murmured, and then, “What is this? We’re talking like kids on a sleepover. It’s the middle of the night.”
“Well, quit talking then, sugar.”
“You first.”
“I can’t go to sleep if you’re going to spoon against me like that.”
“Oh, yeah you can,” she whispered again, and the damn woman-and really, Lily could be mighty annoying sometimes-was right.
That was the last thing he remembered until daylight.
When Lily awoke, she was burrowed into Griff’s shoulder like a squirrel in wintertime. The room was snuggle-cool, all the shades drawn, Griff’s warmth the perfect way to open her eyes.
Until she did open her eyes, and unfortunately remembered her life.
She was in a strange bed, wearing nothing at all, in the middle of a town of people who seemed to think she was an arsonist, where trying to clear her father’s name had caused unexplained trouble for everyone. On top of which, she was in love with a man she had as much in common with as peanut butter and anchovies.
It was enough to wake up a girl fast.
She sneaked out of bed, tiptoed around to find toothpaste and steal his deodorant, then pulled yesterday’s clothes out of the dryer and went in search of a coffeemaker. Griff needed all the sleep he could get, she figured-since being around her seemed to have shortened everyone’s sleep in the whole town. Including her own.
She peeked in on Jason, who was also sleeping like the dead, curled up in a fetal position, the light still on, looking very much like a normal, innocent ten-year old…except for the swollen red-and-black eye. Her heart clenched. It wasn’t totally her fault she’d fallen for Griff. The big faker was exactly that kind of man-the type who’d take in a battered kid, who’d take on the system, who’d pick up a child who wasn’t remotely his responsibility in the middle of the night and stand up for him.
She aimed for his kitchen, prowled around. The boys were going to probably want eggs and a serious breakfast, so she located where various pots and pans and supplies were, then started up his German coffee machine.
While coffee brewed, she dug in her purse for her cell phone, switched it on. Voicemail indicated almost a dozen calls-six of them from Cate. Her oldest sister had probably worked herself into an ulcer by now.
Lily waited until she had the first mug poured, then carried it through the living room, opened a glass door and sank in a chair on the patio. The morning was already lushly warm, but a breeze whisked through the air. More to the point, the boys wouldn’t likely hear raised voices from outside, and Cate, even from a thousand miles away, was likely mad enough to rival a symphony in volume. She took a long pull on the coffee, hit redial, and waited for the blast.
“You don’t put yourself in dangerous situations, you dimwit. Do you hear me? The three of us-we’re not losing each other. Period. If you’re in trouble, we’re all in trouble, and now we’ve got a couple of husbands to add to the protection force. You don’t just…”
Yada yada. Lily finished the first cup, went back for a second before she got a word in edgewise, and finally slipped in an “I totally love you, Cate.” Usually that stopped Cate dead in her tracks, no matter how wild a rant she was on.
And that worked for a while. She filled Cate in on the newspaper records, the teenage girl likely responsible for three of the old arson fires, how or if they could possibly be linked to their parents’ fire-and the current arson incidents.
Cate interrupted to ask, “So that teenage girl, she’d be between thirty-five and forty now?”
“Add twenty years to back then. Yes.”
But neither of them could seem to conclude more than that. It had been a long time since Lily had been able to coax Cate-or Sophie-to talk about the fire. All three knew what that fire had cost them-fear of loss, grief that never went away, the loss of home and life and everything they knew. None of the three had ever felt safe again.
It was always there, the knowledge that fate could suddenly step in and rip out everything from beneath you.
Lily said, “My plan today is to hit the social service office. I don’t know if the social worker is still there who had our case, but it’s really bugged me. Why were the three of us separated? Doesn’t have anything to do with the fire, I guess-but I want to know how it was decided that we sisters should be split up.”
“Good,” Cate said thoughtfully. “And then…did you happen to look up the old high school yearbooks?”
Lily frowned, looked into her empty cup, and ambled back to the kitchen with the cell still glued to her ear. “Why?”
“You pinned down a reason for fires. Something we never had before. A girl who was jilted or hurt. The year of the fire-and maybe the year before? So, if she was a teenager, maybe her picture will be in the high school yearbook.”
“I can’t imagine that I could conceivably recognize anyone.”
“Probably not.” Cate sighed. “It’s just grasping at straws. But even if the faces mean nothing to you, maybe a name will ring a bell. Or something could be familiar.”
“Okay. No harm in trying.” She heard a door open, saw Griff emerge from the hall, his hair sleep-tousled, his chin beard-bristly. Barefoot, wearing nothing but cutoffs, she thought he looked downright edible.
“Then get out, Lily. I mean it. I admit, I’m glad you went there. Sophie is, too. You uncovered a bunch of things that we never expected to know, and we all wanted that. But no ‘closure’ malarkey is worth your being in danger. Cross your Ts, see if there’s anything else to find, but then, for Pete’s sake, pack up.”
“Hmm.” She watched Griff pause in Jason’s doorway, peer in, and then make a beeline straight for her. Didn’t look right or left, didn’t notice the day or the darkening sky or the mess in his kitchen. He pounced. Pressed a kiss tight to the top of her head. Then zoned for the coffee machine.
“Lily, are you listening?”
“Yes.”
“You’re at his house, aren’t you.”
“Yes.”
“Stop saying ‘yes’ or I’m flying there as fast as I can buy ticket. How far has it gone?”
“As far as anything in my life,” Lily said simply. She hung up. Not intentionally. She saw Griff had filled his mug and had already put it down, was aiming for her again. Without thinking about it, she put down the phone-just in time to lift both her arms. Griff slid right between them, and hooked her into a good-morning kiss. A serious good-morning kiss this time. A life-altering good-morning kiss.
“Hey,” he murmured. The light in his eyes was strong enough to burn.
“Hey right back.”
“I have an idea.”
She laughed, shook her head. “We both have major agendas today. No time for ideas, big guy.”
“I’m fast.”
“Last I noticed, you were dazzlingly slow. But a far more immediately important agenda issue is walking up beyond you, handsome.”
Griff arched an arm, felt even before he saw Jason edge out of the hallway shadows, hustle to take a quick place against his side. Griff gently squeezed a hug, then let him loose. Lily watched him take a long look at the young, battered face.
“We’ve got some things to take care of, my main man.”
“I’m up for anything you are,” Jason said, and offered a hesitant smile to Lily.
“You guys aren’t going anywhere without a decent breakfast. Don’t even try,” Lily warned them.
The day’s plans were aired over scrambled eggs and guava-jam-covered toast. Griff had running around to do, organizing the cleanup of his shop, a little real work, some ordinary chores. “Jason’s hanging with me through that. But after lunch, we’re going to make a stop at social services.”