“What do you mean you didn’t tell her?” Bryce was frowning from the bench where he sat.
Brady stood in front of the mirror, dressing. He could see his brother in the glass. They were opposite in appearance. Bryce was dark-haired and dark-eyed. “The opportunity didn’t come up.” He turned around. “That’s not exactly true. I didn’t want to…ruin the time with her. You know how people I don’t know react when I confess all.”
“Did something happen between you two?”
He knew his face reddened, but he held his brother’s gaze anyway. “One little thing. I helped her with her coat and smelled her hair. I got…it was the first time I was attracted to a woman since Jenny died.”
Bryce sighed. “Aw, Brady, don’t say it like you committed a sin.”
“I of all people know what a sin is.”
“You also know what I mean. How did it feel?”
“It felt great.”
“I’m glad. Jenny’s been gone a long time.”
That made him sad. Jenny Newton became Jenny Jamison the year they both graduated from college. She’d been a wonderful wife and mother. A case of adult leukemia took her in two months.
“Brade?”
“I’m fine.” He glanced at his watch. “Uh-oh. I have to get out there.”
“All right. See you then.” Bryce left him alone.
Brady took a few deep breaths and centered himself. Then he walked out of the vestibule and onto the altar. He faced his congregation. “I say it’s time for Church.” His regular Sunday morning beginning.
“It’s time for Church!” the congregation repeated.
“Let’s read from the screen.” Not depending on hymnals all the time was an innovation he made after his father retired from his ministry five years ago. “We’ll say the opening prayer together.
“Blessed Lord, Spirit within me. Give us the calmness to clear our minds of all anxiety and let you fill us with your grace. Help us to get to know you better today. Give us a service that helps us take you out into the world this week. Amen.”
* * *
“So, you’re gonna live here?” Her son’s voice was surly, meant to annoy. Contrary to Melody, Phillip had resisted moving up to Crystal Corners in October or even visiting. Finally, Lynne put her foot down the last two weekends she was scheduled to have him.
“No, honey. This is a rental. I’m searching for a permanent place for us.”
“Will I have my own room, Mommy? That I can decorate? I can’t here.” This child was excited and happy. Her long blond hair was like Lynne’s and she’d gotten her blue eyes from her dad.
“You both’ll have your own rooms.” With her firefighting income higher than it was in Dannerville, despite her demotion to lieutenant, and child support from Ken, plus half of their assets, Lynne was hoping to buy a house as soon as the divorce was final and their investments divided. Though this was a lovely place, she longed for something of her own.
Phillip grunted about his new room.
“Now, how about some lunch?”
The kids agreed and they went to the kitchen. As she made their favorite BLTs, Phillip crossed to the sliding doors and looked out at the blustery November day. He resembled Ken, with blue eyes and light brown hair, cut close around the bottom. Melody sat on a stool at the counter and kicked her feet.
“So, I made plans to meet Tess at the Y and swim, then have dinner out. Pizza maybe.”
“I don’t wanna go.” Poor Phillip. He liked Vinny DiMarco, but he was a typical teenager. Sometimes, it felt like he was trying to be difficult.
“Vinny will be there. You like hanging out with him.”
No response.
“Are Izzy and Maria coming?” Mel asked.
“They are.”
“Hey, Mommy. Can we call Emma, the girl we met on Halloween, and ask her to come, too?”
Lynne’s stomach lurched a bit. “Oh, sweetie. We don’t know them that well. I don’t even have their phone number.”
“Okay.” Luckily, Mel had a sunny personality.
Lunch went fine. Phillip was a growing boy and ate two big sandwiches. Once fed, he seemed a bit more relaxed when he trundled upstairs to get ready without further complaint.
An hour later, after picking everybody up in her van, the seven of them walked into the Y’s pool area. Lynne had joined the facility as soon as she moved, a perk of her health insurance. The other Sisters of Fire belonged here, too.
Tess and Lynne found chaises together, a miracle on a Saturday afternoon. The girls splashed in the shallow end though they could all swim, and the guys went off to the side and sat on the edge of the pool. “Oh, dear. The boys are eying a group of girls sitting down from them.”
Tess laughed. “They’re thirteen, nearly fourteen, Lynne.”
“Yeah, I guess that would be at the top of their interests now.”
“Of course, it is.” At four-months pregnant, Tess glowed. She wore a blousy two piece black and white suit though they’d finally told the kids she was carrying a brother or sister. “How are they doing?”
“Phillip’s stubborn. He has a lovely room at David’s house, but is whiny when he stays with me.”
“Kids react to their parents’ divorce, sweetie.”
“I guess you’d know. How soon before he’s civil again?”
“With Vinny it took longer because he went to live with Vince. But I have some news on that front. He’s asked to come back to stay with me and David now.”
“Tess. You must be so happy.”
“We’re all thrilled.”
“I think he’s mad at us. Ken called me to say he’s been absolutely impossible with him.”
“He knows about Mary, right?”
“Yes. Phillip also told me she was, and I quote, knocked up but he wouldn’t talk about it. Ken thinks there’s a rumor circulating around town.”
“At least he knows the divorce isn’t your fault.”
“Phillip said when he got surly about it, that Ken shouted his mother had left them anyway.”
“The bastard.”
Lynne kept an eye on the girls. Mel was pouring water over Maria’s head now with a small bucket. “I’m so glad you moved up. We can spend time like this together.”
“Thanks. I told Brooke the same thing a few days ago.”
After a half hour of chitchat, Lynne and Tess each dove into the water from the deep end and swam to the shallow part.
When they passed the boys, Vinny cupped his hands around his mouth. “Way to go, Mom!”
The afternoon went pleasantly. They left the Y around five for an early dinner. Once they got to the Crystal City Pizzeria they confiscated a long rectangular table, and the kids talked among themselves while Tess and Lynne perused the menu. Spicy sauce and the scent of dough made everybody famished. After the waitress took their order, a couple came inside. Brady Jamison. With a very pretty woman. This time, Lynne’s heart skipped a beat.
“What is it, Lynne?”
“Mommy, it’s that guy from Halloween.”
Tess’s brows rose.
The two of them headed towards a booth but when Brady caught sight of her, they detoured over. “Hi, there.”
“Hi.” Lynne’s voice didn’t come out normal.
“Where’s Emma?” Melody asked.
“With her grandparents. This is my sister, Brianna Fisher.”
Lynne introduced Tess and her family and Phillip, who scowled at him. Brady seemed surprised to see she had a son.
“We went swimming at the Y,” Mel told him. “I wanted to ask Emma but we didn’t have your phone number.” She said to Lynne, “Get it, Mommy. Okay?”
Lynne took her phone out so he could enter his contact information. Their pizza arrived. “We’ll let you eat. Nice to meet you all and to see you two again.”
She couldn’t help but study him as he left. A taupe sweater spanned his broad shoulders. And that butt…
Tess poked her in the ribs. Her expression said, We need to talk.
Lynn smiled. Soon, all the Sisters of Fire would know about this mysterious man from Halloween.
* * *
As Brady drove to Adam Matthews’ house, he thought about Lynne Lucas. She’d been adorable yesterday with her blond hair damp, her face flushed. After seeing her at the pizza place, he’d dreamed about her last night. She and Brady were in bed. Damn it, he didn’t want to belabor that nocturnal adventure. His psychology degree told him having sexy dreams was normal human behavior, but Brady wasn’t a normal person.
He pulled into the driveway and Adam’s father opened the front door and waited for him to get out. “Come on in, Reverend Brady. You’re just in time.”
“Hello, Carlton.” Brady stepped inside the house. “On time, you mean?”
“That too. We had another one of our rows.”
“I’m sorry to hear it. And that you’re fighting so much with your son.”
“There are rules in this house, Pastor.”
Strict rules, too strict rules. These people were by-the-book religious, and had a difficult time with the liberal policies of the church, especially after Brady took over. “Before you say more, I’d like to go visit with Adam.”
Brady often spent one-on-one time with the kids in his Boys Group.
“You know the way. Martha was so upset she went out to her mother’s.”
Brady climbed the steep staircase, common in the older Crystal City homes. He knocked on Adam’s door and heard, “Go away.”
“It’s me, Reverend Brady.”
The door unlocked from the inside and Adam opened it. The boy seemed haggard, a word not usually applied to teenagers. “Hi.”
“Hi. You knew I was coming, right? We planned this.”
“I did. Sorry I barked at you.”
“I’m not offended.” He noticed again the sparsity of the room. Most boys had posters up, even borderline-decent ones, pictures of them and their friends, clever sayings. This room only contained a cross. He took the chair at Adam’s desk and the boy dropped down on the mattress, facing him. “What’s up? Your parents are upset with you?”
“Nothing new. I break their rules, we have a fight, then we don’t talk to each other much for a few days.”
“The anxiety level in this house must wear on all of you.”
Adam sniffed. “No, not for me.”
“You keep saying that, but I can tell you’re stressed.”
“How?”
“In our group, you get irritable easily. You snapped at Linc when he brought up a problem you didn’t want to discuss. And you had trouble focusing that day.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t come anymore.”
Ah, teenage bravado. Brady softened his tone as much as he could. “Please don’t do that. I want you there.”
The teen’s eyes filled. “Nobody wants me here.”
“Of course, they do.”
“They want their version of me.”
“And what is that version?”
“A holy son.” Adam’s blue eyes darkened with pain and his words were hoarsely uttered.
“Holy?”
“Yeah, like you know, pious.”
“You go to church with them every Sunday.”
“I don’t study the Bible enough. Only when they force me to read it in front of them.”
“I’m sorry they feel that way. The Bible isn’t for everybody.”
“Watch out saying that around them.”
“In our denomination, people are allowed to have different views on what it means to be a Christian.”
The boy didn’t respond.
“So,” Brady said, “Let’s talk about you outside of this house. How’s Cindy?” His very steady girlfriend.
“She’s great.” Delight replaced the sadness in his voice. “But that’s why they’re mad now.”
“Is it the same objection you talked about in group? That you’re too serious with her. There’s too much temptation?”
“Yep.”
“Do you think she tempts you?”
He reddened.
“Adam, you can talk to me about sex. We should be doing that in the boys group.” Which he initiated last year. The girls in the church complained about not having a group, and when Brady offered to talk with them, too, they balked. Jenny could have helped him out with that.
Adam shook his head. “That’s general stuff at group.”
“Do you want to talk with me about specifics.”
Again, the boy reddened. “My parents, they make me think I’m sinful for what Cindy and me, you know, do together.”
“I understand. You do know that a healthy sexual appetite is common among boys your age.”
“Yeah, but not right.”
Hmm, he was going to have to walk carefully here. Time to fall back on church. “Some religions think divorce is wrong. Being gay is wrong. Missing church is wrong.”
“We don’t.”
“You’re right. The United Church of Christ is more liberal than many others.”
“Dad thinks we’re too liberal. He says your father kept people on the straight and narrow, but you’re too far left.”
“My dad was more conservative than I am in his personal beliefs, but he, like the UCC denomination, believes in making religion personal. Your relationship with God is yours. Your feelings about the Bible are, too. Even what God, or the Spirit, means to you is personal.”
“That makes me feel better. Can you tell that to Dad?”
“I can if he asks me. I won’t interfere with you two by taking sides.”
“I guess. Wanna play a video game?”
The signal that a kid was done sharing for now. “You mean you wanna get creamed again?”
“No way in hell.”
Brady didn’t reprimand him. Some thought the use of curse words was wrong. Brady had a whole different view on what swearing was. But for now, he’d enjoy Legions of Cortana, which would take them both into a different head space.
That was fine with him. He needed distraction from his own thoughts today.
* * *
“First question is in the category of Movies before 2000. Who starred in the film Love Story?”
Lynne sputtered out her beer. She dared a glance at Brady. He was biting his lip.
Carly said, “Well, we all know it’s Ryan O’Neal.” She smiled at Brady. “But I can’t remember the woman’s name.”
“Ali McGraw,” Lynne and Brady said in unison.
They wrote it down on the sheet to answer tonight’s trivia.
“Question 2: Name one of the women who Gene Kelly danced with in Singing in the Rain?
Brady chuckled. “My mother loves that movie. One of them is Debbie Reynolds.”
Several members, like Mike Holly, too young to remember Reynolds’ heyday, looked confused. All night, Lynne caught him staring at her.
A few more questions were posed that Lynne didn’t know but she could swear Brady did. And how had she ended up in his group, anyway, for tonight’s Flying Solo outing at El Paso’s, a Mexican restaurant in Elmwood?
After the first round ended, they took a break for dinner. The tables were divided by group. Brady said to Lynne, “There’s a buffet here of taco stuff. They usually have fish, beef and/or ground turkey, and vegetables as fillings.” He took a bead on her. “You’re not a vegetarian, right?”
“Nah. I love beef and fish. But I do eat the vegetarian entree sometimes if it’s interesting.”
A waitress appeared. “Table one, you start.”
They rose, and Brady let everybody go first. But he held Lynne back so they could be in line together. “I’ll show you the ropes.”
She didn’t need that, but he could be damned cute with his curly hair and hazel eyes. She wondered if he knew that. He seemed to have a real sense of humility that was rare in people.
They both picked the whole wheat tortillas, took generous portions of beef, piled on grated Mexican cheese, sliced avocados and black beans.
Brady reached for the spiciest sauce, and at the same time, so did Lynne. Their hands met on the bottle of dressing. Brady’s eyes widened, and Lynne felt a stirring deep within her. “You first, my dear.”
“Thank you, sir.”
A pitcher of beer had been delivered to their table. They took seats, and Mike filled everybody’s glass. When he got to Lynne, he smiled. “Here you go, pretty lady.”
Brady seemed taken back by the comment and bit generously into his taco. His face reddened. “Ugh! It’s burning my mouth.”
“Weakling.” Lynne took a big bite, too. It was hot, but not too bad for her.
“I can’t believe you swallowed it down like that.”
“What can I say? I’m tough.”
His eyes twinkled. “You must be.”
* * *
When dinner was cleared, Brady felt sated. Soon, the next game began. The questioner told them the next categories: sports, celebrities and holy cow, religion. He’d have to be careful not to star at that.
“First question, Who was struck down on the road to Damascus?”
“Paul,” Carly said, “Piece of cake.”
Actually, Brady thought, his name was Saul before he got struck down by God. But he kept his mouth shut.
“Second question, What are the important books in the Jewish religion and in the Muslim faith?”
Many people knew the Torah and the Quran respectively.
“Who is the father of Israel?”
Immediately, Lynne said, “Abraham. I love that name, wanted to give it to my son, but I was overridden.” By her husband, he presumed.
Lynne also starred at sports, and Brady again, held himself in check. During dinner and the game, he noticed again how the young firefighter, Mike Holly, made overtures to Lynne. They’d certainly had something in common. But Brady found himself disliking Mike’s attention to her.
The last category was Disney shows. “Oh, boy,” Brady quipped devilishly, rubbing his hands together.
When the event ended, he walked out side-by-side with Lynne, leaving Holly in the dust. He said, “If the next outing is in Elmwood, we should drive together.”
She gave him a sincere smile. “I’d like that.”
It had gotten dark, of course, as the evening progressed. And nippy. He buttoned up his coat and she zipped her jacket, then looped a multicolored scarf around her neck. They both put on gloves. “The night’s cold, but crisp, and clean.” Brady grinned. “I like this kind of weather.”
“Hmm. It’s brutal fighting fires in the winter.”
“I never thought about that. Is it dangerous?”
“It can be. The biggest thing is the varying temperatures firefighters experience. We’re dressed to stay warm outdoors which can cause a risk of overheating inside the building. If firefighters go back out to get new air tanks, which happens a lot, the situation reverses almost instantly from hyperthermia to hypothermia.”
Brady stopped short on the sidewalk. “That’s awful.”
She stopped, too. “We have new gear that helps with that. A lot of people believe firefighters are crazy. They run into burning buildings while others are running out.”
He tipped her chin and moved in closer. “You are quite a woman, you know that, Lynne Lucas?”
“Thanks. And I have a feeling you’re a very special kind of man.”
She didn’t know his profession, so she couldn’t be talking about that. “What do you mean?”
“I could tell you could have killed all those categories. But you held back so others could answer. You didn’t show off.”
“Into psychology?” he asked her.
“Some. I know that’s what you do professionally, but this wasn’t clinical. You have an innate caring for others.”
They started walking again and reached the spot where she’d parked her car on the street. They stopped, and she unlocked her car, then turned to him. A few neighborhood lamps on the street gave them some visibility. Her cheeks were red, but her smile was warm. “I had a wonderful night. By the way,” she asked, “did I end up in your group by happenstance?”
“I’ll never tell.”
Leaning over, he brushed his lips across hers and she grasped onto his arm. He simply couldn’t stop himself but she participated. It felt like the most natural thing in the world. But he drew back before it went any further. “Goodnight.”
Her hand rose to her lips, as if to savor the sensation. “To you, too, Brady.”
He turned and walked away, wanting to climb right into that car with her and do whatever she’d let him. Hell of a thing for a minister to be thinking!