SCOTT STOOD ALONE in the dark with Evie as they waited for the towboat. Perhaps alone wasn’t the right word. There were dozens of boats docked in the marina. Booths and food vendors just closing for the evening. Evie had been anxious to have the marina open for the boat show weekend. She got her wish—just in time—but probably never expected some fool would make a mess of things by setting his boat on fire.
You can never predict what people will do. That’s why his job was to save them from themselves by trying to make the world idiot-proof. Fire lanes, sprinkler systems, exit signs. How much would be enough?
“Thank you for putting out the fire before it got any worse,” she said. “I’m so grateful you were close by.”
“You’re welcome. Just doing my job.”
Evie leaned against a dock post and glanced across the bay. Even in the low marina lighting, he could see she did not look happy.
Maybe he should try to cheer her up. It was a holiday weekend, after all. And he hadn’t exactly made her summer easy so far.
“It’s not so bad,” Scott said. He meant it. The damage could easily have been a lot worse. “Only one boat was destroyed. The guy had it coming, anyway, for being a reckless jerk.”
Evie shrugged. “Maybe he’s not a reckless jerk. He’s got vacation-brain syndrome.”
Was she making an excuse for the guy?
“There’s no excuse for playing with fire.” He heard the hard edge in his voice but couldn’t help it.
Evie crossed her arms as she continued to look across the bay. Probably waiting for the towboat so she could get out of here as soon as possible. She turned back to him. “Don’t you ever play with fire?” she asked.
Scott felt her words like a punch. Felt the air grow ten degrees colder. “No,” he said.
He was sorry he’d tried to be nice.
“So those stories about firefighters being closet pyromaniacs are just rumors?”
Heat crept over his neck and ears like a burn.
“No one I know or have ever worked with,” he said, clipping off the words with deadly deliberation, “would think it was fun to mess around with something that could kill.”
He stopped himself before he said too much. Opening his heart to Evie was not on his summer to-do list. He had a job here, and getting too friendly with her would make it more difficult.
“Hey, I was just kidding. Maybe you could lighten up. The whole world isn’t directly under your protection.”
Was she serious? Of course it was. Overlooking hazards was dereliction of duty. Negligence. Unthinkable.
“I won’t apologize for taking my job seriously,” he said.
“I take my job seriously, too, but—”
“If that were true, this marina would have opened on schedule,” Scott said, cutting her off.
Maybe it was a good thing he could barely see the expression on Evie’s face.
“You suck,” Caroline said as she passed him. She’d been close enough to hear what he’d said to Evie and was far more candid than his boss.
His boss. He should try to remember that. If he got himself canned from Starlight Point, he’d lose the opportunity to watch over his sister. But the truth was Evie needed him just as much as he needed her.
“I’m cutting off your lunch money,” Scott called after his sister. She held up her hand in a rude gesture as she kept walking. Maybe she doesn’t need my protection as much as I think she does.
He did not like that thought at all. Of course she needs me.
“Looks like Caroline doesn’t need your lunch money,” Evie said.
Why did he wish he could wipe away the hurt and anger on her face? He shouldn’t want to smooth the lines of frustration and kiss away the tension in her jaw. She was his boss. And she probably only tolerated his company because she had to. He needed to change the subject before he alienated her completely or pulled her into his arms.
Wouldn’t his sister love to see that?
Maybe he should dive into the water. He could make up some excuse like looking for hazardous materials leaking from the foundered boat. Yes. A cold bath in the interest of preparing the boat for towing would be smart.
But stupid. The water was dark. He wasn’t a certified diver. And the towboat handled this kind of navigational hazard every day. He should focus on business.
“We’ve got some time before the towboat gets here,” he said, trying for neutrality in his tone. “Why don’t you tell me about your hotel renovation plans?”
Evie’s head snapped up and she drilled him with her stare. “I’m not ready to present them for your approval yet.”
“I wasn’t asking for an official submission,” he said. “Just curious.”
The owner of the boat walked over and stood looking at the burnt out shell with an expression of rue and shock. His friend joined him and they mournfully examined the listing craft.
“Your wife isn’t going to believe your story,” the owner’s stocky friend said.
“She’s not that bright. She believed it when I told her the trash truck hit her car in our driveway. If you don’t go along with my story, I’ll tell her you were to blame.”
“Hey,” the stocky man said. “It was dark. And I swear that car wasn’t parked there when I showed up for the poker game.”
The owner shrugged. “Accidents happen. Just like the accidental fire on the boat docked next to mine that spread to my boat before they could stop it.”
“You’re not going to lie to your insurance company, are you?” Evie asked. “Because when your agent talks to mine, the truth will come out. I think you should know I have no intention of lying for you. You could have burned down my entire marina. Would have if it weren’t for my excellent staff of firefighters.”
Scott was surprised by the steel in her tone. She’d been ready to sock him in the gut a moment ago and now she was endorsing him?
“You owe this man a thank-you,” Evie said, pointing directly at Scott. “He raced to put out the fire without his turnout gear and helmet.”
“Why didn’t you have them with you?” the boat owner asked.
Scott cocked his head and stared at the reckless fool. “Left them in my other fire truck. You can read all about it in the full report the fire inspector sends to the insurance company.”
“I haven’t seen any inspector here.”
“You’re looking at him,” Scott said. “You should call it a night before you say something you’ll regret.”
The boat owner and his friend swiveled and moved down the dock.
Scott watched them go and tried to relax the tension in his shoulders and fists. When he hazarded a glance at Evie, she was smiling.
“Remind me not to fight with you,” she said.
Her smile made his tension disappear like salt dissolving in water. It was dangerous, letting himself be drawn to Evie. For so many reasons.
“We’re on the same side,” he said.
“Then I’ll give you a sneak preview of my hotel plans. But it’s not public knowledge yet. I’m supposed to make a grand reveal this summer.” She laughed. “I should probably get going on that since the summer is now officially half over. On the day of the marina ribbon cutting, I told the press that there would be an upcoming media event about the hotel.”
Scott flashed to an image of that day—Evie in a soaking white dress walking along the outer loop, vulnerable and beautiful. He cleared his throat.
“What?” Evie asked.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about the…rain that day. I meant to change the windshield wiper blades on the pumper. I’ll set a reminder in my phone.”
He pulled the smartphone out of his pocket and pretended to swipe through screens. The electronic light from the phone cast an eerie glow over them in the darkened marina.
Scott had no idea how to make a note or set a reminder in his phone. He pushed buttons for a reasonable amount of time and then slid it back in his pocket.
“I’m trying to bring the hotel up to date without losing the old-fashioned feel,” Evie said.
Scott nodded. He pictured modern fire-suppression systems. Integrated alarms. High-output sprinkler heads.
“Flat-screen televisions, state-of-the-art bathrooms, high-efficiency lighting and ventilation,” Evie said.
Perhaps their interpretations of up to date aren’t the same.
“And?” he prompted.
“It’s a big project,” she said. “I want to leave the central rotunda and original lobby, plus two of the century-old wings. But if I can get the project moving on time—” She lowered her voice and glanced around.
Scott felt that he was being let in on a family secret. Great Aunt Tillie buried ten million bucks in the vegetable garden.
“—I want to tear down the two outer wings and rebuild them from the ground up,” Evie finished.
Scott let out a low whistle. “That’s ambitious.” And, boy, would it require a reconfiguration of the current fire-suppression system. He’d seen the old system lumbering away in the Lake Breeze, barely adequate and in grave danger of failing if ever taxed with an actual fire. It was truly a miracle the Hamiltons had gotten away with it for as long as they had. Probably the historic status of the hotel was the only thing keeping it legal. It was too old to force compliance with modern standards. Unless it was renovated or rebuilt.
“Ambitious.” Evie cocked her head. “That’s exactly what Aunt Augusta said.”
“The lady who owns the bakery?”
“Her niece actually owns it. Aunt Augusta is part inspiration and part assistant.”
“I love those doughnuts,” Scott admitted. Maybe they should stick to safe topics like sprinkles versus powder or maple cream filling versus lemon. Had he eaten dinner today? He couldn’t remember. “It’s an occupational hazard having the shop right down the street from the fire station. Guys can take a radio and walk over there and still stay in range. We might need to add a fitness center to the fire station.”
“That’s a good idea. It could go in one of the new wings,” Evie said. She brushed back her hair and looked across the bay as if he wasn’t even there. She was managing to stay on topic even if he wasn’t.
“So you’ll have building plans for new wings,” Scott said, back to business. “A general site plan with water mains and access considered. That comes first.”
“And we’ll modernize and update the rotunda and original wings,” Evie added, her voice sounding miles away. “Mostly cosmetic there, but still enough glitz that guests will want to come back.”
When Scott heard the word cosmetic in reference to a building renovation, hairs stood up on the back of his neck. Cosmetic changes were responsible for lurking hazards in buildings all over the globe. False ceilings where fire traveled silently, waiting to kill. False walls trapping heat and endangering firefighters who were using an old schematic for the building.
Cosmetic changes covering up the old and ugly were a raging fire menace. He rolled his shoulders, trying to keep his opinion to himself but struggling. No way would he approve plans that created hidden danger. He would fight them with every single word in the fire code, even if he had to stretch the code. He had to ensure no one ever died in a hotel fire.
A searchlight swept over him and Evie. The red towboat motored silently into the marina and illuminated the upturned hull of the burned boat.
He and Evie would tangle about the hotel renovation. It was as inevitable as summer turning to fall. Just not tonight.
* * *
EVIE JUMPED ON the ferry fifteen seconds after it should have left the dock. The captain had seen her coming and stood waiting, deck line in hand. This was not the first night she’d grabbed the eleven-thirty ferry back to Bayside. With an official closing time of ten o’clock, it was often after eleven before the park was clear, the receipts under lock and key, and she could retreat to the quiet of her downtown flat.
She used to walk across the parking lot to the family home, but she was slowly getting attached to the idea of a little distance. Tomorrow night would be a different story. With fireworks and a midnight close and who knew how long until the guests all left and the accounts matched, she would crawl home so late she’d wonder why she bothered.
Maybe she should see if she could get her car started in the morning. It would give her the luxury of wheels and freedom just in case she missed the last ferry after the Fourth of July crowd finally headed home.
“Thanks, Ken,” she said.
“Heard you had a little excitement here tonight. Did some guy really set off fireworks from the bow of his boat?”
Evie smiled. “News travels fast.”
“I have my sources.”
Evie sank into the closest seat, not wanting to stall the ferry any longer on its last run of the night. It was dark and she brushed against the other person on the bench seat.
“Sorry,” she said.
There was no answer. And the guy was taking up far more than his share of the space. Maybe she should move. She took a closer look.
Scott Bennett—arms across his chest, long legs extended, head leaning against a post—was sound asleep. He hadn’t bothered to change his clothes, and the white fire department insignia on his chest stood out against his dark shirt. His shift must have ended at eleven. As the head of the safety department, she knew the schedule.
But did she know why a man left work so tired he slept soundly even when the captain tooted the horn as they backed out of the dock?
She decided not to change seats. As her eyes adjusted to the shadows, she studied Scott’s face. The line between his brows that made him look serious by day was gone now, relaxed away by sleep.
His square jaw was the same, just darkened by stubble. His mouth, often drawn into a tight line at work, fell open a little. His lips looked soft.
Maybe she should change seats. But the boat was in motion and she knew Ken hated it when people moved around. Especially in the dark. It seemed everyone was a safety fanatic.
Evie leaned against the seat back, resisting the temporary insanity that suggested Scott would be a lovely pillow if she just laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes. She was tired. Her eyes burned. Maybe just for a moment. To test the theory.
She smiled, imagining what Scott would think when he awakened with her sprawled over him. The employer-employee relationship would explode like an overstuffed suitcase.
She settled for watching over him as he slept soundly all across the bay. This was a side of Scott Bennett she hadn’t seen before. And it occurred to her that he wouldn’t like it—this exposure, this vulnerability.
Evie felt vulnerable, too, and she was afraid everyone could see it. Could see her uncertainty about the major projects she’d started, her uncertainty about where she fit in the family dynamic.
She watched Scott sleep peacefully and envied him. He had a stressful job and plenty of responsibility. She wouldn’t want to face what he did every day. But she couldn’t remember the last time she had slept as soundly as he did right now.
When the ferry bumped softly against the downtown dock, Evie waited. What should she do? The other dozen passengers, mostly summer employees, got off the boat, rocking it with their movement. Scott still slumbered.
Evie laid a tentative hand on his chest. A very solid chest. She felt it rising and falling beneath her palm. “Scott,” she said quietly. No reaction. The man was unconscious. She knew he worked at least three shifts a week at the Point. Probably at least that many at the downtown station. Plus his inspector duties. When did he sleep?
She repeated his name. Nothing. She moved her hand to his cheek and leaned in close. Razor stubble teased her fingers. She could probably kiss him without waking him. The definition of insanity.
Evie decided to say the one thing that would catapult him off the bench and out of dreamland. It was going nuclear, but necessary.
“Fire,” she said.
Scott struggled up as if he’d been under water. He looked wildly around. Evie laughed. “Sorry,” she said. “I wanted to get your attention. The ferry ride’s over. We’re in Bayside.”
“Is there a fire?” he asked. He rubbed a hand over his face and sat bolt upright.
“No.”
“That was mean,” he said.
Evie leaned close. “Next time I’ll let you sleep on the boat.”
“It’s more comfortable than my bed at the station.”
“But there are probably over a hundred lake spiders on board. They creep out at night. You probably swallowed one in your sleep,” she said, shuddering at the thought.
“Are you cold?”
“No.”
“Did you sit next to me while I slept all the way across the bay?” The line between his eyebrows was back and Evie knew she was right about his reluctance to let down his guard when anyone was around.
She had the same problem.
“I’ll walk you home,” he said. He stood abruptly and thumped his head on the low ceiling of the ferry. He rubbed his scalp with the palm of his hand.
“Maybe I should walk you home,” Evie suggested. “You could fall into the lake or walk out in front of a car.”
“Good night, kids,” Ken said. He waited on the dock for his last two passengers to stumble off.
She headed up the slight grade that led to a row of buildings overlooking the marina. A warm hand enclosed her elbow. So we’re walking together. Okay. It would be a very short walk.
Neither of them said anything until Evie paused at the street door of her building and used the overhead light to find the keys in her purse. Scott waited silently as she inserted the key and opened the door. He held it open with one hand and, for a moment, Evie felt like they were returning from a date and he would lean in and kiss her.
To her surprise, he followed her into the building. Matched her steps on the stairs leading three floors up.
“Do you have a fire extinguisher in your apartment?” he asked as she unlocked her door.
“No,” she admitted. “But there’s one in the hallway.”
“Show me.”
Rats. I have no idea which way it is. She glanced down the dark hallway and saw the outline of a box. “How about right there?” she asked.
Scott strode to the box and opened it.
“See you tomorrow,” he said. He let go of the door, turned and walked away.