Cam looked in his rearview mirror at Janie in the backseat. She wore a hand-knit hat that sat crooked on her perfect little head. The hat was soft and bright pink, so Janie loved it and insisted on wearing it home. It didn’t matter that it clashed so badly with her hunter green coat it almost hurt his eyes.
“Daddy, look!” She pointed out the window. “They’re here!”
Cam recognized the two cars parked in front of the house. He pulled into the driveway to see his brothers and father holding up a homemade sign that read: WELCOME HOME, JANIE!
Great, just great. So much for his plans for a quiet homecoming. You could use a thousand euphemisms to describe the O’Leary men; quiet would never make the list. It wasn’t as if he didn’t love his family—he did. He was just looking forward to spending some time alone with Janie on her first day home. Still, it was great to see the smile that split Janie’s face in two and showed off her gap-toothed grin.
Adam came around the car and threw open her door, and Janie all but launched herself into his open arms. He caught her and held her away from him, giving her a once-over. “What’s that on your head? Is your hair coming in pink?”
“No, silly. It’s a hat.”
Adam caught Cam’s eye over the top of the jeep. “I’ve never seen a hat like that before. Where’d you find it?”
“It was a gift. It’s homemade.” Like that explained it.
“Well, it sure looks pretty on you, darlin’.” He gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek, set her back on her feet, and gave her a pat on the butt to get her moving in the direction of the others.
Butch was next to grab her; he swung her into his arms and Janie held the ugly hat to her head to keep from losing it. “Hey, sweet cheeks. Welcome home.” He tickled her tummy and received a giggly squeal in return.
It had been too long since Cam had heard her giggle like that. Way too long. Before he knew it, Janie was back on her feet and running to her grandpa.
Ryan O’Leary bent down just in time for Janie to wrap her arms around his thick neck, and he picked her up before nodding toward Cam. “There’s food and beer in the car. You and your brothers get it out while I take this little love bug inside where it’s warm.”
Butch gave Cam a slap on the back. “Lolly sent enough food for an army. She’s afraid you’ll forget to feed Janie.”
Lolly was his dad’s on-again/off-again girlfriend. It looked like it was on again. She had helped take care of Janie before Cam moved them to Boston. She’d never forgiven him for moving away. “That was nice of her.”
“She made sure to tell me it wasn’t for your benefit and if you don’t bring Janie around soon, she’s threatened to visit.”
Cam shuddered.
“Your moving away from Portsmouth with Janie has been hard on all of us.”
Cam retrieved the box of food and handed it to Butch. “It’s a forty-five-minute drive. It’s not as if we moved across the damn country. And making Lolly happy is not my first priority. Janie is.”
“Don’t you think she’d be better off at home with all of us instead of being raised by some uptight nanny?”
“I think Janie’s better off having a father who’s not likely to die in the line of duty. I took this job because it’s safer.” He knew his dad and brothers missed her, and hell, they’d worried about Janie almost as much as he had in the last few years. “She’s going to be fine and you guys can come visit her any time. You know that.”
Adam reached in and grabbed the case of beer. “Yeah, but it’s not the same as having her home with us.”
Cam had half a mind to tell Butch and Adam to have their own kids. Janie was his. Part of the reason he left was because he didn’t think living with four single men—two of whom had revolving bedroom doors when it came to women—was a good atmosphere in which to raise a little girl. It had been different when Janie was a baby. She wasn’t a baby any longer.
Cam gathered the duffel bag full of Janie’s things and an armful of teddy bears to add to her collection, and followed his brothers into the house.
Dad had relieved Janie of her coat, but was still trying to talk her into taking off that weird hat of hers.
“No, Grandpa, it’s pretty and it’s special—just like me. Besides, it feels good.”
His dad pulled her onto his lap and rubbed his hand over the fuzzy hat. “It does feel good. What’s it made of?”
Janie shrugged. “I don’t know, but Miss Kendall said it was made with love—that’s why it’s so soft and warm. She said the yarn looks like caterpillars. And it’s my favorite color. It’s cool, huh?”
“It sure is, peanut.”
Cam took Janie’s things to her room and shoved her collection of bears on the overflowing pile contained by the net hammock he’d hooked up in the corner. He emptied her clothes into the hamper, not caring if they were clean or dirty—they were all going through the wash. He hoped it took the sick scent of hospital out of everything.
On his way downstairs, he heard the guys rustling around in the kitchen. Someone slammed the oven door and the beep sounded as they set the temperature. He found Janie still tucked against his dad. “Janie, do you want some juice or water?”
She scrambled off the couch. “I’ll get it myself.”
“That’s my girl.” As a baby, Janie wasn’t much of a talker, but when she started speaking she spoke in full sentences. After Daddy, Uncle, and Grandpa, I’ll do it myself were her first words. His daughter always knew what she wanted and usually had a plan to get it. He was just lucky that her determination ran toward survival too. He followed her into the kitchen where she climbed a chair to reach the glasses. “Your sippy cups are still in the drawer.”
“I know, but I want a big-girl glass now. I’m almost eight.”
“Okay.” He raised an eyebrow, pulled a longneck out of the fridge, and shot the bottle cap into the trash can. It was nice to have little Miss Independent home.
He leaned against the counter and watched Janie pour juice, overshooting the glass. Her hands shook and he put the brakes on his urge to help. She self-corrected and pulled it out in the end.
Cam was just thankful Janie had enough strength to set the jug down without dropping it. The smile of triumph on her face more than made up for the mess on the counter and the potential mess she’d probably make walking around with a juice glass sans spill protection. The thought of it brought a smile to his face—he would never again take sticky countertops and kitchen floors for granted. Of course, Janie now had more juice in one glass than a kid should drink in a week, but he wasn’t about to say anything.
Adam sidled up to him and tapped longnecks. “So, did you get the number for that hot nurse before you left the hospital?”
When a picture of Erin Crosby with Adam flashed through his mind, he squeezed his beer bottle so hard, he was surprised it didn’t shatter in his hand.
Butch laughed. “I doubt it, since Nurse Cary and I have a date later tonight.”
Cary, not Erin. Hell, his brothers probably never even met Erin—nor would they if he had anything to say about it. All she needed were those two bozos hanging around.
After dinner he put Janie to bed early—he wasn’t sure if it was the excitement of coming home, the impromptu family party, or if she was just weak and damn tired, but her eyes drooped long before she finished her banana split.
Maybe he’d taken longer than normal to be sure Janie was safe and warm and sound asleep. Maybe he sat there in the dark listening to her breathe and thanking God she was well enough to come home. Maybe he was just a little afraid to leave her. By the time he returned to the kitchen, his dad and brothers had pulled out the cards and more beer. The next thing he knew, Cam was losing his shirt.
Adam threw down his cards and left the table while the rest of them finished the hand.
Cam folded, returned what little was left of his cash to his pocket, and tiptoed to Janie’s room to check on her. He found Adam leaning against the wall, watching Janie sleep. “Janie hates it when people watch her like she’s some kind of science experiment,” he whispered.
Adam crossed his arms. “She’s asleep.”
“Yeah, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Janie had been born with a full head of hair; now she was sporting peach fuzz. It didn’t matter though. It seemed that Liz had only left one stamp on Janie—her fine features. Even bald as a cue ball, Janie was a beautiful little girl. “Janie’s home and she’s fine.” At least that’s what he kept telling himself. It looked as if he wasn’t the only one having trouble believing it.
Adam looked straight at him, his eyes unnaturally bright in the glow of the night-light. “Are you sure? We’re just supposed to take some doctor’s word for it?”
“She has a team of doctors, not just one.”
“How do they know?”
Shit, Cam wished he knew. “They know. They can tell from blood tests, CAT scans, and MRIs. They know.”
He had to believe that the doctors knew what they were talking about when they told him Janie was cancer free and could resume living the life of a normal almost-eight-year-old girl. He had to believe that in ten years he’d be waiting by the door to threaten Janie’s boyfriends and not visiting her grave. He had to believe that after two years of fighting to keep Janie alive, it was safe to breathe normally again.
Butch, the youngest of the O’Leary brothers, stepped into the darkened room. “Is Janie okay?”
“She’s fine,” Cam and Adam said in whispered stereo.
Janie rolled over and they held their collective breaths until she settled back into her pillows, her arms wrapped around a well-loved stuffed Snoopy.
“You’re going to wake her. Get out.” Cam pushed his brothers out to the hall and right into his father. He nudged aside the welcome home balloons tied to the banister and strong-armed his family downstairs, praying they’d leave. “Butch, don’t you have a hot date tonight?
***
Erin held her iPhone to her ear with her shoulder—something she hated to do—and answered Kendall’s question. “Yes, Mother, I’m packing.”
“Do you have your research? At least at first, I don’t think Cam would be happy with you packing Janie up to run home if you forgot something.”
“Yes, I have a box of books, my papers, laptop, and printer.”
“What else?”
“Yarn and knitting needles. I hope I packed enough.”
“I have a feeling you’d sooner forget your underwear than your yarn. Erin, remember you’re only going as far as Medford. It’s not as if you’re moving to Antarctica.”
“Still, in my mind, the only thing worse than not having a knitting project to work on is not having a book handy. Which reminds me—” She grabbed her e-reader and charger and tossed them in the backpack with her computer.
“Clothes?”
“Yeah, well, that’s a firm almost.” Erin looked at the basket of laundry she’d thrown on her bed. “It’s all washed, I just haven’t gotten around to folding it and putting it in my suitcase.”
“I can’t believe even you would leave your clothes for last.”
“There are very few things I hate more than folding laundry, you know that. The only way I get through it is by watching Pride and Prejudice while I do it.”
“The movie?”
“Oh, God no, the BBC miniseries.”
“That’s gotta be five hours long.”
“So? Darcy gets me through hours of laundry—not all at one time, mind you. But that’s what pause buttons on the DVD player are for.” She made a mental note to pack the DVDs when she finished folding. She was almost at her favorite part. Her phone beeped. “Kendall, I’ve got to go. I have another call coming in.”
“Looks like Mr. Darcy is going to have to wait. Don’t forget to pack while you’re talking.”
“Will do. Bye.” She tapped the screen to end the call and take the other. “Hello?”
“Erin, it’s Cam O’Leary.”
His deep voice set off a flurry of bat-sized butterflies that didn’t have the decency to stay in her stomach. They fluttered into her lungs too. Damn. “Hi.” The memory of their first and only meeting had her running to the bathroom to grab a box of tampons and her birth control pills. Not that the thought of Cam made her think of birth control, just of being that kind of late. But if she were that kind of late, it would be the second Immaculate Conception. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you on a Saturday night. I’m not interrupting you on a date or anything, am I?”
She almost laughed. “No, the only thing you’re interrupting is my packing.”
“Oh, thank God. Look, Erin, I know this is short notice—well, no notice actually—but I was wondering if you could help me out of a bind. Is there any way you could start earlier than agreed to?”
“How much earlier?” She’d planned to move her things tomorrow night.
“As soon as you can get here? I got called into work. The investigator on call is in the hospital. His wife went into premature labor—they’re trying to stop it, but he can’t leave her.”
“I understand.” She looked at her queen-size bed strewn with clothes. “When do you need me?”
“As soon as you can be here. I have no way of knowing if it will be an all-nighter or not, so if it wouldn’t be too much of an imposition, I was hoping you could start now. I might be on call for the next few days.”
“Is an hour okay? I need a few minutes to finish packing.” She decided to toss everything in her duffel bag and worry about the wrinkles later. “Or I could just grab a change of clothes—”
“No, an hour is fine. I really appreciate this. If I had gotten the call a little earlier, I could have had my father stay with Janie, but I’m sure he’s home in Portsmouth by now.”
“It’s not a problem.”
“Thanks, you’re a godsend.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Erin ended the call and scrambled to finish the packing job from hell. She’d already emptied her refrigerator since she’d planned to go to Kendall’s for dinner tomorrow night—something she’d have to remember to cancel. Forty-five minutes and six trips to her car later, she headed off to her new job. Maybe this way was better—she’d hardly had time to obsess about sharing a house with Cameron O’Leary for the next month.
***
Cam tossed his bag full of gear into his car and repeated the hands-off lecture he’d given himself ad nauseam since he’d first laid eyes on Erin Crosby. Unfortunately, the sound of her voice over the phone was all it took to forget the constant lectures. He’d bitten his tongue almost in half while he waited to hear if she was on a date. Hearing that a woman who looked like Erin was sitting home alone on a Saturday night made him wonder about the collective intelligence of the male population of Boston.
He let out an exasperated breath and, for possibly the fiftieth time in the last twenty-four hours, considered calling one of his friends with benefits to allay his newfound sexual frustration. He hadn’t spoken to either of them in two years. For all he knew, they could be married by now. Still, he would have tried if he’d thought it would solve his not-so-little problem, but only one woman sparked his sexual frustration. The one woman whose dating habits should hold no interest, the same woman he should never picture naked, the only woman who was completely hands-off, and the one who just pulled up in front of his house.
He slammed the tailgate of his rig and walked in front of her car, the headlights hitting his knees. He opened her door for her, the interior lights went on, and she let out a startled scream right before he was hit in the solar plexus with what felt like a few bags of bricks. “Erin, it’s me, Cam.” Shit, he’d gone and scared her.
She looked up at him; her big eyes the size of stop signs. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“No. I’m sorry. I thought you saw me when I came around the car.”
“I was grabbing my things, not searching for attackers.” She slumped back into her seat and held a hand to her throat as if she were waiting for her heart to start beating again.
He couldn’t do anything right. First he dragged her out of her house at ten o’clock at night and then he scared the crap out of her. He crouched in front of her. “I’m really sorry I spooked you. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting”—she shoved a hand toward him as if he had startled the words right out of her—“you.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. Maybe a hasty retreat was the better part of valor. “If you pop your trunk, I’ll bring your bags into the house.”
“It’s open, but you don’t have to—”
He did his best to ignore the way her face paled and then reddened as if he’d embarrassed her. Before she could even get the words out, he was around her car and digging in her trunk.
By the time she gathered her things and slammed the door, he had all her luggage.
“I’ll get the rest later.”
He held a suitcase under each arm and another in each hand. “I think I have everything unless you have more in the backseat.”
“How?” She walked toward him and stared. “That’s all of it, but it took me six trips to load the car.”
He shrugged and waited for her to precede him. “The door’s open.”
“Oh, okay.” She shot out in front of him with her long-legged stride as if she were afraid she’d slow him down.
He kicked himself mentally for being a fool but still couldn’t stop himself from staring at the way her jeans hugged the curve of her ass. Damn, he almost missed that ugly sweater she’d worn the last time he’d seen her. At least it camouflaged her backside—not that it had kept him from imagining what it looked like, he just wished the reality wasn’t as good as the one he’d imagined.
Erin stepped inside and dumped the bags she carried on the floor beside the door. “Just drop them. I’ll take it from here.”
“No, I’ll run them up.” He took the steps two at a time. “I need to wake Janie and introduce you before I leave. I don’t want her to wake up and find a stranger here.”
“But I’m not a stranger,” she padded along behind him.
“You are to Janie.”
“No, I’m not. Kendall and I had lunch with Janie yesterday. I ended up spending a few hours with her after Kendall went back to work.”
Cam stopped in the hall and turned. “You did?”
She pulled the sleeves of her raggedy gray sweatshirt down over her hands and rubbed a cuff with her thumb. “I wanted to get to know her and, well, she seemed a little lonely. I didn’t mean to overstep.”
“You didn’t.” Her eyes shone in the light of the overhead fixture and her face pinked up again. Why would being nice to a child embarrass her? “Did you give her that hat she loves so much?” Her blush deepened and he wondered whether he’d feel the heat if he reached out and touched her cheek. It was a good thing he had his hands full.
“Yes, it’s a little big for her, but it was her favorite. I thought I’d knit another in the same yarn that fits her better.”
“She wore it all day—even to bed. Just in case she wakes up before I get home, it’s on one of her stuffed bears. I didn’t want her to ruin it, so I waited until she fell asleep to take it off.”
She smiled at that and her grin was so potent, it took him a moment before his mind began to function again.
Luckily, he was smart enough to turn toward what would be her bedroom, for the next month at least, before she caught him trying to reboot his brain. He did his best to keep some distance between them, but she must have double-timed it to catch up to him. “There’s food in the fridge for breakfast. I had planned to go grocery shopping tomorrow—I don’t know what you like to eat.”
“I can cook just about anything. Whatever you and Janie like will be fine. I’m not picky.”
He set the luggage beside the bed. “The sheets are clean. I put towels in the bathroom, and if you need more, the linen closet’s right outside the door.”
“I’ll be fine.” Her gaze flicked from him to the bed and back again.
He knew he should leave but his feet felt as if they were nailed to the hardwood floor. Being in a bedroom with Erin was probably a very bad idea, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember why.
“Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”
Right. “Yes.” His feet moved him toward the door. Thank God. “You have my cell number, but if I don’t answer, you can always call the station and they’ll radio me.”
She followed. “Janie and I will be fine.”
“Come on down and I’ll show you where everything is in the kitchen.”
She stopped at the top of the stairs. “Don’t worry. I’ll figure it out. If I can’t find something, I’m sure Janie will help me. You’re busy.”
“I’ll try to be home before Janie wakes up—”
“If you’re not, I’ll explain that you had a call. Go.”
This whole thing felt off . . . as if he shouldn’t be leaving Janie. Aw hell, he felt as if he shouldn’t be leaving Erin alone here either, which made absolutely no sense. He hit the door and turned. “You’ll be okay here then?”
“Yes.” She came down a few steps, stopped, and tilted her head—he wasn’t sure if it was in question or if she was trying to figure out if he was nuts. “Wasn’t that the reason you hired me?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. He was being an idiot. “Yes. You’re right. Okay, I’m leaving. Have a good night—what’s left of it. Janie was wiped out after dinner so she should sleep in. I think my dad and brothers wore her out.”
“Brothers?” She continued down and sat on a step when she was about eye-level with him and speared him with those eyes—eyes that seemed to glow. “There are more of you?”
“O’Learys? Yeah.” He couldn’t tell if she was excited about the prospect or horrified. He should never have mentioned them. But if he hadn’t, Janie eventually would—his girl was a real chatterbox and she loved her uncles. “I have two brothers, Adam and Butch. They’re both firefighters.”
“The three of you work together?”
Cam grabbed his jacket and shrugged it on. “Not now. We used to, but then I moved Janie down here from Portsmouth. Adam and Butch still work together depending on their schedules.”
“That must be hard on your parents.”
“My father was a firefighter too, so he’s used to it. My mother died when we were kids but I can’t remember her having a problem with my dad being on the job—but then again, I was pretty young when she died.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks, it was a long, long time ago. In any case, we’re fourth-generation firefighters. It runs in the family.”
“And you’re all single?”
“Yup, even my old man—although it sounds like his on-again/off-again relationship is on again. Lolly made the corned beef and cabbage and soda bread that’s in the fridge. She’s a great cook if you’re hungry. I think there’s at least a little left over.”
“I’m fine.” She stood. “You go. And please don’t worry about Janie. I can handle just about anything.”
He gave her one more close look to make sure she felt comfortable and realized he could probably stare at her all night. The light from overhead highlighted the different colors in her hair—strands of red glowed like a hot fire, the gold gleamed, and the darker hints of brown kind of shimmered. “Okay, lock the dead bolt behind me. I have my keys.”
Cam stepped into the cool night air and took a deep breath, knowing he’d spend the rest of the night fighting smoke. He usually loved going out on a call, but tonight was different. He told himself it was because Janie had just come home. That was probably it. But then again, it wasn’t every day he said good-bye to a beautiful woman before leaving for work. It wasn’t every day he met a woman he’d rather spend time with than search out the cause of a fire. And it wasn’t every day he got a call and didn’t hit the front porch on a run.
He expelled the breath he’d taken and tried to shake off the premonition crawling up his spine like a spider up a web. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that danger was just waiting to strike, and that her name was Erin Crosby.
But damned if he didn’t look forward to it.