“Yes, ma’am,” Deanna said with a salute that mocked her drill sergeant manner.
After Ruby had gone, she toyed with the now totally unappetizing eggs, then sighed. She couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that something just wasn’t right about the way Sean had disappeared.
“That’s no way to get back on your feet,” a disapproving voice chided her.
Deanna’s gaze shot to the doorway, where Sean stood regarding her uneasily.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Isn’t that how you landed in bed in the first place?” He crossed the room, took a look at the plate of cold, congealed eggs and dry toast, and made a face. “Give it to me.”
She held tight to the tray. “Why?”
He rolled his eyes. “Do you have to argue about everything?”
“Pretty much. Otherwise, people tend to steamroll right over me.”
“This could be one instance when you should let them,” he said, gently disengaging her fingers and taking the tray. “I’ll be right back.”
She stared after him, more confused than ever. He didn’t seem angry or even upset, just a little sad.
It was twenty minutes before he returned, carrying the same tray with a plate of steaming French toast with a dusting of sugar and cinnamon. He set the tray across her knees, then stood scowling down at her.
“Now, there are two ways we can do this,” he said. “You can eat that like the intelligent woman we both know you are.”
Deanna had to fight to hide a smile. “Or?”
He grinned, looking surprisingly eager for her to test him. “Or I feed it to you.”
“I’d like to see you try,” she muttered, but she picked up the fork and began to eat. After a couple of bites she stared at him in surprise. “This is really good. You made it?”
“With my own two hands,” he acknowledged. “When you live on your own, you learn a thing or two about cooking or you live on frozen dinners. And at the station, we all have to take a turn at kitchen duty. Believe me, none of us are slackers. Hungry men take no prisoners.”
She grinned at the image. “What else can you cook?”
“Give me a cookbook, and I’ll try anything.”
“You’re going to make some lucky woman a wonderful husband.” She’d expected the teasing remark to draw a smile, but instead, that bleak expression darkened his eyes again before he turned away to stare out the window.
“Sean?”
“Yeah?” He turned back slowly.
“Thanks for coming to Joey’s tonight. I know it wasn’t your call.”
“No big deal.”
“It was a big deal to me,” she insisted. “I heard you.”
He turned to face her. “What?”
“When I was still pretty much out of it, I heard your voice. I think it pulled me back to reality.”
He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “You said something like that at the time.” A smile tugged at his lips. “You said that was why you wouldn’t open your eyes, ’cause you didn’t want to have to face me when I said I told you so.”
She vaguely remembered saying that. “But you didn’t say it, did you?”
“Nope. I figured you’d gotten the message anyway.”
“Why did you take off without saying anything?”
“You were in good hands. You didn’t need me around anymore,”
Deanna heard the casually spoken words, but she was also almost certain that she heard something more, something that sounded an awful lot like pain.
“Sean?”
“Look, I’ve got to get out of here,” he said abruptly. “I shouldn’t have left the station, but I wanted to check on you.” He bent down and brushed a quick kiss across her forehead. “Finish every bite of that food. If you don’t, I’ll hear about it.”
“You’ve got Ruby tattling on me again?”
He grinned. “Ruby and Kevin. You’re not going to get anything past me.”
There was something oddly comforting about that, Deanna thought as she finished her meal and slowly drifted off to sleep. Not that she’d ever tell him that.
Something had changed between them, Sean concluded on his way back to the station. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he’d left Ruby’s with the sense that he and Deanna had a new understanding. He wasn’t sure yet whether that was a good thing. He wasn’t crazy about the distinct possibility that she was starting to see through his defenses.
Nor was he nuts about this need he had to check up on her, to reassure himself that she was all right. Hadn’t he learned anything from that moment at Joey’s when he’d been an outsider looking onto the tight-knit world of Deanna and Kevin? Apparently not, because just a couple of hours later, he hadn’t been able to stop himself from going back for more.
As it had turned out, he’d been right to go. Deanna evidently hadn’t learned a thing from that fainting episode. She hadn’t touched the food that Ruby had fixed for her. The woman needed a keeper.
Was he prepared to be that? An image of Kevin flashed through his head. If ever a boy needed a dad, it was Kevin. But he deserved one who was going to be around for the long haul. Sean wasn’t convinced that he was that guy. Maybe if it were just Deanna and him, he could take that leap of faith his brother had talked about when he’d married Maggie, but not with a kid involved, a kid who didn’t deserve to be let down if things didn’t work out.
Sean sighed heavily. Things were getting too damned complicated. He was almost relieved when a call came in not ten minutes after he got back to the station. He dragged on his gear and headed out, eager for the distraction, eager to be doing something he knew he was good at.
Of course, a fire could be just as unpredictable as a woman, no question about that. What should have been a quick run turned into an all-nighter with two more companies involved. A fire that had started on
