Something Sparked-nook (12 page)

She could smell the smoke on him. It was nearly three a.m. He and Luc had to be done in. Yet they didn’t hesitate to take care of her, to give her what she needed. A place to stay, a litter box, consolation.

“Hurry back,” she whispered.

He cupped her face, his thumb gently stroking her still-wet cheek, then he walked to the bathroom.

Luc wrapped his arm around her neck and tucked her against his firm chest. She hadn’t expected it to make such a comfortable pillow. But there was no denying the warmth and quiet, steady beat of his heart lulled her into deep, dreamless sleep in a way her soft down pillow never had.

She didn’t remember Diego coming back to the bed, but he was there when she opened her eyes several hours later. Surprisingly, finding him there allowed her to close her eyes and fall back to sleep without any uneasy or sad thoughts creeping in to keep her awake.

They surrounded her, providing her with a sense of peace and well-being that went all the way to her bones. And she wasn’t cold anymore.

Diego woke to a banging on the door that came far too early for his late night. Jeannette didn’t stir. He wasn’t surprised. It had been well after three before any of them had fallen asleep.

Luc rose clumsily, only half awake when his feet hit the floor. Diego stood as well. The knocking continued. Whoever was on the other side of the door clearly wasn’t leaving.

Neither he nor Luc bothered to don shirts as they stumbled down the hall.

“It’s eight o’clock in the goddamn morning. This better be an emergency or I may hurt this person,” Luc said when they reached the front door.

They didn’t have time to say hello before Macie, Sydney and Gia stormed into the house.

“Where is she?” Macie asked.

Clearly they’d gotten the news about the fire at Jeannette’s house.

“She’s asleep,” Diego responded, his voice still gruff from lack of use and exhaustion.

“Is she okay?” Gia asked.

Luc nodded. His previous annoyance appeared to be gone. Like Diego, he understood and appreciated their concern. “Yeah. I think it’s going to take a little while for it to all sink in.”

Macie’s usual cheerful countenance was gone, replaced by a combination of worry and anger. “Do you know how the fire started?”

Diego had his suspicions, but he wasn’t going to voice them to Jeannette’s cousins and sister, especially not Macie, who looked ready to commit murder depending on his answer.

He shook his head. “No. We’ll head over there this morning. And I’ll put in a call to the fire marshal. He came out last night and poked around with Evan, though I’m not sure how much they could discover in the dark. It could have been anything, really. Faulty wiring or…”

Diego let the suppositions die there. Last night as they rode from her house to theirs, Jeannette said she’d heard something crash and then a bright flash of light. The fire had started in the garage. There had been too many arson fires lately for his mind not to lead him there. He prayed that answer was wrong, because it wouldn’t be Macie committing a crime if that proved to be the case.

Diego felt Luc’s gaze on him and knew his friend had the same suspicions he did.

“Paige and Lacy are out collecting clothes from our aunts and friends,” Gia said. “In the meantime, we thought we’d take her to Uncle George and Aunt Stella’s. They’re getting her old room ready right now. It was really nice of you guys to take her in last night.”

Diego understood her family would want to take her in, but he hoped to convince Jeannette to stay with them.

“Can we see her?” Sydney asked.

Luc frowned. “She’s only gotten a few hours of sleep.”

“We won’t wake her,” Gia was quick to interject. “I just want to see that she’s okay.”

Diego pointed down the hallway. “She’s sleeping in my room.”

Mercifully, none of them asked where
he
had slept. The three women walked down the hall quietly, and then peered into his bedroom. He and Luc followed.

Jeannette was lying on her side, facing the door, dead to the world. Penny lay curled up next to her, the cat’s loud purring filling the room.

“Thank God you saved Penny,” Gia whispered. “I don’t know what Nettie would have done…” Her voice trailed off and it was obvious she was fighting back tears.

Luc reached out to take her hand, squeezing it kindly. “Jeannette is fine, Gia. Your sister is tough as nails. She’s going to get through this. She has her cat, her family and…”

“And you guys,” Gia finished for him, perfectly aware of what Luc had planned to say.

“Yeah. She has us,” Diego confirmed.

Macie smiled. “Both of you?”

Luc laughed quietly. “Fishing, Mace?”

Jeannette’s outrageous cousin didn’t even feign pretense. “I’m just wondering what exactly it is Nettie has in you guys. Friendship or…”

“We’re not falling into that trap,” Diego said, crossing his arms. “We’re offering whatever Jeannette is comfortable accepting.”

Macie gave him a shit-eating grin. “Gotta admit I like the sound of that. Although I’m afraid Jeannette won’t take full advantage of all the special features, bells and whistles.”

Diego rolled his eyes. “We’re not luxury cars, you lunatic. Do me a favor. Tell Paige to wait a few hours before delivering the clothes. I’d like Jeannette to sleep a lot longer. And hold off on the guest-room plans. Jeannette is welcome to stay here as long as she wants.”

“But we’re her family,” Gia said.

“I know that.” Diego didn’t bother to say more. Apparently he didn’t need to. All three women smiled, and then followed them back to the living room. They said goodbye, promising to return later in the afternoon when Jeannette was awake.

Luc closed the door and leaned against it. “Back to bed or breakfast?”

Diego rubbed his eyes as his stomach grumbled. “I’m equal parts hungry and tired. You decide.”

Luc headed for the kitchen. “I feel like bacon.”

“You always feel like bacon.”

Only a few minutes passed before they heard footsteps in the hallway, then Jeannette’s sleepy face peering into the kitchen. “Smells good.”

Diego reached out his hand, delighted when Jeannette took it without hesitation. She was much less skittish around them. He didn’t release her until he’d tugged her into his arms completely, wrapping her up in a big bear hug. Her arms looped his waist and she sighed against his bare chest. “You okay?”

She nodded slowly. “Just feel sort of numb and groggy.”

“You didn’t get enough sleep. What do you say we eat a little bit, then crawl back into bed for a few more hours?”

“I’m supposed to work the dinner shift.”

Luc rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Jeannette. I think your family can cover for you tonight. Your sister, Sydney and Macie were just here. Said they’ll be back this afternoon with some clothes.”

Jeannette slowly pulled away from Diego. “Shit. I forgot about clothes.” She looked down at her bare legs peeking out beneath the t-shirt she had borrowed from Luc. Her shirt had reeked of smoke. “Guess I can’t go to work like this.”

She walked over to the kitchen table and dropped down heavily. “What the fuck am I going to do now?”

Luc took the pan of bacon off the burner before crossing the room. He knelt before her, taking her hand in his. “You’re going to take it one day at a time. We’ll do all the shit that needs to be done together and we’re not going to let it overwhelm you. Today, we’ll call the insurance company and get you some pretty new things to wear. Just those two things. Then tomorrow, we’ll do a couple more things. And eventually, it’ll all be okay.”

She considered his list. “Alright. I can do that.”

Luc smiled as he rose, leaning down to give her a quick, friendly kiss on the cheek. Diego suspected that had been his friend’s only intention, but Jeannette turned at the last second, her lips meeting Luc’s.

The platonic-kiss plan evaporated in an instant. Instead, Luc grasped the back of Jeannette’s head, his fingers threading through her hair as he held her in place for a much different kind of kiss. Their lips parted. Diego could just make out the hungry touch of their tongues. Jeannette’s hands had been white-knuckling the seat of the chair, but as the kiss grew hotter, her fingers rose to Luc’s arms, digging into muscle instead.

Diego made no move to join them, spellbound by the pure intensity of the moment. The shyness, the wariness that typically wrapped itself around Jeannette had vanished. Diego wasn’t surprised. She’d lost everything last night. Desperation had her reaching out for anything she could lay her hands on.

Luc seemed to come to the same conclusion. His friend slowed the kiss, turning the heat down incrementally. Then he stood upright. It took a few seconds for the haze to clear, for Jeannette’s focus to return.

“Why did you stop?” she asked.

“Because you’re tired and upset and not thinking this through. I don’t take advantage of women in weak moments.”

She bit her lower lip. “I sort of wish you would. I wouldn’t mind feeling something right now.”

She glanced away from Luc, capturing Diego’s eye. It took a bit of work for Diego to control his features, to keep his look stern. She was obviously hoping he’d be more susceptible to what she was offering and her sweet innocence made him want to grin. “Don’t look at me,” he said with a no-nonsense tone.

She threw up her hands. “You guys have been trying to seduce me for weeks—no, strike that. Years. Now, when I’m ready for what you’re offering, you—”

“No.” Diego cut her off gently. “You’re not ready. You’re hoping to escape, to forget. I understand that, Jeannette. But believe me, after the deed was done, you’d regret it. And you’d resent us for doing it.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

She looked so earnest, Diego couldn’t resist touching her.

He pulled her up from the chair and cupped her cheeks in his hands, forcing her to hold his gaze. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any woman in my life. We’re going to make love to you, Jeannette. We’re going to take you to our bed and bury ourselves in that sweet, sexy body of yours. Over and over. That’s inevitable. But it’s not going to happen today. Not like this.”

She closed her eyes and released a long breath. “I’m sorry. God, you’re right. This isn’t me. I don’t throw myself at guys.” She tugged away from him. Diego let her go with some reluctance. “I’m fucked-up, aren’t I?”

Luc wrapped his arm around her neck, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. “You’re not fucked-up. You’re running on empty. That’s all. Lucky for you, I have the cure.”

She gave Luc an appreciative smile. “What’s that?”

“Bacon. It makes everything better.”

She laughed. “I can’t disagree with that. You’re right. It does.”

The tightness that had been pressing on Diego’s chest at her distress loosened. Leave it to Luc to dispel a tense moment with humor. It was one of the reasons he loved his best friend so much. Diego was always too serious. Luc never let him get away with that.

Luc returned to the stove and finished cooking the meat before splitting up the pound of bacon between three plates. Then he carried them to the table.

Jeannette giggled. “Just bacon?”

Luc shrugged. “I’ve never gotten the hang of cooking eggs.”

“How about toast? That’s not very complicated.”

Diego got a kick out of watching her tease Luc.

“Burn it, too.”

“Wow. I’m starting to understand why you spend so much time at the restaurant. Part of me thinks I should offer to give you guys cooking lessons, but I’m not going to.”

“Why not?” Luc asked.

“Because I’m afraid you might get the hang of it and stop coming to see me.”

Luc grinned. “Careful, angel. That sounds a hell of a lot like flirting. You keep that up and we might start thinking you like us.”

Her smile didn’t fade, though it became a bit more serious. “I like you.” Though she spoke very softly, the words more breath than sound, neither he nor Luc missed it.

Before Diego could respond, there was another knock on the door. “Dammit. It’s like Grand Central Station here this morning.”

Jeannette gave them a rueful smile. “I have a very big family.”

“Yeah. I’m starting to understand just how big.” Diego walked to the front door, Jeannette and Luc following.

Evan stood on the stoop. “Hey. You guys got a minute?”

Diego moved aside to allow Evan to enter. He saw the flash of a scowl when he discovered Jeannette standing there in nothing but a t-shirt, surrounded by him and Luc, both shirtless. He could imagine what was going through Evan’s mind.

Luckily Jeannette’s cousin was out of uniform, no gun in sight.

Luc gestured toward a chair in the living room. Evan took it as Jeannette sank down onto the couch. Diego joined her, while Luc stood nearby.

“Just got back from your house, Nettie. It was too dark to really determine anything about what caused the fire last night, so Chuck agreed to meet me this morning at first light.”

Diego appreciated the fire marshal’s kindness and willingness to get to the bottom of this so quickly. Chuck Kingston was a decent guy. Like Diego and Luc, he wasn’t a lifetime Maris resident. He’d moved to town only a few years earlier after falling in love with and marrying a local lady, Gladys Harper.

“What did you come up with?” Luc asked.

Evan glanced at Jeannette. “Chuck’s still there, digging around, but he thinks he found something that indicates arson.”

Jeannette didn’t move, didn’t give the slightest inclination she’d even heard.

On the other hand, Luc was reacting enough for all of them. He exploded. “Goddammit! I knew it!”

Diego felt the same rage as his friend, though his anger turned inwards, heating his blood until it boiled. Neither he nor Luc said what they were really thinking. Jeannette could have been killed in that fire. She could have died.

Whoever was starting all these fires had crossed a very serious line from arsonist to attempted murderer.

Diego relaxed a bit when he saw the same cold determination to catch the motherfucker in Evan’s gaze. Jeannette’s cousin wouldn’t rest until the criminal was made accountable for the crime.