be hurt or killed. After a messy breakup, he’d decided to concentrate on his career and not worry about the aggravation of maintaining a relationship for a while. For now, he’d like to keep things casual, uncomplicated. Maybe after making Battalion Chief he would give serious thought to settling down. But that wouldn’t or couldn’t include seeing someone he worked with.
“I see.” She glanced at Jared and Olivia. “I didn’t know you had children.”
Olivia giggled.
“This is my niece and nephew. They’re spending a couple of weeks with me while my sister and her husband are out of town. Sal, this is Jared and Olivia.”
Olivia gave her a curious look. “Your name is Sal? That’s a boy’s name.”
“That’s what your uncle calls me at work. My name is really Sally.”
His niece wrinkled her nose. “I like Sally better.”
Ross did too. It suited her. To think he had never really wondered what her full name was.
Sally looked down at Olivia and smiled. “You know, I do too.”
That was interesting. Why didn’t she ever correct anybody at the station?
Sally turned her attention to her food and the rest of them did as well. She handed over a napkin to Jared. Ross looked at him. He had barbecue sauce running down his chin.
The boy took it from her.
“Good sandwich?” Sally asked, smiling.
“Yes.” Jared grinned.
“I can tell. Mine’s good too.”
“Uncle Ross’s must be good too because it’s all over his face.” Olivia pointed to him.
They all laughed.
“He looks like a clown,” Olivia blurted out.
They all broke into laughter again.
“What?” He wiped his mouth and looked at the napkin. There was a lot of sauce on it.
“It’s still on there,” Jared stated.
Ross tried again to clean his face.
“It’s still on there,” Olivia said with a giggle.
“You guys are starting to hurt my feelings.” Ross liked the sound of Sally’s laughter—sweet and full-bodied.
“Here, let me see if I can help you.” Sally held up her napkin. “Lean toward me.”
Ross did as she suggested as she shifted toward him. Their eyes met and held for a moment. There was a flicker of something there. Awareness, curiosity, interest?
Sally blinked and her focus moved on. A moment later she rubbed a spot on his cheek and sat back.
“She got it,” Olivia announced.
However, she had left a warmth behind for him to think about.
“Jared,” Sally said a little too brightly, as if she had been affected as well. “How old are you?”
“Nine.”
“What do you like? Football? Baseball…?” Her attention remained on him as if she was truly interested.
“Soccer.”
“Soccer. I’ve watched a few games but I don’t know much about the rules.”
Ross grinned as Jared lapsed into a full monologue about soccer playing. It hadn’t taken long for Sal, uh, Sally to find the kid’s sweet spot.
When he ran out of steam Sally was quick to ask, “Olivia, do you have something special you like to do?”
“I like to draw.”
“Do you draw people, or animals or landscapes?” Sally took a bite of her sandwich while waiting for an answer.
Olivia wrinkled her forehead. “Landscapes? What’s that?”
“Pictures of trees and grass,” Jared offered.
“That’s right.” Sally gave him a smile of praise.
“No, I like to draw horses. I drew a picture of Uncle Ross’s horses.”
Sally’s attention turned to him. She seemed surprised. “You have horses?”
“I do. I own a few acres out west of town.”
“You need to come see Uncle Ross’s horses sometime. They’re beautiful.” Olivia let the last word trail out. “Their names are Romeo and Juliet.”
Sally smiled at her. “Are they, now?” She looked at him with a teasing grin on her lips. “Interesting names for horses.”
“Hey, they were already named when I bought them.”
She grinned. “So you say.”
They returned to eating their meals.
As they finished, Olivia asked, “Uncle Ross, can I go have my face painted now?”
Jared turned to him. “And I want to ride the pony.”
“We can’t do both at the same time. Who’s going first?”
Both their hands went up.
Sally covered her smile with a hand.
Ross looked at her and shook his head sadly. “I can handle a company of men at a fire with no problem but give me two kids.”
Her look met his. “I think you’re doing great.”
She did? For some reason he rather liked that idea.
Sally pushed her plate to the center of the table. “Maybe I can help. I can take Olivia to have her face painted while you take Jared to ride the pony. We can meet somewhere afterward.”
Ross looked at the children. “That sounds like a plan, doesn’t it, kids?”
They both nodded.
He looked around. “Okay, we’ll meet over there by the flagpole.”
Sally stood. “Then we’ll see you in a little while. Olivia, bring your trash and we’ll put it in the garbage on the way.”
To his surprise Olivia made no argument about cleaning up. Instead she did as Sally asked. As they headed toward the face-painting booth, Olivia slipped her hand into Sally’s. She swung it between them.
Sally strolled
