hell. Will’s stomach sank. He’d befriended twenty-one-year-old Amy Reynolds after her apartment caught fire. She was a sweet kid, juggling three jobs while trying to raise a baby, but her on-again, off-again older boyfriend was bad news. Although local law enforcement had never compiled enough evidence to arrest him, there was talk of the man dealing illegal prescription drugs.
“They suspended Amy at work,” Jace said. “She was strung out the last two nights she waitressed. She claims she’s just jittery after a few sleepless nights with the baby and too much caffeine, but it was obviously more than that. I know the owners don’t want to fire her, but she’s been breaking glasses and screwing up orders. She misplaced a customer’s credit card and spilled a pitcher of margaritas on the mayor’s wife during Ladies’ Night. Do you think she’d listen if you try to talk to her?”
Will shoved a hand through his hair. “I don’t know.” The last time he’d tried to talk to her about the baby’s father and her own well-being, she immediately became defensive. He could only imagine how hard it was for a barely adult woman to raise a baby alone. It was natural that she would turn to the baby’s father for help—but when he broke laws and risked her health? “For her sake, I’ll try.”
“Be persuasive,” Jace advised as he stood. “Use your famous Will Trent charm. It’s practically a superpower. No woman can say no to you.”
Will didn’t bring up the ex-fiancée who’d very effectively said no less than twenty-four hours before their scheduled walk down the aisle, or the cranky neighbor woman who seemed to inexplicably dislike him even though he’d done his best to be likable whenever he saw her. “You sure you shouldn’t talk to Amy? The two of you are closer in age.”
“I don’t know. She had a case of hero worship for you after you helped put out that fire at her apartment complex. If you can’t get through to her...” Despite Jace’s reputation for being glib and irreverent, there was real concern in his voice.
“I’ll talk to her,” Will promised. He wasn’t sure yet how he’d succeed when his last attempt had failed, but it was the right season for Christmas miracles.
“Good, then I guess I’ll be headed out, too. Unless you want some help planning a bachelor party.”
“There’s not going to be a bachelor party. Cole has been very adamant.” He’d cited reasons from upholding the office of local sheriff—hard to keep order if people were whispering about you dancing with a lampshade on your head—to not wanting gossip about strippers to reach the ears of his teenage stepson. Then there was the obvious—Cole was so crazy about Kate that he’d rather spend a free evening with her than scantily clad exotic dancers.
“We could plan one anyway, as a surprise. It doesn’t have to be in Cupid’s Bow. There’s a club in the next county that—”
“Now you’re just being sad. There are ways of seeing women naked without slipping ones and fives into their G-strings.”
“You would know, Romeo.” Jace’s tone was a blend of sarcasm and admiration that only a sibling could achieve.
It was true Will had been dating a lot lately. For weeks after being dumped, he’d kept to himself. Then his dad had gently suggested that Will should look at the broken engagement as an opportunity.
You and Tasha got together when you were freshmen in high school. I know you loved her, but you were following through on a future you planned as a kid. Sow some oats. Find out what Will the man wants out of life. Mark my words, son, this may be a blessing in disguise.
Why not? After all, he was single for the first time in his adult life. He owed it to himself to enjoy it as much as possible.
“I’ll walk you out,” he told his brother. Tomorrow was trash day, and he had bins to roll to the curb. As soon as they stepped onto the porch, Will wished he’d thrown a jacket on over his Cupid’s Bow Fire Department T-shirt. “Temperature’s dropped.”
“Hope it stays cold for the tree lighting this weekend. It never feels as festive when it’s eighty-five degrees outside.”
Will laughed. “That was an unseasonably warm fluke almost ten years ago. You’re just mad Mom made you wear your Christmas sweater anyway.” It sure as hell wasn’t eighty-five degrees now. He hustled down the steps, trying to keep his teeth from chattering.
Jace’s car sat parked in Will’s half of the extra-wide driveway. The driveway he shared with next-door neighbor Megan Rivers began at the street between their mailboxes and eventually split in opposite directions, curving into sidewalks that led to each house. As Jace started his car, Will rounded the house to the wooden enclosure where he kept the trash cans to discourage raccoons and other critters from trying to get past the lids. Arms crossed and head ducked against the wind, he was making the return trip from the curb when he heard wheels bumping over pavement at a rapid clip. He glanced up to find Megan coming toward him. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who’d remembered that garbage and recycling needed to be put out before morning.
He raised his hand in an automatic wave just as a frigid gust sliced across his yard and caught the lid on Megan’s recycling bin, flinging it open. Crumpled plastic bottles and milk jugs scattered on the pavement.
He was already moving toward her as he offered, “Want some help?”
“No. Thank you,” she said tightly.
He scowled. Why on earth wouldn’t she welcome assistance to speed up the process? It was dark out, but he could see she wasn’t wearing much more than a robe over pajamas. Didn’t she want to get back inside where it was warm? “It’s no trouble.” Actually, it was. He wanted to get back inside where it was warm. Valiantly ignoring his own discomfort, he joked, “I’m trying to save my brother the sheriff a trip out here. We have to make sure no one turns you in for littering.”
She smashed a handful of debris back into the bin. “I’ll take my chances.”
Okay. Message received. The stubborn woman could collect her own empty shampoo bottles and juice boxes. As he headed back toward his front door, he found himself glad Jace hadn’t been here to witness that exchange. His brother would have laughed that maybe he’d been wrong about the Famous Will Trent Charm.
Was Megan’s disdain evidence that Will was losing his touch? That would put a damper on his plans for making the most of bachelorhood. Then again, his last dozen dates had found him plenty appealing.
People like me. Megan Rivers was just the inexplicable exception that proved the rule.
By Friday night, Will’s body ached and the lingering smell of smoke permeated his hair and skin as he drove up to his house. Today had been a live burn training day. An abandoned house near the outskirts of Cupid’s Bow needed to be demolished to expand the road to two full lanes, and the town council had given permission for the fire department to burn the building down as an instructional exercise in fighting fires. Will had been one of the supervisors on-site, making sure the fire didn’t spread while giving orders to multiple crews throughout the afternoon.
Even though he’d done a quick cleanup at the station house before sharing a pizza dinner with other firefighters and EMTs, he planned on taking a long shower once he got inside. He parked on his side of the driveway and unplugged his phone
