Darcy mounted the steps to the veranda. “Why?”
Joshua frowned, looking back toward the place where the burned rumble of the barn lay in a large mound. “Call it a hunch. Just a feeling I can’t shake. Something’s driving this person—something to do with farms, barns, horses.”
“That doesn’t narrow down too many people in and around Sweetwater, with this being in the middle of the Bluegrass area of Kentucky.”
“I know. I have my work cut out for me.” Joshua held the front door open for Darcy. “But from what I understand, running a farm isn’t an easy task. I’d say you have your work cut out for you, too.”
“It has been a while since I worked with the horses. Until I got married, I was learning the ropes from my father while attending college.” And not doing quite the job he wanted, Darcy thought, remembering her father’s frowns and remarks when she didn’t do something his way.
“Sean told me his dad died last year.”
“What hasn’t my son told you?” Darcy stopped in the middle of the entry hall and faced Joshua, thinking of her son’s enthusiasm and lack of inhibition. As the saying goes, he’d never met a stranger—which thankfully had helped him make friends. They had moved a lot over the years.
“We talked this afternoon for twenty minutes nonstop.”
Darcy laughed. “Nonstop on whose part, yours or his?”
“Mostly his.”
“That’s what I thought. He doesn’t know how to keep a secret. Whenever he gets me a present, I have to open it right then and there, because he can’t wait. So this past Christmas I got his picture frame he made me on December fourth, the day he finished it.”
“He said something about his dad dying in a plane crash.”
“Clay was a fighter pilot for the Navy. During a routine exercise he had problems with his plane and crashed. Knowing the risks he had to take in his job, I thought I was prepared. I wasn’t—” A tightness in her throat prevented her from saying anything else. In fact, she wasn’t even sure why she had told Joshua that. But for some reason the man was easy to talk to, and for a year she had kept a lot bottled up inside her. For most of her life she’d held her emotions close to her heart.
“I’m sorry. Death of a loved one is always difficult. I’ve lost both my parents over the past eight years. They were the only family I had.”
A profound sadness and empathy edged each of his words and drew Darcy to him. “You didn’t grow up here, did you?” Darcy felt that she would have remembered someone like him, even though she suspected a few years separated them in age.
“No. Louisville. I moved here nine years ago. I didn’t want to live in a large town, but I still wanted to be close if my parents needed me.”
Darcy could tell from the tone in his voice that there was more to that story. Indeed there was more to Joshua Markham than merely being a firefighter. But she was only going to be here for a few months. With her heart still scarred from her marriage to Clay, there was no way she would open herself up to any more pain, to another man.
“Mom. Joshua.” Sean came running into the entry hall and slid to a stop a few feet from Darcy. “Dinner is ready. Lizzy made my favorite.”
“Pizza?” Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly the atmosphere between her and Joshua had shifted and become charged with possibilities that she wouldn’t pursue.
“Naw. Spaghetti. It’s my favorite now.”
Darcy clasped her son’s shoulder and ruffled his hair. “You have a new favorite every week. I can’t keep up with them anymore.”
Sean blushed and leaned closer to Joshua, cupping his mouth as though he were imparting a deep, dark secret. “Anything Lizzy makes is my favorite. She’s a great cook. Wait ’til you taste her spaghetti. Mom, you should get Lizzy to show you how.”
“I doubt I could match her in that department.”
“Sure, Mom. You can do anything. Jake told me about the yearlings you used to break.”
“A long time ago. At the ripe old age of thirty-one I’m wiser now.” She placed a hand on the small of her back. “Just thinking about those days I can feel the aches and pains. Every once in a while there was one who didn’t like the feel of a bit and rein or the touch of a saddle and loved to show me how much.”
Sean’s eyes grew round. “Did you ever break anything?”
“Only my pride from time to time.”
“Maybe I can learn how?”
“Not ’til you’re much older.” Then in a whisper to Joshua she added, “And gone from my home.”
“Mom, I heard that.”
“Come on. Let’s go in to eat.”
When Sean raced ahead, she reached out and touched Joshua’s arm to stop his forward movement. The instant her fingers grazed him she pulled her hand away.
“Will you do me a favor, Joshua?”
“What?”
“Let’s not talk about the fire at dinner tonight. Dad may bring it up, but I’d rather not get him too upset.”
“Sure. I don’t have anything else to share about the fire until I get the lab tests back.”
“Knowing my father, he’ll try to pump you for information about your investigation. The doctor said he needed to reduce his stress level, which I’m not sure is possible, especially now with the fire. But I’m going to do everything I can to make his life less stressful.” Will that satisfy her father…finally? she wondered.
“Good luck. I’ve found if the person doesn’t want change, it’s nearly impossible to force one on them.”
“I know, especially someone as stubborn as my father. But that’s why I’m here this summer.”
“So in August you’ll be returning home. Sean said you lived in Panama City, Florida.”
“Yes, I’m a high school librarian, so luckily I could take the summer off to help Dad. This trip will be good for Sean.” She wasn’t so sure about herself, especially after the rocky start she and her dad had had.
“You haven’t come home much?”
Darcy thought of the estranged relationship between her and her father. “No, since Clay was in the Navy we were always moving, getting settled in at a new place.” She started forward, not wanting to go into the past. Going backward wouldn’t change what had happened and she was tired of trying to justify why it had taken a crisis to bring her home.
After they washed their hands, Darcy stepped into the dining room as Lizzy finished putting the last serving bowl on the table. The older woman turned to leave. “Why don’t you stay and join us for dinner?” Darcy asked.
Lizzy
