Fighting the Flames (Firefighter Romance #1)(6)
“Thank you for the reminder.” But, Jessie couldn’t be mad. Lisa was funny, especially when she was pissed off. “Anyway, I didn’t say anything about marriage. I’m just going to see if we can work things out. We did have a bunch of wonderful years, if you’ll kindly remember. If I dumped you as a sister every time you screwed up… I’d have been an only child a long time ago.”
That shut her up, for a moment at least, so Jessie continued,” Like I told you, it wasn’t totally his fault. I wasn’t there for him for a long time. I took my grief over Daddy dying out on him. Plus, he did dump Cindy like a hot potato when he got caught.”
Jessie knew her sister and her “what the f*ck” face meant this could go on for hours.
“Lisa, I have to go meet a friend.” Jessie semi-lied, stuffing a last bite of pancake in her mouth. “We’ll talk more about everything when I get home. Promise.”
“I know you very well Jessie Taylor,” she began, shaking her fork this time. “I’m the only one who can protect you from yourself and you know I’m right.”
Dammit… she was right. Jessie knew it. Lisa knew it. Jessie doesn’t answer, just thanked her for breakfast and tussled the hair of the twins before leaving the kitchen.
Heading back to the guest room, Jessie grabbed her new khaki shorts and Derrick’s favorite pink top. She paused in her choice of underwear, each pair bringing back erotic memories. Damn. She’ll need to buy new panties and bras, she could never wear any of these again. She remembered Ryan peeling the blue pair down her legs; she remembered him kissing each flower of the soft yellow ones. The pink set was a gift from him, a one-month anniversary present.
She closed her suitcase… unable to look at them further. Commando it would be. She turned the shower as hot as she could stand it and stepped in, hoping the warmth of the water that ran across her back and the freshly scented shampoo would relieve some of her stress. She wanted to stay all day, but knew it would only postpone the inevitable. Whether her relationship with Derrick could be saved, or not… it was better to face the question and get the confrontation over with.
Grabbing her keys and hobo bag, she jolted out the creaky front door she’d been so happy to enter just twenty-four hours ago. She glanced behind her, expecting Lisa to be on her heels with a fresh lecture, but it was only Alex and Alexa waving goodbye.
She blew them a kiss and caught theirs in return, pretending to gobble them up. The silly giggles, the sweet little faces gave her hope that no matter what happens an hour from now… here, she was still loved.
Damn, she forgot her sunglasses. She squinted into the sun as she pulled out of the driveway. What happened to the rain? She rubbed the little green four-leaf clover hanging on the mirror and decided not to return to the ire of my sister’s lair.
That wasn’t fair.
She loved her sister… dearly. And she had to admit the one good thing Lisa did this morning was take her mind off the coming meeting with Derrick, at least while they were pissing each other off. Now though, it’s all coming back and Jessie felt like she’d never exorcise the self-doubt completely from her being.
How many f*cking cars are there in this town? Summer at the beach spoiled her more than she thought. She didn’t remember this road ever being this slow. What is the old saying? Anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone driving faster is an *? Well, it’s just her luck; idiots and *s surrounded her.
The butterflies in her stomach needed something to get their mind off what was about to happen, and she spotted a local fast food joint that recently began serving coffee and ordered a caramel mocha frap complete with maraschino cherry from the drive-thru.
A few blocks later, she saw the problem. A car clipped the mail drop box and ran over a fire hydrant. The water, spraying straight up, looked like shards of glass falling from the sky. “Listen up kids, don’t text and drive,” she grumbled. Thank god, she could finally get going again.
Turning into Derrick’s neighborhood, she noticed the leaves were falling earlier than normal in this part of town. The streets were awash in windblown piles, blocking the gutters while bits and pieces lay on the street where cars had dealt them their final blow.
Derrick has a huge pine tree in the front yard. Jessie always hated the pile of brown needles that seemed a foot deep and covered the entire yard. It is different today. There are no pine needles, the yard was neatly mowed and the hedges trimmed too. The white paint on the trim looked fresh, and a new screen covered the front door. If she didn’t know better, Jessie would think this wasn’t Derrick’s house at all. She pulled out her key and wondered if he changed the lock when he updated the curb appeal.
Quietly, Jessie slipped the well-worn key with the pink cover into the lock and remembered the day Derrick so lovingly presented it to her. “You already have the key to my heart,” he had said, kissing her gently on the lips. “Here’s a key to my home. Mi casa es tu casa.”
She sighed, remembering how they’d made love on the floor, a fire roaring beside them. It was one of the most romantic moments of her life up until then. Tear burned her eyes and she took a deep breath, blinking frantically to stave them off.
Even though she hadn’t used this key in months, it fits perfectly. Turning it to the left, she could feel the cylinder unlock. Opening the door, she hoped the familiar telltale squeak of the parquet floor—the one she would always hear when Derrick returned from his job on the swing shift—won’t wake him up.