Page 7 of That One Heartbreak

Kate let out a long breath. “Was it poisonous?”

“Rat snakes are fine.” There, that wasn’t a lie, just a little stretch of the truth. “But if it’s okay with you I’d like to inspect the outside of your house when it’s light.”

“Why?” she asked, looking confused.

“Just to…” He shrugged. “Make sure everything’s okay.”

“You think the snake might come back?” Her voice lifted and he winced, because he was making things worse.

“No.” But it was a good excuse to make sure her house was secure.

“Then it’s fine. I’ll take a walk around the property tomorrow to be sure.” She lifted her gaze to his, her jaw jutting out. “And you don’t need to run past here every day. We’re fine.”

So she knew about that. Damn.

“It’s my favorite running route,” he told her.

A ghost of a smile pulled at her lips. “Sure it is. Just like your old favorite running route was past our house in town.”

“It’s a small town,” he pointed out. “It’s not exactly full of places to run.” And he couldn’t give this one up. He’d made a promise. He intended to keep it.

“You don’t need to check on me. I can take care of myself. And the kids,” she told him, her voice firm. Because yeah, she knew exactly what he was doing.

Of course she did. She was an intelligent woman. Pretty. He could remember the way she used to smile so easily. Before.

“I know you can. I know you do.” He lifted his hand to his brow, brushing away some of the sweat he’d gotten from running. “I’m not trying to make your life harder.” He looked at her carefully. She still seemed a little freaked out by the snake. “Kate,” he said softly.

“Yes?”

“If you need anything at all, you just let me know, all right?”

The light of the moon caught her eyes. He could see how shiny they were. “I don’t need anything,” she told him. “I’m fine. I’m just trying to live my life the best way I know how.”

He nodded, hating that he’d upset her. “Well good night then,” he murmured.

“Good night.”

And then she was gone.

Chapter

Three

“Mom,have you thought about me joining junior firefighters yet?” James asked the next day after school. Kate had finished work early and was walking around the outside of the house, her phone in her hand. She’d googled ‘how to secure your house from snakes’ but apart from looking for holes in the brickwork and for pipes that didn’t have mesh in them, she wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing.

All she knew was she didn’t want anything creeping in that shouldn’t be there. The thought of it made her shudder.

She stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. “I have,” she said, stealing herself for the worst. “I just don’t think you’re ready for it yet. Maybe next year, if your grades are a little better.”

“Next year I’ll be a junior. And you’ll say I have to concentrate on my schoolwork and that I won’t have time.”

Kate winced, because that was exactly what she was planning to say to him. Because the truth was, she didn’t want him to be part of the scheme at all.

Because then he’d want to volunteer as an adult. And she’d be as afraid for him the same way she’d been afraid for Paul every time he got an alert.

Because being a firefighter wasn’t an easy job. Before moving to Hartson’s Creek to manage the volunteer team, Paul had been a captain in a big city force. The stories he’d told her made her feel panicky and anxious. And it wasn’t just that – even being a small town firefighter was dangerous. People got injured. People died.

She couldn’t bear for that person to be James.