Rum and Raindrops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance (3 page)

Jen grabbed the items and brought them to the counter as His Holy Major Hotness exited the change room, adjusting his new shirt. Man, he had nice eyes.

Working hard to look away, she rang up Mandy’s order as HHMH wandered to toward them.

Mandy grabbed the items and, shooting Jen a grin and a wink, scurried out.

“She, uh, makes the brownies I was mentioning,” Jen said as Mandy hit the sidewalk.

HHMH smiled, not looking as though he was a man trying to get out of a date. At least not yet.

“The town’s in quite the uproar, huh?” he asked, leaning on the glass counter.

She nodded.

“It’ll die down.”

She shrugged. She’d love to be as optimistic as this guy. “Easy for you to say.”

“Why’s that?” he asked, leaning closer.

“You aren’t the one who started it.” Oh shit. She wasn’t supposed to say that. Really, really wasn’t supposed to say that.

“And you did?” His eyebrows lifted. Suddenly, this man was on high alert in a way that had her skin prickling with nerves.

She gave a tense shrug, her voice tight. “I didn’t see anyone else in the park that weekend.”

“Huh.” He studied her for a long moment. “You wouldn’t happen to be Jennifer Kulak, would you?”

She quickly pushed away her surprise. “I am.” Had her reputation finally surpassed the nature guide over in Derbyshire and this hottie had heard of
her
guiding skills? She was kind of in major love with that idea. She grabbed a bag for his wet shirt and flashed him a grin. Maybe she’d stick around town after all. If she was a stellar guide with a reputation outside of these mountains she could definitely handle a little forest fire. No problem.

He plopped his shirt in the offered bag and took it by its handles.

“I’m Rob Raine.” He freed a hand to shake hers. “I’m the investigator sent to check out your forest fire.”

* * *

Her
forest fire?

She fought the urge to bend over as the clenching in her stomach suddenly increased. The clenching that made it difficult to breathe properly. The one that popped in to say hi any time she thought of Blueberry Spring and the peril she might have put it in, or the fact that everything good that had happened or she’d achieved in the past three years was pretty much going to be nothing but a pretty memory to haunt at night. Except now the investigator was telling her it had been her. That she was the one to blame.

And that made her stomach do all kinds of moves she didn’t know it was capable of.

She pushed her hip into the counter for support and stared at the hunk in front of her. The one she’d spilled coffee on. The one she’d been having little fantasies about. The one she’d asked out on a hiking date. The one who said yes. The one who held her entire future in his hands. And not the one with her gliding down a church aisle dressed in white and clutching a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers. The orange jumpsuit behind bars kind.

Fate was a real gonad-kicking bitch sometimes.

“I’ll be hanging around the area to check things out. Watch the fire and its behaviors,” Rob said, still leaning casually against the counter, his wet shirt in the bag beside him.

Jen nodded. Where was her tongue? She usually was good at finding something snappy to say, but all she could think of was how this one good thing in her day had spun around to bare its nasty teeth.

“It’s not my fire,” she managed to whisper. “If you’re looking to trap me into admitting guilt, I won’t. There’s a very good chance it wasn’t me. I know how to put out a fire.” She tipped up her chin and glowered at him.

The corner of his lips quirked and he said calmly, “Don’t worry, Jen. I don’t put anyone behind bars unless I have evidence, and I can learn a lot from a fire—even after it’s out. After I turn in my findings, it’s still up to the courts.”

Anger fizzed in her veins for the way he hadn’t revealed his identity earlier and she said primly, “Good.” She moved around the counter to usher him out of the store. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have people to help.”

He turned at the door, his expression blank as he sized her up. “If the town burns down, where can I get a hold of you?”

“In Hell,” she snarled.

He tossed back his head and let out a giant guffaw. “I sincerely hope you’re innocent so I can go on that hike and get to know you better.” He gave her arm a squeeze as he moved out of the store, his smile genuine and kind.

“Oh, don’t worry,” she called after him, “I’ll be on you like ants on a picnic proving I didn’t start this thing.”

CHAPTER 2

The room blurred and Jen placed a hand on her kitchen counter to steady herself, closing her eyes. She paused as the thrumming in her head intensified. She cracked an eyelid and lowered herself to the cool floor, heart pounding.

The order to evacuate never came, the wind shifting again, brushing the smoke and fire away from Blueberry Springs and allowing many of the stores to reopen. She had vowed to stay until every last resident was gone because running away would show that she was a guilty little fire starter. And she wasn’t.

At least she was pretty sure she wasn’t.

Sprawled on the floor, she stared at the cracks in the ceiling, waiting for an image to form in the jagged lines. Some divination to tell her it would all be okay, to get up, to keep moving.
 

Nothing came.

She drifted off, waking in a panic.

Smoke!

She sat up, shaking off the stiffness in her muscles as she inhaled the smoky sweet scent. The forest.

It was the forest still burning. Not her apartment.

She breathed a bittersweet sigh of relief and lowered her head into her hands. Cautiously, she slid to the window to peek out over the street. The smoky haze gave a post-apocalyptic orange glow to Mary Alice walking her dog and Mandy signing for a restaurant delivery. But nobody was fleeing raging flames, making it a good day in Blueberry Springs as far as she was concerned. Checking her watch, she realized she’d slept through her lunch break and was due back at work downstairs.

She opened the door that led to the street, and held her breathe, not daring to move as a mama bear and her two cubs ambled their way across her path. She watched the mama, eyes focused on getting as far away from the burning forest as possible, using the easiest route—through town—as she protected the ones she loved.

Jen clutched her apartment keys to her chest, biting her lower lip as the bears turned down the next street, disappearing from view. She wasn’t just destroying Blueberry Springs with her carelessness, she was destroying everything. Why hadn’t she stayed home or camped at Woodchuck Park and used their mega metal fire pits instead of roughing it out at Raspberry?

She gave herself a shake, willing herself to think positively.

Drizzle sprinkled over her and she made a silent plea to the universe, Mother Nature, God, Allah, her dead grandmother, and anyone else who might be able to help. She needed rain. Full on rain. Seven days of allowing the fire to rage had been seven days too many. They needed a major rainfall. And she needed a major sugar fix to set her world right again. Knowing Wally wouldn’t mind if she was a minute or two late if she came bearing one of Mandy’s prize-winning whiskey and gumdrop brownies, she headed across the street to Mandy’s restaurant.

The local lawyer, John, paused as he exited Mandy’s.

“Good afternoon, Jen.”

“Hi. Watch out for a mama bear with cubs near your office. She just turned onto Cherry.” She went to push open the door, but John caught her elbow.

“I heard they’re investigating you,” he said quietly, drawing her to the side.

Jen’s heart had a mini seizure. “What?”

“This Rob Raine fellow Scott brought in. He says the fire was started by someone and they’re checking into alibis, but that you were the only registered user out at Raspberry that entire weekend.”

Jen made stuttering sounds, unable to speak due to all the bad mojo burning through her brain.

“If you end up needing a lawyer, you call me.” He gave her a stern look as though worried she would try to save herself from legal issues on her own.

“I…I don’t know that I can afford a lawyer, John.”

“Pro bono. A girl like youself starting out in life doesn’t need this kind of trouble. I helped Mandy last year, and I wouldn’t think twice about extending that kind of help to you as well. Should you need it.”

Gratitude began to build all warm and fuzzy in her chest until she realized how screwed she must be if a lawyer was seeking her out in order to offer his services.

“Have you been to court before?” he asked.

She nodded, bad memories flooding her body with a Molotov cocktail of fight or flight chemicals. Her innards spun into a tornado and her legs got that antsy feeling. “It wasn’t a good experience.”

“Well, if they call you in, don’t hesitate to get in touch. That applies for any interviews or court proceedings. Advice. Anything.” John gave her arm a reassuring squeeze and made off down the street.

Mary Alice came up behind Jen, a soft cloud of mint and cigarette smoke smell distinctly hers. “How are you holding in there, hon?”

Jen whirled, just about stepping on Mary Alice’s dog.

Mary Alice gave her a kind look.

Oh no. No way was she going to let Mary Alice sweet-talk her into dishing the gossip.

“Oh, you know,” Jen said, trying to be perky. She dashed into Mandy’s place, realizing Mary Alice probably did know—and probably a whole lot more than she did. She kept her back to the door as if barring Mary Alice.

“Hey!” Mandy called from behind the counter. She waved a brown bag. “I saw you coming. Need a pick-me-up?”

“If those are your brownies, hell yeah.” She gratefully accepted the bag and slipped enough money on the counter for brownies and a drink. “Can I get a coffee, too?”

Mandy fixed Jen a coffee to go. “Did you hear Benny’s bringing back his chocolate maven pie?” Benny owned the nicest restaurant in town, sort of a date place, and used to have a heavenly chocolate pie on his menu, but had recently removed it in an effort to make his meal choices a little easier on the waistline.

“Enough of us must have complained finally.” Jen peeked in the bag of brownies and wondered if she had time to slip over to Benny’s and get a slice of pie as well. It was one of those days where a chocolate overload would hit the spot.

Mandy slid a large coffee to Jen. “On the house. And in case you’re wondering, John was great. You should totally hire him—if you end up needing a lawyer, of course.”

Jen inhaled, willing herself not to snap at Mandy. How was it that everyone seemed to know more about her life than she did? She was the one in charge, not Blueberry nosy-Rosie business-snooping Springs. “I can’t afford him.”

“I’ll ask him to cover you pro bono.”

“He already offered.”

“Then what’s the hitch?”

“Exactly.”

Mandy’s brow crinkled. “What?”

“Never mind.” Why would a lawyer come up, out of the blue, and offer to represent her? There was no benefit to him other than more work on his plate. In other words, what did he get in return? Where was the hitch?

Mandy waved Jen’s money back at her, and Jen ignored it, wagging the bag of brownies as a wave goodbye. “Thanks.”

On the street, Jen took a bite of the largest brownie, her tension easing as the chocolate hit her bloodstream. Heaven. Life after death. Renewed purpose, determination, hope. It was here in this magical hunk of chocolatey goodness.

She slowly jaywalked to Wally’s store, freezing as she saw a familiar figure move toward her. And no, it wasn’t His Holy Major Hotness coming to beg forgiveness for being on the right side of the law when she wasn’t.

The bastard.

Nope. It was none other than Judge Radcliff. The butt hat of her universe. The very sight of him made the warmth in her body drain into her sandals. The judge had come on her inaugural excursion and had just about guaranteed that she’d never have the courage to lead another. He’d managed to twist his knee twenty-five minutes into a three-hour nature hike and demanded not only a full refund, but that everyone should carry him back to the van and then take him to the hospital. Yeah, it was a regular fun time for everyone. And ever since then he’d give her a glare and add a little limp to his walk whenever their paths crossed. She gripped the bag of brownies for strength and hoped the man had failed to see her. She really wasn’t in the mood for his still-hurt ego today.

The judge drew up beside her as she hit the sidewalk, pausing for dramatic effect, reminding her of a cat with a mouse on its claw, waiting, letting his victim squirm before the onslaught.

Oh, crap. He was going to gun for her today. She could feel it in the way he focused his steely eyes. She barely dared breathe. Could she pretend she hadn’t seen him? Could she slip into Wally’s unnoticed? She cautioned a glance toward the judge and told her legs to run, but they’d grown roots, unable to move. She pulled her brownies and coffee closer to her body.

“How’s business, Jen?” He gave a small smirk.

Jen eyed the door to Wally’s. Only eight feet away. She could dash in there as though she hadn’t seen the judge. Except if she did end up going to court she’d need this man to be harboring less of a grudge.

She cleared her throat and drew herself up, throwing a smile on her face. “Hello, Judge Radcliff. A lovely day for a hike, isn’t it?”

She levelled a gaze, barely daring to breathe. Why did she mention hiking? Wasn’t there something else about him she could have chitchatted about? Like, maybe, whether or not he could cut through steel with his gaze?

His nostrils flared ever so slightly. “I’ve heard from reliable sources that you were the only registered user of the Raspberry Creek Park during the weekend this fire started.”

Jen inhaled through her nose, trying to prevent the street from doing that awkward spin to the right it kept insisting on doing. Her worst fears were taking root—the town was angry with her. There was evidence. It really had been her who had started the fire despite her care, attention, and training. The town was going to turn on her if she didn’t flee first.