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nine?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“Just a baby.”
“And you’re ancient, my dear.”
“Thirty-four. Decrepit.”
They laughed.
Unsettled by her own transparency, Autumn changed the angle. “I’m sure he has
plenty of girlfriends to keep him occupied. From my experience, firefighters have this
hero appeal women find irresistible. The men I worked with in smoke jumping had no
problem finding girls.”
Bitsie’s eyes clouded over, and a flood of memories bounced back to Autumn like a
yo-yo. Seventeen years ago, nasty rumors about the relationship between Bitsie’s
husband and her mother had filled the town. The rumors had turned out to be true.
Hastening to reassure Bitsie, Autumn reached over and covered the older woman’s
hand with her own. “Don’t worry about my feelings. I know what happened between
your husband and my mother.”
Bitsie’s peach-hued skin, youthful for her years, flushed with anger or
embarrassment. “My husband wasn’t a saint. I knew that when I married him. Glossing
over the facts didn’t work then, and it doesn’t now.”
Autumn tried a smile, but it felt brittle.
Bitsie stayed silent for a long moment. “The night my husband and your parents died
… well, my husband admitted he’d had an affair with your mother. He divulged that the
baby she was carrying was his.”
Equal parts painful memory and acceptance slid through Autumn like a slow burn.
Her parents had told her the night they died that her mother was four months pregnant
because of her affair with Mitchell Dillon. And while she hadn’t wanted to believe her
mother would have an affair, her parents’ quarrel that fateful night of the fire had
confirmed the rumors of adultery.
Autumn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “My parents had a squabble in front
of me at dinner the night they died. When I realized they were saying that Mitchell was
the baby’s father … well…” Autumn shook her head and tears threatened. “So none of
what you’re saying is a surprise. Except that you would tell me now.”
Bitsie’s eyes watered a little. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought back bad
memories.”
“Please don’t worry. I was considering asking you about it. I just didn’t expect to
hear it so soon.” An ache built in Autumn’s chest. “It never changed the way I felt about
you and Jack. Both of you are fantastic people.” Swallowing hard to free the boulder that
seemed lodged in her throat, she cracked a weak smile. “I always liked how you told the
truth. That’s something I learned from you all those years ago. My mom was very good at
pretending things weren’t happening when they were. At least in front of me.”
Bitsie smiled this time and the tears shimmering in her eyes dissolved. “I was
worried if I even hinted at what happened between my husband and your mother, that I
might start something awful between you and me. We never had the chance to talk before
you left all those years ago. I was too busy helping Jack deal with his father’s death. So
many things were left unsaid.” Bitsie sniffed. “What a mess.”
They sat silently, sipping their tea and reflecting. Autumn realized she had nothing
left to say about the scandal that rocked their lives years ago.
Bitsie’s expression lightened. “I guess since we’re being honest here I’ll ask
something else. Why did you come back to Clifton?”
Autumn wondered when someone would ask. “After the parachuting accident, I
needed a break and time to recover. I’m keeping in touch with therapists and doctors and
they told me I can return to smoke jumping soon. My knee is essentially good to go,
but—” She didn’t want to say it. Those words that would prove she didn’t have the guts
to do the job anymore. “I tried jumping out of a plane a couple of times this last
summer.”
“Tried?”
“I couldn’t do it. I realized I needed more time.”
Bitsie’s sympathetic expression made Autumn feel worse. She didn’t want anyone’s
pity.
“I’m sorry,” Bitsie said.
“Please, don’t be. I’ll find confidence again one way or the other. I came to Clifton
for the change of pace. I like this little newspaper better than the larger one I was working
for in the Denver rat race. Even the pay cut was worth it.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here and staying at my house.”
“Thanks again for the room.”
Bitsie shrugged. “It’s the least I could do for the young woman who turned my son’s
life around.”
Autumn often wondered if the fire that killed her parents and Jack’s father had been
the first catalyst in Jack’s decision to become a firefighter. “You’re giving me far too
much credit. He needed to discover his real path in life. Being the brunt of other kids’
cruelty will either make you stronger, or drive you to the edge. In Jack’s case, it seems to
have made him stronger. I take it no one kicks sand in his face now?”
Bitsie drained her teacup with a satisfied gulp. “Definitely not, my dear. From the
first day you tutored him to the last he learned to stand up for himself. You did what no
other person in his life seemed to be able to do. Not even his father.”
She reached for Bitsie’s empty cup. “More tea?” When Bitsie shook her head,
Autumn took the cups to the sink, rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher. “Okay,
have it your way. I’m a goddess.”
Bitsie laughed. “Enough of this heavy conversation. I’ve got to head off to my
meeting. Jack will be here any time now. Unless there’s another fire, he’ll make it to
dinner tonight.”
“Your famous pizza? I’ll bet it is as great as Jack’s chili.”
“Nothing is as good as Dillon chili.”
Autumn recalled a picnic where Jack’s father had served her a huge bowl of his
famous firehouse chili. Autumn almost burned her tongue on the spices alone. “Has Jack
toned down the recipe, or should I put on flame retardant undies the next time I taste it?”
Bitsie grinned. “He’s made modifications. I’ll let him tell you what they are when
you see him.”
Seeing Jack tonight would be a risky proposition if she expected to keep her sanity.
For the last couple of days all she’d thought about was fucking him blind. A nervous
tickle of anticipation made her ready for anything tonight.
“Did Jack say anything to you about the warehouse fire being arson?” Bitsie asked as
they moved to the kitchen and started working on the pizza.
“No, but then I didn’t talk to him for long about it. Hank said there was no evidence
pointing in that direction. At least not at the time. Who knows what they’ve discovered
since then? It might have been kids playing with matches.”
She knew she lied, but she didn’t want to think about what a string of arson fires
might mean. She didn’t want to remember that arson destroyed her family … Jack’s
family.
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