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The day after her tiff with Joe, Holly woke up and lay in bed, thinking about what she could have done differently. Kept her mouth shut, for sure. But what kind of basis for a relationship was that? Having been a doormat all her life, she was finally ridding herself of that behavior, and didn’t want it to come back with Joe. Still, the argument seemed pretty silly in the bold light of morning.

She got up, used the bathroom and then went down the hall to get coffee. Halfway there, she heard yelling from the kitchen.

“You what?” Grandpa.

“I rented an apartment at Dutch Towers.” Grandma.

“Why the hell would you do that?”

“You know why. We’ve been in Holly’s hair long enough. The girl has a life!”

“We could have both gone to Paul’s.”

“I don’t want to live with Paul. Besides, Edward. You owe me. You’re responsible for us losing Doug and Marion. Among other things.”

Holly hesitated when she mentioned Linc’s parents. What did Grandma mean by that?

He mumbled something Holly couldn’t hear. Instinctively, she knew their fight was getting personal. Holly needed to make her presence known so she walked into the dining area. “Good morning. So you know, I heard you arguing. You don’t have to move out, either one of you.”

Ella raised a brow. “I think we do. Besides, I want to live in Dutch Towers. I told you that.”

“All right. This is your business. I’ll get coffee and go back to my room.”

“You don’t have to leave,” Grandma said, then faced Grandpa. “I’m going to order a bed and bar stools to be delivered tomorrow.” She walked out of the kitchen.

“I’m not moving!” Grandpa called after her.

She disappeared down the hall. “I am.”

Holly got ready for school and left the house fast. She couldn’t help but notice Joe’s car was in front of his garage. He had a couple of days off. She wondered what he’d do today. Should she go over? She still had time.

Since he wasn’t working, he might not even be up. Maybe she’d call him later.

“What are you doing here?” Joe asked when he saw Chelsea behind the desk at The Weight Room. She was on maternity leave from the fire department, and supposedly from the gym, too.

The girl looked fantastic for three weeks after childbirth. Her skin glowed and there was an expression of awe in her eyes still. “I came in for everybody to meet the baby.”

That perked him up. He hadn’t gone to see the newborn out of respect for their privacy. “Really? Where is she?”

“Jake’s changing her in the back room.” She rolled her eyes. “Do you have any idea how many diapers an infant goes through?” But the words were overshadowed by the deep love in her tone.

“Ah-no!”

“Of course you don’t.” Her gaze narrowed on him. “What are you doing here? Jake told me you got hurt and are supposed to be resting.”

“Yeah, but I’m better today.” Actually, he felt like shit, both physically and inside. But he wasn’t going to let Holly or the pain in. “I’m going stir crazy and thought I’d do some light weights.”

“No!”

“No?”

“You’re not doing them here or elsewhere. You need to take it easy.”

“I rested yesterday.”

“One more day. Come back tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Joe heard behind him. “She’s all cleaned up.”

He turned to see Jake carrying their tiny little girl, Rosie. His face shone with the same awe as his wife’s. Joe had seen the same reaction in other men after they had a kid. He focused on the baby. “Hey, little Rosie. You look cute as hell in all pink.”

Which of course reminded him of Holly.

“Delaney’s idea of girl clothes.”

“That’s okay,” Jake said, kissing Rosie’s head. “The guys at the firehouse got her a baseball mitt and a Yankee uniform.”

Joe laughed. And hurt at the same time. He’d never seen happier people. He wanted this someday.

“Boy, Francey’s going to have her hands full,” Jake commented.

Chelsea gave him a shut up look.

“Um...”

“What’s going on?” Joe asked.

Chelsea touched his arm. A pitying expression crossed her face. “Francey’s pregnant again. With twins this time.”

Joe felt the old resentment rise in him like a snake about to bite. “I didn’t know they wanted more kids.”

“I’m sorry if this makes you feel bad.”

“Nah. I’m cool with it.” He looked around. “Listen, since you won’t let me work out, I’m gonna book.” Leaning over, he kissed Rosie’s head, smiled at her parents and got out of there as fast as possible.

Once in his car, he pounded on the steering wheel. How on earth could he still be upset by something Francey did or had in her life? He thought he was past this.

Holly could help.

Damn it. After what happened between them, he wasn’t going to go to her with this!”

Holly got home from school on Wednesday and saw Joe’s car in the driveway. They hadn’t texted or called each other, and this was stupid. She walked over and went through the garage, knocked on the kitchen door.

He opened it. He looked terrible with bloodshot eyes and his hair askew. Because of her? “You okay, Joe?”

“Yeah, sure, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m feeling bad. We had a tiff yesterday.”

He just watched her.

“Can I come in?”

“Suit yourself.” He turned his back and walked into the house and she followed. He leaned against the counter. “So, shoot.”

“I’m sorry I got mad about Grandma. I still don’t like that you did all that without consulting me, but we should have talked about it.”

“Hey, no problems. What’s a little tiff between friends?”

She hadn’t expected the attitude. “Oh. I thought maybe you were upset about us.”

“Nah, look, I was about to go for a walk. You can let yourself out while I change.”

“Okay. Would you like to do something tonight?”

“Not tonight. I’ll call you.” And he walked down the hall.

Holly took a few steps toward the dining area then stopped. She wasn’t going after him. He’d acted like there was nothing between them. And that pissed her off.

Then she caught sight of a manila envelope on the table. Peeking out were some pictures...of Joe. And another person. Knowing she shouldn’t invade his privacy, she picked up the photo sticking out. It was of Joe, looking so young and innocent it broke her heart. With him was a beautiful violet-eyed woman. Francey Templeton.

“She’s pregnant with twins.” Holly looked up to see Joe had come back.

“Ah, I see.” She took a deep breath. “Do you want to talk about her?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I don’t know why I got those pictures out.”

“Don’t you? You’re upset about her pregnancy. It’s okay to feel that way at first.”

“If I am, I don’t want to talk about it. Especially with you.”

She felt as if she’d been slapped. “We have before. Remember what I told you about Linc?”

“I said no!” He’d raised his voice.

She recoiled. Without saying anything, she left the house. This was a side of Joe she definitely didn’t like.

Joe walked into the firehouse, feeling pissy and pouty. He’d had too much to drink last night after finding out about Francey and creating a second tiff with Holly. Growling, he dumped his stuff in the office, said goodbye to his counterpart on the night shift and headed to the kitchen.

The guys and Hildy were at the table eating. “Hey, Joe,” Tully said way too cheerfully, “Norm’s wife sent in egg strata and bacon for breakfast for us. There’s some warm for you on the stove.”

With a mouthful, Norm nodded. “She’s a keeper.”

Oh, great. Now the smell of eggs and meat turned his stomach. Or was it Norm’s comment?

Liam piped up with, “Man, I think my new girlfriend’s in for the long haul, too.”

Holding a piece of bacon halfway to her mouth, Hildy nodded. “I had a date with a really nice guy last night.”

Joe grabbed coffee and leaned against the counter. “How’d it go the last few days?”

“We had Lieutenant Amati.” From group two. “He was great.” Everything was great for Tully. Usually, he liked that about the kid, but today, it irritated him.

“You okay, Murray?”

“Yeah I got a hard head.”

After more input, Joe pushed away from the counter. “I gotta go read the reports on the last two days. I sent the chores for the day out to your phones this morning.”

“What about breakfast?” Norm asked.

“Sorry, Norm. My stomach’s off.” Having lied to his men—he couldn’t take happy company right now—Joe walked to his office, sat at his desk, and booted up his computer. He checked the reports, which took a half hour, then read his mail on his phone. There was one from ejordan.

Huh. Holly’s grandmother. How would she have gotten his email address? He clicked in.

Dear Joe,

I’m so sorry I involved you in our family issues. I know it didn’t go well with Holly after that. I tried to talk to her, but she wasn’t in the mood to yesterday and I’m moving out today. I think she might need time. I know she cares about you. Again, I apologize for interfering with that.

Goddamn it, he didn’t need this. He bolted up and went back out to the kitchen. The group had empty plates in front of them, but were chowing down on some pastries. Which Norm’s keeper wife probably sent in. “Why are you all sitting around like this? I told you I sent you the chores.”

Silence.

“Somebody speak.”

Norm stood. “Right up until now, we were enjoying the breakfast my wife sent in.” He stood. “Let’s go, everybody.”

Shit! Now he’d pissed off his crew.

Joe went back to the office and was grateful when the P.A. came on. “Truck 8, domestic dispute at 444 Grand Avenue. Weapon involved. Wait for the police to arrive before entering the house.”

He grabbed the printout and flew out to the bay first. When his group joined him, he said, “Don’t put on turnout gear. Just get in the truck with it.”

The siren blared as they sped to the scene. “Tully, you never had a call like this, right?”

“No sir.”

“Stay with me. Do only what I say.”

“Why are we going to the site if the police are?” he asked.

“We’re all EMTs. In case of an incident.”

“Won’t an ambulance go?”

“If the closest ones are free. Sometimes they’re not. Didn’t you learn that at the academy?”

That stinging criticism shut even Tully up.

They swerved to the side of the road in front of a three-story home. Grand Avenue wasn’t as posh as East Avenue, but this was definitely an upper-class neighborhood.

The police hadn’t arrived. They waited in the truck. The radio crackled on again. “Woman at 444 Grand is in the bathroom and the guy’s throwing himself into the door. She says he’s going to hurt her.”

Not listening to the rest, Joe flung open the cab. “Let’s go.”

They popped the front door, and Joe rushed inside first. He followed the bellow of the man. When they reached him, Joe bent at the waist and hurled himself forward. The knife the guy carried flew out of his hand. Liam and Tully helped wrestle him to the ground.

The police came in. “Damn it, you were supposed to wait for us.”

Joe stood. “Judgment call.” But he knew by the looks of the officer’s face, he was in trouble.

Because they hadn’t walked in a bit, Holly and Lizzie brought their clothes to school, changed and were out on the high school track by four. “So, how’s the party planning going?”

Lizzie and Greg were in charge of the end-of-the-year party held the first week of June, a bit before school ended. “Great. We’re having it at Taylor’s in a private room for dinner and some fun stuff starting at five. Then at eight, a band starts. The Grooms.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Are you coming?”

“I’m not sure.” She didn’t want to mope about Joe, but she wasn’t much in the mood for a celebration.

“Joe could meet you there at eight.”

“I doubt it. We’ve had a couple of fights, and he’s behaving like a jerk.” She gave Lizzie the short version.

“Ouch. His reaction to his ex must have hurt.”

“You know it wouldn’t have if he’d talked to me about it. We discussed before the similarities of our reactions to Linc and Francey. But this Joe was mean and remote. I didn’t like him.”

“Yikes. Already?”

“I know. And that bothers me. Monday, I thought he was great. Now, by Thursday, we’re already fighting.”

“Yeah, he probably isn’t worth it.”

She stopped. “I didn’t say that.”

Lizzie turned. “Are you giving up on him?”

“No. But I’m not going to set myself up again for him to treat me like he did.”

“I agree with that. Before you jump to conclusions, or get scared about the relationship, know I’ve never seen you react to a man like you have to him.”

“I’m thinking this through. But the next move is his.”

“That’s okay.” Lizzie walked back to Holly and linked their arms. “Wait it out, girl. And come to the party. We’ll have fun.”

“All right, I’ll come.”

“I drew the short straw, so to speak.”

Joe glared at Hildy. “What do you mean?”

“I was elected to talk to you.” Hildy rolled her eyes. “They figured you might not bite a woman’s head off.”

“Sit.”

She did. “Joe, what’s wrong with you?”

“Is this about the call this morning? I already got reamed out by the brass. I still think I did the right thing.”

“Which is poor judgment on your part. You’ve been in a rotten mood all day. Are you in pain? That tackle couldn’t have been good for you after the injury from the fire.”

“No, I’m better.” Which was a lie. He was sore as hell after stupidly putting himself in harm’s way. This was the old Joe. He didn’t like him much. “But I didn’t think I was in a bad mood.”

“You ruined the breakfast Norm’s wife sent in. You yelled at Tully for not mopping the floors right. And you tore Liam down because he cooked something you didn’t like for lunch.”

“I hate fish,” he said, sounding even to himself like a child.

“I rest my case.”

“You know, I’m your lieutenant here. I—” He cut himself off. She was right. He’d been a bear. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the chair. Finally, he faced her. “Go get the guys and bring them in here.”

When three more sheepish firefighters crowded into his office, he shook his head. “Shit, you look like somebody died.”

“No response from them.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so hard to get along with today. I got some issues I’m dealing with and took it out on you.”

“Over what, Joe?” Norm was the oldest and dared ask him.

Should he share this? He was their lieutenant. Still... “I had some news yesterday that set me off. Then I was mean to a woman I like. Both times, I was a jerk.”

Hildy spoke up. “Can it be fixed with her?”

“I don’t know. But that’s not the issue. I apologize for acting like I did. Let’s go out for a beer tomorrow night after our tour’s over. My treat.”

Tully brightened. “To Badges?”

“No, I got a better idea.” Liam spoke up. “There’s this great band playing at Taylor’s. Let’s go there.”

“It’s a date.”