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wondered if she d imagined Reid s reaction. Her gaze was neutral
now.
" 39 "
ERIN DUTTON
You know, you re probably right. Jimmy was always saying
he wished you would let him fix you up.
Ha! He probably would ve fixed me up with some big,
sweaty firefighter.
Not all firefighters are big and sweaty.
Really? Well, you re probably right about that. That Nathan
guy is pretty cute. What s his story? Isabel shifted on the sofa and
tucked one leg beneath her.
Nathan? He s not good enough either.
Really?
Besides, I heard he s gay, Reid lied.
Isabel laughed. He is not. He does have a nice body.
Reid bristled at the appreciative gleam in Isabel s eye. He s
too young for you.
What? Isabel swatted at her playfully. How old is he?
I don t know, early twenties, Reid guessed, thinking that
though Isabel had nearly a decade on him, he would be lucky to
get a woman like her. Isabel was completely out of his league, and
Reid wasn t biased in the least.
Hmm, yeah, that s a bit young.
And anyway, Jimmy wouldn t have fixed you up with
Nathan. He couldn t stand the guy.
Reid watched the teasing light slip from Isabel s eyes. They
turned dark gray like storm clouds gathering on a winter afternoon,
and Reid wondered what had caused this change.
Reid, I haven t asked because I wasn t sure I wanted to
know, but what happened in there?
And just like that the mood between them shifted. Reid went
cold. Please don t ask me that right now. Rehashing the details
had been hard enough when she had given the fire marshal a report,
but telling Isabel would be agonizing. She was having a difficult
time just facing Chase and Isabel, much less having to verbally
recount her failure to rescue her partner.
I need
No, you don t, Iz.
Isabel.
" 40 "
FULLY INVOLVED
What?
My name is Isabel.
I ve called you Iz since you were five years old.
Well, I m not five years old anymore, Isabel snapped
back.
I didn t mean anything by it.
I need to know what happened to my brother.
I can t. Reid stood, giving Isabel no chance to argue. I ll
see you later. You know how to reach us if you need anything.
Isabel followed, but Reid barely paused on her way out the door.
Wrapping her sweater more tightly around her, Isabel stood
on the back porch and glared at Reid s back. She considered
letting Reid go without saying anything, but she d been burying
her anger beneath her grief since she d returned to Nashville, and
she was exhausted.
I asked him to quit, you know, Isabel called out.
Reid froze with her hand on the wooden gate that separated
their two yards, but she didn t turn around.
After Amanda died, I was so afraid of exactly this situation.
I told him he needed to find a new career, one where he would be
safe. I begged him to do it for Chase. Do you know what he told
me?
Reid was silent.
He told me I couldn t understand. Do you think that s
true?
Several long moments passed.
Damn it, Reid. I need some answers.
I m sorry. Reid s words were clearly filled with anguish,
but they weren t enough to make Isabel forget that this woman
had walked beside her brother in his last moments. Reid pushed
through the gate and was gone.
Isabel sighed. The funeral had drained her and left her
emotions raw and exposed. She could take a lesson in control
from Reid. Among her fellow firefighters, Reid had been stoic.
The only slip in her composure had been the glistening in her eyes
as she handed Chase the flag. Later, when a crowd of mourners
" 41 "
ERIN DUTTON
inundated the house, Reid had been the hostess Isabel was unable
to be. She had shuttled casseroles to the freezer and made sure
everyone who wanted a drink had one in hand. Isabel could only
listen numbly as a seemingly endless stream of uniformed men
and women paraded through the house muttering sympathetically
about heroism. She was beginning to hate that uniform.
The next morning, Isabel crossed their yards to Reid s back
door. She knocked tentatively.
Meredith answered with a smile. Good morning, dear. Come
on in. Would you like some coffee? Without waiting for Isabel to
answer, she opened a cabinet near the sink and took down a mug.
Isabel settled on a stool at the breakfast bar and accepted the
full cup. Meredith moved around the kitchen comfortably, pushing
sugar and creamer across the bar and within Isabel s reach.
The years had been kind to Meredith, painting her once-
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