“I can’t believe he climbed up there and got stuck. Aren’t those things meant to be child proof?” Ally asked. “Not that I have any idea about play equipment. I leave that to you two.” She gestured at Ember and Brooke. “I’ll be too old to have kids by the time I find Mr. Right.”
“You and me both,” Ember said. “Brooke’s the expert on kids.”
“I might have a kid,” Brooke said, her eyes automatically checking on her son, Nicholas, who was sitting in the sand a few feet away, building an intricate castle. “But I know nothing about play equipment.”
“Apparently, it wasn’t constructed properly. There’s supposed to be a cap for the chimney. The company who built the playhouse hadn’t put it in.” Ember sighed. “They’re replacing it free of charge, and putting non-climb paint on the outside.”
“Making it Carter-proof.” Brooke grinned.
“I’m not sure you can make anything Carter-proof,” Ember said with a wry chuckle. And wasn’t that the truth? It was only a matter of time before he got into another predicament. Hopefully the next one wouldn’t involve calling the emergency services.
“Anyway, enough about Carter,” Ally said, leaning forward to rest her chin on her palm. “I want to hear about the firefighters. Were they as hot as they look on TV?” Her eyes sparkled. “And more importantly, can you get me their numbers?”
Brooke groaned. “Every disaster’s an opportunity with you.”
“Hey, if life gives you lemons—”
“Add a little tequila,” Ember and Brooke chimed in, and the three of them started to laugh. Ember loved how attuned they all still were to each other, even after all this time.
The three of them met on their first day of kindergarten, at the same elementary school where Ember taught now. Ally had pulled the hairband from one of Ember’s pigtails, an
d Brooke had chased her around the playground until she’d grudgingly given it back. In spite of their differences, from that day on the three of them had been a team. Ally the fearless, Ember the serious, and Brooke the caring one. They were a puzzle that fitted together perfectly.
And now, after all these years, they still met up every Sunday morning for brunch. Of course it wasn’t just the three of them any more. There was Nick now, too. They weren’t schoolgirls any more, that was for certain. Ember had her career, and Brooke was kicking it at being a single mom, as well as finishing her studies. And Ally was managing the Beach Café, while her father traveled around the world. It was as though they’d blinked and become adults.
“I heard you were carried down the ladder by one of the firefighters,” Brooke said, trying to bite down a smile.
“What?” Ally leaned even further forward, until the table was pushed into her abdomen. “You were carried by a fireman? Oh my god, how come you always get the good stuff?”
“How did you know about that?” Ember asked. She felt embarrassment suffuse her again, the same way it had when Lucas Russell had held her tight. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel the hard warmth of his chest pressing into her back.
Come on now, she needed to stop that. She opened her eyes and kept her fingers crossed that her friends hadn’t noticed her expression.
“I have my sources,” Brooke said, tapping her nose. She didn’t seem to have noticed Ember’s reaction at all. Instead she glanced over at Nick, who was digging a moat in the golden sand.
He looked up and caught her eye, grinning widely as he pointed at his handiwork. “Do you like my castle, Mom?”
Brooke smiled back. “It looks fabulous, honey.” She couldn’t hide the pride in her voice if she tried. When she turned back to Ember, the smile was still on her face. “So come on then. Is it true? Did he get you in a fireman’s lift?”
“No, thank God.” His holding her was bad enough. Even if she put her reaction down to the way she froze up there on the roof, not to mention a long, long period of abstinence, she still couldn’t get the memory of his touch out of her mind. She thought about it way too much for her own good. The feeling of his strong hands as they held her waist, his soft breaths that she felt whispering against her neck. When she closed her eyes at night it played like a movie reel – making her whole body tingle.
Did they all have a good laugh at her when they got back to the station? She really hoped not.
“Why thank God?” Ally asked, frowning. “That would have been a good thing. Imagine how strong those guys must be. If I’m ever stuck up a playhouse, I’m definitely getting a lift down.” She bit her lip, and glanced over at the kitchen. “Do you think they’d carry me out if I happened to have a little incident with the coffee machine?”
“Knowing you, they probably would.” Ember raised her eyebrows at Ally. Her friend was beautiful, with long, blonde hair and a lithe body – thanks to her love of running. She had no problem attracting men.
Keeping them? Well that was another matter. Not that Ember could talk. She wasn’t exactly a spokesperson for long-term relationships, was she? Not after everything that had happened with Will.
“It’s just a shame.” Ally shrugged. “All those hot guys in one place; it feels like a missed opportunity.”
“I was at work,” Ember pointed out. “I can’t start flirting with guys in front of my principal and sixty children.”
“Probably not. But most people meet their partners at work, and with all those female teachers you don’t get a whole lot of opportunity. Unless you count Mr. Morris, and let’s face it, nobody counts Mr. Morris.” Ally widened her eyes as Brooke and Ember laughed.
Ron Morris had been a teacher at Angel Sands Elementary ever since she could remember. Even when the three of them had been in Kindergarten he’d seemed like an old man.
“I’m glad I can’t date anybody at work. I don’t like mixing up my personal and professional lives.” Ember couldn’t think of anything worse. It had been bad enough trying to keep herself together after Will had left her. Imagine if she had to see him every day at school, that would have been horrific.