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“Yes!” Mateo and Liam said at the same time.
Ellen held up a cookie in her hand. “She brought snickerdoodles!”
“Two votes against one!” Liam said cheerfully. “I love democracy. Send her and those cookies back to us.”
I groaned and got up from the table. “I’m going to see if the Lieutenant wants me to roll out the hoses…”
Before I could leave, she walked in.
Alyssa fucking Ford.
She looked healthier than when I had last seen her face in the back of the ambulance leaving the fire. Everything about her was exactly as I remembered: the petite body with the right amount of curve in her hips. The golden blonde curls that always caught the Florida sunshine. Her heart-shaped face, pouty lips, and eyes that held the liveliness of a hundred perfect souls.
Those eyes gazed around the room, then widened with shock when they settled on me. “Jack…?”
Was she not expecting to see me?
“Alyssa.”
A pregnant pause filled the room.
“Alyssa!” Liam said, hopping up from his chair and wrapping her in a hug. “You look great. Better than you did the other night, heh! Are those cookies?”
She handed him the box, but spoke while keeping her eyes on me. “I wanted to bake them fresh, but…”
“But your house burned down!” Liam finished for her with his disarming cheer. “We were there. It’s a good excuse. Any cookies are better than no cookies.” He dropped back into his chair and handed a cookie to Mateo, who grinned while watching me squirm.
“How…” Alyssa said to me. Her eyes sparkled. What was going through her head right now?
“Point of origin was in the garage,” I said, seizing on a different topic. “Whole house went up from there. Tough to tell since there was so much damage, but it looked like your bedroom window was painted shut.”
“That’s a fire hazard,” Liam said, clicking his tongue in disapproval. Mateo nodded along.
“The garage…” Alyssa shook her head, breaking eye contact with me since she first appeared. “My mother had… issues. She was always tinkering with the fuse box, trying to pull more power to her woodworking tools. There were a bunch of wood shavings on the workbench nearby. I saw them the day of the fire.”
“That’ll do it!” Liam said.
Her mother had issues. That’s an understatement. “You saw wood shavings around a faulty fuse box and didn’t do anything about it?” I demanded. “What were you thinking?”
“She’s probably thinking she survived a house fire, and doesn’t appreciate having blame thrown around,” Liam scolded me. Mateo’s dark eyebrows furrowed in a frown at my tone.
“I just wanted to stop by and thank you for saving me,” Alyssa said. “I know there were a lot of you there, but the firefighter who let me in said you three were the ones who went into the house.” Her eyes returned to me, bright and curious. “It’s funny, but when you knocked down the door I had a strange feeling that I knew you…”
“It was Liam who carried you out,” I quickly said. “Not me. I was in the back room, by the kitchen.”
“Oh.” She looked like she didn’t believe me, but didn’t want to argue. “Well, I guess I recognized you from the year you were here, Liam.”
“I’m an unforgettable guy!” he said with a chipper tone, glancing at me.
“Cookies don’t feel like enough. If there’s any other way I can repay you, I’ll do it. I’m a photographer. Wedding or engagement photos, travel photos, headshots…”
“No wedding or engagement for me,” Liam said, giving me a healthy amount of side-eye. “But I’d love to take you to dinner.”
I felt my stomach tighten. What was he doing?
Alyssa gave a start. “Dinner?”
Mateo’s dark eyes widened as he watched the scene.
