Hearts Afire by Monique McDonell

Author:Monique McDonell [McDonell, Monique]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Redfish Publishing
Published: 2012-10-20T16:00:00+00:00

It really was the most amazing night. The sky was perfectly clear so she could see thousands of stars dancing about. The moon light shimmered across the water. It looked exactly like what it was – a tropical paradise.

She could feel Jack walking beside her. Cassie wished he’d take her hand again like he had on the boat. That’s all she wanted really, just that little bit of reassurance. It occurred to her that she knew very little about Jack. He didn’t give much away.

“So Jack, where did you get your accent?”

“I don’t have an accent.” He teased her.

“I think you’ll find you do. Come on, that’s not a tricky question, unless you’re in witness protection or something like that.”

“You’ve seen too many movies Cassie.”

“So, I’ll ask again. Is it American or Canadian?”

“It’s American. I was born in Chicago.”

“The home of the deep dish pizza.”

“The very same.” He smiled at her. She had a food connection for just about any city he could name.

“And so when did you move to Australia?”

“When I was twelve, so that was twenty years ago.”

“See now I got two facts. Now I know how old you are as well.”

“I must be slipping. Do you want to sit down?” He walked her towards a bench on the edge of some grass just before it ran to the sand and beach. Behind the chair was a fiery lantern.

She sat on the chair but turned to face him.

“So do you plan to stay in Australia then?”

“It’s my home now.”

“You don’t have family back in Chicago then?”

“Nope.” He was clamming up on her.

“So did you enjoy working here on the island?”

“Oh yeah it was fun. I just wanted to take a break for a while and clear my head. With fire-fighting you have to be on all the time. You can’t relax, so it’s good to step back from that a bit.”

“But you went back, and Danny stayed here.”

“Yeah well, he wasn’t ready to leave and I was.”

“Because of Carla?”

“Yep, he stayed because of Carla.”

“And you left because of Carla.” He had turned to face her.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

He shook his head sadly. “Do you think Danny knows?”

“I think Danny is about the only person who doesn’t know.”

“Damn it!” He got up and paced a bit. “I thought I was doing a better job than that.”

“I’d give you an A for effort but only a C for execution. It’ll be OK.” She tried to reassure him. “They’ll get married and then you’ll go home again.”

“And then she’ll break his heart.” He ran his hand through his thick hair in exasperation.

“Maybe she won’t.” Jack gave Cassie a withering look. “Well, maybe she won’t. It is a possibility isn’t it?”

“No, it really isn’t. She’s a viper. She’s an outrageous flirt and she needs constant attention. It is too big a job for one man.”

“Is that your view of her or marriage in general?”

He plopped down on the bench beside her. “Honestly?”

“No, I’d like you to lie to me! Of course, honestly.

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