He walked into the kitchen, jerked open the refrigerator door, and pulled out her phone. “I didn’t want it waking you up.”
“Thanks … I think.” She took it from him and entered her password, her stomach sinking at the sight of the half dozen messages that waited for her.
It’s not him. He’s in prison.
Relief and irritation chased through her one after the other when she saw the emails were all from Abigail.
“Hey, if you don’t mind, I’d like to mow my mom’s lawn before we head back up to Scarlet.” He grabbed two glasses, filled them with ice and water. “It will only take about twenty minutes. Is that okay with you?”
“Of course.” She took the glass he gave her, looked up from her phone—and froze, her email inbox momentarily forgotten.
The muscles of Eric’s throat worked as he drank, a rivulet of sweat trickling slowly down his neck, his sun-kissed skin radiating heat. He finished drinking, set the glass down on the counter, and walked outside, leaving Vic standing like a statue, glass raised halfway to her lips.
* * *
“He likes you.”
Robin’s words took Vic by surprise, her gaze jerking from the window to the woman who sat beside her at the kitchen table. “What do you mean?”
“He’s never brought a woman home before.”
“Wait. You think …?” Heat rushed into Vic’s cheeks. “It’s not like that. He didn’t bring mehomehome. I’m just here. I was sick and ... Eric and I … We’re just friends. Yeah. We’re not even good friends.”
“I can tell when my son is attracted to a woman.” She dropped this bombshell, then took a sip of her iced tea. “You’re attracted to him, too.”
“Well…” What could Vic say to this?
“Most women see the muscles, the badge, the bunker gear. What they don’t see is the man who still mows his mother’s lawn, who fixes her car, shovels her sidewalk in the winter, puts up her Christmas lights, and cleans the gutters on her house.” Robin’s love for her son was palpable, her blue eyes soft as she spoke about him.
“You two are close, aren’t you?”
Robin nodded. “He’s my only child. For a long time, it was just the two of us against the world. His daddy left Scarlet the day after I told him I was pregnant, so I raised Eric on my own.”
Vic supposed she ought to feel awkward hearing Eric’s life story. She didn’t know him that well. But there was something about his mother that put her at ease, that made her feel safe and at home. “That must have been tough for both of you.”
“It was tougher on him, I think. It’s hard for a boy to define himself as a man with no man in the house to act as a role model.”
Vic had to bite back a laugh. If there was one thing Eric did not seem to lack, it was a sense of his own masculinity. “He seems to have figured that out.”
This made Robin smile. “His friendship with Austin helped fill in the gaps. He spent a lot of time at Austin’s house, hanging with Austin and his father. They’re like brothers, those two.”
Altitude sickness must have scrambled Vic’s brains. There was no other way to explain what she said next. “Why is he still single?”
Robin glanced out the window into her backyard, where Eric was pushing the mower from one side to the other. “He had a lot of responsibility placed on his shoulders at a young age. Being fire chief, volunteering for the Team—that’s a lot of responsibility, too. Can you imagine having someone’s life in your hands?”
Vic shook her head. “That would scare me to death.”
“I know what some people say about him—that he’s a playboy, that he’ll never settle down, that he’s afraid of responsibility because he was forced to work too hard as a boy.” Robin’s brows knit together in a frown, hurt behind her blue eyes. “But a man who’s afraid of responsibility doesn’t spend his days off helping his mother. I think it’s the reverse. I think some part of him is afraid he’ll let a woman down, given his schedule. He’s seen a lot of firefighters end up divorced. It’s just another hazard of the job.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Robin’s eyes narrowed. “So tell me your story. I’ve wanted to know more about you since you set tongues wagging during your first visit.”
* * *
Eric brushedhis arm across his forehead to wipe away sweat, opened the front screen door, and stopped with one foot inside, the door still open.
Someone was crying.