Firefly Mountain Read online

  Praise for Christine DePetrillo

  ALASKA HEART

  “If you’re in the mood for a cozy fire, a cup of cocoa and a hot romance, you don’t need to go any further than Alaska Heart.”

  ~Long and Short Reviews (5 Books)

  ~*~

  “This is a great book. Christine DePetrillo really takes the readers on a trip to Alaska, and on a ride on a whirlwind romance. I recommend that you go and buy this book. You won’t be disappointed.”

  ~Happily Ever After Reviews

  (5 Tea Cups, A Recommended Read)

  ~*~

  “There are only a handful of characters in the novel and, by making sure that each is well developed and integral to the plot, DePetrillo gives the story a cozy feel.”

  ~RT Book Reviews (4.5 Stars)

  ~*~

  LAZULI MOON

  “A magical gem, a yummy doctor, a spunky archeologist and a very bad man all combine to make this a real page-turner.”

  ~The Romance Reviews

  ~*~

  “The characters are likable, the romance was smoldering, and the pacing was excellent. Anyone looking for a great adventure story with a happy ending will not be disappointed.”

  ~Long and Short Reviews

  Firefly Mountain

  by

  Christine DePetrillo

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Text copyright © 2012 by Christine DePetrillo

  Originally published by Wild Rose Press

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Published by AmazonEncore, Seattle

  www.apub.com

  Amazon, the Amazon logo, and AmazonEncore are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

  eISBN: 9781503985759

  Cover Designer: Angela Anderson

  This title was previously published by Wild Rose Press; this version has been reproduced from Wild Rose Press archive files.

  Dedication

  To everyday heroes

  who save lives in countless ways.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  A word about the author...

  Chapter One

  Surely Hell couldn’t be hotter than this. A wall of orange flames surrounded him, dared him to approach. The roar of the fire pounded between his ears as thick, black smoke strangled any attempts at taking a deep breath.

  This is what death is, Patrick thought. It’s going to take us. Raina, Julianne. Mom, Dad. Me.

  Still, he pushed through the angry blaze. Let it jab at his exposed skin as his sisters’ screams rose above the fire’s thunder. Getting to them was all he could think of, all that mattered. Twice, he had to pat out flames that jumped to his sweatpants and caught them on fire. He shielded his face with his bare arm and slammed his shoulder into the door of his sisters’ bedroom. Inside, they were cowered in the corner. Julianne held the quilt from her bed over Raina and was about to get under it herself when her gaze connected with her brother’s over the line of fire dividing the room.

  “Get us out of here!” she screamed.

  He didn’t see any way to get to them, but knew he couldn’t leave them. He grabbed Raina’s sweatshirt from the chair at her desk and wrapped it around his face. Before he could think about what he was doing, he ran into the inferno. Pain, instant and knife-sharp, tore through his skin, but he made it to Raina and Julianne. Broke the window above their hiding bodies. Boosted Raina out. Moved on to Julianne.

  The explosion behind them knocked his body and Julianne’s into the wall beside the window. The last thing he heard was Julianne’s gurgled scream and the crumbling roof as the monster of heat swallowed them whole.

  ****

  Patrick Barre woke with a choking gasp. “Shit.”

  He wiped the sweat from his forehead and stretched out his long limbs. He stopped when the flesh on the left side of his chest and down to his thigh tightened. Its elasticity was gone, taken twenty years ago. He ran a finger over the jagged folds of skin as he exhaled a slow, even breath.

  Man, he hated that dream. Made it seem as if it all happened just yesterday. The heat was right there. The pain. His sisters’ terror. His parents’ charred bodies. How was a guy supposed to forget when it could be relived whenever he closed his eyes?

  Maybe he’d give up sleeping. Stay up around the clock. That’d do wonders for his attitude.

  The phone beside the mattresses he was using as a bed rang into the silence as Midas, Patrick’s all black German Shepherd, jumped up next to him. Patrick pushed to sitting, gave Midas a vigorous scratching between the ears, and let the sheets cover the scars on his left thigh. The ones on his chest stared back at him in the mirror on the wall opposite the makeshift bed. He’d told his sister, Raina, it was a stupid spot for a mirror. He’d have to move it. Couldn’t wake up every morning looking at the mess he had become.

  The phone rang two more times before Midas barked. Patrick reached over and picked it up.

  “What took you so long?” Raina didn’t wait for him to speak. “First night in a new old house go all right?”

  “I guess.” Patrick yawned and finger-combed his short, brown hair, scratched at the scant beard framing his jaw and lips.

  “Were you sleeping?”

  “That is what people do at this hour on a Sunday, Raina.”

  “People who want to waste the day maybe, but not me and not you.”

  “Why not me?” Patrick stretched out his legs again and considered staying in bed for the rest of his life. Only thoughts of the dream had him peeling back the sheets and rising from the mattresses. Midas hopped down and waited at the bedroom door, his long black tail swishing along the floor.

  “Because you have a few boxes to unpack and a willing volunteer to help you,” Raina said. “I’m heading over with coffee and muffins so get your ass up.”

  “My ass is up.”

  “It wouldn’t have been if I didn’t call you.”

  “Don’t be annoying.”

  “I think what you mean to say is, ‘Thank you, all loving and perfect sister.’ Right?”

  “Sure.”

  Patrick pressed his feet to the cool wood floor and stood. He walked to the window in the bedroom he was using until he finished remodeling the master bedroom. Yawning, he peered out to the sprawling woods around the house. Lush and green from basking in the August sun, the trees offered a barrier between Patrick and the small Vermont town of Bur
nam. This fifty-acre plot of land was his sanctuary, and he had tons of ideas on how to make it his own version of Eden.

  “What time are you coming?” he asked.

  “Now. Put on some pants.”

  Raina hung up, and Patrick cursed at her impulsiveness. It was the one thing he both loved and hated about his baby sister. She had convinced him to move to Vermont from Rhode Island and take a job at the local fire department with one fanciful suggestion. A good thing. She had urged him out of bed this morning with one pushy order. Not a good thing.

  And now he had to dig out some pants.

  ****

  Gini Claremont held her camera steady as a hummingbird hovered over a honeysuckle bloom. These little guys were tricky to capture on film, but she’d been stalking the bird for nearly thirty minutes now. No sense in giving up.

  She waited until the bird was absorbed in collecting nectar. After brushing her honey blond hair out of her face, Gini focused the camera lens so the bird was sharp and clear. She snapped photos from every angle, then the bird darted off in search of something more interesting. Some of the pictures ought to be good enough to send to Leaf, a nature magazine she did freelance work for from time to time.

  Something furry rubbed against Gini’s bare feet. She found Saber, her Maine Coon cat, weaving between her ankles. As Gini kneeled, Saber’s puffy, striped tail tickled her skin when he jumped into her lap, and his large paws kneaded the denim covering her thigh.

  “I’ve got tons of pictures of you, Saber. Don’t be such a ham.” Gini scratched under the cat’s chin until his eyes became slits and a deep purr rumbled in his throat. He hopped down to the grass and stretched out all his limbs at once.

  “That must have felt nice.” Gini stood and raised her hands above her head. She reached skyward with her palms while pressing her feet deeper into the grass. “Not as graceful as you, Saber, but I think it had the same effect.”

  Gini turned toward the barn and put her camera on the shelf in the tack room. Moon, her all white Andalusian, poked her head out of the stall. It only took a minute for Nyx, Gini’s solid black Azteca, to do the same.

  “Good morning, gals.” Gini opened both stalls, and the horses meandered out to sniff and nudge her. They hung around long enough to eat the carrots she offered, then both horses trotted to the lower field for some lazy Sunday grazing.

  “Breakfast. A good idea. What do you say, Saber?”

  Gini grabbed her camera and headed back to the rustic farmhouse that once belonged to her grandmother. It was home—safe haven—to her now. With fresh coats of paint, electrical improvements, and appliance upgrades, Gini had managed to keep the country charm of her grandmother’s decorating but add modern conveniences. In the kitchen now, she pulled open the stainless steel refrigerator and extracted a grapefruit. She sliced it in half, wrapped one half in plastic wrap, and returned that half to the refrigerator.

  “When are they going to make grapefruits for one, Saber?”

  As she cut the fruit into segments, Saber jumped up to the counter and tilted his head at her.

  “Yes, I suppose I could have gotten a cat that ate grapefruit. Be better to have a man—a tall, sexy one—who ate grapefruit.”

  Saber let out a loud meow and hopped off the counter. He sauntered away with his tail flicking back and forth in annoyance.

  “Sorry,” Gini called, but the cat did not reappear. “So touchy. Maybe you are a human man, Saber.” She laughed at her own joke and finished her grapefruit half.

  With a whole Sunday stretching out before her, Gini was eager to get out to the south garden. She’d been so busy taking pictures at graduations, weddings, and family reunions this summer she hadn’t been able to spend the time she usually did in that garden. Cardinals and jays would finish off her blueberries if she didn’t get out there and pick some soon. Her father had been bugging her for tomatoes.

  “Salad’s not a salad without my Gini’s tomatoes,” he’d said last week.

  Smiling at the look in her father’s eyes as he thought about fresh garden tomatoes, Gini went out to the potting shed and gathered a basket, clippers, and a shovel. The path to the south garden was trimmed with wild violets, so purple in the August heat. The breeze carried the scent of the lavender growing around the fringe of the fruit and vegetable patch. Inhaling, Gini let the tranquility surround her. Let it keep any tension away.

  No angry thoughts here. Angry thoughts were dangerous. Angry thoughts weren’t allowed.

  Gini lost herself in weeding, trimming, collecting. With dirt caked under her fingernails, she hauled a full basket back to the house. She headed up the back porch stairs but stopped when tires rolling along the gravel driveway sounded behind her.

  “Hey, Gini.” Jonah, her brother, smiled from the open window of his Mustang convertible. He hopped out without opening the car door and took the heavy basket from Gini before she could stop him.

  “What are you doing here?” Gini held open the porch door, and Jonah scooted in.

  “Thought we could get in a ride. Not too hot this morning. Horses shouldn’t mind.” Jonah dumped the basket on the counter by the sink. He automatically washed the fruits and vegetables. Gini couldn’t understand why he hadn’t landed himself a smart gal to settle down with yet.

  That wasn’t true. She knew why. Smart gals didn’t marry firefighters. They drooled and lusted after firefighters, but didn’t marry them. Too risky. Too many things could take a firefighter husband away from you. Gini had watched her mother worry about her father too many times to count. She’d once asked her mother why she’d married her father.

  “He’s my soul mate,” her mother had said. “That overrules the danger of losing him.”

  Gini didn’t see how that was possible. Best to stay away from firefighters. Go for a safe office man. Only office men in Burnam were a rarity. Most of the guys she knew were firefighters or some other brand of reckless male.

  She was better off alone anyway.

  “A ride is a perfect idea,” Gini said. “I’ll go round up Moon and Nyx.”

  “Great.” Jonah grinned, looking so much like their father. “I’ll meet you out there after I finish washing these.”

  Nodding, Gini went outside. On a short whistle, Moon and Nyx galloped back up to the barn. They cooperated as she saddled them both and led them to the trail that snaked through the woods on the west side of her property.

  Jonah did his best cowboy swagger over to Gini and the horses. By the time he tipped his imaginary ten-gallon hat, Gini was nearly on all fours laughing. Could always count on Jonah to keep her dark thoughts at bay.

  If it weren’t for her brother—her entire family really—life would have been difficult. Impossible even.

  Chapter Two

  “Come in, Barre.” Chief Warner gestured to a chair in front of his desk. Maple with a block of walnut where the legs met the top. Patrick thumbed a rounded corner of the desk as he sat. Couldn’t help himself. He’d worked with maple before. Good and solid. Maybe he’d make his kitchen cabinets out of maple. Maple trees constituted a large portion of the forest surrounding his property. Only seemed fitting to use the hardwood in his remodeling.

  “You settled in on that chunk of land up there?” Chief Warner asked.

  “Good enough. Yesterday my sister helped me unpack the few items I brought with me to Vermont.” More like made him unpack. He would have been content to live out of his perfectly organized and labeled boxes for a few weeks, but Raina wouldn’t hear of it.

  “It’ll be too easy for you to load these boxes back into your truck and go back to Rhode Island,” she’d said. “If you unpack, you’re more likely to stay.”

  “I’m staying, Raina.”

  She’d looked at him for a long, silent moment. “I hope so, Patrick. I’ve missed you.”

  Raina was one of the few people who could make Patrick smile. Really smile.

  “Missed you too.”

  And before he’d known what was happening,
Raina had wrapped her slender arms around his waist and squeezed as if she were ten years old again and Patrick was sixteen.

  He’d protected her. Saved her. But Julianne. Julianne was a different story.

  “You’re a certified career firefighter, right?” Chief Warner’s voice brought Patrick back to the present.

  “Yes, sir. Ten years with the Providence Fire Department, four of which I worked consulting with the police as fire investigator.” Putting out fires had kept him busy, but helping solve fire-related crimes or determining how a fire had started had challenged him.

  “Got your own dog too? Trained and everything?” Chief Warner glanced outside his office window at Patrick’s gray pickup truck where one large black German Shepherd sat in the bed, its muzzle resting on the tailgate.

  “That’s right. Midas is certified as well.”

  Chief Warner glanced at the file folder of papers on his desk. “That dog’s resume is almost as impressive as yours. I think the Burnam Fire Department is getting a good deal with the two of you.”

  He stood and offered his hand to Patrick. With a tight-gripped handshake, Chief Warner nodded at Patrick’s humble silence.

  “We’re a small outfit, but the only fire department in the area who has full-time firefighters. The rest operate with volunteers. Do a mighty fine job, but we’re expected to do even better work. I think you’ll like it here, Barre.”

  “Hope so, sir.” Patrick stood and followed the chief to the door.

  “Claremont!” Chief Warner hollered into the vehicle bay. A tall, athletically built man with wavy blond hair looked up from where he was replacing air cylinders on the oxygen tanks.

  “Yeah, Chief?”

  “Jonah Claremont, this is Patrick Barre, aka The New Guy,” Chief Warner said. “Pretend you know what you’re doing around this place, Claremont, and give him a tour.”

  Though sarcasm laced the chief’s words, the grins on both men’s faces were playful, teasing. Patrick had heard about fire stations where the fighters were like brothers. He’d never experienced the sensation himself. Not because the guys in Providence weren’t nice and hadn’t tried, but because he preferred to keep to himself. Maybe here things would be different though. If he let them be.