“I’m all ears,” the man said, straightening his sweater vest and picking up a nearly overflowing glass of wine.
“What’s all this?” Darlene Ford, still in uniform, demanded as she trudged up the porch steps. “Ooh! Wine.” She took the glass from her husband and drank deeply.
Gilbert slung an arm around his wife’s waist. “Well, it’s Family Dinner Night. Kimber and Kyle are reconciling. It looks like Spencer and Audrey are finally hooking up. And Brick here is trying to work up the nerve to ask for my blessing to marry Remi.”
Chief Ford paused, mid-swallow, to eye Brick over the rim of the glass.
Brick was hot and cold all over. It was like a spotlight was on him, and he’d forgotten all his lines.
Darlene handed the wine back to her husband. She looked Brick up and down and nodded briskly.
“It’s about fucking time,” she said.
Then she grabbed his face and gave him a smacking kiss right on the mouth. “Welcome to the family.” With that, she opened the front door and went inside yelling, “What’s for dinner?”
Brick stared after her open-mouthed. “Uh…I…”
Gilbert clapped him on the shoulder. “I don’t have much more to add besides I can’t imagine a better man for our girl. You’ve loved her through the bright spots and the dark. You’ve never once not been there for her. Never once not protected her even from herself. A father can’t ask for anything more than that. And I know I’ve had a lot of wine, but I would be honored to call you son.”
Brick’s throat felt like it was on fire. His eyes watered, blurring everything in front of him. He swallowed hard, barely managing to rasp a “Thank you.”
Gilbert gave his shoulder a squeeze. Brick couldn’t tell through the blur, but Gilbert’s eyes looked a little shiny, too. “Thank you for loving my wild child exactly as she is.”
He didn’t even flinch when Gilbert planted a kiss on him, then slapped his cheek a little too hard. “Congratulations. Now let’s eat before we’re all shit-faced.”
52
Dinner with everyone crammed into Brick’s dining room felt festive. As if wine, good food, and music somehow managed to block out the bad that lurked just beyond their little island. Camille was deep in conversation with Kimber and their father, filling them in on Remi’s gallery exhibitions.
Even Brick seemed lighter than he had when he came home. He ate left-handed just so he could hold her hand under the table, his thumb brushing possessively over her ring finger again and again.
Brick Callan was going to ask her to marry him. And she was going to say yes.
She felt like she was ready to burst. Like it was Christmas Eve, and there was a pile of presents waiting for her under the tree. Only Brick was bigger and better than any present, and a lifetime with him would last longer than any Christmas morning.
Good things were in store for them. All of them, she thought, looking at the way Kyle watched Kimber like he was seeing her for the first time. Spencer and Audrey seemed to be sharing a secret joke at the end of the table. William was answering Hadley’s questions about what it was like to be an investigator.
The shrill ring of her mother’s phone cut through the chatter.
“This is the Chief.”
Remi felt Brick tense next to her as a text came in on his.
Tension replaced the relaxed vibe in the room.
“Pick me up on the way,” Darlene said, pushing out of her chair and squeezing her husband’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Remi asked, reaching out to clasp Camille’s hand.
“It’s a fire,” Brick said as he rose, giving her hand one last squeeze. “The Grand Hotel.”
He followed Darlene out of the room.
“I can’t leave her unprotected,” she heard him say to her mother.
“I know. Call Brice. No reason she and White should get any sleep tonight if we’re not.”
Brick swore, and Remi heard him taking the stairs two at a time.
Darlene was on the phone again, and everyone else stepped out onto the porch. The Grand Hotel was around the bend and uphill, but there was an eerie glow in the night sky.
“This has nothing to do with Warren,” Remi reassured Camille. But her friend didn’t look so sure.
“Dad,” Brick, in uniform again, poked his head out of the door.
William stepped inside, leaving the door ajar. Remi waited a beat and followed. They had their heads together in the dining room.
“This is a big ask. She’s the most important thing in the world to me, and I don’t trust the feds. I need you to keep her safe—both of them—until I get back.”
William nodded solemnly. “I’ll do whatever it takes. You and Remi have something real and right. I won’t let anything happen to her. I promise you that.”
Remi’s eyes misted when Brick squeezed his father’s shoulder.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Turk’s here with the car,” Darlene said, opening the front door.
Brick spotted Remi in the hallway.
“I can’t leave until they’re here,” he said.
Her mom gave him the nod. “We’ll see you up there then.”
William followed her back out, leaving Remi alone with Brick.
Both of the island’s fire trucks screamed past the house, followed by the ambulance.
Her heart thumped.
“You have to go,” she told him.
“I can’t leave you.”
“You’re not leaving me alone. There is a house full of people here. You’re needed out there.”
The island fire department was well-equipped but not to battle what could easily become a 4-alarm blaze. Every available hand was needed to save the landmark. The beginning for so many happily ever afters.
Gripping his arm, Remi looked into those worried eyes. “Go.”
“Promise me you won’t take any risks. You’ll stay indoors. You won’t step a foot out the door once I’m gone.”
“I promise you, Brick.”
He cupped her face in his hand, his blue eyes burning. “Promise me you’ll be here when I get back so I can ask you that question.”
She gave him a watery smile. “Yes to tacos.”
He brought his forehead to hers and closed his eyes.
She cupped his face in her hands, reveling at the rough of his beard, the smooth of his skin. This face was so achingly familiar to her. He belonged to her. It had been written so long ago, yet they were just getting started.
“I love you. Be safe. Text when you can.”
He nodded, then lowered his mouth to hers for one hard kiss. “I will. I love you, Remington.”
“Oh, hey. Don’t fuck anything up,” she called as he started to leave.
He paused and stared at her.
She shrugged. “What? I’m not giving you some kind of romantic last words. I’m giving you something terrible to hold you over until you’re home again. Then I’ll say nice things.”
“I’ll love you so fucking much,” he said fiercely.
“I’ll be waiting for you, big guy.”
“Keep your inhaler on you. I don’t know how bad the smoke is going to get.”
She blew him a kiss as he jogged down the porch steps.