Fireman Dad

Apparently chivalry wasn’t dead in Orchid Hill, after all. Marissa thanked him and hurried to grab a bottle of water from the dorm fridge she kept beside her desk. She handed it to him. “Have a seat.”

“Nice place.” Jacob twisted the lid off the bottle and took a long sip as he looked around the open room, painted yellow with a mural of balloons and children on the far wall, and she couldn’t help but warm at the compliment. He paused to touch the top of a bobble-head clown on the bookshelf that held party theme books. “Festive. Olivia would love that.”

“Olivia?” His girlfriend, probably. Good thing she decided to put thoughts of his dimples far away. Marissa sat down behind her desk, grateful to be back on her own turf. She might not know anything about changing tires, but she knew party planning. Maybe she could offer Jacob—and Olivia—a discount for his help.

“Olivia is my niece.” Jacob took the chair across from her desk and finished his water with a quick swig.

Niece. Not girlfriend. Marissa tried to ignore the relief that seeped into her stomach and nodded for him to go on.

“That’s why I came to your store in the first place, actually,” Jacob continued.

“So it wasn’t because you received my desperate SOS signal?” Marissa grinned, then regretted the way her heart thumped when Jacob smiled back, dimples on high alert.

“I thought I heard something.” He laughed. “Seriously, though, I was hoping to hire you to plan my niece’s birthday party.”

“Sounds good.” Marissa flipped open her leather day planner and fanned through the pages. Hopefully he wouldn’t choose the weeks coming up that she had blocked off for the upcoming fundraiser. A city budget cut had recently led to a decision to lay off six firemen, and members of Orchid Hill Church asked Marissa to organize a big fundraiser for the affected families. As the daughter of one fireman and the widow of another, Marissa could relate all too easily to the families involved and was glad someone had come up with a way to help.

Even if her father, Fire Chief Lyle Brady, wasn’t nearly as thrilled by Marissa’s participation.

Marissa tapped her calendar with her pen. “What date did you have in mind?”

Jacob offered a sheepish shrug. “That’s where my next question comes in. It’s sort of short notice.”

Marissa looked up. “How short?”

“Less than three weeks away.”

“How much less?” Marissa’s eyebrows rose.

Jacob’s lips twisted to the side. “Four days?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “The party is supposed to be in two weeks and three days?”

“Hey, you’re quick with math.” He winked, and her stomach flipped with regret at the thought of disappointing him. She had a policy about last-minute parties—she didn’t take them. But how could she turn him down when he had just done her a huge favor with her car?

She drew a deep breath. It was business, nothing personal. Surely he would understand. “I wish I could, but I have a policy against short notices. It takes time away from Owen.” She gestured to the framed photo on her cherry credenza, where Owen struck a muscle-man pose for the camera. Feeling wistful, she admired his silky blond hair that matched her own. “Being a single mom is rough enough without working overtime.” That was the understatement of the century.

“I’m sure it does.”

Why Marissa wanted to share more with him, she didn’t know. She swallowed. “I’m a widow.”

Jacob’s sky blue eyes met hers, full of compassion and something else she couldn’t identify. Respect? Admiration? “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Marissa lifted one shoulder in a shrug and forced a small smile. “It all happened a long time ago.” More like a lifetime.

Jacob nodded slowly. “Listen, Marissa. Normally I would accept your reasons and leave it at that, but I’m sort of desperate. I want my niece to have the celebration she deserves.” His expression tightened. “Olivia’s family has had a rough couple of weeks, and their budget is tight, to put it mildly. I don’t want that to affect her birthday. They’ve all been through enough.”

Marissa’s resolve weakened. Handsome, charming and a family man. She shouldn’t be following that train of thought, but it chugged into her head regardless as she stared at her day planner. Maybe she could squeeze in one birthday party for a deserving little girl—but no, she didn’t even have a location nailed down yet for the fundraiser. If she overbooked herself now, that event would suffer, and the families of the firemen would be even more disappointed than they already were.

She clicked her ballpoint pen on and off, debating, then slowly shook her head. “I admire that and wish I could make an exception. I really do—but a big festival has my schedule tighter than usual right now.”

“What festival is that?” Jacob leaned forward as if truly interested in what Marissa had to say. When was the last time a man had looked at her in that way?

She shook her head to clear it. “The Fireman’s Festival—to raise money for the families of the local firemen who were recently laid off.”

Jacob’s eyes widened. “You’re the woman organizing the fundraiser? My church is the one that hired you.” He smiled. “Like I said, small world.”

No kidding. If she knew guys like Jacob still went to church, she might have given it another try instead of spending Sundays sleeping in with Owen. Her faith took a hit after Kevin’s death, and so far church brought more grief than healing. It was easier to drown reality in iced Pop-Tarts and cartoons while snuggling with her little man. Marissa forced her thoughts back to the present. “How’d you hear about Your Special Day if not through your church?”

“Newspaper advertisement.”

Good to know that chunk of money had been a good investment. Though, at this point, a partially wasted one, since she wouldn’t be able to plan the birthday party for him and his niece.

Jacob hooked one ankle over the other, as if settling in for a long conversation. “I know the church appreciates your taking the job. Pastor Rob mentioned the generous discount you’re paying forward to the cause.”

A warm flush crept up Marissa’s neck. She’d hoped to keep that part quiet—it was embarrassing, especially if people found out how emotionally against the profession of firefighting she remained in the first place. No one would understand why she was doing it. But then again, most people weren’t twenty-eight-year-old widows of a fireman, struggling to raise a child alone. “It’s not a big deal. Not compared to what these guys are going through, I’m sure.”

Though, a part of her couldn’t help but think the laid-off firemen’s wives had to be relieved. After the uniformed men lowered Kevin’s casket into the ground, Marissa held Owen close and promised herself that if she ever dated again, any future prospects would have a desk job—something safe, with predictable hours and lots of free time for family. Between her late husband and her father, she was through with missed holidays and shift work. She wanted to be number one in someone’s life.

That is, if she ever figured out how to live again.

The first thing Jacob Greene had noticed when he had walked across the parking lot was the beautiful, petite blonde wrestling with the hatch floorboard of her SUV. After she’d mentioned her son, his heart sank. Of course someone like her would have been snatched up long ago. But the mention of her single status and that telltale bare ring finger lifted his spirits a second time.

Jacob smiled at Marissa from across her office desk. The water he’d chugged down churned in his stomach at her sweet grin of response. He hoped he hadn’t made too big an idiot of himself, staring at her the way he had outside when he first arrived. He’d been tempted to leave the sunglasses on to prevent her from noticing during his stroll across the lot. But she’d finally introduced herself in that confident, slightly Southern voice that warmed his insides like his favorite cinnamon rolls and settled in just as sweet, and he couldn’t help but relax.

And speaking of sweet—it took a special woman to get involved with a fundraiser like she was doing, for people she likely didn’t even know. Beautiful and compassionate. He hadn’t found that combination in a long time—and he’d certainly been looking.

With a start, Jacob realized he was staring again, but so was Marissa. He knew he should say something more to persuade her to plan his niece’s party—especially considering if a small business such as Your Special Day couldn’t find time to do him a favor, the larger companies in town were probably booked solid, too. But he was afraid that the moment he opened his mouth he’d mention something about how that flowered top brought out her green eyes, and he’d be in big trouble.

Marissa cleared her throat and broke the connection between them. “Again, I’m sorry. I wish there was time.”

Jacob hesitated. He hated being pushy, but he couldn’t bear the disappointment on Olivia’s face—or his sister-in-law’s—if he came home proverbially empty-handed. His brother’s wife, Liz, would insist it didn’t matter—but he said he’d do this for them, and he wanted to keep his word. Anyone could throw together a bunch of Mylar balloons and sprinkle confetti on a table. He wanted Olivia’s party to be done right. If their financial situation hadn’t changed, Liz would have gone all out for her only daughter, and he intended to do the same.

Hence his desperation for Marissa to take the job. Jacob could have just handed Liz the cash and told her to get whatever she wanted for the party, but she had enough on her plate. She deserved the break and the chance to be involved with Olivia on her big day instead of stuck in the kitchen cutting cake and cleaning up messes like in years past. He needed Marissa to say yes.

Jacob clicked his tongue, stalling. “Maybe I could help you out somehow with the fundraiser, so you’re not so swamped. Then you could do both.”

Marissa raised one eyebrow, and he took that as a sign that she was considering his random proposition. He rushed on before she lost interest. “I own a lawn business. I could help with ground prep or flower planting for the fundraiser. Whatever you needed—on one condition, of course.” He grinned, and Marissa smiled back before she glanced down at her planner.

Hopefully they could strike a deal and both get something they needed. Besides, it was the least he could do to volunteer his side job services, after his brother’s job was cut at the station and not his own. Jacob had more seniority within the fire department, having worked three years longer than Ryan had, but he’d been the one to convince his little brother to go for it in the first place. Ryan had aced the academy and dedicated himself to two years of service, and what had it gotten him? A tiny severance and a big goodbye.

“That’s nice of you to offer.” Marissa looked up. “But I don’t even have a confirmed location yet. We can’t use your church because of weddings that are booked there the entire month of May. This is a busy time of year.”

He could fix that, too. “Hey, I have ten acres south of the city limits. That should be plenty of room for whatever you have planned.” He gave a pointed look to the blank pages in front of her. “Or will have planned.”

She laughed. “It is sort of hard to make arrangements when you aren’t sure of the venue.” Marissa rolled in her lower lip and she studied him in some sort of unofficial test. He met her gaze full-on, and tried to ignore the attraction flickering in his stomach. Business, this is business. Even if she was one of the most beautiful women he’d come across in a long time.

Marissa inhaled. “One condition, huh?”