Love, Special Delivery. Melinda Curtis

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       CHAPTER THREE

      “FIRE. THAT’S A FIRE,” Mandy said in disbelief at the same time that the seriously hunky fireman demanded, “Where’s the fire extinguisher?”

      The flames were about six feet off the ground, eight inches high and growing taller and wider by the second. They climbed up the wall bordering the dock’s opening.

      This is going to put me behind schedule.

      It’d taken her days to clear away the trash and outdated equipment enough to clean. And for what? A fire to turn her hard work to ash?

      “Where...” Large hands took hold of her shoulders. “...is the fire extinguisher?”

      In the face of his demand, Mandy had no time to register the strength of Ben’s grip, the odd quirk to his mouth or the intensity of his blue eyes.

      Where had she seen the fire extinguisher? Her mind flitted through a jumble of images, landing on one. “The bathroom.”

      Ben disappeared, leaving Mandy mesmerized by the ever-increasing flames. This was it. The end of her short stint as postmaster. Finding a territorial raccoon in the post office was inconvenient. Burning the place down was a firing offense. She’d be stuck in Harmony Valley without a job. Wouldn’t her creditors love that?

      While Ben searched, the fire chief walked with unhurried steps toward the loading dock. He and his son had the same broad shoulders, the same thick dark hair, the same confident stride and the same sharp blue eyes. Only the pallor of their skin was different. The older man’s complexion was the pasty white of a ball of bread dough.

      Keith swiped an old canvas mailbag from the stack in the corner and used it to smother the flames. By the time Ben returned with the fire extinguisher, the fire was out, leaving only a black shroud on the wall as evidence it’d occurred.

      “Sometimes the simplest of techniques are the most effective.” The fire chief coughed, turning away from the smoke.

      Mandy took a slow step back, and then another. Her hands were shaking.

      It was going to be okay. No one was injured. The post office was still standing.

      “Good job, Dad.” There was compassion in Ben’s voice, proving he was capable of caring.

      She needed to tone it down a notch for the tall, starchy fireman, be more civil, be more cooperative. She was at risk of breaking eggs because he’d caught her on a bad day. She was as touchy as a sleep-deprived college student during finals week.

      And then Ben turned on Mandy with anything but compassion in his eyes. “There’s no pressure in this unit.” He held up the fire extinguisher. “It’s useless. And it shouldn’t be stored over the toilet. What would happen if there was a fire and someone was using the bathroom?”

      In the face of his blue-eyed intensity, Mandy couldn’t find the words to defend herself. She stood the same way she had when the doctor delivered the news that Grandpa was dying—arms wrapped around her waist, a small, polite smile on her lips. The same position she’d taken when the doctor told her Olivia had cancer. “Um...”

      Her reticence seemed to upset Ben all the more. He curled that odd-shaped lip of his. A fat lip, she realized.

      Was this the man who’d rescued kittens and caught a falling child? The man the elderly visitors to the post office called charming and heroic?

      He wasn’t likely to catch Mandy if she fell. He was more likely to sit on his hands and watch.

      “Get out your citation book, Dad. We’re going over this place inch by inch.” Ben peered at the burnt, melted wires. “That wire was cut.”

      Mandy gasped, rushing forward for a better look. “How could that be?”

      “Now, Ben,” Keith said with the gravitas of an elder statesman. “A raccoon’s been living here. Rodents and pests like snacking on wires.”

      “If we’re not СКАЧАТЬ