The King Next Door. Maureen Child

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СКАЧАТЬ like every other King, was a player. A master of flirtation and seduction. And didn’t that sound interesting, her mind whispered.

      Her mind drifted as she considered tugging at his board shorts just a little. Dragging them down until—

      “I’ve got it,” he grumbled, shaking her out of her thoughts, thank heaven.

      “Be careful.” She frowned up at him, but he was too busy with the light to notice. “Remember to wiggle to the left first.”

      “It’s just. A. Little. Stubborn.” He yanked the bad bulb out and held it one hand triumphantly. “Hah!”

      A small, blond torpedo raced through the open back door. Connor was running so fast he never saw the ladder until he crashed into it.

      Nicole let go of the ladder to grab her son.

      The ladder swayed sharply to the right.

      Griffin’s balance dissolved and he reached up with his free hand to grab the light fixture to steady himself.

      He pulled it right out of the ceiling.

      His eyes went wide.

      Nicole gasped.

      Chunks of old plaster fell down on them like hail.

      Connor wailed.

      The ladder tipped farther.

      Griffin toppled to one side, then jumped, still clutching the remnants of the light fixture he’d yanked free.

      Pop. Pop. Pop.

      Three little sounds.

      Nicole looked up to see a wisp of smoke and the first flames erupt. “Oh, God!”

      “Everybody out!” Griffin dropped the lightbulb and grabbed hold of Nicole and Connor, steering them out the back door to safety.

      Two

      The firemen were very nice.

      They let Connor wear one of their helmets and sit in the big truck, while an older fireman kept watch.

      Nicole was grateful. She needed a minute. Or two. Or maybe thirty. She sighed as she let her gaze slide from her son to the mess that was her house. Fire hoses were stretched across the lawn, now muddy from too much water and too many feet. Neighbors were gathered around watching the excitement—even Mr. Hannity, who had to be a hundred and ten, had pried himself off his front porch to get a better view. And Griffin was talking to one of the firemen like they were old friends.

      Standing alone at the end of her driveway, Nicole listened halfheartedly to the conversations and noise around her. There was a buzzing in her ears that she thought might be the personification of the panic beginning to chew at her insides.

      Her knees were still a little shaky and her stomach did an occasional slow roll. Probably leftover adrenaline still pumping through her system. Griffin had moved so fast, snatching Connor from her, then grabbing hold of her arm to pull her out of the kitchen. Thank God she kept her cell phone in her pocket. She’d used it to call the fire department the moment they were clear of the house.

      Her house.

      She hadn’t been back inside yet. Didn’t even know if she wanted to go look at the disaster that was now her kitchen. Nicole could only imagine what she’d find, and her imagination was pretty darn good. And while those dismal thoughts were spinning through her mind, more piled on for the trip.

      Insurance.

      Of course the house was insured, but there was a huge deductible—to make the payments easier to live with. And now, thinking of trying to meet that deductible was giving Nicole cold chills in spite of the sun beating down on her shoulders.

      How was she going to pay for this?

      How could she not?

      “Jim says it’s not too bad, considering.”

      “Huh? What?” Nicole looked up at Griffin, surprised to find him standing right in front of her. Her mind really was tangled up in knots of misery if she hadn’t noticed his approach.

      He tipped his head to one side and studied her. “Another fugue state? Or shock? Maybe you should sit down.”

      “I don’t want to sit down,” she said. In fact, what she wanted to do was throw herself onto the grass and kick and scream for a while. But since that wasn’t going to happen, she asked, “I want to find out what shape my house is in and see if it’s safe.”

      “Jim says it is.”

      “The fireman you were talking to?”

      “Yeah.” Griffin shrugged. “Don’t get your feminist temper rolling. I didn’t head him off to get information. I went to school with him, can you believe that coincidence? Jim Murphy. He’s a fire captain now. Married, got a million kids …”

      “All very nice for Jim,” Nicole said tightly. “What did he say about my kitchen?”

      “Oh.” The smile dropped from his face. “He’ll be over to talk to you in a minute. He’s just checking the place out again before they wrap things up and leave.”

      “So the fire’s out.”

      “Absolutely,” he assured her, and reached out to lay one hand on her shoulder briefly. “Electrical, but you knew that.”

      Yes. She’d probably be hearing that series of pops in her dreams for weeks.

      “Apparently your wiring’s shot,” Griffin told her.

      “It was working fine until today,” she argued, even though she knew he was right. The wiring was old; the pipes were antiques. But there just never seemed to be enough money to fix everything. She’d made plans, of course. Big plans, for a remodel of the kitchen, for adding a huge bath onto the master bedroom. Maybe a deck off the kitchen … but they were just plans. Pie in the sky, as her grandmother used to say.

      “Yeah, and I feel really bad about that,” Griffin said, bringing her back to the conversation. “If I hadn’t tugged on the light fixture …”

      A part of her wanted to agree. That angry, desperate voice inside her wanted to shout, I told you I didn’t need any help! But sadly, fury wasn’t going to change anything. She shook her head and waved one hand, dismissing his guilt. “Things happen. Nothing to do about it now, anyway.”

      In fact, she was lucky Griffin hadn’t fallen off the ladder and cracked his skull, too. Then she’d be dealing not only with fire damage but doctor bills, as well.

      “Besides,” she said, turning her gaze to look at Connor, grinning at her from under the huge helmet he was still wearing, “we’re all safe. That’s what counts.”

      “Good attitude,” Griffin said, and turned when Jim Murphy walked up to join them.

      “Ms. Baxter,” he said СКАЧАТЬ