The Firefighter's Christmas Reunion. Christy Jeffries

      “Late Friday night.”

      “Well then, I don’t blame you for not stopping in and seeing me yet.” Freckles carried a pot of coffee to the booth where Scooter was already sitting. “Not even the start of ski season, and this place was already a madhouse last weekend. Your old uncle here almost got himself eighty-sixed for coming in on Saturday and announcing to all my paying customers that my pancakes came from a box mix.”

      “Who are you callin’ old?” Jonesy mumbled, flipping over a hot-pink coffee mug. Isaac kicked his uncle under the table. Nobody knew Freckles’ exact age, and although it would probably be safe to estimate that the woman was nearing her eighth decade, it definitely wouldn’t be prudent to mention it out loud.

      “I’m putting you and Scooter on decaf.” Freckles squinted, her long false eyelashes sticking together as she frowned at Jonesy. “I’m not dealing with any extra sass outta you two this mornin’.”

      Isaac chuckled, but his humorous mood was quickly cut short when the front door opened and Sammy appeared, wearing stiff jeans with creases and a brand new pair of sneakers. Hannah was right behind him, dressed in a long, bohemian-style skirt and a high-necked tank top, the arms of her denim jacket cinched around her waist.

      For the second time today, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Isaac believed in a life lived with plenty of forgiveness and no regrets. But that had been before Hannah Gregson came crashing back into his universe with her cute kid. It was much easier to forgive a past grievance when he wasn’t running into the person who’d done him wrong everywhere he went in this small town.

      The top of her long, blond hair was loosely clipped, allowing the bottom locks to stream down her back in soft waves. The last two times he’d seen her, she’d had it pulled up. In fact, when they’d been teenagers, the only time he’d ever seen it completely down had been the night they’d sneaked off to the boatshed behind her family’s cabin and she’d been peeling off her swimsuit with the lantern light glowing off her tanned skin...

      He took a gulp of water, tilting the glass back so quickly that an ice cube slipped down his throat, causing him to sputter. Unfortunately, his cough caused everyone in the restaurant to look his way, including Sammy, whose face lit up with a crooked smile as he darted over.

      “Hi, Chief Jones! Do you still have the photo of me on your phone?” The boy’s accent seemed to deepen slightly with his excitement. “My mama said she forgot to ask you for a copy.”

      Forgot? After telling Isaac to get out of the picture, the woman had been so quick to rush off with her kid, she’d tossed his cell on the passenger seat of the fire engine and hadn’t even said so much as a thank-you.

      He took a pen out of his front T-shirt pocket and scribbled on his paper napkin. “This is my number. Tell your mom to text me and I’ll send it to her.”

      Isaac told himself that it wasn’t as if he wanted Hannah to have any more contact with him than necessary. He merely wanted her to acknowledge that he’d done something nice for her.

      “I’ll tell her.” Sammy nodded. “Are you going to bring the fire engine to school today?”

      “I hope not.” Disappointment flashed across the kid’s face and Isaac amended, “But only because that would mean we were responding to a fire and nobody wants one of those disrupting how much fun you’ll be having in your new class.”

      Sammy didn’t seem quite convinced and Isaac sympathized with being the new kid in a different world. So he offered Sammy the same distraction Uncle Jonesy had once offered him when he’d been a child. “If you want to see the fire engine again, just come by the station anytime, big guy.”

      Hannah was at the counter, balancing two white bakery boxes in her arms but keeping a guarded eye on Sammy. While he doubted she could hear him, Isaac’s stomach clenched at the realization that the woman probably wasn’t a fan of him talking to her son, let alone giving out an open invitation to hang out at the fire station. Was she seriously that worried that he might be a bad influence? Or maybe she feared that Isaac would tell the kid about their shared past.

      “Sweetie,” Hannah called out to the child. “Can you come help me carry these to the car?”

      The boy did an about-face and his new sneakers squeaked as he walked over to his mom. She stroked his head before giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Isaac recalled his own first day at his elite boarding school in Connecticut. There hadn’t been any affectionate affirmations or even parting words of wisdom. His father had a “business meeting” on the golf course and his mother was closing a deal in Taiwan. But her assistant had left an itemized packing list with the maid and a map with specific drop off instructions for their driver.

      Sammy gave her a toothless grin and a thumbs up before carefully taking one of the containers.

      “You’re gonna need another set of hands to get these all out to your car, darlin’,” Freckles admonished.

      “We can make two trips.” Hannah smiled at the waitress, but even from halfway across the restaurant, Isaac could see the pink flush stealing up her sucked-in cheeks and the steady way she avoided making eye contact with anyone.

      He flashed back to the summer when they were seventeen. The baseball game she’d organized to raise money for a new bingo cage at the senior center got rained out before game time, and she’d been sitting, drenched, in the uncovered dugout. Isaac had pulled up in Jonesy’s old truck and offered to drive her home. She’d confided in him how weak it made her feel when people thought she needed help—especially when she was the one who was supposed to be helping others. She’d admitted that she’d always been the baby of her family and with her twin brothers’ recent enlistment in the Navy, she was finally getting the freedom to spread her wings and prove that she could be just as strong and as capable as them. Unfortunately, in her determination to make the world a better place, she also hadn’t had the foresight to get her driver’s license before deciding to tackle all of her charitable goals.

      If he had to pinpoint the start of their relationship, it would be that day, when the sweet and beautiful girl who claimed she didn’t need anybody finally accepted his help. It had all been downhill after that.

      Jonesy kicked him under the table and used his whiskered chin to nod toward Hannah.

      What? he mouthed at Jonesy.

      “He wants you to go help her, son!” Scooter’s booming voice drew everyone’s attention. The last thing Isaac wanted was to have the townspeople speculating about the new fire chief, the returning teacher and their disastrous past together. Not that they weren’t already doing exactly that.

      “No need,” Hannah said, turning toward the exit so quickly that her hair swirled in waves down her back. “I’ll come back for the rest.”

      The only way to stop the stares—and the speculation—was to get Hannah out of the restaurant as soon as possible.