Four Flames for Angela Read online

  “You’re right. This needs to be replaced. The best thing to do would be to replace the entire railing.” River walked around the porch looking at the railing and the boards of the floor of the porch and the steps.

  “I was afraid of that. I’m trying to do as much of the work as I can by myself. I didn’t realize the amount of work an old house like this would be. The neighborhood is good and Todd loves his school, but with all the repairs, I might have been better off looking for something a little newer.” Angela turned to pick up a glass of lemonade she had sitting on a small table.

  “Old houses like this have a lot of character, but they can be a bitch to take care of. Especially if they haven’t been kept up over the years.” Hunter, who had followed River up on the porch, jumped down and started looking at the stairs. “These are cement and look in pretty good shape. You shouldn’t have to worry about them for a while. Your biggest problem out here is going to be the wood. While River is right it’s all going to have to be replaced, you might be able to save some money by using recycled wood or even plastic. I work with a distributor who wholesales material you might be able to use. I should be able to get a huge discount if you’re interested in doing the entire thing at one time.”

  “Oh yes! If I can replace the rail all at once, that would save me money later on.” Finally some good news. Depending on the cost of what Hunter was able to get her, she might be able to replace the entire porch. Now to figure out how she and Todd could do that.

  “I’d be glad to talk to Alvin for you. He often has extra material that he orders for jobs and can’t use, so he sells it for a discount. And we could help you so you could get it all done in one day and won’t have to hire someone.” Hunter looked at River who was nodding.

  “I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Angela started saying before River interrupted.

  “You didn’t ask. We offered. I’m sure you and Todd could get it done, but if we helped it wouldn’t take long at all. We’d enjoy helping and it would let us spend more time with you and Todd.” River stepped up beside her and ran the knuckles of one hand down her cheek. “We all want to get to know both of you better,” he said, his voice low and sexy.

  Angela felt a little shiver dance over her skin, and she had to stop herself from leaning into his touch. She didn’t know these men and needed to be careful who she trusted. She’d found out early in life people weren’t always what they appeared to be.

  “How’s the inside of the house? Is it the same?” Hunter asked. They had only seen the front room of the home last night, and he wondered if any part of the house had been updated.

  “The kitchen has been updated in the last twenty years, so it’s not bad. The main bath is fairly new, but the bathroom in the master needs work. I really should have done more research before I bought this house. Come on in, I’ll show you some of the rooms.” Angela turned to check on Todd and saw that Rock and Sawyer were playing with him and the puppies. He was good.

  She opened the door and went in the house, the two men following her. They went to the kitchen first. Hunter opened the cabinet and looked under the sink. “These pipes look fairly new. If they updated here, they probably did the rest of the house. If all the old pipe has been replaced, you’re one step ahead of the game. That would have been very expensive to do.”

  “I bet if they went to the expense of updating the plumbing, they did the electric, too. This might have been a better bargain than I originally thought. You got pretty lucky here,” River said, looking at the breaker box in the kitchen. “This is up to code. Very lucky.”

  That made Angela feel good. When she had found all the problems with the porch, she had started wondering what else was wrong with the house. Finding out that the electrical and plumbing were up to date was a huge relief off her mind. She turned and threw her arms around River. “Thank you. That’s great news!”

  She needed to be careful. “How do you guys know all this? I mean you’re firefighters, but I didn’t realize that you would know about electrical and plumbing.”

  “We see a lot of houses on the job, older and newer. And we all worked as apprentices for our dad and uncles when we were growing up and still help out when needed. Dad has several brothers. One uncle is an electrician, and we all took turns helping him. One is a plumber, one built houses. We all helped and learned.”

  River pulled her in close for a hug and held her just a minute, Angela wanted more but knew that it was too soon for her to have the feelings she did for all of these men.

  After a minute Angela stepped away and turned toward the door. “I should go check on Todd and the puppies. That boy can disappear faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

  “We can go check on him if you want, but Rock and Sawyer will keep him out of trouble,” Hunter said, trailing one finger down her arm.

  Angela turned to him and smiled, but kept walking toward the door. She needed to get away from these men and get her head together. “I’m sure your brothers will keep Todd out of trouble, but after last night, I don’t trust him out of my sight for long.”

  “I understand how scared you must have felt. I’d like to look around a little more if you don’t mind?” River said as they walked toward the door.

  “Sure. I guess. I’ll be outside.” Angela really needed to get outside and get some air before she said or did something she might regret.

  She looked at Hunter. “Are you staying, too?”

  “We’ll be out in a few minutes,” he answered, and turned to follow River up the stairs.

  Angela practically ran out onto the porch and took a big gulp of air. She looked down at the side yard where Todd, Rock, and Sawyer were chasing the puppies. Todd was giggling so hard he could hardly stand up. She felt her heart swell to see him so happy. He’d been so sad and confused when he was brought to the foster home.

  Angela walked over to her favorite chair and sat, watching Todd and the men play. A few minutes later River and Hunter came out of the house.

  “We checked out the master bath and it could use some work, but you don’t want to get rid of that tub. It’s a beauty. They don’t make them like that anymore,” River said, Hunter following behind him.

  “I know. I fell in love with that tub the first time I saw the house. I would like to update the sink so there’s a little more storage in there. I don’t know if you noticed, but there isn’t a shower in that bath and I’d like to add that also. The only shower in the house is in the bathroom across from Todd’s bedroom downstairs. It’s a little inconvenient. But I guess I need to fix the porch before I worry about that,” Angela told the two men.

  “That wouldn’t be hard to add. You’d need to add the plumbing which would mean replacing one wall. They might have roughed it in when they redid the plumbing. Do you know how to check?” River asked.

  Angie shook her head no.

  “Come with me and I’ll show you.”

  Angie led the way upstairs, and River followed her, Hunter choosing to stay and play with Todd.

  River stepped into the tub and knocked on the wall above the water spigot. “Ahh. Come here.” He reached for her hand and helped her step into the tub with him. “Here, listen.” He knocked on the wall again, and Angie heard the difference.

  “What does that mean?” She asked.

  “It means they added plumbing for a shower. I don’t know why they didn’t finish it, but all we need to do is cut a small hole here and attach a little more pipe and boom. Shower. That’s something we can help you with, too.” River pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll just add that to the list and see if Alvin has something we can use. If he doesn’t I’m sure he will know someone who does. I’m sure we can get what you need either free or for very little money. Maybe later we can sit down and make a list of everything you want or need, and I’ll see what Alvin and his gang can do.”

  Angie threw her arms around him in a big hug, and River wrapped his arms around her. When she looked up into his face, he lowere
d his head and brushed his lips against hers. Before she knew what was happening he had her against the wall and she was kissing him back.

  “Hey, you okay up there?” Hunter’s voice carried up the stairs.

  “We’ll be down in a minute,” River called down the stairs. He lifted Angie out of the tub and stood her in front of the sink and mirror.

  “I’ll run down and see what he needs. Take your time.”

  “Thanks.” Angela didn’t know what else to say. She’d known these men less than twenty-four hours and already felt like things were looking up.

  Chapter Three

  When Rock and his brothers had gotten the call from the Wild brothers saying that their woman was in trouble and would they mind checking on her, they weren’t sure what they would find. Heidi Rundle had been dating the three Wild brothers for a while, and they were the happiest the men had ever been.

  Now that River, Rock, Sawyer, and Hunter had seen how well a ménage relationship could work in the small town, they were jealous. For years they had each dated separate women, with the twins occasionally dating the same woman, but it had never felt right. They weren’t really happy unless they were doing something together. In the years before they started working for the fire department, they had all had different careers. They had lived in different states, and none of them were happy.

  Now that they were all working together and sharing a house again all the pieces were falling into place. Now they needed to find a woman that was willing to share all of them. They needed to find someone strong enough to deal with four alpha men on a daily basis. Not just any woman would do.

  When they pulled up in the parking lot and saw Heidi with the little boy, they wondered who had let a child that young out on his own. The parents had to be pretty irresponsible to let him wander around on his own. Someone needed to remind them that the streets weren’t safe for young children to be alone. Rock had already decided he was going to be that person.

  After he heard that the boy had wandered off after the puppy, his irritability lessened, but he still wanted to talk to the young man’s parents. They needed to know how dangerous it could be.

  He was all set to pull the father aside and have a talk with him when he learned the boy’s situation. His first glimpse of Angela had him changing his mind about saying anything. She was beautiful. His pulse sped up just looking at her. When he realized she was the woman they had seen at the store that afternoon, he knew fate had a reason for bringing them together. Suddenly he needed to figure out a way to spend more time with her. He wondered if his brothers felt the same way. From the way they were all acting, he was sure they did.

  He couldn’t wait to get home and have a talk with his brothers. And to figure out a way to spend more time with Angela. They finished their shift at the fire station at seven that morning. After a few hours of sleep and a long discussion over breakfast, they decided to go check on Todd and Angela. They all wanted to spend more time with her and see how she reacted to them. If her reaction was what they wanted it to be, then they’d form a plan of attack. Time to get the girl.

  * * * *

  River hadn’t planned on kissing Angie, but when she looked up at him, he couldn’t resist himself. He was just going to give her a gentle kiss, but when her lips parted under his, he leaned in and took what she was giving.

  If Hunter hadn’t called up the stairs, he wasn’t sure he could have stopped.

  River wasn’t as sure as Rock was that Angela was the woman for them. But he was willing to spend some more time with her and see where things went. Usually, as twins he and Rock were on the same page, but not always. This was going to be one of those times. Angela was pretty enough and seemed like a genuinely nice person, but he and Rock had been hurt in the past and he wasn’t going to let that happen again. Not to any of them.

  Angela wasn’t the first woman the four of them had been interested in. Maybe she would be the last and maybe she wouldn’t. Time would tell. He was going to make sure she didn’t hurt them though. The last woman they had all tried to date had gone out with them on a dare. She’d never intended for things to be serious. It was all a game to her. River was still hurting from it.

  This time he was going to be more cautious. Take time to get to know her and how they could fit into her life and she into theirs. No rushing things. Sawyer and Hunter liked to jump in without testing the water, and that hadn’t worked out well for them. No one was going to hurt him or his brothers this time.

  He was enjoying the time they were spending with Todd. The kid was amazing. He was trying to train the puppies to do some tricks, and it was cute how they responded to him.

  Later in the afternoon, he sat talking with his brothers and the woman from last night. Heidi had wanted to make sure Todd was okay, and one of her boyfriends had brought her to Angela and Todd’s home to check on him. The two women had spent some time talking before she left. River didn’t know what was said, but Angela seemed more relaxed after.

  After Heidi and her man left, they spent some more time talking with Angela and got to know the woman better. She was smart, funny, and sexy as hell.

  Chapter Four

  The next couple of weeks went by fast. Todd was busy in school, and while he was gone, Angela kept herself busy working on magazine articles for the few clients she had and working on her novel when she wasn’t doing other things.

  The men had been busy at the fire station. Some lunatic had been calling in false reports for several days, and they were beyond frustrated chasing the guy and trying to find out what was going on.

  Angie was talking to the brothers on the phone, and they were telling her what had happened. “After spending all day chasing this idiot we got a call that the Wild farm was on fire. We didn’t know if it was real or not, but we had to check it out.”

  “Aren’t those the men that Heidi is dating?” Angie asked, trying to remember she’d only met the three brothers once.

  “Yeah, turns out Heidi had some crazed stalker after her. Some guy she dated once before she met Finn and the guys. He called her and told her he was going to burn down the barn with all her birds in it. So she and her best friend jumped in the car to try and stop him.”

  River picked up the story then. “All he really wanted was Heidi. He planned on trying to kidnap her, but didn’t expect her to have Brenda with her. It was a big mess. Everyone is going to be okay, and hopefully now that the guy, Oliver was his name, is in jail everything will settle down.”

  “Wow! How scary. I should call Heidi and make sure she’s okay,” Angie said after listening to the story.

  “I don’t know if she’s out of the hospital yet, so give her a few days,” Sawyer added.

  They talked a few more minutes, explaining why they were all working extra shifts and didn’t have much off time. They each called or texted her every day, and they had stopped by when they had time. She was excited because they were off on Saturday and were planning to stop by in the afternoon with their friend to measure her porch.

  Saturday was a day to catch up on everything she hadn’t done during the week. Even though she worked from home, there never seemed to be enough time to keep everything caught up.

  She and Todd were busy working in the yard when the large SUV pulled up.

  She stood up and dusted the grass and leaves off the legs of her jeans and turned to greet the men, but it wasn’t them. “Thomas? When did you get out? What do you want?” she asked the man standing there grinning like a fool. She could smell the alcohol like it was dripping from his skin and wondered what other substances he had in his system.

  Thomas had been in jail when their parents were killed. When he had been sober and not on the drugs, he had been a good brother. Unfortunately most of the time he’d been either stoned or drunk. Angie was still scared of him and what he could do. If he’d been sober, her attitude would have been different.

  “Ahh, sis, is that any way to greet your big brother?” Thomas asked, reaching
to pull her into a hug.

  Angie sidestepped and avoided the hug before pulling Todd closer. “Thomas. I didn’t know you’d been released. I thought you’d be in longer. How did you find me?” Thomas had been serving fifteen years in prison for burglary and drugs when their parents were killed. That was part of the reason Angie had needed to go into foster care. She and Thomas had never had a great relationship growing up. The few times Angie had heard from him since their parents had been killed hadn’t gone very well. She missed the young man he’d been before the drugs and alcohol became involved, but couldn’t trust the man he was now.

  “You sound disappointed. Aren’t you fucking glad to see me?” Thomas stepped closer to where she and Todd were standing. “Hey, little man. Why don’t you go fuck off someplace and play while I talk with my sister here?” And he gave Todd a hard shove, knocking the little boy to the ground.

  “Hey! That wasn’t necessary!” Angie yelled angrily, bending down to help Todd up and make sure he was okay. She got Todd up and brushed the grass and leaves from his clothes, pulling him tight into her arms.

  “What do you want, Thomas? Tell me what you want so you can leave.” She didn’t want the men seeing Thomas there. They didn’t need to know about him.

  “You know what I want. If you’d read the letters I sent, you would know. I want what I’m owed. You give me what you owe me, and you won’t see me again. If you don’t, who knows what might happen? Little man here looks fucking fragile. Wouldn’t want him to get fucking hurt. Would we?” He reached down and ruffled Todd’s hair, hard enough to make the boy cling to Angela.

  “You leave Todd alone. He’s nothing to you! I mean it, Thomas!” Angela wrapped her arms tighter around Todd.

  “Don’t give me that! You know what I want. I want the insurance money. Sure, he was your dad, but she was my mom, too. Give me what I’m owed and we’ll see. I only want what I’m owed!” Thomas turned and walked over to the vehicle he’d driven up in. As the car sped away, leaving tire tracks on the road, he yelled out the passenger window, “I’ll be back, and you better have what I want!”