Forever Summer - Melody Grace Page 0,9

the baked goods in the world weren’t going to change Noah’s mind. His heart had already been well and truly broken.

He had no intention of putting it on the line again.

“Alright, kids, who’s up?” The chief’s voice cut through the low rumble of chatter in the lounge room.

Noah looked up. “What’s the call?”

“Take your pick,” Pete said. “A cat up a tree, or some lady stuck on their roof.”

Noah chuckled. Seemed about the right speed for an afternoon in Sweetbriar Cove. “Who’s the cat lady?” he asked, reaching for his jacket.

The chief checked the dispatch note. “Mindy Simpson.”

Noah gulped. “I’ll take the roof one,” he said quickly. He’d had a date with Mindy back before the holidays, but she’d been coming off a bitter divorce and had spent the night complaining about her ex. She’d left a couple of messages since then, angling for another date, but Noah was in no hurry to reconnect.

“Take truck two,” the chief said, as he headed for the vehicle bay. “Someone spilled paint all over the other ladder.”

“Sorry, Chief!” one of the other guys, Brayden, called out. “I was trying to get the lettering right on the Spring Fling banner.”

“You’re supposed to paint it when it’s on the ground!”

Noah left them to their bickering and went with Jake to the vehicle bay. “Doesn’t it feel like overkill, showing up like this?” he asked, as they climbed aboard the massive rig.

Jake shrugged, munching on a slice of pizza. “At least they see us coming. So, Mindy, huh?”

Noah shook his head, grinning. “Don’t start. Where are we heading?”

Jake checked in with dispatch. “Some inn or another, down on Sandy Lane. Sandpiper …”

“Beachcomber Inn,” Noah corrected him with a sigh. Looked like he’d narrowly escaped the frying pan only to leap directly into the fire.

“Oh, right.” Jake gave him a sidelong smirk. “The spinster.”

“Her name’s Evie.”

Noah was half tempted to switch assignments and brave Mindy’s perfume all over again. It suddenly seemed safer than paying Evie another visit, but it was too late to trade now—at least not without making an even bigger deal of things. So he drove them down to the harbor and along the bumpy shore road until they reached the inn.

Jake let out a whistle. “This thing is still standing?” he said, as they climbed down. But Noah was already striding ahead. He’d been laughing it off, but now he felt a flicker of worry. What if the callout was actually an emergency? What if Evie really was in trouble?

And then he saw her, sitting on the edge of the roof, her legs idly swinging back and forth as she gazed out over the ocean.

She was fine.

Noah, on the other hand … well, he suddenly couldn’t remember his own name.

3

If Evie had to get herself stuck on a roof, she figured there were worse places to do it. From the top of the Beachcomber Inn, she could see clear across the bay. It was almost soothing, watching the waves roll in—as long as she didn’t look straight down, at the twenty-foot drop that would surely break her neck if she took a fall.

What had she been thinking, climbing up to take a look around? It wasn’t as if she’d know a rotting roof tile if she saw one, but it had been on her checklist, so up she’d gone – and promptly knocked the ladder down. Now she was stuck waiting for rescue like some damsel in distress. So much for tackling everything on her own.

It had been almost an hour when Evie finally heard an engine approaching and saw a fire truck rolling down the lane. “Over here!” she called out, filled with relief. She didn’t want to get up in case she lost her balance, so she settled on waving frantically as one of the men climbed down from the rig and moved closer.

Close enough for her to see exactly who it was.

Noah.

Her stomach lurched. “What are you doing here?” she groaned, and even from the roof, she could see him smile.

“You called. Sweetbriar Cove Firefighter’s Department, at your service, ma’am,” he said, doing an exaggerated bow.

All that, and now he was wearing a fireman’s uniform, too? The navy T-shirt clung to his torso—and as for those pants …

The universe really was screwing with her today.

“Thanks for coming, but I’m fine!” she called down to Noah just as he was joined by another man, this one dark-haired and strapping.

“So you’re just hanging out up there for the fun of it?” Noah