All A Heart Needs B&N by Barbara Freethy Read Free Book Online

started?"
    She thought for a moment. "I don't think so, but I was eleven when it happened, so all I remember is everyone at school crying. And then there was that huge funeral. There must have been four hundred people there."
    "I remember." He hadn't wanted to go to that funeral. He'd had some crazy idea that if he didn't go to the mass, Stacy would still be alive, but his parents had insisted they all attend. So he'd sat in the pew with his family and tried not to look at the small white casket next to the big dark one. He pushed that thought out of his mind. "Would you be able to access the records regarding that fire?"
    Emma gave him a speculative look. "What do you want to know?"
    "I want to know how the fire started, why Stacy's father couldn't get out."
    "Why does it matter now?"
    "Because it does."
    "That's not an answer."
    "It's all I've got. Can you help me?"
    "I could look into it, but you might be able to get a quicker and more direct answer if you talk to Dad. He was on that fire, and I'm sure the department conducted a thorough investigation. Dad and Mom were good friends with Stacy's parents."
    "I don't want to talk to Dad about it."
    "Why not?"
    "I want the official version, not his version."
    She frowned. "What does that mean? You think he'd lie to you?"
    "I don't know."
    "Sean, he wouldn't lie. Jack Callaway is the most honest person I know."
    "How long will it take you to find the report?" he asked, changing the subject.
    "It will take a little digging. It was twenty years ago."
    "But you'll do it?"
    She nodded. "Yes, because I'm your sister, and you've made me a little curious."
    "That's always dangerous," he said with a smile. "But thanks, I appreciate it."
    "I still don't know what you're hoping to find."
    "I don't know either, but being in Stacy's house again brought back a lot of memories."
    "Whoa! When were you in Stacy's house?"
    He realized his mistake a second too late. "An hour ago," he admitted. "Mom asked me to take a ladder over to Jessica." He didn't like the sudden gleam in his sister's eyes. "It was a favor to Mom. That's all it was."
    "Sure, whatever you say."
    "Anyway, when I stepped into that house, it was like I stepped into the past."
    "Isn't the inside different now?"
    "It was different, but also the same. And the memories were still there. I spent a lot of time in that house with Stacy."
    The teapot began to sing, and Emma took it off the stove. She poured the hot water over a teabag and then brought it back to the counter. "If you don't want to talk to Dad, you could talk to Mom. I'm sure Dad spoke to her about the findings."
    "I'd rather just look at the report and not get them involved." He finished his juice and set the glass down. "I have to get to practice."
    "You guys were great last night."
    "It was a good show. Glad you enjoyed it."
    "You're playing in Russian Hill tonight, right?"
    "Yeah. Are you coming?"
    "No, tonight is for my husband. We're going to spend some quality naked time together."
    He rolled his eyes. "You're over-sharing again, Emma."
    She laughed. "I'm just being honest."
    "You look happy. You're really in love, aren't you?"
    "So much I can barely believe it. And to think I almost lost Max. I don't know how I would have survived."
    He nodded, thinking back to Emma's wedding day, when just before the ceremony, Max and his brother, Spencer, had been caught in a bank robbery. Max had been shot, and he'd come very close to dying, but luckily he'd survived. Two weeks later was able to exchange vows with Emma. "Is Max completely back to normal now?"
    "He's a hundred percent, thank goodness."
    "How's his brother doing?"
    "Spencer is in culinary school. He's going to be a chef."
    "Good for him."
    "And he has a girlfriend."
    "Wait, let me guess, the beautiful redhead from the bank?"
    "Yes, the woman who helped Spencer save Max's life—Hallie Cooper."
    He shook his head in amazement. "Talk about an unlikely place to fall in love."
    "You never know when you're going to