Burning for You by Michele Dunaway Read Free Book Online Page A

almost lost mine, and that never happens.”
    His admission surprised her. She leaned back. “Surely you’ve dealt with similar things.”
    “Yes.” He moved the menu aside, settled deeper into his chair, the hot pink fabric molding to his torso. His leg stretched, coming closer to hers. “Yes.” He hesitated, then chose to share. “I’ve seen plenty of things. But never like that, not during childbirth. She was at a hospital, not a fire or accident scene. It’s the twenty-first century. We have advanced medicine. Childbirth is not supposed to be deadly.”
    “It happens more than you’d think.”
    “Tonight seemed personal for you.” Lips wrapped around the glass edge. He was very perceptive. Owen had never understood, never wanted to. She watched Joe swallow.
    “It is,” she admitted, in the spirit of sharing. “Every time I do it, I hope it makes a difference. My sister lost her baby. Evelyn was twenty-six, my age now. Newly wed. Got pregnant on her honeymoon. Nine months later, about a week before her due date, she had these contractions and when she went into the hospital there was no heartbeat. The hospital had a woman who took photos, but she was out of town. So I stepped in. I don’t even know how I managed to get any shots through my tears, but I did. Seeing my niece lying there so still. She wasn’t red. Her skin was so bluish gray.”
    She reached for the water instead of wine, drinking as she remembered. Her hand trembled. “Claire. My niece Claire. And ever since, I just kept doing it. It’s like I’m trying to bribe the universe for the next time Evelyn tries. Or for whenever I finally get ready to be a mom. Here I am a struggling photographer who waits tables to pay the rent because my main photo gig is performed pro bono. I would never charge those parents after what they’ve just been through.”
    “The universe will pay you back. You’re building up good karma,” Joe replied. His beer had lost some froth as he’d drunk about a third.
    She fiddled with the fork she didn’t need. “I’m not sure I believe that anymore. It certainly hasn’t so far. I’m even trying the graduate school route so I can go into teaching. There was this competition I was going to enter, but I couldn’t get my professor to sign off on my project. I just keep hoping it’ll get better.”
    “Well, you met me, didn’t you?” He gave her that trademark grin, the one that she liked more and more the longer she sat with him.
    She tilted her head. Considered. Refused to concede. “I’m not sure that’s a convincing argument that good things are coming my way.”
    “I do.” Joe spoke without a doubt in the world. “At some point fate’s got to give, right? That you’ve paid whatever debt you think you owe and that life suddenly smiles on you? That you are on the right side of things for once?”
    She drank more wine, letting the fuzzy feeling go to her head. She liked how her cheeks warmed. With food, the pleasant sensation would quickly fade, leaving her very sober, back to the reality of the night, and her life.
    “I wouldn’t say fate is working against me. I’m just not where I want to be. I had these visions of getting out of college, getting hired by a big New York City magazine, and seeing the world. Didn’t happen and within two years I was back home.”
And dating Owen.
    “But my life isn’t bad,” she continued. “Not when you like what you do, and I do love my photography. It just doesn’t pay the bills so I’m late nights at Presley’s. It’s that or move home, and so far I’ve managed to say no to my mom’s constant pressure to do that. What about you?”
    A shadow passed over his face, or maybe the flicker was Leo bringing their homemade chips and cheese dip. He set them down, asked if they needed anything else and, when both shook their heads, left.
    “Why’d you become a firefighter?” she asked, loading up her plate with chips and cheese. The rarebit was