“You hear the sirens?” Jason asked.

“Yeah. First time all summer.”

Jason squirted more window cleaner on the glass counter, even though he’d cleaned it twice already. “I heard some say they were worried about her coming back. That the fires’d start again.”

“Say what? Who’s this ‘her’?” Griff looked up, only half-listening. He wanted to get out of here, put his feet up, open a dripping-cold long neck and start in on his real work. But the kid had been scrubbing the place until he’d practically worn out his hands; obviously he didn’t want to go home. Bruises hadn’t healed up from the last time his dad had a snootful.

“You know. The pretty lady who came in the other day. The one with the long brown hair. You went right over to her. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”

Griff scowled. Sometimes the kid saw way more than he needed to.

Lily had been in twice more for Griff’s Secret-but not for any of his. She’d chatted up Steve the first time; someone had talked to her the other. God knew, he’d raced from the back room to flirt her up, but she’d escaped before he could tackle her both times. Maybe that was accidental-or maybe she didn’t remotely feel the same spark he did.

No sweat, he’d told himself. But somehow she kept pouncing into his mind, lingering there like a sweet taste he couldn’t get out of his head. That he could get hung up on a woman he barely knew was downright worrisome.

It implied a capacity for commitment.

That was fearful.

Still, he couldn’t let Jason’s comment go. “Why would anyone think that Lily Campbell has anything to do with the sirens?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Come on. Her coming back after all these years just stirred up the story. Everyone knows what happened.”

“Well I don’t, so why don’t you enlighten me?”

“Her daddy was a fire setter. That’s what everybody said. And now she’s back, so people been saying, ‘watch out for fires.’ And now you heard the sirens.”