Read Home Fires for Free Online Page B

Journal
    ____________________________________
WEATHER ADVISORY: Hot, dry conditions throughout our area have prompted the Department of Natural Resources to issue an advisory for extreme fire danger. The threat of potential grass fires will continue until the current drought is relieved. The efforts of all James Bay citizens are needed to keep our community safe. Be vigilant and help prevent fires!
    ____________________________________
     
    Chuck’s Tavern and Grill was hot and crowded. Some faces were familiar, others not.
    “Guess I’ve been away too long. I hardly recognize anybody in town anymore.” Rose gave the Judge a weary smile as the waitress disappeared with their menus. James Bay in the summertime had its share of pleasures as well as drawbacks. For the ten blissful, beautiful weeks comprising most of June, July, and August, locals surrendered control of their town, as well as the restaurants, shops, and beaches.
    “You already know the people who count.” The Judge took a careful sip of his beer. His suit and tie from earlier were gone and his ample girth now sported an open-collared shirt paired with a navy blue blazer and slacks.
    “I thought you were a martini man,” she said with a thoughtful nod toward his frosted glass.
    “It’s true I love my martinis.” The Judge took another sip of his drink. “But there’s quite a bit about me you don’t know, my dear. And now you’re all grown up, I suppose it’s time I let you in on some of my little secrets.”
    Rose smiled. “Secrets? Since when do you have secrets?”
    “Don’t we all?” The Judge matched her smile with a beguiling one of his own. “As for me, I enjoy a good beer now and then, especially on a hot day like this.”
    She chuckled softly. “You drink beer instead of martinis? Some secret.”
    His smile broadened as he leaned forward across the table. “Here’s another for you, then. When you’re dining at Chuck’s Tavern, always order a beer. Creating a perfect martini is a true work of art. Unfortunately, our friend Chuck never attended that particular art school.” He raised his glass in deference to Chuck, short sleeved and crew cut, hard at work behind the bar.
    Rose followed his toast with a smile. Chuck’s Tavern and Grill was a local establishment forged in the hearts of locals and resorters alike. Its Friday night all-you-can-eat fish fries bordered on legendary. She sat back in her chair and sipped her ice water, stifling a yawn. A nice quiet dinner, then home to bed for some much needed sleep were the only items on her evening agenda. It had been a long day, first with the anxious wait through her mother’s surgery, only to be followed by that unfortunate mishap in the kitchen. And while it hadn’t been a fully engulfed fire, the downstairs rooms in her mother’s house still reeked of smoke.
    Thinking of the kitchen fire turned her thoughts to something—and someone—else. How ironic was it that the fireman with those magnetic blue eyes should have the identical name as her own father… right down to sharing the middle name of John . Then again, Gallagher was a common enough last name, at least up north. Rose settled deeper in her seat. A mere coincidence, that’s all it was. An unsettling coincidence.
    A smile curled around her lips. What would Michael John Gallagher have to say about the coincidence when he found out?
    “Maybe I haven’t changed, but you certainly have,” the Judge said. “You are a far cry from that little girl with dirty knees and pigtails I remember scuffling around in my backyard.”
    Rose ignored the slight tug at her heart. “That little girl is long gone. She grew up and went to law school.”
    “Speaking of law, how are things at the firm?”
    “Firmly in place,” she replied in a slaphappy voice, mimicking how she felt. Slaphappy, punchy, and sleepy, too. She struggled to keep her eyelids from drooping.
    “You’ve done us all proud, my dear. If your father was still