Fire at Dawn: The Firefighters of Darling Bay 2 Read Online Free PDF

likes sports. Mom does not like sports.”
    “Neither do I,” said Coin. “You still like me.”
    Another long-suffering sigh. “If someone doesn’t teach me how to throw a softball and soon, I’m not even going to make the team.”
    “Sorry, slugger.”
    “It’s okay. Now shush. I’m reading.”
     
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
    Lexie’s brother James was already on the couch when she let herself into her mother’s house.
    “You’re late.”
    “I am not,” said Lexie, glancing at a non-existent watch on her right wrist. “I’m perfectly on time.”
    The only way Lexie ever got out of Friday night dinner was by being at work—where her mother usually called her at least once to make sure she wasn’t lying, which was actually fair, since she would lie about it if she’d been able to get away with it—or if she was dead. So far the dead part hadn’t happened, and because she worked two out of every six days and her days off rotated, she had to have dinner four out of every six Fridays.
    She was better off than James, of course. Her older brother had to eat every single Friday night there.
    “You’re five minutes late, so I’m leaving five minutes before you,” he said.
    “Always right down to the minute, huh?”
    “Always.”
    James had a brain like a computer and a master’s degree in applied mathematics. Lexie had a little bit of it—she remembered numbers after seeing them only once, which was handy in dispatch—but that’s where her math brain ended. Lexie still wasn’t sure what James did in his day job, but it was mostly theoretical and had something to do with the planetarium on the hill.
    James was very smart. Right then, though, he did not look so. He sat on their mother’s red-velvet covered couch, a drink in his hands, his head pitched back, his mouth hanging slightly open. His eyes were unfocused.
    “Oh, my gravy, what is that? Scotch?”
    He gave a slow nod.
    “How many have you had?”
    “Just this one. And I’ve only had a few sips.”
    “Oh, no.” Lexie’s heart sunk. “And you look like that already?”
    “She’s bad today.”
    “Want to make a run for it?”
    “And risk having to hear about that for the rest of our natural lives?” James shook his head. “I can’t take it. I can’t. I’m definitely going to have another one of these, though. I can tell you that much.” Pointing to the bottle on the mirrored mahogany bar in the corner of the opulent room, he said, “Want one?”
    “Are you kidding me? Yes. No, you stay there. I’ll get it.”
    From the kitchen drifted a high voice. “Lexington, is that you?”
    “Why?” Lexie paused in pouring the two fingers of Scotch. “How many times have I told her Lexie? One million times? Trillion?”
    “Because it gets to you.” James’s eyes were closed. “That’s why. You were the first born and you bear the city of her birth. Lucky you.”
    Lexie said, “I’m going to tell her that last eye lift she had made her look like Joan Rivers.”
    Her brother snorted. “I’ll pay you a dollar.”
    “Make it ten thousand and you’re on.”
    “Lexington! Come in here and help me!”
    Lexie had to give it to her mother—even if she didn’t want to—her mother knew her way around a kitchen like Lexie knew her keyboard at work. Mira Tindall was known for her four-course meals which she made all from scratch, naturally, during which never she broke so much as a sheen on her forehead. Her mother just had to look at a Beef Wellington for the meat to practically slice itself, perfectly trimmed pieces landing on every plate. If they were in a Disney movie, her mother would be the wicked stepmother who had a magical cooking charm.
    “Daddy’s favorite tonight,” sang Mira in a disarmingly cheery voice. “Orange-roasted duck with a marmalade and soy sauce dressing, and a bok choy salad with a gorgonzola dressing.”
    Lexie didn’t remember this being her father’s favorite. In fact, she remembered he’d really liked