And everything to do with the sweet possibility of a future full of love.

Chapter Twenty-five

“Ooh, Mommy, look! It’s Justin Bieber! I need a picture with him.”

Summer ran over to the uncannily accurate wax figure of the young pop star and Megan quickly snapped a couple of great shots with her digital camera. When she turned around, she couldn’t see Gabe anywhere in the room, not even over by the Kim Kardashian figure most of the men were drooling over.

Megan, Summer, and Gabe had come down to Fisherman’s Wharf on a clear, cool Friday night to eat clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls, but had ended up inside the wax museum instead. Amazingly, none of them had ever been there before, thinking it was something for tourists, not locals. Megan couldn’t remember laughing so much. Her cheeks actually hurt and she was pretty sure her abdominal muscles would be feeling it, too, the next morning.

Still, she wasn’t at all prepared to see Gabe standing next to his brother in the next room. Or, rather, the wax version of Smith Sullivan.

“He never told us he was here,” Gabe said with a wicked grin. “Boy, are we all going to have fun with this one. Can you take a couple of shots of us?” He draped one muscular arm around the shoulders of the wax figure and Megan noticed several strangers in the room stopping to stare. Especially when Summer said, “Hey, isn’t that your brother, Gabe?”

He grinned at her. “Sure is, sweetie. And it looks like he’s got a bad case of ear wax...all over!”

As Summer giggled, Megan mused that while each of the Sullivan brothers were unique, all six of them shared a certain...well, rugged gorgeousness was one way of putting it. Even in wax, Smith Sullivan was quite a hunky sight.

Of course, a flesh-and-blood Gabe Sullivan put the figure to shame.

A few minutes later, they saw Nicola’s wax figure in the corner at the same time.

“We met her at your mom’s party!” Summer exclaimed. Clearly full of pride, she said, “I don’t need a picture with her because I totally know her. When do we get to meet Smith, Gabe?”

Gabe ruffled her hair. “Next time he’s in town, I’ll have him buy you an ice cream cone.”

“Cool!”

As Summer ran off, Megan’s chest suddenly tightened. It was just what she’d been afraid of. That Summer would assume these group outings meant her mother and the firefighter were going to be together forever. Long enough, at least, to eat ice cream with Smith.

Megan could feel Gabe’s eyes on her. His arms were next, wrapping around her waist to pull her lightly against him. “I heard they’ll kick you out of the wax museum if they see you frowning.”

She buried her face in his neck and breathed in his warm and smoky scent until she was able to stuff away her fears again. All the while, he held on to her, his large hand stroking her back.

“I’m having a great time, Gabe. So is Summer.”

“That makes three of us, then.”

He took her hand and they joined her daughter by the superhero wax figures, all of her hopes and dreams pooling around his offhand statement.

That makes three of us, then.

Oh, how she longed for that to be true. A husband, a family for her daughter, with no more heartache, no more struggles.

Just love.

But how could that ever be a reality for her and Summer when Gabe was a firefighter? One who wasn’t afraid of running into burning buildings if it meant saving someone inside.

Stop it, she told herself in a firm inner voice. She’d promised both of them that she’d try. Which meant putting the brakes on her worries, her fears, for a little while and just enjoying being with him.

An hour later, Gabe was dropping them off at home on the way to his night shift at the station. They’d agreed he’d come over for dinner on Sunday night after his shift, but Megan already missed him.

Besides, he’d been holding her hand for hours. Touching her, too, soft little caresses on her face, her back, her hips. She was burning up for him, but with Summer between them, Megan couldn’t do anything about her desire.

Desire that she was afraid was going to make her come completely unglued before long.

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” she said in a slightly husky voice.

She reached for the doorknob, but before she could open the door, Summer said, “Aren’t you guys going to kiss good night?”

A strangled laugh came from Megan’s lips and when she looked over at Gabe, his eyes were dark with the same barely restrained desire she was grappling with.

“Of course we are,” he said.

A moment later, his lips were against hers, warm and delicious. It was just enough of a kiss to whet her appetite for more and when he pulled back, she felt dazed.

Summer smiled at the two of them, clearly pleased to see that her matchmaking had worked out so well. “See you Sunday, Gabe. That was fun.”

* * *

On Sunday night, the three of them were sitting on the living room carpet, trying to extract a thigh bone in a tightly contested game of Operation.

Well, a tightly contested game between Summer and Gabe, anyway. Sitting this close to Gabe had Megan’s hands so shaky she could hardly play. Again and again, she set off the red buzzer by bonking the tweezers into the sides of the small holes on the game board.

Summer and Gabe were neck and neck with their piles of little bones and organs when Summer pouted. “This isn’t fair. You do this kind of stuff for your job. I’m just a kid.”

Megan waited to see if he was going to be fooled, but he merely raised an eyebrow. “I’m trained as a paramedic, not a surgeon.”

Summer made a face. “It’s practically the same thing.”

Gabe smiled at her daughter. “Not even close, but nice try, kid.”

When Summer cheerfully said, “Your turn,” Megan knew she wasn’t done rummaging through her bag of tricks to try to make sure she won the game.

Gabe picked up the tweezers and was just about to go for the brain when Summer let out a shriek. “Oh my gosh, what a huge bug!”

Megan winced as her daughter’s piercingly high voice penetrated her skull. “What bug, Summer?”

But her daughter was busy staring at Gabe’s hand where it had stilled right over the playing board, rather than bonking into it and giving her the potential win.

Megan couldn’t help but laugh. “He’s one of eight, sweetie. I think you’re going to have to try harder than that to distract him.”

A second later, Gabe reached in, grabbed the brain and almost had it all the way out when the tip of the tweezers slid against the board. The red buzzer sounded and Summer grabbed the tweezers from his hand, expertly pulling out the brain.