“Felt like months,” I said and squeezed her in a one-armed side hug. Her arms flopped out helplessly. “Don’t I get special fireman privileges like your dad? I’m sure Ralph would approve.”
Levi stood with his arms crossed, looking very unimpressed with my antics. He obviously trusted me with his heart and soul, but that didn’t stop him from tugging Claire back to his side and tucking her under his arm.
“Hey, man,” he said and lifted his chin.
I matched his hello in return. I was so relieved to see them, so happy not to be alone with my thoughts anymore.
And yet that note all but burned in my pocket, calling to be returned to its owner.
“Are you lovebirds headed to the bonfire?” I asked and wedged myself in between them to hang on both of their shoulders.
“Yes,” Levi said. “We are very excited.” His tone was as flat as his expression.
“Aw, don’t pretend like you don’t love it,” Claire said, leaning around me to cajole him. He turned his head away, but we both saw the soft smile that tugged at his lips.
When he looked back to me, his features of nonchalance were back in place. “Why are you wearing your work pants and suspenders? Are you working the bonfire tonight?” Levi asked with a skeptical look at my ensemble.
Couldn’t a man just wear half his uniform around town without getting the third degree? “Well, not officially,” I explained. “But any time there is a large fire, I’m not going to relax. I’ll join you. No third wheels in this nonsexual throuple.”
“No,” Levi said at the same time Claire’s eyebrows shot up, head tilting, and she said, “Um.”
“Yeah, I was trying that out, but it doesn’t work. Tricycle? Pyramid? Wait, that’s four sides. We’ll work on it,” I said.
We started to stroll, shoulder to shoulder, toward the center of town, where the comforting smell of burning piñon and cedar wafted toward us.
“Are we all just going to pretend he wasn’t sniffing that piece of paper?” Claire asked. “If so, that’s cool. Who among us can judge? Just wanted to clarify. Heh. Claire-ify.” She snorted at her own wordplay.
A big, goofy grin spread across Levi’s features as he shoved me out of the way to bring Claire back under his arm. I had hoped she’d forgotten about that. Claire could jump from one topic to the next as often as a hummingbird flapped its wings.
“Why are you sniffing paper, Pace?” Levi asked, straight to the point. “Do not tell me you are still carrying around that list.”
“What list?” Claire asked excitedly.
Crap. I forgot I had told him about the list in a fit of excitement when I first discovered it. I should have kept it to myself. Though I wasn’t sure why that was my initial reaction. He’d seemed ... not skeptical, but he didn’t share my enthusiasm. But that wasn’t really his style.
“Just looking for clues. It’s not as perverted as it seems,” I said. “And this list. I found it.”
I pulled out the list again and proffered it to the happy couple. I wouldn’t admit that I had almost every line memorized.
“Hang on, I can’t read and walk,” Claire said.
Levi already had his hands on her shoulders, leading her out of the steady flow of foot traffic that was headed into town.
“What is this?” she asked. Levi read over her shoulder in the light of the window of Cozy Creek Confectionery, tucked out of the way. “I don’t get it. This yours?” she asked.
“I found it,” I said. Then, eyes narrowed, I looked down the road. “No. It found me,” I corrected.
I bounced on my toes.
“Whose is it?” Claire asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, studying her face closely to see what her feelings might be. “I’m determined to find out.”
Levi leaned forward to read a few more lines before he straightened and pulled back. “I don’t know, this feels like it’s sort of a personal thing.”
“I thought so too,” I said.
Claire hadn’t spoken, her brows furrowing as she read.
