“Do you just wear those everywhere you go?” one of the women I didn’t recognize asked. “Oh my God, that’s so freaking adorable. This whole town is like it fell out of one of those movies on that channel where it’s like twenty-four seven holiday movies.” A tourist then. An inebriated one.
I would never be a person who relaxed enough to drink around a fire this size. It just wasn’t in the cards for me.
“I got a text about a fire,” I said. “Is there one?”
“There’s no fire,” Jeff said, slightly more sober than the others. “I mean, besides the big one.” Jeff was full of jokes tonight.
“Then why the text?” I asked, pulling out my phone to show them.
Jeff, sitting next to Mason, smacked him upside the back of the head. “I told you not to text him about that.”
“Ouch. Damn, dude.” Mason rubbed his head with a frown. “I didn’t see you, and you said you were coming,” he said to me.
“And the badgers,” the woman added, as if remembering an important point.
“Yeah!” Mason leaned forward. “We need you to settle the debate.”
Sophie tried to tug out of my grip, but I just squeezed her fingers. She must have situated herself so far behind me that nobody could see her because they hadn’t mentioned her yet. Or they were too drunk to notice that I had a woman-shaped appendage.
I was looking for a good opportunity to introduce her to the group, but I didn’t want them to make stupid drunken jokes and make her outing a miserable one, especially since she had been so reluctant to come out as it was.
But hey, I was helping two fires with one hose, so to speak.
“Badgers?” I shook my head, trying to catch up. The massive bonfire caused the side of my face to swelter. “I don’t know whatyou’re talking about.” Before Mason could go on, I held up my free hand to stop him. “To be clear, there is no fire, and there is no danger?”
“The only danger is all the fun you’ve been missing,” Mason said, cracking himself up. “Where have you been? You’re two drinks behind.” I was further behind than that if I had to guess based on their bad humor.
“Pace doesn’t drink when there is a fire risk,” Jeff explained.
“You must never drink then,” the tourist said.
“Got it in one,” I said to her, tossing a wink without thinking and immediately catching myself mid-movement. I had been worried about a possible fire and about making a good first impression to Sophie. The schmooze just came out. I felt my own cringe. The tourist giggled prettily with a hair flip. Mason pulled her closer under his arm.
I moved to the side to reveal Sophie. Not that she was here as my date, but if Mason saw her, he wouldn’t presume I was hitting on his.
“Hang on, I just need—” I said, but Sophie tucked herself further into my shadow.
“Wait. Wait. This is important,” Mason said with seriousness, leaning forward, arm waving to make sure I didn’t escape. I looked one last time at the cagey Sophie before returning my focus to him. “You need to tell them about the badgers. Issfuckingadorable.” His words were slurred incomprehensibly.
“Really drawing a blank here,” I said.
“No. No. Trash pandas.” Jeff leaned forward conspiratorially as if he were a genius.
“Oh.” It clicked into place for me then. “Are you talking about the raccoons?” I asked.
“Yes. That’s what I said.” Mason snapped the fingers on both hands, and the action rocked him backward. “You save them with your little ladder every morning.”
I huffed out a laugh. I was still frustrated that my conversation with Sophie had been interrupted for this, but I never passed up an opportunity for a rapt audience and thought maybe she would like the story too. “It’s not every morning,” I explained. “It’s only when people leave the dumpster off I-25 open, near the town exit. There’s that burger place there, and it always has good stuff for the critters.”
“He goes and checks it every morning,” Jeff said.
“It’s part of my running path, it’s not like a big deal or anything.” I scratched the back of my neck. I glanced around for Sophie. I spotted her a few feet further away, drifting out like a rogue buoy but eagerly listening. I flushed from the heat of the fire. I hadn’t even felt her wiggle herself free.
Looking back, I added, “And it’s not a ladder, it’s just a little plank of wood I leave there so they can climb back out.”
“I’m gonna show ’em the video. There are little babies there too, sometimes. It’s honestly ridiculously cute.” Mason pulled out his phone and played the video.
The women chorused “aw” in unison. One who wasn’t sitting too close to anybody eyed me up and down. I usually would have preened at the attention, but I brushed it off, feeling self-conscious at the leers. What did Sophie think about all this?
