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He walks in through the front door. My fight-or-flight reaction kicks into high gear, and I almost jump out of my seat at the sight of him. Fight or flight? Definitely flight. Colby is like a well-oiled machine. He could knock me out in five seconds, and I am not too proud to admit that.
I know what this lunch is about. He thinks I’m moving in on his baby sister. I should have invited Jameson. Colby wouldn’t murder me with a state trooper present. Would he?
Colby walks to the table and slides into the other side of the booth. He intertwines his fingers and places his hands on the table while looking me straight in the eye. Good grief, he’s really good at this maintaining-eye-contact thing. I’ve never felt so nervous in my life, and I haven’t even done anything wrong here.
“What are your intentions with my sister?” he asks, cutting straight to the chase, his eyes never breaking contact with mine. I take a deep breath as my heart picks up its pace.
“Look, man, I don’t know what you think you saw, but nothing’s happening. I mean, it’s Hannah. She’s like a sister to me,” I say. I’m trying to convince myself as much as I’m trying to convince him. I mean, just because I find her irresistibly attractive and loved sitting with her on that couch doesn’t mean there’s anything going on. We were just watching a movie. That’s it. Even if my brain was so hyper-focused on her that I couldn’t tell you anything about that movie.
“You swear, man? It looked like y’all were getting pretty cozy on my couch last night.”
“I mean, it is called a loveseat for a reason,” I joke, but judging by the look on Colby’s face, he does not find it funny. His jaw is clenched so tight he’s probably going to have to call the dentist about some cracked teeth after this.
“Seth!” Okay, not the time for jokes.
“I’m not making a move on her,” I say as calmly as I can. I’ve known her almost my entire life. Surely if there was something between us, I would have felt it before now. Besides, eight years is a big age gap. She's way too young for me. It was just a weird male reaction to being with her while she was in distress from watching her house burn down and nothing more. I’m sure the next time I see her it’ll be just like old times.
Colby studies me for a few moments before deciding he’s pleased with what he sees. He motions the waitress over, and we order our drinks and food. I go ahead and get my sweet tea since I can breathe a little easier now. We sit and talk about work while we wait on our food. Colby tells me about a boy passing out while dissecting a frog. No future in medicine for that one.
As I’m telling him about a crazy eighteen-wheeler fire that we put out a few days ago, I see Hannah walk through the front door, looking very disgruntled. She’s alone, and I wonder if Colby asked her to come so he can interrogate her also. I watch as the hostess begins to lead her to a small two-seater table in the corner. Colby turns to follow my gaze, and he calls out to beckon her over.
Hannah stops and turns when she hears her name, and a look of what can only be dread washes over her features. She walks over to our table with her shoulders stiff and hunched up and waves to us. My heart picks up its pace as I observe how good she looks in her jeans. I force my gaze away from her as she talks to her brother. I shouldn’t be thinking about her like this.
“Are you here alone?” Colby asks her.
“Oh, yeah. I had to get away from Millie,” she admits.
“Is it the wedding? All Jameson talks about lately is how he can’t wait for Saturday. It’s nauseating,” I say.
“Oh, umm. Yeah,” she says, and I turn to watch her face closely. It’s obvious she’s lying, and I wonder what’s going on between the two of them. Hannah and Millie have been close ever since Millie moved to town nine months ago. Hannah is one of Millie’s bridesmaids. As I’m watching her, I notice her eyes darting all over the place, refusing to even look in my direction.
“Well, don’t eat alone,” Colby says. “Why don’t you join us?”
Her face turns red when I add, “Yeah, sit with us.” Colby scoots in to allow her to sit in the booth beside him. She sits down across from me in silence and stares off to the side.
Two long, agonizing minutes of silence pass at the table before anyone cracks and says something. I know because I checked the time on my phone four times before Hannah speaks up and says, “So, what were y’all talking about before I got here?”
“Seth was just telling me about a fire,” Colby says.
“Oh, speaking of fire… Seth,” Hannah says, finally looking at me with a blush in her cheeks. I turn my attention toward her, thinking she’s going to ask me something about her house. However, her next words are something I do not expect. “With Millie gone for the next week and a half, I have to plan two story times for the kids at the library,” she says. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. I know exactly where this is going. “I was wondering if you and a few other firefighters would be willing to come read a book about a firefighter and talk about fire safety…maybe bring one of the fire trucks?”
Everything in me is screaming to say no. Find someone else. It’s not that I don’t think teaching fire safety to small kids is important. Hello, I’m a firefighter. I obviously agree that it’s important. It’s the small-kids part that has me wanting to run for the hills. Kids are cute in theory and can even be funny at times, but they’re also absolutely terrifying. The scariest thing on this planet. But I can’t admit to Hannah that my biggest fear is tiny humans, so what do I do? I agree to do the story time. Even if I were willing to fess up to my fear, I still wouldn’t be able to say no to her. Not with those big blue eyes and those pouty lips begging me to say yes.
“Sure, I’ll talk to the chief and get back to you. What day is story time?”
“Thursday. A week from today,” she says, looking excited and relieved. I, however, feel anything but relieved.
