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“But know this, Jade,” he continued, now looking me directly in the eyes with an intense gaze, “Know that this is my home. If you do anything that will hurt the reputation of the men who work here or myself, then I will never forgive you. This is whatI have poured my life into. I expect you to respect it. This isn’t some… fantasy.”
I quelled the surge of anger that rose within me. No matter what I did, he still seemed determined to believe the worst in me. For no reason. “Jesse, I’ve seen the worst kinds of burns a firefighter can get on the job in my time as a nurse,” I gently reminded him. “I understand how difficult it can be. All I want to do is help make sure you guys have enough money to do your jobs and stay safe. Is that going to be okay with you?”
He considered and then nodded curtly.
“What do you need me to help you with? Other than making sure that table isn’t going to collapse while you’re at the booth,” he said.
“Well… that’s a good question. I’m not entirely sure what we’re supposed to do to set it up,” I admitted. “Will the fire station be providing tables and chairs for us to use during the fundraising event? Will there be internet where we’ll be sitting?”
He took me over to a large map and pointed to an outdoor expo center.
“This is where we’ll be. There may be internet for the booths closer to the expo center’s indoor auditorium, but a hot spot would be preferred so that we’re not overloading the internet provider there,” he said. “You’ll have to provide your table and chairs, and I believe a canopy if you’d like cover from the sun.”
I nodded slowly.
We could provide the tables and chairs. The canopy, I was less sure about. I knew renting one could get expensive. At the very least, I made a mental note to bring sunscreen.
Out loud, I added to my list: “And we’ll need a portable credit card reader.”
Jesse raised an eyebrow.
“How many people do you know who still carry cash on them everywhere they go?” I looked at him with a soft smile. “It’ll bea lot better for fundraising if we have a portable card reader for people who want to purchase something there at the table. If they’d like to browse the rest of my collection, I’ll also have business cards with the site on them.”
“Fine, fine, fine,” he grumbled. “Now, we can’t exactly go to the expo center yet, but I’m supposed to help you make sure you have everything ready to go.”
“Why don’t we head to the store, then? Most of what we’ll end up using is going to be there,” I suggested. “We could take my car home, and then carpool to the store and back home. I think that’d be far more efficient than taking both cars to the store unless you had something else you wanted to do?”
He shook his head.
“It can wait. This is my job right now, and I guess I have to see it through.Regrettably,” he said sarcastically. “Find your friend and let her know the plan. I’m going to head back to the house. I guess I’ll see you there.” He didn’t sound happy about it.
With that, Jesse walked away from me and out towards his car. I saw him pause momentarily to talk to the fire chief, but I couldn’t hear what they were talking about. Nor did I think I wanted to. Instead, I simply returned to where we had set up camp.
“Hey, Maria, I think it’s time to take our little setup down,” I said. “Jesse thinks it’d be a better use of our time to be sure that we have everything we’ll need for the day of the fundraising. We’ll be at the expo center’s field, so we’re going to need a canopy.”
“I might be able to make something work. I have a large tarp at home, and we could drape my beaded curtains on the tarp,” Maria said as she started taking the purses off the table. “Where’s Mr. Delaney gone now?”
“So, we’re going to drop my car off at home since it’s on the way, and then he’ll drive me to the store so that we can go over what we have and what we need,” I replied. “I’ll meet you there.”
“All right. Hey, bring all the jewelry you’ve got set up here. I think I’ve got another idea for how we could set it up, and we’ve got better equipment for that at the store, anyway.”
I nodded.
With that, I carried my jewelry out to the car. Jesse’s truck was long gone. I had a feeling he had suggested we go now so he could leave. I think he needed some time to decompress from hearing that he would be working with me for the fundraising.
I shook my head. The last thing I needed to do to myself was make up theories.
I finished packing the car, and once Maria was all packed up, headed home.
Chapter thirteen
Thirteen: Jesse
On my way home from the fire station, I gripped the steering wheel tightly. This insanity was why I always took vacation around this time of year. It was never easy. Putting up flyers was probably easier than having to work with someone as insistent as Jade. I’d had trouble getting her to understand that I didn’t want to talk at home. This was just going to make it worse: Icouldn’tescape some of these conversations now. And I had a feeling she would at least use that to her advantage once or twice before the fundraiser happened.
However, the main reason I wanted to get home first was because I wanted to call my father and let him know that I wasn’t going to be able to come up to the ranch at all for a few weeks. Things were too busy here now.
I quietly cursed for not having kept a better eye on the calendar for the fundraising meeting. Usually, they wouldn’t call in someone who was on vacation and would put them on flyer and water duty for the days leading up to and the day of, respectively. Or would put them in the firehouse because it was easier than disrupting a schedule that was already set.
