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“I would, but I’m busy tonight,” I said.
“Oh, on call at the station?”
“No. I made plans. You’ll have to get somebody else,” I said. I felt a pang, I admit it. I wasn’t used to telling my dad no. Anytime he needed me at the bar, I went. I even went and wore my pager if I was on call at the firehouse. But tonight, I wasn’t going to lose any time with Sarah Jo. When she rang the doorbell, I answered. She had on jeans and a cute top with lacy sleeves. I waited until she was inside and the door was closed to hug her.
“I parked two blocks over so no one will see my car and tell Ryan I was here.”
“So you don’t think the people who could recognize your car couldn’t also recognize you while you walked the two blocks to my house?” I asked dubiously.
“Fine. I’m not James Bond, okay?” she laughed. “What’s for dinner? I brought wine.”
I took the bottle from her and threw away the crumpled paper bag with a grin. “So when you were in stealth mode parking two blocks away, you thought, ‘hey I’ll just carry this brown paper bag of liquor over a few blocks to Luke’s house, no one will notice me?’”
“Hey, it was my cover. They could have seen me and thought, ‘hey this girl had a rough day at work, and she’s just looking for a place to sit down and crack open that bottle.’”
“That is a sexy image, if you’re looking to start mystery around yourself. Why is she back in town? Is it to help her dad or did she run into trouble with the law? Why does she walk around town carrying a liquor bottle? Does she have a drinking problem or is this a new big city trend she’s bringing to our southern backwater?” I laughed.
“I missed you. Maggie is bringing my dad some dinner and checking on him. Then later, Gracie said she’d bring by some oatmeal cookies she’s baking and look in on him.”
“You double-teamed it to get some time off. Well done,” I said. “Want some queso?”
“Always. I literally always want chips and queso. Even at two in the morning if you woke me up, I’d go for some nachos.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “If I ever get to wake you up at two in the morning.”
She smiled and scooped some queso from the bowl, “This is amazing. I can’t wait to see what you made for supper.”
“Wait no longer,” I said, pulling a pizza box out of the oven.
“Um, that doesn’t look homemade,” she laughed.
“No, I want to spend my time with you. Not make some fancy dinner and eat it in three courses. I made the king of all quesos and the chips. Now, let’s see if memory serves me. I ordered thin crust ham, pineapple, and green pepper.”
“Got it in one. That’s my favorite. Although I don’t know if I can really enjoy it without watching my brother pick off every tiny bit of green pepper with a look of disgust on his face.”
“I mostly remember pepperoni and sausage over at your house, but the few times I saw you have this, you were really happy with it. I honestly didn’t notice Ryan making a pepper pyramid.”
“What’s your favorite? Are you all meat like Ryan?”
“No, I’m more of a walk on the wild side guy,” I said.
“Jalapenos?” she grimaced.
“No. I like the chicken and bacon white pizza from Joey’s downtown.”
We talked a little more about the things we liked now that we didn’t as kids and the likes that were the same. Then Sarah Jo steered the conversation in another direction.
“So do you really like being a firefighter?”
I nodded, smiling. “I love it.”
“Isn’t it scary?” she asked. “I mean, most people run from fires, not to them.”
“I mean, if you’re not a little scared, you’re just crazy. Fire is no joke. But being able to help people that way makes up for it. Saving someone’s life, or even just their home and memories, makes it all worth it at the end of the day.”
She regarded me with a look in her eyes I couldn’t quite place.
“What?”
She blushed a little and shook her head. “Oh, I was just picturing you in your fireman gear with sweat on your brow and soot in your hair.”
“Oh yeah? And?” I pressed.
“And I like the image I have in my head,” she admitted with a smile before biting into her slice of pizza.
We spent the next half hour eating and talking about life in general. About her plans for when she finally finished school and what I’d been up to since she’d last been in town. Finally, we circled back to the issues at hand.
“It just sucks that Ryan and your dad take you for granted,” I told her.
