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Understanding dawns on my friend, and he says, “I’ll give you a backup if you need it. Just say the word.”
“Thank you, but I’ve got this. I’ll see you Wednesday.” I wait for him to leave before I cover the remaining few feet to my truck and address the woman. “How did you know which vehicle was mine?”
She laughs the same tinkling laugh I remember growing up. “Come on, Carter, you’ve always been a Ford guy ever since you fixed up the Ranger your dad gave you for your 16thbirthday. There aren’t many cars left in the garage with the guest pass in the dashboard, and only three are a Ford. Two of them are sedans, and the other a truck. It wasn’t hard to guess that the F-350 was yours.”
I grunt in displeasure, especially with how easily she figured me out. My job requires me to blend in, not stand apart.
“Oh, don’t be like that. I know you better than anybody. Or at least I used to,” she says flirtatiously.
I don’t have time to play games with her and just want to get home and spend time with my best friend. “What do you want, Melissa? You took everything of mine when you left. Now I have nothing left to give.”
Chapter seven
Leanna
Iarriveatthestation this morning with one minute to spare. I’m the type of person who prefers to be early rather than late, always feeling like I’m a step behind if I’m the last to show up.
“Cutting it kind of close, aren’t you?” Trey asks. “We started taking bets on whether or not you were going to make it on time.”
“You guys and your incessant need to bet on everything!” I stow my gear and then beeline it to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. “Who won, anyway?” I ask while pouring myself a cup of the heavenly brew.
“Depends on which bet you’re talking about?” he chuckles.
“There’s more than one? What else is there?” My face scrunches in confusion because no matter how hard I try, I can’t think of anything going on right now that is worth losing money over.
“Who sent you the flowers, of course,” he says, as if it was a no-brainer.
“Someone sent me flowers? Who?” I ask. It’s not my birthday or an anniversary of any kind, and there isn’t a special occasion coming up that would warrant flowers. Valentine’s Day was last week, and I don’t have a boyfriend, so I can rule out that as an option. I’m completely flummoxed.
“Wanna get in on the bet and guess before you open the card and do the big reveal for us all?” my brother asks as he walks into the room. “Nice of you to join us, by the way. I was starting to get worried.”
“That’s so sw…” I begin to say when Trey interrupts me.
“She arrived at 7:59 this morning, which means you get the pot! You finally win one, Bash!” Clearly, my sibling was more worried about whether or not he would win the prize pool than about my well-being. My brother takes half the money and puts it into the jar for charity and then puts the other half into the jar for the coffee and donut fund.Okay. I don’t feel quite so bad about him betting on me if it’s for a good cause.
Thirty burly men are waiting for me in the engine bay, hoping to find out who the flowers are from. This whole thing would have been embarrassing enough if it had happened later on my shift, but I get the added bonus of having two shifts place bets since the flower delivery occurred at shift change.Yeah, me!
Callie’s husband, Callum, sidles up next to me and whispers, “My money is on Carter. I’ve got my fingers crossed that he finally figured things out. You know that Callie and I have been rooting for both of you since the beginning.” I nod and lean my head against his shoulder in silent acceptance.
“I guess the flowers could be from Carter. He thought I was sick last week and then had to leave for Baltimore. Maybe they’re ‘Get Well’ flowers that arrived a little late.” Even as the words leave my mouth, I know they aren’t true. Carter would have said something this morning. Making breakfast for me is his way of taking care of me. Sending flowers? Not so much. Carter’s ‘love language’ is acts of kindness, not giving gifts.
“Open the card!” someone yells.
I reach for the small envelope attached to the beautiful bouquet of wildflowers and read it out loud.
Beautiful Angel,
My life belongs to you, and I want to give you whatever your heart desires.
Love,
Your knight in shining armor
I feel Callum’s arms slide around my shoulders in support and give a little squeeze, a broad grin etched on his face.
My brother is linked arm and arm with Trey, dancing some kind of hoedown while a few other guys are doing their versions of a touchdown dance. The other half of the firefighters are groaning in disappointment. “What? Why is everyone so excited?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The note is signed, ‘Your knight in shining armor.’ Carter works for Shining Knight Protection Services.”
