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“But…”
I hold up my finger. “No more talk about this. Okay?”
She sighs, “Fine. But you better call me when you’re done with ‘lunch’.” She does the air quotes.
“I promise.” I look at my watch, “Now, it’s almost bedtime for me. I get up too early for these late nights.”
“It’s only nine o’clock.”
“Exactly. Talk to you tomorrow.” I climb into my RAV4 and drive away.
CHAPTER 18
HUDSON
You can definitely tell that the kids are out of school for the summer because rescue calls for kid injuries was what most of our shift entailed the other day. We were humping. I thought maybe we broke some kind of record for the number of calls we had, but we only came close. I’m glad. That’s not a record you want to break.
It finally slowed down, but then in the middle of the night, we had a structure fire in an abandon warehouse outside of town. Fire Investigators think it was arson. I’m just glad no one was inside. We worked that fire until the early morning hours and once I was off shift and home; I showered and slept for hours. I was thankful that my date with Kate wasn’t yesterday, but today instead. I’m not sure I would have been very good company yesterday, being so exhausted.
Thinking about her and our date today got me through my shift from hell. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been on a first date. The last one was Renee, and that relationship started with a hookup that turned into something more… before it wasn’t.
I really like Kate. She’s down to earth, passionate, and has spunk. She’s also beautiful with her long, wavy dark hair, sparkling green eyes, and curves that go on forever. I like that; something to hold on to and not something I would be afraid to crush.
Renee’s beautiful but has always been too thin for my liking. The more I think about it and our relationship, the more I realize I was trying to convince myself that she was ‘the one’ instead of realizing she wasn’t. There were so many other little things that, with some distance from her, I’ve realized we weren’t compatible.
But today is all about me and Kate and we’re finally going on a date.
Our first date.
I’m making my way to the Bean & Bagel when my phone rings over the truck speakers. Not looking at who’s calling, but hoping it’s not Kate canceling on me, I hit the button on the steering wheel.
“Hello?”
“Hey man. All that talk at the meeting the other day about boats got me thinking.” Kane says.
“Tell me you didn’t.” I’m shaking my head as I’m navigating through the traffic on Main Street.
“I did. Nothing big, but big enough to go fishing on. Want to take it out with me after shift on Saturday morning? I’ll bring the boat to the station, and we can leave right after shift change.”
“Yeah. Sounds great. What kind did you get?”
“A twenty-four-foot Robalo R240 cc with T-150 horsepower Yamaha four-stroke engine with a blue hull side. It’s sweet and I’m stoked.”
“Nice. How much that set you back, moneybags?” I tease him as I try to find parking that will accommodate my truck in the parking lot of Kate’s shop.
“I bought it used. It’s a 2012 model, so it was only sixty grand.”
I whistle through my teeth. “That’s steep, brother. You sure you can do that?”
Kane laughs, “Yeah. The loan is for ten years; not five years like a car. Besides, I just paid off my truck. I’m going to use that payment for the boat.”
“Sounds great, man. I’m glad I have a friend with a boat and not actually own a boat.” We both laugh.
“Keep it up and you’ll be paying for the gas to take her out.”
“What are you going to name her?”
“Not sure yet. I’m thinking about it.”
