Page 34 of The Fireman and the Flirt

“I got through it.” The last thing I wanted was his pity. “This guy I had a crush on dared me to do it.”

“And then he told people about it? Sounds like a prick.”

“I didn’t realize that until much later.” It wasn’t as painful talking about this with Derek as I feared it would be. He had a way of making the memory feel pocket-sized.

“When I was trying to woo my late wife, she talked me into entering a men’s wet T-shirt contest.”

“That’s a thing?” A thing Idefinitelywould’ve liked to have seen.

“Apparently. She took some pictures. I haven’t found them yet, but I’m hoping they got lost to time. I would’ve been mortified if she showed those around.” Derek looked out on the bustling downtown and laughed to himself.

“What’s with people we care about trying to embarrass us?”

Derek shrugged.

“You two sounded like a great couple. Sounds like you really loved each other.”

There was that uneasy look on Derek’s face, the one I’d seen when I’d complimented his marriage previously.

“Can I tell you something?” Derek motioned for us to take a seat on a bench, which luckily was one of the benches without the Morris brothers’ ugly faces on them.

“What is it?” I asked once we sat down. Derek dug his fingernail into the side of his coffee cup. “You’re going to spill coffee on yourself if you keep doing that.”

He glanced up at me with a mix of terror and strength. “She was cheating on me.”

“Your wife? Late wife?”I kept my response muted rather than bulging out my eyes, which is what I wanted to do.

Derek nodded. “If I hear one more person talk about us as if we were some perfect couple…” The vein in his neck pulsed with contained rage. “Our marriage was crumbling. We were drifting apart, not talking, always fighting. Then I found out she was cheating on me with one of my good friends. Angus.”

“She cheated on you with a man named after a hamburger?”

Derek gave me an exaggerated nod. I was surprised he didn’t become a vegetarian.

“I saw the texts on her phone. All the times I went to a bar to watch a football game with him, all the times we had him over for dinner, and there I was the clueless fucking idiot because they were going behind my back. Right before I ginned up the courage to confront her, Paula had an aneurysm and died.”

“No wonder you wanted to get the hell out of Alaska.” I didn’t know how people recovered from betrayal like that. That was the risk with relationships. You opened yourself to another person, and they could rob you blind.

“Now I’m left with questions. Why couldn’t we work it out? Where did things go wrong? All the while everyone around me is constantly telling me how we were the perfect couple, and I have to play along. It doesn’t seem right to tarnish a woman’s reputation who isn’t around to give her side of the story.”

“Does Jolene know?”

He shook his head no. “Thank god for that.”

Derek heaved in a breath. I could tell that’d sat on his shoulders for a long time, the weight accumulating with each passing day. Having to smile and play the mourning widower while you were filled with unresolved hurt sounded like a fresh kind of torture.

I appreciated that he trusted me with the truth. Neither of us wanted to play the victim. I rubbed his back.

“Have you spoken with your allegedly good friend since?”

“Hell no. I want nothing to do with him ever again.” Derek turned to me, his face softening just a bit. “Why did you stay in Sourwood?”

“Because I refused to let myself get chased out of town by a stupid name. That, and it’s a hot market. And Caroline’s coffee, of course.”

“Of course.” Derek sipped his drink. “This is damn good coffee.”

I clinked my cup against his.

“Well, let’s promise that we can always be honest with each other. This is a no bullshit zone.” I pointed between us.

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