Page 25 of Hot Chicken

Driving to the construction site, I replay the events of the last night over and over in my head, just as I have since I left Ellie’s place. She made my teenage dreams a reality. Only my fantasies had nothing on the real thing.

But it’s more than physical with her. Ellie makes me feel alive. Simply spending the evening with her at The Wild Shrimp had me grinning ear to ear. I’ve watched a few of my firefighter brothers from back home manage to land the right girl. And I admit I’m jealous. I’m ready to settle down. Despite all Harry and I experienced growing up, I know I want to have a family. And unlike our father, I want to be all in. It figures the one girl I’d ever consider wanting more with lives states away.

People make things work for love. They manage long-distance relationships or move to be with the one they care for. But Ellie is tied to this corny Christmas town. Her only relative depends on her, and she’s managing a business here. Not to mention, we’ve had one date. One. It’s too early to consider anything more. The best I can do is try to find a way to improve her circumstances before I go.

I pull up in front of the oceanfront mansion we’re working on and see Harry speaking with one of the crew on the front porch. Grabbing my bag, I head in his direction.

“Hey, slacker. Nice of you to show.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot on my mind this morning. It was hard to get motivated.”

“Didn’t you have a hot date last night?”

Busted. I can’t contain my grin at his question. “This morning isn’t what you think.”

“What? No sleepovers?” he jibes.

“Yeah, Harry. Where exactly was that going to happen? On my twin bed with Mom roaming about the place or on Ellie’s twenty-year-old pull-out in the living room of her double-wide with her grandpa next door?”

“Okay, okay. You don’t need to get testy. Once the renters are out of my beach house, you know you’re welcome to use it.”

“It’s not even about that.” I huff. “I’m in too deep with this girl as it is. I’m leaving in less than a month. I’m not going to sleep with her and take off.”

“Shit. You must really like her then.”

“Come on. I’m not some player. If it was purely a one-night stand, it’d be different. But I care about her. What I honestly wish I could help her with is her living situation.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, the place she and her grandpa are living in isn’t fit for Jimmy Dean.” I scratch the back of my neck in frustration.

“Uh, the sausage guy? I thought he was dead.”

“No. The pot-belly pig they have roaming around their farm. They took it in when the neighbors moved because they were afraid everyone who’d expressed interest in him would turn him into bacon.”

“You’re losing me, Matt.”

“Didn’t you used to work with a charitable organization that built homes for folks in need? Like wounded vets or folks who needed repairs not covered by their homeowner’s insurance.”

“Yeah. We’ve worked with Faith Builders. They’re affiliated with a big church in Florida. You know, they sent me something not long ago saying they were vetting folks for homes and did we want to participate.”

“Harrison, you know how proud Ellie and her grandpa are. There’s no way they’d allow me to do any updates to their place. But if they were somehow chosen by a group like Faith Builders…”

“No. You’re right. I don’t have any say in who gets chosen. But I could certainly throw their hat in the ring and vouch for how much they’ve done to aid the people in this community.”

“Thanks, Harry. It bothers me that they’re one storm away from losing everything.” I start to head for the rest of the guys to face my ribbing for being late and get to work when Harry stops me.

“You sure you’re willing to just walk away from this girl?”

“Come on, man. I’ve dated her once. A long-distance thing is tough for people who’ve already had something going. I’m trying to be realistic.”

“Okay, okay. It’s just… We might live in quirky Candy Cane Key, but this isn’t the set of a Hallmark movie. If you like this girl, it might be worth sticking your neck out for her. Otherwise, you might come back in December hoping to pick up where you left off and find Santa’s brought her someone willing to go the extra mile.”

Chapter 23

Ellie

“Thank you. Have a nice day,” Mrs. Walker says before turning to head for her car. She’s been a loyal customer for some time now. Whenever she has a large family get-together, I can count on her to place a big catering order.

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