Page 27 of The Great Maple Mistake

I pull my attention away from food and focus on Viv. “Anyway, I’m looking for sponsors to help with the cost of the calendars. I’m going to have a tear-off section at the bottom of each month’s page, with coupons or small ads, and I was wondering if you’d like to buy some ad space.”

She moves to the refrigerator and pulls out salad ingredients. “Are you offering different sizes of ads? What are my choices?” I give her a quick rundown of the three ad sizes and what each costs while she puts the salad together. “That sounds reasonable. I’d love a quarter- or half-page in January if that’s still open. I’ll offer a coupon for a discount on tax filing.”

I take a moment to be grateful I live in such a generous community. “You got it. I’ll let you know in a week or so which size will work, if that’s okay.”

“Perfectly fine. I’m happy to support a good cause, and it could bring me more business. You take amazing photographs, and I have every confidence the calendars will sell out. And not just to Maplewood residents. So, win-win.”

A warmth fills my chest at her confidence in my skills, and the few nerves I have about Viv seeing me differently because I’mdating Cody completely dissipate. “Thanks. That’s kind of you to say.”

“Pshhh.“ She waves a hand through the air. “It’s the truth.” She assesses the salad and the set table. “I think we’re ready. If you want to top off your wine, I’ll bring the shells to the table.” She hands Cody the large salad bowl, and he takes it, placing it in a free space on the round oak table. I’m seated between Cody and Viv, and in moments, our plates are filled with food, and we’re digging in. I take my first bite of stuffed shells and moan as my teeth sink into the al dente pasta, and the cheese filling melts on my tongue in an explosion of perfectly blended flavors. “Viv, oh my god. This is incredible! I’m not even exaggerating.”

Viv beams, her cheeks going a bit pink in the same way Cody’s do. It’s more charming on him, but I might be a little biased. “Thank you, Alex. That’s very kind of you to say.”

“Youshouldenter the cook-off. There’s still time.”

She waves the suggestion away. “I just enjoy dabbling.”

“Really, Aunt Viv. You should enter. Everything you make is delicious.” Cody grins at me and takes another bite of his food.

“Well.” Beaming from his praise, she takes a sip of her wine. “I’m going to have to cook for you both more often if you’re going to compliment me so shamelessly.”

I nod vigorously. “Yes, please.”

“Done.” She squeezes my arm for emphasis.

“But seriously, please consider entering the cook-off. The deadline for entries is tomorrow, but I could probably give you an extra day or two, so maybe think about it over the next few days?”

Her cheeks get even pinker, but she nods. “Okay. I will.” She turns to Cody. “When do the kittens need to eat?”

I perk up, glancing between Viv and Cody. “Kittens?”

“Yeah, I found them this morning in a dumpster.” Before I get any more details, he answers Viv’s question. “They ate at thevet’s this morning, and then you said you fed them around two-ish. Right?” Viv nods. “So the instructions say they eat two or three times a day at this age, and I’m leaning toward giving them more than less since we don’t know how long they were in the dumpster. Maybe tomorrow we’ll try for two times. But I guess we should try to feed them again afterourdinner.” Viv seems satisfied with the answer, so I don’t feel badly interrupting.

“What dumpster? And why were you near a dumpster to find kittens?”

Cody takes the last bite of his shell and loads his plate again as he chews. “Did you hear about the huge warehouse fire in Milton?”

“Is that what all the sirens were about yesterday? They kept going off for hours.” Shit. It never even occurred to me that Maplewood’s fire department would be called for a Milton fire. Though now that I think about it, it’s obvious that would happen for really bad fires.

Cody nods. “Five different firehouses reported. It was one of those fulfillment warehouses, so there were a ton of boxes and flammable products. It took almost twenty-four hours to put it out. Thankfully, there weren’t many chemicals in the place. Just a few drums of cleaning solution. But everything else burned or melted.”

Images of buildings engulfed in flames and firefighters rushing in and out flood my mind uninvited. “Shit!” I grab Cody’s hand and squeeze. “Obviously you’re alright because I can’t see any injuries on you, but, are you alright?”

He lifts my hand and kisses my palm, making little jolts of electricity zing up my arm. “I’m absolutely fine. Tired but fine.” His reassurance calms me, and I take a breath, relaxing muscles I hadn’t realized I’d tensed.

“I still don’t think you should have been driving, even if it was to make sure the kittens were okay.” Viv frowns at Cody.“Driving while sleepy is just as bad as driving drunk. You should have called me, and I’d have come to get you.”

“I told you, Aunt Viv, I was fine. The adrenaline was still pumping through me at that point.”

I squeeze Cody’s hand to get his attention. “Kittens? Where do they come into the story?”

Cody chuckles and rubs the heel of his hand against his eye. Now that I really look, he does seem incredibly tired. “We’d put the fire out and had started cleanup when John Alenko called me over because he heard something.” Cody shakes his head. “That’s something you don’t want to hear at a fire. I was imagining someone trapped inside the warehouse, and we’d missed them. So I ran over, and we started actively listening. At first, I didn’t hear anything, but then there was a little squeak. And then another, and it was coming from the dumpster. John and I flipped the lid back and started sifting through the trash. And I found them.”

“Oh my god! And they wereinthe dumpster?”

He nods, and I watch as his expression gets all soft and dreamy. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little jealous of the kittens. “There were five of them, all bedraggled, and only one of them was moving at all. I was so scared the others were dead.” Cody almost whispers the last word, and my heart breaks thinking how he must have felt. “I dove in and got them out, ASAP. We rushed them to the EMTs, who gave them oxygen and checked them for injuries. They were shivering from being wet and exposed, so we rode back to the firehouse with them tucked inside our shirts, next to our skin to try to warm them up. And it must have worked because they were starting to move around a bit more by the time we made it to the station. I shucked out of my gear, set the kittens in a bin lined with sweatshirts, and drove them to Finn’s clinic.”

And Finn hadn’t mentioned a thing about it! I have a few choice things to say to my best friend during tomorrow morning’s run. “They’re all okay?” I realize I’m gripping my wine glass a little too tightly and relax my fingers so I don’t break it.

---