Page 5 of The Great Maple Mistake

“It is.” He cocks his head to the side. “So Aunt Viv. Is that Vivian Howland?” I nod again and Alex grins. “She does the books for my dad’s ad agency. She’s great.”

“Yeah, she really is.”

Alex gestures at my burger. “Anyway, I’m interrupting your lunch. And I need to take more pictures of the games and things.” He steps backward, but keeps his gaze locked on mine,and the swooping in my chest starts again. “But I’m sure I’ll see you around town.”

Yes. Yes you will. “You can count on that.”

His cheeks get very pink, and he ducks his head, but his smile is huge. “Okay. I will.” He turns and hurries off into the crowd.

Chapter 3

Alex

July: Eight-and-a-half weeks until the Cook-off

As I pull up to the firehouse, Chief Brennan is standing out in the parking lot, his beefy arms crossed over his very broad chest, scowling at four men washing the fire truck. His glower is impressive, and I’d hate to be on the receiving end of it. What have they done to deserve that? I park my car on the opposite side of the lot so I don’t interfere with whatever’s going on and wander over to stand next to him. This close, he towers over me, and I feel like I’m five years old instead of thirty-five. Guess we can’t all be six feet, four inches tall and built like a brick wall. “Afternoon, Chief.”

“Afternoon, Alex.”

We stare at the four firefighters as they meticulously detail the fire truck.

“So what’d they do?”

“Vega was fifteen minutes late for his shift. Again. Williams can’t seem to gear up properly, and Massani made it throughtwenty-two years of life without learning to check pockets before throwing our clothes into the washing machine.”

I point to the fourth firefighter washing the truck. “What about Alenko?”

“Damned fool’s the one who doesn’t know how to empty his pockets before throwing his pants in the laundry.”

“Ahhh.” I watch the four men sweating in the summer sun and nervously run through the list of offenses, checking myself against them like I might be sent to wash emergency vehicles too. But I get it. When you live or die based on how reliable and quick-thinking your team is, everyone needs to take things seriously. Laundry might not be life or death, but if anyone forgets to do even a little thing out in the field, someone could get injured—or worse. Even so, I’d rather the chief was in a better mood for our discussion. I need him to keep an open mind about my proposal. “Is now still a good time to meet? Or do you want to reschedule?”

“Lawson!” Chief continues to glare at the men.

Mike Lawson jogs out of the firehouse bay, stopping next to the chief. “Yes, sir.”

“Keep an eye on these four chucklefucks and make sure the truck sparkles before they call it quits. I have a meeting, but I’ll be back to check when I’m done.”

“Yes, sir.” Mike turns to face the cleaning crew and crosses his arms over his chest, assuming the same position the chief had been in, but he doesn’t have quite the same aura of intimidation. Give him a few years though…

Chief Brennan waves me toward the firehouse. “C’mon. We’ll meet in my office. Do you want a bottle of water or a soda?”

“No thanks. I’m good.”

We walk across the parking lot, and I follow the chief into the station. He waves me through into the office area. It’s been a while since I’ve been in this part of the firehouse, so I poke myhead into the different rooms, openly snooping. There are a few small offices which are unoccupied, and a large meeting space for training. When I glance into the conference room and catch sight of the handsome man sitting alone at the large oval table, my heart rate speeds up. “Hey. Cody, right?”

Cody looks up from the paperwork in front of him, his heart-stopping blue eyes and eager smile all but knocking me on my ass. I try to calm my racing heart as he pushes out of his chair and walks toward me. “Yeah. And you’re Alex.” He holds out his hand, and I shake it, feeling a rush as our palms connect.

“That’s me.” His grip is warm and firm, and for a moment, I feel like he’s going to lift my hand and kiss the back of it. Then I roll my eyes at myself, because really? “I didn’t know you were a firefighter.”

“Yeah. Living my childhood dream.” His expression is open and totally sincere. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.” He peers around me to look at Chief Brennan, and his expression turns serious. “Sir. Did you need this room? I can find somewhere else to fill out my paperwork.”

I glance over my shoulder at the chief, who’s watching the two of us with a raised eyebrow. “Sheppard, I thought you only arrived in Maplewood yesterday.”

“Yesterday was my first full day in Maplewood. I arrived the night before.”

The chief looks down at our clasped hands and back at Cody. “You move fast.”

Cody grins, not the least bit rattled by the chief’s comment. “Alex is my first friend here in Maplewood.” He looks back at me. “Right?”

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