Page 113 of Heating Up (Nugget)
“That’s why we’re gathered here,” she replied. “I don’t want to copy Harlee and Colin and have it at the inn. I don’t want to have it at the barn in Lucky’s cowboy camp because that’s where Sam and Nate held their reception and where Tawny and Lucky are having theirs this weekend. I want something totally different, something completely out of the box. I was hoping we could brainstorm ideas.”
“Okay,” Dana said. “Will the theme be casual or formal?”
“I could go either way.”
Harlee snorted. “Darla, you have to give us something to go on. Let’s start with a season.”
“Spring,” she responded. “That’ll give me just enough time to plan.”
“I know Sloane and Brady are planning to hold theirs at Sierra Heights by the pool,” Dana said. “That could be an option.”
“Not funky enough.”
“You don’t want it too funky,” Harlee argued. “This is your wedding, Darla. Twenty years from now, you don’t want to say,what the hell was I thinking, having it in the parking lot of the Bun Boy?”
“Ooh, ooh, write that down,” Darla directed. “The Bun Boy. We could do a drive-in theme, with old cars and waitresses on skates.”
“I’m going to save you from yourself and scratch that idea.” Harlee shook her head.
“How about the Iron Maiden in Jonesville?” Dana suggested. “It’s supposed to be haunted.” At least it was a perfectly reputable place to have a wedding, not like the Bun Boy parking lot. And it had a story, which seemed to be what the bride was ultimately trying for.
“I forgot all about that place,” she squealed. “Oh my God, the sugar pine flooring and all those old pictures, how amazing would that be?”
“We could work with it,” Harlee said and mouthed,thank youto Dana. “They have good food.”
“They have great food. I love this idea and hope it won’t be too expensive. Wyatt and I are paying for this ourselves.”
“I’d talk to Sam first,” Harlee said. “She might have some recommendations on how to get a good price.”
“I’ll probably get some good ideas from Tawny’s wedding this weekend. Sam is in charge, so you know it’ll be beautiful. Are you going, Dana?”
“Uh . . . I’m not sure yet. The thing is, I wasn’t invited, but Aidan was, and he wants me to go with him.” At least he did.
There was silence, and then Harlee said, “It was probably an oversight . . . you not being invited. Before your house burned down and Aidan came to town, you were, uh, kind of standoffish. People may have gotten the wrong impression.”
“Now, everyone really likes you,” Darla added, and Harlee made an expression that said,could you be any more tactless?
“You should definitely go,” Harlee said. “Tawny and Lucky would want you to, I’m sure of it. Plus, uh, it’s Aidan, hottest firefighter in Northern California, quite possibly the entire state.”
In Dana’s opinion he was the hottest firefighter in the world. “We’ll see. I may have to work that day.” She wanted to give herself plenty of outs. “I have a client in from the East Coast who’s in a hurry to find something.” Not a lie, and not enough information to give Gia away.
Harlee and Darla ate the entire plate of nachos, and when the potato skins came Dana ordered another pitcher of margaritas. By the time she got home it was dark. There were no messages on the answering machine; she’d been hoping for something from Aidan. But more than likely he would’ve called her cell. She flicked on the cable news to get an update on the fire and turned it up so she could hear it from her bedroom while she changed into a pair of sleeping shorts and a T-shirt.
There was a fire report from Texas but nothing about the Sierra County blaze. She surfed the channels and decided to kill time catching up on the last few episodes ofNashville. When the eleven o’clock local news rolled around, it had a small segment on the fire. A poufy-haired blonde stood under a smoke-filled sky, reporting that more than four hundred acres had burned, but that the fire was mostly contained now. Thanks to an efficient evacuation plan, no one had been injured, the reporter continued.
She turned off the TV and went to bed, relieved that Aidan was safe. But dread over their future left her tossing and turning. The next morning, Dana was nearly ready to leave and meet Gia for another day of house hunting when the doorbell rang. Her pulse pounded. Aidan. He must’ve forgotten his keys. She ran to the door, wanting to throw herself into his arms and give him a hero’s welcome.
Only it wasn’t Aidan, it was Sue.
Chapter 22
About twenty expletives hovered on Aidan’s tongue, starting withwhat the goddamn hell are you doing here?Hadn’t Sue gotten his email? Really, could he have made it any clearer?
He’d arrived to find her in his kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee. Dana stood in the corner, her face green, like she was about to throw up. The entire ride home from the spike out, all he’d dreamed about was taking a hot shower and sleeping for two days straight with Dana in his arms.
Well, that was clearly on hold.
Aidan steered Dana to the front door and took her face in his hands. “Go to work. I’ll fix this, I promise.” Isn’t that what he’d said to her before he’d left on Monday? His credibility . . . yeah, not too good.
