Page 9 of The Edge of Summer
The woman sighs. “I’m sorry. I was trying to get our stupid GPS to work and I wasn’t paying close enough attention.”
Call it run-off adrenaline or pure insanity. Whatever it is, I can’t even begin to describe why I decide to blurt out my next words. “Have you been drinking?”
The teenage boy—her brother?—snickers from his spot beside her. I meant it as a joke, but by the way her eyes widen, she doesn’t take it that way. Maybe Clara and my mother were on to something about my delivery.
“What? No!” she cries. “It’s seven-thirty in the morning!”
Because I can’t seem to leave well enough alone, I turn to the boy. “She telling the truth?”
His answering nod is morose. “Unfortunately.” Then he glances at his phone. “We’rereallylate now.”
She turns to glare at him. “Thank you, Parker. So helpful.”
He throws his hands up in surrender. “I was just saying,” he mutters.
Her sigh gives way to hidden frustration. For a second, the unaffected demeanour she presents herself with is torn away. Perhaps she isn’t as happy-go-lucky as she likes to make people think.
“Let me grab my insurance stuff,” she says.
We exchange information and phone numbers, and then all that’s left for me to do is get in my truck and drive away. Instead, I decide to stick my foot in it again. It’s none of my business, really, except others’ reckless actions make my skin itch.
“You should be more careful,” I say. “This could’ve ended a lot worse.”
Her eyes harden at this.Shit. I sound like her dad, reprimanding her for hopping a curb when she’s learning how to drive. That is the last thing I want to be.
“Noted,” she says. She crosses her arms defensively. “If you could just point me in the direction of Hawberry Lane, we’ll be on our way.”
I should say something.Fix this, you idiot.
“Take the next exit off the roundabout and follow the road until it forks. Take the fork or you’ll wind up right back here."
“Thank you,” she sniffs.
She gestures for Parker to get back in the car and then she does the same. Metal scrapes as she throws the car in reverse and backs away from my bumper. And then I stand there like the idiot I am, watching her speed away.
Delilah Delacroix.
Her name rolls around in my head as I drive the rest of the way to the station. When I arrive, I note that the engine bay door is open as my brother and Connor, one of the guys on our crew, hose down the rig. It’s a cold day in hell when my baby brother beats me to work. He usually rolls into the parking lot right at the last second, walking through the door just as his shift starts.
“Good of you to join us, Chief!” Gabe calls with a smirk.
I roll my eyes. “Considering how often you slide in just under the wire, I think I’m entitled to be late once.”
“He’s not wrong,” Connor interjects.
Gabe flips his friend the bird. “I should have left your ass behind in grade nine gym class.”
Connor scoffs. “If anyone was being left behind, it wasyou. Couldn’t catch a ball for shit.”
I leave the pair to their bickering as I head deeper into the station. It isn’t long before I hear footsteps trailing behind me, and then my brother is following me into my office. Every other firefighter here knows how to knock. Gabe doesn’t.
“Everything alright?” he asks. “You’re never late.”
That’s the thing about Gabe. Even though he could spend all day giving me shit, he actually cares, too. It isn’t always easy working together or being his boss, but I know that I can count on him when it matters. I consider telling him about the accident—about Delilah. Knowing Gabe, he would probably have a good laugh at my expense. But for some reason, I can’t make the words come out.
“I just slept in. Must’ve forgotten to set an alarm.”
I know it’s a bullshit excuse.Heknows it’s a bullshit excuse. Thankfully, he accepts it anyway. He gives me an acknowledging nod, pats the doorframe and then heads back toward the engine bay.
