Page 20 of Out of the Fire
“We were just talking about you.”
The last two times she’d called, I couldn’t talk because I was at work, but we’d texted instead. I didn’t get the sense there was anything important she was calling about. And she would have told me to call her back if it were urgent.
“Oh?” I popped in one earbud and sat my phone back down on the table, going back to twisting the metal around the crystal I was working on.
“We know it’s still a few months away, but what do you think about us coming down there for Thanksgiving this year?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Dad and I both have time off that week, so we figured it would be nice to get away for a few days.”
“I love that idea.”
“Good.” Her voice sounded further away as she relayed my response to my father.
I leaned forward and sifted through my box of supplies, attempting to locate an O-ring for the pendant in my hand.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making some jewelry.”
“Ahh. I miss those days when you would sit in the middle of the floor, making jewelry for hours.”
I chuckled. “Except it was hard to get my attention.”
“Oh yeah. When you were locked in, a bomb could go off and you’d be totally unfazed."
She wasn’t wrong. I was like that at a crime scene sometimes too. Probably part of the reason I hadn’t realized the fire had rekindled at the farmhouse last week.
We talked a bit more, and I felt better that I’d finally gotten to talk to her. I was excited for them to come visit at Thanksgiving. It was the perfect amount of time to catch up without feeling like they were smothering me.
She passed the phone over to my dad. He almost immediately asked me if I was keeping up on my oil changes and about the faucet that dripped in the kitchen that I had told him about a few weeks ago. I had to shake my head at him, but secretly I loved that he worried about me. After confirming I had recently taken care of both of those things, we talked foranother twenty minutes about the latestNCISepisode he had just watched before saying goodnight and hanging up.
By the time I climbed into my bed later that night, Seth still hadn’t texted back. I opted not to dwell on that fact. For one, his job could be demanding, and if he wasn’t on a call, he might be resting before the next alarm sounded. Two, we weren’t really dating. The expectations were different.
Plus, I wasn’t the type of person who dwelled on negativity. Even with my career choice, I tried not to. Him not replying to me was not a reflection of who I was.
I could, however, admit James had been a shitty boyfriend. Cheating aside, I’d never felt that I could truly depend on him. He constantly said he would do things and rarely followed through.
Next time I threw myself into a relationship, I wouldn’t settle. I deserved better, and I had to believe the kind of guy who understood that was out there. He’d find his way into my life when the time was right for both of us.
SETH
I looked at the time and wondered if it was too late to text Violet. I would have done it earlier, but almost as soon as myshift started, we were pulled out on back-to-back calls. I pulled up our text thread and typed out a quick message.
Me: Sorry. Been busy with calls. I’m good with Saturday, just let me know the details.
A text notification from my brother came through and I switched over to my thread with him.
Mason: You busy?
Me: On shift, but not really. What’s up?
Mason: Shelby’s mad at me again.
Mason: I just don’t know what to do.
Mason: She seems to really be struggling going back to work full time. But she gets upset at me when I suggest ways to make it better.
