Page 75 of Smoke and Fire
“But you havesomethingfigured out.”
“I have a lot of somethings figured out.” I shrugged. “Doesn’t mean anything about me.”
She raised her juice. “Then here’s to us again.”
I silently toasted her. Before she could say another word, the door opened with a jangle. Lizbeth strolled inside with a pale Bethany in tow.
"We came to take over!" Lizbeth cried. "Give me that apron. I'm going to close out tonight while Bethany sits down and figures out her plan for Leslie's job. JJ is occupied with cinnamon rolls and Maverick is renovating a shed into a book sanctuary for me."
The quick burst of life and words didn't seem to startle Dahlia. She ripped her apron off and tossed it over.
With a grin directed at me she cried, "Great! I have a dinner date and I'm not waiting any longer. Lizbeth, I finished all your books, but please don't take them away yet! I need to re-read them one more time."
IFI’D DOUBTEDwhether I could fall harder for Dahlia than I already had, I received an answer an hour later.
Instead of shoving me into a restaurant surrounded by chattering people and too much noise, we bought Chinese to go and drove to her RV.
She pulled two folding chairs out and set them up a few steps away from each other. We settled in, overlooking the distant reservoir while I dove into fried rice and double broccoli beef.
“This is perfect,” I mumbled around my third potsticker.
She grinned. “I know.”
The calm silence filled me with a little more courage. For all she had to say on video, she didn’t put pressure on me now. Or maybe she had her own thoughts to battle. I certainly hadn’t forgotten the man she'd been halfway embracing. It gave me all the more reason to speak.
“Tomorrow and the next day will be my 48 hours off," I said.
“Will you return to the same fire afterward?”
She had a sip of a sugary strawberry drink, while I drank a root beer. Something in the classic flavor always drew me back to happy times with Inessa and Dad.
“Probably. We won’t know for sure until we go active when the 48 hours is over.”
“Huh.”
“Do you have to work tomorrow?”
“Not at the coffee shop, but I have this other boss that’s super sensitive about my work hours and makes me slave over his computer. I also have to take care of his cat, so he’s pretty needy these days.”
She sent me a sidelong glance that I pretended to ignore while I edged a piece of broccoli around my plate.
“You should refuse to work for him and play hooky with me all day.”
If possible, she brightened further. She already sat over there like a star. I couldn’t fathom what made her so happy. Her hands planted on the arm rests and she pushed herself up a little.
“Really?”
Until I’d extended the invitation, I hadn’t realized how much I meant it. How much Ineededit. Despite the piles of smoky laundry that awaited me at home, I had nothing to go back there for.
Why face it all alone again? Although it would go fast, the 48 hours of quiet in that house would feel interminable now that Dahlia wandered out in the world.
I swallowed hard, feeling as if this decision counted for more than just a day together. Whatever subtext it meant, I’d take on. It meant more Dahlia, so it would be worth it.
“Really.”
Her smile grew, lopsided at first, until it wreathed her whole face. It lit something inside me like fire.
“You got it.” She leaned back in her chair again, still smiling. “I’ll just tell him that I’m on my period or something. That scares all males.”
