Page 2 of Accidental Fire
Chapter One
Christopher “Kit” Hansen
“Pop! Get the phone!”
I was under his SUV changing the oil, and the phone was ringing off the damn hook on the garage extension. It finally stopped, and I went back to work.
I was sure it was one of his many female suitors checking up on him like they did all the time. Several years after my mother’s passing, my father was the biggest tomcat on the block, with women coming and going all day. They brought casseroles and desserts, making sure he was eating properly and wasn’t lonely. I knew he still loved my mother, but he was really living his best life, and I was happy for him.
“I got it. I got it. It’s Nathan. He’s been trying to find you.” Dad stepped into the garage with the cordless handset.
“Nathan? Mom’s brother Nathan?” I hadn’t heard from the man in a year.
He was my mom Nina’s much younger brother, and he was a big deal in music circles. He owned a recording label and a media company that could make or break singers, songwriters, and bands without blinking an eye.
Nate wasn’t a prick about the fact that he had more money than a bank, but he hadn’t started with nothing like my father. Pop had always wished he could buy things for my mom like Nathan did for his string of ex-wives, though Mom hadn’t wantedthings.
“You know another Nathan?” Pop put the phone on the front bumper and walked back into the house.
I rolled from under the truck and sat up on the creeper, grabbing the phone. “Hi, Nate.”
“What, nouncle? No gushing affection for your favorite uncle?”
My laughter echoed off the walls of the garage. “Okay, fine.UncleNate. How are you? You get married again? I haven’t heard from you since the holidays, at least, you jackass.”
Nate’s boisterous laugh made me smile. Mom’s laugh had been higher-pitched, but it was always just as happy. I missed Nina Hansen as much as Pop. She’d been the lifeblood of our family, and it’d been hard for us to go on without her.
“I’m sorry, Kit. I’ve been busy with work, but I shouldn’t have neglected you. My calling you because I need your help is shameful…but I truly need your help.”
“No.”
“Come on, Kit. You know I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate. I’ve got a situation on my hands, and I believe you’re the perfect person to handle it.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask you.”
“Nate, it doesn’t matter. Any time I’ve ever tried to help you with anything, I’ve gotten burned. Remember when you asked me to drive the party bus for that girl group you signed, each of whom you were banging without the others’ knowledge? When they found out you were three-timing them, they planned to kill you and then each other. I was home on leave, Nate. I nearly missed my return flight because you had me guarding your house so the women didn’t light that fucker up. I’m done helping you,Uncle,” I confirmed, not pleased with the memory.
“Kit, all you gotta do is drive your truck with a rented trailer from one venue to another. No bus driving, I swear, and no babysitting. You’ll be hauling the band’s equipment and doing stage setup for a fifteen-city tour starting in June and ending in October, with a two-week break in August. Their agent, stage, and tour managers will oversee the band. Not you.
“I’ll pay your going rate for hauling goods, and I’ll make sure you have a nice hotel to stay in. Hell, you can have your own hotel away from the band if you want. I need to be sure the equipment arrives safely at the next venue and the road andstage crews have the stage ready when the band arrives for the show that night. That’s all I’m asking.”
I could smell the bullshit from LA to El Segundo. Nate always had something up his sleeve, and he was good about slipping it in when you least expected it. “What’s the catch?”
“Nope. That’s it. Just worry about the equipment, and I’ll make sure you’re well compensated. How’s your pop doing? I never hear from him, though, as I remember, he’s not a big talker.” Nate chuckled.
“Yeah, he hasn’t changed. He’s got a whole harem of women cooking and cleaning for him now, so he’s doing just fine. How about you? You seeing anyone? Any contenders to be the fourth Mrs. Nathan Ashby?”
“Jackass!No. I’m steering clear of the fairer sex these days. I’ve started going to the gym nearby to get all the eye candy I need, then it’s solo city for me. How about you? You been seeing anyone?” Nate asked the age-old question that was on the hit parade every time I saw Pop.
I’d had two serious relationships in my life. One was in high school with a girl named Melissa Sue White. She’d headed to UCLA after graduation, and I’d gone off to Coast Guard boot camp. She’d been more of a good friend than a girlfriend, but our lives had headed in different directions. We’d fooled around a little, but she’d been saving herself for marriage. Which was fine. We hadn’t had that kind of chemistry, and I was certain she would make someone a great wife someday.
My second try at a relationship occurred when I was stationed in Honolulu toward the end of my tour. I met a lovely girl who worked in a poké truck that parked near our base on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Her name was Alayiah, and she was a whisp of a girl at twenty-two. She’d always worn a big smile and had a sweet personality.
Once I was off duty, Alayiah would take her break and sit with me while I ate my favorite, the shrimp and crab bowl with brown rice and creamy jalapeño sauce. Best I’d ever had. Alayiah went out with me on a few dates, and when I got leave, I took her to Maui for a weekend. We had a great time, but there just hadn’t been the kind of chemistry I hoped to find with my happily-ever-after.
She hadn’t felt it either because when we returned from our trip, where we’d had sex for the first time, she’d told me she loved me before she said the three most dreaded words in the world: “…as a friend.”
