Thirty-Two
Luke
A melia finishes her breakfast, and I grab her plate to put in the dishwasher. “Hurry and get the animals ready. You’re meeting Wayne at the farm today to go over the progress and the next stages. You have to be out the door in the next”—I look at my watch—“ten minutes.”
“Holy shit! I totally forgot about that.” She has a panicked look in her eyes as she gets up from the stool.
“It’s okay, you’ll get there on time,” I tell her and kiss her forehead and then smack her ass.
She shoots me a smirk over her shoulder as she walks away to get Penny and Ginny ready to go. I walk over to the fridge, grab the lunch I packed her last night, and set it in her backpack.
“I don’t know what I would do without you,” she says, getting on her tiptoes to kiss me.
My hand goes to her waist, and I pull her closer to deepen the kiss.
I pull away and put my forehead to hers. “You would do just fine. You did before me. Now go before I make you late, sweetness.” I give her a quick, hard kiss goodbye.
Love you . It almost slips out like it’s second nature, but I hold back.
“Okay, I’ll text you, and thanks for lunch if I forget to text you when I’m eating.” She turns and walks out the door, Ginny on her shoulder and Penny walking right by her side.
I walk back to the kitchen to finish up the dishes with a smile on my face because, after several weeks of living with Am, I continue to learn what makes her tick, and it all makes me love her more.
Not that I’ve told her that, but soon.
Things like she can’t shower in the morning because she’ll fall back asleep, she hates cooking if it’s just for her, she hates doing laundry, and she’ll clean every other room in the house before touching our room.
One thing she does more than anything else is how she hyper-focuses on one specific task until it’s done. Which I knew about with her ADHD, but experiencing it firsthand has been a learning curve. Not a bad one, but a learning curve nonetheless.
Between the crazy pH levels for the farm and working with the labs and the professor from the university to get to the bottom of it, she’s focused on little else. When I suggest we do something, she wants to, but by the end of the workday, she’s so tired that we’ve been unwinding with video games instead of going out and doing something. I never thought I’d find a partner who would not only want to play video games with me but actually enjoy it.
To be honest, it’s been perfect, but she needs a night off, and she needs her friends.
So the first task for the day is to plan a girls’ night for her . . . Well, not plan one, but text Pam and have her plan it.
She hasn’t been out with the girls since the guys and I had to go pick them up, and I know she needs this more than us getting out of the house.
The next thing I want to do is plan a date night, but I want it to be unique and special. The one thing I’ve learned from my parents is that no matter what stage in the relationship you’re in, you never stop dating.
Amelia and I have moved at an unconventional pace, but I want her to know I’m here because I want to be and not because I have to be.
First things first, I need to text Pam.
I wipe my hands and check that the back door is locked before grabbing my keys and work bag to head to the firehouse.
Throwing everything in my truck, I hop in, and my phone rings. Without looking, I answer as I start the truck and jump when my mom’s voice comes through the speakers.
“Lucas Grant, how come we haven’t talked to you in almost a month?”
She isn’t mad, but she’s right. It’s unusual for me to go this long without talking to them on the phone.
“Sorry, Ma, I’ve been busy getting settled in,” I tell her as I look over my shoulder to back out of the driveway.
“Tell me all about it! How is work? Are you settling in? How is the rental? Are you unpacked?” she rattles off when I hear my dad in the background.
“Good lord, sweetheart, you need to breathe, and you need to let him answer one question at a time.”
I laugh. “Hey, Dad, how’s it going?”
“Good, good, now tell us all about it before your mom gets mad at me for interrupting.”
A smile spreads across my lips. I didn’t realize how much I missed talking to them with how busy I’ve been. “Work is good. The guys on and off my squad have been great. I’ve been working closely with one of the fire investigators for the city, so that experience has been nice. Sam and I moved into the rental, and I met someone.”
I’ve wanted to tell them about Amelia since day one, but I was nervous. Like if I put it out there how much I liked her she wouldn’t like me back. It’s silly, but it’s how I felt.
They’re so quiet that I have to look at my screen to make sure they’re still there. “Hello?”
“Who is she? Tell us all about her. You never tell us about anyone you date. Is she the owner of the dog in the picture you sent us?”
A smile takes over my face as I tell them about her. “Her name is Amelia. She’s Sam’s sister’s childhood best friend. That’s how I met her. She owns and runs an aquaponic farm and supplies fresh produce to the local stores and restaurants in the area, and she helps run the farmers’ market. And yes, the dog is hers. She’s great, you’ll love her.” I pause and admit something out loud for the first time. “She’s the one, Ma.”
My mom sniffles, and my dad says, “We can’t wait to meet her. She sounds great, and we’re happy for you. It makes sense why we haven’t heard from you.”
I can tell that he means it.
“Well, that and I’ve been doing some fire investigations and helping Amelia with her farm when I can.”
“When can we come out and meet her? Soon? Is it too soon for that?” my mother asks.
“Mom, you guys are always welcome. I’ll never turn down a visit, so whenever you guys plan something, just shoot me the dates,” I say as I turn into the firehouse right next to Sam.
“Okay, Luke. We’ll take a look at our calendar and let you know.”
“Everything is good on your end?” I ask as I turn the truck off and hop out.
“Yeah, the weather is nice. We’ve been golfing and playing tennis,” my dad tells me.
“Good, I don’t want to cut this short, but I’m just walking into work, so I have to go. I’ll call you in a couple of days. Let me know when you decide to come,” I say.
“Bye, sweetheart. We miss you and are looking at plane tickets now and will let you know what we pick.”
“Sounds good. Love you!”
“We love you too! Tell Sam we said hi!”
I hang up and walk toward the room I share with Sam when we’re here. “My parents say hi.”
“I wondered who you were talking to this early in the morning. You just left Am, and it’s the morning, so there’s no way she would be that chatty,” he says with a laugh.
Opening the door, I say, “I told them about Am, not that I’m basically living with her, but I told them about her.”
“So your mom will be here in what? Three days? Oh man, does that mean she’ll stay with me at the rental and cook for me?” He rubs his hands together in excitement. “Oh yeah, this is going to be good.”
“I don’t know when they’ll be here, but I’ll offer them my room at the rental. But I wouldn’t be shocked if she talks my dad into coming within the next week or so.”
“I’ll set up the spare room in case you decide to stay with us at the rental. Are you going to tell them you’re living with Am?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead. Maybe? I might just stay at the rental so my mom doesn’t get any ideas and scare Am away.”
I walk into one of the bunk rooms and sit on the bed, realizing we never really talked about how we moved in together and I all but moved out. I still pay my half of the rent and will continue to do so, but now I feel like a crap friend.
He looks at me. “I see that look in your eyes. It’s fine that you aren’t at the rental. It’s not like you just dropped me. You did it to take care of someone who’s like my sister. It’s not like I never see you. We hang out both in and out of work. I promise it’s fine.”
I’m glad I didn’t need to explain myself or defend my choices. “Speaking of your sister, I need Pam’s number. I want to text her to ask her to plan a girls’ night with Am and the girls one day this week.”
“Ya know you’re so in love, it’s gross. But I know Am and the girls need this, and while the farm has gone back to a semi-normal state, she’ll keep focusing on just that. So I approve.”
He rattles off a number, and I text Pam as he walks out of the room.
Me: Hey, it’s Luke
I have two favors to ask
Pam: How can I be of service. Also, you need to let my best friend out for air.
It’s been like a week since I’ve seen Am
Me: That’s why I’m texting.
I want you to plan a girls’ night.But maybe at her house and you guys can sleep over?
Pam: Wait . . . you want me to plan one?
You don’t want to hog her to yourself? Huh, I knew I liked you.
Me: No, she needs you and you know it. I won’t keep her from her friends
She’s just hyper focused on work and needs a push
Pam: Okay, that’s easy
You said you needed two What else do you need?
Me: I want to plan a date night, maybe something overnight. But pet-friendly so Penny can come with us
Ideas?
Pam: Lemme think on it
As I put my phone in my pocket, the alarm goes off, and I go running to get in my turnout gear and hop on the fire truck. I throw on the headset to hear the call come through. It’s a fire on the border of town at an abandoned warehouse. I look at Sam, and I know he’s thinking the same thing as me. The firebug has struck again, and it’s going to be a long day.