Chapter Twenty-Two
Wade
Four days after the false fire alarm at The Serendipity, I’m at work, sitting on the couch while I check text messages. We had one phone call for a cat stuck on top of a roof and another for a small kitchen fire. Those kinds of calls are kind of fun because no one gets hurt, no one suffered a tragic loss, and instead, someone learned a valuable lesson about not leaving their stove on when they leave the house.
Scrolling through my texts, I head to the ones I haven’t answered. I have a picture from my dad showing me their Alaskan cruise. And then Mom sent me a new recipe for croissants she wants to try when she gets back. I send them quick replies, then open the next unopened text.
PHOENIX
I might come back for a quick visit. The case is wrapping up nicely. And they think I’m already showing a lot of promise for the assistant DA position in Serendipity Springs.
That would be several months sooner than anticipated. I’m not surprised. Phoenix is a bulldog when it comes to work. He’s good at what he does, and he’s not afraid to apply himself until he’s the best at what he does.
WADE
Are you going to tell Scarlett you’re coming back?
PHOENIX
And spoil the fun of a surprise? I don’t think so. Besides, she might avoid me.
This will not end well. Scarlett is not a fan of surprises…and when she’s been enjoying a little time to herself, she’s probably not going to be happy about her interfering brother showing up as a surprise. And what if she’s on a date with someone? That would end even worse. And I don’t want to see Scarlett’s feelings hurt, so I’m going to do my best to dissuade him.
WADE
Remember that one time you surprised Scarlett when she was having a sleepover with her friends?
PHOENIX
And she got even by tying a fake rattlesnake to my back bike tire?
WADE
My favorite part was you thinking there was a rattlesnake running loose on the streets of Serendipity Springs.
But my point is to be prepared for the consequences.
PHOENIX
Like the time you teased her about her sun hat, and she bought an even bigger one and wore it every time she saw you ?
I chuckle at that memory.
She was a freshman in college and had bought a sun hat that was almost as wide as her shoulders. I made a teasing comment about it, like the annoying twenty-two-year-old I was, and then the next time we went out together, she showed up with a hat of even more ridiculous proportions. I didn’t know they made hats that big, honestly. I’m not entirely sure she didn’t get it custom made just to tease me. The point is, Scarlett won’t make a big fuss in the moment. She’ll get even later. Sometimes, it will be a fun joke. But sometimes, you really have to watch yourself. She’ll get you when you least expect it.
The door to the lounge area swings open, and Jack and Linus walk in.
Linus has a grin on his face and is holding something in his hand. It looks like a notebook of some sort with spiral binding.
He has it held tight against his chest like it contains some secret information.
Whatever it is, I don’t think I’m going to like it. He and Jack look too pleased with themselves.
“Hey, you know how Bill couldn’t decide what photo should be the cover for our new calendar this year?”
Ah, yes. Bill, the fundraising manager for the fire department. Every year, he spearheads a local fireman calendar to help raise money.
One of our most revered and loved traditions.
Whoever is the cover model also gets to be the month of July. Linus has been a cover model before and so has Bill…talk about a conflict of interest. But usually, we vote on who should be on the cover. I haven’t heard about the vote for this year. I didn’t think they’d even gotten enough photos yet.
The guys come closer, and I watch them warily. If someone is approaching you with a gleeful smile, it usually means you’re not going to like it.
“Well. Here it is.” Linus flips the calendar around to show me a large picture on the front.
It’s me.
And it’s not just me…It’s me running out of The Serendipity with Scarlett in my arms. She looks like an angel in her lacy swimsuit cover-up.
I snatch the calendar from him and stare at it for a few minutes.
Scarlett looks fragile in my arms. She has one arm looped behind my head, that book tucked against her chest.
My face is tipped down toward her. It looks as though I’m telling her something reassuring, even though I know I was teasing her.
But the look on her face? It’s something I didn’t notice amidst the chaos of the moment.
The look on her face is thoughtful. Sweet. Dare I say…adoring?
She has a soft smile on her face and is looking up at me with wide eyes. I lean forward to look closer at the picture. It almost looks as though she’s leaning into my hold. Her fingers are clutching my collar, and she’s leaning her head toward mine.
Maybe, just maybe, our kiss the other day meant more to her than she let on. Or maybe she was stunned at me carrying her out of the building and that’s her shocked face.
Either way, I’m going to have to find out. And I’m going to be honest with her. I told her I would give her time. And I told her we needed to talk.
She’s had her time.
I pick up my phone, determined to talk to her right away. I make the call.
It goes to voicemail .
I call again, but again, it goes straight to voicemail.
Well, that’s not how I wanted it to go. Not when I just had the realization she might actually have feelings for me. I stare down at the name on my phone, wondering what else I can do to get her to talk to me. I don’t get off shift for another couple of hours.
“Was that a call to your modeling agent?”
I glance up sharply. I completely forgot about Jack and Linus. They’re both standing in front of me, looking at me with questioningly. “You don’t like it?” Linus asks.
“He likes it, I’m pretty sure,” Jack says shrewdly. “You see…he likes her.”
“Is he still in kindergarten? If he likes her, maybe he should tell her instead of carrying her out of buildings.” Linus shakes his head. “When I realized I loved my wife, I told her. And then we got married.”
“And now you have four million children,” Jack adds.
Linus snorts. “My point is, you have to actually say something to the other person, or they’ll never know.”
“What do you think I was trying to do just now?” I cut in.
“Oh, I thought you were calling your modeling agent to ask about an underwear sponsor,” Linus says with a chuckle. “You know, since you’re now a cover model.” He leans forward and taps the front of the calendar.
“I’m not sure he even wears underwear,” Jack muses. “I’ve never seen any lying around the house.”
“Just because I don’t leave my dirty underwear lying all around the house doesn’t mean I don’t wear them.” Sometimes, it’s actually the worst being friends with your roommate.
“Dirty underwear? I usually prefer to wear clean, but I guess whatever floats your boat.” Jack laughs, and I wonder if I could tackle him without injuring either of us. Probably not. I’m getting close to thirty, close to the age when one wrong knee bend could be a life sentence.
“I think he’d do better sticking with firefighting. I don’t think an underwear company would hire him,” Linus comments.
“You two are ridiculous. Is this my calendar?”
“That’s mine,” Jack says.
“Oh, thanks for getting it for me.” I grin and stand up to go hang it in my locker. The look on Scarlett’s face in the photo is giving me the courage to tell her how I feel.
I pull out my phone and call her again. No answer. It’s time to do something that might get me in trouble with her. And I can’t wait to see what she’ll do about it.
I text Phoenix.