35. They’re all Family
THIRTY-FIVE
They’re all Family
TARA
“Thank you, Mr. Connors.” Tara extended her hand and returned his firm handshake to seal the agreement. “And welcome to the Hyler building.”
Tara waited by the door until the man drove away before speed-walking into the bookstore. Eager faces popped up as she approached the counter. Looking both left and right, she started dancing. “We did it! Woo hoo!”
She broke out into a grin as Lydia clapped her hands in celebration.
Her mom bounced around the counter, joining in her happy dance. “Oh, honey.” Helen pulled Tara into a warm hug. “I’m so proud of you.”
Tara stepped back and extended her hands in a formal bow as if finishing an Oscar-worthy performance. “Thank you. Thank you.”
“Did he end up taking both floors?”
“He did.” Tara leaned against the front counter with a satisfied grin. “We’ll sign the paperwork at the end of the week. He’ll take the front office space, which leads back to the offices on the ground floor and the entire business side of the second floor.”
Tara squealed. “I’m so excited. He said he wanted to send his painters and a maintenance team next week to do the specific office reconfigurations we discussed. It sounds like he’s eager to have a larger space since he’s expanding his practice.”
“This is wonderful news.” Helen gushed as the shop door opened. “I don’t know how we’d do this without you.”
“It is excellent news.” Tara turned to see a customer walk in. “And you just needed a little push, Mom. With HomeFest next weekend, things are looking up!”
“They are, indeed!”
Tara closed up the shop with her mom and headed over to Jo’s, where she plopped down in a booth across from Celeste. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the privacy wall between theirs and the next booth.
Celeste looked up from her phone with an arched brow. “Long day?”
Tara leaned her head forward enough to meet her friend’s gaze. She breathed out a laugh. “You could say that, yes.”
A server appeared and dropped off two cocktails.
“You ordered drinks already?”
“Of course,” Celeste said while taking a sip of hers. “Oh, this is good.” She took another sip. “Espresso Martini for me and an Old-Fashioned for you.”
Tara took a sip and closed her eyes. “Delicious.” She caught Jo’s eye behind the bar and held her glass up in thanks. Jo smiled back while perfectly pouring a draft beer for a customer. “Jo sure knows how to mix a good cocktail.”
“Yeah, she does.” Celeste leaned back in her seat. “So what’s up?”
Tara took off her jacket and folded it up. Before answering, she set it on top of her bag on the seat beside her. “Busy day, but a really good one.”
Thier server stopped by to check on them, so Tara and Celeste ordered appetizers in lieu of a large dinner.
“Oh.” Tara set her drink down, her eyes going wide with excitement. “We have help for HomeFest and for my author thing.”
“Have a better name for that, yet?”
Tara gave her friend a dry look. “Clearly not, Gloria Celeste.”
Celeste’s eyes went wide. “Fine, Tara Roxanne!”
The two friends giggled.
“But did you catch the part where I said we have help for that?”
“Guys at the station lending you a hand?”
“Yeah. Even Steve is going to help us with both. So is Emerson.”
“Emerson?”
“Mmhmm.”
“He’s helping because Aimee’s helping.”
“That makes sense,” Tara said as the server dropped off their jalape?o poppers and onion rings. “Thank you.”
The server dropped a few more napkins on their table and hurried off to the next group of people waving her over. Tara’s phone buzzed. She rolled her eyes when she saw the name on the text message that flashed on the screen She let out a hefty sigh.
“What was that for?”
“Ethan.”
“Ethan?” Celeste sat up straighter. “What the hell does he want?”
“He started texting me this week. He says he misses me and that…” Tara paused.
“That what?”
“Hang on….” Tara paused long enough to scroll up for those initial messages. “He said that we both made mistakes…”
“Both of you? That’s rather bold.”
“Right?” Tara scoffed. “But that he’ll take me back.”
“How magnanimous of him,” Celeste deadpanned. “That takes some nerve to make it sound like he’d be doing you a favor when he was the one balls deep in some other woman.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Celeste’s expression turned contrite. “You’re right. I’m sorry. He just pisses me off.”
Tara placed her hand on Celeste’s arm. “Me, too. I just have no idea why he’s bothering to text me. It’s not like we’re ever going to get back together.”
“Hmm.” Celeste popped an onion ring in her mouth with a grin. “So, Steve is helping you out, huh?”
Tara sighed. “Yes. He’s helping.”
“Oh, come on.” Celeste laughed. “You like him.”
“No, I don’t,” Tara said in a failed attempt at denial. “I mean…he’s pretty hot. I won’t deny that.”
“Mmhmm.”
“And he does look pretty good without a shirt…” She trailed off, but not before Celeste sat straight up in her seat.
“And when did you get to see him without a shirt?”
“Behind the shop… wait. I didn’t tell you about that?”
“You most certainly did not.”
Tara relayed the details on getting Steve to sign a lease and how he came down in a huff, wanting to talk to her dad. When she finished the story, she took another sip of her old-fashioned, effectively finishing off her drink.
“You’re leaving something out.”
“I’m what?” Tara flagged down the server to order another round of drinks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Tara Roxanne?” Celeste folded her arms across her chest and full-named her again.
“Dammit, Cel. You never let me get away with anything.”
“No, I do not. Spill it, gurl.”
“Fine. I…” She tilted her head from side to side. “I may have… accidentally…”
“Yes?”
Tara exhaled. “I may have… accidentally kissed him.”
Celeste’s hand slapped the table. “You what?” Her reaction was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone at the nearby tables. Tara flushed and cradled her head in her hand, trying to look anywhere but at the people looking at them.
Celeste looked at them all and shooed them off with her hands. “It’s a good story, that’s all. Nothing to see here.”
Giggling, Tara waited for them to return to their own meals before continuing. “Steve is kind of a player. He’s got that bad boy vibe, you know?”
Celeste narrowed her eyes as she smiled. “Oh yeah. I know. Kiro’s the same way.”
“You know? Ha! Come on. Kiro’s about as good a boy as you can get.”
Celeste looked Tara right in the eyes. “Have you ever dated him?”
“Of course not. That would go against the rules of sisterhood.”
“Then you don’t know how good or bad he is then, do you?”
A sly smile grew on Tara’s face. “Care to share?”
“I don’t share such a fine man.”
Tara tossed her napkin at Celeste. “Not share Kiro. God! No. Share details!”
“Another time, perhaps.” Celeste leaned forward. “You were saying?”
Tara gave her friend the side eye before continuing. “He was trying to be flirty, and well, he’s really good at it. He’s also really full of himself, too.”
“I can see that.”
“So he was leaning in as he was talking like he was going to kiss me or something, but he was also holding back, so…” Tara shrugged. “I asked him.”
“Asked him what?”
“I asked him if he was going to kiss me.”
“You didn’t!”
“I did!”
“And?”
“Oh, man. I really want to kiss him again, but…”
Celeste started laughing.
“I still can’t believe I did that. But,” Tara continued, her voice a bit louder this time. “If you say one word to Kiro, you’re dead! Dead! Absolutely dead.”
“Pretty good, huh?”
“Really good.” Tara closed her eyes. “As in, it took me quite a while to get my heart rate down, really good.”
“Tara’s rebounding!”
“I’m not rebounding.” Tara laughed despite her poor attempt at proving Celeste wrong.
“Mmhmm. Right.”
Their laughter died as the flashing lights and blaring sirens of the Grant’s Crossing Fire engine drew their attention through the window.
“There they go,” Celeste said as the ambulance followed right behind. “Derek’s driving tonight. Kiro will be in the back with the patients.”
“Steve will be in the engine.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you ever get scared when Kiro’s on shift?”
Celeste nodded slowly before meeting her friend’s gaze. “I always worry that some driver won’t be paying attention and will blow through an intersection and crash right into them.”
“Steve goes into the fires.” Tara fidgeted with the nail polish on one of her nails while she spoke. “I barely know him, and I already worry about that.”
“I know. I think about it, too.” Celeste closed her hand over Tara’s. “To Kiro, they’re all family, so I worry about each and every one of them every time they’re on shift.”
“How do you get through it?”
“I have to trust them.”
“Trust them?” Tara furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“They’re trained, Tara. I’m not. I have to trust their training. I have to trust their equipment, their gear. I have to trust that they won’t take stupid risks. I have to trust that they’ll get out before anything turns bad. Kiro says that Chief Travis may tell crappy jokes, but he knows his stuff when it comes to controlling a scene. He never takes chances with the lives of the men under his command. It’s never worth the risk.”
Tara reached up and dabbed at the corner of her eye. “Okay. Then… I’ll trust them, too.” She smiled. “I still have that anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach.”
“Yeah.” Celeste leaned back in her seat. “That never goes away.”