Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Meyer
A fter all the planning, following Dex’s orders, and losing my palms to prickly pear pads, the day of the fiesta had finally dawned. Despite the fact we both had an early start, Dex and I talked into the night, wrapped naked around each other in his bed, one of his legs trapped between mine. I can’t even remember what we were talking about, it was just comforting running my hand down his side to cup his fuzzy warm butt.
Now, it was the morning, and I did not want to move. Maybe a little cuddle with Dex was the way to start the day. I reached out to the other side of the bed, but the sheets were cold. I grumbled under my breath. He could have at least kissed me before he rolled out at o’dark-thirty to start his day. Still, I could snuggle under the covers for more sleep and smooch my man later.
Was he my man? Kinda, not sure, maybe. I thought so. But we spent so much time talking about other stuff, we never really clarified our status.
“Wakey wakey, big guy.”
I cracked open one eye to see Dex holding out a cup and glared at him. “Why are you so cheerful?”
“You’re naked in my bed. Why wouldn’t I be cheerful?”
I grumbled but not too much. He’d just been nice to me, he looked freakin’ amazing, and he had coffee. I sat up and held up my hands for the cup. “Gimme. It’s still early.”
Dex leaned over and kissed my forehead. “It’s cowboy time. I’ve got work on the ranch before we head to the fiesta.”
“But I’ll see you there?” It wasn’t really a question. Obviously, I’d see him there. I’d promised to help with his salsa stall when I could.
“You bet,” he promised and blew me a kiss as he backed out of the bedroom.
I leaned back against his headboard and sipped at my coffee. I moaned as the coffee hit my tastebuds, then burned through my system, waking up every part of me. Dex knew just how to make a man happy.
“I want to marry you if you’ll make me coffee like this for the rest of our lives.”
Dex poked his head around the door. “Getting a bit ahead of yourself there, aren’t you?”
I sighed. Of course he had to hear me. “Maybe, maybe not.”
He smirked at me and disappeared, leaving me to finish the cup. I dressed in the sweats and T-shirt I’d worn the previous night. I should have remembered to pick up clean clothes, but we’d been too busy getting busy. It was my turn to smirk as I remembered last night.
I wasn’t surprised to find another pot of coffee brewing in the kitchen. I refilled my cup and topped it off with creamer, then headed to my cottage. I waved at Diego on my there. All the ranch hands seemed to be used to me now and never commented about the fact I spent more time in Dex’s home than my own.
I felt more at home here than I had in my last apartment with my ex. I wasn’t stupid. I knew I had feelings for Dex. But I didn’t want to rush into anything. My heart had been battered by the end of my relationship with Tom, and I was nervous about handing it to anyone else, only to get bruised again. I really did like Dex.
In the security of my cottage, I shut the door on the world and prying eyes, leaning back against it as I closed my eyes. I needed to make a decision.
The Dancing Chiles Food Fiesta was one of the annual events in Charming Butte. It was a small town that used any excuse to party, and hot chiles were as good a reason as any.
I drove the tender down Main Street, watching the booths being set up. I had my eyes open for anyone who might not notice the big red truck driving along the road. We headed to the park where the fun events would take place. I’d promised to help Dex obviously and my mom was taking part in a dancing display on the main stage. I assured her I was gonna heckle when it was her turn as any good son would.
We had a full crew, including many volunteers who weren’t working today. It was good to hear the laughing and joshing behind me, although I could have done without the backseat driving from them all.
I glanced at Chief Brannigan, who’d claimed shotgun. “Are they always like this?”
He didn’t even bother to look my way. “Jones, you know them all. What do you think?”
Ask a stupid question…
To the accompaniment of all the backseat drivers, I backed the tender into the space allocated for us in the grounds of the park. We could get out of the park if we had a callout without waiting for people to move their vehicles.
“Keep your eyes open, Jones,” Brannigan ordered before he got out of the truck. “It’s always busy on fiesta day. Something always goes hinky.”
Why was I the one getting the order and the pointed look? It wasn’t like it was my first rodeo at a public event. Then it clicked.
“I was twelve,” I protested.
“You set the chile-eating canopy tent on fire.”
I groaned. Did he have to remember that infamous moment in my life?
Behind me, Skip White hooted. “That sucker went up like gas on a bonfire.”
I grimaced, remembering the whoosh as the flame licked the canopy. At least it was before the competition started and no one was hurt. “My dad was furious.”
Worse, I overheard him telling my mom how disappointed he was and that made me die inside. I always wanted my dad to be proud of me. He barely spoke for a week and all my allowance went to replacing the tent for the town. I’d been saving for a new game console for months. It took even longer to replace that money.
“It was the most excitement we’ve had in years,” Skip assured me, still chuckling.
“It depends which side of the hose you’re on,” Brannigan growled.
Skip didn’t seem remotely intimidated. “You loved it. I watched you giving the orders. Firefighters are all adrenaline junkies, and most of the time, our biggest excitement at the fiesta is who’s gonna win the chile eating contest.”
Everyone grunted. I wasn’t sure if that was an agreement or not. I had plenty of day-to-day excitement back in Chicago. I was enjoying the slower pace of life. He was right about one thing. I was definitely an adrenaline junkie.
“I’m too old for excitement now,” Brannigan said, and flipped us all off as we howled at him.
“What’s all the noise about?”
I turned to see Chief Wally and his assistant, Rosie, behind me. I still couldn’t believe the old lawman was alive, let alone the police chief of Charming Butte.
“Chief Brannigan says he’s too old for any excitement,” I told him.
“Nonsense!” Wally barked. “I’m twice your age, Gary, and not too old for shenanigans.”
Even allowing for exaggeration, I had to admire the old man’s enthusiasm. I hoped I was that enthusiastic about when I was his age.
Then he turned to me. “And you, Chief Jones, can stay away from the chile-eating tent this year.”
As he limped away, there was more howling from the crew, this time aimed at me. I guess I deserved it. Brannigan and I grinned at each other. It was good to be back in Charming Butte.
I didn’t have time to find Dex before the fiesta started. Brannigan had handed the role of fire marshal over to me despite the fact I was new in town. Talk about throwing me to the wolves. The ladies on the fiesta committee were formidable. They were the same women on the committee since I was a kid and as far as I was aware, they were just replaced by their daughters. Mom told me I was exaggerating, but when I challenged her to prove me wrong, she shut up.
But Brannigan trusted me to get this right. So I’d met the committee formally, and checked all the permits. The committee were pros and probably knew the relevant fire codes for Charming far better than I did. I left Brannigan manning the truck while the rest of us went to check booths, equipment, and escape routes.
I had a heated discussion with one of the out-of-town vendors blocking an escape route with his pick-up. He didn’t recognize me, told me he didn’t listen to some volunteer who wasn’t even a real firefighter, and threatened to report me to the sheriff.
I listened to his bluster, then folded my arms across my chest and told him I was the new assistant chief and to pack up and leave. Then I leaned into his space. “And all my volunteers are fully trained professionals. Now get out of here.”
I turned—not waiting to see what he did—to find all my men watching me. From the expressions on their faces, if this had been a test, I aced it.
“What are you looking at?” I demanded. “We’ve got work to do.”
“Chief Brannigan sent us over to see if you needed us,” Caleb said. He was the one guy who hadn’t really warmed to me since my arrival. Now though, he looked at me with approval. “But you had it handled, Chief.”
I gave him a curt nod, a bit choked up at his praise. “I meant it.”
“We know you did,” Ray Pérez assured me. “Not everyone thinks the same. But this’ll be all around the fiesta before the hour’s out. Our mamas and wives are gonna love you. You’ll see.”
“We’ll handle this,” White said, waving his hand at the vendor. “If he moves his truck…?”
“I’ll move it,” the guy promised.
“Or we’ll move it for you,” Skip growled.
I left them to it. They knew how to handle him. I spotted Dex watching the proceedings and loped over to him.
“You couldn’t have done anything better to win their support,” Dex observed as I joined him.
“I didn’t do it for that.”
“I know you didn’t. You had no idea they were there.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You watched me?”
Dex shrugged. “I came looking for you. I didn’t know how feisty the guy was going to get. I thought you might need help, so I called Brannigan and watched in case you needed me.”
I’d been oblivious to it all. “Thanks for having my back.”
“Always.” His smile was bright and focused on me.
I was not letting this man go. I’d wait as long as it took for him to feel the same way about me.
I finished my rounds, and Ray was right. Several women, wives and mothers, came up to thank me for supporting their menfolk. By the time I reached Dex’s salsa booth, I had a handful of sweet treats and had to beg a box from Destiny to hold them all. Of course, she slipped in a couple of alien butt cookies because, as she said, “You’re one of us now.”
Dex was in the middle of serving someone when I arrived. He raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were ignoring me.”
“It’s been busy,” I protested, holding up my box. “I have presents.”
“Gonna share?”
“With you, always,” I said. I’d happily eat the cookies off his naked belly tonight with some additional cream. He could do the same to me.
“Is the salsa organic?” a woman asked, interrupting our heated stare.
“Yes, ma’am,” Dex said, tearing his gaze away from mine.
She seemed to take an eternity, then just as she left, a teenage boy loped over to us. I don’t recognize him, but Dex clearly did by his cheerful, “Hey, Chuck.”
The boy, maybe around fifteen with a mop of sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes, grunted at Dex, then turned to me. “Chief Jones? Chief Brannigan says it’s your turn.”
I blink at him. “My turn to do…what?” Had I missed an inspection for the fiesta? I thought I’d covered everything on the list.
“The dunking.” Chuck waved his hand, and I saw my Mom and Brannigan grinning at me.
“Oh no.” I groaned as understanding dawned. “You’ve got to be joking.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Dex’s huge grin. “Did you know about this?”
He chuckled, and boy, that was a wicked smirk. “It might have been my idea,” he admitted.
“I thought you love…liked me.” I was suddenly aware of the narrowed eyes on me from Chuck who was presumably waiting to lead me to my doom.
“I’ve had to take my turn for the past ten years, Jones. This time it’s all yours.”
Clearly, I wasn’t going to get any sympathy from him. I growled as his smirk grew even broader, then stomped over to Mom and Brannigan, Chuck trailing after me.
“I don’t have any dry clothes,” I protested as I reached Mom.
She giggled. “Dex brought them.”
Of course he did. I sighed. I wasn’t getting out of this however much I pouted. “Okay.”
“Good boy,” Mom said fondly. Now it sounded like she was talking to Monty, her neighbor’s golden retriever.
I handed Brannigan my radio, phone, and wallet. He handed me a plastic firefighter’s helmet with a CB shield on the front.
I squinted at it. “What’s this for?”
“You’re the chief. You have to look like it.”
“In a kid’s plastic helmet?” This got worse by the minute.
“I’m not damaging city property, Jones.”
“Isn’t it someone else’s turn to be dunked?” I grumbled.
Could I bribe a child to start a small fire? How about Chuck? Nope, he had vanished. Probably to tell all his buddies that the new assistant fire chief had the hots for the ranch owner.
“It’s your turn now,” Brannigan assured me. “Hurry up. Clocks-a-ticking, and there’s a line.”
There was a long, long line. Everyone in town wanted to dunk the new assistant chief.
I jammed the hat on my head and waved at the line who cheered. “I’ll get you back for this, Mom,” I promised her through gritted teeth.
“You can try,” she said. “You can try.”
I climbed into the seat, and Brannigan held his hand out for the hat. “I can’t lose the hat. It’s my granddaughter’s.”
“Who’s first?” I yelled out.
Mom beamed at me. “Me.”
I glowered at her. “Did you wake up and decide to torture me today?”
Her smile grew even wider. “You’re my son. Of course I did.”
Then she took aim. The first ball dunked me in the water. I wasn’t surprised. Mom had been a basketball champ in school. I was kinda proud of her. Not that I’d ever tell my mom. I was less proud as the third shot dropped me in the water. The water was cold!
I climbed out and pasted on a smile. “Who’s next? Do you think you can beat my mom?”
That was a mistake. The whole line took it as a personal challenge. Particularly the guys. They weren’t going to be beaten by a woman. My turn seemed to go on and on, and the line never died. I swear some people came back for a second turn.
I looked at my boss. “Is the torture over yet?”
Brannigan grinned at me. “Not yet, Jones. One more person wants to try their hand.”
“Not Mom again,” I begged. “Please, Chief. Can’t you persuade her to torture someone else?”
“It’s not your mom,” he said, his smile growing even wider. “Come on over, Dex.”
Dex? Dex!
“You have to be kidding,” I said and turned to see Dex’s shit-eating grin as he stepped up to the plate. “You’re supposed to be manning the booth.”
“Lindy dragged me over. Destiny got one of her girls to take my place at the booth. I told your mom I wanted a try, and she agreed.”
I groaned, hanging my head. My mom and my kinda-maybe-boyfriend in cahoots. Then I glanced at Brannigan. And my chief . This was so unfair.
“You ready, Dex?” Brannigan asked.
Was I ever. I remembered Dex at school. He couldn’t throw a ball to save his life. The first ball went wide. I smiled now. The second ball was closer, but no cigar. I breathed easier until I saw Mom whisper something in his ear. Was she giving him tips?
“Come on, Dex. Get him!”
Wait, that was Skip White. The traitorous…
“You’ll be doing kitchen duty for a month,” I yelled at Skip, just as Dex took aim with a confident smile, and that sucker landed slap bang in the middle.
His smirk followed me into the water.