14. Chapter 14 #2
I stopped. “Sorry, please enlighten me because I need help understanding.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Nick’s complicated, like all of us he's been through his share of heartache.
Those things made him surly for a long time.
Now he's hella guarded and cautious. Give him time, he'll come around to the event.
I'm sure he knows it's needed, and that it will help his incredibly boring event liven up.” He rolled his eyes.
“Heaven knows it needs something to make it better.
Just give him some time; he'll come around.”
“I made a mistake.” I admitted. “He wasn’t happy.”
“I heard.”
“The pallets?” I asked.
“Yeah. So, it slipped your mind. No big deal.”
“Unless you’re Nick Carson, then HUGE deal.”
“A mistake doesn't make you bad.” He leaned forward, both arms resting on the table. “Unless you're a bad, bad girl. Are you bad? Do you need a corrections officer to straighten you out?”
I opened my mouth and blinked. Not once, but three times while my brain processed what he'd just said and how I should respond to it.
What…
“I'm not. Actually,” I made sure to look him in the eyes, “I'm not at all. No thanks.”
“Darn.” Hank said pleasantly, raising his hand to the waiter. “We’ll take the check, please.”
At eight forty-five, he was standing on my porch while I dug out my keys. And I couldn't express how glad I was to be home.
“Thank you for dinner,” I said. “I had a—”
“You're a great lady, Brandy.” Hank said it with the warmth of a man who meant it. “Denture's lucky to have you.”
“You too, we're all lucky to have you.”
We exchanged glances.
“Friends?” I said.
He smiled. The real one, not the restaurant one. “Absolutely, I always need friends.”
“I'll remember that, mister correctional officer.” I laughed and unlocked my door. “Good night, Chief Hank McAllister.”
He was laughing already, walking down the steps of my porch, “Good night, friend Brandy.”
I went inside and sat on my sofa. “Thank goodness that's over.” I giggled a little. “At least the food was spectacular.” I laughed, standing and heading to the bedroom, opting for an early night. “Wait, till Jo and Ruthie hear about this one.”
****
Nick
Monday morning before I’d had my second cup of coffee, I heard Hank's voice talking to Cap as they made their way down my hallway. A minute later and Hank filled the doorway, crossed the office, set his coffee cup on my desk, and dropped into the chair. He stretched his legs out and yawned.
I eyed him, he had a look on his face. It appeared Hank wanted to play one of his favorite games. The one where he knew something and he wanted to tell, but I had to earn it or beg. I didn't want to do either of those, so I waited.
“Good morning,” Hank said, reaching forward to grab his mug. He sipped coffee out of a fire station mug. Typical Hank.
“Hello,” I said.
“How's it going?” he asked.
“Fine. You?”
“Good, I’m a little tired today. I had my date on Saturday.”
I looked at my report. “Well, at your age staying up late will affect you for days after.”
“Ha ha ha, I watched the grandkids yesterday afternoon. And you’re my age, you smart ass.”
“Kids good?” I asked.
“Yes, they're ready for school to be done.”
“Understandable, I always was.”
Hank took another drink of his coffee. Cap was on his bed and there was no way I was going to take the bait. If he wanted to, Hank could bring it back up.
“So, do anything fun this weekend?” he asked me.
“Not really, no. Just mowed the lawn, you know things like that.”
“How domestic of you,” Hank chuckled. “Would you like to hear how my date with Brandy went?”
For no other reason than to be annoying, I took a moment before answering. “Do I have a choice?”
“No, it was boring, with a capital B-O-R-I-N-G,” he said matter-of-factly. “Honestly, the most boring date I've had in twenty years, and that's including the time I took out Margaret Briggs and she spent the entire dinner telling me about her hip replacement.”
“Sorry to hear that.” I spun around in my chair and grabbed a folder from my back counter. Smiling until I returned to face him.
“Are you?”
“Well,” I sat back in my chair. “I'm a bit shocked that the big bad Hank McAllister had a boring date. I thought women adored you.”
Hank laughed and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “That’s usually how it goes. She asked about me but there wasn’t any fawning or noticeable impressed actions. She didn’t even bite when I hit on her. Do you want to know what she got the most worked up over?”
“I couldn't begin to guess, but I'm sure you're going to tell me.”
“You,” Hank said, pointing at me. “You. Why don't you like the Summerween event? Are you always so serious? Have you ever actually smiled, or do you just practice in the mirror?” He paused.
“Okay, to be fair, that last one might have been mine.” Hank shook his head in disbelief.
“She was with me,” Hank continued, gesturing at himself.
“Me. Hank McAllister.” Another gesture. “But it was as if that didn't matter.”
“Huh.” I was shocked Brandy talked about me to Hank.
“Boring. I even asked if she was a bad girl. Usually, they jump all over that. But not her, she said no, no, she wasn’t a bad girl.”
Staring at him in disbelief. “You actually asked her if she was a bad girl?”
“Yes, listen, that line works, and it works well. Normally.” Hank threw himself back against the chair.
I had no response to that.
“Are you going out with her again?” I asked, keeping my voice completely even.
“Hell no,” he said cheerfully. No malice. Just the facts. “It was a snoozefest. I mean, she's great, don't get me wrong. Funny, smart, and goodness knows she's pretty with a great ass.” He shook his head. “But,” he pointed at me. “Shit, Nick. She's exactly how I imagined you'd be on a date.”
The room was very quiet. Hank stood up, setting his coffee cup on the edge of my desk the way he always did.
“We opted to just be friends,” he said. “Anyway, see you for burgers on Thursday?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Sounds good.”
“And, Nick?” Hank adjusted his utility belt. “Give in to Summerween, Brandy’s taking your reluctance as a personal attack.”
I looked him in his eyes, “no.”
“Suit yourself,” he knocked twice on the doorframe. “May the best woman win.” His footsteps and laughter were heard as he walked away.
Cap got up and peered into the hall but then came around the side of my desk.
I looked down at his head on my lap. He was looking at me.
“Well, that was a bit of interesting news, wasn't it?” I petted him behind his ears. “Now, what do we do with it?”