Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
RACHEL
ONE MONTH LATER
The beginning of August in this town is absolutely miserable. At least it is this summer.
It’s horribly hot. The type of hot that offers no relief, even in the evenings.
It cools down somewhat, thanks to the lake, but there’s a mugginess in the air at night that makes it unpleasant to spend too much time outside.
Same for the daytime, when it’s unbearably warm and the sky is brown because of the fires that are burning in the next county over.
The scent of smoke lingers in the air, especially first thing in the morning when the entire area smells like a campfire and the haze that lingers in the sky is . . . there’s no other word for it.
It’s ugly.
The sunsets are spectacular, though, from all that smoke.
Not that I care. Not that I’m spending any time outside enjoying sunsets with my—what do I call him?
My boyfriend? We haven’t made any official declarations as to what we are to each other.
Are we friends with benefits? Hookup partners?
That’s so crass. We’re more than that to each other.
I know we are, even though neither of us has defined our relationship yet.
Besides, I’m not seeing him much because he’s locked in at the station.
Their second engine and crew went to that big fire in the neighboring county, and Wyatt and his crew can’t leave.
He’s in charge of the only responding fire engine currently in the area, and I don’t know why, but that makes me nervous.
“It happens all the time,” he reassured me last night on the phone after I expressed my worry.
“Every summer we tend to go down to one engine. Sometimes, when things get really chaotic around the state, there will be an entirely different engine and crew here manning our station while we get called elsewhere. You’ll get used to it. ”
Will I, though? I’m not sure if I’ll be around much longer.
My dad has started to reach out more. He’s called me twice—though I only took one of his calls—telling me that he’s had enough of my antics and he wants me to come home.
When I told him I couldn’t, that I had a job and I was paying rent to my roommate and I was dating a fire captain—none of that mattered to him.
“Enough of the playacting, Rachel,” he told me, using that no-nonsense tone I recognized all too well. “Come home and get back to your real life. I’ll even pay for your plane ticket home.”
The offer wasn’t tempting, and that frustrated him. I could tell from the texts he sent me, all of them basically saying the same thing.
Come home now.
I did go by our vacation home a couple of weeks ago to check on the progress on the house.
The insurance company sent over a crew to clean the second level, and when the guy gave me a quick tour of the upstairs, I was impressed.
Most of the smoke damage was gone, though they did have to throw away some items that were damaged beyond repair.
At least Paige and I are getting along again.
That little bump in the road that I caused was forgiven after we had a long, deep talk one night.
After I explained myself, Paige could understand better how I’d thought I was trying to help her, and while she appreciated my efforts, she asked me politely to butt out of her “relationship” with Nate, which I gladly agreed to.
She said she would do the same for me, and while I love having her input when it comes to Wyatt and what’s going on between us, I don’t talk about it as much with her anymore.
Our being together seems to upset her, and she even copped to it, though she did say her feelings were ridiculous and that I should ignore her.
She’s envious of how easy it was for me and Wyatt to get together, that much I know.
And while I’ve enjoyed getting to know Wyatt and our relationship is definitely special, I don’t know what to do.
I have to go home and face the real world and stop pretending that I’m living my life here.
I’m currently at Mitchell’s, and I feel like I’m here all the time.
I’m working more hours than Paige is, and it helps that most of the employees have no problem offering me a ride as long as I pay them gas money, which I gladly do.
I’ve been getting forty-plus hours a week, and my paychecks and tip outs are definitely getting fatter, though I have no idea how people actually live on this kind of wage.
Most of the people who work here during the summer are teens, either high school–aged or home from college and needing to make extra money.
But there are also people who work here and this is their only job.
They’re barely scraping by, from what I can see.
I’m sitting on a stool in front of the order window, not surprised whatsoever that no one is here getting food.
It’s three in the afternoon, and everyone is most likely spending time inside with the AC blasting or out on the lake, enjoying the water and not about to get out of it anytime soon.
I’m making idle small talk with Kelcey, both of us bored because business has been slow and we’ve pretty much done everything we can inside already.
And we’re not about to step foot outside.
No, thank you.
“Oooh, the engine is here,” Kelcey calls, her gaze going to mine.
I sit up straighter, frowning. “What do you mean?”
“A fire engine, silly. With your sexy captain behind the wheel too.” Kelcey smirks. “I know which engine number he drives.”
That she pays attention to that stuff is mind-blowing, but okay.
“Do I look all right?” I run a hand over my hair, smoothing it away from my face and tightening my ponytail.
I haven’t been wearing much makeup lately, only because it melts off, so what Wyatt is about to see is the real me. For the most part.
Paige and I did tint each other’s eyelashes and did some curling procedure on them, so they look like we’re always wearing mascara. That was a fun and goofy night. Paige left the solution on her eyelashes a little longer on one eye versus the other, and that one has way curlier lashes.
Oh well.
Within seconds the fire crew enters the building, their boots loud as they walk across the vinyl plank floor. Wyatt is the last one to enter, and I let my gaze linger, eating him up in that sexy dark-blue uniform.
Though, truly, the uniform itself isn’t sexy.
It’s the man wearing it who makes it so.
He’s big and broad, that gold badge pinned to his chest twinkling when it catches the light from the fixtures shining above us.
He’s a man of authority, someone who’s respected by his peers and pretty much everyone in this town, and this man, for the most part, is mine.
My heart swells with pride, and I can’t help but smile, my insides quivering in anticipation of hearing him speak. Of our eyes locking and our bodies swaying toward each other like they always seem to do. I’m such a goner. I wonder if he knows just how much I care about him . . .
Wyatt makes his way toward us, pushing through his crew, until he’s the one leading them, and they all come to a stop at the counter. “Good afternoon, ladies.”
“Hey, Captain McKinney.” Kelcey slides behind the register on purpose like she wants to beat me, I swear, though I can’t say anything much about it, considering that’s her position this afternoon while I’m scheduled at the window. “Are you coming in for a late lunch?”
“Hi, Kelcey. Yeah, we’re starving,” he answers, his gaze going to me, making me feel warm all over.
I watch as they all make their orders but then have to turn away when an older couple approaches my window.
I take their order for chocolate and vanilla milkshakes.
Once they’re taken care of, I turn back around to find Wyatt lingering at the counter to pay for his crew’s meals before he makes his way over to me, that easygoing smile still on his face.
When he draws closer, though, I can see the exhaustion in his eyes.
“Hey,” he murmurs as I walk around the counter and go to him, grateful when he wraps me up in a quick hug.
I pull away from him, not wanting to look like I’m hanging all over him.
I can feel Kelcey watching us, and I’m sure she’ll tell all of her friends what she witnessed.
Though, seriously—it’s not a big deal. “I was hoping you were working today.”
“When am I not?” I pause, feeling silly if he thinks I’m complaining. “Though you’re the one who’s been working nonstop.”
“This is my eighth day on shift. We’ve all been on a little too long.” He scrubs a hand along his jaw. “I miss Dot. I miss my bed. I miss you.”
“Aw. I miss you too. How’s that fire?”
“They’ve got a better handle on it, but we’re still a long way out. I’d rather be on that fire than stuck at the station. It gets boring because they’re not going to let us go anywhere. We’re stuck here.”
I rest my hand against my chest. It’s been what Wyatt’s called a mild fire season, and I can’t stand the thought of him being out there in this weather, fighting a horrible forest fire. I don’t know how the significant others handle this sort of thing. “You’d actually rather be on the fire?”
“Well, yeah. That’s our job.” He shrugs, then turns when Suzi pats him on the shoulder.
“Here’s your drink cup.” She smiles at me. “Hey, Rachel.”
“Hi, Suzanne.”
I get another customer at my window, and I go take care of them, then tell Kelcey I’m going on a break and ask her to cover for me.
I head over to Wyatt’s table and sit at the empty table next to theirs, listening to them chat, interjecting where I can.
It’s these seemingly mundane moments that I enjoy the most. Just another Wednesday afternoon at Mitchell’s.
The weekend rush hasn’t quite hit yet, and there’s a group of retired women sitting nearby, having a book club meeting.
The couple who ordered milkshakes is wandering around the store, looking at the Mitchell’s-branded T-shirts and sweatshirts.
How many more Wednesday afternoons will I have here? Wyatt never asks me about my future plans anymore because I think he might be afraid of my answer. I don’t bring it up either. I am truly at a loss, and feeling this way makes me unsure.
Worse, it makes me uneasy. I have no idea what to expect, but we’re going to have to face the truth eventually. I just don’t know if I’m ready to do that yet.