Chapter 2
Aiden took the steps two at a time, racing up to the main area above the fire hall and nearly barreling over Brooke Klassen at the top. The visibly pregnant leggy brunette quavered as he caught her by the shoulders, steadying her with an apology. “Sorry about that.”
“No harm,” she said, eyeing him up and down, confusion growing. “What are you wearing?”
The only way to make it through was going to be to smile as much as possible. “Like it? See, there's this contest...”
Brooke shot a hand up to stop him. “Say no more. Mack mentioned it in passing, but I didn't realize everyone in town was going to lose their minds.”
Aiden stretched his arms to the side and rotated slowly. He thought he'd actually done a good job, considering what he had to work with. The tweed jacket with lime green accents had probably been the height of fashion at some point in history.
Not recent history, but still.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you should brace yourself before your husband shows you what he found to wear to the fireman’s ball.”
Her lips quirked, a hand drifting to her belly to cradle the bulge under her winter coat. It was a mindless move, but one that Aiden had recently grown very familiar with, and the fact he was dressed like a prince turned pauper in an old English novel was no longer the most important matter.
He motioned with a finger to her hand-and-belly combo. “Petra’s doing that all the time nowadays as well.”
Brooke’s brows lifted for a second before she realized what he was talking about. She laughed, hand traveling in a slow circle. “It’s not as if the bump is going to fall off, but holding on seems a necessity.”
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “Everything good with you and baby?”
“Perfect,” she offered. “Glad to hear Petra’s over the morning sickness stage. A pretty cool thing, building babies, but not all of the journey is enjoyable.”
“Worth it, though, and Petra’s the one who said that. Shortly after she stopped throwing up.” Aiden offered a wink. “Sorry to blind you with my awesome attire and then run, but I should get to the meeting.”
“No problem. I just dropped off a change of clothes for Mack since he’s working the night shift. Boring clothes this time.” She waved then stepped delicately down the stairs, face glowing.
Glowing.
He’d always thought that descriptor had been made up to ensure pregnant women felt protected and cherished.
But after the morning sickness was done, he’d seen it in Petra.
She wore this little half smile most of the time, eyes dreamy as she stared into space, as if holding private conversations with their unborn baby.
“There he is.” Madison Zhao’s smooth call brought Aiden’s attention to the three others gathered at the side of the fire hall kitchen/gathering room. “Right on time. Come and join us.”
Aiden waved at the table as he hurried forward, shrugging out of his thrift-store coat and draping it over the back of the open chair. “Did you all solve the problems of the world while you were waiting for me?”
Lisa Ryder’s expression was pure amusement, but she didn’t say anything about the cheery yellow and blue sweater he wore. “Not the problems of the world, but we did decide the new cherry turnovers at Buns and Roses are better than the apple turners, but still not as good as the cinnamon buns.”
“Agreed.” He settled in the chair and took a quick look at his fellow community center committee members.
He was the most recent arrival to Heart Falls out of all of them—only there for a year and a half—but he was grateful to be able to step in and help with the important task of coordinating the building of the new community hall.
As head of the committee, Madison had a set of printed handouts in front of her, lined up and ready to roll.
Her reddish-brown hair was cut into a shoulder-length style that framed her face, and her smile made her bright green eyes light up.
She and her husband, Ryan, owned the local bar, had three kids, and Aiden had been told from the minute he’d arrived in town if something needed doing, ask Maddy. She was the type who got shit done.
Another get ’er done type, Lisa’s dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, a set of pens and a note pad in front of her to take notes.
A separate pile of what looked like official documents sat between her and Maddy.
Lisa’s baby sat happily in his car seat beside the table, staring up at the colourful mobile hanging over his head.
The final committee member had been in Heart Falls for the longest. Brad Ford, local Fire Chief, had grown up in town and returned after his training to raise his family here.
His six-and-half-foot height and shaved head would have made him appear frightening except for the fact that he tended toward broad smiles and easy laughter, as long as you didn’t catch him too early in the morning before his coffee.
He was also wearing a pink T-shirt with a dancing unicorn on the front. The shirt was a little tight on his massive frame, but damn, it was a great find.
“Nice shirt,” Aiden told Brad.
Brad grinned back. “Nice sweater.”
Long-suffering sighs, highly exaggerated and in perfect synchronization, echoed across the table as Maddy and Lisa exchanged amused looks.
“Which seems as good a place to start as any.” Maddy handed a set of papers to each of them. “One item on the agenda regards fundraisers for the extra community center costs. Three different proposals have come in, all viable, so we should spread them out over the coming year for maximum effect.”
“It’s been great to see the entire community coming up with different ideas to help support the new center.” Brad’s grin only got wider. “The fire hall contribution seems to be off to a good start.”
Lisa leaned forward on her elbows. “About that. You want to explain why my husband, who is not a firefighter but a veterinarian, has developed the sudden urge to shop for ugly-as-sin—”
“Lisa,” Maddy protested.
“I mean, gently used yet not always fashionable…” Lisa checked with Maddy for approval before finishing. “Clothing?”
Brad spread his hands in a helpless gesture.
“One slow night at the hall, we got to talking about what we could do to help fundraise, and the next thing I knew, Alex had it all arranged. Twenty bucks enters you into the contest, and the person with the most votes at the end of the month wins fifty bucks. Reset and start again.”
“Nice. Good return on your investment.” Maddy nodded her approval.
“It’s a win-win situation, since everyone is supposed to shop at the thrift store if possible.
” Brad eyed Aiden. “It’s only a buck a vote for the people of the community when they spot someone wearing a great outfit.
And Alex set the voting to be online or at a drop box at Buns and Roses, so everyone can join in. ”
“After that fifty buck payout, all the money goes to the hall fund?” Lisa asked.
“Yup.” Brad shrugged. “It was only supposed to be the fire hall crew, but somehow word got out, and there didn’t seem to be any good reason to say no to people who want to hand over money to dress in thrift-store finds.”
Maddy shook her head, but she was smiling. “Considering a gaudy sweater is at the core of the relationship with my husband, who am I to call foul? I propose the Tacky Threads Throwdown funds get earmarked for the new playground at the hall.”
“We can paint the climbing structures with extremely loud colours,” Lisa suggested.
“Deal,” Aiden agreed. “Love the name, too.”
They slipped into the rest of the agenda smoothly. When little Nathan fussed, Lisa popped him out of the car seat and nursed him, cradling the kid with one hand so she could continue to take notes.
Brad took over when it was time to burp him while Maddy kept them on task so efficiently they were done before the allotted time was up.
To be honest, the biggest issues of the project had been solved before the new year had even begun. The old hall had been scheduled for a bunch of major upgrades, with budget money and plans already in place.
When the building had been completely destroyed the previous September, the plans were revamped.
A couple of large donations from secret local sources covered the majority of the extra costs, and the contractors signed on for an expanded job.
It took three months for the new building permits to come through.
Now only the gods of winter in Alberta had to be appeased.
The building would sit on a slab foundation, which meant with the new cold weather building techniques that had been developed, come February, construction could start, unless an extreme cold snap hit.
Aiden leaned back in his chair and nodded at his partners in the venture with satisfaction. He pulled out his phone, thumbed to the website Alex had set up for the Tacky Threads Throwdown, and offered a dollar vote for Brad and his dancing pink unicorn.
Brains, Jinx Skye decided, were unreliable and annoying.
She glanced at her fingers for a second.
Once again steady as a rock—thank goodness.
She’d been twitching all afternoon, a toxic mix of adrenaline, fear, and frustration racing through her bloodstream.
Only the steadying presence of her best friend, Sasha Stone, had kept Jinx from bolting from school and looking for a safe place to hide.
Stupid brain.
The couch beside her dipped as Sasha’s younger sister sat, Emma’s nose wrinkled in disgust as she glared at her notebook.
“Jinx, do you have any idea what Mr. Hanson wants in a book report? Every time I submit one, he gives it back with a seven out of ten. When I ask how to improve my score, he’s a jerk and tells me to read the assignment better. ”
The warm living room and kitchen at the Stone’s house was their gathering place this afternoon. Jinx and Sasha alternated between the Silver Stone and Jinx’s home at the neighbouring ranch, High Water, to do their homework and hang out.