Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
Phin stood at the bottom of the porch steps at Dr. Blackstone’s house. She didn’t know why she was here. For heaven’s sake, it was getting dark. But she wanted to invite Rhaz, as he liked to be called, to lunch to discuss his department and his career as a firefighter.
Something didn’t sit well with her, though she wasn’t sure what. She trusted him. Yet at the same time, he seemed both believable and outlandish. It was hard to explain. Maybe he was just being evasive because he ran into burning buildings without any gear or equipment on a regular basis.
She rolled her eyes as she marched up the steps. Yeah, right. Like he did that all the time.
Before she could stop herself, she knocked.
After a moment or two, Louise answered the door.
Phin took a step back in surprise. “Oh, Louise. What are you doing here?”
Louise smiled. “I could ask you the same thing.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s after eight-thirty.”
Phin could hear voices coming from another room and laughed. “Are you guys having a party?”
Louise glanced over her shoulder and then back. “We were just finishing up dessert. It was lovely, I must say. I’ve never had such good, well, whatever it was.”
“Oh.” Phin blinked. “Did Dr. Blackstone make it?”
“No, one of his house guests did. But really, dear...” Louise stepped outside and closed the door behind her. “Are you here to speak with Anon? If so, I’m afraid he’s not here.”
“No, not Dr. Blackstone.” Phin shook her head. “I wanted to speak with Rhaz Stormfyr. The new guy.”
“Oh. His latest guest.” Louise smiled. “He’s not here either, I’m afraid.”
She glanced at the door and then back at Phin.
“You should probably go, but I’ll tell him you stopped by.”
Phin looked toward the driveway where people usually parked. Dr. Blackstone’s van was gone, and there was no sign of anyone else’s car. “Where is everybody?” she heard herself ask.
“You know, I couldn’t tell you, dear.” Louise started to go back inside.
Phin caught her gently by the arm. “Then what are you doing here? It sounds like you’re having a party.”
“Oh, that’s just Sam, Pearl, and me whooping it up. Dr. Blackstone said we could… practice here.”
Phin thought about that. Founder’s Day had passed, and there wasn’t another celebration until the Harvest Festival.
“What are you practicing?” she couldn’t help asking.
“Oh, just a silly little routine I thought would be fun for a talent show.” Louise plastered on a smile.
Phin’s eyes lit up. “A talent show? Louise, are you organizing a town talent show? Oh, that would be so much fun! Wait until I tell Jessica.”
“Oh, no, no, no. Don’t do that.” Louise waved her hands frantically. “At least not until we work out the details. If things don’t go the way I plan, maybe we won’t be able to have one after all, with the mayoral race and everything.”
Phin coughed into one hand to keep from laughing. “Mayor Hamilton is retiring. Chief Morrison is running and nobody else. I think we know who the next mayor is going to be.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Well, if there’s going to be a talent show, you’ll let us know, won’t you? I think it would be great fun.”
“Yes, so do I. Which is why I thought of it.” Louise gave a nervous laugh. “Well, toodle-oo, my dear.” She slipped inside and shut the door.
Phin stared at it. “A talent show,” she said. She didn’t even mind having the door closed in her face.
Phin loved talent shows. So did Jessica. They often performed together whenever there was one, but nobody had organized one in years. These days talent shows tended to be tucked into larger celebrations like the Fourth of July or Christmas festivities.
Hmm. She’d have to go home, tell her parents, and then call Jessica.
She started down the steps when Dr. Blackstone’s van came up the drive. Phin stopped and gave a little wave.
After all, Louise was right. It was late, and she probably shouldn’t have come. But maybe Rhaz was with Dr. Blackstone.
Sure enough, the van rolled to a stop and everybody piled out, including Hana and Jackson.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Miss Ironwood,” Dr. Blackstone drawled. “What brings you here, my dear?” He looked at his watch. “Good heavens, it’s late.”
His head came up and snapped toward the house. “Oh, is that the television?”
“No, that’s Louise,” Phin said. “And Sam and Pearl. They said they were practicing something for the talent show.”
Anon gave her a blank stare. For a moment, nobody spoke. “Talent show?” he asked. “What talent show?”
“I’m not really sure,” Phin said. “Louise said they were just trying something out.”
“Oh,” Anon drawled. “That talent show, of course.” He waved the others toward the house.
Jackson made a beeline for the manse, hurried up the back porch and into the kitchen, Hana close behind. Quill gave Phin a tiny smile and headed that way as well.
Rhaz, on the other hand, got out of the van, stopped, and stared at her for a moment. “Good evening,” he greeted.
Her heart skipped a beat. His voice sounded deeper than usual. “Good evening.” The words sounded foreign to her ears. So formal.
She drew in a breath and smiled. “You’re the reason I came by. I, um, wanted to know if you’d like to have lunch tomorrow.”
Anon’s eyes flicked between them before he smiled. “Why don’t you children have a chat while I go see what trouble Louise has gotten herself into with her routine?” He waggled his eyebrows and hurried toward the back porch.
Phin suddenly felt awkward. She swung one arm back and forth. “So, what have you been up to?”
“We just came from Aaron and Betty’s.” Rhaz smiled. “It was very entertaining, and the food was good.” He looked at the ground, then pulled the van door shut. “It’s a lovely evening.” His gaze drifted to the stars. He seemed determined to look at anything but her.
Okay, fine. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Phin took a step back. “If this is a bad time, we can talk about lunch another day. I just thought it would be nice to hear more about your department.”
He swallowed hard. “I’d rather not talk about my department.”
“Really?” She couldn’t keep the disappointment from her voice. At the same time, her curiosity sharpened.
Maybe he’d gotten in trouble or failed to follow protocol. What if he’d endangered someone’s life? “Well, no worries. Maybe some other time.”
“But I wouldn’t mind lunch,” he said as she turned away.
Phin froze. Good grief. If they weren’t going to talk about his department and firefighting, what were they going to talk about?
She spun around, the crunch of gravel loud beneath her shoes.
“We could talk about my department. I’m just curious how things are different where you come from.”
He drew in a breath and let it out. “I suppose we could share a few things over lunch. But let us say I’m taking a break.”
“Anon called it a vacation,” she offered.
“Yes, yes. Vacation.” He nodded. “Jackson used that word.”
She tilted her head. “So for someone whose English sounds as good as yours does, you struggle with some words?”
“It is not my first language,” he told her. The earnestness in his voice caught her off guard.
“I’m sorry. I hope you’re not embarrassed if you can’t think of the right word.”
“Not at all. In fact, I’m surprised I am doing as well as I am. But I have a proficiency for languages, and this one I learned at a young age. It all comes back easily enough.” He smiled.
Phin returned it. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? This was ridiculous. “Well, so lunch tomorrow then?”
“Yes, yes.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked from heel to toe a few times. “Anon tells me you finished college. A place of higher learning.”
Phin laughed. “Yes, you could call college that.”
She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. “But I did all my classes online. Well, except for community college, which I attended here. I started volunteering with the fire department as soon as I turned eighteen. It was easy enough to go through the training while I was in school.”
She shrugged. “And since I took my classes online, I didn’t have to pay for housing and food at the university. So here I am. College educated and no place to go.” She kicked at the gravel, sending a few stones flying.
He watched her, then leaned against the van. “You sound disappointed.”
“Me? No. No, I have my bachelor’s degree. Yay.” She raised her hands and waved them. “My parents are proud. My sister is proud. I’m proud.”
She kicked at the gravel again. “I just wish I knew what to do. I have one of those degrees where I can do a lot of things, but not one specific thing.”
Phin shook her head. “But I’m not going to bore you with the details now. I’ll bore you with them tomorrow at lunch. Does that sound good?”
“It sounds very good.”
“At noon? Kathy’s Country Kitchen?”
He smiled and nodded. “All right. You may bore me tomorrow at noon at Kathy’s Country Kitchen.”
She smiled. “Well, okay then.”
For a moment neither of them moved.
Then Phin bit her lower lip, turned on her heel, and headed home before she either said something silly or chickened out entirely.
The next day, Phin woke early, got a few chores around the house done, then baked cookies with her mother.
“You seem fidgety today, Phin,” Mom said.
Phin gave her a sidelong look. “No, not at all. Why would you ask that?”
Her mother spooned cookie dough onto a baking sheet. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’ve been grating that same lemon until it’s beyond death?”
Phin looked down at the lemon in her hand. “Oh. Yeah. I guess I overdid it on the zest.” She made a face. “Sorry.”
Mom set the spoon in the bowl. “All right, out with it. Something’s bothering you.”
Great. The last thing she needed was her mother interrogating her about her mood. She didn’t even know why she was in a mood. She’d been fine all morning.
Mostly.
Her gaze drifted to the clock. 11:15. She was supposed to meet Rhaz at Kathy’s Country Kitchen at noon. “Oh, no,” she muttered.
“What is it?”
Phin looked up. “I forgot to specify whether I was meeting him there or picking him up.”
“Who?”
“Rhaz.” As if that explained everything.