“Just stay there. You can keep looters out until we get home.”
I was in no mood to battle looters. “My leg is hurt, and I need to see a doctor.”
“Injured? Mr. Raymond will be getting a lecture. He almost got my little girl killed.”
“It’s a gash on the leg, Mom. I’ll live.” I wasn’t going to tell her how right she was. “Besides, I think Mrs. Raymond has taken care of the lecture part.”
“She better take away that chainsaw.”
“Agreed. I’ll call you later.” My leg continued to throb, and I scanned the street, hoping Haley would hurry.
As I waited in the car, my nerves settled. The firemen walked in and out of the house, but when my dark-haired, good-looking rescuer glanced toward my car, my interest or attraction—or whatever it was—morphed into complete embarrassment.
If I never saw Adam Cardona again, it would be too soon.
Sprawled on Haley’s couch, I stroked Pookie as my fuzzball purred. Cats could be very therapeutic.
“He picked up your clothes and put them in the suitcase?” Haley swiped at fruit on her phone screen.
“That was like number three on the list of embarrassing things today.” I shifted, trying to decide if taking something for the pain was worth the effort of getting up.
“Please tell me your cute undergarments were packed.”
“I’m trying not to think about what he touched and what was packed. It’s bad enough that my stuff was strewn all over the floor. The sooner I put this ordeal behind me, the better I’ll feel.”
“He reached superhero status, huh?”
“Yeah. Even after my cat scratched him, he kept her safe.” I scratched Pookie behind the ears. “But you were scared. You didn’t mean to hurt the nice fireman, did you?”
“You going to see him again?”
“Hopefully not. If I ran into him at a grocery store, I’d turn around and walk the other way. The full embarrassment has settled in. My mind blocked it out somewhat when it was happening, but I was in the tub without clothes on. I don’t know how much he could see through the leaves.”
“Gummy worms or ice cream?” Haley pushed up off the floor. Like my mother, to Haley, food was love.
“Both, but only if you have vanilla.”
“With a name like Adam, I think he’s perfect for you!” Haley dodged the pillow I tossed her way, laughing. “Dessert will be out in a minute. How’s your leg?”
“It hurts. I can’t believe I needed stitches.”
“I’ll bring you something for the pain.” Haley disappeared around the corner.
My phone rang. If I didn’t answer Mom’s call, she’d be at the door in under ten minutes.
I took a deep breath and swiped at the screen. “Hi, Mom. Did y’all make it back into town?”
“We—” Sobs drowned out the rest of her words.
I waited. Her reaction wasn’t entirely unexpected.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Dad’s voice was considerably calmer.
“Hi, Dad.”
“We’re glad you’re all right. Mom is imagining the many ways it could have turned out differently.”
“Even my cat is fine. Tell her not to cry. But I am sorry about the house.”
“It’ll turn out okay. Do you need me to get you a hotel?”
“I’m fine at Haley’s.” Hearing my mom sob in the background, I tried not to cry. “And tell Mom that I’ll still be able to go tomorrow night.” I offered that as a glimmer of hope, something for her to look forward to. Deep down, I didn’t want to go.
Would makeup cover the scratches on my face?
Did it matter? I’d promised Mom that I’d show up for a blind date. I didn’t expect a second date. I didn’t even expect to have a good time.
“I’ll tell her. I’m sure that’ll make her feel better.” Dad chuckled, and it was a good sound. “Talk to you later, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Dad.” I ended the call just in time. I blinked away my tears as Haley walked back into the room.
“Your ice cream concoction. I don’t know how you eat them together. That’s kind of gross.” Haley held out the bowl, her face scrunched up.
“Thanks. I need the sugar. I figure that after having a fireman see all the extra cookies and ice cream packed on my thighs, I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Lightning doesn’t strike twice.”
“That doesn’t sound so convincing coming from someone who had lightning strike their house and had a tree fall on them within a really short time frame.”
“Those two things are completely different.”
“You keep telling yourself that.” Haley turned her phone to show me a picture. “Remember Zach Gallagher?”
“That’s not Zach.”
“Of course that’s not Zach. That’s his fiancée.” Haley had been crushing on her brother’s best friend since her sophomore year of high school. Maybe even before that, but we didn’t know each other then.
“She’s stunning. You’re friends with Zach now? When did that happen?”
“I’m not friends with him. I’m friends with her. She’s my new neighbor.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“What’s to be sorry about? I’m happy for him. I’d never go out with him. I mean, he treats me like I’m ten and still calls me Carrot. Besides, if I went out with Zach—not that he’s remotely interested—my brother would never speak to me again.” She attacked the last bit of ice cream in her bowl.
“Carrot?”
She pointed at her hair.
“Have you bumped into him?”
“Nah. And hopefully it stays that way.” Haley dropped her spoon into the empty dish. “I know it’s early, but I’m tired. Don’t hate me for bailing on you.”
“I’m fine. Go sleep.” I pulled the blanket up without disturbing Pookie. “Goodnight.”
She switched off the light and wandered down the hall.
In the dark, when I closed my eyes, the tree fell onto the tub over and over. Adam swooped in to rescue me every time, sometimes without a shirt on, which made no sense at all. In the wee hours of the morning, while Pookie tore through the apartment chasing phantoms, I inhaled the scent of my fireman and drifted off to sleep.
Tomorrow, I would put on a clean shirt.
Chapter 3
I opened my eyes when Haley nudged my hip. “What?”
“Here’s coffee. You need to get up. It’s almost noon. We have to go get your car, and you need to figure out what to wear tonight.”
“And I need to buy a yellow rose.” I sat up and sipped the coffee. “I’ll see what I have to wear on the blind date. That was the last thing on my mind last night.”
“Please don’t wear that t-shirt. It’s covered in dog hair.” Haley shook her head. “Typical guy.”
I picked short brown hairs and a few white hairs off the shirt. “Sorry. I hadn’t noticed. And I wasn’t planning to wear this.” I set my suitcase on the coffee table and laid it open. “I’m not even sure what’s clean and what needs to be washed.”
“That’s because you’re a mess. I can’t believe he picked up your stuff off the floor.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.”
“You have quite a bit of lace in there. I wonder if he noticed that when he was stuffing clothes into the case.”
“I also have the kind of undergarments you think no one will ever see. He probably noticed those. And it doesn’t matter what he noticed because I’ll probably never see him again.”
“He was cute though.” Haley sighed. “If you like the muscular, gorgeous type.” Why had I let her anywhere near my house when the firemen were still there?
“Mind if I wash a load?” I didn’t want to talk about the muscular and good-looking Adam Cardona.
“Be my guest.”
“After that, we can go get my car. Then I’ll run by my house and find a dress. Pants aren’t going to feel good rubbing against my stitches.”
Haley twisted her red curls into a knot and
pinned them up with a clip. “I know you don’t have high hopes for this date because—hello—your mom set you up, but isn’t there a small part of you that hopes it works out?”
I pulled the dirty clothes out of my suitcase. “I haven’t really thought about it. My life isn’t bad. It’s not like I need someone.”
“You just need your mom to understand that.”
“I’m not going to hold my breath.” With an armload of clothes, I headed for the washer. “At least maybe tonight will help me forget about the horror of yesterday. It can serve as a diversion.”
Haley grinned when I walked back into the living room. “Maybe you should take cookies to the fire station, as a—you know—thank-you-for-saving-me gesture.”
“But that would make not seeing that fireman again more difficult. I’m aiming for never.” I closed myself into the bathroom as much to get ready to go as to end the conversation.
Haley knocked.
“What?” I didn’t open the door.
“You’ll need this plastic wrap for your leg if you plan to take a shower. They said to keep the stitches dry.”
“I’ll shower when I get back.”
Clutching my single yellow rose, I sat on a bench near the door, bouncing my knee. Why was I nervous about a date I was sure wouldn’t go well?
I’d insisted on being the one with the flower because if the guy wasn’t interested in spending the evening with me, he could just keep walking. I half expected to sit here for a while then leave because my date never showed up.
Waiting, I ran my finger along the carvings in the wooden bench. While some could be attributed to ill-behaved children, others were clearly done by people older than five. What kind of people carved their names into benches?
At two minutes before six, a tall, lanky guy swooped into the room. He had a slight resemblance to Gumby, except he wasn’t green. He smiled as if maybe he was about to walk over, but then he spotted someone already seated at a table and waved.
I went back to inspecting the carvings. Did Rob still love Angie? Why did Neil feel the need to let the world know he’d been here?
Right at six, a group of three guys walked in. If my date had brought friends along, I wasn’t staying. Two of them had their ball caps on not completely backward. I didn’t understand that. Were they trying to keep the sun off the space behind their ear?
Those guys weren’t my type. And to prove it, they snickered when they spotted the rose. I might as well have been wearing a t-shirt that read Laugh at me. I’m on a blind date.
By three minutes past the hour, I thought about who had walked in but didn’t stop. It was looking more and more like I’d been stood up. But I promised myself I’d stay at the restaurant until ten minutes after six. At eleven minutes past the hour, I would assume I’d been stood up or ditched.
At seven minutes after, the door swung open and a bouquet of yellow roses blocked the face of whoever carried them. It seemed a tad coincidental. I was momentarily impressed. Then the flowers lowered.
Adam’s gaze cut straight to my rose then snapped to my face. Eyebrows raised, he glanced down at his bouquet. Finally, after what felt like a year, he smiled.
Enduring a blind date with a guy who’d already seen me covered only in leaves was not on my bucket list. Forcing a smile, I stood—which was a feat all its own because my legs felt like they were made of jelly. Then I brushed past him and walked right out the door.
I could spend the evening digging up Thanksgiving recipes and watching videos about how to cook a turkey.
My mistake became obvious when I got to my car. My keys were in my purse, which was still sitting on the bench inside the restaurant. Dang, the man was distracting.
Hoping Adam had somehow disappeared into thin air, I turned . . . and bumped into him.
“Sorry I was late.” He held the one thing keeping me from leaving. “You left your purse.”
I snatched it out of his hand and grabbed my keys. “Thanks.”
As I opened the car door, he touched my arm. “Just because I’m curious. Are you embarrassed or disappointed?”
How could the man think I was disappointed? I’d wager a guess that more than one girl had chased his firetruck down the street just to get a second look at him.
“Are you serious?” I slammed the door. “Twenty-four hours ago, I was in a bathtub.”
“I remember. I was there too.” Humor lit up those soft brown eyes.
My resolve to leave was slipping. “You moonlight as a comedian?”
“Nah. When I’m not saving people, I relax or go on blind dates.” He held out the roses. “These are for you even if you decide to leave.”
I did a quick count because I’m weird that way. “Eleven?”
“I thought it would be cute. The extra one is in my truck.” He kicked at the ground. “It was nice meeting you, Eve.”
“I’ll stay.” My tongue was a traitor. Salvaging control was only possible if I acted quickly. “But I have two rules: one—we don’t talk about what happened, and two—your eyes stay up here.” I circled my face with my finger because simply pointing didn’t seem emphatic enough.
Immediately, he broke the second rule. Looking at my leg, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Did you get it looked at? Is it hurting?”
“Yes, I had it looked at, and yes, it hurts, and no, you can’t see it.” I adjusted my dress to be sure my wound was covered. “Now can we stick to the rules?”
A slow smile cut across his face, revealing dimples. “For the record, I prefer that my eyes stay in my face. If my eyes were on your face, I wouldn’t be able to see you.”
Despite my best efforts, I laughed. Hard. Picturing my face with two eyeballs glued to my cheek kicked off another minute of laughter. When I caught my breath, I smiled. “Sorry I walked out. I’m only here because my mom threatened to make me host holiday dinners. I was expecting some slightly awkward academic type. Not you.”
“I have so many questions, but maybe we should get a table first.” He held out his arm.
I looped my arm through his and nonchalantly assessed the size of his bicep. “Thanks for the roses.”
“Thanks for staying. I figure this might be kinda fun because it won’t be all weird. We’ve gotten that part out of the way.” He held open the door.
“Are you forgetting the rules?”
“I meant in the parking lot.” He lifted his eyebrows, humor etched on his face. “Just now.”
The hostess seated us in a corner booth. And I acted like I didn’t notice her checking out my date.
The tall backs on the wooden benches made it feel very private. I bet people had carved on these benches too.
He scanned the cowboy-themed décor. “I hope this place is okay.”
“It’s great. I love coming here.” I tucked my feet close to my bench so I didn’t accidentally bump him. It was way too soon for that.
He leaned back and crossed his arms, extending his legs all the way to my side. “You expected someone different?”
I may have intentionally bumped my foot against his just to gauge his reaction. “Very.” I knew better than to ask the same question. I was almost thirty, still single, and had a cat. I was likely exactly who he expected to meet on a blind date.
Those dimples appeared again.
His gaze warmed me down to my toes, but it also made me self-conscious.
Why was I still holding the roses? “I think there are some basic questions we’re supposed to cover.” I nestled the bouquet next to me on the bench seat. “I’ll start. Do you go on a lot of blind dates?”
“This is my second.” He picked up his menu.
I always ordered the same thing at this restaurant, and I saw no point in changing my mind this time. I pushed the menu aside. “I’m guessing it didn’t go amazingly since you are here.”
“We went to a concert. She showed up drunk, started hollering at the band, and was asked to leave the venue. So no, it didn’t go well.”
&n
bsp; “That’s horrible.”
After an experience that bad, it was a little surprising he agreed to another blind date.
He closed his menu. “And because of that, I almost said no when my mom wanted to set me up again.”
“Again? Wow. You’re a brave guy.” Telling that to a guy who ran into burning buildings was funny. So I laughed.
“And you’re laughing at me.” His smile betrayed the distressed tone.
“Oh no. I’m laughing at me, but I do that a lot. How does your mom know my mom?”
He shrugged. “Is hosting holiday dinner such a horrible thing?”
“If I have to cook for everyone, yes. And they stay for hours.” I’d done it once right after I purchased the house and swore never to do it again. Even then, I didn’t prepare all the food. Mom helped.
Adam chuckled. “You say that as if you’ve lived it before.”
“I have. Once.” Where was the waitress? I needed something to sip while chatting, something to hold onto.
Adam scanned the room. “If they ever let us order, I’ll buy you dinner.”
Just then a waitress hurried up. “So sorry. I didn’t realize this table was part of my section. It’s only my second day.” She flipped open an ordering pad. “My name is Suzy. I’ll be your server today.”
He nodded toward me. “What would you like?”
I ordered, thinking that I’d very much like to go on a second date.
Chapter 4
Walking to my car, I ran through the possible ways the date could end. Conversation during dinner never dragged, and I’d managed to keep soda from coming out my nose when Adam made me laugh—and he’d done that a lot. He’d earned a check plus in the humor column.
But he wasn’t without his quirks. When his plate arrived at the table, he moved the mashed potatoes—which he ordered without gravy—away from the steak and the green beans away from the mashed potatoes. If keeping food separate was his biggest flaw, I could live with that.
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