But he’d been very short in his text responses the night before. And she’d had a hard time falling asleep because she’dbeen waiting for more of a response from him. He could have also written her all day, but he hadn’t.
There were a few seconds of silence before Anjali finally said, “What’s going on in your head, Mabel? I mean, can we just all acknowledge that the feelings are there, and we can hope you two lovebirds get on with it? Is it finally safe to say that?”
Mabel tried to stay straight-faced but then groaned when she no longer could. The women let out a chorus of excitement. This was a bad time to ask such a thing. She didn’t want to confess her love for a guy who looked like something weird had happened the night before.
“Yes.”
At another chorus of excitement, Mabel held up a hand to silence them. “But can I take a raincheck on answering that any further?” Her heart thudded in her throat.
Everyone seemed to get it, and they nodded and patted her back or shoulder.
To fill the silence, Cady chimed in, “So, how about them Mollusks?” The Silver Plum football team was usually a pretty safe discussion topic, especially when they were winning as much as they were this year.
Everyone laughed.
“Or we could talk about Hannah’s honeymoon.” Tory pressed on her baby bump and glanced at Hannah.
“What’s there to tell? August is the kind of man who never really wanted to leave our hotel room.”
“Awwww,” the women cooed.
Hannah held up a hand. “Except to eat. I totally stuffed my face on my honeymoon. I didn’t have to worry about fitting into that wedding dress anymore, so I went for it!”
“Oh, before I forget,” Ruby cut in. “Weston and I are going hiking tomorrow night. Anyone want to come?”
The group froze. Of course they were all going hiking. But she couldn’t know that.
Chapter 21
Zane grasped the pull-up bar over his head at the fire station, letting himself hang stock-still for a few seconds before flexing his arms and shoulders to propel him straight up past the bar. He finished his twentieth one, his limbs shaking with exertion as he dropped back down to the floor.
Being on call at the station usually meant plenty of time for exercise, and Zane had to do something to clear his mind.
He’d been placed on a two-week leave from the Emergency Response division, effective immediately.
No regrets. But that didn’t mean it didn’t sting a little, especially considering the burden that was now placed on the other members of the team. They had to work overtime to fill the vacancy.
The time he’d spent talking with Carolina had informed him in two very uncomfortably truthful ways. One, that there did exist other women out there who could be engaging, fun, and interesting—women who could intrigue him. Growing up in such a small town and knowing the same people for most of his life tended to blur that fact.
The other fact? He was so head-over-heels for Mabel that he didn’t care. The first fact was irrelevant.
He’dtried to go to church the day before, since he no longer had a paramedic shift to go to. Instead of going inside, he idled his truck in the parking lot, finally leaving to go back home and sleep.
The Facebook post that featured a photo of him at the event in Bartlett—that was enough to make him want to lie low for a bit. He didn’t need to be answering anyone’s questions about his attendance at a function supporting the woman so many in Silver Plum had villainized.
But it was because he’d heard so little from Mabel after her day-long event with the doctor on Saturday that glued him to the driver’s seat of his truck. He wasn’t sure where she stood. So he rationalized skipping church, not wanting to run into her before hearing from her.
He just didn’t know, and that’s what paralyzed him. Which really bothered him. His approach to life? Get up and get the dang thing done.
Why was this so different?
He filed paperwork for new firefighter recruits who would be coming in the spring after they graduated from high school. He liked to get the volunteers at least started learning the ropes when they were young so when they turned twenty-one, they’d be ready to jump right in.
“Hey, son,” Zane’s father said as he appeared in the fire station doorway. He wore the typical Silver Plum casual wear: a flannel shirt, some jeans that were white-washed from actual long-term use and not purchased that way, and a pair of work boots.
Zane nodded. “Dad.” He didn’t realize until his father showed up just how much he needed to be alone right then. He loved his dad, but sometimes he didn’t want to hear the unsolicited advice.
“We missed you at church yesterday.”
