“Good? I think. I don’t know.”
I ran all their words through my head on the way from the county offices to the bakery. “They said my certifications show commitment and ambition. That’s a good sign.”
“Definitely,” Emberleigh says. “You’re a shoo-in.”
“I’m not. They have other candidates. We’ll see.”
“Well, this calls for a strawberry donut,” Syd says.
“In your book, everything calls for a strawberry donut,” Emberleigh jokes.
“True. And I’m not wrong.” Syd steps down the glass case and pulls out a puffy donut covered in powdered sugar. Bits of real strawberry are embedded in the dough and there’s a strawberry jam filling swirled with a cream filling.
I take a bite and moan. I actually moan.
“See?” Syd says to Emberleigh. “Those are killer.”
“These should be illegal,” I say around my next bite.
“Well, you can issue us a citation when you get the position,” Syd says.
“We don’t know if I got the job,” I remind her.
“Well, consider the donut a celebration or a consolation. Either way, you stepped out and went for what you wanted. Let’s celebrate that.”
I raise my donut to her and smile. “Thank you. It did feel good stepping out. The parts where I wasn’t about to lose my breakfast did, anyway.”
They laugh. And then Emberleigh says, “Interviewing is nerve-racking. I’m sure you did better than you think. Besides, around here, the interview is more of a formality than anything. Nine out of ten times, we already know the person sitting across from us.”
I finish my donut and offer to pay, but they insist it’s on the house. On my walk back to my car, I pass the fire station. The sun is out and the bay doors are open. Cody is inside, laughing with the other firemen. The midday light hits him like a spotlight, or maybe that’s just how I see him, always standing out more than anyone else in a room.
I indulge myself, staring at the scene across the street. He’s telling a story, slightly animated, pausing for reactions—at home with his crew. I’ll find my place too—the one outside Buckner Farms. If he can balance both worlds, I can too.
I tuck myself slightly behind a parked van so Cody won’t catch me staring. I could just as easily go over there and say hi. But I don’t. I start to walk back to my truck.
His head pivots as if he senses me. And then his eyes narrow like he doesn’t believe it’s me. I can tell the moment it clicks. He tips his chin and lifts his hand in a small wave. My belly flutters and I smile, waving back.
“Carli?” he shouts across the street.
I consider shouting, “Hi,” and then turning to walk to my truck, but something about him tugs at me, so I look both ways and cross to the station.
I stop just outside the bays.
Cody smiles broadly and asks: “How’d it go?”
“How’d … Oh! The interview?”
“Yeah, that was today, right?”
“It was.”
“I figured that’s why you’re all dressed up.”
I glance down at myself and back to him, wondering what he sees when he looks at me.
“It went well, I think.”
Patrick says, “Inspector Buckner, huh? Should we be worried?”
