Calder raised the eyebrow beneath his scar, a sly smile forming on his lips. “I can think of one way.”
“Oh, yeah?” I managed to sound teasing, and crossed my arms to really sell it. But beneath the mask, my knees were weak, and my ears were hot. I felt like a nervous teenager.
“I’ll call it even if you agree to go on a date with me,” Calder said, which drew a laugh from Beck and a smirk from Ash.
“Me, too,” they said simultaneously, and it felt like I was about to explode.
2
~
Rhea
I spent most of that evening unpacking boxes, until I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. By then, I’d managed to finish my bedroom, the bathroom, and most of the kitchen. That was enough for now.
In the morning, I had gotten up stiffly and grumbled as I had my morning coffee. The first thing I needed to do was to fix that broken board on the porch.
Luckily, it didn’t take too long to find my tools, given that I’d had the great idea of labelling all of the boxes. The one I was looking for, however, was tucked into the bottom of a stack, and it took a while to get to it. All of the tools inside were unused and a few were still in their original packaging. I’d bought them thinking that all homeowners had to have tools, and I was glad that I’d gotten them now.
I wasn’t entirely surehowto fix the board, but I gathered up my tools and went out to the porch, setting up my phone so that I could watch a few informational videos. I hoped that would be enough to get it done.
The first two tutorials had me more confused than anything, but by the third, I was confident enough to get started.
Got to get the nails out first,I told myself, grabbing a newly-unpackaged screwdriver and getting to work. It was harder thanI expected, but pretty soon, I had all of them in the palm of my hand.
Right, then… Uh… angled pilot holes,I thought, muttering the last few words under my breath as if that would make me understand them better. I already had the battery-powered drill in my hand, and I measured the approximate spots I wanted the holes with my eyes. It wasn’t a perfect system, but I was sure it would work well enough.
Before I could get the drill started, though, the alarms next door suddenly began to wail. I flopped backward from the fright, but managed to catch myself on the fence before I tumbled down the stairs.
That’s going to take some getting used to,I thought as I pushed myself to my feet and looked toward the fire station. Curiosity won, and I walked closer so that I could see through the doors where the truck was. I noticed Calder, Beck, and Ash running toward it, already dressed up in their bulky uniforms. They loaded themselves and some things that I couldn’t name onto the truck, and the lights came on fast.
I was transfixed by the whole thing. It was one of the more exciting things I’d ever seen in my life. I was wondering where the fire was, or if it was something else. Firemen didn’t just deal with fires, right? Maybe there was a car accident, and they’d have to save someone with the jaws of life. Or there was a cat stuck up in a tree.
Whatever it was, the idea of the three of them heading off heroically to save somebody made my heart flutter. I could almost imagine myself being stuck somewhere, and one of them shattering a window to sweep me up and carry me to safety. The idea made me blush, even though nobody could see me.
You’re being ridiculous,I told myself as I watched the truck roar out of the station. It came racing down the street, and I noticed Calder through the driver’s side window.
He glanced at me for a moment, and it felt as if time was slowing down to a crawl when he winked at me. Immediately, my heart began racing, and I swallowed, trying my best to smile back. Then, the truck flew off, and I was left reeling on the sidewalk. I held my hand over my chest for a moment to catch my breath, wondering what on earth I’d gotten myself into.
I’d agreed to go on that date, but I had no idea if my heart could actually handle it. For now, though, I needed to get back to the floorboard. I couldn’t just stand there and fantasize about the boys in uniform all day.
Shaking my head at myself, I made my way back to the porch. I was truly acting like a teenager, and if I was honest, I liked it. I hadn’t felt this way in… well, ever. Maybe it wasn’tthatbad if I let myself dream for a little while. It would make the moving process a lot less boring, anyway. I let out a small sigh as I sat back down to work on the board again.
I peered closely to figure out the angles that I needed to drill. It wasn’t something I was particularly experienced in, but the video had made it look fairly simple. I just needed to make sure that I didn’t accidentally split the wood in half. That possibility made me hesitate. If I did break it, I’d have to figure out how to replace it. There was a hardware store not too far away, but would I have to cut the wood myself? How would I know whether it was the right kind? Or the right size?
It’s fine,I thought as I brought the drill closer to the wood.We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
I managed the first one well enough, and took a deep breath before I got started on the second.
The drill almost slipped when I heard a car horn from the street, but I didn’t ruin anything. Delicately, I shut the drill off and set it down next to me, before wiping my hands with a rag that I’d brought from the kitchen.
When I looked up, I noticed that it was a UPS van parked in the road. That was odd. I didn’t remember ordering anything, and I wasn’t expecting any mail. Even so, I got up and walked closer as the driver got out, dressed in the classic delivery uniform. She was a sturdy woman with short hair; the natural grey dotted throughout her placed her age at maybe fifty or so. She was smiling at me as she walked up.
“I have a delivery for Rhea,” she said warmly, looking me up and down. “That you?”
“Yeah,” I said, immediately feeling like I could trust her. She just seemed like someone who could be a place of comfort, someone who would be easy to talk to and get along with.
The box she retrieved from the van was fairly big, and I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows as she approached with it.
