“During a date,” Jackie said, biting at the inside of her cheek. “And I haven’t met the others. I’ve only seen them in passing. Fair, I do pass by the station a lot, sometimes more than I should, just to look. But I’d like to actually talk to them, you know? See what all the hubbub’s about.”
It didn’t seem like a completely terrible idea. There was no reason that Jackie shouldn’t meet them, actually. “Alright, then. Any suggestions? You want to go for a steakhouse dinner? Go bowling? Maybe a museum tour?”
Jackie peered off into the distance for a moment, rubbing at her chin like she was thinking deeply. Then, she lifted one finger, clearly getting a brilliant idea. I waited in tense anticipation of what it could be.
“The festival!” She exclaimed, her eyes as bright as they had been when I made my revelation. “I don’t get to go every year, and when I do, I have to do it alone. At least since the kids haveleft the house. I’m the only one who actually enjoys it. Would be nice to have company. We could all go together and have a bit of fun.”
“Oh, yeah, that could be lovely,” I agreed. It was an opportunity for all three of them to be on a date with me, without the serious pressure of making the whole thing too romantic. With Jackie there, it could be a casual hangout where we could just test the waters.
Unfortunately, that was the point at which my thoughts decided to remind me that my parents were also coming to town for that same festival.
“Then it’s a date,” Jackie said, putting her hands on her knees before stretching herself out of her seat. “I should be off. Talk to you later?”
“Sure,” I answered, though my head was already somewhere else.
I had no idea how I was going to balance Jackie, the men, and my parents at the same time. There were limited days that I could actually take them all to the festival thanks to the existence of my work schedule. Plus, my parents would probably want to stay at my house, and I couldn’t just bring the guys over while they were there.
And if my parents did run into one of the men, or all of them, I had no idea what would happen.
It was while I was thinking about all of this that my phone vibrated on top of the desk, and I noticed Beck’s name on the notification. I picked it up, and checked the message.
Come to the station after work?
22
~
Beck
“Rhea!” I hurried across the station’s lawn to where Rhea was standing on the sidewalk. “Thank you for coming, Madam.”
I gave her a deep bow and she laughed. “I was told there’d be lemonade.”
I was glad that she’d agreed to help me out with the community open day. I was supposed to do the kids’ talk and tour, and that was a tough job to take on alone. If Rhea was there, I was sure that I could make the experience fairly magical.
“Oh, there is,” I said mysteriously. “Only the finest of lemonade for the grandest of princesses.”
This time, Rhea shook her head at me as she followed me to the lemonade station, where one of the administrative staff was filling several huge jugs. I wasn’t sure there would be that many people, but I wouldn’t complain if we had leftover lemonade for the rest of the week.
I got Rhea and myself each a glass, before I spotted Calder across the lawn, busy installing one of the banners. My jaw tightened. He and Ash had filled me in on Rhea’s suggestion, and told me exactly what had happened on the morning of the ice cream fire. They’d both told me to think about being part of the whole thing, that they both thought it could work out well for all of us.
I wasn’t so sure about that.
It had been fun so far, dating her alongside them, but it was meant to be a competition. I’d had my heart set on coming out on top, not ending in a tie. I was hoping there was still a chance that she’d change her mind, but I didn’t think that was very probable.
Which meant that I had to choose whether I could share her, or whether I would call it quits.
“You okay?” Rhea asked, looking up at me with eyes that could melt steel.
I smiled. “Oh, yeah, just thinking about my speech. You think kids would want to know about the full historical relevance of the color red when it comes to firefighting? Or would it be better to just show them cool stuff?”
Rhea raised an eyebrow at me and glanced at the rig. It was perfectly shiny, prepped to have dozens of kids climbing into the driving seat and dreaming about being firefighters one day. “I think maybe cool stuff is the way to go. Most kids aren’t particularly interested in color theory.”
I didn’t point out that that wasn’t what color theory meant. Rhea might not always have had the perfect puns in the bank, but the longer she was with me, the more accurate her jokes would become. It was one of the perks of being in my vicinity.
“Fair, fair,” I nodded slowly, rubbing at my chin as if I was deep in thought. “Last year, we had Roberts on it. I can’t believe he abandoned us for the big city.”
“You don’t like kids?” Rhea’s question was curious rather than accusatory.
