“Honestly, if I had her job, I might go nuts too.”
I tried not to listen, tried to focus on relaxing now that we were all safe, but my mind drifted toward everything Jackie had talked to me about. There was only one line of motivation that I could think of for what she had done. She had no real, powerful connections to any of the sites; I was pretty sure that, aside from my house, they had all simply been crimes of opportunity.
Did she do all of this because of boredom?I wondered as I followed Dad toward the bar at the far end of the tent.Because she hated her life with her husband?
I remembered what she had told me about missing the times when she had been young and wild, when she’d done crazy things. How interested she had been in my relationship with the guys, and how enthusiastic she was about it. I’d thought she’d been living her dreams through me, but maybe my stories weren’t enough. Maybe she wanted something more exciting than anything in her life had been for years.
I thought of the kiosk fire, and how she had watched it with sheer fascination. It had been strange then, just like her reactionwhen I had told her about the fire at my house; but knowing that she actually was the arsonist, it made sense now.
Setting those fires must have been her way of getting back some of the excitement and chaos that she missed from when she was younger. It seemed like an insane motivation for crimes that were so serious, but people had probably done more for less. At least prison wasn’t going to be boring.
Dad ordered beers for everyone, and we found an empty table to sit at, with my parents on one side, and the rest of us on the other. I sat between Calder and Ash, while Beck took the seat on the end next to Calder.
“Right, what is it you need to talk to us about?” Dad asked curiously, peering at me through narrowed eyes. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Not anymore,” I said, hoping to break the tension a little. “Or, not yet. I’m not sure. Uh… So.”
I wasn’t sure where to start, and I glanced at Calder and Ash for help. Both put a hand on my knee, but Calder was the one who spoke.
“Well,” he started, seemingly measuring his words carefully. “You see, we all met your daughter the day that she moved in, and we’ve been helping her fix up the house.”
“And we’re very grateful for that,” Mom said with a smile, but it faltered slightly when she saw that Calder wasn’t done speaking.
“Since then, we’ve all gotten to know her very well,” he continued, squeezing my knee and making me smile shyly. “And, as it happened… We have all fallen madly in love with her. So, we talked, and we’ve all decided it would be best if the three of us were simply all in a relationship with her.”
Dad choked on the sip of beer that he was taking, and Mom’s jaw fell to the floor. The table was silent, and the noise from thepeople around us was almost overwhelming. It looked like they weren’t quite sure they’d really heard what Calder had said, but eventually, Mom spoke.
“What?Allof you?”
“Yes,” Ash confirmed. “We promise that we do not have any ill intent. We are serious about your daughter, and we want a future with her.”
“But…” Mom glanced from one to the other, while Dad sat quietly, clearly thinking about how he felt about all of this. “How… How does it work? Who’s going to actually marry her? You can’tallmarry her.”
“I’ll admit, we haven’t spoken about that yet,” Calder said, but he didn’t look nervous at all. “I can promise that we’re committed, however.”
“Yeah,” Beck agreed with a wide smile. “Look. Your daughter is an incredible, powerful, beautiful woman. She deserves the world, the sun, the moon, everything that we can give her. And that’s exactly what we plan to do.”
Dad swallowed and swished his beer, a move that made Mom stop talking.
“Well, I for one think it’s great,” he eventually said, and she widened her eyes at him. “Come now, Eleanor. You have to admit it is impressive. Our little girl has managed to find not one, but three upstanding young gentlemen who would do anything for her, and who clearly care deeply about her.”
“Robert…” Mom muttered, but he simply shook his head.
“You wanted her to be safe in her new city,” he pointed out. “How much safer could she be than with three firemen in her life? Besides, she is an adult. You’re welcome to try and argue her out of it, but I am fairly certain you’ll fail.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Mom sighed, putting her hands in her lap. “Alright, I’ll try my best with this. But no promises.”
“Great!” Beck clapped his hands together. “Now that we’re all on the same page, how about everyone coming to my place for dinner? I’ll make my famous chili.”
Calder, Ash, and I all turned to stare at him, asking the same question at the same time. “Wait, you can cook?”
Epilogue
~
Rhea
It was a few months later as I was standing on my porch waiting for the movers that a notification flashed on my phone screen. An email from the chairperson of the town council.
