“He’s a firefighter. He let me ride in the firetruck once. It was awesome. I want to be firefighter too one day, but Ma says it’s too scary.” He climbs up on the couch and Chewie jumps up beside him. “But Ma also thinks the Invader is scary and he isn’t.”
“The Invader?” I question as he turns to the window behind him and reaches for the curtain. I would panic except I know he’ll see nothing but the side of a fire engine. He looks back at me before opening the curtain and points to his shirt.
“The Invader,” he says again. “FromStar Wars.”
I smile. He calls Darth Vader the Invader. Adorable! “Oh yeah, well, he is kind of scary, isn’t he?”
“He’s a bad guy, but he doesn’t scare me,” River says. “I want to see the new movies but Ma says I’m not old enough yet. Dad agrees but he lets me watch the old ones, and I don’t get scared at all.”
He pulls back the curtain and peers out. I stand behind him, and thankfully, the view of the flaming house is still obstructed. There’s another siren getting closer now and I’m guessing it’s the ambulance. I hope Mrs. Green is okay. River looks back at me. “Is my dad out there?”
“He’s just making sure no one needs his help and he will be right back,” I promise, and he nods in agreement, but the look on his face says he’s not that sure he believes me.
“Where did you come from?” he wants to know suddenly as he turns from the window and drops down on the couch. Chewie drops onto his belly beside him and drops his giant head into River’s lap.
“Tonight?” I ask and he nods again. “I live upstairs. In the rest of the house.”
“He’s not supposed to leave me with strangers,” River says quietly. “Ma is going to be mad.”
“I’m not a stranger to your dad,” I say, and hope Logan’s ex will understand the unique situation that forced us to break the rules. “And we can get to know each other so we aren’t strangers either. Ask me anything.”
“What happened to your face?” He points up toward my forehead.
“I fell on my icy stairs and needed stitches,” I explain. “And now I have a special band-aid.”
“Do stitches hurt? I’ve never had any,” he says in an almost disappointed tone. Oh gosh, this kid would have me laughing if the situation were different.
“When it happened, yes. Now it doesn’t,” I smile at him.
He scrunches up his little face in concentration and leans a little bit toward me as he looks at the almost-healed wound. “Hockey players get stitches, so you’re like a hockey player, which is cool.”
I bite back a laugh.
“What’s your favoriteStar Warscharacter?” he says in a dead serious voice that makes my smile reappear.
“C3PO.”
His whole mouth drops open into a giant O. “No way.”
“Way.”
“Nobody likes him best!” he argues with me and then giggles. “He’s boring!”
“He’s reliable and he thinks things through.”
“He doesn’t save anyone. He’s not a hero,” River says, his little arms flailing to prove his points and as a sign of his exasperation. “He never even gets to use a lightsaver. How boring is that. I mean, come on!”
The door opens, and a second later Logan is standing in the archway to the living room. Our conversation halts immediately, and River leaps off the couch and throws himself at his dad’s torso. It’s so filled with relief that I almost want to be offended. Logan looks at me and smiles as he rubs his son’s back. “Everything is okay, Bub.”
“I know,” River replies and lets go of his dad. “Chloe likes C3PO better than anyone else inStar Wars. How weird is that?”
Logan’s eyes move to me again and they’re dancing with humor. “It’s not a common opinion but it’s a cool one, Riv. C3P0 is smart and funny.”
“But he never uses a lightsaver.”
“It’s called a lightsaber, Bub. And not all heroes are fighters,” a voice behind Logan startles me, and suddenly Jake is there behind Logan, in his fireman gear. “Sometimes it takes a hero to use his brain, not his lightsaber.”
River rushes to him and Jake bends and swoops him up. “Unkie Jake!”
