By the timeeveryone finished eating, the sun had risen higher in the sky. It was beating down on them with its rays, giving them a healthy dose of vitamin D. Ethan couldn’t complain because he had a plate of waffles in his hand.
Sketch trotted over to him with fabric hanging out of his gob and clenched between his teeth.
Em wasn’t gonna like that.
“Ethan,” James called from the backyard. “Come on over.”
To not head over to James would’ve been rude. Ethan walked over to where the guys were hanging out, watching the kids outside in Em’s backyard. There was more furniture back here since the last time he came by. The grass was looking lush from being well-watered on a proper schedule. Emmaline had gone and added buckets of flowers along the porch’s edge—red and yellow and pink with a few orange ones thrown in the mix.
He appreciated that in just a few weeks, the place felt like a proper home, not just a house.
There were two of Em’s brothers over today. Lance came late—and he brought along his ankle-biters. James arrived after his shift. The others—Sam, Blake and Patrick—were all at work at various fire stations throughout Denver.
“Look who finally gets to play,” James said, taking his eyes away from the scrambling kids and looking toward Ethan.
He didn’t seem as crotchety as the norm.
“Do my playin’ in the kitchen, mostly,” Ethan said, grabbing the chair beside Em’s dad to join their party.
The whole gang of kids ran wild, taking turns on the slide, playhouse, and tube. He caught Annie out of the corner of his eye scrambling inside the tube.
“Oh, don’t worry, he was playing inside.” James didn’t even bother to turn towards Ethan. Just stared straight into the sun as if he wasn’t afraid of burning his eyes. “Every woman within a five-mile radius is craving eggs right now and wanting their hair braided.”
Jim snorted as he chuckled. “I make a mean brisket, and I can put out a fire, but I don’t mess with anyone’s hair.”
“Had to learn for Annie,” Ethan said. “When her mum left. Annie struggled, and it was something I could learn for her. Y’know?”
Jim gave him a long look like he was trying to make a decision about Ethan.
“We have a question,” Lance said, pulling down his sunglasses a smidge as he pinched his gaze on Ethan.
Lance was a mammoth of a guy who clearly spent most of his time at the firehouse gym. Today, his tanned skin contrasted with the vibrant colors of the tropical shirt. Bald by choice, not genetics, Lance had a wicked gleam in his eyes. He was lounging in one of the Adirondack chairs in Em’s garden area, looking as though he had nothing to worry about other than making sure the kids didn’t hurt themselves. But Ethan knew that couldn’t be further from the truth. Lance seemed a bloke with his mind constantly working, running through different scenarios to make sense of things. That’s what Ethan figured, anyway.
“What’s your question?” Ethan asked, cautiously.
“When did it become ‘real’ with my sister?” James kinda asked, kinda probed. “And do you plan on breaking her heart, too? Like all the others?”
“Because then we’re going to have a problem,” Lance added.
Ethan didn’t fancy the way “all the others” sounded like there’d been heaps of guys. That was ridiculous, though, because he had no claim on her.
“Yeah-nah, we’re only holding on to the charade a bit longer. Through an event I’ve got to get past. Still, nothing serious,” Ethan assured, though he’d begun questioning where the line between real and fake was himself last night. “We’re on course with the original plan. Just had to drag it out a bit.”
They’d made some tweaks, is all.
“You’re making her food. Feeding her family. Braiding her kid’s hair.” This was James, still staring directly at the sun. “Doesn’t smell fake to me.”
Ethan frowned. Was that giving the wrong idea?
“I just don’t understand how you can pretend to date, anyway. It’s all just a bunch of nonsense if you ask me,” Jim said, giving Ethan a thorough once-over, clearly trying to assess his intentions. “You’re not seein’ anyone else. She’s not seein’ anyone else. It doesn’t matter if you decide to call what you’re doing unicorn wrangling, it’s all the same.”
“Em’s finding her footing. She doesn’t need anyone tripping her,” James added. “You tell us here, man-to-man, that you’ll catch her if she slips? Well, welcome to the family, bro.”
“I think you’re misunderstanding the whole thing,” Ethan said, his stomach turning itself over. He wasn’t feeling hungry for waffles anymore. “We’re still neighbors. Still friends,” Ethan said. “She’s only helping me out. I like her.” Ethan stared at the uneaten portion of his waffle. “Like her, a lot. Wouldn’t dream of…tripping her.”
“Given the way she looked at you while you were braiding hair?” James made his eyes get big. “I’m thinkin’ that’s mutual. And I’m worried you’ve taken her way off course.”
“I promise, it’s not the case,” Ethan assured.
