“Nice to meet you…”
“Miles.”
JJ jerks his head toward the table. “Sit with me?”
“Sure.”
I sit beside him, which I try not to feel weird about, and listen to the guys chatter in the background about sports while JJ opens his container and grabs a fry.
“Did you eat?” he asks.
“We had milkshakes.”
He huffs a laugh. “I wish I had you as my uncle.”
“Audrey will have dinner ready when we get home.”
“Audrey is…”
“Oh, sorry. She’s my sister. Noah’s mom.”
“I assume he’s on the truck already?”
“Yeah, Jake was nice enough to wrangle him. Not sure I’ll be able to get him off that thing.”
JJ laughs and finishes his food quickly, then we make our way downstairs where Noah is absolutely having the time of his life.
Chapter 9
JJ
“Hey, bud, that hat looks alittletoo big for you,” I say with a laugh, stopping beside the truck with the open door.
“Smallest size we got,” Jake says.
“The guys were about to put the game on upstairs, if you wanna go watch it.”
“Hell yeah,” he says, offering his hand to Noah, who has both hands on the wheel. “Thanks for being a good partner.”
Noah shakes his hand, the hat sliding forward. Jake laughs as he fixes it, then hops out of the truck. JJ takes his spot, and I linger by the open door, watching with a smile.
“He can’t, like… start it, right?”
“He’d need the key for that,” I say.
“Right, and you don’t leave it in there so it’s easier to take off?”
“No, that would be unsafe.”
“Right. Of course. Sorry. I know nothing about any of this.” He laughs nervously.
I have the strangest urge to pull him into a hug and make him feel better.
“Uncle Miles, did you know this is an engine and not a ladder truck? Ladder trucks have the big ladder on top, and they use it to save people from high places. The engine truck carries the water and hooks up to the hydrants while the ladders are for rescuing. And this truck holds fivehundredgallons of water for emergencies when they can’t find a fire hydrant right away!”
Miles’ jaw drops, and I try to hide my smirk. He looks from me to Noah and back.
“Kid knows his stuff,” I comment.
