Page 7 of A Gift for her Festive Firefighter

Oh yes, everything was being upgraded, retrofitted, updated, and feminized to fit her pretty yellow muscle car. Even the license plate said ‘But-her,’ announcing her car’s name to anyone she drove past.

“You and me, Butter… we are going shopping for girl stuff,” she whispered, patting the dash of the car lovingly. “No acting up on the way into the big city, okay?”

Sweet Bloom was a tiny town that was slowly growing in the middle of nowhere, but with the nearest actual city-stuff being almost an hour away, it made certain things tough. Sephora, Claire’s Boutique, Ulta, and other blatant girly stores were hard to find, requiring a fairly-good drive away from the small town that time forgot.

Turning up the radio, she chuckled and zipped her wallet shut, tossing it onto the floorboard. She needed that list of things that she’d been thinking of the last few days. Oh yes, by the end of today – Holly was going to be ‘in’ on Victoria’s Secret, buying all sorts of girly things like the fashion models. She was going to sample and try on different perfumes, buy lipstick, conditioner, a hair dye — well, you name it. If it was designed for a girl, Holly was buying it.

“This town is gonna look at me differently,” she muttered under her breath, turning up the radio and slamming her foot onto the clutch as she shifted from reverse into first, sending the back end of the car skidding as the wheels spun to keep up. Laughing happily at the power, she pumped the clutch, throwing it from first to second, shifting once again as she pulled out onto the country road leading out of Sweet Bloom.

Chapter 3

CADE

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny,” Cade chuckled listening to the chatter as the two firefighters were discussing what had to be a joke in very poor taste – bordering on harassment. He didn’t want to be known as the town’s tattletale or being a poor sport, but this was taking things a bit far.

“Yeah, I heard from Jacob and Rodney that it was said directly to them…”

“Nawwww – seriously?”

“Yup. Apparently, ol’ Beary has got the hot-to-trots for the captain.”

“Our Beary?”

“Barry Beary’s… Beary?”

“The same!”

“Nawww,” Jude guffawed, and Cade could practically see the man’s goofy smile. “Nawww man, seriously? Shut the front door! Pruitt and ol’ Beary? At the shop at the end of town? That Beary? Our very own grease monkey Beary?”

“One person’s ‘yum’ is another person’s ‘yuck’…”

“Well, Beary certainly ain’t my yum. Not sure anyone has ever thought of Beary as a ‘yum’ – I mean… dadgum-it-all… Beary? Are you sure?”

“Yup. Kinda yucky, if you ask me.”

“Dude, you think he swings like… that?”

“All right now!” Cade snapped on the radio, having heard enough garbage being gossiped about him. The last thing he needed was people gossiping that he was interested in the only mechanic in town – and he needed that guy to be able to work on his truck— gay or not.

If the man was interested in other guys, Cade sincerely did not care because that was between him and the Mister Upstairs. All he cared about was if this guy, Barry, could work on his truck or not. And he would prefer to stay out of the mouths of the townspeople.

He’d already found out the hard way how easy (and difficult) dating was in a small town. He had three different dates within the first week of arriving, with three incredibly pretty girls, who, in fact, all knew each other. The gossip had run rampant, and they actually compared notes about him, and it painted him in a horrible light overall. I mean, when there were only a few places in town, a single guy should be able to take his date(s) there – three times – within a week without everyone commenting on it.

“I am never stepping foot in The Local Table Restaurant ever again,” Cade muttered hotly under his breath.

“Beary and the captain… you sure, Jude?”

“I’d swear it on a Bible.”

“Dadgum…”

“Guys, can we please finish up? It’s taking a while, and we still have drills to run back at the station,” Cade muttered in the radio. “Let me settle the debate for you both – there is no way on God’s green earth that I am ever going out with anyone named Barry. I’m not interested in the slightest, and whatever you heard, rest assured it’s very one-sided. So be sure to share that little tidbit with Rodney or whoever else – AND LET’S PUT OUT THE FIRE!”

“Yes, captain.”

“Yes, sir,” Jude replied. “You gonna tell Rodney or am I?”

“I already texted him.”

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