Page 53 of Deck the Fire Halls

“No fire. The fire alarm tripped at the nursing home. Everyone was fine. Well, Colson was busy.”

Rob looked at me, mildly confused. “No fire is a good thing, yes?”

“Very. But protocol states if the fire alarm goes off, they have to evacuate. Which is good, but there were forty elderly, somewhat ambulant, and very confused people we needed to deal with. Colson was there, he did most of the wrangling.”

Rob’s face softened. “Come and sit at the table so you can eat.”

We carried the plate and silverware to the table. I sat and had shoveled two mouthfuls of vegetable pasta in before Rob came back with two glasses of water. “This is delicious, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Do you miss dinner often?”

“We can miss any meal if duty calls. Butit’s fine. No big deal. I do appreciate this though. Did you make this?” I was sure he did because it was so fresh; nothing store bought could come close.

“I did. Dare I say it, I enjoyed cooking. I have all this time, which I still am not used to, obviously. And I say that while you worked a fourteen-hour day. I’m sorry.”

I swallowed my mouthful and shook my head. “Don’t apologize. You deserve some time off.” I stabbed some zucchini with my fork. “Still don’t think you’ll get bored?”

“Bored?” he scoffed out a laugh. “I volunteered at the center, I cooked dinner, I read a book. A fiction book, for fun. I haven’t done that since high school. And I was thinking I should start making a list of any home improvements that will need to be done come springtime.”

“Can you do home improvements?”

“Oh, heavens no,” he laughed. “I said I’ll make the list. Then I’ll call the appropriate contractors.”

I chuckled as I ate.

Rob seemed happy to talk as I finished my plate. “I lived in an apartment before. High-rise, new, fully maintained. I never had to worry about anything. But this little house is older and I should do regular upkeep. Or so Hamish said. And he’s married to Ren, who would most definitely know.”

I snorted. “He would.”

“So will I ever get bored?” he mused. “While I can’t see the future, and everything is always subject to change, I can’t see myself getting bored anytime soon. Gunter said there’s always something in town to volunteer for.Community projects, festivals, and committees, fundraisers, etcetera, and I love the idea of it.”

“Which part?”

“All of it. I wanted to find a sense of community, and I think I found that here. I really like the guys. Gunter is so nice, and Hamish is funny without even trying.” He smiled at me. “Thank you for introducing me to them.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it here.”

His smile became a sigh. “I’m kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Or the ax to fall. Or whatever the cliché saying is these days.”

“You should ask the kids at the center for what the new lingo is.”

“Oh god, no, they already think I’m cringe. Because cringe is an adjective these days, apparently.”

That made me laugh. “Did you point that out to them? Because that’s probably why they might have used it. You know, for context.”

He laughed and knocked his knee to mine. “Your age is closer to mine than theirs, so you need to be on my side. And no, I do know better than to critique the grammar of teenagers, especially when there’s a pack of them.”

“A pack?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure what the collective noun would be. The word pack depicts an elevated status on the food chain and the ability to pick my confidence clean down to the bone.”

I chuckled as I finished the last of the pasta. “Savage.”

“Exactly. Maybe they could be a savage of teens.”

He was funny. “I don’t think they’re that bad.”

“No, they’re a great group of kids, actually. They likehaving somewhere to hang out. It’s a space just for them. Gunter’s doing a really good job.”

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