Page 5 of Off the Clock

“Thanks.” I wasn’t so sure, but I wouldn’t confess that to the guy who’d been pitching in ever since Eric’s late husband, Montgomery, went into hospice. Jonas and Oz had moved into the basement to help and had stayed on. “And it’s easy for you to say. You’re practically family at this point.”

“So are you, friend.” Jonas clapped me on the shoulder with a large hand. For a big guy, he was surprisingly gentle, and I could see how he would be good with sick kids in the ER. He had a naturally comforting demeanor.

“How’s Eric been holding up?” I asked because questioning Eric was likely to get me nowhere. We hadn’t spoken much since the funeral, and Eric tended to dodge most personal talk.

“About as well as one can under the circumstances.” Jonas started pulling items for a salad out of the fridge next to me. “He has good days and bad. Grief is funny. I’ve been trying to get him to go out more, meet people, do adult stuff like happy hour at The Heist or take up a new hobby, but no-go.”

“Meet people?” I wrinkled my nose. Jonas sounded not unlike my sisters, who used “meet” as a way to soft-pedal their attempts to get me to take up dating. “You’re trying to get Eric to date?”

It hadn’t been that many months, so I could understand Eric’s reluctance. Plus, as someone committed to singledom,I commiserated with his refusal to take Jonas’s well-meaning suggestions.

“Not dating.” Jonas waved away the idea before returning to putting lettuce in a large salad bowl. “He’s rather emphatic that he’s never trying relationships again, but he could use some non-first responder and non-dad friends. Get out there.”

“You’re not hoping…” I worried the inside of my cheek. Jonas and Eric had always been closer than Eric and I. I’d been closest to Sean, who’d gone to the same high school as me and played football as well. While I wanted to help Eric, I hoped Jonas wasn’t motivated by something other than friendship. “Never mind. Not sure how to phrase it.”

“You’re asking if I’m crushing on my oldest friend?” Jonas gave a scoffing laugh that seemed genuine, not like he was trying to cover something. “No. We’ve never gone there. He’s family, like you said. A brother till the end, but not romantic.”

“And, of course, the die-hard romantic of our circle needs romance with a capital R.” I rolled my eyes at him. Where the rest of us had been playing video games and hanging out at the gym, Jonas had dated his way through the LGBTQ+ student organization in between watching the most boring rom-coms of all time.

“Guilty with two failed marriages to show for it.” Blushing, Jonas shrugged his broad shoulders. “And that’s the main reason Eric and I would never work. I’m a romantic. I want someone to take care of, pamper. Someone to watch my silly movies with.”

“Ah.” Once he’d said it, I saw how off my suspicion had been. Jonas needed someone to get all gushy and mushy with. One of my army buddies had recently sent me a meme about “passenger princesses” who liked to let others handle driving. It was supposed to be funny, but I could see Jonas wanting a passenger princess of his own. “That’s definitely not Eric.”

“Exactly.” Jonas laughed heartily. “And eventually, I’ll get back out there too. I did a speed-dating thing a few months ago, but then I remembered how much dating sucks. I’d like to jump right to a settled relationship.”

“Relationships are trouble.” I shook a finger at him. I personally was never going there. I had a stack of reasons and examples of why I was better off alone, but I did hope Jonas found what he was looking for.

“Says you.” Jonas made a go-on gesture before returning to the fridge. “And I better get the chicken on the grill soon.”

“I can help,” I offered at the same time John came clattering down the stairs in workout gear.

“Hey, Jonas. Hey, Tony.” John gave us each a friendly wave. “Who wants to go for a run? Sean said he’d join me.”

A run sounded like exactly what I needed to get my head on straight, but I’d already agreed to help. I glanced over at Jonas.

“Go run,” he ordered me. “Wren and I have dinner. You can help with cleanup after.”

“Deal.” I pointed toward the back of the house where the first-floor suite I occupied was located. “Let me go change really fast.”

In the room that still didn’t feel any more like mine than any of the base housing I’d occupied over the years, I kept thinking about Jonas and his optimistic nature. He’d watched his best friend lose his husband yet remained steadfast in his belief in true love. He’d had multiple failed relationships but wanted to give it another go. I didn’t understand the impulse at all. Love was a risk I simply wasn’t ever taking.

Chapter Four

Caleb

I did survive the shift. Barely. I already liked Tony a little too much. I wished he were more arrogant or meaner. Working so closely together would be easier if I hated the guy. And yes, that was twisted logic, but my lengthy history of ill-advised crushes meant I needed to be vigilant. With any luck, tomorrow, he’d reveal some gross habit or other dealbreaker.

As I exited the station, I squinted against the evening summer sun. Weird to be coming off shift in the evening, but the department was experimenting with twelve-hour shifts instead of the twenty-four on/forty-eight off we’d been used to. The theory was that the schedule change might make recruiting and retention easier. I wasn’t so sure, but with my brother’s arrival imminent, twelves would help me keep tabs on Scotty.

I’d done what I could over the weekend to prepare for Scotty, but I continued to be on edge, skin prickly and stomach wobbly, as I drove to the school parking lot where the camp buses were due to drop off. Scotty had spent the last two weeks at an outdoor adventure camp my mom found for him. It wassupposed to be some sort of reset for at-risk teens, and I hoped like heck it had worked.

Giving him a fresh start was the whole point of him staying with me for the rest of the summer and the coming school year. Accordingly, I grinned as campers exited the bus, happy and sweaty teens full of good cheer as they high-fived each other and promised to stay in touch.

“Scotty!” I called out as soon as I spotted his blond head. Like me, he had short-cropped blond hair, blue eyes, and slightly pointed ears. Unlike me, he was taller, more naturally lean and muscled, and moved with an enviable grace. No awkward, chubby, nerdy years for him.

“Caleb?” He frowned as he whirled around.

“Bro, he called youScotty.” One of the teen boys near Scotty slapped his back, jostling his oversized backpack.

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