Page 5 of The Friendly Fall

“Yeah, ornot, because that’s really freaking awkward,” I say, shaking my head again. “I don’t needmy own motherconspiring to find a wife for me. This isn’t the eighteen hundreds, Mom.”

She sighs, running her fingers through her dark hair. “I just … okay. Fine.” She holds her hands up in surrender. “I won’t set you up.”

“Thank you.” I laugh, flashing her a grin before swinging open the door of the hardware store.

I glance down at the watch on my wrist, noting that it’s already nearly six. I promised Daniel that I’d be at the station by now. Looks like I won’t be stopping at home to shower.

“Hey, Nick!” a voice calls out behind me as I make my way to the driver’s side of my pickup truck.

“Yeah?” I turn around to see Frank, an older gentleman in the community, shuffling toward me. “How’re you?”

“Good, good,” he grunts, wiping the sweat from his brow as he stops a few feet away on the sidewalk. “I was just comin’ to talk to you about a project.”

“Oh?” I say, wondering who needs handiwork this time. “What’s going on?”

“Well, you know Ms. Marilyn, right?” he asks.

Man, everyone is talking about Ms. Marilyn today. Bet her ears are burning.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Well, you know, she lives across the street from me, and I was over there this morning. That ramp of hers really needs to be redone. It’s sure losing its integrity; I’m worried she might fall through it.”

I nod, making a mental note. “Does she want it replaced?”

“Well, that’s the thing…” his voice trails off as he scratches the white stubble on his chin. “She don’t want nobody to touch it.”

Well, that’s going to make it hard to fix.

“I see…”

“But I was thinking maybe you could come by and just take a look at it? Her granddaughter is coming this evening, and I just … I don’t want nobody to get hurt.”

I nod, glancing down at my watch again. “Well, I could maybe come and take a look after work tomorrow? I’ve gotta get to the fire station to work a shift with Daniel, but I’ll be free tomorrow. Maybe I can talk her into it.”

“Well, I was thinking maybe you could talk to her granddaughter about it, and thenshecan talk to Marilyn. You know how stubborn Marilyn can be. Eliza is more likely to be concerned about her wellbeing, and might finally talk some sense into her.”

Eliza. That’s a pretty name.

“Sure, I can try that,” I say, opening up the driver’s side door of my truck. “I’ll stop by tomorrow.”

“Thank you, sir.” He beams, before shuffling off toward the ice cream shop next door to our hardware store.

I sigh, sliding into the seat.

I’m always up for helping out where needed, but there’s nothing more challenging than trying to convince an elderly woman, set in her ways, that she needs something different.

That’s not going to be fun.

Firing up the truck, I back out of the parking spot and head toward the small fire station on the other side of town. By the time I pull next to Daniel’s black half-ton, it’s nearly fifteen minutes after six. I throw it in park and hop out, not surprised to see Daniel standing outside, leaning against the door frame.

“You’relate,” he teases, letting out a chuckle.

“Yeah, I know.” I elbow him as I slip past him and head inside. The scent of pepperoni hits me as I walk into the station, and my eyes land on an open box of pizza, my stomach growling at the sight.

“I figured you’d be hungry.” He chuckles as I head straight for it, swiping a piece and taking a bite.

“Yeah,” I say through a mouthful, savoring the texture and taste of the warm sauce and cheese.

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