Page 53 of Single Mom for the Firemen

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VANESSA

Callie scrambles upon the gate and waves as she sees the car coming round the corner.

“There she is!” she exclaims, and I laugh as I pull her into my arms and plant her back on solid ground.

“I know you’re excited to see Lara,” I scold her playfully. “But try not to break your arm in the process, all right?”

Callie can barely hear me—she’s so looking forward to seeing Lara, and to be honest, so am I. Callie and I have settled back into our own cabin—though at least one of the guys spends the night with me most nights—and it feels like we’ve found a sort of routine. Enough for me to get some writing done. But it feels like way too long since I got some alone time with Lara, and I’m particularly interested in seeing her today, given that she will have read the first draft of my story about the guys by now.

She pulls the car through the gate and climbs out to give us both a massive hug.

“Oh, man, it’s good to see you,” I tell her, and she grins as she pulls back.

“I know, it’s been so long!” she exclaims. “Things have been so crazy—we have a lot to catch up on now, huh?”

“We sure do,” I agree. “Come on inside, Callie and I made lemonade this morning…”

We head through to the kitchen, where we collect some iced glasses of juice and then head out to the garden. It’s a beautiful day, the sun beating down from a clear blue sky above, and the trees look as though they stretch on forever in front of us.

“I forget how amazing this place is sometimes,” she remarks as she sinks into the grass. “You still enjoying it out here?”

“Oh, so much,” I reply as I touch my glass to hers. “Anyway, I think Callie has a rock garden she wants to show you…”

“A rock garden?” Lara replies, cocking an eyebrow. “As in…a garden of rocks?”

“That’s the idea,” I laugh, and I grab her by the elbow and steer her toward it. “Go on, check it out. She’s got it laid out especially for you…”

Once we’ve spent an hour or so playing with Callie in the garden, I can’t resist any longer—I feel as though I’m going to burst with anticipation if I don’t ask her what she thinks of the article.

“I’m sorry if this is a strange time to being it up,” I blurt out, as we head to the kitchen to top up our drinks. “But have you had time to have a look over the story…?”

“Oh my God, yes!” she exclaims, reaching over to grab my arm as though the thought has just crossed her mind. “I did.”

“And?” I prompt her. I’m a little nervous—I know it’s pretty far from the usual wheelhouse of stuff that I do for her, and I can’thelp but wonder if I might have edged too far from my comfort zone.

“It was amazing,” she tells me.

My eyes widen, and I grin. “You mean that?”

“I mean it. I actually think it’s one of the best things you’ve ever written for me, Vanessa, and that’s really saying something with your track record…”

“Lara, you have no idea how much that means to me,” I blurt out, feeling a sudden well of emotion rise up inside of me at the kindness my best friend is showing me. “I…”

“But there is one thing wrong with it,” she cuts me off, sliding straight back into business mode.

I frown. “There is?”

“Yeah. It’s not finished.”

I blankly stare at her. Not finished…?

“You mean you didn’t get the full draft? I can get another one sent over, I can double-check that it’s the right one?—”

“No, not that,” she giggles, pinching my arm playfully. “I mean, there’s clearly so much more to the story there. I think you should do more to flesh it out.”

“Like…a series of articles?”

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