Page 72 of Castings & Curses

“That’s really good. So no puppies? Kittens?”

“Paise, how long have you been gone? This is Belvoir County we pose with—”

“With your cocks out.” I couldn’t help myself. I dissolved in giggles.

“As you said, pecs and pets, or in this case, chickens and chests. We have a photographer lined up for next week. It would be great if you could be there.”

Seriously, fit firemen all oiled up and cuddling with some of the finest show chickens in the state? “I’m in, I’m so in.”

“Oh, that’s just terrific.”

“Could I come by sometime this week to get the computer situated? You could give me details on what you normally do, what you think I might be able to add to this project, you know that kind of thing?”

“Tell you what,” Ash started. “You come by anytime. Bring your little girl. While you and I go over the calendar, the guys can show her the truck. Kids love the trucks. As long as no one tries to set the school gym on fire for a senior prank, or calls us to check out someone’s smokehouse, we should be fine.”

“Ash Weiss, I swear you don’t have the manners of a prize hog,” Terri-Ann exclaimed as she stepped into the kitchen.

“How's it goin’ Terri-Ann?”

“I see you helped yourself to the lemonade,” she snipped.

“Stop your fussing, Nan sent me over to talk to Paisley.”

Terri-Ann immediately turned to me. Her eyebrows were up by her hairline.

“Ash is going to have me working on the calendar this year. Maybe working is what I need to do to keep my mind off everything,” I told her.

She shifted her distrusting gaze to Ash.

“It was Nan’s idea,” he said with a shrug.

Terri-Ann grabbed her own glass of lemonade. “It’s not a bad idea. Give you a chance to have adult conversations.”

“What do you call this?” I gestured at her and Ash.

“This is a chat, and the neighbor being friendly. Does it count as a conversation?”

I stared at Ash, there was the jerky kid I remembered. Always the smart ass. “Who put you in charge of the fire department?”

I turned my gaze to Terri-Ann. “Seriously, who thought that was a good idea?”

Ash laughed in self-confidence. It was not a quality he was lacking in any quantity.

“Come to the station, talk about something other than chafing nipples and blue dogs. I mean, that’s all you talk about with the other mothers down at the park, right?”

I may have pressed my wrists against my boobs. The mention of chafing nipples brought back unpleasant memories.

“Excuse you, how do you know what women at the park talk about? You aren’t married, are you?” I would have thought that Nan would have mentioned it if Ash had gotten married.

“Believe it or not, we get quite a few 911 calls about sore nipples. And every generation has a blue cartoon dog. Tyler’s kids are obsessed with one right now.”

“And if I come down to the station, how are the conversations different? No chaffed nipples?”

Ash smirked. “Oh, there are plenty of discussions about chafed nipples, but not from breastfeeding.”

He leveled a stare at me, daring me to get him to say more. It was something he used to do to get me into trouble. I couldn’t decide if it was endearing or annoying that Ash was so much the same as he ever was. I must have won the stare-off because he stood with a resigned exhalation. “So you’ll come to the station?”

“Absolutely. I’m in,” I confirmed.

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