Page 67 of Chasing Fireflies

“Just sit tight, okay? I’ll be back.” I kiss her nose and run back up the stairs to change clothes.

*

Ten minutes later and some serious questioning from my wife, I’m in Old Blue and headed over to Leigh and Mark’s place. I pull into their driveway and put the truck in park. I see Leigh open the door, and in her hand she holds a leash, and connected to that leash is a brown-haired dog named Bear. He’s the color of a grizzly and has kind, dark eyes. I step out of the truck.

“Merry Christmas,” Leigh says.

“To you, too. Hey, Bear,” I say. His tail wags, and Leigh gives me his leash as I lean down and pet him.

“Good morning.” I hear and look up to see Mark on the porch with a cup of coffee.

“Morning. Santa bring you everything you wanted?” I ask.

He laughs. “I can’t complain.”

I nod. “Well, I better get back. Sara asked me twenty questions about where I was going.”

“Tell her Merry Christmas for us,” Leigh says.

“Will do.” I open the door and let Bear go first. He jumps right in, and I give Leigh and Mark a wave as I drive off.

“All right, Bear, I’m taking you to meet your new mom. Now, let me go ahead and tell you a thing or two about her. She’s got a big heart, loves hard, and has the prettiest smile you’ll ever see. Her curls sometimes bounce when she moves, and when she laughs it’s real. She’s going to love you hard, and you might help bring more of those pretty smiles she has. For that, I’m going to owe you. I’ll make sure to give you a treat every time. Deal?” He barks and nearly scares the shit out of me. I laugh at myself as I turn onto our road and head to our house.

I park the truck and see Sara come out the front door, barefoot, with her long gray sweater wrapped around her tightly. She squints her eyes and bites her lip. I open the truck door and step out. “Woman, your feet are going to freeze!”

“What do you have in that truck?” she asks on a grin.

“Come on out, boy,” I say. Bear jumps down, and I hear Sara suck in air.

“Oh my God! Cash!” she says, running over to us. She leans down and rubs his face while he licks her.

“Come on, Sara. Your feet,” I say. She hurries back inside, and we follow.

“Cash, you got Bear!’

“I got Bear.”

“Aw, Bear. I’m so glad to have you.” She smiles big, and he seems crazy happy.

*

Happy New Year hats sit on tables surrounding Banner’s small-town bar while silver and black decorations hang from the ceiling. Champagne glasses are lined up at the end of the bar, and a local band plays on the stage. Sara’s in a long black flowy skirt with a sparkly silver top that shows her stomach if she moves the wrong way. She says it’s supposed to do that.

“You got one for me over there?” Mark yells to Banner, causing my attention to turn away from my wife’s showing skin. He walks in with an arm draped over Leigh’s shoulders. Banner smiles and grabs a beer from the cooler.

“You know I do, man.” He places it on the bar, and Mark grabs it up.

“I’m starving,” Leigh says. “I’m grabbing a few chips from the table over here. Mark didn’t cook for me because he got off work late.”

Sara laughs. “I’m coming with. Be back, baby,” she says as she hops off the barstool and I see her sparkly top rise up again. Looking past her, I notice Ben walk in along with his date. Some girl he met around Christmas. He nods my way as she walks off to the restroom.

“You two a thing now?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I like her.” He turns to Banner. “Hey, can I get two of those, Banner?”

“Sure thing,” Banner says, reaching for two more bottles.

“How much longer we got?” Ben asks. I look at my watch.

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