Page 27 of Love and Other Trials
“I know that. I work with terrific guys, but they’re like me, you know? When you find your tribe, it makes things easier.”
He thought about his next question before deciding to go for it. They were getting to know each other. She’d opened up this line of talk. And they were heading to something more than friendly. “So you haven’t met anyone in that tribe you wanted to be with?”
“Temporarily, sure. But we don’t always hit the same disasters. Also, when you work together, the work comes first. We’re on a clock to find people. No time for messing around when people’s lives are at stake. None of us would mess that up for a fling. Even after things settle down some.”
Practical to the core, but he liked that. You knew where you stood with Ariel. “Your work is harder that way. Most of the people I work with in the Navy are men obviously, despite our branch having more women than the others. We’re still at twenty percent.”
The wind was riffling her short, curly hair when she glanced his way knowingly. “But not in the aviator ranks, I expect.”
He gripped the grab handle tighter as she turned left. “No, that’s about ten percent, and trust me, my mom and sister ask me about that all the time. They think it’s a shame there aren’t more women in the skies. They’re fond of saying women look good in dress whites too. My very funny brother agrees.”
She zipped around a car attempting to parallel park and turned right. “You have two siblings?”
“Yep. Both younger. Laurie is the middle one. A family practice doctor. Drew is the baby and milks it for all it’s worth. He’s a small business loans specialist.”
“Sounds like your family likes to help others.” She coughed along with him when the car in front of them puffed out a dark cloud of exhaust, one of the drawbacks to driving in a golf cart. “What do your parents do?”
“Mom was a social worker and now volunteers at a food kitchen. Dad is a criminal defense attorney, working mostly pro bono cases now. So yeah, we were raised to believe in service.”
She pulled into another parking lot and parked in the front; he was grateful to be away from someone who clearly had failed their emissions test. “Do they have any concerns about you becoming a cushy corporate pilot?”
He uncurled his long frame and joined her as they walked into an unremarkable brick building with no signage, Sherlock remaining in the cart. “It’s kinda breaking the mold, but everyone has been supportive. It’s not like I’m changing who I am. I’m hoping to do some Big Brothers work and the like now that I’ll have more control of my schedule. Be active in my community. I like being a part of something bigger than myself. You understand that. Not everyone does.”
She shot him a sexy smile and held out her hand for a fist bump. “We’re weird that way, I guess. Now put on your best serious look. This place doesn’t do loony.”
She was kidding. She had to be. He’d finally spotted the sign for the business in the lobby: Paradise Ignites. “Tell me this isn’t a place where you rent strippers.”
She snorted. “You should be able to guess. Take a whiff of the air.”
He looked at her oddly before sniffing. His mind clicked. “Gunpowder?”
“Welcome to the best wedding sparkler displays in town.” She had the door open before he did this time, but didn’t go in. “Charleston doesn’t allow fireworks at weddings, but this is people’s workaround. Wait until you see the size of their displays.”
“Sparklers?”God, he was getting a college-level education in weddings.
“That’s right.” She slapped a hand to her forehead. “I told Tiffany these things could start a fire, especially given our family history, but she insisted. Rob loved the idea too. They created a his-and-hers display. Also, because we need more fire, every guest will be given a handheld blue sparkler because Tiffanylovesthe color of Rob’s eyes.”
He made a gagging sound. “Oh God, he’s my best bud, but I think I just threw up in my mouth.”
“Ditto.” She put her hands to her throat playfully. “I should think it’s sweet, but I missed the schmaltz gene.”
He grimaced. “So did I.”
“Hey there,” a deep booming voice called before a giant man appeared in the doorway, filling it from end to end. The guy was easily six foot six and weighed over three hundred pounds. He had a brown beard down to the middle of his chest and what looked to be fireworks tattoos up both arms before they disappeared under a camouflage shirt. “What can I do for y’all?”
“Are you Bubba?” She gave her signature polite smile. “I’m Ariel Holmes.”
“You’re the one organizing the wedding this Saturday, yes’um.” He trudged over to the counter and flipped open a huge leather-bound book. “We’re ready for y’all.”
“Good. I wanted to make sure I talked with you before setup to make sure you have all the information you need.”
He ran a scarred finger down the ledger. Had it been burned in the execution of his professional duties? “Looks like we’re good. We provide a fire extinguisher for each sparkler display. The only thing I wanted to go over with y’all was water receptacles for the twenty-inch sparklers.”
“What do you suggest?”
He leaned his elbows on the counter, taking up near the entire length. “We can provide you with some tin buckets for the guests to drop them in, but some brides don’t find them fancy enough.”
Dax almost snickered, thinking of the posh trash bins Tiffany had wanted.
