Page 11 of Flirting With Fire
Alex pulled the tow truck in front of it. “I’ll take a look and see if there’s anything I can fix now; otherwise, I’ll take it—her—back to the shop.”
I handed over the keys. “I looked under the hood myself, but I’m no mechanic.”
“No worries, man.” Alex grinned at me. “That’s what we’re here for.”
To my relief and pride—I’m a guy, it happens—Alex couldn’t see the problem either, so Daisy got hitched up to the tow truck, and we rode back to town, Alex dropping me off at the end of my street.
That was one problem off my list. If my old bike was still in the garage, I could cycle to work on Monday. It wasn’t a long journey to the firehouse, and I could walk, but it’d be a lot quicker with some kind of wheels.
I poked my head in the garage and groaned. The space that used to house my mom’s car was full of old furniture I remembered from when I was a kid. I’d have to ask Mom if she still had my bike and had any idea where it was.
Mom smiled at me when I came in. She was stirring something on the stovetop. “Gary called. He heard you were in town.”
“I should go over there.” I should have called him as soon as I arrived.
“He said he doesn’t want to see you until Monday morning. Get your breath back and get settled in before you start.”
I expelled a breath. “That’s kind of him.”
“He’s a good man,” she agreed, and there was a softness in her voice I didn’t expect.
But Chief Brannigan had been a friend of my dad’s, and he’d kept an eye on us after my dad had died. He was her friend now. And now he was going to be my boss. I hoped that wasn’t going to make life complicated.
I went over to hug her. “Don’t shut me out again, okay? You have all these people taking care of you when it should have been me.”
She squeezed me, and I felt her shake a little. “You’re my boy. I wanted you to follow your dreams.”
“My dreams can wait a while. You know you’re the most important person in my life.”
Mom leaned back to look up at me. “We’re gonna talk about that, young man. What about Tom?”
“Tom? What Tom?” I said it in a teasing tone, but I really didn’t want to talk about my ex.
To my relief, Mom dropped the subject. “Your dad would be so proud of you right now.”
I snorted. “He would have kicked my butt for being away for so long.”
“He was the one who told you you’d have to leave home to follow your dreams. He knew Charming was too small for you.”
She was right. Dad had told me that, even when I didn’t want to hear it.
I gave her a stern look—one she said was exactly like my dad. “But he never expected you to be alone, Mom. He thought he’d be there to take care of you.”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No, I’m not. But I’m back now, and I have a job. I just need to find a home.” I wandered over to the sink to fill a glass with water and took a long swallow.
“You should talk to Dex. He’d got an empty house on the ranch.”
I choked on the water, spraying it everywhere. Mom rushed over to me with a towel. “Meyer, are you all right?”
I nodded, clutching onto the sink, as I coughed and choked and heaved while Mom patted my back anxiously. It took me long moments to recover my breath.
Live with Dex? Oh heck no. That would be my worst nightmare. All those muscles wrapped in a hot but grumpy exterior. That would never work, and I was sure he’d hate the idea as much as I did. I coughed a few more times, then sipped at the water until I could breathe again.
Mom huffed at me as she mopped up where I’d sprayed water. “I taught you to drink from a cup when you were little.”
“Sorry. Just breathed at the wrong time.”
