Page 45 of Dear Mr. Firefighter
A few days later
Chloe had been distant since the interview, which certainly didn’t go as well as she hoped. We went out on one date, but I could tell that she was distracted. We spent time talking and I held her in my arms for a while before we had our goodnight kiss, but the explosive passion wasn’t there like it had been on our previous dates. I didn’t mind, because I did want to be there for her when times were tough—that was more important than the desire we had been fighting off since our first date and the subsequent late night flirting over text messages.
“Are you picking Chloe up for dinner tonight? If so, you need to get a move on it.” Bridget looked at her watch.
“No, I talked with her earlier. She said she would be here at six.” I took a quick peek at my watch. “She’s got plenty of time.”
“Okay, good.” Bridget rushed back into the kitchen to tend to dinner.
“Is it okay if I call her Aunt Chloe?” Abby looked up at me with a grin on her face.
“Absolutely not!” My eyes bulged and I quickly shook my head back and forth. “Call her Ms. West unless she gives you permission to use her first name—remember your manners.”
“Fine.” Abby sulked and walked to the dinner table.
Chloe arrived and while I could see that she wasn’t totally over the interview, she hid it well. Abby was in love from the first moment they met—obvious by the fact that she quickly pulled Chloe away from us to show off her bedroom. I didn’t even want to think about the awkward questions Abby was going to ask her. They would probably be worse than the one that killed her chances at the interview. Bridget finally had to call them for dinner and Abby acted like Chloe was her best friend—she even demanded that Chloe sit by her.
“I think you’re her date now.” I chuckled under my breath and whispered to Chloe.
“She’s adorable!” Chloe gave me a warm smile.
Bridget and Chloe got to know each other as we ate, with Abby interjecting several times. I warned Bridget not to show too much enthusiasm about her new job under the circumstances, but Abby was quick to bring it up. I held my breath as soon as the words left my niece’s lips. Luckily, Chloe didn’t seem to be affected by it. That was a relief, but I was happy when the conversation shifted to something else.
“Okay, who saved room for dessert?” Bridget stood and started to collect the plates.
“Are we having ice cream?” Abby looked at her mother.
“Yes—on top of some apple pie.” Bridget smiled and nodded.
“Chloe needs to visit every night. I never get dessert!” Abby grabbed her fork.
“You get way more dessert than you should.” I shook my head back and forth. “It’s a treat, not a necessity.”
“I’ll help Bridget while you two debate that—I’m on Abby’s side, by the way.” Chloe gave me a quick wink and grabbed my plate.
“See, that’s why she’s going to be my favorite aunt one day!” Abby quickly smiled.
“Hmm.” Chloe looked at Abby and then to me. “An interesting thought.”
An interesting thought? I was sure she would be offended if Abby brought up wedding bells…
Bridget and Chloe got the dessert prepared and brought it back out to us. Abby practically inhaled everything on her plate and would have probably licked the residue if we hadn’t stopped her. After dessert, we decided to watch a movie. Abby demanded to sit next to Chloe, so the three of us piled on the couch while Bridget sat in the chair next to us. Our movie options were pretty limited with Abby in the room—and it was technically going to be her bedtime before we could even finish a movie. I wondered if that was her plan—to use Chloe as an excuse to stay up late. I decided not to bring it up since the evening was going so well.
“I want to watch that one!” Abby pointed at the screen.
“Abby, that’s a cartoon.” Bridget shook her head back and forth. “Let’s find something else.”
“Then I want to watch Benji!” She pointed at the movie underneath the one she originally chose.
“I watched that a few times growing up because it was always on basic cable.” Chloe squinted slightly. “Wait, is that a remake?”
“Yeah.” I exhaled sharply. “Another classic ruined.”
“It’s awesome!” Abby tried to grab the remote.
“I’m okay with watching it.” Chloe looked over at Bridget. “Or have you watched it a million times already?”
“A million and one, but it’s okay.” Bridget chuckled and started the movie.
