Chapter Seventeen
Blake
The next morning, I woke up to the sound and smell of bacon frying and, for a moment, I panicked, thinking I was at the firehouse. I bolted up off the couch and was halfway to the bathroom when I realized where I was. I splashed some water on my face and rubbed the stubble that seemed to have appeared overnight. I looked tired as hell, but I felt oddly happy.
“Nina, what the hell are you—” I stopped short when I saw Emily standing at the stove with a towel thrown over one shoulder and her hair pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head. She was wearing the T-shirt and pair of sweats I’d given her. The shirt was knotted at her waist, and the pants were rolled down around her waist and cuffed around her ankles, and still, she swam in them. She turned toward me with a smile as she held out a cup of hot coffee.
“Good morning,” she said, as she turned back to the stove and continued frying bacon. I could see a plate of scrambled eggs sitting off to one side of the stove, and the light on in the oven gave me a preview of the huge stack of pancakes that sat warming on a plate.
“Wow, you really went all out, didn’t you?” I laughed, as I sipped from my cup.
“Well, after all you did for me yesterday, I thought this was the least I could do,” she said, turning to look at me.
“It wasn’t like it was that difficult,” I said softly, as I crossed the kitchen and quickly kissed her.
“Blake…” she warned, casting a glance toward the kitchen door.
“I know, I know,” I said, moving away. “I’m just saying…”
“I know what you’re saying,” she grinned. “And if we were alone, I’d be saying it, too.”
“Good, I’m glad I’m not alone,” I nodded.
“Alone where?” Nina said sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she tried to focus. “I smelled bacon.”
“Emily made breakfast for us,” I said, as I grabbed three plates from the cupboard and a handful of silverware from the drawer to set the table.
“There’s juice on the table or hot coffee in the pot,” Emily offered, as she pulled strips of crisp bacon out of the pan and then poured the grease into a soup can she’d found under the sink. “I thought we could eat and then, if you don’t mind, Blake, I want to go over to the house and see if there’s anything I can salvage before I pick up Howard.”
“You’re picking him up today?” I asked.
“They told me he was doing fine, and since I’m going to go stay at my friend Kendra’s house for a few weeks, I thought I’d get him acclimated as quickly as possible,” she said. I felt my stomach drop a little as the disappointment set in. I’d thought Emily would stay with me while she waited for the insurance to fork up the money she’d need to find a new place. I knew it was crazy, but after the wild roll in the hay yesterday, I had thought we might be on to something.
“Sure, no problem,” I nodded, without giving anything away. “We’ll go after breakfast. You want to come with us, Nina?”
One look from my teenage daughter told me the answer to that question, so I dropped it and tried to enjoy a quiet breakfast. The bacon was just the way I liked it, and Nina ate more than her fair share, laughing when I waged a fake protest over the last slice. Once we’d cleared the table and done the dishes, Emily and I headed over to the burned house to see what we could get out of it.
When we pulled up, I heard Emily inhale sharply. The house was a blackened shell of a building with the roof caved in and the outer walls scorched and bubbled by the heat. She covered her mouth with her hand and sat staring silently at it for a few minutes before she drew a deep breath and said, “Let’s go see what we can salvage.”
The living room and the bedroom had been almost completely destroyed, but the kitchen had managed to survive partially intact. We dug through the dust and dirt to find that Howard’s food and water bowl had miraculously made it through unscathed. His food had been stored in a bin in the closet and that, too, had survived. We gathered up a few things in trash bags, and I heard Emily sigh as she looked over the ruined remains of the living room.
“There’s nothing there worth trying to salvage,” she said, kicking a scorched couch cushion and sighing loudly again. I drove Emily to the clinic where she picked up Howard, who was only slightly disgruntled about having to have spent a night away from his person, but he quickly forgave Emily when she gathered him in her arms and held him to her chest. We stopped and picked up a few groceries and a litter box for Howard, and by the time we pulled up in front of Kendra’s house, he was purring contentedly as he pushed on Emily’s arm.
I unloaded the truck as Emily unlocked the door and turned on lights. I brought her meager belongings into the house and looked around. It was a clean but Spartan house.
“She’s out of town visiting her parents; I’m not sure when she’s coming back,” Emily said, without prompting. “I’ll just stay here until I get the insurance settled and find a new place to live.”
“Sounds good to me,” I nodded. “Meanwhile, I’d like to take you out on a real date. Maybe Wednesday?”
“I’d like that,” she smiled.
“Good, then I’ll pick you up at 7,” I said, as I kissed her and then turned to go.
“Thank you, Blake,” she said quietly. “It’s been a horrible couple of days, but you made it all much better.”
“I’m glad I could help,” I said, tipping my imaginary hat. “I’ll see you Wednesday.”
I stopped and picked up burgers for Nina and I before I returned home. When I got there, she was frantically texting with someone obviously more important than I was, so I held up the bag containing dinner and said, “Might want to come and get it while it’s hot!”
Nina set her phone down and followed me into the kitchen as I divvied up the burgers and fries and she grabbed the condiments and napkins.
“So, what’s going on with you two?” she blurted out. “And don’t lie to me; there’s obviously something going on.”
“I wouldn’t dream of lying to you, darling daughter,” I said, imitating her dramatic way of answering me when I dug into her personal life.
“Dad!” she protested. “I’m serious! What’s going on with you and Ms. Fowler?”
“I want to date her,” I said plainly. “So, I’m going to take her out to dinner on Wednesday.”
“This is so gross,” Nina said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe you’re going to date my teacher!”
“Who else am I going to date, Nina?” I said. “And besides, you are the one who's been pushing me to get out there and mingle with the singles.”
“Yeah, but not my teachers,” she protested, before taking a huge bite of her burger.
“Then I can’t win,” I said exasperatedly. “I give up. You want me to call and cancel?”
“Nooooooo,” Nina said with a full mouth.
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“Just don’t be so obvious about it, Dad,” she grinned, as she grabbed fries off of my plate and popped them into her mouth. “Seriously. It’s gross.”
“Fine, I will conduct my business with all the secrecy of a CIA black-op,” I said solemnly.
“Oh God, don’t be so dramatic, Dad,” she said, rolling her eyes even more dramatically. “I’m just saying that you should keep it on the DL until you know if you two actually like each other or not.”
“The DL?”
“Oh my God, Dad! The DL is the down low! I’ve told you that a million times,” she exhaled exasperatedly. “What is wrong with you?”
“Dunno, maybe I’m in love,” I said, shrugging. “Or maybe I’m starving because my daughter is eating all of my food!”
Nina burst into giggles, and we spent the rest of our dinner hour laughing as we ate. As I got ready for bed later that night, I smiled as I realized that my date with Emily was the first thing I’d looked forward to in a long time.