Joey slid his phone back in his pocket, disappointed. He was glad that things were looking up for Chelsea, but he’d really looked forward to spending time with her, and rain checks were so ambiguous. That could mean tomorrow or the next day, or it could even mean that she’d changed her mind about wanting to see him and planned to keep brushing him off forever. And he found that really bothered him.
So he wasn’t going to let it.
He’d been walking across the parking lot carrying a pizza when she texted, and now he turned course just a bit and headed for the RV park. He hadn’t seen Jaclyn for a while—it was high time.
“I hope you haven’t eaten,” he said when she opened the door, holding up the pizza box where she could see it.
“I was about to, but the fairies told me a handsome man would be showing up on my doorstep with gifts of chocolate and cheese. So I put my peanut butter sandwich in the fridge and sat down to wait.” She opened the door wide and let him in. “I’m guessing the cheese is there on the pizza, but what about the chocolate?”
He reached into his jacket pocket, where he’d tucked a handful of candy bars. “Will this do?”
“Perfect. Let’s go in the kitchen. I usually eat in front of the TV, but the bunnies love pizza, and if we eat in the living room, they’ll have their little noses in everything.”
He followed her into the kitchen and set the pizza on the table while she got some plates and napkins. Then she sat down across the table from him and fixed him with a look. “I gather I’m not the original intended recipient of this gift of Americanized Italian food.”
“You’re not, actually. Is that okay? It should still taste good.” He lifted the lid, and the scent of olives and sausage filled the air.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that. I just wonder what happened to the person you bought this for in the first place.”
“I think she’s spending the evening with her parents.”
“Ah.” Jaclyn lifted a piece and set it on her plate, then cut the tip off with a fork. “That’s exactly as it should be.”
“I agree. I was just left wandering around with a pizza. And then I realized that I have a perfect date in you.”
“Perfect because I’m always available? You can’t just assume things like that, young man. I do have a social life.”
“I meant, perfect because you always know what to say, and you always look like a million bucks.”
Jaclyn looked down at her lavender sweatshirt. “Not everyone can pull off this look.”
“Very true.”
They each ate a few bites and then she turned that look back on him. “So . . . this girl. You fought for her once, but you didn’t fight hard enough, and you need to fight again. Have you got what it takes to win this time?”
Joey blinked. “Beg pardon?”
Jaclyn shook her head. “You know what I’m talking about—the fairies say that playing dumb doesn’t suit you.”
Joey would have smiled, but he was too dumbfounded. “I thought my chance with her was over and that we’d just be friends now, nothing more.”
“And where do the great romances start? With friendship! Think about Emma and Mr. Knightley. Friends for years before it turned into love. George and Martha Washington! Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley!”
Joey was getting confused. “Hermione and Ron?” What did they have to do with George and Martha Washington?
“Yes! And conversely, look at what happened to Romeo and Juliet. They rushed headlong into romance without making friends first, and now they’re dead. Both of them. So tragic.”
And he thought they were going to have a normal conversation . . . of course, this was pretty normal for Jaclyn.
“It’s true that I never really got over her.”
“And you weren’t supposed to. Your heart knew what it wanted, and it kept her spot nice and warm. Not enough sausage. Did you get this from the dining room?”
It took Joey a second to follow that change of subject. “Yes, I did.”
“I’ll call down tomorrow and tell them. They’re excellent cooks, but I do have to check in on them every so often and make sure they aren’t slipping.”
“We definitely couldn’t have that.” Joey served them each another slice. “So, what should I do?”
“You’re already doing it. You just need to keep doing it. That’s the trick.”
“How do I keep doing it when I don’t know what I’m doing in the first place?”
She gave him a very patient look. “You men sure do have a way of overcomplicating things. Questions, questions, questions. Have some faith, young man. Faith in yourself, faith in her, and faith that things will work out how they’re supposed to. They generally do, when we get out of their way. It’s our interference that messes things up.”
“And how do you know that, Jaclyn?” he asked. She made it sound so easy.
“I’ve seen it happen over and over again. Do you see these wrinkles? I have them because I’m old, not because I suntanned too much in the eighties, and I’ve seen a whole lot of stuff in my lifetime. Enough to know that we should listen to our hearts, dance in the rain, never pass up the chance to donate to Toys for Tots, and always, always have faith.”
Joey reached out and patted her hand. “You’re a treasure, you know that?”
She blushed. “Well, I know I’m rather awesome, but I’ve never been called a treasure.”
“It’s about time, then.” Joey was about to say something else when he got a text. “Oops, gotta go. This is Dani about the wildfires. Can I leave the rest of the pizza here? Josh will help you eat it, won’t he?”
“That nephew of mine will eat anything if it’s free. Thank you, and be safe, Joey.” She met his gaze, and hers was as serious as he’d ever seen it. “Come back to us.”
Her words made a chill go down his spine. “I will. I promise.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then sent a text as he trotted across the parking lot to let Dani know he was on the way.
***
“We’ve been asked to report to the Walla Walla fire day after tomorrow at noon,” Dani said, speaking to the volunteers who had gathered in the main house of the ranch. It was a good central location for their meetings. “They’re rotating out their volunteers, and that’s when the current group is going home. We’ll be there for two days, and then we’ll come back and another group will take our place. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get things under control quickly and it won’t take too many rotations before we’re done. But I’m told that the groups there now are exhausted and in bad need of recoup time.”
One of the volunteers raised his hand. “I’m not trained in firefighting techniques. Is there training available, or will I be taught on site?”
“You’ll most likely be stationed in a first aid tent, since that’s your area,” Dani replied. “We don’t have a lot of time for training at this point and will be using people’s already-existing skills as much as possible. Joey, Jeff, Max, I know you three have fought fires before.”
Joey nodded, as did his two friends.
“We’ll need you leading the charge as much as possible. We’re working under the direction of the forest service already in place, but those of you with experience will obviously be looked to as leaders. We’ll be meeting here in the ranch parking lot at seven o’clock in the morning day after tomorrow and taking a chartered bus to Walla Walla. Feel free to leave your cars in the parking lot here while we’re gone, but if you can carpool here to save space, that would be helpful. We’re officially assigned a forty-eight-hour shift, but I say, prepare to be gone longer just in case. Are there any questions?”
Dani fielded a few general inquiries, then dismissed them all so they could start getting ready.
Joey sent texts to Catherine and Caitlyn to tell them he was being called out and to ask them if they could cover the pool. Then he sent another text to Kaitlyn, the other Kate, who had left the pool to work in housekeeping, and asked if she’d be willing to stand by if she was needed. Then he paused, leaning against the porch railing of the main house. He really needed to talk to Chelsea.
He knew she was busy and he didn’t want to interrupt her, but he couldn’t very well arrange replacements for himself without knowing what his schedule actually was. It was purely a work-related motive that drove him to want to see her.
Then again, his conversation with Jaclyn had put things in a whole new light, and he wanted the chance to look in Chelsea’s eyes and see if there was still any possibility for them to be together. He’d thought there wasn’t, and he’d made peace with that as best as he could, but now . . . she was different. He was different. The things they used to quarrel about didn’t exist anymore. The things that hadn’t changed were the things that had brought them together in the first place. Didn’t they both deserve an opportunity to see where this second chance might lead them?
Before he could talk himself out of it, he sent her a text. I know you’re busy, but do you have a minute?
Parents are asleep now. Come on over.
Good. If he’d had to wait until the next day, he probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep that night.