I smiled at his sarcasm. I knew as well as he did that the salary at the MRFD wasn’t exactly generous. And that’s if you were even on payroll. From what Bryce had told me before, most of the firefighters were volunteers.
“Come on,” he said. “I’ll make some coffee, and we can work in here. You want to flip on the fireplace? It’s that switch over there.”
* * *
BRYCE
Perhaps I had underestimated the impact of having Krystal in my house. I felt like I’d dodged the question about why the interior wasn’t done yet. The truth was that it had been in the preparation stage for about two years, and I couldn’t seem to start.
Every time I started to make design plans for the kitchen and living space, I couldn’t shake the desire to have the woman who would make that kitchen their own be involved in creating the vision for the space. I didn’t cook much, except for at the station. And since I didn’t really have a vision for the kitchen of this house, I had simply let it stay how it was.
I grabbed the coffee from the doorless cabinet and scolded myself. It was admittedly ridiculous to let this house sit here in limbo, unfinished and waiting for some hypothetical Mrs. Storm to come and turn it into a home. Why was I simultaneously waiting for her to finish this and at the same time fighting off every blind date and setup with my claim that I wasn’t interested?
I looked back at Krystal.
She was skimming the books on my shelf, stopping occasionally to pull one out and scan the back before carefully replacing it.
I couldn’t get too comfortable with her here in this space. It wouldn’t last. If this house was waiting for a Mrs. Storm to finish it, then it better keep waiting.
With a deep sigh, I poured the finished coffee and carried the mugs out to the living room. I put on my best carefree smile. “Do you need cream or sugar?”
* * *
The following day,I was at the station when Mom called me.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Oh, I just wanted to check in after last night. It was just so nice to have Krystal back around the house.”
“It was a nice night. Thanks again for letting me bring her to dinner last minute.” It had been far too easy being with Krystal at my parents’ and then at my house. She fit right in, and it was hard to remember that she’d be leaving again soon.
“Of course. You bring her by anytime. I’m just so glad you two are reconnecting, you know. It’s been so long, but obviously the feelings are still there for both of you.”
“What? Mom, no. I told you–”
“She’s always been such a sweet girl, and now with her movies, I kind of thought she’d never come back here. But here she is! You’ve really got a chance to settle down.”
“She’s not stay–”
“I was starting to think you were just being stubborn, shutting down all my attempts to find you a girlfriend. I never expected that you were still in love with Krystal. But I think it’s wonderful, dear.”
My eyes widened. Would she stop talking for two seconds? “Mom, I think you’ve got the wrong idea. Krystal is just visit–”
Mom wasn’t listening though. “I can’t wait to tell Monica. Have you told her yet? She’ll be so excited. Of course, this means we’ll both have to stop making dates for you.”
The protests died on my lips. “No more dates?”
“Of course not, silly. If you’re going to convince Krystal to stay, you can’t be gallivanting with other women. No, I’ll tell Monica we have to hold off. You just focus on spending time with Krystal and showing her what a good man you are. Okay, sweetie?”
How was I even supposed to respond to that? A concern which immediately became irrelevant because Mom didn’t wait for a response. The line disconnected, and I pulled the phone away from my ear in disbelief. What just happened?
According to my mom, I was now on a mission to convince Krystal to stay in Minden forever.
Talk about a suicide mission.
The only way I saw for this to end was for me to get hurt.
Still… If I could get a few weeks off blind dates, and Krystal could get a break from her mom’s attempts to play matchmaker, maybe we could make this work.
We’d both pretend to be feeling out the idea of a relationship. And we’d both keep our eyes open, knowing that this would end in a few weeks when she left. No harm, no foul.
What could go wrong?
I pulled up Krystal’s number to shoot her a text. Midway through the first word, the alarm rang in the station. I sighed and slipped my phone back in my pocket. I’d just have to text her later and let her know where my head was.