Page 12 of Sparks Fly
I'm smiling the whole way back to the engine. Gunner is leaning against the side of it with his arms crossed, watching me with an expression that hovers somewhere between resigned and amused.
"Not a word," I tell him.
"Wasn't going to say anything." He pushes off the engine and pulls open the door. "Not a single word."
I’m still smiling when we pull away from the curb and head back to the fire station.
Chapter Seven
Trish
"Girl, who was that?"
My co-worker Misty is at the scene of every crime. She always has the gossip, and she's constantly spreading it. I want nothing more than to get out of this situation without speaking to her, but I know if I refuse to answer her, she'll find some other way to get the answer. At least if I'm the one she gets the information from, it might be accurate.
"Mark, he works with my brother."
She rolls her eyes as we head back in. "Yeah, we all saw that, I'm wondering who he is to you."
That's a hard question to answer. Before the last few days I would've said he was my brother's friend, but that's changing. He's becoming one of the reasons that I smile every day. Admitting that to myself is scary. I never wanted my happiness to count on someone else, but at the same time I recognize this man does make me happy. "He's a friend," I end up saying, knowing that the word doesn't encompass all that this man is coming to mean to me.
"I wish I had a friend like that," she mumbles as she heads back to her office.
Today I'm helping with vehicle registration renewals and the line that had gone outside once we heard the screech of tires and the sirens has lined back up. It's almost the end of the month, so it's more busy than normal, and I'm thankful that I have something to concentrate on that isn't the way his kiss in front of everyone made me feel. Logging back on to the system, I hold up my hand. "I can help the next person over here."
"Mom, are you dating Mark?"
I'm not prepared for that question from my daughter later on that night as I'm making dinner. "Where did that come from?"
"I heard Uncle Gunner and Aunt Amy talking about it. One of my friends' moms dated someone, and they turned into their new daddy. Is Mark going to be my new daddy?"
Oh holy shit. I'm wholly unprepared for all of this. "Cora..." I start, not sure what to say. "He's my friend." That seems to be the easiest way to describe it.
"Does that mean he can be my friend too?"
"Yes," I answer quickly. "He would love to be your friend. Would you like to meet him?"
She nods with her entire body. We've been together with him in different situations, but they've never officially met one another. "He's really cute."
"He is, isn't he?" I wrinkle my nose as I look down at her. I realize I need to be completely honest with her. It's been just us for most of her life, even though Derek and I were married. She was most of the time, an afterthought for her father. "Cora, what would you think if I do date Mark? He's my friend, but that doesn't mean that we won't at some point." I'm not exactly fibbing to her, there's nothing official yet.
She looks at me with eyes that are so much like mine it's like looking into a mirror. Tilting her head to the side, her look gets pensive. "You smile a lot more in the past week. I like that."
Then she scrambles into the living room, and has a seat in front of the TV. Leave it to my daughter to cut through all the bullshit, and make it as simple as it could be.
A few hours later, I've taken my shower, put Cora to be, and I'm contemplating whether or not I should text Mark. He's still got time left on his shift, but if he's asleep I don't want to bother him.
I pick up my phone and set it back down twice before I finally call myself a coward and just fucking text the man.
Me: You still up?
The response comes back faster than I expect.
Mark: Yeah. Quiet night so far. Probably shouldn’t say that…lol! You okay?
Me: I'm good. Just couldn't sleep.
Mark: Liar. You're thinking about me.
