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“Is everyone okay?” I asked in a shaky voice. “What exactly happened?”

“A fire broke out around six this morning. No one got hurt. That’s all I know, really.” She shook her head and grabbed my arm. “What are we going to do? I have bills to pay.”

Next to me, Ginger was growing anxious. The noises and stressed out people were probably getting too much for her. I had to get her out of there before she ran away.

“Will you call me if you have news? I want to stay, but Ginger here doesn’t.”

Juliet wiped the tears under her eyes away with her fingers and nodded. “Of course.”

Still dazed and confused, I walked to the dog park. I unclipped Ginger’s leash from her collar, and the dog happily dashed around on the grass, playing fetch with an old tennis ball I always carried with me whenever I walked a dog.

I slumped down on one of the wrought iron benches and tallied up the facts. I was carless, jobless, and soon probably homeless. Despite the sorry state of my tiny apartment, I had actually grown to love it and didn’t want to say goodbye so soon after moving in. But crying or complaining about my situation wasn’t going to change a single thing. All I could do was take action.

Ginger came running back with the tennis ball, and I absentmindedly threw it away again.

“Hey, watch out,” someone shouted.

I looked up to see Lewis a couple of feet away from me, rubbing his head. When he turned around and our eyes met, his annoyed expression morphed into a surprised one. He walked over to me, Archie in tow.

“I think this is yours,” he said, placing the tennis ball in my hand.

“Gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you on the head. I’m here with Ginger.”

He frowned. “A friend of yours?”

“No, silly, Ginger’s a dog. Why on earth would I take a friend to the dog park and throw a ball at them?”

He sat down next to me and grinned. “I was teasing you, Olive.” He unclipped Archie’s leash to let the dog roam free. “How are you feeling? Your nose looks like it still hurts a lot. And I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you look a bit out of it,” he said, studying my face.

I bit my lip. “The coffee shop burned down this morning. No one got hurt, thank goodness, but I’m out of a job now. I’m sorry, Lewis, I can’t be your coffee dealer anymore.”

His eyes grew wide. “Wow, what a nightmare. So that’s where that coffee scent came from.” He threw me a worried look. “What are you going to do now?”

I gave him a weak smile. “I’ll figure something out.”

“Is your car still at your parents’?”

I nodded.

“Let me get it towed for you. Consider it one less thing to worry about.”

I wanted to protest, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to get it towed myself now that I had to live off my almost nonexistent savings. His small and kind gesture would help me out a lot. “That would be awesome, actually. Thank you.”

“I wish I could do more.” He grew silent for a beat as if he needed to pick out the right words to say next. “You know,” he started. “I was hoping I’d run into you here.”

Oh, man, my imaginary tail started wagging again. He did this on purpose. He wanted to see me, just like I wanted to see him. I felt like screaming,what does it mean?!

“You did?” I asked instead, keeping my cool.

He grinned at me. “I had a lot of fun with you last night. You’re basically the only friend I have around here.”

I looked him straight in the eye. “I love that we’re friends.”

A small voice in the back of my head pushed to the forefront, making me question if being friends was all I wanted. I quickly pushed the thought back. Lewis was sweet, charming, and hot, but that didn’t mean I had to fall for him, did it? Given the current state of my life, I didn’t think adding a crush to my pile of problems would help me. Besides, my imagination was stretching it too far. Lewis had said he was happy to be my friend. It’s not like he had told me he harbored intense feelings for me and wanted to make me his wife.

He cleared his throat. “So, I wanted to ask if I could cook for you sometime. If you’d like me to, of course.”

“Well, I love to eat, and you’re great company. Consider it a big fat yes,” I said, unable to refrain from smiling.