Page 46

“I’m an actor. How hard can this be?”

“Hurry up,” Dorothy whispered rather loudly from the kitchen. “I made a fool of myself in front of Bobby’s boyfriend.”

Oh, boy.

The omelet had been amazing.

Dorothy spent my entire meal hiding in the kitchen.

In the middle of the week, only one other person had come in.

He sat in the far corner, sipping his coffee and reading a copy of the Town Crier.

Now and then, he’d glance over the top of the paper and then go back to reading.

If he recognized me, he was less than impressed.

“Meal’s on the house,” Dorothy said with a smile.

“No, no. I can’t let you do that.”

She held up her hands. “You’ll have to speak with the chef.” Clearing off my table, she pointed to the back. “Go back and say hi.”

Wiping down the table, I got up and grabbed my jacket. She gave me a quick smile. “Sorry about earlier. I’m not usually a gossip.”

“Liar,” said the gentleman.

“Pete, does Phyllis know you’re hiding here?”

“I’m in the doghouse either way,” he said, never looking up.

The people of Firefly reminded me of my family at Thanksgiving. They bickered, argued, and, most of the time, did it with a smile. However, the people here knew more about each other’s lives than my family. I don’t think I knew my parents as well as these folks knew one another.

I worked my way to the back and pushed the swinging door open. Large and in charge, Simon patted down the sweat from his forehead. With the sleeves of his chef’s jacket rolled up, I could see the tattoos of kitchen utensils along his forearms.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you out of spandex.”

Whatever occupied his mind vanished with a grin. “If Jason had his way, I’d only be in spandex.”

“Superhero fetish, good to know.”

He wiped his face with a dish towel and tossed it on the pass. Coming around, he opened his arms for a hug. I knew him and his boyfriend from the convention, but the friendship had formed through text messages after the event. When his arms wrapped around my chest, he gave me a squeeze.

“With the number of times Lucas makes me watch The Centurions, you might as well take the spare bedroom.”

“Speaking of, did Jason tell you??—”

Simon roared with laughter. I didn’t have to finish the sentence before he backed up, buckling over as his body shook. I couldn’t help but grin and shake my head. Now that my expectations had adjusted staying with Rose and Edward was working out.

“Did you think people were renting their entire house?”

“There were plenty of cabins??—”

“Hunting cabins,” he corrected. “We don’t even have a bed-and-breakfast.”

“I knew it was small… but…”

Simon wiped the tears from his eyes and came in for another hug. He patted me on the back. I knew a pity hug when I received one. “Chris, the town north of here is called T4 R9. No inhabitants, just a road and a lot of land for hunting deer.”

“So, Firefly is a metropolis?”

“We have stop signs and stoplights.”

Dorothy popped her head in. “Am I interrupting? Or are you still working?”

“Don’t mind Dorothy. She’s the real muscle behind this operation.” She handed him a sheet of paper and he put it on the pass. “I heard her say you and Bobby are a thing?”

Dorothy’s face flashed red. Spinning around, she pushed her way into the dining room. I wondered how long it would take before we’d be able to make eye contact without it being awkward.

“Yeah. It’s weird saying it out loud. I guess we’re a thing.” Some would call it lying. I called it preparing for a role.

“Good for you. Bobby is good people. I’ll talk to Jason. You guys can come over for dinner and some drinks. It’ll be nice to have adults in the house again.”

He moved back to the hot top and stopped. “Wait. How did you meet Bobby? I don’t remember him at the convention. That was the night the pipe burst in the Kirby house.”

In the city, nobody would question my fib. Without thinking, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I might have stayed for a night or two.”

Simon held an egg in mid-crack. “Stayed?” Dammit. There were no places to stay in town. This is why I never lied. I could barely keep track of the truth. The tabloids had plenty to talk about, and if it came out I faked a relationship, they'd be on me like a pack of wolves.

When in doubt, be short. “Yeah.” I shot him a grin. Had I just overstepped my boundaries? Our relationship was only an hour old, and I was already worried I would put Bobby's business on display for the whole town. I prayed he found the lie amusing and shrugged it off.

“Oh,” he said. “Well, that’s a scandal all on its own. Remind me to tell you how I first met Jason. It still makes my toes curl.”

I stifled a laugh. Now Simon thought I went from a comic convention, found the first available bear, and shacked up. If I found out Bobby lived with his parents, this story would take an incredibly weird turn. Though… the more I thought about it, maybe I could use the opportunity to my advantage.

“In the spirit of small-town gossip…” I leaned against the pass-through, listening to the bacon pop on the griddle. “What can you tell me about Mr. Wright?”

“I’ve only been here six months.”

I raised an eyebrow. “In Firefly, six months is enough time to know everybody’s business.”

“True,” he said with a laugh. “You know how every town has that one guy everybody knows, but nobody really knows?” Not a clue what he meant.

Hollywood and New York City had lots of people I didn’t know.

“That’s Bobby. Hell, before—” He checked his watch.

“—forty-five minutes ago, I didn’t know he was gay. ”

“Really?”

“I mean, I’m glad there are more bears. At this rate, we’ll have enough for a team at the American Legion’s trivia night. We’ll call ourselves the Growlers.”

“I’m going to guess that’s the most exciting thing happening in Firefly?” I had to admit, the idea of sitting around with a group of burly men playing trivia sounded like fun. I bet their trivia was less pop culture and more about how to survive a blizzard.

“Unless you like Bingo. But if you go, bring a knife. There’s a good chance you’ll get roughed up.” I laughed before he shot me a look. “That was not a joke. If Jason says they’re joking, he’s lying.”

I was glad to get an outsider’s perspective of Firefly.

Simon seemed to have adjusted to life in a small town.

I was sure Jason had something to do with that.

It was unlike anything I had experienced in New York.

I could get used to the closeness of the town.

.. until I realized the lack of privacy.

Then again, how was that any different from life as a celebrity?

“I forgot to ask, is Lucy in town?”

“She’s in Boston for the month, preparing for another stint in Africa. Speaking of which, I need to check in on her.”

I remembered his family being close. How he managed a son, boyfriend, and ex-wife made him a superhero in my eyes. I had a houseplant at home that wasn’t trying hard enough to survive.

“Go see Jason. If he gets pushy about signing merchandise, tell him to behave or I’ll spank him.”

“Like that’s going to slow him down.”

He nodded in agreement. “Stay out of trouble.”

I gave a wave as I exited the kitchen. I wondered what on Earth could I possibly do to get in trouble in good ol’ Firefly Valley? Apparently, I'm already dating the nicest guy in town. How long before Tessa got the news and texted me eye-roll emojis? That’s what she gets for lying to the media.

I gave Dorothy a slight wave as I walked through the dining room, just to watch her face turn red. “Bye, Dorothy.”

“Did you just kill me? Again?”

Not what I expected to hear from Firefly’s resident king of geekdom.

As I walked down the aisle, looking at the superhero pins and keychains, Jason’s maniacal laughter filled the store.

He sat at the back of the store while three younger boys sat on the opposite side of the table.

Their eyes went wide at my approach. I held up my finger, giving them the universal signal to stay quiet.

“Why do you hate my dwarf?” A kid in a black t-shirt shook his head, running his hands through his curly hair.

Jason came to an abrupt stop. “That’s what you get for making a dwarf cleric.”

“Mister Thistlebush will never be forgotten.” The redhead said as he patted his friend on the shoulder. “We’ll bury him with your other characters.”

The gray folding table had been covered with maps of dungeons.

I recognized the multi-colored dice and tiny figurines of their characters.

In my younger years, I had played my fair share of Mutants & Mayhem.

It kept me out of trouble, and my parents figured it was better to spend my money on that than on drugs. Drugs would have been cheaper.

“Jason, do you remember that actor at the con?” The kid with the baseball cap had a smirk as he leaned forward. I almost couldn’t hide the laugh as he set up my arrival.

“Chris Wilde? Yeah.”

“Didn’t you say something about him not making a good Valiant?”

I raised my eyebrow. The three boys snickered amongst themselves. I wanted to hear his reply before I scared him.

“He made a fine Valiant. They just didn’t do a good job of adapting the character from the comic.”

“And the comment about besting him in arm wrestling?” The curly-haired kid not only let Jason dig his grave, but he also held a shovel, helping him along.

“It’s the truth,” Jason said.

“Is it?” I said.

Jason didn’t jump, but his entire body tensed. He swiveled nice and slow. With a slight wave, he returned to his players. “None of you are getting out of this game alive.”

Jason jumped to his feet, holding out a hand. “About that arm wrestling thing…”

“It’s not the weirdest white lie I’ve heard lately.” Nor was it the weirdest I had told. I couldn’t throw stones from this glass house. “I bumped into Simon and figured I’d come over here and say hi.”