Page 19 of Fire and Icing (The Firemen of Waterford TN #1)

Emberleigh

Falling in love is like leaping from a cliff.

~ Marie Coulson

One of the things I love most in the world is book club.

We only meet once a month, at Moss and Maple, the book shop owned by my friend, Daisy.

She took over the shop when the previous owners retired, and she’s turned it into a cozy place to gather, as well as a spot where locals can always find their favorite reads.

The shop occupies the first floor of an old farmhouse surrounded by woods with a creek gurgling through the back of the property.

Daisy and two of our friends, Winona and Cass, live upstairs in three of the bedrooms. Daisy converted the attic into a living space with a kitchen and communal hangout area.

Syd and I always drive to book club together. I park in a space behind the bakery and wait.

When she doesn’t come out, I text her.

She doesn’t answer.

I get out of the car, walk up the back steps and knock on her door.

Still no answer. Huh.

I twist the knob. The door opens and I step in. People in Waterford generally only lock their doors when they go on vacation. Otherwise, most doors in Waterford are perpetually unlocked. If you've known someone as long as I’ve known Syd, you pop by unannounced and you let yourself in.

I hear her giggle. Is there someone here with her?

“Syd?” I shout into the house.

“One minute,” she yells back.

“I’m coming down the hall,” I announce.

Syd’s latest stray cat weaves itself between my legs, nearly tripping me. I bend to scratch it behind the ears.

Syd’s bedroom door is open. I overhear her saying, “It’s not a good time. I’ll call you back later.” She’s quiet for a beat and then she tells whomever she’s talking to, “No. I’m sorry. I thought I told you I was going out tonight.” There’s another pause and she says, “Okay. Bye.”

The best way to describe how she sounds is to say there’s a smile in her voice.

“Who was that?” I ask.

“Who was what?”

“Whomever you were saying goodbye to.”

“Oh, that. Just a friend. And I can’t find my book. Do you have yours?”

“Yes. It’s in the car. What friend?”

“Just no one. Book. Book. Book. Where is that book? Oh! Here it is!” She picks the book up off the side table. “Sorry. It took me a while to pick out my outfit. I was running late.”

“Your outfit?”

“Yes.”

“For book club?”

“Yes.”

“Our book club, that you could literally attend in sweats with curlers in your hair?”

“Yes.”

“Book club that Winona actually wore her pajamas to last month?”

“That’s Winona.”

“Since when did you care what you wear to book club?” I ask.

“Maybe since tonight. Can’t a girl care about how she looks?”

“Of course. Of course. I’m just not used to you caring … especially not for something as come-as-you-are as book club.”

“Did you grab the cookies?”

“Not yet.”

“Okay. I’ll get them. Let’s go. I don’t want to be late.” Syd grabs her book and purse and dashes past me, down the steps and into the shop. By the time I’ve followed her down to the bakery's back door, she’s coming out with the box of cookies we packed earlier to bring with us as a treat.

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

“Never better.”

I start to say more, but she’s obviously not eager to tell me whatever’s going on, if anything, so I drop it.

“Did you like the book?” I ask once we’re buckled in and heading out the parking lot onto Mill Street.

“I did. I love a good suspense. That plot twist!”

“I know!”

The rest of the drive is filled with our usual pre-book-club opinions about the book of the month.

Maybe I was just reading into things. I’ve been off-kilter ever since Dustin and I bumped into one another in Gran’s house—a detail I have yet to share with Syd, or anyone.

The rest of our friends are already inside when we arrive.

“The cookies are here!” Winona shouts when Syd flings the front door to the book shop open.

“And us,” Syd says with a wide smile. “We’re here.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Winona teases. “Hand them over.”

She gives both of us big hugs and then she deftly removes the container of cookies from Syd’s hand, talking to the box saying, “Come to mama.”

Cass is standing at the back of the room. “I heard you’re talking to that new fireman.” She lifts her brow and smiles as if she just won the county fair.

Her voice carries across the hum of conversation. Everyone stops chatting at once. It’s so quiet you could hear a fly change its mind.

“Talking to him?” Daisy says. “I heard they’re dating.”

Carli glances at me, looking sheepish. I think she’s going to spill some beans. She doesn’t. Her best friend is Cody’s sister, so she has a deeper connection to the firemen than the rest of my friends. I wonder what she’s heard.

“Rumor has it you had dinner at the bakery the other night—just the two of you,” Cass addresses me, but announces to the group. “He picked up Gino’s and brought it to her after the shop was closed. So romantic.”

“Oh my goodness!” I finally exclaim through their chatter. “Do none of you have jobs?”

Winona laughs her easy laugh. “Of course we have jobs. But we need hobbies.”

“Gossip and being busybodies?” I tease.

She nods with the sweetest smile on her face. “They’re the oldest hobbies in the world. Besides, you can hardly blame us. You two are adorable. I saw you at Baker from Another Mother when he was ordering the other day. The way he was looking at you made me weak in the knees.”

“Vanessa came into the bookshop the other day,” Daisy says. “I tried to disappear into the stock room, but she moves so quickly!”

“Tell me about it,” Syd mutters. “If only she’d good and truly move—far, far away, and do that quickly.”

I chuckle.

“She said you two are in some contest?” Daisy says.

“Yeah. It’s a baking thing. Are we going to discuss this book?” I hold my copy up in the air. “Or are we going to talk about Dustin all night?”

I glance around at each of my friends, making eye contact with one after the other to drive my point home.

Almost in unison, a chorus of “Dustin!” rises up.

“Seriously?” I shake my head. “Y’all.”

“Okay. Okay, everybody. Let’s give Emberleigh a break,” Cass suggests. “We can discuss the book.”

“Thank you,” I say to Cass.

We all take seats in the cozy back room Daisy has set up with love seats, overstuffed chairs and a coffee table.

Out the windows, the rear of the property sprawls to the edge of the woods.

We settle into a discussion about the book, and when we’re finished, everyone sticks around to eat cookies and catch up with one another.

Most of the novelty of the topic of me and Dustin seems to have worn off.

I’m talking to Daisy about the bookshop. We always end up in conversations about owning our own businesses and I usually walk away feeling seen and encouraged.

Carli and Winona are over in the corner. Carli asks Winona, “Didn’t you start dating someone from that dating app?”

I catch Syd’s eyes going momentarily wide. Then she smiles a bit too brightly.

In a voice that’s louder than usual, Syd says, “Who meets people on those apps?”

All eyes are on her.

“I mean—of course people do, but … I don’t know. It’s just not really my thing.” She pauses. “Carry on. Ignore me.”

She grabs a pig-in-a-blanket off her appetizer plate and stuffs it in her mouth.

I study my best friend. She’s definitely acting weird. Something’s up.

“Excuse me,” I say to Daisy.

“Sure.”

I walk over to Syd and whisper, “Are you seeing someone?”

Syd shakes her head a little too hard, if you ask me. “I’d tell you if I were. Now stop fretting. You need to keep your mind clear for the contest.”

“We’ve never kept secrets,” I whisper.

“So … maybe that’s your answer,” she says. Then she walks over to Daisy and says, “I never thanked you for hosting tonight. You’re so thoughtful to always open the shop for us.”

“You’re welcome. Of course,” Daisy says.

Daisy glances over at me and says, “The cookies were delicious, as always. What’s your secret?”

I’m about to answer her when there’s a knock at the front door.

“Who could that be?” Cass asks. “Everyone knows we’re closed for book club tonight.”

Daisy walks out of the back room through the shop toward the front door.

“Well, hello there,” she says to whomever is at the door. “Were your ears buzzing?”

I’d recognize the voice answering her anywhere these days. It’s not as deep as it was in the morning in Gran’s kitchen, but it’s undeniably him. What is Dustin doing here?

“Uh. I’m sorry to interrupt. We got an email … I mean … Could I … Is Emberleigh here?”

I’m already through the shop on my way to the front door before he’s halfway finished asking for me.

“I’ll just leave you two to it, then,” Daisy says, skittering out of the room like a squirrel with a cheekful of walnuts.

“What are you doing here?” My tone sounds like an accusation, even to my own ears.

Dustin smiles. Of course he does. “Aren’t you happy to see your boyfriend ?” He emphasizes the word with a twinkle in his eye and leans casually against the door jamb, landing in a pose that would make many women lose their minds. Not me. Which is good.

“Of course, I’m happy to see you. Just …”

Why does he make me feel so flustered? It’s not the way he’s smiling and looking straight into my eyes, propped on that doorway like he doesn’t have a care in the world except looking at me.

He’s just Dustin.

I clear my throat.

“Just what?” He smirks.

“Did you need something?” I ask him.

“Um, yeah.” He pushes off the jamb and pulls a paper out from his back pocket. “We got an email from the producers. We have to sign these and turn them in tonight. Your gran said I could find you at the bookstore. I didn’t realize you were in a book club.”

“I’m a woman of mystery.”

I raise my brows and look at him with an expression I haven’t given a man in a long, long while. Am I flirting? With Dustin? No. I’m not.

“Are you now?” He smiles wider. “Intriguing.”

“No. It’s not that intriguing.” I extend my hand and he places the papers in it.

His fingers brush across my palm and a tingle rushes up my arm.

I can’t help my reaction to someone tickling my palm.

It doesn’t mean anything. I’ve gotten chills straightening the laundry when a silk pillowcase brushed against my arm.

I walk over to the counter where Daisy has some pens in a cup. Once I’ve signed the papers, I hand them back to Dustin.

“Thank you for going out of your way to bring these to me,” I tell him sincerely. “You didn’t have to.”

“I kind of did.” He winks.

His eyes rise to a spot behind me. When I turn, the entire book club is gathered in a line like the von Trapp family singers.

“Well, I’ll get going,” Dustin says, drawing my eyes back to his.

“Okay. Thanks again,” I say.

Before I know what’s happening, Dustin leans in and places a kiss on my cheek. It’s soft and warm and … nope. It’s for show. For them. For the contest. But there’s something about the way Dustin is looking at me—like I’m not just the woman he’s pretending to like. Like he might mean it.

And when he pulls back, my whole body is chanting, He kissed me! He kissed me! The spot on my cheek feels softer and different.

He casually touches my shoulder, and with his other hand, he tucks a strand of my hair back.

I shudder. His eyes are on mine, along with—I’m quite sure—all the rest of the eyes in the room.

The moment feels too intimate and exposed.

But, when I look into his eyes, his gaze settles the chatter in my brain.

He leans in. I think he’s going to actually kiss me.

I want to … No, I don’t want to kiss Dustin.

I don’t want to kiss anyone. Kisses lead to feelings and feelings lead to blurred lines and possibilities that lead to commitments—commitments that can be easily broken.

His cheek brushes mine as he moves to put his mouth right next to my ear. His face is warm and slightly scratchy. He smells like a home when the fire has been burning all day during a storm.

“Play along with me,” he whispers into my ear. “You’re doing great.”

I can’t help myself. I giggle. This whole situation is so absurd. In what universe is a man like him leaning in and whispering anything in my ear while all my friends watch us as if we’re the couple of the year?

Dustin pulls away, smiling at my reaction as if he just told me a private joke and it hit just right.

“I’ll see you later,” I say.

“You will,” he assures me with a wink.

He raises his hand and waves to my friends. “Sorry to interrupt.”

They erupt into assurances of “It’s okay!” and “Come by anytime.”

He pauses and glances into my eyes one more time, and then he turns and walks down the steps to his truck.

I can’t help myself. I watch him go.

On the drive home, Syd asks me when I was going to tell her about Dustin.

“Syd, what are you even asking me? You know we’re faking for the show. As a matter of fact, you were the instigator of our whole farce.”

“I’m not talking about you faking,” she says. “Obviously I knew you had agreed to fake dating. I’m talking about you two actually having feelings for one another.”

“Feelings?”

“Emberleigh. This is me. You have feelings for Dustin. And he definitely has feelings for you.”

“I like him. He’s a nice guy. And he’s being sweet to help me. It’s a lot to ask of him—not only the contest, but all this pretending.”

“Pretending, huh?”

“That’s what it is.”

“Well, Academy Award to you! Could’ve fooled me. And every woman in that book club.” Syd pauses and looks over at me. “I still say that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

“Not a bad thing … More like a complete disaster. I can’t risk it. If something goes wrong between us, the contest goes down the tubes and the prize money is gone.” I look through the darkness at my best friend. “It doesn’t matter, because we’re not dating.”

Syd’s voice is nearly imperceptible. “Not everyone leaves, Em.”

“True,” I agree. “You’re here. And Gran.”

I want to believe her. I do. But a part of me—the part that’s always bracing for someone to walk away—never fully unpacks its bags.

Syd opens her mouth to push her point with me, but then she stops herself.

“And Vanessa,” she smiles over at me. “Don’t forget her. She hasn’t left.”

We laugh, melting into the ease we always find in our friendship.

Syd will tell me whatever’s going on with her in time. We don’t keep secrets because she’s my person and I’m hers.

Not Dustin. He’s not my person. He’s just a friend helping me out in a pinch.

My hand lifts to my cheek and I sigh.