She swatted him on his hard upper arm. “You could have told me when Dominic showed up, flaunting his thousand-dollar suit and all.”
“I don’t do dick wars.”
His dignified tone made her burst out laughing. “You should put that on a T-shirt.”
He joined in, good-naturedly as always. “Seriously, I’d do anything to prove my love to you, everything except flash my portfolio.”
“Portfolio? God, that sounds sexy.” She fanned herself. It sounded especially sexy coming from a handsome firefighter in jeans and a t-shirt. “But don’t worry, I fell in love with you way before I knew about it.”
“I know.” He smiled smugly. “Guess I won that dick war.”
She laughed even harder, because it was true, so true.
“Anyway, I want to invest in something new. Diversify my portfolio. I’m very interested in ways to promote plastic recycling, and I really love supporting local businesses.”
“You’ll get your investment back, with interest.”
“I know I will.”
“I might out-million you.”
“I bet you will.”
“Are you really serious?”
“Serious as a two hundred dollar Uber ride.”
She hugged him so enthusiastically that they both teetered on the edge of the pier. “I accept,” she told him. “Whatever you’re offering, I accept.”
“Please don’t put that on a T-shirt.”
Now, a month later, she had a surprise for him. The Explastica office, located in a newly built office complex with a view of the lake, was filled with family and friends and acquaintances from all over Lake Bittersweet. Many of the firefighters were there, as well as most of the waitstaff from the Blue Drake.
Bliss and Earl Granger brought their newborns, each nestled in a cloth sling against a parent’s chest. They’d finally named them, going with neither the “hippie” theme nor the “royal” theme that had inspired their own names.
“Meet Austin and Ariel,” Bliss told them. Kendra wiggled one twin’s bootie-covered foot and Jason let one twin wrap a tiny hand around his finger. “These two owe a lot to both of you.”
Kendra shared a glance with Jason. She loved being part of this community, loved letting everyone know that they were together.
“We would have named them after you guys, but that might be weird, considering Lake Bittersweet already has a Kendra and Jason. Who are epic, by the way.”
“We are pretty epic, aren’t we?” Jason laughed down at her, then jumped as someone tapped on his shoulder. Kendra didn’t recognize the stranger. Odd, since she’d only invited friends and family.
Jason turned around, then staggered backwards as he stared at the dark-haired man before him. “No fucking way.”
“Yup. I finally did it.”
“Did what? Who is this?” Kendra looked from one to the other of them, utterly confused. The stranger was exceptionally good-looking, with striking dark eyes and classic bone structure. Come to think of it, he looked vaguely familiar… “Galen?”
“Yup. Do you think she’ll like it? Is she here? Is she coming?”
“She’s not here yet.” Jason squeezed his shoulders. “Stay frosty.”
“I might throw up.” Galen clutched at his stomach and wandered away.
As soon as he was gone, Jason explained. “When we got together, he decided it was time to go for it with Brenda.”
“Good luck to him. Brenda’s a peach.”
She caught sight of Holly and waved at her. Thanks to Holly, a mentally unbalanced young man was now getting treatment, and no one was in danger from the stash of weapons he’d been accumulating. If Holly hadn’t reported Chloe’s boyfriend, a disaster might have happened. Even Chloe recognized it. They were friends again, and Holly was supporting her through the aftermath, as only Holly could.
A bass line strummed, grabbing everyone’s attention. Kendra clutched Jason’s hand in excitement. “Ready for your surprise?”
He twisted his face in doubt. “Hmmm…”
“Stop. You’re going to love it. Stay right here.”
After motioning to the other key players in her surprise, she joined the group of musicians at the back of the office, where a big Explastica banner hung.
“Welcome, everyone, to the grand opening of Explastica. Thank you so much for being here. This is a dream come true for me and I have so many people to thank. Starting with my father, Alvin Redfish Carter, who’s back on bass tonight.”
Alvin tipped his cap and grinned at her. The fact that he could play again made the world shine even brighter. Now that Mama was back, she was taking charge of his recovery. They worked on his therapy exercises every day, but he still had trouble with certain words.
“We’ve had a lot of changes in this town lately, including a new fire chief. You know Fire Chief Mosedale doesn’t like to hog the spotlight, but this place wouldn’t exist without him. That’s true of a lot of things around here. As a show of our love and appreciation, please enjoy this throwback to one long-ago summer, with a little help from the fire department. Carly and Gina, come on up here.”
She took off her wrap dress, revealing one of her white chambermaid’s outfits from the summer she worked at the Blue Drake with her four best friends. Carly and Gina, also wearing white, joined her. They all clustered around the microphone.
“Jason, this is for you.”
Alvin’s band launched into “Summer Loving” from Grease.
Like out-of-practice backup singers, the three of them danced and sang, pointing to Jason every time the line “met a boy cute as can be” came up—changing it to “met a fireman.”
Jason slowly turned red as a fire truck.
Then came the best part. From stage right, a conga line of volunteer firemen and women strutted toward the microphone. Kendra held it out for them so they could sing too. They preened, they grooved, they ground their hips, and every time that line came along, everyone gestured at Jason. The last fireman was Brent, dancing with that same plastic damn blowup doll she’d first met at that infamous training exercise.
Everyone was laughing by now, hearty belly laughs, the kind that you only heard around people who knew each other really well.
She beckoned to Jason to join them. Being the ultimate good sport, he did. He could really move, her Jason. She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he grooved to the funky beat. Someone from the band passed up a trombone. Without missing a beat, he raised it to his lips and blew.
Kendra looked around at her new office space, filled with old friends and new love. A year and a half ago she’d been at her lowest. But boy, had she rebounded.
Jason handed the trombone back to the band and stepped to Kendra’s side. He swept her off her feet into a smooth, professional dip. One of his wicked twinkles lit up his eyes. “You’re going to pay for this,” he growled.
“Ohh, is that a promise?”
“It’s a vow.”
The look in his eyes told her exactly what he was vowing. To be hers, now and forever. She knew he’d keep that vow. Because, just like her, he knew how blessed they were to find each other. To love each other. To see each other.