The smoke that poured out of the oven was enough to blacken the kitchen. My dinner guests fled out the front door, which also began spewing out the dark smoke. Instead of being wise enough to head out the door as well, I tried to solve the problem by getting the burnt rolls out of the oven.
When I tried to grab the pan, it seared right through the oven mitt I was wearing. I dropped the pan to the floor with a loud clatter.
In the middle of everything, I was vaguely aware of sirens approaching. I didn’t really pay attention to them, because there was no good reason for a fire truck to be sent out over some burnt rolls and smoke. Even when I heard the sirens blaring right outside the door, I was more preoccupied with trying to get the kitchen window open than I was with the sound.
My fleeing friends were calling me from outside the door, but I thought they were overreacting. I didn’t want to give up on my dinner yet. I was sure that Blue would walk in at just that moment and I would be mortified by the chaos I’d created. However, when I heard heavy footsteps pounding into the apartment, I turned not to find Blue, but to find a stream of water shooting directly at me.
“Ah!” I tried to jump back but my foot landed on the pan of burnt biscuits. Since water was already gathering on the floor from the hose, the pan slid quite easily across the tiled floor. My legs flew up into the air and I landed flat on my back with the water washing over me.
“Ma’am, ma’am, are you okay?” The hose shut off and a fireman ran toward me.
I had had plenty of fantasies about firemen in the past—strapping handsome men scooping me up out of my bed and whisking me away to safety. What I had not fantasized about was me sprawled out on the kitchen floor in a puddle of water and burnt dough with a frightening masked man hovering over me.
He grabbed me rather roughly and pulled me to my feet. Before even allowing me to explain, he rushed me out of the apartment.
“There’s no fire.” I stammered my words out, still a little shocked. “It’s just my rolls. I burnt my rolls!”
“We’ll decide if there’s a fire or not,” the fireman said and went back inside the apartment with a few others.
I felt sick to my stomach, possibly from all of the smoke inhalation, more than likely because of falling on my rear end and embarrassing myself.
“You okay, Samantha?” Janice asked.
She looked at me, not with sympathy, but with pity—I knew the difference.
“I think so.” The truth was, my bottom really hurt, but I wasn’t about to admit to that. “Who would call the fire department?”
“Oh, I’m so glad that you’re okay!” Ms. Bella’s shrill voice carried from where she hovered just inside her open door. “I saw all of the smoke and I was so worried about you, Samantha, since you’re usually in that apartment all alone.”
I did my best not to glare at her. Ms. Bella was a sweet elderly woman who liked to mention to me as many times as possible how sad she was for my living all alone—never mind that Ms. Bella lived all alone as well, unless you counted her two cats.
“There was no fire, Ms. Bella. It was just some burnt rolls.”
“Oh, dear. I could have sworn I saw flames.” She shook her head. “Oh, well, it’s better to be safe.”
I nodded just enough to appease her. Then I reluctantly spoke the words I knew that she was waiting to hear.
“Thank you, Ms. Bella.”
“You’re welcome, darling. Anything I can do to help.” She ducked back into her apartment and closed the door.
I tried not to be furious. Really, it wasn’t her fault. It was all my fault. I’d been so preoccupied with hoping that Blue was arriving that I hadn’t paid attention to the meal I was cooking.
Once I was alone, I sat down on a small bench and sighed. I was just starting to push away my negative thoughts when I heard a big crack of thunder from the sky. The rain began pouring down. I didn’t care; I was already soaked from the fire hose. The rain seemed fitting.
I leaned my head back against the wall and tried to keep from having a complete meltdown. I had been so looking forward to meeting Blue, and now I was hoping that he wasn’t going to show up—and just then I realized that my phone was still inside the apartment.
Chapter 8
When I stepped inside my apartment, the ugly scent of smoke greeted me. There were puddles of water on the floor.
I didn’t even want to think about what might have been damaged by the water.
Then I spotted my phone. It must have been knocked onto the floor in all of the commotion. It was sitting right in the middle of a puddle.
“No!” I dropped to my knees.
When I tried to pick up the phone it slipped right out of my hand and fell back into the puddle. I grabbed it again and did my best to hold on to it. The screen was blank.
“No!”
I tried rebooting the phone but nothing happened. It was nothing more than a paperweight.
I started to get woozy from the smell in the apartment. I stepped back out into the rain to get some fresh air. Just as I stepped outside, I noticed someone heading up the front walkway. With the rain it was hard to tell who it was.
The person had a hood pulled down pretty far to block out the rain. I wasn’t sure what to do. It could be anyone. It could be a neighbor. But it could also be Blue. I didn’t think I could face him. If it was him, what would I say?
Thanks for coming all this way and taking the time to meet me, but I can’t invite you inside, and I have no food for you. That would make a great first impression.
Before I could be seen, I ducked back behind one of the pillars that lined the front of the apartment building. I hoped that he would walk past, see that no one was home, and leave. I’d send him an explanation later.
Yes, it was rude, but it beat the alternative of admitting that I had nearly set fire to my kitchen.
I waited a moment and then peeked around the pillar to see whether he was still approaching. I nearly collided with the person, who had apparently spotted me hiding out.
“Sammy?” Max reached up and pulled back his hood. “What are you doing out here in the rain?”
“Max!” I stared at him with some confusion. He was not who I was expecting to find.
He stared back at me, with rain streaming down from his dark hair across his forehead.
“Sorry I’m late.” He held out a bouquet of flowers.
“Thank you.” I took them, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile. “It’s okay. It’s a disaster anyways.”
“What?” He met my eyes. “Why is it a disaster?”
“I burned the rolls, Ms. Bella called the fire department and now my kitchen might have water damage.” I shook my head and closed my eyes. “It was a silly idea to begin with. I don’t know why I ever thought that I could pull this off.”
“Hey.” Max coasted his fingertips along the curve of my chin.
I looked up at him. He was so close that I felt a jolt of electricity rush through me.
“Don’t do that to yourself. You tried something, and that’s what’s important. It was a big task to take on, and things happen. I’m sure you didn’t do anything to cause it.”
“Anything other than forgetting about the rolls?”
“Ms. Bella didn’t have to call the fire department.” Max laughed. Then he winced. “Too soon?”
“I’m sorry, Max. I’m trying to be lighthearted about it, but I just can’t seem to let it go. I just don’t understand how things went so wrong.” I sighed.
“Things happen.” He draped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a subtle hug.
“Yeah, they always seem to happen to me.”
“You’re just lucky, I guess.” He offered me that slow soft smile that made me tingle from the tips of my toes to the curve of my eyebrows.
Oh, Max, I thought. Perfect, beautiful Max. How could I have been so worried about Blue not showing, when it was you I truly wanted all along?
“So you never answered me. What are
you dong out here in the rain?” He held my gaze.
“I was waiting for someone.” I looked past him toward the sidewalk. “I guess he’s not coming.”
“Maybe he got held up?” Max suggested. “I heard there was a terrible accident on the parkway. No one was getting through.”
“Maybe.” I nodded, but I wasn’t convinced.
“Anyway, it’s a good thing, right? Can’t serve up charcoal rolls.” He teased me just enough to make me smile.
“Max, how is it that you always show up when I need you?”
“You’re just lucky, I guess.” He winked.
He leaned forward slightly and for a moment—a breath—I thought he was going to kiss me. My entire body ached to cross that inch of space between us and finally test the waters of friendship becoming love.
Instead, he brushed my hair back behind my ears and smiled at me.
“I guess I better go clean up my apartment and try to air it out.”
“Oh no, you’re getting your dinner party.” Max held out his hand to me.
“How? My apartment is a disaster.” I shook my head.
“I think that you need to think outside the box. I’ll call everybody and tell them to meet us. You see if you can find anything to change into, okay?”
“Don’t you have something to do tonight?” I looked into his eyes.
“Nope. The only thing I have to do is share a delicious meal with you. So hurry up. I’m going to make some calls.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket.
I thought about sulking instead. I had every right to be disappointed and cranky. But what did I have to be so frustrated about?
Max was there, as always, ready to pull me out of my difficult moment.
I’d thought for sure my dinner party was going to be a success, but it hadn’t. I could let that stop me from having a great time with Max, or I could get over it and have some fun.
Chapter 9
I ducked into my apartment and started opening windows. Max’s plan was actually perfect. It would give my home some time to air out from the smoke, and me a chance to burn off some nervous energy.
I changed into jeans and a t-shirt. They did smell like smoke, but at least they were dry.
I couldn’t resist checking my computer. It was safely in my room so it hadn’t been exposed to the water. When I opened it up I didn’t know what I was hoping for. Even if Blue had sent me an e-mail, it probably wouldn’t be a good one. When there was no note at all, I wasn’t sure what to think.
Of course you know what to think, Samantha. You gave him your number and your address and he didn’t bother to show. That’s a pretty clear message. It doesn’t need to be typed out.
I snapped my computer shut. I wasn’t going to focus on Blue when I had Max waiting for me. I tossed a few towels down on the floor to start soaking up the water and then headed out.
Max was waiting for me under the overhang.
“Good news. Janice and her boyfriend can make it.”
“Are you sure you want to do this, Max?”
“Me? You owe me dinner, remember?” He crossed his arms. “I was promised food.”
I laughed out loud at his demand. “Well, I couldn’t let you starve, now could I?”
“It would be quite cruel.” He widened his eyes. “I brought flowers and everything.”
“And everything.” I repeated his words under my breath.
That was the truth. Until Max showed up, it felt like everything was missing, but the moment he was in front of me, it didn’t matter that my dinner had been a disaster, or that Blue had blown me off, because everything had finally arrived.
“Sammy, you’re going to get your dinner party, I’m going to get my food, and it’s going to be a good night.” He slid his arm around my shoulders and steered me toward the parking lot.
I glanced back once more over my shoulder for Blue, but I knew he wasn’t going to show. I had pinned my hopes on him, and perhaps expected too much.
I’d expected nothing from Max, and yet he had given me everything I needed in order to feel better about my failed dinner.
At the diner, Janice and her boyfriend were already waiting for us.
“I hope you guys didn’t get smoke inhalation.”
“Oh, honey, we’re fine.” Janice waved her hand. “It’s not like you’re the first person to ever burn dinner.”
“That’s for sure.” Derek rolled his eyes.
“Hey!” Janice glared at him.
“All I’m saying, sweetheart, is that there are different settings on the toaster for a reason.”
“It was not burnt! It was just a little dark!”
Max and I exchanged a look as we sat down across from them.
“Don’t mind us, we fight about everything.” Janice shook her head, but she was smiling.
I wasn’t sure what to think of that. Derek leaned over and kissed Janice’s cheek. She smiled sweetly at him. I realized that they weren’t angry at each other at all.
After we ordered food, Janice and I began sharing stories of wild customers at Fluff and Stuff and the strange and horrifying things we had found while doing laundry.
“I once found a live kitten.” My announcement drew the attention of everyone at the table.
“Please tell me it was before you put it in the washer.” Max groaned.
“Yes, it was. I stuck my hand into the laundry basket to sort the clothes and that little sucker stuck its claws right in me.”
“Ouch!” Derek laughed.
“Ever since then I’ve always been very careful about sticking my hands in laundry baskets.”
“Good rule.” Max nodded his approval.
I was laughing so hard that I had nearly forgotten all about the ruined dinner party. The waitress delivered our food and drink. It struck me that going out to dinner was much easier than making it myself.
“This is so good!” Janice took a big bite of her hamburger. She chewed it up quickly and grinned at me. “I’m glad you decided to keep the party going.”
“Actually it was Max’s idea.” I glanced over at him. He was deep in conversation with Janice’s boyfriend. I had no idea what they were talking about but it sounded tech-oriented.
“Oh, was it now?” Janice winked at me.
Luckily Max was too busy talking to notice.
“Hush, Janice.” I shot her a look.
“What happened to the guy you were supposed to meet?”
“I have no idea. I guess he decided not to come.”
“I’m sorry. But it’s probably for the best. You know nobody is going to hold a candle to—”
“Sammy, did you tell Janice about that time that you fell off the horse at summer camp?” Max grinned.
“Max, that is not a story I share with everyone!”
“Oh, oops. But it’s adorable.” He looked very mischievous.
“I want to know now.” Janice looked at me with a pleading expression.
We spent the rest of the evening sharing embarrassing stories from our youth. My disastrous day had honestly turned into a great one. By the time I arrived back at my apartment, it had aired out quite a bit. Max helped me mop up the floor and check for any real damage.
“It doesn’t look bad.” Max shook his head. “I would have maintenance check it out. Oh, and you might want to get rid of those rolls.” He laughed as he kicked one of the burnt balls of dough across the floor.
“Thanks, Max. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me tonight.”
He paused and looked at me. “It’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you any night. You know that.”
“I know, but I really needed it tonight.” I smiled warmly at him. “I’m sure you gave up some wild excursion to be with me, and I just want you to know that I appreciate it.”
“Being with you isn’t giving up anything, Sammy. There’s nowhere that I’d rather be.” He frowned. “I’m sorry that whoever you were waiting for didn’t show up—not that you told me anything about th
is person.”
“Oh, it’s no one.” I sighed. “Well, that’s not exactly true. He means a lot to me, but I guess he doesn’t feel the same way.”
“Then he’s an idiot.” Max gave me a long tight hug. “But I’m sure that’s not the case. Remember the accident on the highway?”
“I guess.” I nodded.
I didn’t really want the hug to end. I almost asked him to stay. The words lingered on the tip of my tongue, begging to be spoken. But I couldn’t do it. Not after everything he’d done for me. I didn’t want to put him in an awkward position. I knew if Max wanted to stay, he would have stayed.
“I have to get going.” He kissed my forehead. “Don’t let any of this get to you. The important thing is that you gave it a shot, and I’m sure you’ll do it again.” He raised an eyebrow. “I mean the dinner party part, not the fire department part.”
I laughed. “Thanks, Max. Good night.”
“Good night.” He looked at me for a moment with an expression I couldn’t quite define. It almost seemed as if he wanted to ask me something, or perhaps tell me something.
Instead, he turned and left the apartment.
Chapter 10
I was a little worn out from all of the conflicting emotions that I’d felt throughout the day. I knew the best way to get those feelings out was to spend a little time with Zara. Working on her story seemed to take my mind off any troubles of my own that I was having.
I forced myself not to check my e-mail again. I didn’t want to see that Blue hadn’t sent me a message.
Instead, I opened my story and began working on it. Zara’s confidence had begun to have a strong impact on my own. The more time I spent writing her story, the more I felt the Zara in me blossoming.
I spent almost an hour writing before I was ready to take a break. Engulfed in Zara’s world, I had forgotten momentarily about Blue.
As soon as I logged in to my e-mail, I remembered. It hit me like a punch to the gut. What if he never contacted me again?
My mailbox loaded, and I saw the little icon that indicated that I had a new message waiting for me to read. I could see that it was from Blue. I wondered if I should open it. Maybe it was a note to say that he didn’t actually want to meet me in person—that it was just something that he’d teased me about.
Single Wide Female: The Bucket List Mega Bundle - 24 Books (Books #1-24) Page 50
