by Amy Vastine
Kendall perked up. “He started today, huh?”
“He did, and he is gorgeous and thinks I’m beautiful. Maybe a little scary, too.”
“Scary?”
“I may have channeled Lucy for a minute or two today.” Emma related the whole story, perhaps embellishing it here and there.
Kendall fell into a fit of laughter. That was definitely contagious. The sisters laughed until their sides ached. They were still giggling when Simon came bursting into the room, ready to tell his mom all about his night with the guys.
They had gone out to dinner and then to a hockey game, where Max bought Simon the largest pretzel he had ever seen in his entire life. It was so big, Simon had to share with Charlie.
“Don’t forget the part where Patrick Kane looked right at you and waved,” Charlie said as he and Max joined them in the family room.
Properly prompted, Simon began to tell his story in great detail. Emma tried to pay attention, but her eyes kept wandering back to Charlie as he leaned against the door frame all casual with his thick arms folded across his broad chest. His eyes were glued to her. Every time she glanced his way, his smile would spread a little wider across his face. And against her better sense, she found herself smiling back.
He always seemed so happy to see her. Like running into her was a gift he wasn’t expecting but was hoping to receive. The feelings that created in her were unfamiliar. She liked it even though she shouldn’t. Charlie was a friend. A mutual acquaintance, really. She shouldn’t have any feelings in response to him.
When Simon finally finished his story, Charlie stepped closer. “How was your day, Nightingale?”
“I had a very excellent day, thank you. In fact, I was coming to give Kendall an update about the wedding plans. It’s good you and Max are here.”
“From the Hawks to wedding planning. A man’s ultimate fantasy night.” Max’s sarcasm was unappreciated.
“You’re the one so worried about what tricks I have up my sleeve,” Emma quipped. “Or did Charlie tell you all about it already?”
“Ah, that’s not exactly a guys’-night-out conversation topic,” Max replied.
What was the point of having Charlie spy on her if he wasn’t going to report what he found out? He was either a terrible spy or Max didn’t care as much as she thought he did.
“Well, I’m sure Charlie meant to tell you that I’ve already found a great place close to the church that can accommodate us on the Friday we talked about earlier. I also found this caterer—”
“Hang on there, Nightingale,” Charlie interrupted. “I wanted to talk to you about that. I have a better idea for the caterer. Someone who comes highly recommended.”
“Highly recommended by whom?”
“Me.”
Emma’s eyebrows lifted. “You?”
“Yes. Me.”
“Who do you know that could cater an entire wedding reception?”
“A small wedding reception. More like a large family dinner,” Max clarified.
“I’ve got the perfect people for the job. They’re a husband-and-wife team. He cooks for large groups of people all the time, and she’s the best cook you’ll ever meet.”
Where was the Charlie who loved all of her ideas to the moon and back? Had that punch to the face rattled his brain?
“My caterer was referred by an actual bride and groom.”
“I think we should have another meeting to discuss this,” Charlie said. “I had nightmares about those flowers you showed me. I think we need to reassess a couple things.”
“Reassess?” Emma was baffled by this suddenly opinionated Charlie. Traumatic brain injury could cause personality changes. Maybe he wasn’t as fine as he had proclaimed to be. “Are you feeling all right?”
“I’ve also been dreaming about a sundae from the Triple C. Maybe Lucky Lucy can get a large one free and we could split it.”
A strange noise erupted from Kendall. “Have you been pretending to be Lucy again? That is so uncool!”
“Oh, please. Lucy doesn’t care. You could do it, too, if you weren’t such a goody-goody.”
“Some of us need to set a good example for impressionable children,” Kendall said, nodding toward Simon, whose interest was piqued at the mention of ice cream.
“We play a game when we go to the Triple C, right, Simon? I pretend to be Aunt Lulu and he pretends to be Spider-Man. Fun is had by all.”
Charlie and Max laughed. Kendall did not.
“You are a piece of work, Emma Elaine.”
“Elaine? Is that your middle name?” Charlie sat next to her. His proximity was as annoying as his question. He flustered her.
“It was my grandmother’s name. And why are we talking about this? We were talking about the wedding.”
“I think it’s a beautiful name. It fits you.” His sincerity disarmed her once again. She didn’t want to change the wedding plans. She had wanted to hire the caterer tomorrow if Kendall and Max agreed. Charlie obviously loved to throw a wrench into things.
“I vote you two talk this over at another time and come back to us when you agree on things,” Max said as he picked up Simon and threw him over his shoulder. “I am going to get this little guy ready for bed, and then I would like a few minutes alone with my fiancée.”
Maybe this was a test. Emma could only assume Max wanted to see how flexible she could be about this. She would prove to him she could bend.
“Fine. Charlie and I will compare notes and get back to you.”
“Perfect. Say good-night to everyone, Simon.” Max turned around so they could all see Simon hanging down his back. The little boy’s face was red, but he giggled as if he was having the time of his life.
“Good night, everyone,” Simon squealed.
Max brought him over for Kendall to kiss and then carried him upstairs to bed. Emma’s sister had found herself a good man. Emma would make sure they had the best wedding. Even if that meant she had to adjust her plans, thanks to Charlie. He’d better not make a habit of that, though.
CHAPTER SIX
PROGRESS. CHARLIE WAS finally making some progress with Miss Emma Elaine Everhart. Max had reported that she had no boyfriend, only a potential date to the wedding. Max had heard she hadn’t even asked the guy yet. Serena’s advice to step up and have an opinion had given Charlie the push he needed to set up another meeting. Emma had agreed, and his hope had been renewed.
Hiring Pete and his wife to cater the wedding reception was a brilliant idea. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it earlier. Of course, he needed to make sure the O’Reillys were going to be around on the Fourth of July or he was in trouble.
“I’ve got a job for you, O’Reilly,” Charlie announced, leaning against the counter in the station’s kitchen.
“Cooking for you guys isn’t enough?” Pete asked as he pulled a large frying pan out of one of the cabinets. The heavy skillet clanged when he set it on the stove top.
“Not here. It’s a catering gig in a couple months, on the Fourth of July actually. If you and your wife are available.”
Pete lit the burner before giving Charlie his full attention. “Yeah? You got a catering job for me and the missus?”
“My buddy’s getting married and there’s a small reception afterward. Only forty to fifty people. You think you could handle something like that?”
“We usually head up to the Wisconsin Dells over the Fourth,” he said to Charlie’s dismay. “But I could see if we could move the family vacation to another time.”
Charlie didn’t want the man to change his plans, but with no Pete, he had nothing to talk to Emma about. “You sure?”
“I hate going up there on a holiday weekend. It’s too crowded and everything is more expensive. Maybe I can convince Gianna to go up during the week
when it’s way quieter.”
“Well, if you’re sure, then we’d love for you guys to cook for us.”
“Great. You’re saving me money, making me money and I get to watch the fireworks over Lake Michigan for the first time in years. Win, win, win for me.”
Pete went back to cooking lunch. The smell of sizzling bacon soon attracted more than one hungry firefighter. No one missed lunch when Pete made his famous bacon-cheddar-chicken sandwiches.
“So, Fletcher, what’s the latest on the nurse who’s got your tongue?” Alvarez asked, taking a seat at the table. Pete and the lieutenant were also interested in Charlie’s answer.
“There’s not much to tell. I found my tongue. We talked a few times and she agreed to go out with me for some ice cream this week.”
“Ice cream?” Alvarez leaned back in his chair, disappointment on his face. “Sounds like you’ve been getting dating advice from Jones.”
“Better than getting advice from a player like you,” Jones returned, sliding into the seat next to Charlie.
A verbal spat ensued. Both Alvarez and Jones exchanged put-downs until Lieutenant Keller had had enough. He threatened to assign them both to bathroom cleanup for the entire month if they kept it up. That quieted them down for the time being.
“Gianna and I had our first date at an ice-cream parlor,” Pete said. “She still loves the place, takes the kids there all the time. If it worked for me, it could work for Charlie.”
“See? Ice-cream dates can lead to amazing things.” Charlie knew he really shouldn’t call their meeting a date. It was wishful thinking on his part, but he needed to save face in front of the guys. There was no telling how much grief he’d get for planning a wedding.
He also needed to believe this meeting had date potential. Armed with his new “No More Mr. Nice Guy” attitude, he was certain to pique Emma’s interest. Truth be told, it had to work. His heart couldn’t take another brush-off because it was too soft.
“Arcade dates also lead to amazing things like second dates,” Jones announced. No one could believe it. “She lost her phone. That’s why she didn’t return my calls. As soon as she got it back, she called me and asked if I wanted to meet up for dinner. We’re going out Friday night.”
Alvarez shook his head. “No way. You are so full of it.”
“You want proof?”
“Yeah, I need proof. Because I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you.”
“You want me to throw you?” Jones stood up and pushed back his chair.
Alvarez was on his feet and the lieutenant was quick to get in between them. He put a hand on Jones’s chest. “You two will now be cleaning the bathrooms for the rest of the month. Not only will you clean them every morning you’re on shift, but every night, as well.”
“Come on, Lieutenant, I couldn’t help it. He’s so mean to me,” Jones whined, earning a couple chuckles from the rest of the guys.
“He might be mean, but I’m meaner. Maybe you two can find a way to get along while you scrub toilets and sinks.”
Alvarez glared at Jones, but they both kept their mouths shut. The other firefighters couldn’t seem to stop themselves from giving them a hard time. Charlie left them alone. He was too focused on what Jones’s news proved. If good things could happen in Jones’s romantic life, the same could be true for Charlie with regards to Emma. He might be nothing more than a nice-guy paramedic, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t woo a woman like Emma.
* * *
THE BEST AND the worst part of being a paramedic was the hours. Working twenty-four hours straight was rough. No matter how much Charlie liked the people he worked with, being around them for an entire day was never easy. Sleeping at the station wasn’t much fun, either. When Charlie wasn’t getting woken up to go on a call, he was busy squirting water at Big John, the guy who bunked next to him on shift, because the man’s snoring could wake the dead.
Three days off typically made up for it, though. After a shift, Charlie liked to have some alone time, something that was nonexistent at the firehouse. This “me time” was usually spent sleeping or watching television, two things he didn’t do when on shift. Sleeping in without an alarm was Charlie’s favorite, which was why he wasn’t particularly thrilled when his sister called him early in the morning on his day off.
“You’d better be calling for CPR instructions to save someone’s life,” he mumbled into the phone. He threw an arm over his eyes to trick his brain into believing it was still night and that falling back asleep was the only option after this call.
His eldest sister, Mandy, didn’t bother to respond to his comment. “I need to know if you talked to Kristin about Dad’s retirement party.”
Charlie groaned and rolled over, burying his face in his pillow. This was must-have-at-this-moment information? This seemed like something she could have emailed and he could have responded to at his leisure. “Seriously? You are waking me up after a twenty-four-hour shift to ask me if I talked to our sister?”
Clanging noises came from the other end of the line. A child screamed and another one shouted for her mother. “Just answer the question, Charlie. If she’s coming, I need to know where she’s staying.”
“I don’t understand why you can’t ask her yourself if she’s coming or not.” It was their father’s retirement party. This was about him, not them.
Charlie’s sisters had complicated relationships with one another. There had been drama as far back as Charlie could remember. He was the youngest of five children and the only boy. His two oldest sisters, Mandy and Kristin, had been ten and eight when he was born. The two of them fought like cats and dogs all through high school, one always trying to get more attention than the other. Their mother hypothesized their need for constant attention was due to the birth of Becca and Candice, the twins. They were five years older than Charlie and the sisters with whom he got along the best.
“Did you forget that Kristin declared she would not talk to me until I apologized for throwing popcorn at her the day after Christmas?”
The memory of his sisters fighting over what movie to watch and Kristin packing up and leaving in the middle of the night came rushing back. Grown-ups could sure act like children sometimes. “Why is our family so messed up?”
There was more yelling from Mandy’s end. Someone was crying. Mandy didn’t bother to cover the phone as she shouted at the kids to knock it off or she’d sit them on the curb with a “free to a good home” sign.
“Some of us are completely normal,” she said as if none of that had happened. Charlie laughed. Mandy’s life was anything but normal. She had two boys from her first marriage, two stepsons and a daughter. With all those kids running amok, her house was in constant chaos.
“Yeah, I’ve managed to keep the crazy at bay. You, on the other hand...”
“What are you talking about? I am one of the few sane ones.”
“Whatever you say, Carol Brady. Please tell the kids they can come live with their uncle Charlie if their mean mom kicks them out.”
“Don’t tempt me to drop them on your doorstep, little brother, because I can and I will. I can be there in forty-five minutes, give or take a few, depending on traffic.”
Mandy was the only sister to settle down in the Chicago area. The rest of them were sprinkled all over the country. Kristin lived in Indianapolis with her husband and three teenage boys. Becca and her husband were just outside Denver, and Candice had married a millionaire stockbroker and lived with him and their two children in a condo overlooking Central Park in New York City.
They’d all managed to make plans to come to Chicago for their dad’s retirement celebration. Given the drama that was destined to come in with them, Charlie wondered if he shouldn’t have suggested sending their parents on a relaxing vacation in the Bahamas instead of throwing a party.
“When I talked to Kristin two days ago, she was absolutely coming.”
“Is she bringing the boys? Because that will be a factor in where she stays.”
Charlie tried not to let all the questions annoy him. “I don’t know. I didn’t know I was supposed to ask.”
“Dad will be disappointed if all the grandkids aren’t here.”
“Her boys have gotten so big. She’ll need to take two cars.”
“The woman has a minivan. There’s always room in a minivan,” Mandy informed him. “I manage to fit my five kids, the dog, a bag of soccer balls and two more kids when it’s my turn in the carpool for soccer practice. Those things hold more than you can imagine.”
There would come a day when Charlie would know the “joys” of parenthood. Even after witnessing some of his nieces’ and nephews’ most insane temper tantrums, he still wanted a big family of his own. It made him wonder how Emma felt about kids. He’d have to find a way to work it into his conversation with her later today. She seemed to enjoy hanging out with her nephew and was so good with him. She had excellent motherly instincts.
Charlie promised to text Kristin and find out who all was coming to the party. He’d leave the dirty work to his mom, though. She was the only one who could convince Kristin to behave despite her feud with Mandy. His mother should have a degree in psychology. She was a master at the guilt trip.
He hung up with Mandy and accepted there was no going back to sleep. He had a date to get ready for, anyway. His whiskers tickled his palms as he rubbed his face. A shower and shave were definitely on the agenda. He didn’t want to show up at the Triple C looking like Max. No one wanted to date a guy who looked like her sister’s husband.
Charlie spent the rest of the morning doing a little internet research on wedding flowers before leaving to meet Emma. He bumped into Max on his way out. Father was giving son a piggyback ride up the stairs.
“Well, if it isn’t Floor Three and Junior. What moves faster, your dad or a Corvette?”
“Dad!” Aidan responded without hesitation. Charlie couldn’t wait to be someone’s hero.
