Leaving Normal, Stef Holm [ebook reader screen .TXT] 📗

hands on the arms of the chair, felt relaxed. Content. "Where'd you go to high school?"

"Borah. And you?"

"Boise. Class of '87."

"I was Class of '78."

His eyebrows rose. "She's getting better. She admitted to graduating nine years before me."

"Funny how that nine years just stays between us, huh?" She tried to make a quip. "I might as well keep reminding myself."

"I don't think of it as a reminder, so you're wasting your breath."

The drinks came and Natalie took a sip of wine, her fingers sliding down the stem and a thoughtful expres-sion lighting on her face. "Do you have any brothers and sisters in town?"

"Nope. Only child. I know you have a sister. Any others?"

"Just my sister who you met at Hat and Garden. She's younger. Although sometimes I think I'm younger."

He nodded. "This is good."

"Not really. She's a lot more out there with her thinking than I am, so I feel inexperienced at times."

"How so?"

"I married the first man who asked me, didn't date a lot before him. Now that I'm single, it's like I'm going through that awkward stage all over again."

Tony cracked an easy smile. "I don't look at it like that. I'm smarter now, I know what I want. I have a better perspective about what's going to make me happy for having gone through what I did."

"I don't doubt that. But I've been on some dates that I wish I'd never gone on. I tried that speed-dating service. A disaster."

He drank some beer, rested the bottle on the dark wood table. "That kind of dating isn't for me. I think the best things come when you aren't looking for them."

She lowered her gaze, then lifted her chin. He couldn't read what was in her eyes, wished he could, but her words were more telling. "So you're not looking for anyone?"

It was the first time she'd admitted to being interested him, even if she didn't come out and state it—even if she didn't realize what she didn't say was just as revealing.

He grinned, gave her one of his best ones. "If I don't look, she'll fall right into my lap."

Music drifted around them, each looking into the other's eyes. The atmosphere was lively, the lighting soft. Noises from the kitchen were a muffled sound in the distance. People walked past their table to use the restrooms in the back. None of it seemed to matter. It was as if they sat by themselves, alone. Just the two of them.

Something changed in that moment, he felt it course through his body. Knew she was considering giving herself over to things she fought. He couldn't tell for sure, just had a hunch by the way she looked at him, the way she smiled slightly.

They left and drove home, each in thought. At her door, he took her keys and unlocked it for her.

Moths batted against the porch light she'd left on, illuminating the small space.

She stood with an awkward posture and a tight hold on her purse, maybe wondering what she should do. He wasn't going to do anything because she expected him to do something.

The last time he'd had her here, he'd kissed her. That didn't mean he didn't want to now. He did.

Her hair was soft, the blond buttery and golden. Her lips were pink and her cheeks blushed from the cold. From the close way he stood next to her, he could easily take her into his arms, kiss her firmly on the mouth and make her melt.

But that's what she assumed.

He wasn't all that predictable. Besides, he'd rather kiss her when she wasn't tensed up waiting for it.

"Good night, Natalie. Thanks for coming with me."

"Oh, well…thanks for asking."

He put his hand above her, rested his palm on the doorframe and leaned closer. He could feel her breath against his jaw, watch the part in her lips. She swallowed.

"Next Friday, come watch me skate. The Guns and Hoses event starts at four just before the Steelheads play. I'll come by and get you about two."

Confusion marred her forehead, a sense of what to do came to play over her features. "I usually work on Fridays."

"Can you make arrangements for someone to cover you for late afternoon?"

"I…Tony, I think we're better off if we just stay friends and—"

"Friends watch other friends skate. There's no commitment to doing anything else but that, Natalie."

She struggled, then said, "Yes, I suppose you're right. It's just that—"

"Then I'll see you at two." He pulled himself taller, backed away and stepped down from the porch. "Have a good week."

As he walked toward his house, he pushed his hands into his pockets to ward off the cool spring night, yet his internal temperature was blazing. It was all he could do not to turn around, pull her fully against his chest and cover her mouth with his.

Chapter Fifteen

Chemistry Test

Boise Fire Station No. 13 was located near downtown, a redbrick building built in 1951 and remodeled in 1994.

Natalie viewed the firehouse through Tony's eyes as he took her in through the main entry.

"See that Dalmatian?" He motioned to a three-foot-tall, black-and-white-spotted ceramic dog sitting by the front door. "The cost of that's in the city budget. All the stations have them."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep."

They proceeded past a type of library, and then the hallway cut left and right, as well as straight ahead. Tony went straight and she followed.

The Guns and Hoses hockey game had just ended, and they'd left the Bank of America Centre right after and come to the firehouse. The fire department had won, and several of the guys who worked at Station 13 and played on the team had wanted to stop by, see the guys on shift, and celebrate their victory. Rocky, Tony's friend, had come along, too, with a brunette who'd watched him at the game tonight.

Natalie had watched the game with the wives and girlfriends. It felt strange, as if she were an outsider to a small community established with longtime friendships. It wasn't as if