Page 23 of Sheltered
Harlow didn’t immediately respond, likely taking some time to decide how she felt about going to the drive-in. I didn’t mind. I’d be happy to come up with something else.
“That sounds wonderful, Blaze,” she breathed. “Since we did something that had us getting some exercise and being active, it’ll be nice to do something that will give us a chance to slow down. I can’t wait.”
“Saturday night, again?” I asked.
“Try and stop me.”
I let out a laugh. “Perfect. It’s settled then. I’ll check the times, see what our options are, and touch base later.”
“Okay.”
Thinking it was wise to clarify something, I said, “That doesn’t mean I won’t welcome hearing from you throughout your day, if you’ve got anything you want to share.”
“You’ll be working,” she reasoned.
“So, text me. Sometimes, it helps to get distracted for a minute or two, so when I get back to whatever I’m working on, I’ve got a clear head again.”
“You’re the boss,” she returned, something light and carefree in her tone.
I continued to laugh, loving the way this woman made me feel. “Alright, Harlow. I should probably get myself into work now.”
“Okay.”
“Enjoy your day recovering from all that fun we had yesterday,” I urged her.
Her soft laughter came through the line. “I will.”
With her promise in hand, I said goodbye to Harlow and disconnected the call. Even though I needed to get myself up, so I could leave for work, I took a minute to just let all that good I was feeling after that call with her to sink in.
When I finally managed to do that, I stood and moved to leave. But I’d barely taken two steps when my phone rang in my hand. I smiled, believing Harlow was calling me back, because she’d forgotten to tell me something.
Unfortunately, when I glanced down at the display, I was disappointed to see it wasn’t her. Instead, it was the office.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Good morning, Blaze. It’s Avalon.” Though her words indicated something pleasant, the sound of Avalon’s voice told me things were not good.
“Yeah. What’s going on?” I asked, feeling concerned.
“I’m not sure if you’re already on your way here, but if you are?—”
“I was just getting ready to leave my house. What do you need?”
“Right. Well, would you be able to head over to Short and Sweet instead of coming here? Leo is already there and will meet you,” she said.
My brows pulled together. Short and Sweet was the tiny home community that Leo’s woman, Hanna, owned. It essentially acted the same as a hotel did, but instead of traditional rooms in a single building, guests could stay in a tiny home during their stay in Steel Ridge.
“Of course. Did something happen?”
“He’d barely walked through the front door this morning when he got a call from Hanna. Based on what he could gather from Hanna, who was frantic, one of the houses caught on fire,” Avalon explained.
Shit.
That was awful.
“I’ll head over there now. I assume they just want some extra hands, right?”
“Probably, but I can’t say for sure. Before he ran out of here, Leo just asked me to get someone else to head over there,” she answered.