Her body language changed at the mention of flowers. Had I just spilled the beans? Would the rest of Firefly know the moment we walked out the door? “That’s soooooo sweet.”
At first, I thought it might be sarcasm. She tossed herself back in the chair. “I can barely get Conner to commit to a date.”
“If you ask me…” I couldn’t believe I was about to dole out relationship advice. “The best ones don’t require chasing. You run toward each other.” I should write inspirational greeting cards.
The stairs creaked as Simon came down. I hope he hadn’t heard my moment of maturity. However, the more I thought about it, the advice applied. Neither of us were running away. Simon had lived up to his motto about new experiences, and I reaped the benefits.
“Okay, Julie. Numbers are on the fridge. Lucas is out like a light. Should be a calm night.”
Simon lifted a hoodie from a peg on the wall and pulled it over his head. In giant green letters across the chest, “Boston.” I had found the most handsome flatlander of them all. Julie gave us a nonchalant wave as I jumped off the couch, and we left the house.
“So, where can we get some food?” he asked.
I raised an eyebrow. “At this hour? I assumed you were cooking.”
“I wouldn’t mind, but I thought it’d be nice to talk and let somebody else do the work.”
“You know it’s after eight.” Under the porch light, his head leaned to the side, confused by the statement. “City boy, all of Firefly shuts down at eight. There won’t be a single store open.”
“Oh. Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I should have asked.” He grew cuter as the fluster set in. I gave him a kiss on the cheek. He stared off into the yard. He stroked his beard while he thought. “Want to go for a stroll?”
For him, I’d ignore the rumbling in my belly. I could always make some Mac and cheese when I got home. I offered him my elbow as if we were making a grand entrance. Without missing a beat, he hooked his arm with mine, and we were off, walking across the yard.
When we reached the street, he veered us to the right. We were only a couple of blocks from downtown. It made sense to head toward the center of town. The side streets were lucky if they had a working streetlight. At least around the green, we’d be able to see more than five feet in front of our faces.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he started. “Why did you come back to Firefly after college?”
He skipped the formalities and went to the big question. As of late, I had been asking myself the same. Once I graduated, I could have gone anywhere, but something about Firefly drew me back. Once lured, it seemed leaving was damned near impossible.
“My family is kind of weird when it comes to Firefly. My great-grandmother was born here. But my mom’s parents were born in Connecticut, and my mom in California. Me? I’m a birther. Born and raised. Other than school, this is home.”
“Ever think of leaving?”
I hid my surprise. His hand slid down my arm until he held my hand. I didn’t want to spoil a perfectly good evening by revealing how much I thought about leaving. I didn’t want Simon to think his courting efforts were being wasted.
“It’s crossed my mind. Mostly because college proved there’s more to life than Firefly. I’d be happy if this could be homebase between my travels to exotic locations.”
“How exotic?”
“One time in high school, the French class went to Quebec City.” I shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that makes anywhere exotic.”
“Tu parles français?”
“You speak French?” I shouldn’t be surprised. What couldn’t this man do?
“A chef I worked for was from Paris. I had to learn so I knew why he was yelling at me.”
“That sounds… hostile.”
“It’s the kitchen life.”
“I only took the class for the trip. Quebec City is beautiful. I think if I could go anywhere, I’d want it to be old. There’s something nifty about modern people living in these historic locations.”
“The comic shop in the mill is making sense.”
I hadn’t given it any thought. The mills were the oldest buildings in Firefly. I always enjoyed seeing the giant red brick structures when I drove into town. Even now, I could see the top of the buildings coming into view. It did indeed make sense. I got to run my shop in the oldest building in town. Something about that realization made me smile.
“Greece? Italy? Could see a castle or two outside of London.”
