"I ran into Johnny and Ainsley earlier today, Johnny's gonna spend a few more hours with Ainsley and Hunter then he's gonna grab Roy and come over to help," Mike said, as he and Captain Stanley moved toward the garage to start taking out the materials they would need.
"That's great. Beth's gonna be home on Monday and if this garage isn't done," Hank shook his head, "I'm just gonna volunteer for both B and C shifts this week."
Mike smiled, Beth was super nice, but she did expect that her husband would get done the tasks on her honey do list, at least in some sort of timely fashion. "Well, she did you give 3 months to get this done."
"Whose side are you on?" Hank looked at Mike.
Mike just smiled and grabbed the ladder, moving toward the side of the garage.
E
"You sure you're okay with me heading out?" Johnny asked Ainsley, as he watched her struggle to get down on the floor to play blocks with Hunter.
Ainsley smiled up at him. "Beth told me that Hank was at the deadline for getting the siding on the garage done. She was only going to be gone 4 days, but gave Hank the extra 3 days knowing he'd need it. She's back Monday. Your Captain needs you."
Johnny smiled. "I won't be too late. Do you need me to pick anything up from the store while I'm out?"
"Can you check on how we are doing on milk?"
Johnny walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was less than a ½ gallon. He walked back into the living room. "You'll be okay tonight, but I'll bring home another gallon." Johnny bent over, picked up Hunter and gave the little boy a hug and kiss. "You be good for your momma."
He put Hunter back down and got down on the floor next to Ainsley. "I love you, my wife."
"I love you, my husband."
Johnny pulled her close and gave her a long, lingering kiss. He ran a hand down her side and rubbed her belly. "Think you'll still be up when I get home?" Johnny asked, letting his eyes wander down his wife's body. She was so sexy when she was pregnant.
Ainsley let her hand stroke Johnny's cheek and then slide down his neck and down the edge of his shirt, along his chest. "I'll try."
Johnny reluctantly got off the floor and headed out the door. He'd talked to Roy earlier and knew he'd be waiting for him.
E
"How on earth did you think the two of you were gonna get this done without help?" Roy asked, running his arm across his forehead to stop the sweat that threatened to drip into his eyes.
"I don't have that much left to do," Hank said, eyeing the side of the garage they had just finished.
"We just worked 2 hours and only have one side of the garage done. We have the entire back and more than half of the other side, then all the cutting for the front," Johnny said, moving around to the back of the garage and over to the next side. He walked back around to the front of the garage.
"Well, maybe if you twits stopped talking and started working we'd be getting more done," Hank said, his voice with a slight edge.
"Yeah, cause we're the twits that waited three months to start this project," Mike shot back, a smile on his face.
"Alright, how do we tackle this to get it done this weekend," Hank said.
"You and Mike tackle the other side. Johnny and I will work on the back and then tomorrow we'll only have to do the front; but you're buying pizza and beer tomorrow," Roy said, moving some of the siding around to the back of the garage.
The guys worked with minimal chit chat as the struggled to get the project to a stage where it was realistic to think they would finish tomorrow.
Mike lifted the ladder back to the hooks on the side wall inside the garage. He placed his hands on his back and leaned backward stretching his stiff muscles.
"Getting old there, Mike," Johnny teased.
"With baby number two on the way, give yourself six-months Gage," Mike shot back.
Johnny laughed. "Can't wait."
"Thanks, guys. So what, another couple hour's tomorrow?" Hank asked.
"Probably at least 5," Roy said. "Johnny and I have about 1/2 of the back wall still to do, and all the front."
"Can you guys come over about 10:00 AM?" Hank asked.
"We'll be here," Roy said, volunteering Johnny and himself.
Mike frowned slightly.
"Problem Mike?"
"No, I was supposed to take Caroline out. She wanted to buy a new couch and then we were going to go to dinner and a movie. I'll see if she can shop without me. We can pick the couch up later."
"You sure, the three of us can handle this," Hank gave his young Engineer a way out.
"No way. If we're giving up family time he can delay his girlfriend for a few hours," Johnny said.
"C'mon, he's still in the beginning stages of a relationship where she hasn't realized all his faults," Roy came to Mike's defense.
"Thanks, a lot," Mike deadpanned. "I'll be here at 10."
Mike walked out to his truck with Johnny and Roy. He waved as he got into his truck and headed back to his apartment.
Mike narrowed his eyes as he pulled into the parking lot, several teenage boys were hanging out, leaning against cars, a six-pack clearly visible. He recognized one of the boys as Adam Jackson; the son of a neighbor. Mike knew Adam was not quite sixteen.
Mike parked is truck and walked over to the group of boys. "Hey, Adam."
"Oh, Hi, Mr. Stoker," Adam tried to move to block Mike's view of the beer.
"Whatcha doin?"
"Just hanging with my friends."
"Uh-huh," Mike said, reaching around the young boy to grab the beer. "None of you look like you're over the age of 21, so I'm just gonna take this and dispose of it properly for you."
"Man, you can't steal our beer," One of the boys stepped forward.
"Show me ID proving you're over 21 and you can have it back," Mike said.
"Man, you're such an old fogey," the kid said.
"Yep," Mike said, moving toward his apartment. He let himself into the apartment and dropped the beer in his fridge. He looked at the clock and decided he would call Caroline tonight to tell her he had to change plans for tomorrow.
He reached for the phone, but it rang before he could pick it up. Mike briefly pulled his hand back, shocked by the sudden sound in the quiet apartment.
"Hi, Stoker, here," Mike answered.
There was a pause with no sound, but Mike could tell someone was on the line.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Mike."
Mike smiled at the soft, hesitant voice, "Hey, Meg. How are you?"
"I'm doing good, thanks for asking."
Mike frowned, Meg sounded sad and she was obviously nervous talking to him. "Are you sure? Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Well, I feel kind of bad asking and don't hesitate to say no, but we were talking in a staff meeting today and Principal Haggerty wants to do a safety demonstration for the kids in the first few weeks of school and he wants to get the police department, fire department and nurses or doctors out to talk to the kids. I was assigned the task of seeing if I could get a fire station to come out. They want to show off the Engine and have the firemen talk about what kids should do in certain emergency situations. I was hoping maybe you could come out?"
Mike hesitated before answering.
"Or recommend how I go about asking another station," Meg quickly added. "I don't want to intrude, or put you in an uncomfortable position."
"Meg, I'm not uncomfortable and I bet the guys would love to participate. I was just thinking through the logistics. We have to ask permission from Chief McConnike because they have to take the Station out of service while the equipment and men are at the school. I was just wondering when I would be able to see Chief McConnike in person, or if I needed to call his office."
Meg was quiet on the phone.
"Meg, I'd like us to stay friends," Mike addressed the uncomfortable silence coming from her end of the line. "I like being able to help you, and I miss our conversations; you always stretched my thinking on all kinds of subjects and things I thought were boring in school, like history, you discussed it in a way that captured my attention."
"Thank you," Meg said quietly. "I miss our talks too."
"Let me talk to Captain Stanley and see how he wants to handle the request and I'll get back to you."
"I would have asked Ashley to ask Johnny, but with the baby due so soon, I just didn't want to put anything extra on her plate," Meg said, trying to explain again why she called Mike.
"I'm glad you called me," Mike assured her.
"Thank you, Mike."
"I'll call you in a few days," Mike said. "Night, Meg."
"Goodnight, Mike."
Meg held the phone and frowned feeling disappointment wash over her. Mike was such a great guy; it was just too bad that things had played out the way they did. She had really thought they had something special and had even let herself think it was possible he was "the one".
Mike looked at the clock. He decided he would rather call Caroline in the morning. The day was catching up to him and he was ready to get some sleep.
E
"Caroline, I am really sorry," Mike said, as the silence lingered on the phone. "We need like 5 or 6 hours with all of us working on the garage and then I'll be free. I can still pick up the couch for you and help you get it back to your apartment."
"Ok."
"Caroline," Mike knew she was mad from the shortness of her answer. "Please don't be mad."
"I'm not mad."
"Really? You sound mad."
"I'm not mad. I'm disappointed. I like spending time with you and I'd like your opinion, but I'll get a girlfriend to go with me and we'll catch up later," Caroline said, her voice relaxing.
"I promise, tonight is all about you."
"I like the sound of that," Caroline said softly into the phone. "Maybe I need to show you how much you can enjoy being with me so you don't make other plans so easily," Caroline teased, her voice low and sexy.
"Now I like the sound of that," Mike smiled.
"Go help your Captain, pick me up by 5:00 PM?"
"Absolutely," Mike promised.
E
Mike finished getting ready and hurried down the stairs toward his truck. "What the hell," Mike stopped and just looked at his truck, a long scratch running down the driver's side from the middle of the bed of the truck, all the way toward the wheel well at the front of the truck. Mike ran a finger over the deep gouge. Someone had obviously taken a key and ran it along the side of his truck, pushing hard into the metal.
Mike looked toward Adam's apartment. He really didn't think Adam would have done this, but any of the other boys from last night were likely suspects. Especially the boy that had told Mike he couldn't steal their beer. Mike looked at his watch. He needed to get to his Captain's. He'd talk to Adam later and call his insurance company to see if it was worth making a claim or just paying out of pocket.
Mike sighed as he climbed into the truck. It was a fairly new vehicle and he was pretty upset about the intentional damage. Mike tried to put it out of his mind while he drove, but it was really bugging him.
"Man, Mike, what happened?" Johnny asked, as Mike got out of his truck.
"Stupid teenagers," Mike grumbled. "They were drinking beer in the parking lot and I took it from them. Can you believe this?" Mike looked at the long gash again.
"You shoulda just let them keep the beer," Johnny said, inspecting how deep the gouge was.
"Gage…"
"Relax, you know I'm kidding. You gonna tell their parents?"
"I'm gonna talk to Adam first and see if he'll tell me which kid did it. But, yeah, if I can't get him to talk to me I'm gonna have to fill out a police report so the police will probably talk to the parents. I just can't believe that they would do it. I mean, we all pulled stupid stunts as kids, but we would have never destroyed the property of the adult that busted us," Mike said, his voice thick with disappointment.
"Kids now a days have no respect for authority," Roy chimed in. "We would have never pulled the stuff we see on most of our runs."
Mike and Johnny nodded in agreement.
"You should call the police here and have them come out to complete the report while you're here," Roy suggested.
"No, I wanna talk to Adam first and see if I can get him to come clean. If I can just work it out with the kid, I think that's a better way of teaching him a lesson."
The guys got to work and the subject of Mike's truck gave way to a one-up-menship competition of stories of the stunts each man had pulled off when he was young.
The guys stepped back and examined their work a few hours later. "Nice garage, Cap," Johnny said, lifting his can of beer in salute to Captain.
"Thanks, guys, I couldn't have done it without ya." Captain Stanley said.
Mike glanced at his watch. "If there's nothing else I'm hoping to get home and take a quick shower before I pick Caroline up at 5:00 PM."
Roy glanced at his watch, "You'd better get moving."
"One more thing," Mike said, looking over at Captain Stanley. "Meg called me last night, the school wants to do a safety assembly for the students and was wondering if we would be willing to be a part of it?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Hank agreed. "I'm meeting with Chief McConnike on Wednesday afternoon and can let you know on shift Thursday. Is that enough time for her?"
Mike nodded, "I think so. I'll give her a call just to let her know we'll know for sure by Thursday."
Mike couldn't help but frown as he opened his truck door. He was going to have to get this fixed soon because now every time he looked at his truck he felt a little depressed.
Mike quickly drove home and took the stairs toward his apartment two at a time, quickly unlocking his door and heading toward his bedroom. He dropped his dirty, sweaty clothes in the hamper in his bathroom and reached in to turn on the water. As the water warmed up, he ducked into his bedroom and pulled out a clean pair of pants and a nice shirt. He already had a plan in his head, there was a quaint Italian restaurant on the beach that was a hidden treasure. The building didn't look like all that much, but the food was excellent and the service was fantastic. He figured he could take Caroline to a nice dinner and then a quiet walk on the beach.
Mike jumped into the shower, quickly pouring shampoo into his palm and lathering his hair. He let the shampoo sit while he soaped his body. He quickly rinsed off and grabbed a towel rubbing his hair dry and quickly drying his body. Mike dressed, brushed his hair and quickly shaved just to make sure he wasn't scruffy when he kissed Caroline.
Mike grabbed a bag with a blanket in it, he thought it would be nice to sit on the beach and look at the stars, there were a few clouds, but maybe he'd get lucky and the evening sky would be clear.
Mike locked the door as he stepped out of his apartment, and immediately spotted Adam crossing the parking lot, it appeared he was heading toward the store on the corner of the block. "Adam!"
"Adam!" Mike called out louder when the boy didn't turn at his first call.
The boy turned and looked at Mike.
"Hold up," Mike called out.
Mike went down the stairs and crossed the parking lot toward Adam.
"Did you see my truck?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, I did, what happened?"
"I was gonna ask you that?" Mike said, his eyes locking with Adam's.
"Why me?" Adam looked confused and then his eyes widened as he got Mike's message. "Wait, you think I did that. No way….Hey, man, I know you took the beer, but you coulda squealed to my parents and you didn't. I got no beef with you."
"What about your friends?" Mike asked.
"They were mad, but none of them would do that. In fact, a lot of them are building their own cars, they respect cars way too much to trash your truck." Adam insisted.
Mike was skeptical, but there wasn't anywhere to push the conversation just yet. "Talk to your friends for me, find out if they know anything. If they did it and they come clean, I won't take it to the cops."
"Mike, look, the guys left not long after you took the beer, they all have curfews. I seriously doubt they did it, but I'll ask around."
Mike nodded and headed toward his truck. He glanced at the clock as he turned the key in the ignition, he shook his head, he was gonna be late.
E
"You're late," Caroline said, as she opened the door for Mike.
"I know, I'm sorry," Mike said, waiting for him to invite her in.
Instead, Caroline stepped out of the apartment closing the door behind her. "I'm just teasing, but I do have a couch I want your opinion on and the store closes at 6, I think we'll make it if we leave now."
Mike slipped his arm around her shoulders and headed toward his truck. He still wasn't sure why it was so important to her that he have a say in her couch, but he kinda liked the feeling it gave him that she valued his opinion on something like that. Plus, she wasn't mad at him, so he'd practically do anything for her right now. "Your carriage awaits."
Mike drove to the furniture store based on Caroline's directions and followed her into the store.
"It's in the back," Caroline said, as she weaved her way between the dining room tables that were set up as soon as you walked into the store.
Mike followed her and stopped when she did. "Whatdya think?"
Mike took in the large sofa with the orange and blank swirled velvet. It wasn't particularly his taste, but he'd seen similar items in some of the larger homes they had been to on fire calls and knew this was the choice of the upper class. "Looks expensive," Mike said, figuring that was an honest enough statement.
"It is, but it will hold up for a really long time," Caroline agreed. "I just am not a fan of the red velvet and the mustard yellow color just is not my style."
"It's important you get something that is going to make you enjoy coming home."
"Would you enjoy coming home to this?" Caroline asked, sliding closer to Mike.
"Uh, I mean, I guess, guys aren't really picky about furniture," Mike stammered. He liked Caroline, but it was definitely too early to be discussing that type of commitment.
Caroline laughed. "Relax, Mike, I'm just messing with you. We're just getting to know each other. My parents come to visit a lot though and my dad is about your height, given I am like 6 inches shorter, what is comfortable for me can be really uncomfortable for him. I just want you to sit in it and make sure it holds your height okay."
Mike laughed and visibly relaxed.
"You are so cute trying to figure out how not to offend me," Caroline laughed and stood on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. "Will you sit and tell me what you think?"
Mike moved over to sit on the couch. It was surprisingly comfortable. He leaned back and stretched his arm out, inviting Caroline to sit next to him. She smiled and moved to sit down next to him, snuggling up and resting her head on his shoulder.
"I can see sitting like this for a couple hours watching a movie with you," Mike said.
"Sounds like a sale to me," the salesman said.
"Definitely," Caroline agreed. "Can you have it delivered next week?"
"I can help you get it home," Mike offered.
"Delivery is free with purchase," Caroline said, following the salesman toward the office to pay for the couch.
Mike looked around, maybe picking out furniture with a girlfriend wasn't such a bad thing after all.
E
Mike held the door of the restaurant for Caroline, and then followed her out into the cool night air. Caroline shivered slightly. Mike slipped off his coat and helped her put it on. "Do you feel like a walk on the beach, or are you too cold?"
Caroline pulled the coat tighter, breathing in the faint scent of Mike's cologne. "After all that fabulous pasta, I need a walk," Caroline said, laughter in her voice.
Mike led the way down the stairs and toward the edge of the sand just out of reach of the water. They walked hand in hand in silence for a few minutes until Mike spotted the silhouette of a person perched on a rock. It was fairly dark and he couldn't see if it the figures was a man or a woman. He moved Caroline to his other side so he was between her and the person.
"Everything okay?" Mike said, as he neared the person. At that moment a cloud moved and the full moon lit the area and Mike recognized Megan.
Megan quickly moved her hand into her pocket and looked over at Mike. She wiped at the tears that were sliding down her cheek with the hand that held a Kleenex. "Mike, hi, yeah, I'm fine. Just…," she didn't finish the sentence.
Mike didn't say anything. He was almost positive the reason Meg had slid her hand into her pocket is because she was holding the strip of pictures they had taken in one of those photo booths on their last date. He remembered the day well, one of those pictures was them kissing.
"Hi, I'm Caroline," Caroline said, interrupting the silence.
"Hi," Meg said quietly. "It's getting late; I should head home. Enjoy your night."
"Meg, are you sure you're okay?" Mike asked as she walked past him, he reached out and touched her arm.
"I'm good, thanks." Meg kept moving, feeling the tears starting to sting her eyes again.
Caroline waited until she and Mike had been walking for almost another minute. "So, how long did you and Meg date?"
Mike looked over at her.
Caroline just raised an eyebrow.
"We went out a few times this past Spring. But then her dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and she left to go take care of him."
"And, you ended things before she left or while she was gone?"
"She ended things, before she left."
Caroline slid her hand out of Mike's and slipped her arm around his waist.
"We had only been out a few times, she wasn't sure how long she'd be gone. It just wasn't meant to be," Mike said, feeling like his explanation was missing something.
"It wasn't meant to be," Caroline said. She stopped walking and waited for him to turn and look at her. "You were meant to find me," she whispered, before slipping her hand behind his head, weaving her fingers into his brown hair and pulling him down to meet her lips.