Brook and Tawny were busy helping Zed find enough dry wood to start a small blaze in the fire pit in the backyard. The last time they’d had a s’mores and hot dog roast they’d simply built a bonfire, but a drought years ago had put an end to that. When the authorities lifted the ban, Zed built a fire pit for Annie’s birthday. That’s what they were using tonight.
“Hey, I’m here,” Harper called out as she entered the house through the back door. “Wow! Talk about organized.”
“Seven wire hangers turned into skewers, and all the makings for hots and s’mores.” Dana waved her hand over the table. “Where’s Wyatt? You did invite him, right?”
“He’s out there with Uncle Zed getting the fire started. What time does Payton get here?”
“Any minute. I’m so nervous that I’m having severe second thoughts. Before Payton, I’ve never brought a guy home for Brook to meet. She’s never even met one on date night. I always made arrangements for her to stay with a friend.” Dana stopped to straighten the already perfect pile of paper napkins.
“And what about second, third, or more dates?” Harper asked.
“Only one ever got past the third date, and after spending the night with him, I figured out real quick there would not be a fourth,” she answered.
“So you haven’t been celibate for the past ten years?” Harper picked up a sweet pickle and popped it into her mouth.
“Have you?” Dana asked.
“Hell, no! Can you count how many times you had to lay your wings and halo aside for the night?”
“Can you?” Again Dana answered a question with a question.
“I asked you first,” Harper answered.
“More than once, less than five. Your turn,” Dana said.
“More than five, less than fifty, but there were some nights when I didn’t remember much the next day, so I can’t be sure,” she said honestly.
“Holy smoke, girl. You better get tested before you get into a serious relationship with Wyatt,” Dana said.
“Already did a few months ago when I decided I’d better get my life together. But who says I’m going to get into anything serious? No one wants damaged goods. Wyatt will move on in a few weeks or months.”
“Hey, y’all, we got us a fire blazin’. And Payton is here.” Wyatt poked his head in the back door. “I heard that last remark, Harper. I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll prove it to you in the next few weeks or months.”
“I thought he’d knock on the front door and I’d have a moment before I took him outside with Brook,” Dana whispered just loud enough for Harper to hear.
“Well, plans changed.” Harper winked. “Tell everyone to come on in here and get a hanger or stick, whatever they want to call it, and get busy roasting. Dana’s got it all laid out.”
“Will do,” Wyatt said.
Harper laid a hand on Dana’s arm and squeezed gently. “Just go with the flow.”
Brook was the first one inside the house, and she hit the door talking. “Mama, I love this fire pit thing. Uncle Zed says we can sit around it anytime we want, but that pretty soon it’ll be too hot to want a fire. Next winter when it’s cold we can have marshmallow roasts around it every night.” She stopped to catch her breath and then went on. “He built it with his own hands. He says that Granny Annie liked to sit out there even when it was snowing last winter and that he bundled her up in quilts. Can we do that next winter? You think we’ll really get a lot of snow? Like enough to build a snowman?”
“Slow down, girl.” Tawny came in behind her. “Granny Annie used to tell me that we only get so many words in a lifetime, and you’re usin’ up a lot of yours.”
Harper handed Brook a wire skewer and a hot dog. “Don’t listen to her. Granny just said that so she’d shut up. When Tawny told a story, she started with ‘And on the first day God made dirt’ and went through the whole history of mankind before she got to the part where some kid had caught more fish than she did that day down at the lake.”
“So I tell a good story. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Tawny protested. “Maybe I’ll be a writer someday.”
“You’d probably be a good one, Aunt Tawny.” Brook nodded.
Dana chuckled. “I used to pray that my baby girl wouldn’t get that from you. I guess God said no.” Dana turned to Brook. “And to answer your multitude of questions, yes, darlin’, we can make a fire, and yes, it does snow sometimes in this area, but not every winter.” She looked up to see Payton with Zed right behind him. “Hello. Welcome to my crazy world.”
“Looks like a fun world. With no siblings, I got to admit I’m a little jealous of this kind of family gathering.” Payton caught her eye and lit up the room with a brilliant smile.
“You’ll be droppin’ down on your knees and givin’ thanks for your lot in life by the time this night is done.” Dana’s heart threw in a couple of extra beats and then settled into a seminormal rhythm.
“I doubt it.” Payton reached for the last two hangers and threaded hot dogs on both of them. “You like yours burned or just browned up real nice?” He looked right into Dana’s eyes, and his smile widened.
“Browned.”
“Then with mustard, chili, and relish?” He took a step and their shoulders were touching. “And no onions, right?”
“How did you know that?” Harper stuck a hot dog on a wire and headed toward the back door, with a sideways wink at Dana.
“She asked for them to be left off everything at the Mexican place,” he answered.
“Good job, Payton.” She gave him a thumbs-up as she left.
“That’s sweet that you remembered,” Dana said softly. Her ex couldn’t even pass one of those simple tests asking things like the significant other’s favorite color or flower. But then, it wasn’t right to compare apples to oranges or idiots to geniuses.
He brushed her hair away from her ear and whispered, “I remember every single thing about that evening. It was the best time I’ve had in years.”
She looked up to say something, but she barely had time to moisten her lips before his found hers in a scorching-hot kiss. When it ended, she leaned in for a second one and almost lost her balance before she realized that he’d taken a step back.
“I guess we’d better get on out there with the rest of them,” he said hoarsely.
“Might be a good idea,” she whispered, amazed that she could utter a single word.
Zed had circled the fire pit with old metal lawn chairs of every color and description. Two were left empty, side by side, which surprised Dana when she and Payton arrived. Holding the hot dog wires in one hand, he pulled out her chair from the circle and seated her before scooting his back far enough to get inside the circle. Then he held the hot dogs at just the right distance over the blaze to turn them the right shade of brown.
“What do you think, lovely lady? Is this about right?” he asked Dana.
“Looks good to me.” She smiled.
“Then I’ll bring it back all dressed up before you can blink twice. Want a beer or sweet tea?”
“Sweet tea and barbecue chips.” She felt like a queen. Of course, it wouldn’t last—all good things came to an end—but by golly, she intended to enjoy every single minute of the evening.