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The “intervention” must have been really something. Jason surveyed the teenagers snoring away in the basement den. The six of them filled every sleep-worthy nook in the room. One girl—he couldn’t tell who—was curled up in Rusty’s dog bed with the old Irish Setter. Both were snoring.
The space reeked of popcorn and scented candles. He quickly located the candles and confirmed they were well away from any paper or cloth. Good thing he’d trained Holly on proper fire-prevention protocols.
Holly, who was sharing the couch, head to feet with Chloe, opened her eyes when Jason poked his head in the door.
She put a finger to her lips, lifted Chloe’s draped arm off her leg, and carefully rolled off the couch.
In the dog bed, Rusty stirred, lifted his head, then dropped it back down as if the weight was just too much.
In the kitchen, Holly stretched and yawned. “What time is it?”
“Midnight. Did I stay away long enough?”
“Yes, but I thought you’d probably find someone to spend the night with,” she grumbled through another yawn. “It’s weird having you be so single.”
“I’m sorry my love life isn’t living up to expectations.” He opened the fridge and poured himself a glass of ice water. “How’d the intervention go?”
“Not well, at first. Chloe accused us of being a bunch of Karens getting in her business. Some feelings were hurt on both sides. We talked through it. I mediated. Then we watched a horror movie. There was this girl playing the violin, and—”
“Hey. You know I can’t handle that shit.” It was a running joke with them that the big strong firefighter didn’t like gory movies. The fact was, he saw enough upsetting things on the job, even in a small town like Lake Bittersweet. He didn’t need them in his movies. Give him a fun action movie or a rom-com any day.
“Right. Anyway, we’re all good now. We’re talking about taking a camping trip next week.”
“Is Chloe going to dump her boyfriend?”
“You mean her loser hookup who posts the worst memes in the multiverse? No. She had a point. It’s her relationship. We all agreed to support her no matter what, but reserved the right to say ‘I told you so’ if they break up.”
“Good negotiating.”
“Right?” They exchanged a high-five.
He took a sip and let cold water slide down his throat. It felt good after all that conversation in the crowded pizza shop, trying to make himself heard over all the chatter.
Holly leaned toward him and sniffed. “You had pizza.”
“No, just a beer.” He gave a little laugh. “I forgot to order one, if you can believe it.”
His sister eyed him suspiciously. She wore her favorite thread-worn sleep shorts and a t-shirt with a panda on it. “You must have been with someone fascinating. I know it wasn’t Galen.”
“If eccentric and fascinating are the same thing, it could be Galen. But it wasn’t,” he admitted. “I lost track of him early on.”
“Then who?”
For some reason, he didn’t want to tell her he’d spent the entire evening talking to Kendra. He loved his little sister, but she had opinions about everything.
He fudged. “An old high school friend.”
“Girl or boy?”
“Do you have to be so binary about it?”
She laughed, since that was a conversation they had on a regular basis. In fact, her friend Kayla was a trans girl, and he’d gotten a front-row seat—or maybe front-row, off-to-the-side—to her experience.
“That means it was a girl. I approve. You’ve been moping around about Gretchen way too long. She was never right for you anyway.”
Here we go, thought Jason with an inward sigh. How could Holly be so damn confident in her judgements? Had he been like that at her age? Maybe he had, but his opinions hadn’t generally involved other people’s relationships.
“I’m glad you approve. But there’s nothing to approve of. It’s not like that.”
