Wendy
The next day
“I’ll take two bear claws.” I heard Micah’s gravel-soaked voice and didn’t even have to look up to know it was him.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was about to go on break.” I shrugged and turned to Jillian. “Can you take over, I just need a few minutes.”
“Um, sure.” Jillian gave me a perplexed stare, but took my place at the register.
I was still getting over the shock of being asked out by Micah, and I just wasn’t ready to hear him ask again. I was interested to find out what Brody thought about the guy he shared girls with asking me on a date. I would see him as soon as my shift at the bakery was done, and I definitely had questions. If Brody knew Micah was stopping by the bakery to try and woo me, then I was going to lose some respect for him. I expected him to be a little more protective of me than that, especially considering our history. I wasn’t the same teenage girl that used to stay with him when things got bad at home, but I was still his daughter’s best friend. I was not interested in being picked up by a guy that just wanted to get into my panties. Maybe Micah could have swayed me if I didn’t already know what kind of man he was, but that image was never going to get out of my head—or out of my dreams.
“What was that about?” Jillian walked into the back room once the line of customers were gone.
“That guy—the firefighter? He asked me out yesterday.” I turned to her and sighed.
“He’s the one who carried you out of here, right? Why wouldn’t you want to go out on a date with him?” She tilted her head in confusion. “He’s so hot. I wish I was twenty years younger—and single.”
“It’s complicated.” I shook my head back and forth. “I’m very thankful that he helped me after I nearly burned this place down, but that doesn’t mean I owe him a date.”
“Well, I’m sorry to say that he might be back…” Jillian’s face twisted into a grimace.
“Yeah, he said he was going to stop by every day until I gave him my number.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t charge him for his bear claws—I told him he could stop by anytime he wanted to get something on the house.” Her grimace got a little more intense. “I didn’t know he was only here because he was trying to get your number.”
“Great.” I sighed angrily.
Now he’ll definitely stop by every chance he gets.
Later that day
“I’m sorry that I’m late.” Brody walked into my house and took off his jacket. “We got a call at the end of my shift and I had to help.”
“No problem. Your job comes first. I hope it wasn’t anything serious?” I raised my eyebrows in concern.
“Nope, thankfully it was just a minor car accident and nobody was hurt.” Brody walked to the edge of the living room. “Are you ready to start moving furniture and tearing this stuff up?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.” I nodded and stared at the tattered carpet.
Between his shifts, Brody had arranged for a roll of carpet to be delivered, along with the other supplies we would need. The plan was to move the furniture, tear up the carpet, and then get an early start the next morning. If everything worked according to plan, I would have new carpet on the floor by the end of the weekend. The living room was the worst part of the house. The bedrooms didn’t appear to be too bad, and the rest of the downstairs had hardwood floors. Brody came over and ripped up a corner near me and then let me start peeling it away while he worked on the opposite side of the room. It was hard work, but it was nice to get my hands dirty. The house was going to look practically brand new inside by the time my father got home, and that was because of Brody’s help.
“Ow, fuck!” I pulled up a piece of carpet and felt a sharp sting on my hand.
“Are you okay?” Brody rushed over and grabbed my hand, which had started to bleed.
“Yeah, I just caught my hand on a staple.” I grimaced and looked at the wound.
Whoever put this carpet down used the biggest staples I’ve ever seen. They might as well be nails.
“We should clean this up. Do you have a first aid kit?” He pressed on the cut, which stopped the bleeding for a moment.
“Honestly? I don’t even know where it would be.” I sighed and shook my head. “I’ll just wash it in the sink and get a Band-Aid.”
“I have something in my truck. Keep pressure on it.” Brody waited until I had a finger on the cut and then hurried towards the door.
While Brody was gone, I went to the bathroom and dug around under the sink until I found a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. He came back with the first aid kit and joined me in the bathroom to clean up the cut. I climbed up on the counter and sat in front of him. It was worse than I originally thought. The staple went deep and left an inch-long gash across my palm. Brody decided to just use warm water with a little soap, instead of the hydrogen peroxide, and kept my hand steady when it started to sting. After he was satisfied with his sanitation efforts, he put a piece of gauze over the wound and started wrapping medical tape around my hand. It still hurt, but it wasn’t bleeding through the bandage. I squeezed my hand a few times to test the bandage, and while it hurt, it didn’t seem to limit my grip.
“If you haven’t gotten a booster recently, you should get a tetanus shot tomorrow, just to be safe.” Brody closed up his first aid kit and nodded.