Chapter 7

CADE

"Sooooo boss, we stopped to see your girlfriend, huh?"

"Shut up, Mayberry," Cade grumbled, getting in the captain's seat of the fire engine, hurriedly downing a massive sip of the cold Gatorade that Beary had tossed him. He gave a slight wave as the truck lumbered forward and saw her do the same and winced.

Holly.

She requested he call her ‘Holly' and not ‘Beary' – and he wasn't sure if that sat well with him. Holly made her feminine and girly, which meant that she actually did have a crush on him, making the rumors true. Cade had sworn off dating until things calmed down and considering he was still the hot gossip in town, that wasn't going to be anytime soon. Calling her Beary made her easier to handle – palatable. She wasn't a threat, a problem to handle, or had feelings. Nope. She was simply ‘Beary the Mechanic'… a nobody. Holly was a person with feelings – and they were focused on him.

"Dang it," he muttered.

"Problem?"

"Tired, I've got a headache and a bad case of indigestion," Cade admitted, looking over his shoulder at the two firemen in the back of the cab. "You guys did great today, and I really appreciate it."

Cade turned back toward the front, so proud of himself. He remembered that Reese used to do that when he was the captain of his truck, and he was a ‘wet-behind-the-ears' new firefighter. The man always gave praise in the same voice that he gave constructive criticism. He expected to be listened to at all times – both good and bad – and reflecting on his time with the man he admired, he could learn a few things.

"Awww," Jude chuckled. "The captain is getting downright mushy now that he's in love with ol' Beary!"

Cade winced. Yeah, being in Reese's shadow did not prepare him for that one. No, that was a new situation he was going to have to handle blindly on his own. He really didn't feel right discussing that with anyone.

"It's not mushy praising you for a job well done – nor am I even friends with Beary. She's simply doing some work on my truck, and I thought I'd check on it so it doesn't just sit there waiting."

"Beary doesn't do that," the two men looked at each other. "She's a pretty good mechanic – even if she's distracted by a boyfriend."

"Who's her boyfriend?"

"You, remember?"

Yup, you fell right into that one, moron, Cade thought and pressed his lips together tightly. Nope. No more conversation, no more trying to butter up the guys, and no more chit-chat about Beary-less existence.

"Hey, captain…"

"Yeah?"

"You coming to the Halloween Hoedown?"

Cade turned and looked at the grinning twerps who were sharing a secretive smile with each other and waited. He arched an eyebrow at them and waved a hand, silently asking them to keep talking.

"They set up a bunch of haybales, a pumpkin patch, got a bunch of food and games in the town square… everyone is out there having a little fun before the kids go trick-or-treating the next day."

"I don't know…"

"You should. It's a free meal; you can see people and get a pumpkin for your apartment."

It was more like four walls with a bed in the middle of the living room because he hadn't bothered setting up a place yet. He just needed a safe place to sleep until he bought a place – which would need to be sooner rather than later. He was going to need a tax shelter for the sign-on bonus and slight raise he'd received taking this position. A single man with no bills, no dependents, and no house; he was going to pay through the nose.

"Maybe."

"It's a lot of fun – and it's geared toward the adults, not just the kids. Their fun happens when the little hoodlums are running the streets."

"Yeah, I'll go," he agreed finally, realizing it would give him a chance to talk to the bank or a realtor to see what to do next.

Smiling broadly, with his sunglasses perched on his nose, Cade stepped out into the sunlight, marveling at the change in the town. Sure enough, there was festive fall décor everywhere, making him wonder just how magical Christmastime would be. He loved the holidays, remembering fondly each celebration. They would run around for hours on Halloween with pillowcases full of candy. His mother would let them decorate the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving. Every moment from October 31st to New Year's Eve was an event to be cherished, and now those moments were memories.

"Time to make new ones," he uttered aloud, stepping into the throng of people. He shook hands, smiled at people, felt guys clap him on the back like he was some celebrity or hero, and he was just himself, nobody special, he thought as someone pressed a cut-up caramel apple in a paper bowl toward him.

This was so weird, so friendly. Nobody was holding out a hand for money; he thought as someone pressed a small cup of apple cider in his other hand.

"Hey! You came!" a voice hollered before nearly upsetting Cade's drink as a hand landed on his shoulder, shaking him. "Dude! I knew you'd come. How do you like it?"

"This is weird," he admitted quietly. "Nobody is charging any money?"

"Ah," Jude laughed openly and then pointed to a barrel in the distance that several people were surrounding. "You drop a donation in the barrel and at the end of the night, they count it up and split it between the vendors, so everyone has fun, gets paid, and we continue into the next year."

"It's run off donations?"

"Yup – and everyone ponies up because it gets better every year. Last year, we had chocolate-dipped pumpkin cheesecake on a stick, so I'm looking for the booth that the Becker's are running. Have you been there yet – the bakery people?"

"Not yet," he said distractedly, staring at the figure just beyond the barrel… and yanked off his sunglasses in sheer amazement, tucking them blindly into the neck of his T-shirt.

Who was that?

"You going to donate? Cool! I'll let you know where the Becker booth is at, captain. You're gonna love this," Jude was saying, walking at his side as Cade made his way across the grass toward the figure in the distance. "Oh hey! I see it, and ohhh my gosh look at the size of the freakin' cinnamon rolls?! They are as big as Mayberry's head."

Cade blinked and laughed, nodding at the excited guy as he ran off, and his eyes swung around to find the object of his fascination once more.