Summer in Maine

Thank you all for the comments. My apologies to the 'too many smirks' commenter, there are five of them in this story. ;)

The next morning I grabbed breakfast at a local coffee shop, and called home. Mom asked how things were going, and I said that they were going better than expected and I'd catch her up when I got back. I didn't tell her any more than that, but it was the complete truth. I still couldn't believe that things had gone so well.

I looked into some after dinner entertainment four my date with Chrissy on Saturday, and realized I didn't have anything appropriate to wear. I decided to go shopping and and find something worthy of a night to remember.

I was in town and not far from the hospital from what I could tell so I gave Chrissy a call and asked if she wanted to have lunch again. I walked into the wing where she worked and leaned against the nurse's station looking up and down each hall to see if I could spot her. A woman behind a short partition looked up hearing me moving around.

"Hi. Can I help you?" She asked.

"I'm looking for Christa." I said.

"Oh, you must be Pete." She stood and walked over to the counter holding out her hand. "I'm Joan. She mentioned you'd be by."

"I was hoping to sneak her away for a few minutes for lunch." I smiled.

"It's going to probably be another fifteen before she'll be able to. I have to wait for one of the other nurses to come back before I can release her into your care." She smiled.

"Okay well I can just grab a coffee in the cafeteria for a few to keep out of the way. Thanks." I said and turned to walk down the hallway and saw her in a room through a crack in the door. She was bent over a patient talking to them with a smile on her face. I looked at my watch and headed to the cafeteria to wait.

I watched the coming and going of people through the windows for a while when I felt arms wrap around my neck and hands cover my eyes.

"Guess who?" She asked.

"Bob, is that you? Your hands are so soft." I replied.

She buried her face in my hair and gave me a kiss on the top of the head before pulling my head back against her chest.

"Does Bob have these?" She said softly, and gave a subtle rub of her chest against my head.

"Well he has put on some weight so yea I'm guessing he does."

She bent down and kissed my cheek. "Come on you clown, I'm hungry."

I stood wrapping my arms around her waist and drew her tight against me giving her a long kiss. "Me too, but I'll have to settle for food."

Her eyes flashed at me and her grin widened. "For now." Her cheeks turned pink at the sound of several muffled giggles. "Come on let's eat before you get me in trouble for sexually harassing a visitor."

"I won't be the one filing a complaint. In fact I was just wondering in a place this size how many available beds there might be." I said, as I walked with her to the line. We settled in at the table and Chrissy attacked the giant salad she had in front of her.

"So no hints, nothing to go on tonight? I'm kind of nervous." I said.

"That's normal, weren't you nervous when you interviewed for your job at the fire department?"

"No, not really. It was more like signing up for a class than a job interview. He asked me some questions, I asked him a few, and before I knew it he was shaking my hand and welcoming me aboard."

"It's not going to be like that, I assure you. She's pretty much your standard 12 year old girl." Chrissy just froze, the fork half way to her mouth and looked at me.

"What?" I asked worried.

"I just did the math." She looked around to see who was within earshot. "You're closer to her age than mine." She set down her fork and looked out the window for a minute.

I reached out and took her hand. "Don't let it bother you. It sure as hell doesn't bother me."

She snorted. "You'll still be in your twenties when I'm forty."

"Don't worry, I'm a firefighter. I can put the candles out before the house burns down." I chuckled. Chrissy tried hard to look unamused and failed.

"I can imagine the news now. 'Aging spinster in torrid affair with young stud, more at 11.' My friends are going to think I'm trying to recapture lost youth. Let alone what my family..."

"Stop." I said sharply but softly. "You're worried about ten years from now more than you're worried about ten hours from now. Relax, there are only three people that have any input in this, and two of them are right here. I'm going to be interviewed by the other in just a few short hours."

Chrissy looked at me seriously for a moment then burst out laughing.

"What?" I asked.

"The look on your face. You'd think you were facing a firing squad at sundown. I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about."

We finished and Chrissy had to rush to get back, she tugged me along back as far as the nurses station. She turned and looked at me for a moment then gave me a quick wink.

"So you'll meet us at the house around 5? We can just take one car that way."

I nodded. "Sounds good. I'll see you then."

I began to lean in for a quick kiss when Chrissy snaked her arm around my neck and practically gave me a tonsillectomy with her tongue.

I just chuckled and smiled, and let her get back to work.

I spent a little time wandering around downtown window shopping before I went back to the motel. I took a little time to reflect on everything that had happened in just a few short days, and I realized I couldn't be luckier if I won the lottery. My only hurdle left is tonight. How would Emily see me, as someone invading their lives, as someone trying to fill her dad's shoes. I let out a sigh and decided that the best thing I could do is to set all of that aside and get to know her and let the chips fall where they may. Chrissy didn't seem overly concerned. Why should I?

I grabbed a quick shower, dressed and grabbed my jacket before I headed up to Chrissy's house in the hills.

The tires hissed along the gravel drive as I pulled alongside her Jeep. I walked to the door, bouquet in hand and rang the bell. I took a deep breath, just as the door opened. A pretty girl stood there, dark hair and piercing eyes stared intently at me for a moment. In a flash of an eye a familiar crooked little smile crossed her face.

"Mom, your hot date is here!" She yelled over her shoulder.

"Well don't make him stand on the step, let him in!" Chrissy hollered back. I just started chuckling as Emily opened the door. Emily cracked open the outside door and opened the inside door further.

"Come on in." She said.

"Hi Emily, I'm Pete." I said holding out my hand. Already over five feet I could tell she was going to be tall like her mother.

"Are those for my mom?" She asked nodding at the flowers. I just shook my head.

"No, they're for you." I said presenting them to her. Her eyes grew wide and her expression got serious for a moment before she took them with a smile.

"I'll be right out." Came the call from another room. She laughed a bit after saying it. I began to think this was a calculated move.

Emily set the flowers down and disappeared head first into a low cupboard coming up with a vase. She filled it with water and put the flowers into it, preening them to get them the way she wanted.

Chrissy came out of a short hallway dressed in jeans and a blue and gray striped sweater. Her hair freshly brushed and a big smile on her face.

"Hi." She said giving me a quick hug, and more notably a slight push-off after. She noticed the flowers on the counter. "They're beautiful. Thank you."

Emily turned and interjected with a grin. "He brought them for me."

"Oh he did, did he?" She looked at me, the eyebrows lifting.

I gave Chrissy a slight shrug and a wink. She just gave me a quick eye-roll in return. "Score one for the visiting team." She said, in a low voice.

"You're the fireman that saved my mom from drowning in the ocean, huh?" Emily asked.

"Actually we responded to a fall victim that was out on the rocks. If I hadn't braved the wild winds and pounding surf, she might not have made it." I said. "She could have been lobster chow."

"Oh lord, the story gets more dramatic with the telling." Chrissy joined in. "I fell on the rocks, luckily I had a cell signal, and called for help. Pete here was one of the first responders and promptly hauled me back to the sand and brought me to the walk-in clinic to get X-rays. See? Not nearly as dramatic as you two make it sound."

"She was laid up for a week after, and I kept an eye on her. I didn't want her to starve because she couldn't feed herself." I added, a wicked glint in my eye.

"Yes, you can cook, and I certainly didn't want for anything." She gave me a warning look that I should stop before more questions began. "Is your stuff in the car Em?" Emily nodded at her mother. "Grab your jacket, let's go I'm hungry." She said grinning. Emily trotted up the hallway, and Chrissy stepped closer and we kissed deeply. "Nice job with the flowers you clown." She ran her thumb across my lip wiping away any telltale lip gloss.

"I do what I can." I grinned, and stepped back a half step before Emily walked back into the kitchen.

We left, Emily yelled 'Shotgun!' and her mother quickly squashed that plan, though I graciously got in the back seat and let her have the front. Chrissy giving me a sidelong look, knowing I was indulging Emily for my own sake.

"Is this your guitar in the back Emily?" I asked. She turned as far as she could in her seat to reply.

"Yup, my teacher is going to be there tonight and we're going to play."

"That's awesome! What are you going to be playing?"

"You'll just have to wait and hear." She smiled, a mirror of her mothers impish grin.

Chrissy pulled up beside the fire house and parked between a couple pickup trucks. We walked inside to the din of what sounded like a school cafeteria. The engine sitting outside had made room for folding tables and chairs to be set up in the bay. People were already seated and others milled about talking and laughing.

"I'm going to find Jen." Emily said, wrestling her guitar case through the crowd.

Chrissy was saying hi to people as we passed through the crowd, but she kept moving like she was on a mission.

"Dale!" She called out. A large guy turned around, he must have been six and a half feet tall. She wrapped an arm part way around his waist and hugged him. "Come here I've got someone I want you to meet. This is my rescuer, remember when I took that spill a couple summers back. Pete, this is my uncle Dale."

"Hi there. Thanks for making sure she didn't end up as fish bait." He said smiling, shaking my hand.

"Pete is applying to the fire department here, looking to get hired for the new year." She added.

Dale's eye turned on me appraising openly. "Looking to move to our neck of the woods are you?"

I nodded. "Yes sir." I didn't add anything so that rumors wouldn't begin. The look in his eye got shrewd, and he knew exactly why I was willing to pick up and move a thousand miles away from home. The reason was standing right next to him.

"Hell don't call me sir, save that for her dad." He said tilting his head towards Chrissy. "Call me Dale, good luck to you Pete. Now go on and get some food before the kids clean us out." He said smiling. We made our way through the crowd, Chrissy greeting people as she passed, stopping a few times to introduce me around. We eventually found ourselves in the chow line. Chrissy insisted on paying for us at the little card table. She mentioned that hurricane Emily might blow through any minute. The lady let her know that Em had already come through the line.

We found a place to sit and eat at one of the tables. People stopped to chat and moved on, the night had a familiar small town feel to it. Before long we could hear the sound of guitars, chords being strummed here and there. People started to grab seats, and there was Em sitting on the left of another girl and a woman. They were sitting around a music stand and Em and the other girl were watching the woman point things out on the sheet music. I felt a hand grip my thigh and looked at Chrissy who was beaming at Emily with a big grin on her face. A few moments later the woman began and the girls joined in playing Van Morrison's Moondance instrumental. My foot began tapping and Chrissy's grip tightened on my leg as I ran my arm over the back of her chair rubbing her back. She turned to me with the silliest grin. I only hoped she was reminiscing about when I played it for her at the summer festival. They gave way to the Beatles Eleanor Rigby, then played John Denver's Take Me Home, which they sang.

Chrissy leaned in close to my ear and whispered. "Thank you." Before giving me a peck on the cheek. I just wrapped my arm around her and gave her a squeeze and smiled.

As the group finished the crowd erupted with applause, the girls grinning ear to ear. The woman spoke up after the noise died down stating that she had room for one more student this year if anybody knew someone looking for lessons.

Emily packed her guitar away, and put her chair back with the tables. She made her way back to where we were sitting and got caught up in a bear hug from Chrissy.

"Alright, say goodbye to your friends, we need to get going."

As we left I hollered shotgun and got front seat privileges on the way back to the house. We chatted on the way back about other songs Emily had learned, and how long she'd been playing. Coincidentally it had been just over a year. Chrissy pointed out that she was a natural, learning very quickly.

"We learned Moondance this summer. I figure if mom liked it so much I wanted to learn it."

"Your mom likes Van Morrison?" I prodded.

"She's played his greatest hits until she practically wore out the CD." Emily replied. I just grinned wider. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Chrissy's expression and nearly bust out laughing as she tried to look aloof, the twinkle in her eye giving her away.

"Well there are some other great musicians from that era you might like. Maybe I can suggest a few for you to listen to." I said.

"Do you play too?" She asked surprised.

"Not guitar. I play saxophone, clarinet, and dabble a little in piano." I said.

"I can teach you." She said, excited.

She didn't begin to know how much I would love that. "That would be awesome."

"Not tonight." Chrissy chimed in. "You need to get ready for your sleep over, and that room of yours looks like a tornado touched down in there." As we entered the house she told Emily that she needed to get it cleaned up. Emily went down the hallway with a few sighs and several eye rolls.

"Would you like something to drink?" Chrissy asked, with an unusual look in her eye.

"Yes, please." I nodded, trying decipher it. She opened the fridge and pulled a wine bottle out and began opening it. Music started playing down the hall as Em puttered around making more noise than necessary. I turned from looking down the hall to look at Chrissy. She had stopped opening the wine and I noticed her shoulders trembling slightly. I stepped closer my hand circling her waist.

"Hey, what's the matter?" I asked softly.

"I don't know, it all seems to be happening so fast, I feel like I'm waiting for the train to derail. You know? I get the feeling something is going to go wrong and it's all going to blow up in my face." She looked up, her eyes burning intently.

I chuckled. "How do you think I felt when I put that note in the mail box and drove back down the mountain to wait and see if you'd respond."

"Those were the scariest hours of my life." I added softly, staring down at the wine bottle. "I mean I had no idea if you'd call the cops, or call and tell me it was all a mistake and I should go home, or worse, just throw it away, and me with it."

She spun around in my arms and wrapped her arms around my neck kissing me fiercely. "If you think for a moment that it didn't hurt to leave you like that, then you're crazy. I only did what I thought was best."

"Ahem?" Came loudly from the hallway door. I tried to release Chrissy from my grip but she just held tighter and gave me another quick kiss.

"Better let her get used to it." She whispered, before slowly letting go of me.

"Ready for inspection." Emily said saluting as she stood at attention.

Chrissy let out a snort. "I bet. How much of it is stuffed under the bed?" She asked as she spun Em around and pointed her down the hallway giving her a nudge.

As I watched them retreat down the hallway I felt a warm glow deep inside me, the feeling enveloped me, eventually making the hair on the back of my neck tingle. There was no other explanation for it, this just felt right. I turned and poured the wine into the glasses, putting the bottle back into the fridge as I listened to muffled conversation and shuffling as the last of the cleaning was directed.

"Put the basket on the dryer, and I'll ask Pete if he wants to join us for movie night." Chrissy said. She walked back toward me, a grin on her face before she let out a dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes. "Still a disaster, but you can walk through it now." She smiled. "So, on Friday nights we usually pick a movie to watch. It's sort of a tradition, some mommy and me time. Care to join us?"

"So long as it's not an intrusion on the mommy and me time." I said grinning back at her.

"Like I said, she's going to have to get used to you being around. What better way to start."

"Well we better find something family friendly, you know, no late night cable." I chuckled.

Chrissy laughed. "No and I'll make sure we don't bore you with princesses and tiaras."

"You don't have to change what you'd normally watch on my account." I replied.

"Well it is nearly Halloween, horror movies have been popular the last few weeks, but they're getting old. What's your favorite?"

I shrugged, giving her a non-committal look. "I'm pretty easy going, though ax wielding, chainsaw revving, slasher flicks are a little too much for me. I've decided a while back that I like being able to sleep."

"I'm sure we'll find something." She smiled wrapping her arms around my waist.

"So what's the verdict so far?" I asked softly kissing her ear.

"Hmm?" She responded, running her lips up my cheek leaving a trail of kisses.

"Emmy? Am I doing okay?" I prodded her.

She let go of my earlobe long enough to whisper. "Oh, you're a shoe in. She asked me if you were my boyfriend, with a huge grin on her face."

"Well?" I asked, wondering at her response.

She pulled back laying her forehead against mine. I could see the little grin on her face, she bit her lip and said. "I think he just might be if you like him. She nodded like a bobble head doll."

"Yes!" I whispered. "Easiest interview ever."

"Am I going to walk into a room and find you two sucking face every time?" Emily said, clearly not as exasperated as she tried to sound.

"Only if I'm lucky." I replied.

"Go and get everything ready and I'll make the popcorn." Chrissy said.

We sat down on the sofa, I ended up in the middle. "What are we watching?" I asked.

"You choose." Emily said.

I took the controller and thought a moment and keyed in a title to see if it was available, and it was.

"Ever heard of this one?" I asked as the film poster popped up with a short synopsis.

Both shook their heads. "Nope, any good?"

"Well the book was fantastic, but I've never seen the movie." I hit play, and the credits began. The movie was a hit, the fantasy and magic captured Emily's imagination as she let out occasional exclamations. I chuckled inwardly when I realized I had both of them tucked under each arm. I don't remember when that happened but I certainly wasn't going to complain about it.

"That was a good movie. I love when he went to find the falling star and found the girl." Emily said.