Chapter 10: Jaxson
Jaxson stared at the list in front of him. Hydrants with low pressure, or no pressure, or too much pressure that blew out fire hoses and caused damage...they all made the list. In comparison, the list of fully functioning hydrants around the city was...depressingly small.
Of course, it was all hearsay, based on what Levi told him. Fire hydrants couldn't exactly be tested in the dead of winter. Shooting streams of water out into the street so he could turn everything into an ice skating rink didn't seem like a great way to ingratiate himself with the locals.
And if there was one thing he needed help on, it was definitely befriending the locals. Moose, Dylan, and a few of the others were friendly enough, and after spending two days driving around town with Levi playing tour guide/hydrant inspector, Jaxson felt fairly confident that at least Levi was firmly on his side.
But the rest of the firefighters and townspeople...Jaxson just wasn't sure what to think about them, or what they thought about him. Probably nothing positive.
With a groan, he stood up. He was sick of going in circles in his head. He was a doer, not a thinker. If he didn't do something soon, he'd go stir-crazy.
With a half-formed idea swirling around in his mind, he headed for the door, credit card in hand. It was time to go shopping.
He dropped the bags into the passenger seat and walked around to the driver's side, sliding in and consulting the map in front of him. Hmmmm...Since he was parked in front of the hardware store, that meant that the closest hydrant was just up the block.
Directly in front of the Muffin Man Bakery.
He ground his teeth in frustration. Dammit! He'd been doing a fine job of avoiding Sugar and the Muffin Man since she'd practically taken off running last week. It was hard not to take it personally when a girl was so intent on getting away, she ran like the hounds of hell were nipping at her heels.
It wasn't exactly good for a man's ego, that was for certain.
Well, he might as well start there first and get it over with. With any luck, she would stay inside and he'd stay outside and they could pretend the other one didn't exist. It was either that or march inside and demand to find out what the hell was going on in that head of hers.
He wasn't entirely sure that was a grand idea. He was real tempted to use some choice words as part of that questioning, and even he knew that wouldn't help.
He pulled his SUV forward a block and then began the preparations, laying out tarps to protect the ground and grabbing a few loose bricks piled against the storefront to hold the tarps down in the winter wind. It was miserable work, but he knew that if he didn't make sure to protect the sidewalk and benches, there'd be hell to pay for it, and rightly so. No one wanted black streaks of spray paint all over everything.
As Jaxson worked, he heard the bell above the bakery door tinkle, and then a whoosh of warm, wonderful smelling air washed over him. He stiffened even as he breathed in deep. That smell was the smell of heaven on earth...
And Sugar was the devil here to tempt him.
He turned, a smile shoved into place, when he saw it was Gage standing there, two cups of coffee in his hands.
"Thought you might want a little somethin' to warm you up," Gage said, holding one of the cups out.
Jaxson felt his shoulders relax as he sent Gage a real smile. "Thanks, man. I really appreciate it." He cupped his hands around the to-go cup, sipping at the warmth and letting it run through him. Oh, that felt good.
"What's up with the black spray paint?" Gage asked, jerking his head towards the pile stacked around the hydrant.
"This hydrant doesn't work," Jaxson said ruefully. "Honestly, half the hydrants in town don't work right. Too much pressure, not enough pressure, no pressure at all...It's the Goldilocks story of hydrants, except the ones that are just right are few and far between."
Gage cocked an eyebrow at him. "You trying to say that if my bakery caught fire, you wouldn't be able to use this here hydrant to put it out?"
"Yup, I'm saying exactly that. So do your best not to burn down your bakery before spring hits."
"Damn, there goes my plans for next week," Gage said dryly.
They both chuckled quietly as they stared at the worthless hydrant in front of them.
"I have to say, that makes me a bit twitchy," Gage finally said, taking another sip of his coffee. "You say most of the hydrants in town are dead?"
"About half have some sort of problem. Now, this is all based on hearsay, but it was Levi telling me, so I don't have any reason not to believe him. I can't test them myself till spring comes. Opening up a fire hydrant and spraying down Main Street, turning it into one big ice skating rink...Well, I think that sounds like more fun than it really would be. Especially when people came after me with pitchforks."
"Sounds like you already know Sawyer," Gage said with a small laugh. "Truth be told, I'm still learning my way around it. My grandparents started this bakery; it was the Dyer's Bakery before I took over. I was the only one in the family who wanted it. I graduated high school the day before my dad retired from the Marines. He moved our family back here to Long Valley while I took off for culinary school. I'd only visited Sawyer during the summer and holidays until my grandparents retired and sold the bakery to me. Suddenly, I was living here full-time and dealing with all of the bullshit that comes from living in a town where everyone knows your name, and your business. I will say this about Sawyerites - if they don't like you, they don't pretend otherwise. They'll tell you that you're an awful son of a bitch to your face."
Jaxson grimaced, remembering over the past couple of weeks. It was true that James and Robert hadn't exactly tried to hide their disdain for him. Didn't really make it easier to like em, though.
He shivered so hard from the frigid air whistling down the street, he scalded his bare hand with the piping hot coffee. "Shit!" he exclaimed, trying to suck the hot liquid off the back of his hand.
"Come on in. Might as well clean up in the bathroom and warm up a bit before you start into your painting project."
Jaxson looked down at the worthless hydrant and then back up at Gage.
It wasn't a real tough choice.
"Much obliged," he said.
They hurried into the warmth of the bakery. Prickles of heat shot through him, and Jaxson shivered again. He was gonna need to up his winter gear at this rate. Boise's winters just weren't as severe as Long Valley's. Even his warmest jacket and socks weren't cutting it.
"Oh, there you are!" Sugar said to Gage. "I'd wondered where "
Jaxson looked up and their gazes caught. She sputtered to a stop, just staring at him, her chocolate eyes seemingly swallowing up her whole face.
Gage cleared his throat, mumbled something about his mixer needing cleaned, and disappeared into the back. Not exactly subtle, but Jaxson appreciated it all the same. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation ahead, and he sure as hell didn't want an audience for it.