Read Online Firefly Mountain by Christine DePetrillo - Free Book Online

would he let Jonah in? How far could he afford to?
    ****
    “Only eleven fighters signed release forms.” Haddy sat across from Gini at the studio’s rectangular work table. They had ordered eggplant sandwiches from Maury’s and ate lunch as they scheduled firefighter photo shoots.
    “I know.” Gini bit into her sandwich and let the flavor keep her from getting annoyed. “The new guy, Patrick, won’t let me take his picture.”
    “Really? How come?” Haddy stopped chewing.
    “Camera shy, or so he says.” Gini gulped her lemonade.
    “Is he hideous or something?” When Gini spilled lemonade and fumbled around to wipe it up, Haddy pushed her lunch aside and raised her eyebrows. “Oh, I see. He’s super-hot, isn’t he?”
    “Yes. No. I mean, I don’t know.” Gini mopped up her drink and kneeled on the floor to catch the puddle forming there. When she rose, she whacked her head on the edge of the table. “Ouch. Dammit.”
    “Gini, Gini, Gini,” Haddy said. “I know a love struck gal when I see one, and you, my friend, are—”
    “Not love struck,” Gini finished. “I don’t know the guy. How could I be love struck?”
    “That’s what ‘love struck’ means, sister. Struck by love so instantly that it doesn’t make any logical sense. It happens to people all the time.” Haddy went back to eating her sandwich.
    “Yeah, well, it doesn’t happen to me. It didn’t happen. Patrick is an attractive man, I’ll admit that, but he’s too…too…I don’t know. Too something that’s not for me.”
    “Mmm-hmm.” Haddy wiped her mouth with her napkin, but didn’t wipe the smirk away.
    “Cut it out, Haddy, or I’ll bust you up about Jonah.”
    “Go right ahead. There’s nothing between Jonah and me.”
    “And if he waltzed in here right now and said, ‘Haddy, want to go for a ride in my Mustang?’ I suppose you wouldn’t jump at the chance, right?” Gini threw away her lemonade-soaked napkins and folded her arms across her chest.
    “I’m not your brother’s type.” Haddy combed her fingers through the end of her straight, chestnut brown hair. Her pale green eyes hid behind wire-rimmed glasses. The burgundy blouse she had on today made her olive complexion look a little on the exotic side. Her flowing skirt with tiny burgundy flowers on it fell to the knee and revealed a long, shapely line of leg. She’d be anyone’s type.
    “Don’t be silly. Jonah doesn’t have a type.” Gini sat back in her seat and finished her sandwich.
    “Yes, he does. He only dates red-heads.” Again, Haddy fingered her own hair. “Think I should go red?”
    “Absolutely not. If you dye your hair because you think it’ll get my brother’s attention, I’ll fire you.” Gini wagged a finger at Haddy. “Besides, I wouldn’t be so sure you don’t already have my brother’s attention.”
    “Why? What did he say?” Haddy gripped the end of the work table and leaned forward far enough that her shirt grazed the sandwich in front of her. Sauce dotted a section around her left nipple. “Oh, crap.” She dabbed at it with her napkin, but sauce on a shirt never turned out well.
    “For someone who isn’t interested in Jonah, you seem really interested.”
    “Shut up.” Haddy marched off to the studio’s bathroom, but laughed most of the way there.
    Gini reviewed the fighters’ photo release forms while she waited for Haddy and stared at the last one in the pile. The blank form. Patrick’s form.
    “How can I get your photo, Patrick? How?” There had to be a way to get him to agree. She’d convinced other camera-phobics to let her capture them on film. Generally, they were happy with the results too. Camera-shyness usually came from the belief that one didn’t photograph well. All it usually took was one good picture to convince someone that they were photogenic. She had a hard time believing that Patrick thought he didn’t photograph well. He had to have seen himself in the mirror and been pleased