Read Online Firestone by Claudia Hall Christian - Free Book Online Page B

do for you?”
    “ Well . . .” His head went up and down in a
fast nod.
    “ Blane’s not here,”
Heather said. “Tink’s brother got kicked out of the house last
night. He took Tink to see her brother
and . . .”
    Heather turned to look for the man. He was
standing next to the door.
    “ What’s going on?” Heather
asked.
    “ I . . .”
Nelson’s voice croaked. He cleared his throat. “Um.”
    Nelson glanced at the door.
    “ What is it?” Heather
asked.
    “ You remember when Blane
and I bartended at the Church?” Nelson asked.
    “ When Jeraine was trying
to figure out if his record company was drugging him?” Heather
asked. “Sure.”
    “ I kind
of . . . um,” Nelson nodded. “Fell for
Blane.”
    “ Oh,” Heather
said.
    “ He made it really clear
that he doesn’t want anything like that in his life,” Nelson said.
“He’s really happy with his life
and . . .”
    “ I think so,” Heather
said.
    “ I mean, I knew
him . . . uh . . . before,” Nelson
said. “Then my life changed, and his life changed and anyway, I’ve
been kind of whining about him and well . . . all of
this, and O’Malley . . . uh.”
    “ Seth?”
    “ He said if I was really
interested in Blane, I should get to know you,” Nelson said. “He
said that you’re a package deal with Blane and . . .
Seth told Ava who told us about Blane’s liver
and . . . everything.”
    “ And?” Heather’s eyebrows
pinched together.
    “ I thought that maybe I
could . . . Oh, I don’t know.” Nelson smiled. “I
feel pretty stupid.”
    “ I can see that.” Heather
smiled.
    Nelson grinned.
    “ I suppose that if Blane
got involved with someone, I would be in the mix,” Heather said.
“We’re really dedicated to being partners and parents —
family. He’s really dedicated to being a family.”
    “ I know,” Nelson said. “I
think that’s pretty neat.”
    “ And our
situation?”
    “ I think it works,” Nelson
said. “I mean it obviously works. He’s really happy.”
    “ Are you thinking that
once he gets well, he’ll go back to his old life?”
    “ Oh, no.” Nelson shook his
head. “I don’t think that’s really likely. Do you?”
    “ No,” Heather
said.
    “ I just realized that Seth
meant to be a little more subtle than this,” Nelson stuck his hands
in the pockets of his jeans.
    “ Probably,” Heather
laughed. “But you’re right. If you and Blane started dating, or
whatever, I would have to get along with you too. I hadn’t thought
about that.”
    Heather gave Nelson a long assessing look
before she shrugged.
    “ You seem nice enough.”
Heather smiled. “What were you thinking?”
    “ Oh,” Nelson blushed. “I
wasn’t really thinking anything. I
just . . .”
    “ You must really like
Blane,” Heather said.
    “ He’s . . .
amazing,” Nelson said.
    “ He is,” Heather said.
“Why don’t you let me think about it? The last few days have been a
whirlwind of activity, with Tink’s brother and Tanesha’s step-son,
and Keenan and Ivy and . . .”
    “ That’s a lot.” Nelson
nodded.
    “ We haven’t made a plan
for Blane to start this new treatment they’re talking about,”
Heather said. “If you want to help, you could probably help us then
— or at least get a good idea of how weird and wild it is
here.”
    “ Okay,” Nelson moved
toward the door.
    “ Maybe you won’t want to
get involved,” Heather said.
    “ I don’t think so,” Nelson
said.
    “ Why?”
    “ Because I really like you
too,” Nelson said. “I feel this . . . desire to
fight for what you and Blane have and that’s . . .
new.”
    Heather smiled, and Nelson grinned.
    “ I’m off to mass,” Heather
said. “Do you want to talk later?”
    Nelson nodded. He turned and walked out the
door. Heather stared at the door for a moment before laughing. She
grabbed her purse to leave. She was at the front door when there
was another knock.
    “ My number.” Nelson