Three's Company

26. Kill Bill

It was the most perfect day. Her beloved baby child Otto was turning seven, the sun was shining brightly, and the birds were chirping a wonderful symphony.

A simple sponge cake that was suitable for dogs was being prepared by Mona. She hummed to herself while blending the batter in the transparent bowl.

She had put on a baby blue summer dress that hit just above her mid thigh, and her curls were out in the open and down her back. She had managed to make herself look decent. Her face was lightly made up, and her lips were a glossy shade of pink.

She had in some dangly blue earrings, and stood bare foot since she was in her own home and her wooden floors were warm from the hot weather.

She started cleaning up the soiled mess she had caused along the way after spooning the mixture into a cake pan and popping it into the preheated oven.

She had not gone very far, though, when the doorbell rang.

It was mid afternoon on a Wednesday, she couldn't think of anyone needing to visit and dried her hands off with the small hand towel as she walked over to the front door.

She looked at the last person she expected to see when the door ripped open.

With a dozen red roses in one hand and a charming face facing her own, olive green eyes looked into her soul.

"Oh, hi–Theo?" Mona spoke, a little hesitantly. "If you're attempting to catch Heath, he's actually returned to Chicago and left a couple nights ago."

"Hey, Mona." With a smirk of amusement slicing into his lips at her rambling, the man answered gently. "And don't worry, I just thought to stop by because I was in the area and it's not for anything important. I found a farmer's market close by and bought these. Need any new flowers for the yard, by any chance?"

She accepted the roses when they were presented to her and gave him a suspicious once-over. "Did you mention that you were in the area?"

Noticing her weirded out expression, he chuckled lowly. "Yeah, I did. Heath not tell you that I'm working here over the summer?"

Well, that would explain why he had shown up so suddenly over the blue.

Still, she didn't quite believe him and said. "And what exactly are you doing here for work?"

"I'm the town's new replacement mayor."

Her cheeks blew a little as she strained to keep her amusement when he didn't laugh or make any facial expressions.

Her eyebrows rose in shock. "Wait. Really?"

"Nah. But I could be if I wanted to."

Her laughter was short and breathy and she shook her head. They were still standing on the doorstep, the excited dog trying to run through her legs.

"I'm actually training firefighters in the next town over, probably gonna be stuck on this deadbeat farm for the whole of summer." He said in a way he sounded defeated.

Ah, so he was a firefighter. Her attention was certainly caught and she rested her hip against the doorframe.

Otto started to bark loudly, causing the man to drop the his knees and ruffle the dog's hair.

She pursed her lips, muttering. "Sorry about him. He's too excited, it's his birthday today so he's trying to get a treat from anyone."

"Oh yeah?" His masculine voice followed through. "And how old is the lucky boy turning?"

"Seven. I'm baking him a cake and bought him all new toys that he can ruin." She boasted proudly, drawling off. "I even made fresh cookies this morning but I don't think he was the biggest fan."