The Fireman Finds a Wife. Felicia Mason

apparently met with her satisfaction because she nodded and headed outside.

      “I didn’t mean to go all caveman,” Cameron said.

      “You didn’t. At least not that I saw.”

      The edges of his mouth quirked up. “That’s because I kept it inside.”

      “Those carrots and that celery might disagree.”

      That earned a laugh. “I thought I was showing off my Iron Chef skills.”

      “If that makes you feel better,” she retorted.

      “All right,” he said. “I confess. I was letting off the steam that your director brought to a boiling point.”

      “Twice now you’ve bailed me out at Manna. Thank you.”

      Remembering his reason for seeking her out in the first place, Cameron felt a twinge of conscience. His ex-wife would not have been as gracious as Summer, either with Ilsa Keller or with him butting in.

      “Cameron, I forgot to ask. What did you come to Manna for? I’m sure your original intent wasn’t to referee a fight or to chop vegetables.”

      To Cameron, her attempt at self-deprecating humor fell a little flat. He’d seen her mouth tremble as she’d fought back the urge to cry after the undeserved dressing down by that woman.

      Before he could answer, a horn tooted and they both turned toward the sound.

      “Summer Darling! I thought that was you. I heard you were back in town. We still do doubles at the club Saturday mornings. You know you have an open invitation. We’d love to see you.”

      “I’ll call you,” she called out to the man who tooted his horn again and waved.

      Doubles at the club. Cameron didn’t know if they were talking about tennis, golf or something else. But whatever it was, he knew he didn’t have an open invitation or even a membership at the exclusive country club.

      When she turned back to him, Summer looked troubled.

      “Cameron, about tomorrow....”

      “That’s what I came to see you about.”

      “I’m sorry,” she said. “You’ve been very kind. But I’m going to have to back out. I’m sorry.”

      Her words couldn’t have been any more shocking. She’d dumped him before he could dump her!

      But the snub had the opposite affect on him. Instead of being relieved to have escaped another potential situation like the one with his ex-wife, he suddenly had something to prove—to himself and to Summer.

      * * *

      “I got cold feet,” Summer told her sister. “One minute, I was anticipating a date with him and in the next, it was like, ‘I can’t do this.’”

      Spring was finishing up her own volunteer shift at the free clinic run by the Common Ground ministries. Summer had left Cameron standing in front of Manna and gone straight to the clinic. Spring had always been her sounding board, and tonight was no exception.

      “And I hate coming across as the damsel in distress,” Summer said. “He probably thinks I’m some sort of flake.”

      “You don’t,” Spring assured her as she slipped off her stethoscope then shrugged out of the white lab jacket she wore at the clinic. She hung it in her locker, scooped up her bag and faced her little sister. “This is an occasion that begs for ice cream. Let’s go.”

      Ice cream must have been the solution of the evening. When they reached the Main Street shop, Two Scoops & More was packed with people.

      And right in the middle of it all stood Cameron Jackson.