Firefly Mountain by Christine DePetrillo Page A

on it. He needed to get to the bottom of what was going on with Gini. Why did his picture mean so much? Why was it best to keep her happy? What did she eat for breakfast? How did she like her hamburgers cooked? Did she like to be on top or the bottom?
    “Rivers.” Mason’s voice cut into Patrick’s wayward thoughts.
    “Mason, it’s Patrick. What do you need?”
    “I need to know your sister’s favorite flower,” Mason said.
    “What?” Patrick wasn’t sure he’d heard him correctly. “Chief Warner said you wanted to speak with me about the arson case.”
    “Well, yeah. That’s what I told him. I am a professional, you know. But cut a guy a break. Don’t make me guess and get it wrong. I want everything to be perfect.”
    “Everything?” Patrick pictured Mason walking Raina out of the bar last night. What else had he done?
    “Our first date. Somehow I found the balls I’d thought I’d lost and asked Raina to dinner tonight. By some series of cosmic events, she said yes. Now are you going to tell me what flower she prefers or do I have to haul your ass in to the station?”
    Now Patrick laughed. “You sound a little desperate, Mason.”
    “I am. I won’t hide it. I really like Raina. She’s beautiful, and smart, and can sing, and—”
    “Okay, okay,” Patrick said. “I get the idea. Raina loves tulips.”
    “Tulips? That’s it? Nothing exotic? Nothing impossible to get? Tulips?” Mason’s voice got higher and higher.
    “Tulips. She’s loved them since she was a little girl. Used to draw them all over everything. Got in trouble with her fifth grade teacher for drawing them on her homework.” Patrick smiled as he remembered Raina crying about that.
    “But they’re so pretty, Patrick,” she’d said. “Why doesn’t Mrs. Glickson like them?”
    Patrick had thought it had something to do with the fact that Mrs. Glickson probably hadn’t received real flowers from anyone in quite some time.
    “You’re sure it’s tulips?” Mason said.
    “Positive. Bring her tulips and you’re set for the night.” Patrick never envisioned the day he’d be telling a man how to win his sister over. He’d spent so much time keeping men away from her. “Look. You seem like a nice guy.”
    “Uh-oh,” Mason said. “Is this the part where you tell me to keep my damn hands off your sister? Because I don’t know if I can do that, man.”
    “No. This is the part where I tell you to be a nice guy, or things could get ugly.”
    “Fair enough. We haven’t gotten to know each other that well yet, but I am a nice guy. I’m also extremely inexperienced in the dating department, so I’m more scared than anything else right now.”
    “Takes a real man to admit that,” Patrick said. “Don’t worry, Raina comes off a little pushy, but she’s scared too.”
    “Thanks for the inside info.”
    “No problem. Any case related stuff?”
    “I’m heading out today on some leads. Hopefully my foraging will turn up something.”
    “Keep me posted.” Patrick hung up and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. When he entered the vehicle bay, he saw four fighters standing beside one of the trucks. As he approached, their conversation floated to him.
    “I got to sit on one of the horses,” Willy said. “Gini said she was going to use an up-close shot that had me from waist up and the horse’s head in it.
    “That’s because she was trying to hide your chicken wing legs, Willy,” Chuck said. The other two fighters roared in laughter along with Chuck.
    “Shut up.” Willy folded his arms across his chest but was laughing too. “At least I didn’t have to snuggle up to a fluffy bunny. You’re lucky it wasn’t pink.”
    More laughter as they ribbed each other. The joking ended with the other two fighters taking off for Gini’s farm.
    What would Gini have made him pose with? How would she try to hide his…flaws? Patrick had worse features than chicken wing legs to hide.
    Doesn’t matter . Gini wasn’t