Rescuing Christmas

by Nancy Lee Badger

  RESCUING

  CHRISTMAS

  A Small Town

  Sweet Romance

  “Vermont is lovely this time of year,

  but where is the snow?”

  by Nancy Lee Badger

  Copyright © October 2019 Nancy Lee Badger

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system-except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Web without permission in writing from the publisher.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. AMZ

  Cover illustration copyright © 2019

  by Nancy Lee Badger

  All rights reserved.

  THE STORY

  A Manhattan businessman on a December vacation to Canada, is stuck in Boston due to a snowstorm. Instead of waiting for another flight, he drives through the Vermont woods. Forced off the road, his rental ends up in a pond. When a firefighter sliding down the muddy slope to help him slams into him instead, his papers go flying and his phone disappears. Before he can complain, his mud-covered rescuer in firefighting bunker gear is a woman!

  After a fire, her injured dad heads to the hospital and hands responsibility for the fire department to her. As acting Fire Chief, Elinor Danville offers the stranded stranger a ride. When she drops him at the Peabody Inn, Ellie explains that Snowflake Valley has no rental cars, taxis, or 5-star hotels Something about this suit-wearing rich guy grates on her nerves, but intrigues her. Unfortunately, her responsibilities include the upcoming Christmas Festival. The lack of snow could ruin everything.

  Stuck in Snowflake Valley for several days, Bradley is swept up in the people, their volunteerism, their problems, and commitment to see that the Christmas Festival goes on no matter what. His interest in the town and a pretty firefighter makes Bradley come up with a few ideas of his own. By rescuing Christmas for Elinor and the townspeople, can he make her truly see him, and not the suited businessman only interested in going home?

  DEDICATION

  Dedicated to all the exceptional men and women of the Rumney New Hampshire F.A.S.T. squad, the Volunteer Fire Department, and New Hampshire 9-1-1, who I used to work with, and to my local Raleigh, NC heroes who keep everyone safe by calming nerves, sending help, offering condolences, and delivering babies over the phone. I miss working with you guys!

  Contents

  THE STORY

  DEDICATION

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Dear Reader;

  Books by Nancy Lee Badger

  Acknowledgements

  Author Bio

  Connect with Nancy Lee Badger

  Chapter 1

  Flames licked along the roof’s edge filling Elinor Danville with dread. The fire was getting away from them, putting several of her fellow firefighters in danger. The odor of burning wood mixed with a breeze scented by Vermont pine trees. A blanket of cinders covered the frozen ground, while the dense smoke turned the day into night. She could barely make out the weathered red siding as she listened to the flames consume the interior. Dry hay, old boards and oats added to the fuel that crackled and hissed. The old barn was as dry as kindling.

  “Too bad it hasn’t snowed lately,” her dad yelled to her, from his perch on the edge of the roof. He and two others had chopped holes in the roof to vent the smoke and flames that filled the hayloft, leaving his outline hardly more than a shadow three stories above the hard ground.

  “Snow would make the roof slippery,” Ellie shouted, “and I wouldn’t want you guys to fall.”

  “I know, sweetheart. Hey, I’m worried the forest will catch fire. Tell the crew to work on that.”

  “Sure.” This wouldn’t be easy. She walked closer to fire engine number one, and waved to the men. When they looked as if they would rather do anything else, she prayed they would listen. “The Chief says you guys need to dampen down those cinders over there. We don’t need a forest fire, too.”

  Two men busied themselves by pulling a length of fire hose from a water truck, then headed off to the nearby woods.

  “Would you like a nice hot cup of soup, Ellie, dear?”

  A gray-haired octogenarian was suddenly at her elbow. Julia stood there, less than five feet tall, smiling at her, with her wrinkled fingers clutching a foam cup. The steam rising with the aroma of thick tomato soup made Ellie’s mouth water.

  “That’s a great idea. Thanks, Julia. You and the auxiliary make our day.”

  “We aim to please, dear. I hope your daddy gets down here soon. I’m sure he’s chilled to the bone.” She gathered her thick red woolen scarf tighter around her neck. Her hollow cheeks were pink from the cold, and her rainbow-colored knit cap barely covered her ears.

  “Ellie,” her dad called down, again.

  “Would you hold on to the soup for me, Julia?” She ran back and looked up, grabbing her helmet to keep it from slipping off her head. Her dad was so high, but at least a sudden breeze pushed most of the acrid smoke aside, so she could see him. “What do you need, Chief?”

  “Pass me the four-inch hose and I’ll do my best to put out this smoldering roof, Captain.”

  His smile meant her dad was accepting her knowledge that he was the boss and that she was a captain to the rest of the crew on scene. She didn’t need reminding who was the boss, but she was a captain and the men should remember she was second-in-command tonight. “Sure, Chief. Hey, Andy, run a length of four-inch hose up to the roof.”

  “You got it, Ellie.”

  Not everyone acknowledged her status. Several had given her frowns or looks of disbelief when she sent them to make sure all the animals had escaped the burning building.

  Andy Morrow slapped his helmet on top of his fire hood, where a few strands of his red hair peeked out. He grabbed the hose and pulled it from the truck. Another crew member helped unroll the large metal hose reel as Andy headed toward the extension ladder her dad had used to reach the roof of the crumbling barn.

  The tall, lean firefighter grunted, as more hose was unraveled. He turned, looped it over his shoulder, and pulled some more. He reached the bottom of the ladder, then began climbing, using one hand to grip the side of the aluminum ladder. As he climbed, rung by rung, the ladder swayed a little under his unbalanced weight. Sean Peabody walked past the ladder empty-handed.

  “Sean, hold the ladder,” she ordered, then was asked a question by another crew member. Turning back, she watched as Andy climbed higher up the ladder, but where had Sean disappeared to?

  She started toward the ladder, while she searched the backs of firefighters in their yellow bunker gear but not one was marked with Peabody. Turning back to Andy, she saw he was only able to hold on with one hand due to trying to keep the hose and heavy nozzle on his shoulder.

  As he reached the roof and passed the hose to her dad, a loud ominous whoosh of flame and smoke escaped a small triangle-shaped vent in the
roof’s peak. The force of the fiery windstorm hit both men, causing them to tumble off and fall to earth in a tangle of arms, legs, helmets, and hose. A scream stuck in Ellie’s throat, as she ran to the bodies lying too still on the hard ground.

  “Call 911,” she yelled to the man standing beside the closest fire engine. The driver raced to the cab. He would call for help from the dispatcher by using the fire engine’s radio, while she slid to her knees on the frozen grass, praying they were still alive.

  Andy groaned, which was good news.

  “Dad! Andy! Are you hurt? Don’t move.”

  “Can’t breathe,” Andy managed to get out, “because your daddy is on my chest.”

  Ellie helped her father slide slowly off the other firefighter, all the time holding his head and neck.

  “Nothing wrong with my neck, daughter. Think I broke my ankle. I came down hard,” he said as he unbuckled his white fire chief’s helmet and threw it aside.

  “Yeah, hard on me. Ouch!” Andy started to unbuckle his yellow firefighter’s helmet, but stopped. A pain-filled grimace filled his soot-covered face, while one hand cupped his left elbow. Cinders rained down on their heads, making Ellie glance up.

  “We need to move, before that wall collapses on us. Andy, can you walk?”

  “I better not be laying in manure,” Andy said. He sat up, still holding his arm against his chest. His hazel eyes widened. “Yikes. I’m feeling a heck of a lot older than thirty.”

  “People say this job can age you.”

  “What about you? You’re up there in years.”

  “I’m only twenty-nine and I’ll always be younger than you! Seriously, do you think your arm is broken?” She hoped not. They had so few full-time crew members. Others, like Sean, were volunteers.

  Andy rose unsteadily to his feet, while Ellie slapped her dad’s helmet back on his head. “Better to be safe than sorry, Dad. How’s the elbow, Andy?”

  “Not sure. I might have simply twisted it. I attempted not to drop the hose, then tried my best not to drop the Chief. No one was holding the ladder.”

  “What?” her father said. “Ellie, didn’t you see Andy heading to the ladder?”

  “Yes, and the firefighter I sent must not have heard me order him to hold the ladder.” She hoped that was the reason, but Sean was not the most reliable volunteer.

  “We’ll discuss the need for a bullhorn at the next meeting,” her father added.

  “Very funny. Andy, can you walk?”

  “Heck, I can run, but what about the Chief?”

  “Send men here immediately. That siren means the ambulance is nearly here. Andy, let them check out your arm while my father and I discuss what needs to be done next.”

  “Sounds like a plan, daughter. Can you help me up?”

  Large hands pushed her aside. “We have him,” growled one of the crew.

  Watching as the firefighter helped her dad limp out of the danger zone, Ellie huffed. She was perfectly able to help him to his feet, then walk him away from the burning building. Instead, she marched after them, then turned to watch the side of the barn crash down onto where they had fallen.

  As the siren grew closer, Ellie glanced at the nearby fire scene, but any danger had passed, except that there was now a pile of rubble, where their expensive extension ladder used to be.

  “Drat! Another piece of equipment in need of replacing.” A steady stream of water from two directions suppressed the fire that had turned three stories of timber and hay bales to a soggy pile of smoldering mush.

  The men at the engine pointed the ambulance crew toward the injured men. They would get the finest treatment their town could provide. The paramedics would assess them, and maybe Ellie’s heart would stop racing. Watching her father fall from a roof was too surreal for words.

  All the crew, from the novice volunteer to the soot-in-their-blood fulltime firefighter, was a well-trained asset to the department and her dad had been part of their town’s fire department for nearly thirty years. No one could have predicted that an explosive release of smoke would happen at the same moment the two men planned to retreat via the ladder. The ladder no one was holding.

  If the heavy extension ladder had fallen on top of them, both men could have sustained serious injuries. As it was, both her dad and Andy were in pain, and lucky to be alive. She walked closer to Andy and her dad and smiled at the paramedics.

  “What do we have here, Ellie?” Al, the older paramedic asked. His white hair was clipped short against his head, and his matching snowy mustache twitched as he walked closer. He pulled out a stethoscope as his co-worker, Johnny slipped a pen and a run sheet from his dark blue uniform’s pocket. Al’s gray-blue eyes drifted from the barn’s charred remains to the Chief, standing with help from one of the firefighters.

  “A long fall. Andy sure isn’t soft,” the Chief answered before she could.

  “Hey, you felt like a ton of bricks falling.” Andy rubbed his sore arm, and the paramedics got to work.

  Stepping away, to give the rescuers room to assess their injuries, a stray tear dampened her cheek. A cold breeze reminded her it was mid-December in Vermont. She brushed the windblown strands of hair out of her eyes, and waited for the verdict. When Al palpated her dad’s ankle, and he winced, she wiped her soggy glove over her face. “Best to get you inside the ambulance, Dad.”

  After two of the firefighters brought the stretcher to her dad, the paramedics sat him on it, and placed a pillow under and around the ankle. They helped him into a sitting position, belted him securely, and rolled him over to the open ambulance. They slowly raised the stretcher and slid her dad inside the warm cavity of the vehicle.

  “In a hurry to get rid of me, I see,” he said. His friendly chuckle turned into a pain-filled grimace.

  “Careful, guys,” she added and rose on her toes to call to her dad. “Dad, I can come with you—”

  “Not on your life! You are in charge now, Chief. You’re trained to handle situations like this. The guys near the side of what’s left of the barn have those cinders threatening the woods to knock down, and the rest are already mopping up the scene. Turn the property back over to the owner, thank the members of the auxiliary for their delicious hot food and coffee, and get everyone safely back to the fire house.”

  “Here.”

  A lump formed in her throat, and turned into a gasp, when he passed his white Chief’s helmet to Johnny, who placed it in her hand.

  “The emergency department was pretty busy half an hour ago. He’ll be there awhile,” Al added, as he climbed in and sat beside the stretcher.

  She nodded. “Okay. I’ll do my job until you can take the white helmet back. I love you, Dad.”

  Johnny closed the two back doors and said, “He’s in good hands, Ellie.” He gave her a quick smile, and she read sincerity in his brown eyes. He brushed dark hair off his forehead and jumped into the cab. With lights flashing and the siren wailing, the ambulance sped away from the old farm and headed to the hospital.

  With a heavy heart, Ellie watched the red lights until they disappeared down the road, then returned to the crew. One of the men opened his hand. “What?”

  “Give me your captain’s helmet, Chief.”

  She handed him her yellow firefighter’s helmet, then looked at her hand holding her dad’s helmet, nearly causing her to burst into tears.

  Not in front of the men, she thought, as she plastered a smile on her face. Most stood by the two big fire engines. The driver of the now-empty water tanker asked permission to head back to the closest hydrant to refill. “We could get another fire call any minute.”

  “You’re right. Go ahead and notify engine one it can leave, as well.” She spotted Andy leaning against the fire department chief’s pickup…her truck, until her dad was well enough to take it back.

  “Why aren’t you with the Chief? I thought you were headed to the hospital?” Andy asked, cupping his right shoulder.

  “I can’t. He put me in charge, but
I am heading there as soon as we all get back safely to the fire house. You should have gone in the ambulance with him. You fell nearly as far off that ladder.”

  “I’m fine. A bruised shoulder and a wrenched elbow, is all. I’ll get some x-rays if I feel worse once I get home. Either way, I’m out of commission for the time being. On the one hand, I’ll get to enjoy the holidays more.” He kicked a few pebbles toward the destroyed barn. “Your dad’s ankle didn’t look too good.”

  “I saw the pain on his face, too. This is awful, especially since Dad, I mean the Chief, put me in charge. I can’t leave the fire scene until everything is finished.”

  They both glanced to where the others were rolling the last section of hose. “Looks like we’re done here. Aren’t you lucky that the only other captains are out of town? It’s your responsibility, now, so enjoy being top dog while you can.”

  “Wait a minute—” but Andy had already turned away, heading back to the only fire engine still left. Alone by her dad’s big red pickup, she waited silently until the men jumped in the lone engine’s extended cab. It headed slowly back down the road toward town.

  “Are those boys sassing you, dear?” Julia was suddenly beside her.

  “I’m used to it. They don’t exactly have to respect me so soon after Dad’s accident. I’m sure everyone is as devastated as me that he’s been hurt. They’re great guys. Mostly.” Her thoughts returned to Sean. Where had he run off to, the moment the ladder fell? “You and the other auxiliary members need to get home safe, promise?”

  “We will. George, Elvira and I are stopping at the Hamilton’s farm first. Its just up the road. Thought I’d share the rest of the coffee and tomato soup with them, if that’s all right.”

  Ellie nodded. “The auxiliary provides all the food and the coffee, so of course I don’t mind. They have several children, right?”

  “Yes. A boy and a girl. The little girl is only three, and she’s adorable, with a head of white-blond hair and sparkling blue eyes, and she always wears pink. Her name is Beth. Mitch, on the other hand, is quite the daredevil. He’s about twelve? Dark hair, blue eyes, and a mischievous grin. They keep their mother on her toes. Well, better get going. The rest of your crew is leaving you in their dust!”