by Amie Denman
Laura swallowed, sobered by Tony’s expression. He dropped his hand from her elbow.
“I didn’t like the fact that you had no helmet on, but you looked as if you were ready to jump on our trucks and go with us as we went by.” His serious expression lightened. “I did like that.”
Laura almost smiled at the hint of approval from Tony, and it validated her sense of belonging to the Cape Pursuit Fire Department.
* * *
“SECURING THE SCENE,” Tony said. “I’m skipping ahead to chapter ten because I think this should be taught earlier in the course.”
He watched as the class members shuffled their books and searched for the chapter. Laura was the only person who seemed unfazed by the change. Her book had colored tabs sticking up, marking the chapters, he guessed. She flipped to chapter ten and sat back, waiting, pen in hand.
“You can be the best firefighter in the world, you can be a champion at giving first aid, but if you don’t keep yourself safe out there, you can’t help anyone,” Tony said.
Laura cocked her head and narrowed her eyes just a little, and Tony imagined she was thinking this was a continuation of his lecture about the bike helmet. It was, but not entirely.
Everyone in the class had managed to find chapter ten, and the room fell silent. Tony didn’t consider himself a gifted teacher or a great storyteller, so he usually stuck with the facts. In this case, the facts were themselves a compelling tale.
“I think I already told you my dad was the fire chief here, so you can imagine I got a lot of lectures about safety when I was a kid. When I was invited to stay the night at another kid’s house, sometimes my dad said no and I didn’t understand why until years later. We never had a live Christmas tree. There were no candles in our house. We didn’t leave shoes or anything else blocking exits.”
Diane and Oliver gave him sympathetic looks, but Skip raised one hand and said, “I know what you mean. My uncle was a major party pooper.”
“I learned a lot from my dad,” Tony continued. “And some of these lessons were hard. One time, we were driving home from a theme park. It had been a fun day, just my dad and me. It was dusk, and we were just coming into Cape Pursuit when a man on a bicycle rode into traffic and bounced off a car.”
“Ouch,” Allen said.
“Worse than ouch. We saw him fly up in the air and come down right on his head. It was ugly. He was in a heap on the painted line on the edge of the road. I thought he was dead for sure.”
Despite the many terrible things he had seen since that day, Tony would never forget the details of that evening. He could remember the slant of the sun, the sound of the cars, the red shirt the man was wearing.
“What did you do?” Diane asked.
“My dad pulled over, put his flashers on and went to see if he could help the guy. There was blood coming out of his ears, and I didn’t think even my hero dad could do anything. As I watched, a driver that obviously wasn’t paying attention nearly ran over my dad and the injured guy.”
Tony saw Laura’s mouth open and her eyes widen.
“My dad went to the back of his truck, pulled out a reflective vest and put it on me and then struck a road flare and handed it to me. He told me to direct traffic around him and the guy on the ground and not to leave my post no matter what.”
“How old were you?” Richard asked.
“About twelve. So I stood there with my road flare as my dad called for help on his radio. I waved my arms and diverted traffic, and it seemed like forever. Once, I heard the man moan, and I turned to see what was going on. I let down my guard and my flare, and a car whizzed close to Dad. He gave me a look I’ll never forget, and I hurried back to my job.”
“You were a brave kid,” Brock said.
“Not as brave as my dad. He knew that poor man was going to die, and I don’t think there was anything he could do about it. I stood there, waving at traffic and thinking I had the worst job in the world until I listened to what my dad was doing. He was sitting on the ground next to the guy, just talking to him. Telling him about what teams he thought would make it to the World Series. Which restaurants in town had good food. The best time of year for fishing along the coast.”
The room was silent as everyone processed the sad story. Tony thought of his father’s actions all the time when he was at emergency scenes. It takes bravery to face danger and ugly situations, but it takes a lot more to face a situation you can’t do a thing about. In the face of a stranger’s death alongside a road at dusk, his father had called up every scrap of his humanity to make sure that man didn’t die like a lonely animal hit by a car.
“I thought Dad was the hero that day,” he said. “But then I crept downstairs later that night and listened to him tell my mother about it. He told my mother that he wouldn’t have come home alive if it hadn’t been for me keeping him from getting hit by a car, too. He said I was the hero.”
“Wow,” Oliver breathed.
Tony sat on the edge of the desk. “I’m telling you this story because there are a lot of times you’ll be asked, as new volunteers, to do jobs that don’t seem important. You might be the person directing traffic around an accident or babysitting the radio in the station. You could get the unglamorous job of refilling air tanks in the rescue truck or hosing down a neighboring structure. But every job is important. And if the officer in charge tells you to do something, you have to do it to the best of your ability or someone could die.”
He paused, letting a beat of silence pass in the heavy atmosphere.
“And if someone tells you to put on your helmet or your air pack, or if an officer tells you to get the hell out of someplace right now, you don’t ask questions. You do it.”
Laura’s forehead wrinkled and her eyes searched his face as if she expected to find a message there. He didn’t even want to think about her getting hit by a car and lying crumpled on the edge of the road. Tony let out a long breath and moved behind his desk. He needed to get the evening’s lesson back on track. He opened his book to chapter ten and looked out at the eight serious faces in the room. He knew he’d impressed upon them the importance of following orders, but there was a lot left to learn. Some of it they could learn from the book, but experience had a lot to show them.
“So,” he said. “Now that I’ve shared the least warm and fuzzy childhood story possible, let’s talk about how to decide if an emergency scene is safe and what to do about it. You’ve seen the trucks out there with flashing lights and other safety equipment. You’ll have that with you in an emergency, and I sure hope you won’t have to rely on a twelve-year-old to save your butt.”
He pointed out various scenarios outlined in the chapter and gave some anecdotes that brought the text to life. As he spoke, Laura kept her attention on her book and took notes. She didn’t look at him, and he was afraid he had hurt her with his harsh story. Only she would know it was, at least partly, directed at her.
But of all the people in the room who were aware that sometimes firefighters don’t come home from trying to save someone, she knew it from the hardest lesson. Wanting to keep Laura safe made his job so much more difficult because he wanted to avoid the subject of her brother’s death. His attraction to her made it even worse because letting feelings intrude in an emergency could mean everyone got hurt. It was an impossible and maddening paradox, and all he could think as he watched her take notes was that he would like to see her look up and smile.
CHAPTER EIGHT
NICOLE AND LAURA stood in front of Nicole’s closet. They had an hour before they had to meet Kevin at the restaurant that would be catering Nicole and Kevin’s wedding in just over a month. Kevin and Nicole had arranged to talk with the owner after a complimentary dinner where they could sample as many different entrées as there were people in their party.
Laura was excited about helping her sister plan her wedding, and it was one of the reason
s she’d given her parents for spending the summer in Cape Pursuit. At twenty-five, she didn’t have to justify her actions to her parents, but both she and Nicole felt a responsibility to be gentle on their mom’s and dad’s feelings after the loss of Adam. Laura had never talked about it specifically with her sister, but she knew that Nicole was very sensitive to their parents’ lingering grief. Laura dreaded telling them about joining the volunteer fire department. Nicole had barely accepted it, and her parents would be worse.
“I think maybe a dress, but not necessarily a cocktail dress,” Nicole said. “It’s a nice restaurant, so I told Kevin he had to wear a shirt with buttons.”
“That’s not very specific,” Laura said.
“It narrows the choices to three items in his wardrobe, and I’d be happy with any of them.”
“Smart,” Laura said. “Does his brother have to dress up, too?”
“About that,” Nicole said. “I should have said something earlier, but Tyler can’t come. He has to go to some event at his daughter’s summer camp. It’s the last day of the weeklong camp and the kids are putting on a play for their parents. He didn’t know about it until this week.”
“That’s okay,” Laura said. “We can sample food without the best man. I’ll volunteer to test his entrée.”
Nicole pulled out a dress and held it against herself as she looked in the long mirror on the closet door. “So Kevin asked Tony to come along since he’s also in the wedding party,” she blurted out.
Laura felt a shiver of nervousness at the thought of having dinner with Tony. In a dress, in a social setting. She didn’t want to upset her sister, though, so she shrugged. “I’m sure he’ll have no trouble expressing an opinion about food.”
“They’re picking us up,” Nicole said. “Kevin and Tony. I guess parking is limited at the restaurant during the busy tourist season, so it makes sense for us all to go together.”
Laura shoved several dresses down the rack in the closet. “If we all ride in the car together, it’ll seem like a double date,” she said lightly. “I hope none of the other firefighters will be at the restaurant. They might think I’m wining and dining our instructor for a better grade.”
“You don’t need help with that,” Nicole said. “And it’s obviously not a date. You’re both there to help us decide on appetizers and entrées. We’ll have wedding cake at the reception, of course, so we don’t have to choose a dessert tonight.” Then Nicole put a hand on her chest and made a whooshing sound.
“Are you okay?” Laura asked, touching her sister’s shoulder.
“Yes,” Nicole said, fanning herself. “I can talk about the wedding without getting panicked, but once in a while it hits me. Like imagining my wedding cake being cut up and served as if it’s the final statement. Like crossing the t and dotting the i on the marriage license. Serving the wedding cake. There’s only one occasion for that in a girl’s life.”
“Not necessarily,” Laura said. “You could have wedding cake on a Tuesday for no reason or on Thanksgiving, just to shake things up. A big tiered cake with a turkey on top. Maybe two turkeys if it’s a wedding cake.”
“No, you can’t,” Nicole said. “Wedding cake is sacred. It’s a one-time deal.”
“And you’ve already chosen the flavors and stuff, right? Like how tall and wide and how much fancy decoration and if there will be flowers on it?”
“Right,” Nicole said, her hand still over her heart. “I picked out a picture in a book that I thought was just right. The bakery across from Sea Jane Paint is doing the cake. We went for pretty standard flavors because our friends—especially the firefighters—aren’t exactly experimental with food. A big vanilla layer, a chocolate layer, a spice layer and the chocolate for the small one on top.”
“That you’ll save for your first anniversary,” Laura said.
Nicole put both hands on her chest and breathed out slowly. “Yes. But I keep worrying about the silliest things like how my cat will adjust to Kevin’s dog. What if Claudette hates Arnold?”
“You have to get a grip,” Laura said. “You’re not leaping off a bridge. You’re getting married. And now I’m wondering about our efforts tonight. If this is a chocolate-and-vanilla crowd, maybe we don’t have to overthink the catering menu too much.”
“Kevin said they would be happy with hot dogs, baked potatoes and maybe an ice-cream machine.”
“Ugh, that sounds like school lunch,” Laura said. “I think we’ll make excellent choices tonight, and I’ve already given Mom and Dad permission to spend all their saved-up wedding funds on you.”
“You’ll get married someday,” Nicole said.
“We’ll see about that.” For the past two years, Laura hadn’t thought much about her future. Getting through every day had been enough of a challenge. But seeing her sister’s happiness and looking forward to every sunrise over the ocean had started to change her.
Unfortunately, she had her own heart-pausing fears about her sister’s wedding. Her parents had cheerfully encouraged her to spend the first part of the summer with Nicole, preparing for the wedding, but they fully expected her to return to Indiana with them after the happy occasion. Laura hadn’t told them about her temptation to quit her teaching job and that she had become more and more certain of the plan with each passing day.
She hadn’t even told her sister, and now it was going to be a big drama that could overshadow Nicole’s wedding. Laura didn’t want to hurt her sister or anyone in her family. They’d all been through too much.
Nicole pulled a sleeveless rose-colored dress from her closet and picked up a pair of low-heeled sandals. She handed them to her sister. “You have the arms and the legs for this.”
Laura laughed. “Thanks for saying that. What are you wearing?”
Nicole sorted through the rack and picked a sky blue dress with a V-neck and short sleeves. “This one. We’re going to look fabulous for our double date.”
“Ha,” Laura said. “Very funny. I swear, if anyone shows up with a corsage, I’m driving myself to the restaurant and picking out the weirdest things on the menu for your reception.”
An hour later, Nicole and Laura were waiting by the front door when Kevin pulled into the driveway in his new four-door pickup truck. To her horror, Laura watched both Kevin and Tony get out, each holding open a door for her and Nicole. Kevin kissed Nicole right before she got into the front passenger seat.
Tony said nothing as Laura got in the back and he closed the door. Laura really wished she had driven separately, because sitting next to Tony reinforced all the reasons she could not date him—and all the reasons it would be nice if she could. Where were all the other brave attractive men hiding? It didn’t matter. She couldn’t date a man who could potentially be her supervisor. It would be twelve kinds of awkward at the fire station, and she was afraid the other firefighters wouldn’t take her seriously.
Kevin backed out of the driveway and he and Nicole chatted easily about their days. Laura risked a glance at Tony and he looked at her at the same time. He cleared his throat. “Did you get a new bike helmet yet?”
“I have one back home, in my parents’ garage.”
“It’s not doing you any good there.”
Laura wanted to say something sarcastic about the obviousness of Tony’s statement, but then she remembered his story and pictured him at the tender age of twelve watching a man die from a head injury.
“I know,” she said. “Cape Pursuit seems like a permanent vacation, and feeling the wind in my hair on the way to work completes the package.”
Tony unbuttoned the cuffs on his blue oxford shirt and began rolling up his sleeves instead of answering her. He took his time, making neat, even folds up to his elbows. Was it hot in the truck? Laura tried not to watch, but it was a fascinating glimpse into his mind. She knew he was irritated with her, and the last thing she wanted was for her po
tential fire chief to think she was sloppy about safety. But he held his lecture and rolled his sleeves with calm, deliberate hands.
Was that how he handled life? Everything? Calmly doing something instead of saying something he might regret? He had handled that day last summer when he drove her home to her sister’s empty house and asked no questions as he gave her wet washcloths and pulled down the blinds in her bedroom.
She couldn’t think about that day, or Tony, without feeling a deep vulnerability sweep over her. As if she had almost lost it and stepped back from the edge of the cliff just in time.
There were no cliffs this summer. A year had done her good, and she was much stronger than Tony probably thought.
“We had an interesting call earlier today,” Tony said. “A man had a heart attack down in the cuddy cabin of a boat in the marina.”
“Code?” Kevin asked, picking up the conversation from the front seat.
“Yes,” Tony said. “It wasn’t pretty. Had a heck of a time doing CPR and getting him off the rocking boat.”
“Don’t tell me my brother was on the call,” Kevin said.
Tony laughed. “He was. That was the part that wasn’t pretty. The patient will live, but Tyler may never be the same.”
“Why not?” Laura asked.
“Kevin’s brother is notorious for getting seasick. He never goes out on the rescue boat, and trust me, you don’t want him to.”
“So tell me what you did,” Laura said. “For training’s sake. If I had been there as a volunteer, what would I have been doing?”
“We might have sent you to the truck for supplies. Backboard, intubation kit. After you’re with us a little bit longer, we might have had you down in the cuddy cabin doing compressions. You’re light but strong.”
Laura felt herself growing warm at his practical assessment of her physical attributes, and she didn’t know what to say.
“I noticed that when you were climbing the ladders,” Tony said. He tugged at the collar of his shirt. “Anyway, it’s one of those situations you can train for, but you still never know what you’re going to get.”