by Sarah Markel
The two women stared at Lorelei as if she’d suddenly sprouted horns. This wasn’t the Lorelei they remembered!
“You?” Breezy asked, looking confusedly between Lorelei and Burns, “You got married? You said you would never get married!”
Lorelei flinched at the note of hurt in the blonde’s voice. “I know I did,” she conceded, “but Aspen changed that way of thinking.”
“And how did Aspen do that?” Burns asked, a bit more sharply than she’d intended. She, too, was surprised by the revelation. “She must be someone profoundly special to get you to pop the question.”
Lorelei didn’t miss the way Burns took Breezy’s hand, rubbing her thumb soothingly over the smaller woman’s knuckles. Oh, Breezy, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.
“Breezy,” Lorelei began, searching her mind for the words she needed to apologize, “I…”
“Hey, honey, you ready to go?” Aspen strode purposefully into the office, her eyes focused on her phone screen. When she lifted them to smile at her wife, Aspen realized the woman wasn’t alone. “Oh, I’m sorry. The door was open; I didn’t realize you had company.”
Burns and Breezy gave Aspen a quick once-over, before turning their drop-jawed gazes on their friend. “Please tell me she’s the coach,” Burns said warily, her eyes wide as she looked back at the cheerleading uniform.
“Oh, sweetie,” Breezy said with a laugh, “of course she’s not the coach. Coaches don’t wear the uniforms. Lorelei’s always had a thing for cheerleaders.” Breezy swallowed hard and looked pleadingly at Lorelei, “She’s just wearing that for, like, role play, right?”
Lorelei laughed nervously. She could see what her friends were thinking. Reaching for Aspen, she pulled her wife close and wrapped her arm around Aspen’s waist.
“Role play?” Aspen asked haughtily before Lorelei could answer, “What kind of question is that? Babe, who are these people?”
Lorelei groaned. The tone of Aspen’s voice was a clear indicator that she was not happy. “Sweetheart, these are two of my old Hotshot teammates. I’d like you to meet Stephanie Burns and Wendy Brees. Burns, Breezy, this is my wife, Aspen.”
Aspen’s eyes widened and she simply stared at the two women. She’d listened to Lorelei regale her with stories of their time with the Hotshots, and she remembered the call signs for the two women that Lorelei had been inseparable from.
“Ladies,” she said, offering both women a polite smile, “it’s wonderful to finally meet you. Lorelei’s told me so many stories.”
Burns and Breezy shot Lorelei a conspiratorial look. “I wish we could say the same. I bet she didn’t tell you the really good stories,” Burns said with a wink, “You should ask her about those sometime.”
“Stop it, Burns,” Lorelei said, her tone brokering no argument, “Aspen doesn’t want to hear about that stuff. Honey,” she said, turning to her wife, “Would you mind if the girls joined us for dinner tonight?”
Aspen gave each of the women another once-over and shrugged. “Sure, but I have a long practice after school. I’ve got to give the coach my decision before the end of the week. You’ll have to do the cooking.”
“School?” Breezy nearly screeched, startling Lorelei, “Blaise, please, for the love of God, tell me this is some kind of joke. Tell me she’s a teacher!”
Aspen’s head whipped to the side, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she pinned Breezy with a venomous stare. “You know what?” she snapped, whipping her head back to her wife, “Why don’t you have lunch with them, instead? You three can go to the bar and enjoy your reunion. I’ll see you at dinner. Alone,” she added, glancing contemptuously back at the blonde.
With that, Aspen turned on her heel and stormed out of the office. Lorelei groaned and ran both hands through her hair in frustration.
“Dammit,” she said as she looked back at her friends, “What is wrong with you two? What makes you think I would ever, ever, be with someone who wasn’t legal?”
“Come on, Blaise,” Burns defended, “she looks all of fifteen! Can you really blame us for being surprised?”
“The Blaise we knew wouldn’t ever be with someone who wasn’t legal,” Breezy supplied thoughtfully, “but then again, the Blaise we knew insisted she would never get married, either.”
Lorelei groaned and fisted one hand in her hair. She knew it was useless to try and salvage her lunch date, but thankfully, she knew that Aspen would have plenty of time to calm down by dinner. Burns and Breezy were easy; they never stayed mad past the end of the conversation.
“Well, you heard the missus,” Lorelei said, grabbing her keys from the desk, “let’s go have lunch next door. I’ll explain everything, then you two can beg my wife for forgiveness.”
Burns and Breezy beamed brightly as they hopped to their feet. “I don’t beg,” Burns said, draping her arm over Breezy’s shoulder as the trio left the office, “but we both know Breezy’s pretty damn good at begging on her knees.”
Lorelei laughed loudly as she locked her office door and led them into the bay. “Yeah, see, how about we don’t make comments like that around Aspen, huh? I’d like to remain married, and as much as I support my wife in whatever she wants to do, I’d rather she not decide to become a cause of death on someone’s autopsy report.”
Chapter 15
“Here you go, ladies,” Alicia said brightly as she set plates in front of Lorelei and her guests. “Where’s Aspen?” she asked, resting one hand on her hip. “I thought you said you were bringing her in today.”
Lorelei grimaced and rolled her eyes. “She’s not in a great mood right now, so she sent me to lunch with these two,” she replied, waving her hand between Burns and Breezy.
“Not that I mind the view,” Alicia said with a grin, “but you know how I love the chance to torment your wife. Tell her I said hi.” With that, the boisterous blonde patted Lorelei on the shoulder and went back to retrieve another customer’s order from the kitchen.
“So, what have you two been up to lately?” Lorelei asked, smiling fondly at the bartender’s retreating form. “Did you join another crew after you left?” Burns and Breezy had left the Northwest Hotshots two years earlier.
“We did,” Burns replied around a mouthful of french fries, “We’re with NorCal Hotshots.”
Lorelei’s eyes widened and she let out a whistle of respect. “Damn,” she replied, looking between her friends, “Congratulations. That’s a helluva team to run with.”
NorCal Hotshots was one of the hardest Hotshot teams to join, owing to the multitude of fires the crew handled every year.
“It wasn’t easy,” Breezy admitted, taking a long swallow of her tea, “Burns got in right away, but I had to get some extra training under my belt to qualify for a position.”
Lorelei canted her head and looked questioningly at the blonde. “Extra training? For what? You’ve already been a Hotshot before!”
Burns chuckled at the sudden discomfort in Breezy’s posture. Wendy Brees liked to pretend she had a sky-high ego, but anyone who really knew her knew that she was actually very humble. She hated being in the spotlight for her achievements and frequently downplayed them.
“Come on, baby,” Burns said, reaching over to rub her hand reassuringly over Breezy’s back, “it’s Lorelei. Just tell her.”
Lorelei’s eyes watered as she choked on the fry she’d just put in her mouth. “Baby?” she squeaked, “Since when do you call Breezy baby?”
Burns flinched slightly, but offered Lorelei a blinding smile. “Since about two months after you two split,” she replied.
Lorelei stared at the pair, stunned. Three years ago, Lorelei and Breezy had dated for nearly six months. The relationship seemed strong to those around them, but that all changed during a late-night conversation on a fire line. One of their teammates, Smokey, had asked when the two were going to tie the knot, to which Lorelei replied, “Oh, about the thirtieth of Neveruary. I’m not looking to get tied down like that, ever.”
/> Lorelei could still remember the hurt that flashed over Breezy’s face, and their relationship went downhill from there. By the end of fire season that year, Breezy had ended things with Lorelei, explaining that she did want to get married and settle down. The pair had remained good friends after that, and there was no hostility or animosity between them.
“When Wa-Tech transferred us to Sacramento to man the new branch,” Burns explained, “we ended up in a place where we didn’t know anyone. We grew closer and it just kind of happened. Trust me, I never thought I’d end up dating Breezy,” she added, leaning over to press an affectionate kiss to the blonde’s cheek, “but I did more than that.”
“More than that?” Lorelei asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion.
This time it was Breezy that smiled as she nodded her head and held her left hand across the table. Lorelei’s jaw dropped at the sight of the wedding band on the woman’s delicate finger.
“Wow,” she said dumbly, “I don’t know what to say… congratulations! How long have you been married?”
“Just celebrated a year in February,” Burns replied proudly, “We tried to send you an invite to the wedding, but we never heard from you. We didn’t know you’d moved until we showed up at Dallas FD looking for you.”
Lorelei grimaced. “I’m sorry, girls. When I didn’t hear from you two after leaving Northwest, I assumed you were mad at me for something. I tried to call you both, but your numbers weren’t working. I never saw the invitation, though. I would have been there in a heartbeat.”
“It’s okay,” Breezy replied, waving her hand to dispel the remorse in Lorelei’s tone, “We didn’t get an invite to your wedding, either, so we’re even.”
Lorelei laughed. “We didn’t have any guests at our wedding,” she said, taking a bite of her burger, “Aspen and I eloped. The only people present were Elvis and Priscilla.”
Burns and Breezy simply stared at their friend. “Damn, Blaise,” Burns chuckled, “Even I had more class than that.”
The trio laughed and conversation turned to reminiscence of their past displays of class as they finished their food. After sharing a particularly humorous memory of Breezy showing great sophistication in a drunken bar brawl, Lorelei remembered the woman’s comment about training.
“So, what kind of training did you need, Breezy?” she asked as she handed Alicia her credit card.
“Oh!” Breezy’s eyes lit up and she pulled a laminated identification card from her purse. “I had to get a promotion to qualify for a spot with NorCal.”
Lorelei took the card and felt her stomach drop. Shock widened her blue eyes as she pinned them on her friend. “You’re a smoke jumper?”
A smoke jumper is one of the most dangerous positions on a Hotshot crew. The brave men and women who held that title, were required to jump out of a plane and parachute in as the first line of defense. They were the ones who went in when a rescue was required and approaching from the ground was not feasible. Smoke jumpers were also the firefighters that went in when a fire was unapproachable by land crews because of inhospitable terrain.
Breezy’s face lit up and she nodded vigorously. “I wasn’t sure I could do it, at first. Steph spent days talking me into it and I eventually gave in and went for it. Turns out, I’m pretty damn good at jumping out of airplanes and hurtling toward walls of fire. Who knew?”
Lorelei shook her head, still unable to believe that the smallest member of their trio had the most guts. Burns laughed at her wife’s nonchalance and leaned over to press a kiss to Breezy’s lips. “You’re pretty damn good at a lot of things, baby. Don’t you ever forget that.”
“Well,” Lorelei said as they made their way out of the bar and back toward the fire station, “I’m proud of you, Wendy. How long are you in town for?”
Burns and Breezy shrugged in unison. “We’re on our way to Seattle for a meeting with the Wa-Tech honchoes, so we should probably get back on the road. The meeting is at stupid o’clock in the morning,” Burns replied with a roll of her eyes.
“We can stop back through on our way home, though,” Breezy offered, “We’ll be back this way on Thursday. Maybe we can do dinner, if your wife isn’t still mad at us.”
***
“Welcome home, baby,” Lorelei said when Aspen entered the house that evening. She’d explained Aspen’s age to her friends after lunch, and by the time the women took their leave, they were back on good terms. Now, she just had to smooth things over with the most important woman in her life.
Aspen eyed Lorelei suspiciously. She was still angry over the events in Lorelei’s office, but she’d managed to curb her ire away from her wife. Aspen realized that Lorelei wasn’t to blame for Breezy’s reaction to her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be mad at the blonde.
She was used to people making assumptions about her; it was hard not to when one heard that a twenty-seven-year-old was married to a high school student. What really aggravated Aspen, though, was her initial reaction to the woman. As soon as Lorelei mentioned the name “Wendy”, Aspen had been besieged by jealousy.
Lorelei had told her about being in a relationship with a fellow firefighter with the same name, and seeing the woman in her wife’s office had sent Aspen’s mind into a confusing and painful place.
Why is she here? Does she want Lorelei back? Does Lorelei want her back?
“They’re not here, are they?” Aspen asked as she kicked off her shoes and dropped her duffel on the floor behind the door.
“Honey,” Lorelei pleaded, wrapping her arms around Aspen’s waist and pulling her in for a kiss. “I talked to them and explained everything. No, they’re not here, but they are coming over for dinner on Thursday. Please be nice.”
Aspen rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath. “I’ll try,” she said, draping her arms around Lorelei’s neck, “but no promises. If Airhead starts throwing shade, I’m going to throw it right back.”
Lorelei frowned and it took her a full minute to realize who Aspen was talking about. “Really, babe?” she asked, doing her best not to grin, “Now who’s throwing shade?”
“She looks like the stereotype that my mother holds all blondes to.” Aspen shrugged and leaned up to kiss her wife. She pressed herself into Lorelei and moaned softly against the redhead’s lips. Lorelei hummed and ran her hands over Aspen’s ass, squeezing gently just as the Minotaur radio on the kitchen counter began the strident trill of a fire call.
“Duty 121, Engine 121, Ladder 121, Rescue 101, Medic 101, Support 108. Structure fire 3645 Glazemeadow Drive. Duty 121, Engine 121, Ladder 121, Rescue 101, Medic 101, Support 108. Structure fire 3645 Glazemeadow Drive.”
“Duty calls,” Aspen sighed when Lorelei groaned.
“Duty is such a cock-block,” Lorelei grumbled, kissing Aspen again quickly before moving to shove her feet into her tennis shoes.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Aspen laughed, “I’ll make it worth the interruption.”
Lorelei looked up into smoldering green eyes and swallowed hard. Aspen’s comment dripped with promise, making the redhead seriously consider not responding to the tapout. Shaking her head, Lorelei jumped to her feet and pecked Aspen on the cheek. “I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too,” Aspen replied, following Lorelei out the door to watch her run toward the fire station. Lorelei rarely drove over to the station; they only lived a couple of blocks away and Lorelei was a full sixty-eight seconds faster on foot.
“Are you not allowed to respond?” Cordy asked, walking up to stand beside Aspen in the yard.
“I can,” Aspen sighed in response, “but Spring break starts on Friday and I need to make sure I don’t have any leftover work. Lorelei wants to go to the coast for the weekend, and I promised her I would skip calls this week, so I can stay caught up. Unless there’s an all-hands call, of course.”
“I see,” Cordy said, “You want to come over and have dinner with me and Jenica?”
Aspen nodded. “Sure. That will give
me a chance to relax before I dive back into academics. Man,” she added as she turned to follow the lieutenant, “who knew graduating high school would be so much work!”
***
The next two days passed slowly for Aspen. A rash of car accidents and medical calls had flooded the department, taking up most of Lorelei’s time. Aspen had responded to a couple of the calls, but only because there weren’t enough volunteers showing up.
On Thursday afternoon, Lorelei finally managed to make it home before dinner. It was a good thing Breezy had called that morning to remind her of their dinner plans, because Lorelei had completely forgotten. Aspen had seen her wife’s frustration with herself at lunch, and decided to help out. She’d taken on the meal planning by herself, and assured Lorelei that everything would be ready, so long as she made it home on time.
Aspen had dutifully planned the menu and commandeered Jenica to guide her through the preparations. Now, the group sat in Aspen and Lorelei’s dining room, thoroughly enjoying the meal Aspen had prepared.
“Wow,” Burns laughed, swiping tears from her eyes, “that definitely sounds like Blaise’s idea of fun; let’s get blown up!”
“Hey!” Lorelei objected, tossing a brussels sprout at her friend, “I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“This time,” Breezy teased, earning a pointed look from the redhead.
“This time?” Aspen asked curiously, “How many times has she been blown up?”
“Well,” Burns replied, scratching her chin in contemplation, “there was the time up in Washington when no one saw the hazmat sign on the barn and she volunteered to run primary attack on the building. Things were going pretty routine until the giant oxygen tank hidden inside the barn went boom.”
“Then there was the time that old farmer started shooting at us for trespassing,” Breezy supplied, “We were too busy trying to keep the fire from spreading to his fields to notice that we’d actually penetrated his property line. Apparently, he had dementia but his family didn’t feel the need to remove his shotgun from the house when they left him alone for the weekend. He managed to hit a gas can that exploded right next to Lorelei.”