Heart On Fire

by A. L. Cook

  Five minutes, ten dollars and six dozen eggs later, Miranda found herself standing nervously outside the fire station, five cartons in her hands and butterflies in her stomach. She hesitated, jerking in surprise when someone addressed her from across the engine bay.

  “Can I help you with something, Ma’am?” the dark-haired man called, shading his eyes against the sun.

  “Yes,” Miranda began falteringly, before clearing her throat and starting again. “Yes, I think so. I’m looking for a man, a fireman,” she blushed at his knowing grin, “that I met in the store just now. Taller than me, blonde hair, grey eyes?”

  “That’ll be Elliott Thomas,” the other man nodded. “Come with me and I’ll take you to him.”

  “No, that’s okay-”

  “Thomas,” the man bellowed as he strode across the bay, Miranda hurrying after him and trying to tell him that she didn’t need to speak to him, she just wanted to give him the eggs, but it was too late.

  Elliott stepped out of a nearby doorway as Miranda and her helpful guide entered the station, a smile appearing briefly when he saw her again, before disappearing as his gaze flicked to the shorter man. “Yes, Chief?”

  “You have a visitor, Thomas. Make it quick, we all need a feed and some sleep.”

  “Sure thing, Chief,” he agreed, then rolled his eyes as the dark haired man leaned against the wall nearby and watched them both with undisguised curiosity. “Hi,” he said to Miranda, drawing her a little way away. “What are you doing here?”

  “I brought you some more eggs,” she told him breathlessly, thrusting the cartons into his hands.

  “You shouldn’t have,” he began, but she interrupted.

  “I’m not married,” Miranda blurted out, embarrassed by her own lack of tact but knowing that if she didn’t say it now, she’d never get it out. “I was, but he… he’s gone. I have a six year old daughter, I think my heart might be too broken to fix, and I’m sad a lot of the time. But if you still want to take me out, I’d like it very much if you’d take a chance on me.”

  He was quiet for a long moment, then that slow smile appeared again. “I’d love to,” he told her sincerely. “I’m Elliott Thomas.”

  “Miranda Coleman,” she replied with a shy smile as she gripped his hand when he juggled the eggs aside and held it out to shake.

  They stood there like that for a moment until Elliott’s chief, Pete, as Miranda would later learn, cleared his throat. “Miss Coleman, why don’t you come back at six tomorrow when Thomas gets off work?”

  “I don’t finish until after seven, though,” Elliott said.

  “Six o’clock,” Pete said firmly, smiling at her. “I’ll make sure he’s as clean and presentable as he ever gets. And thank you for the eggs. That was incredibly kind of you.”

  “My pleasure,” she smiled, casting one last look over her shoulder at Elliott as she stepped back out into the sunshine, meeting his eyes as he grinned and watched her leave.

  First Date

  “Seven a.m.?” Shelley exclaimed incredulously as she read her text messages.

  “What about it?” Maggie asked as she set the huge mixers to begin kneading the next day’s bread.

  “That’s everyone out, and the place is locked up,” Erin announced as she joined them, carrying a tray of plates and cutlery to load into the dishwasher.

  “That’s when Mike wants to come and pick me up.” Shelley frowned.

  “Ooh, date night already?” Erin asked excitedly.

  “Date morning,” Maggie corrected her.

  “Huh?”

  “He sent me a text saying he was going to come by and pick me up at seven tomorrow. That’s a.m. Ugh, why?”

  “He obviously has a plan,” Erin smiled, tidying the counters as the younger woman stared at her phone again. “Just go with it.”

  “But it’s seven in the morning,” Shelley groaned. “In the first week of January. The sun doesn’t even come up until eight thirty.”

  “What time do you normally get up?” Maggie asked.

  Shelley looked sheepish. “Usually as late as I can,” she confessed. “Most of my classes are late, so I’m up until after midnight studying. But Jake will still be at home, and I just know he won’t be able to keep his nose out of it.”

  “Ah, the dreaded older brother interrogation,” Maggie grinned. “You’ve got to let him have his moment to shine.”

  “Oh no I do not,” Shelley shot back. “Don’t you remember me telling you what he did to Matt? I don’t think he’s ever recovered, and we’re all still amazed that Rachel stuck around.”

  “Hey, it’ll be fine,” Erin told her soothingly as she came around the bench to dry her hands. “You know Mikey is really into you, Shell; I don’t think he’s going to be scared off by Jake.”

  “If he is, he’s not worth a second of your time. And he would only ever get decaf when he came here for coffee,” Maggie added.

  Erin laughed. “Remind me never to get on your bad side; that’s cold.”

  “No, but his croissants would be.”

  “Thanks, guys,” Shelley said with a grin. “I guess I’m just nervous.” She unlocked her phone and opened her message with Mikey. Sounds great, she replied, I’ll be ready.

  “What about you, miss?” Maggie asked Erin. “Seeing your young man tonight?”

  “We’re going to the movies,” Erin beamed. “Some ridiculous-looking seasonal holiday romance Cam picked out.”

  “When are you guys planning on getting married, again?” Shelley teased.

  “When he gets better taste in cinema,” Erin snorted, glancing at the clock. “If there’s nothing else that needs doing here, I might go have a quick shower before he arrives.”

  “Go, I’ll finish up,” Maggie told her.

  Erin hugged Shelley. “Have fun tomorrow- I want to hear all about it, okay?”

  “I’ll text you after,” Shelley promised, watching as Erin left.

  “She’s right, you know,” Maggie told her as they worked together in relative quiet. “It will be okay.”

  “I know,” Shelley sighed. “I just really like him, Mags, you know?”

  “I know,” Maggie snorted. “I’ve been watching him make cow-eyes at you ever since you started working here.”

  Shelley grinned. “That long?”

  “That boy is as obvious as a shovel to the back of the head. Yes, ‘that long’.”

  “Wonder why he never said anything?”

  “Because he’s as shy as you aren’t,” Maggie laughed. “Don’t worry about any of that; if it’s meant to be, then you work on it from today onwards.”

  “Today onwards,” Shelley mused. “Yeah, I like that. Thanks, Maggie. Man, I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.”

  “Something foolish, I’d imagine. Now get home, girl, and be careful on your way; the fog out there is thick as soup. And Shelley?”

  Shelley paused in shrugging into her coat and gathering up her bag to turn back to Maggie.

  “Have fun tomorrow.”

  “Thanks; I think I will,” she said.

  Later that night, at the positively respectable hour of ten p.m., Shelley lay in bed trying to will herself to sleep when she heard her phone vibrate on her bedside table. She grabbed it, grateful for having dimmed the screen’s brightness as low as it could go, and smiled when she saw a text from Mike. She rolled onto her back and swiped it open.

  >Still awake, night owl?

  >Yep. I’m in bed tho, so that’s an improvement on usual.

  >What r u doing awake?

  >Would it be very embarrassing to admit I’m too excited to sleep?

  >Excited about??

  >Our date tomorrow, silly

  >Rly? Not embarrassing, I think thats cute :)

  >Good. Hopefully u will still think that tomorrow morning.

  >Im sure I will. Just to warn you, Jake is a PITA and will probably be a dick tmrw.

  >Nothing I can’t handle. You’re worth it.


  >Now get some sleep. Early start tomorrow.

  >U 2. Night Mike x

  >Night, beautiful.

  Shelley grinned into the dark as she dropped her phone onto the bed. Seven? What was she worrying about? He was sweet enough that a three a.m. wakeup call would be worth it. She snuggled deeper into her blankets and felt her stomach fill with butterflies.

  *

  “So you’re Mike, huh?”

  “Dammit, Jake!” Shelley hollered as she barrelled down the stars to try and intercept her brother’s interrogation, “leave him alone!” She slid gracelessly down the last few steps of the staircase and shoulder-checked Jake, making her brother stumble as she shoved him from the doorway. “Hey, Mike.”

  “Hi Shelley,” he smiled, his dark eyes amused. “And hi, Jake.”

  “Goodbye, Jake,” Shelley told her brother pointedly, grabbing Mike’s arm and dragging him out to his truck.

  “Hey, slow down,” he chuckled, grinning as she shot an irritated glare back at the house where Jake was still standing in the doorway watching them. “It’s cool; you could have introduced me, you know.”

  “I wouldn’t do that to you,” she promised vehemently as she got into the truck.

  Mike closed the door after her and jogged around to the other side. “Like I said last night- you’re worth it. It’ll take much more than a big brother to chase me off.”

  “That’s not a chance I’m willing to take,” she muttered under her breath. Then, louder, “Where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise,” he told her as they drove through the fog-filled streets at a pace not much more than a crawl. “There’s a reason I asked you out this early, given how you like to sleep in.”

  “How did you know that?” Shelley asked around an enormous yawn.

  “I don’t think you’ve ever answered a text before nine,” Mike grinned. “That, and the fact that you refer to early risers as ‘abominations against natural order’.”

  She shot him a look. “Yes. And I was right about that.”

  “That’s not really for me to decide,” Mike said easily.

  “You’re one of them, aren’t you?” she asked accusatorily.

  “Would it matter if I was?”

  She eyeballed him across the truck, admiring his amused grin. “I’m reserving judgement,” she told him, “but you’re on notice, mister.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her as he turned down the highway in the direction of the airport. “Are we flying somewhere?”

  “No, just be patient,” he told her. “It’s not far at all.”

  “Fine,” she huffed, rewrapping her scarf around her throat to ward against the cold.

  “Are you warm enough?” Mike asked, turning the heat up and adjusting the vents so they were all blowing in her direction.

  “I’m fine, thank you,” she told him. “I think I just feel the cold a bit more when I’m tired.”

  “You should get more sleep,” he told her. “You’re always doing something.”

  “Well, I was in bed early last night,” she told him teasingly, “but this cute boy I know was keeping me up late.”

  Mike could feel a blush creeping up his throat and could see from the corner of his eye that Shelley was enjoying his response. He mentally cursed his fair skin and inability to get away with hiding anything, but at the same time loved the way she teased him.

  He had been half in love with Shelley for months now, but assumed her flirtation was just part of her personality. It wasn’t until the fundraising auction that he had realised the she was actually interested in him, and he still replayed the kiss she had given him that day over in his mind.

  He was nervous about their date though, even though he knew she was into him. He had taken a real risk planning their first date for the early morning, but he wanted to show her his favourite place in Juneau and hoped she would understand that it was important to him to share it with her.

  He frowned a little as he tried to see through the fog to the turnoff he needed, glad the weather was perfect for what he had planned. He saw the sign ahead and turned off to the left, Shelley sitting up straight as she peered out the window to try and figure out where they were. It was still dark out, so as they wound their way uphill through the Tongass National Forest, the hemlock and towering spruce loomed overhead in the gloom and created a creepy sense of unreality in contrast to the unblemished white snow that lay all around.

  “Um, so, not that I’m trying to imply anything, but should I be sending a text to anyone and letting them know my whereabouts and expected return?” Shelley asked softly as she stared up and out the window.

  Mikey grinned. “Bit late for that, isn’t it?” At Shelley’s glare he chuckled. “You’re safe with me,” he promised, “I’m a firefighter.”

  “Don’t I know it,” Shelley told him flirtily, making Mike’s pulse race. “Speaking of which, I can’t wait until April,” she told him.

  “What’s in April?” he asked, not following.

  “Only the hottest fireman in Juneau on my calendar. I still daydream about you gripping that hose…” She trailed off and sighed lustily.

  “Jesus, Shelley, you can’t just say stuff like that,” Mike told her, his hands tightening convulsively around the wheel.

  “Sure I can,” she countered. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

  “Oh look, we’re almost there,” Mike said loudly, ignoring her laugh as he pulled the truck to a stop but left the engine running as he threw himself out of the cab, grateful for the cold morning air cooling his face.

  He really liked her, he thought to himself as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the wide gate, walking it back down the incline and climbing back into the truck. He drove through and pulled up again to close the gate behind them, smiling at the big heart Shelley had drawn onto her fogged-up window. She was spunky and fun, and way out of his league, but he was damned if he was going to let her slip from his grasp.

  “Okay, how do you have a set of keys to Glacier Gardens?” she asked as he got into the truck once more and set off, headlights sweeping over the unmarked road before them.

  “I used to work here when I was in school,” he told her. “I called the owners a few days ago and asked if I could come up here today, and they said yes. It’s one of my favourite places in Juneau.”

  He guided the truck around a wide bend and crawled along until he found a suitable place to park. They sat for a moment in the darkened vehicle, the forest silent around them, until Mike turned to Shelley and smiled. “You ready?”

  They climbed out of the vehicle and Mike pulled a hiking pack from his back seat. He locked the truck and headed around to where Shelley was standing a little away from it and staring up into the dark canopy of the forest. The sky was ever-so-slowly beginning to lighten, and Mikey was pleased that they’d arrived just in time.