Firefighter Under the Mistletoe

by Melissa McClone

  “Seriously?” Leanne looked at each one of her friends sitting around the table at the brewpub that night. She’d known Sean Hughes, Jake Porter, Bill Paulson and Tim Moreno for more years than she wanted to count. She’d grown up with them. They were her climbing partners and her friends. The closet thing to family she had. But right now she couldn’t believe they were buying into Welton’s insane idea.

  “Christmas Magic in Hood Hamlet?” she asked them. “A day long celebration with sleigh rides, sledding, caroling and a dinner with a silent auction where attendees not only have to purchase a ticket but also donate a new toy to attend?”

  “The rookie’s hit this one out of the park,” Bill said.

  The rookie had excused himself from the table to use the restroom. She wished he’d stay there.

  Okay, she appreciated Welton being there to get the ladder for her this morning. The concern in his voice when he’d called her Leanne while she was hangdogging from the roof was pretty darn sweet. But this idea of his?

  It had messed up her entire day. She’d even put off getting a Christmas tree in order to tell him all the reasons this wouldn’t work. Nothing she’d said dampened his enthusiasm. She’d been forced to bring in reinforcements tonight. She thought her friends would convince Welton his idea would never work. Unfortunately that hadn’t happened.

  “This is not hitting it out of the park. More like a pop fly to the infield,” she said. “We’d have to do this the weekend before Christmas. Two weeks isn’t enough time to pull it off.”

  “It’s an ambitious idea,” Sean said. “But a Christmas celebration is a perfect way to entice visitors and shoppers to Hood Hamlet, increase donations to the fire station’s toy drive and raise some much needed money for OMSAR.”

  Tim nodded. “This is a very good idea, Leanne. The snowboard shop could use some new customers.”

  She stared at her mug sitting on the table. A drop of condensation ran down the side of the glass. “And here I thought you guys would be the voices of reason.”

  “With the economy the way it is, this is reasonable. We could all use some more business,” Jake said.

  Okay, the brewpub wasn’t as crowded as it normally was this time of year. OMSAR was funded by donations and grants. And the toy drive… “But Christmas magic?”

  Simply saying the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

  “I can’t think of anything better,” Tim said. “The celebration could become a yearly tradition in Hood Hamlet.”

  The others nodded. The enthusiasm seemed contagious.

  Unbelievable. Leanne took a sip of the hand-crafted root beer the brewpub made. She was outnumbered.

  Welton returned to the table. He sat across from her. “Did she try to talk you out of going along with my idea?”

  Jake laughed. “Yes, but she’s been trying to talk us out of doing things since she met us.”

  “So far it hasn’t work,” Sean said.

  “Yeah, we just end up dragging her along with us,” Bill said.

  “But we always give her points for trying to be the voice of reason.” Tim grinned. “I can still hear Nick saying, ‘Come on, LeLe, you gotta go. Who else will save our sorry butts when we get in over our heads?’”

  Amusement danced in Welton’s eyes. “LeLe?”

  She narrowed hers. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “I won’t,” he said quickly.

  “Only Nick ever called her that,” Jake warned good-naturedly. “And only when he was trying to convince her to do something she knew better than to do.”

  “Something we usually knew better than to do, too,” Bill added.

  Those were the days, Leanne thought with a twinge of sadness. She sipped her root beer.

  “Nick?” Christian asked.

  She realized he probably didn’t know who they were talking about. “Nick Bishop. Paulson mentioned him in the interview with Rachel.”

  “I remember now,” Christian said.

  “Nick was my wife’s brother and my best friend since kindergarten.” Jake’s gaze met hers. “Leanne, you know Nick would be behind this Christmas celebration a hundred and ten percent.”

  Darn him. She frowned. Pulling the Nick card wasn’t fair. Nick had been the first boy she kissed. A secret. An experiment. A mistake. A good thing they were smart enough to realize, even as teens, they were better as friends. Nick and Jake had taught her and Paulson how to climb. When he’d married his wife, Hannah, Leanne had thrown the bachelorette party and been a bridesmaid.

  “Yeah, I suppose he would,” she admitted. “But it’s going to take a lot of work.”

  “Everybody is going to want to be involved.” Sean took a chip from the basket in the center of the table. “Think total community effort. Zoe will be all over this.”

  Jake nodded. “Carly, too.”

  “Rita will want to be involved,” Tim said.

  Leanne looked each of the three married men in the eyes. “Don’t you dare put this on your wives.”

  “Of course not.”

  “Never.”

  “You know us better that that.”

  “Yeah, I do.” She eyed them warily. “That’s why each of you will be as involved as they are.”

  Bill raised his beer. “So glad I don’t have a wife.”

  “Me, too,” Welton agreed.

  “You single guys aren’t getting out of this, either.” An idea formed in her head, a wonderful way to get back at the rookie for suggesting the event in the first place. “This is going to be a team effort. And I know exactly who should be in charge.”

  “You,” Welton said, as if it were a done deal.

  She grinned. “No. You.”

  He drew back. “Me?”

  Her friends nodded with wicked smiles. About time they agreed with her. “Yes, you’re the perfect chairperson.”

  Welton frowned. “Why me?”

  “Because this event is your idea.” She smiled. “And because if you’re in charge all the single women in town will want to help you pull it off.”

  He looked shell-shocked.

  Serves him right. Satisfaction flowed through her. She leaned back against her chair.

  “You know,” Sean said. “Something like this might be too big for one chairperson.”

  “Especially with only two weeks to plan it,” Jake agreed. “I think cochairs would be better.”

  “Fairer,” Tim said. “Someone with ties to OMSAR.”

  “Don’t look at me,” Bill said.

  Sean laughed. “We know better than that, Paulson.”

  “Then who?” Leanne asked.

  Everyone looked at her.

  She stiffened. Her tummy did a little flip. “Wait a minute. This whole celebration thing is Welton’s idea.”

  “True, but you’re the brainchild behind the fire station’s toy drive,” Bill said.

  Welton nodded, his eyes alight with mischief. “You’re also a member of OMSAR. Since they’ll receive the money raised from the dinner and silent auction, it makes perfect sense for you to cochair the event with me.”

  “This makes no sense at all.” She couldn’t understand why he and the others looked so pleased with themselves. “Guys, you have to know I’m the wrong person for this. I don’t believe in Christmas magic.”

  Jake grinned wryly. “Then maybe this will help you have a change of heart.”

  A change of heart? That was so not going to happen.

  Her gaze collided with Welton’s.

  He flashed her a devastating grin.

  Leanne glared at him. The pretty boy better think twice about trying to make her feel good about this. She was immune to his charm. It was his fault she’d been dragged into this Christmas magic nightmare.

  And she wasn’t about to let him forget it.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  SHIFT change the next morning reminded Christian of his first day at the station. Excitement balled in his gut. Anticipation made him sit on the front of his chair around t
he dining table.

  Cleared for full duty.

  The four sweetest words the chief had said to Christian since hiring him. No more interviews. No more watching the engine head out to a call without him. He could do what he was paid to do, what he wanted to do—help people.

  He couldn’t wait.

  “Good call on the doughnuts, Welton.” One of his roommates, Riley Hansen from B shift, snagged a maple bar out of the almost-empty pink box. The other box sat in the recycle bin after its doughnuts had disappeared faster than crab legs at a buffet. “But next time bring three dozen.”

  Paulson set his coffee cup on the table. “Yeah, and get a couple of the sprinkle ones, too.”

  Christian had brought in a bag of Stumptown Coffee beans and two dozen doughnuts this morning. He appreciated his firefighter brothers’ support of him and his family during and after the rescue, even though they would chide him about his experience for days, possibly weeks to come. But after a year of being treated like the family cat or the shift’s glorified maid, he was used to it. A rite of passage for the crew. He wouldn’t want to work anywhere else or with any other guys. Or girl.

  Make that woman.

  He glanced at Thomas standing at the far end of the room. She wore her hair in a tight ponytail. She leaned against the wall with a coffee cup in her hand. No doughnut in sight. Strange. She usually dug right in. Unless he’d bought the wrong type.

  “Sprinkles, huh?” Christian knew he’d purchased the right coffee beans. She’d always said the popular coffee roaster in Portland was her favorite, which was why he’d picked up a bag. “I didn’t think those were Thomas’s style.”

  “They’re not.” Paulson’s mouth quirked. “She’s plain old-fashioned all the way.”

  “Better than being iced with nuts like you.” She grinned wryly. “I mean, yours.”

  A looked passed between the two, a sort of unspoken understanding. As Paulson bit into his chocolate iced doughnut with nuts on top, Christian’s gaze bounced between the two. He knew they’d grown up and climbed together, but he’d never noticed how close they were. Was there more to their friendship?

  The officers entered the room. Each morning the off-going officer met with the incoming one to discuss the events and calls of the previous day, apparatus problems or equipment issues and any other pertinent information the new shift needed to know. After that the crews would be briefed.

  The lieutenant stood. “The apparatus maintenance was completed by B shift. That leaves C shift the station maintenance.”

  Christian’s gaze drifted to Thomas, who listened intently. The way she pursed her lips was kind of cute. She’d done the same thing at the brewpub. A habit or effort in self-control?

  As the lieutenant talked about the maintenance needing to be completed today, Christian studied her. He’d guess the latter.

  Thomas held her temper in check most of the time, but Christian had glimpsed the fire in her eyes last night. The dancing flames had made her look angry and sexy at the same time. Very…intriguing.

  As the lieutenant sat, the chief stood. “We’re implementing a new training workout. With Christmas coming up, we’ll see lots of baked goods being dropped off from patients. Be prepared to sweat, people. You need to stay in shape.”

  Guys muttered comments under their breaths. Not Thomas. Her eyes gleamed with excitement. She loved any form of exercise. The more brutal, the better. They would be in trouble and puking their guts out if she ever decided to take the lieutenant’s exam and be in charge of physical training.

  “That’s all I’ve got for you today. Don’t forget about the toy drive,” the chief added. “A lot of kids are counting on us. Remind your friends about the donation barrels. Thomas dropped off one at the library and another at the General Store.”

  This would be the perfect time to announce the upcoming Christmas celebration. Christian glanced at Thomas, hoping to catch her attention, but she didn’t glance his way. He waited for her to speak up since the toy drive was her pet project. She didn’t. That meant it was up to him.

  He raised his hand.

  “Welton,” the chief said.

  Thomas glared at him from across the room. The intense sparks flaring in her brown eyes would have burned him if he’d been closer. But her lips weren’t pursed like last night.

  She mouthed a single word. No.

  Her reaction amused him. He grinned.

  Thomas liked things a certain way. Her way. She wasn’t happy when things didn’t go as she expected like at the brewpub. But he hadn’t expected that same anger today. He’d riled her up…again.

  “Welton,” the chief repeated.

  Christian needed to work with Thomas if they were going to pull off the celebration. She already didn’t want to do this. Antagonizing her more wouldn’t help matters. He’d wait and wrangle this out in private. “There’s a sale going on at the toy store at the mall, Chief.”

  The irritation disappeared from Thomas’s eyes. Her lips pressed together forming a thin, tight line.

  She needed to smile. Lighten up. Maybe a kiss would do it.

  What the hell? This was the second time he’d thought about doing that. Thomas and the word kiss didn’t belong in the same sentence. Especially at work.

  Christian liked challenges, but Thomas would be an impossible one. She’d never go for it. He couldn’t imagine her, Ms. Perfect Paramedic, forgetting about the station’s taboo and messing around with a coworker. Too bad really.

  “I’ll pass that along to the missus,” the chief said. “Anything—”

  A series of tones blared over the speaker. “Rescue 1 and Engine 3 responding to a car accident on Highway 26, five miles east of town center,” the female dispatcher said.

  A surge of adrenaline brought him to his feet.

  “Right back into the fire, Welton,” Paulson said.

  Christian headed out of the dining area. “Yeah.”

  He was up for the physical portion of responding to a call, but he hoped this was a fender bender and not something more serious. Car accidents were rarely easy calls to deal with.

  By the time he reached the engine, Thomas had jumped on her bunker gear and was climbing into the rescue rig.

  Always the first one to the truck.

  Christian unzipped his boots and removed them. He jumped into his bunkers and slid his socked feet into the boots. He pulled up the suspenders.

  Ready to go.

  He climbed into the engine, taking his usual seat behind the driver, and fastened his seat belt.

  The rescue rig pulled out of the station. They were usually the first responders at a scene no matter if Thomas was on duty or not. She’d set the bar high for all the medics at the station regardless of shift.

  Paulson had told Christian the crew used to bet whether one of them could beat Thomas to the truck. No one ever did. The running joke was she would be first until she retired. Or if she ever got caught naked in the shower.

  He wouldn’t mind seeing that.

  Christian took his role and responsibilities as a firefighter seriously, but he’d never seen anyone as driven as Thomas. She might be hard-nosed and a stickler for rules, but he admired how hard she worked. He had no doubt she would put the same effort into the Christmas celebration, even though she’d shown zero enthusiasm yesterday.

  He was actually looking forward to working with her. Maybe she’d annoy him enough by the time the event planning was over, he would stop thinking about kissing her. He imagined her in the shower. Then again, maybe not.

  O’Ryan drove to the accident. He preferred being behind the wheel. Leanne didn’t mind one bit.

  The rig’s studded tires crunched against the snow-covered road. The siren blared. Traffic on Highway 26 moved to the right to let them pass.

  Standard procedure for any call.

  Too bad this didn’t feel like a normal call to her.

  The knot of uneasiness in Leanne’s stomach matched the pressure at her temples.
>
  Car accident on Highway 26, five miles east of town center.

  She hated responding to car accidents. But this one hit a little too close to home for her…

  Don’t think about it.

  “You up for the new workout?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “I am.” She massaged her throbbing forehead. A headache threatened to erupt. “It’ll be good for all of us.”

  “You know what they say, Thomas, all work and no play.”

  “Oh, I play.”

  “I haven’t heard about you playing with any guys in a long time.” O’Ryan passed a school bus. “Still getting over that physical therapist from Hood River?”

  “Long over him. Just taking a break from dating right now.”

  O’Ryan winked. “You could always date a firefighter.”

  “I know better than to get involved with one of you guys.”

  “Yeah, the chief wouldn’t like that.”

  A sheriff’s deputy’s flashing blue-and-red lights shone in the distance.

  Her throat tightened. “It’s a small station in an even smaller town. Why borrow trouble?”

  “I hear you on that.” O’Ryan tapped the brakes of the medic rig. The studded tires bit into the layer of snow and ice. “Damn. This is a bad one.”

  Leanne stared out the medic rig’s windshield as they approached the accident scene.

  Flashing lights. Cars. People. Falling snow. Glass. Blood. A blanket covered a body on the road.

  She glimpsed what might have once been a minivan. Air bags had deployed. The front was smashed all the way into the driver’s seat. The side windows had shattered. The left side had buckled. She couldn’t see the other side.

  A few feet away rested an SUV spun at a weird angle with its front end and right side crushed. A police officer leaned over a passenger in the SUV, someone covered in red. In blood.

  Images flashed through her mind like a movie on fast forward. Bursts of colors. Explosions of sounds. Tears of pain.

  Hang on. They’ll be here soon.

  She closed her eyes. It didn’t help stop the pictures or the memories.

  The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Her stomach clenched. She wanted to throw up. Leanne clutched the arm handle until her knuckles turned white.