Two Hearts Rescue: Park City Firefighter Romance

by Daniel Banner

  More than anything she wanted to prove that Two Hearts, in this case eight hearts including Daria and all of the horses, could pull this off. If they wanted to be an all-species, no kill rescue, they had to be able to respond to any type of animal that needed them, and they had to be able to do it without calling for backup every time.

  Maybe they didn’t have it in them after all. Staffing was low, funding was lower, and getting these emaciated animals back to health would not be cheap. As much as Poppy hated to admit it, again, she was a failure. But for Two Hearts to spend all of its money on these poor horses, they had to catch them first.

  Okay, first things first, you’re going to need help.

  Poppy’s brother would be mostly worthless against such large animals, but it didn’t really matter because he was scuba diving somewhere. All both of the regular Two Hearts volunteers were in high school at the moment.

  That was pretty much the extent of people in the Park City area she could rely on in a pinch.

  There was Slade, but …. Forget it. Well, she needed help and whatever buts she had to deal with later, maybe he could help her out of this mess.

  She dialed his number. It rang once. Twice. A semi blared its engine break along the highway and the horses freaked out again. Poppy kept one hand in the air as she backed up to the curb. Three rings.

  “Hello.” Slade’s voice was a half whisper.

  “Hey, it’s Poppy. You in the middle of something?”

  “I was about to head into a meeting. Why?”

  “Oh, never mind. I was just …” Keep the panic out of your voice but don’t just leave that hanging.

  “You don’t sound good. What is it?”

  “Me and Daria are having a horse emergency. I need a few extra pairs of hands, and I kinda ran out of options.”

  For a while, Slade didn’t speak. There was nothing Poppy could do but stand there trying to keep the spooky animals from running back into the neighborhood.

  “We’ll figure it out, Slade. Good luck at your meeting.” What was she thinking asking him to drop everything and rush to her aid? Who did she think she was? Why would she even—

  “I can help,” said Slade. “Where are you?”

  Poppy heard footsteps through the phone and his voice was louder as if he’d left a building and was finally able to speak in unmodulated voice levels.

  “I shouldn’t have called,” said Poppy.

  “Don’t make me drive all over Summit County looking for you.”

  “You’re busy, Slade.”

  “Not any more.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. I can reschedule this.”

  She gave him the address and hung up.

  “I got one!” Poppy yelled. “Don’t know how long it’ll take to get here, but he’s on his way. Now we just need about ten more.”

  “What’s the plan?” asked Daria.

  “All we can do is try to keep them in the lot and hope nothing makes them want to leave too badly. You have any luck finding anyone?”

  “Everyone I know works in Salt Lake. Even if they could get away, it would take an hour to drop everything and get up here.”

  “Keep thinking,” said Poppy. “One guy isn’t going to make much difference, and these horses are getting more annoyed, not less.”

  Not a single soul came to Poppy’s mind. Well, Alta from the gym that Poppy hadn’t been to for days. But she didn’t know her phone number. Or her last name. Or if she would even help with something like this. Poppy really needed to make some friends.

  A huge Dodge truck came racing down the street and pulled to a quick stop. The horse owners? That would be too much to ask. She’d settle for concerned neighbors willing to park that big truck nose-to-nose with Cardinal to cut off part of the horses’ escape.

  Both doors opened and a man and a woman jumped out. The man was imposingly muscular and handsome, and slightly familiar looking. The woman was just as attractive, with long blonde hair and the body of a model. Why was every woman Poppy saw so effortlessly thin and beautiful? Every woman except the one she saw in mirrors.

  The couple reached her at the same time and the man spoke. “Slade says your horses are running amok. He actually used that word.”

  Poppy shook off her surprise at seeing these strangers show up to help. Of course Slade used the word amok. That sounded just like him. “Wait, Cap?” He was so out of place without the uniform.

  “Yep, and this is Sage.” They shared a cheesy, private grin, then the Swedish Bikini Team Captain smiled warmly at Poppy.

  She asked, “What can we do?”

  It came together suddenly. “You’re here to help? Slade, Powers, whatever you guys call him, called in reinforcements?”

  “Yep. What can we do?”

  They weren’t dressed for horse rustling, in fact Sage looked like she’d just stepped out of a salon, but Poppy would take what she could get. “See those hedges? I don’t trust them to keep these horses in. Can you stand over there and make sure they don’t bust through? I really don’t want to see these guys out on the highway.”

  “Block the hedge exit. Copy.” Captain America and Miss America walked along the sidewalk to the edge of the property, and then spread out in from of the shrubs.

  That should cover that escape route.

  Within a minute, Slade’s red truck came roaring up. Before it was even at a complete stop, he was flying from the truck, shedding a suit coat and a tie in under a second.

  “I feel like I’m in a commercial for a high-end cologne,” muttered Poppy. “Hey, Blue Steel. You made it.”

  Slade gave her a momentary male model pose, then said, “Figured if I came, there was a good chance I’d get to see you smile.”

  Smile she did, but self-consciously. You couldn’t just act naturally under so much pressure.

  “Thanks for bringing Cap and the supermodel. I think we have a shot at getting these guys trailered now that we have five people.”

  “Give me five minutes and I’ll probably have one more show up.”

  “You’re my hero,” said Poppy.

  “Falling back in like with me?”

  “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”

  Two minutes later, a car with four more guys pulled up. Yes, Poppy was deeply in like with Slade. One of the guys was JFK. Hopefully he wasn’t as afraid of horses as he was of pigs. Another was Emily, the gorgeous lady firefighter who belonged on Chicago Fire. Pineapple was there too, as well another good looking guy Poppy didn’t recognize.

  She directed one of the firemen to back up Cardinal and the trailer so that it pointed into the lot. Loud enough for the scattered circle to hear, she announced, “I’m going to run them in a circle for a few minutes. Shouldn’t take long for them to get sick of being chased and chose the trailer. Just keep them on the lot until I give the signal, then funnel them into the open trailer.”

  They spread out around the lot and Poppy started moving the horses in a slow jog. The horses actually seemed content to be moving, and kept their distance from Poppy and all of the other humans.

  At least the people who came to help got a show. While every one of them—except JFK—looked calendar ready, Poppy was running around in pig-poop covered jeans. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She could feel her sweaty, dust-encrusted face growing red from the heat and the attention. It was humiliating. She’d signed up for this so she could work heart-to-heart with non-judgmental, non-incredibly good-looking organisms. Gratitude filled her for these strangers who had showed up at a minute’s notice. But she was not one of them. It was so obvious that Mother was probably pointing it out at that very moment from her mansion five miles away.

  JFK of all people spoke up in a slightly slurred voice. “Six skinny ponies and one … healthy one.”

  It sounded like a fat comment. Felt like a fat comment, anyway. Hopefully the horses were tired of being on display because Poppy definitely was.

  “Dude,” said Emily to JFK. O
ne of the guys slapped him on the arm. Slade seemed so intent on the horses, she wasn’t sure he’d heard the comment or not.

  Poppy couldn’t be too mad; it was something she herself would think, even if she’d never say it out loud.

  Focus, she told herself.

  The moment of truth for the horses. If they balked at trailering, it could take hours under her semi-experienced hand to get them loaded, and they might even have to call in a real expert. Talk about blowing money.

  “H-yah!” shouted Poppy raising both hands to signal to the trailer.

  The firefighters closed in slowly, forming an ever-tightening chute.

  “Ready,” called Poppy, as the horses took their final turn. “Now!”

  The crew hustled up like they’d practiced the timing on that move. The lead horse, a chestnut gelding with scars on one flank, led the way. It slowed down as it reached the trailer and Poppy prayed it wouldn’t take someone out trying to break free.

  One step. Just one step. If a horse hesitated once, it would balk time and again.

  The chestnut’s nose broke the plane of the trailer, but it was still undecided. It leaned … lifted its lead leg … and stepped up into the trailer. The other five stepped up after him, and the crew had the gate shut and secured before Poppy even arrived.

  “We did it! You guys rock!”

  Slade was right there and she was so ecstatic and grateful she grabbed him around the neck and kissed him. It was short, the length of heartbeat, but it felt so right. Up until he gently took her by both shoulders and moved her back a step.

  Oh, no. What had she done? Everyone was staring at them, grinning. One of them cat-called. What now? High fives? Was that appropriate for the moment? Why not?

  Slade took a step back as she awkwardly made the rounds.

  “You, uh, need any help offloading?” asked Cap.

  “No, that’s the easy part. I can’t thank you guys enough.”

  “You’re not driving that trailer are you?” asked JFK. When she nodded, he said, “Not bad for a girl.”

  “JFK,” said Emily. “We can’t take you anywhere. C’mon.” The four who had ridden in together rode out together.

  Cap and the Amazon princess said goodbye and took off. Daria headed to the far corner of the lot where they had left some rope.

  Poppy looked uncertainly at Slade.

  “You can’t do that, Poppy.”

  “I’m sorry.” Her eyes fell. Wait, she didn’t feel sorry, not about kissing him, not about doing it in front of his crew. She felt like she should be sorry, though. “No, I’m not. You had that coming. Don’t be such a studmuffin hero if you don’t want to be kissed. You know you liked it.”

  Please don’t say you didn’t like it, please, please, please.

  Slade’s face had gone slightly pale and beads of sweat showed on his brow. Had he been sweating before the kiss? She couldn’t remember.

  “That’s beside the point,” he said.

  “I’ll try not to do it again.” The promise was half-hearted, but ‘try’ wasn’t the most binding word. The kiss may have ruined everything with him, but still it was hard to feel bad about it. She had to change the subject quick, but her brain was still humming from the after effects so she turned to the trailer door and double checked the latches. What in the world had inspired her to lay one on this paragon of human perfection, even if she had liked it?

  Change the subject! she reminded herself. “So how’d you get everyone to come so quickly?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Slade. “I just called and asked.”

  Wow, they really were like a family, picking on each other mercilessly, but when one of them needed help, they came running. And it wasn’t even one of them that needed help. It was the friend of one of them.

  “You sure you don’t need help with these guys back at the shelter?”

  Was he asking now out of pity? Probably felt sorry for her after she had made such a fool of herself. The kiss was a bad idea. It was. Poppy wasn’t pretty or thin enough or anything enough for a guy like Slade. But it had felt so good.

  Wait, what had he asked? Oh, the horses.

  “Not unless you have a dozen bales of hay and twenty sacks of oats lying around.”

  Slade patted his pants pockets and stuffed his fingers into his shirt pocket. “Sorry.”

  As much as she wanted to be with him, Poppy was ready for him to leave. The ups and downs were just too exhausting.

  “Hey, can you still make your meeting?”

  “No. I’ll reschedule it.”

  Just like she could tell when he was joking around, she could tell now that he’d missed something big. “Looking sharp. It must have been important.”

  “Not as important as this. I’ve been there.”

  That deep sense of support that had hit her when people started showing up out of nowhere, came back. “It’s pretty much the best feeling in the world when friends show up out of nowhere to save your butt.”

  His eyebrows dipped in confusion. “No, I meant I’ve been stuck, with no one to call for help. It’s the worst feeling in the world.”

  “Oh. That turned dark.”

  “Glass half-full, half-empty.” He shrugged. “I’ll probably mess everything up again like I do every time I open my mouth, but I’m going to say this. Since I met you there’s been humor in my life again.”

  “Poppy the Clown,” she said playfully. “Think there’s a career in my future?”

  “See? It’s so easy with you. The weird thing is, I didn’t even realize my life was joyless before you. Life with Jenny was fun and she was always so positive and outgoing that it was like riding a wave. Have you even known anyone like that? I got in the habit of being happy. After it ended, I think I became a bit of a crank. Or at least a guy whose serious/fun meter didn’t see a lot of variety.”

  That was a lot to process and Poppy was tempted to feel like she was being compared to a superior woman.

  Slade added, “I really like being around you, Poppy.”

  For having just been shoved into the friend zone, she didn’t feel too bad.

  Daria walked up and threw the rope into the back of Cardinal.

  Slade asked, “You need help rounding up some horse chow?”

  “We’ll manage,” said Poppy. Behind her, Daria cleared her throat. Poppy spun and caught her shaking her head. “Daria, we’ll be fine.”

  “If you say so, boss.” She looked past Poppy and shook her head at Slade.

  “It’s not his problem,” demanded Poppy.

  “I’m not saying it is. Just pointing out that there is a possibility that we won’t be fine.”

  It was clear by the way Slade looked back and forth between them with one raised eyebrow that he was confused.

  “Money runs the world,” said Poppy.

  “But you … your family …”

  “I live in my parents’ home, but I support myself, and the shelter. I know it’s hard to imagine my super-supportive mother not being behind me one-hundred percent, but she’s not exactly thrilled with some of my life choices. Pretty much any of them.”

  “And your father?”

  “… couldn’t live in the same house as my mother if he enabled me in my unworthy life choices. It’s not going to change either. I’ll never be good enough for her.” Or for you or anyone apparently, she wanted to add.

  “I got like eight bucks in my wallet.”

  Poppy chuckled but it was forced. “That’s seven bucks more than I got, but we’ll figure it out. We have enough to keep us going for a bit. Just need to figure out the whole fundraising thing.”

  One of the horses stomped, causing Slade to jump.

  “Looks like they’re ready to go,” said Poppy. “I really can’t thank you enough.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know what we would have done without you. I don’t know how to thank you.”

  The confusion on his face was a total act, but Poppy didn’t know what he was
playing at. “You don’t know how to thank me?”

  She was about to suggest another kiss, but didn’t want to go there again. The more time that passed, the nagging feelings of rejection were kicking in. Re-rejection, actually.

  “Do you have an idea?” she asked.

  “Poppy, Poppy, Poppy,” he said, shaking his head as he walked around to open Cardinal’s door. She followed him and climbed slowly in. Once she was settled, he looked into her face, said, “See you Sunday,” then shut the door and jogged off.

  So that’s what he was after. Men made absolutely no sense.

  12

  Slade stared down at the written portion of his probationary exam. Overall he felt good about the answers he had down so far, but sometimes it was impossible to tell exactly what the test writer was looking for. He was locked in the station study with a computer and firefighter manuals within arms’ reach, but nothing in the world could make him reach out and peek at either of them. Even if it wasn’t a question of personal integrity, if anyone caught him, he’d be fired for cheating before he even had a chance to fail the test.

  46. How much does a standard sledgehammer weigh?

  Easy. Eight pounds.

  47. Which historical event brought about the most significant change in fire equipment in the U.S. fire service?

  Slade thought he remembered something about the Industrial Revolution from the Academy, but he had read something in the Firefighter’s Handbook about World War I. Was that bucket brigades or fire gangs? After a full day of practical testing and 47 out of 50 questions done on the written test, his brain was fried.

  It might help if he could stop thinking about Poppy for five minutes. He hadn’t seen her for three days—since the horse incident—and that was probably a good thing. They were getting much too close too fast. Seeing her once every four days off was about right, and just for a few minutes each time. Anything to keep them from getting too comfortable with each other.

  Slade stayed away from Google and other search engines, but he did look for Poppy on social media sites. Maybe she was too busy with the animals to waste time online because Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat came up empty. Any of those would have been the perfect way to track her down since he would have been able to enjoy her magnificent smile without the complications of spending time with her, as much as he did enjoy that. When the social media sites came up empty he was tempted to do an image search on Google, but he resisted, keeping the pinky promised they had made.