Chapter Eleven
Fires weren’t that common in Pine Hill, but unfortunately, they did happen. An old warehouse had caught ablaze during the early morning. Walker, along with quite a few other firefighters, had been called in early for their shift to help the on-duty crew.
Although he and Ben were barely talking, he worked side-by-side with his fellow firefighter as they got the fire under control, and finally completely put out. Tired, most of the crew had loaded up and headed back to the fire department.
“Walker, you and Ben stick around here to keep an eye on things,” Chief ordered. “One of these timbers could spark into flames at any point.”
“Yes sir, Chief,” Both he and Ben said at the same time.
They were both tired, in need of a shower, and the rest of their shift was going to be a long one, especially with them likely spending a good portion of their day just hanging out at the partially burned warehouse.
Their only reprieve would be if another call came through, making them needed elsewhere.
“You two going to be okay out here alone all day?” Cole’s light blue gaze bounced back and forth between Walker and Ben. “I can see if Chief will let me swap with one of you.”
Ben glanced toward Walker. “Does he need to talk to Chief to prevent my needing that headstone?”
The strain on his friendship with Ben, heavy on his heart, Walker shook his head. “No need for a headstone—yet.”
Cole looked back and forth between them, then settled on Walker. “One thing I’ll say, I’ve never known Ben to be so hung up on a woman as to risk a friendship.”
“He’s not known me that long,” Walker countered.
Cole shrugged. “Doesn’t make you any less our friend.”
Once again, having his decision to move to Pine Hill affirmed, Walker sighed. “I—You’re right. I consider you both friends and not just coworkers.”
Cole looked him directly in the eyes, then gave a slight nod of his head.
“A couple of us will be by later, after we’ve showered and rested up, so you can go to the station and do the same.
You both look as if you’ve been rolling in Santa’s coal pile.
” Cole tossed the fire truck’s keys to Ben, then gave them both a you need to work this out look before going to get into Jule’s truck.
Casting a glance Walker’s way, Ben placed the keys inside a pant pocket with a Velcro flap that he pushed closed. “Good thing he gave me the keys, or you might leave me here.”
Maybe he deserved that, but Walker rolled his eyes anyway. “I wouldn’t leave you.”
Ben didn’t look convinced. “Because Chief might write you up?”
“Because I wouldn’t leave you here,” Walker corrected. “And if I did, Amy”—and probably Maggie and everyone else he knew too—“would not be happy with me.”
Because Ben was a nice guy, his friend, and Walker was being unreasonable.
Ben sat down on a concrete block in front of the warehouse.
“For whatever it’s worth, I like her more than I recall liking any woman I’ve ever known.
Amy’s smart, funny, dependable, and is great with kids.
Other than being on eggshells because we want your approval so badly, I had a great time Sunday. ”
Other than the tension between him and his friend and how they bled over into his relationship with Amy, Walker had had a great time too.
“Does that mean Amy’s your infamous the one?”
Ben shrugged. “I hope so. I’ve been looking my entire adult life and have sometimes wondered if the one for me is out there. Is Amy my person? I don’t know. Maybe.” He met Walker’s gaze straight-on. “That’s what I’d like your permission to find out.”
Walker’s brows veed. “What does that mean?”
“I’d like your permission to date your sister without her feeling guilty for going against your wishes because she idolizes you.
And, like Cole said, you are my friend, and I don’t like how things have been these past few weeks.
That said, Amy is too great to not continue spending time with her, regardless of how you feel.
But I’d like to see her without feeling as if I’m making her compromise her loyalty to you by doing so.
We think we have something special happening between us. ”
Feeling guilty himself, but not able to let go of a lifetime of protectiveness of his sister, Walker regarded Ben. “If you hurt her, I have your permission to permanently maim you?”
His friend continued to look him straight in the eyes, and without faltering, nodded. “If I hurt Amy, I deserve whatever you throw my way.”
Walker took a deep breath and hoped he didn’t regret his next words. “Then you have my permission to date my sister.”
For a moment, Walker thought Ben was going to hug him.
Instead, smiling, he said, “Now that we have that worked out, let’s talk about you and Maggie.”
“Nothing to talk about.” Mostly true. “I advise you not to press your luck. I can always change my mind about my sister.”
Ben held up his hands. “Point taken, but for whatever it’s worth, you looked good together.”
They’d felt good together too. Which was a problem since she didn’t see herself ever falling in love again. Or would be a problem if she planned to stay in Pine Hill. She didn’t so … so he needed to keep that in mind and not let himself be the one who ended up with a broken heart. Again.
*
Maggie had spent most of her adult life serving in the military to where she was used to herself and those around her being in danger. It was the nature of the profession. How her stomach clenched when Sarah told her there had been a fire at an old warehouse made little sense.
“Was anyone hurt?” Her voice was higher pitched than normal.
“Fortunately, no. The warehouse hasn’t been used for anything for several years, so no one was there when it started. The fire department got it put out. Bodie said Ben and Walker are sticking around to make sure none of the charred timbers recatch as that can sometimes happen.”
Maggie made an eek expression. “Ben and Walker are there alone? Bodie should have stuck around to make sure they don’t exchange words. Or worse.”
“You’re right. He should have. Those poor guys got called in for their shift several hours early and had a rough morning.” Sarah gave a knowing smile. “Who knows if they’ve even had anything to eat? We should bring them some refreshments, don’t you think?”
Eyeing her hostess, Maggie put two and two together. “You’ve already packed food to take to them, haven’t you?”
“Of course.” Sarah batted her lashes innocently.
“And you need me to go with you to deliver it?” Maggie guessed.
“Don’t you want to go to check on the guys?”
Ben and Walker were alone. Even if it wasn’t Maggie’s job to keep an eye out for Sarah, she wouldn’t let her hostess walk into that situation by herself. “Yes, I think I should go.”
Waggling her brows, Sarah smiled. “I thought that might be the case.”
*
Walker made his way around the outside perimeter of the partially burned building, shining his high-powered flashlight and a thermal imaging camera up into the exposed rafters in open areas of the walls and roof.
They’d gotten the fire put out to where most of the shell of the building had been saved, but those old timbers, despite being soaked, could reignite.
He was on the back side of the building when he heard a car pull up.
The local press had been there while they’d been fighting the fire, had posted a story and photos on social media, and several times that morning curious townsfolk had come by to check out the burnt building for themselves.
No doubt whomever it was had come for the same reason since the vehicle hadn’t been loud enough to be one of the fire trucks with relief come to replace him and Ben.
There would probably be someone from the firehall soon, though.
Then he and Ben could go, shower, eat, and decompress at the firehall.
They had been chugging water and had snacked on a couple of beef sticks he’d had in the fire truck, but that shower, a decent meal, and washing away the grime of the morning beckoned to him.
When he rounded the corner, he paused. The new arrivals weren’t additional curious town members. Sarah, Maggie, and Jeannie were chatting with Ben.
Walker lifted his helmet off his head, ran his fingers through his grimy-from-sweat hair, and thought yet again that a shower was in order.
Ben spotted him and waved him over. “Hey, dude, we are in luck. Look what these angels brought for us.”
With the sun behind her, Maggie did look like an angel with her hair forming a golden halo around her pretty face. When she met his gaze, he could tell that she was assessing him, making sure he was okay, and that he mattered. He could see it in her eyes.
Other than having gotten hot beneath all the equipment he’d been wearing earlier; he’d never been in too much danger as they’d gotten the fire under control fairly quickly and used the truck to spray water down onto the burning building.
Fortunately, they’d gotten to it prior to the whole thing going up in flames.
His good intentions where Maggie was concerned?
Yeah, those were going up in flames too.
Because he liked her. A lot. And, perhaps because of how raw his emotions were due to his conversation with Ben, Walker didn’t want to stay away from Maggie even if she didn’t plan to fall in love again.
Far, far from wanting to stay away, he wanted to actively try to change her mind about dating him.
Yet, when she was leaving, what would be the point?
But what if she changed her mind about him and about staying in Pine Hill?
Walker took in the goodies they’d brought.
A small cooler contained drinks, croissants that appeared to be stuffed with chicken salad, chilled apple slices, and cookies.
Sarah had even packed wet wash clothes in sealed plastic bags for them to wash up their hands and faces.
“The guys at the firehall are going to be sad they missed out on this.”