Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
MARCH
I n the few weeks they’d been in Wildes, all of his well laid plans had been upended. As if it wasn’t already a big adjustment moving from the city to a small town, they had to adopt a senior dog his nine-year-old had fallen in love with at first sight. He had to admit Boots was the addition he never knew they needed, but planning his life around the mutt was quite the task. The Leonberger-Husky mix was built like a small bear and the most affectionate dog they could have brought home. Boots and Callahan were inseparable, which was a really good thing.
Especially since his son had been struggling at school.
In New York, Cal had never really made any friends. He was a shy and quiet kid, smaller than the rest of his classmates and he had a difficult time connecting with others. At first, Rafferty thought the trouble was because his son liked wearing bright colored clothes, had a unicorn backpack and sometimes took his tutu with him to school. Only when he attended a PTA meeting did he discover that it was because Cal was nervous around other kids. It didn’t matter that he’d known all of them since he started school; his son wasn’t the most outgoing or confident. He had hoped moving them to a smaller town would help, but he could see the hunched shoulders and downcast eyes at the end of every day.
The last time he’d seen someone like that had been when he was fourteen and she was eleven. She’d carried herself the same way Cal did, strong at the start of the day and withered by the end. She’d stolen his heart pretty early on in their friendship and kept it all these years.
It wasn’t often that he thought about Daisy Heroux, because once he fell down that spiral, it was impossible to climb back out.
Setting his coffee down, he twisted his arm and smiled at the tattoos along his bicep. Daisies were scattered over his skin, a few petals fluttering around. The ink wrapped around his upper arm and over his shoulder, blending into tiny butterflies on his back. Nestled amongst the flowers, written in thick block letters, were the initials DEH. For a girl he once loved and lost, a girl who had buried herself so deep in his skin, he added her to it permanently.
“Dad,” Cal’s soft voice broke through his wandering mind, “are you sure I can’t take Boots to school with me?”
“What did your teacher say?”
“Only if he’s a service animal.” The words were mumbled, eyes lowered to his breakfast.
He’d gotten the same response when he’d swung by the school the day before. Unfortunately, after talking to Bronte and Gavin at the Rhodes Pet Shelter, where they adopted Boots, it was clear that because of the dog’s age, it might be impossible to get him a certification. The suggestion about a second dog came up, but they were still trying to train and settle Boots. And he didn’t have the time or energy for it.
“I’m sorry, son.” He leaned over and kissed the top of Cal’s head. “Boots and I will drop you off and pick you up every day, okay?”
“Okay. I should change.”
“Why?”
Cal shrugged, fingers tracing the unicorn on the front of his purple T-shirt. “Nobody wears stuff like this and I want them to like me.”
“They might like you because you’re wearing something different.”
The first week of school, he’d worn plain T-shirts and shorts. As the days progressed, Cal attempted to infuse his personality into his clothes. So far, it hadn’t improved his mood. Rafferty hated that his kid felt like he couldn’t be himself, but short of telling him to ask the other kids to go fuck themselves, there wasn’t a whole lot he could do.
Cal’s face lit up briefly as he said, “There’s this one kid. They said they liked my pink shoelaces.”
“Will they like this shirt too?”
“I dunno. Why are kids mean?”
He gently pulled his son towards him. “You didn’t tell me the kids were being mean.”
“They laughed when I wore my tutu. I don’t think I should wear it to school anymore.”
“If you want, you can wear it when we do stuff together, okay?”
“Yeah.”
Smoothing down Cal’s hair, he sighed. “Kids are sometimes raised by parents who are not good people. They’re taught those same lessons and can be mean when they meet people different from them. Acceptance is in our hearts, but you can unlearn that very easily.”
“So parents are mean too?”
“Oh yeah. Grown ups are probably meaner than kids. But hey,” he said softly, offering his son a small smile. “You’re going to be the best of them, okay? Don’t stoop to their level and don’t become who they are.”
“I won’t. You, Grandpa, Nonna and Poppy raised me better.”
Fucking hell, this kid . “Come here.” He stretched his arms out and Cal pressed into Rafferty’s chest. His smaller arms didn’t get very far, but his fingers curled into the sides of his shirt and he held on tight. Kissing the side of his son’s head, he pulled back and looked into his eyes. “What do we say every morning before we start our day?”
“I am brave, I am strong, I am wonderful,” Cal whispered.
“Louder.”
“I am brave, I am strong, I am wonderful.”
Rafferty nodded. “And what’s your name?”
“Callahan Duncan Ames.”
“All of it, one more time.”
He pushed his shoulders back and sucked in a deep breath, exhaled and smiled. “I’m Callahan Duncan Ames and I am brave, I am strong and I am wonderful.”
“That’s my boy.”
He got the first real smile of the day from his son and released a shaky breath as Cal returned to finish his breakfast. Boots was on the floor at his feet, hoping for scraps even though he’d eaten his breakfast already. He leaned back in his chair and watched his son, hoping that one day he would find his way in the world. He’d find the people that mattered the most to him and make sense of his life. Until then, Rafferty would do everything possible to guide him through the good and the bad.
Snatching up his phone, he made a note to get in touch with the local therapist he was recommended. While slow-going, the sessions Cal had attended in the city had been helping.
“I’m done!” Cal announced, displaying his empty plate with a proud smile. Rafferty didn’t miss the piece of toast that he snuck to Boots as he slid out of his chair and carried everything to the sink.
He finished his coffee and followed his son. “Grab your things and we’ll go.” Moving at the speed of light, Cal hurried out of sight. He rinsed out the dishes and put them into the dishwasher. Grabbing the bag he’d packed for himself—laptop, sketchpad and all of Boots’s requirements—Rafferty waited at the front door as his son returned in different clothes. One day at a time , he reminded himself.
As part of his effort to help Cal adjust to this new school, Rafferty had been parking the car and walking his son to the entrance. That morning, they drew a crowd because of Boots, who enjoyed every bit of attention. It made his son smile, but he also saw the anxiety flickering in Cal’s eyes. Instead of getting involved, he stayed to the side and held the leash, while his son introduced the kids to their dog.
When the teachers called, everyone rushed inside the building. Cal turned to him with watery eyes. “I love you, Daddy.”
Squatting, he blinked back his tears and hugged his son. “I love you too. Have a good day.”
Cal made a loud smacking sound as he kissed his cheek and giggled as he ran inside. Rafferty stayed where he was, wiping at his eyes as he caught his breath. Being a father hadn’t been on his list of things to do when he was in his early twenties. Being a single father was definitely not even on his mind.
Helping Boots back into the car, he loaded up Google Maps. Being a small town, Wildes didn’t have their own fire department. Allenwood, the town next door, had a big enough squad that took care of everyone around them. Initially, he’d looked at houses there, but Cal was determined that they live in Wildes.
Pulling up outside the firehouse, he stared at the red brick building with green trim. It took up an entire corner of a residential street and had two floors, with large windows on the upper level. The double bay doors were open, revealing bright interiors where the trucks were parked. It looked very different from the firehouses in New York, but somehow the quaint neighborhood made it more appealing.
Being a firefighter had never been a full-time job, but volunteering helped him make a difference. Since his father retired, he’d been running Ames Landscaping, but Callahan was still his priority. While he never wanted more from firefighting, that didn’t stop fire chiefs in the city from trying to change his mind.
Walking through the open doors, past the trucks and into the lobby, he took in the place that would be his second home. Chatter and the scents of hot delicious food floated over, making his stomach rumble. As Boots tugged on the leash, Rafferty looked around the space. White walls kept the interior bright and the multiple doors in front of him led to other parts of the firehouse. To his left was a glass office where he saw an older woman shuffling over with a smile.
“Rafferty, I presume.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Welcome to Allenwood. I’m Gladys and I run this whole firehouse.”
“That she most certainly does,” a much deeper voice said and he glanced over as a broad man in a crisp white shirt walked over, hand stretched out. “Captain Henry Parish. Welcome to Allenwood.”
“Rafferty Ames, good to be here.”
“Don’t let the Captain give you a hard time. He’s actually quite a softie.” Captain Parish grunted at the words, but flashed a smile before leading him towards an office. Boots whined at the loss of his second human, but Gladys was there quickly. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Thank you.”
Once they were both seated and Parish had gone through his files, he leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Why not join us full-time?”
Expecting the question, he smiled. “I’ve got a kid who needs me alive for the next nine years at the very least. Besides, I was never looking at this as a full-time job. I respect and admire the hell out of everyone who does this work, because it’s hard. I went through the bells and whistles so I would be prepared, but I’ve got a family business to run and well, my kid.”
Parish nodded. “From the looks of this, you fought fires more than you planted trees.”
“It’s New York, there’s a fire every hour every day. I did what I could.”
“And if I’m being honest, someone with your experience should ideally be a lieutenant or captain by now.”
He might be skilled and knew how to handle almost any kind of fire, but that wasn’t why Rafferty became a firefighter. “I was offered the promotions a few times, never really took the tests. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy firefighting. Being able to raise my son while planting a few trees is definitely my preference.”
Parish watched him for a long moment and nodded again, one hand moving back and forth over his bald head. “I respect that,” he said finally. “Gladys will get you all the paperwork and you can meet the rest of the team. You good to start next week?”
“That works for me.”
Parish walked him to the front desk, where Boots had his head in Gladys’s lap. After a quick handshake, the captain went back to work, while Gladys pulled out all the necessary forms. Once he was done, she gave him a quick tour of the bunk room with at least forty beds, through the kitchen and lounge where the rest of the firehouse was relaxing. He met every single one of them, but couldn’t remember their names. They did give Boots enough attention to keep the bear happy for a lifetime.
They’d done some exploring the first week they were there. This included eating the best donuts from a bakery, visiting a bookstore where Cal insisted on buying every book he touched, indulging in a delicious Mexican meal from a food truck and checking out a popular dog park. When he pulled into an empty spot in front of a coffee shop, Rafferty realized that even though Wildes was a small town, there was still so much to experience.
He’d already decided the extra room in the house would become his home office, but since it hadn’t been set up yet, working out of a coffee shop was his best bet. Once he was sure it was okay to bring Boots in, he commandeered a table in the corner. His dog made a few rounds of the place, getting pets and scrubs from everyone, before returning to sleep at his feet.
When they decided to leave the city, he was a little worried about how he would run the family business from somewhere else. His priorities would change, obviously. As would the amount of time he could dedicate in a day to Ames Landscaping. However, he had been raised to take over the business and vowed to never let it suffer. After his father’s retirement four years ago, he’d promoted two people into senior positions so they could handle a lot of the bigger projects. While he continued to manage the big name clients, he was far more selective about other work he took on.
For the next hour or so he sorted through his emails, made a few calls to catch up on pending work and went through new proposals. When Boots started to get restless, he put the dog on his leash and went for a stroll. They hadn’t gotten very far when his phone rang.
“Hello, Louise,” he said, greeting his therapist with a smile as Boots stopped to sniff at something.
“Rafferty. How is small town life treating you?”
“So far, so good. We made some friends and adopted a dog.”
Louise hummed. “When you say we do you really mean your son?”
“They’re my friends too. But yes, the dog was adopted by Cal.”
“How is he doing?”
He didn’t even bother to hide his sigh. “He’s okay.”
“Not settling in yet, huh?”
Having been his therapist for the past eight years, Louise knew all about their struggles. She’d been the one to pick him up when he felt like he was failing his son. She’d helped him deal with Zara’s departure countless times. Louise had even promised him that he was doing the best he could, given the circumstances.
“We’ll come back to him in a minute. How are you?”
“I’m getting by. I signed all the paperwork at the firehouse today.”
“That’s good. Did they convince you to join them full time?”
He laughed. “I turned them down, as always.”
“Did you tell them why?”
“Of course. They get it though.”
When he first made the decision to become a firefighter, it was to give back in some small way and make a little extra money. Everyone thought he was being a reckless young man, but what he never told them was that running into burning buildings made him feel something. Once his son was born and his marriage ended, it became about distracting from the grief and pain he kept shoving down. Now he did it because he was a damn good firefighter and he’d gotten used to the routine of it.
“Good. Have you met anybody yet?”
He scoffed. “I’ve been here three weeks and I’m barely holding it together. Meeting people is at the bottom of my list.”
“Better start working towards it sooner rather than later.”
“I won’t make any promises.”
Louise chuckled and they chatted for a few more minutes about living in a small town, the adjustments he had to make and being somewhere new. They booked dates for future sessions as he returned to the coffee shop. Once he thanked her and hung up, his alarm buzzed. Boots did a little tap dance already aware of what it meant.
Standing outside the school twenty minutes later with the dog beside him, he smiled when he saw Cal talking animatedly to a kid with strawberry blond hair. Boots barked and got his son’s attention. Cal’s face lit up with a wide, ear-to-ear grin before he grabbed his friend’s hand and ran over to them.
“This is Boots. Isn’t he awesome?”
“He’s huge !”
“I know! And fluffy. He sleeps in my bed and sometimes crushes me,” Cal added with a giggle, making his friend also laugh.
“That’s so cool!”
Rafferty chuckled. “Hey kiddo. Who’s your friend?”
“Daddy, this is Indigo. Indigo, this is my dad.”
“Nice to meet you, Indigo. Do you need a ride?”
Brushing back their hair, the kid said, “My dad should be here any minute. Thank you, Mr. Ames.”
“All right. Why don’t we wait until he gets here.”
“Can we play with Boots while we wait?”
“I don’t see why not.”
He handed the leash over and watched as the furry gentle giant bounced between the two kids. With his hands shoved into his pockets, Rafferty realized that maybe this was enough. One friend that brought him joy, one dog that filled his soul and one safe home that would always be there for him—maybe that was all Callahan needed right now.