Chapter 25
Closer Than You Know
Blaze
“Change of plans, Blaze.” Don’s voice filled the other end of the line.
“What do you mean?” My heart dropped, thinking he’d decided to move my position into some other role for the time being. I did not want to leave dispatch. I did not want to leave Autumn.
“Maple Haven Fire District needs a volunteer to man the fundraiser booth today.” My heartbeat leveled. Knowing I wouldn’t be removed from dispatch was a great relief.
“Alright, I guess I could help out.” A change of pace might not be a bad thing, especially since Melody was back in the office this morning, carrying two jumbo-sized pumpkin candles and one of those lighters that can reach a foot.
The woman was trying to burn this place down for the sake of pumpkin spice.
“That’s my boy,” Don smiled. “It’s a little bit of a distance, so I can have someone pick you up if you're not feeling up to managing driving yourself.”
“Where is it?”
“The Pumpkin Perk Cafe.”
“As in, The Pumpkin Perk Cafe in Maple Haven, over an hour away?”
“The one and only. Say, will you grab me a few treats while you’re there? I haven’t had a good donut since the supply run with Autumn last month, and I’m really craving a—” I cut him off.
“With Autumn? You know Autumn?” And then it started. A whirlwind of questions and a spattering of answers, none of which quite satisfied my interest.
“Yes, I know her—I drove her to the grocery store last month—she’s a sweet girl—what do you want to know?” When we both came up for air, I paused and took a really hard introspect and a moment of prayer.
“Actually, don’t tell me. I want to get to know her organically.” Don laughed.
“That’s my boy.”
*****
I missed the check-in’s from the towers, since I immediately had to leave, but I trusted Melody to pass on the message to Autumn that I would be out today. I didn’t exactly tell her that, but I hoped that the unspoken language of a woman would pick up on it.
Driving into town made me feel both excited and anxious.
There were things about large groups of people that made me feel claustrophobic, but I couldn’t deny that it was also fun to hit the town once in a while.
I had spent far too much time there already this season lying in a hospital bed, but the powers of The Pumpkin Perk Cafe were not lost on me either, and I couldn’t wait to bite into a delicious concoction.
Plus, Don had told the crew of guys that I was going there, and Jimmy called ahead to place a pick-up order for me to bring back later today. I was laughing just thinking about it.
When I pulled up to the main drag of Maple Haven, there was a neon orange light shaped like a pumpkin that read “OPEN.” I hobbled out of the truck, my leg feeling stronger today than it had all season, as I shifted and walked on it, almost normally.
If it wasn’t for the leg brace, I thought I could get away with just being a guy with a mysterious limp.
It may have added to my charm or made me look creepy. A toss-up.
Inside the cafe, the owner Tucker had a rectangle table set up with a bright orange tablecloth. On the table was a large boot, like a firefighter would wear, and there was a roll of raffle tickets and a fishbowl to put them in. A lone chair manned the table.
“Blaze?” Tucker came out from the kitchen wearing an apron over his cowboy attire and shook my hand.
“Tucker, nice to see you, man.”
“I’m thrilled we could host you guys again. The event we held in June was such a success, and with this weather—we know it’s coming.” I nodded.
“We appreciate the chance. I’m happy to be here.” I walked over to the chair and sat down.
“We just had our first morning rush, and our second rush should start any minute now.” As Tucker spoke, a group of women walked in and beelined for the counter.
“They will pay for the raffle tickets with me and then come over to you to fill them out. Alternatively, they can put cash donations inside the boot.” I nodded, thankful this was going to be as easy as sitting here.
“Thanks, Tucker. Say, did someone named Jimmy call in an order?” Tucker laughed and nodded.
“Yeah, he sure did. I think I’ll be back there all morning making enough pumpkin scones to fulfill it.”
“Great. If you finish it by the time I’m done, I’ll take it with me.” Tucker nodded. Just then, a woman walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Blaze, this is my fiancé, Ginger.” She smiled, extending out a hand with long, sparkly pink nails and a rock on her finger to rival the moon.
“Nice to meet you, Blaze,” she spoke, before turning all of her attention back to Tucker.
“Nice to meet you, too, Ginger. When’s the big day?” I asked, and the two of them looked at each other bashfully.
“In two weeks.” Her cheeks reddened, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say his did, too.
“Congratulations!” I cheered, while the group of women from the counter came over to fill out their raffle tickets. They each bought ten, and I could tell this was already going to be a very busy and generous day for Maple Haven Fire District.
*****
The fundraiser ended at four in the afternoon.
Throughout the day, Tucker never let me go hungry or thirsty.
After seeing the disappointment in his face that I didn’t drink coffee, he brought me over two fresh-pressed apple ciders, a maple scone, and a turkey sandwich that tasted like Thanksgiving dinner.
“It has cranberries and stuffing,” he exclaimed. “Something new that I’m trying, adding a few savory menu items, as man cannot live on pumpkin pie alone.”
“Who said we can’t?” I asked with a laugh.
“Mostly, my fiancé, Ginger. She’s been helping me come up with some healthy items for the menu.
Though, I can’t say this sandwich with homemade stuffing is exactly healthy.
It’s a start, however. We are figuring it out.
” His smile when talking about his fiancé was contagious.
I knew a little about Tucker, having come here with a rodeo background, but I didn’t know enough, I decided.
I hoped that Tucker and I could be friends.
“I’m almost done for the season and when I get back, I’d love to hang out sometime.” The words were awkward falling out of my mouth, but Tucker didn’t seem to notice.
“Heck yes, brother. I was thinking the same thing. In fact...” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a 4x6 size card.
“Why don’t you come to the wedding? Hopefully, the fire season will be over, as it’s in two weeks.
You can even bring a date.” The word date brought a flush to my skin that I hoped wasn’t obvious.
Was it weird that I wanted to bring a woman I’d never met, or even seen, other than a glimpse of the end of her hair?
I shook the thought out of my head. Even if everything tampered down tomorrow, I would still be on duty and wouldn’t be able to attend.
“Thanks, man. I don’t think I’ll be done with the season just yet, but I send you both my best,” Tucker nodded.
“Well, I’ll go grab the order for Jimmy. It’s all done, and I added in a few extras that I just know the crew will like.” He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with two giant brown paper bags, bursting at the handles.
“No more pink bags?” I asked, taking the handles from him.
“We started selling merch last spring, and the community wiped us out of inventory, and now there’s a pink bag shortage. I’m looking into it, and I promise I’ll send you back with pink bags next time.”
“You know what? I think brown suits me. I’m okay with this, but I respect the business model,” Tucker shrugged and laughed.
“It certainly works,” he smirked, as another group of women walked through the door.
On the drive back to base, I had driven out of the way for a few miles to drop off the food to my crew. The radio was playing softly in the background and after an hour, the only other vehicles I passed belonged to my fire department.
As I drove eastbound, my phone rang. It was Don.
“How was the fundraiser?” I could hear chainsaws in the background of the call. Oh, how I missed being boots on the ground.
“It was awesome. We raised a ton of money and sold an enormous amount of raffle tickets. What the heck were we raffling, by the way?” Don chuckled.
“A date with a firefighter.” My heart dropped.
“With what firefighter?”
“My boy, Blaze. The spitting image of his handsome father and the twin brother to his father, of course.”
“Don… You did not!” My mind raced around the possibility of going on a date with a stranger and then I slowed myself down. I’d literally been dreaming of going on a date with a woman whom I’d never met. Did God really have this big of a sense of humor?
“Cool your jets, son. We can always swap you out for someone else. The ladies might be disappointed, though.”
“I have an idea. How about my dear uncle be the firefighter prize?” He howled with laughter, as I saw another Maple Haven Fire District truck headed toward me going westbound.
“You know, Son, that’s an incredible idea, and a sure way that none of the ladies will be disappointed.
If anything, they may be even more jealous of the winner.
” As we chatted, one of the bags started to slump over.
Not wanting to spill its contents into the messy floor of the truck, I leaned over and pushed the bag back up, taking my eyes off the road for just a second.
When I was affixed back on the road, the truck had passed me, and in the rear-view mirror, I saw the passenger had flaming locks of fire colored hair.
“Don, where was Aut—” He cut me off.
“Blaze, I gotta go. The crew needs me. I’ll call you tonight.” He hung up the call. My mind was stuck on Autumn and if that was her or if we had another woman working with fire-colored hair.
After dropping off the food at the base, I hightailed it back to dispatch. Something was afoot. Was Autumn leaving for the season? They were headed west, from east. East was towards the base, where I sat as a dispatcher. West was the tower. Nothing was making sense.
When I made it back to the office, I jumped out of the truck, and for a moment, I forgot my leg was hurt.
A pain shot down the left side of my leg, starting at my thigh, so I immediately remembered I was hurt, but then, it passed again.
For good measure, I tried it once more. Any doctor in the world would have told me not to do this, but I was one of those people who, if I got a sore throat, I’d keep swallowing until it was gone.
Or, if my neck was kinked, I’d force it back into alignment.
I called it “rodeo medical” and so far, it had fared me somewhat, almost, sort of, decent.
I couldn’t complain. However, abruptly putting pressure onto my leg again didn’t hurt as much as the first time. There was just a dull ache left.
Back at my desk, Melody had three candles set up.
Two in front of her and one just for me.
How sweet. It was a caramel apple fragrance, and heck, actually smelled pretty good.
But after being in a sweets-focused cafe all day, it was the last thing I needed to be smelling. I blew it out and sat at my desk.
“Hey,” Melody said, standing at her keyboard, giving me a dirty look.
“Sorry, Melody. But if you spent the entire day at The Pumpkin Perk Cafe, which smells like thirty of these candles all burning together, you’d be over it too.”
“Too bad that the dessert here will go to waste then.” Melody pointed to the fridge in the break room. My curiosity spiked, as I had a feeling something was going on, and I went to the fridge to investigate.