Chapter Twenty-Eight
Maddy
“And that, kids, is how to show those silly boys who’s boss!” I winked and high-fived Maggie.
Maggie removed her helmet and breathing mask before facing the crowd of seven-year-olds with a massive smile.
“Say it with us…” Maggie began, cupping her hand around her ear and all together, Maggie, I and the kids shouted, “SILLY BOYS!” at Len, Beamer and a couple of the other guys from the firehouse.
Beamer was hunched over, hands on his knees, fighting for air, while Len was wiping his dripping forehead.
“I don’t wanna do these drills anymore,” Len grumbled.
Sauntering over, I threw my arm around his shoulders.
“But the kids love it. And so do me and Mags,” I grinned at him.
“We can still teach you young people a thing or two,” Beamer groused.
“Like which restaurants do the best early bird specials?” Maggie threw out and I laughed. Beamer raised his hand to flip her off then remembered the bunch of kids watching the entire exchange.
“Well done, ladies,” he called out, though I knew the smile on his face said there would be hell to pay later.
This week was School Trips Week, where a couple of the classes from the local school came to watch us run drills, demonstrations and learn all about fire safety.
I loved these weeks because this is where I first got the buzz for the job.
I was so amazed by the firefighters on my own school trip that I was inspired to join.
Being given the chance to influence another child in the same way lit me up inside like nothing else could.
Except Leo.
Ugh, stop thinking about him!
I had struggled to keep that man off my mind all week since our steamy FaceTime.
I missed him so much, even though we talked on and off all day every day.
And we’d had more steamy FaceTimes since.
But it wasn’t the same as him being here.
Feeling his warm presence, breathing in his signature scent that curled my toes and made me feel at home all at once.
It wasn’t the same as touching him or just sitting quietly by his side.
Leo had been away for such a long time but that didn’t mean it was any easier, I had just gotten used to living with the hole in my life. I still imagined I saw him at the bar, or the ranch and sometimes even thought I could see him waiting for me outside the firehouse after a shift.
I was happy for him though. He was off achieving his dream and that made me happier than anything. I’d always wanted more for him and now he was finally getting what he deserved, what he’d worked so hard for. I was lucky as hell that I got a front row seat to watching him win at life.
“’scuse me?” A little voice and gentle tug on my work pants drew me out of my thoughts. I looked down to see two little girls, twins, dressed in matching purple t-shirts and white shorts, blond hair in pigtails. I dropped into a squat to meet their eyes and smiled.
“Hello ladies, have you had a good time here at the firehouse today?”
They both nodded, pigtails bouncing. “How hot is fire?” one of them asked.
“Very hot, which is why you should never, ever touch it, right?” I rearranged my expression into a stern one to illustrate my point.
One of the girls cocked her head, squinting at me. “But you touch it.”
“I do.” I nodded. “Because I’ve been trained properly and I have very special equipment that protects me.”
“So if we had proper equipment, we could touch it too?”
Damn kids and their ability to latch onto the one point you didn’t want them to. I chuckled internally at these two little daredevils. Curious and unafraid, just like I was. Like Leo was.
God, imagine what our kids would be like.
We’d be frazzled and gray-haired after just one year, they’d terrify us so much.
I could picture it though, Leo running around trying to stop a little blond-haired girl from throwing herself into every dangerous activity possible.
My stomach clenched at the image and my heart fluttered in my chest with excitement.
Excitement swiftly followed by the realization of what I just envisioned. Me and Leo, a future, children. Everything I tried to convince myself I never wanted. Because if I didn’t have it, it couldn’t be taken from me.
“Riiiiight?” the other twin probed, once again distracting me.
I rubbed my chin. “Not necessarily. I had the right equipment once and still got burned, see?” I showed them my arm with my burn scars.
“Wow!” they both cried as they looked at the healed skin. Amazement wasn’t what I’d been aiming for. I hadn’t wanted to scare them exactly, but to show them reality.
“Can I touch it?”
I laughed. “If you want to.”
She gingerly reached out and brushed her finger over my skin. I didn’t feel it, the skin hadn’t healed properly all those years ago.
“That’s so cool,” she said, her voice dripping with awe.
“Not cool, very painful. Which is why you need to be extra careful.”
They both nodded vigorously and I was thrilled to be shaping tiny minds, hopefully inspiring the next generation of strong women.
“Can we hold the hose now?”
Or not.
I laughed. “Sure.” I took them over to the truck and let them hold a bit of the hose, supporting most of the weight myself. They asked if they could spray Beamer, and part of me was tempted to let them but decided against it.
Soon the class was getting back on the bus and waving goodbye, and I was so disappointed that our time with the kids was over.
“That was such a nice day,” Maggie sighed next to me.
“I know. I do love times like this,” I replied wistfully, staring after the bus.
Just as I realized it was only me and Maggie standing here, there was a loud scuffle behind us as Beamer shouted, “Now men!”
We had no warning before buckets of cold water were thrown over us. We shrieked at the chill of the water, clothes soaked, hair ruined. Maggie’s mascara was dripping down her face as she turned to me shocked.
“What the—”
“Payback!” Len shouted with glee.
I couldn’t even be mad, just burst out laughing, glancing back and forth between me and Mags.
“Assholes,” Maggie grumped, squeezing water out of her t-shirt.
“We did kinda deserve it.”
“That’s neither here nor there,” she sniffed defensively.
“Just means you’re part of the team now, Rookie,” I teased. At some firehouses, they treated their probationary firefighters like shit. Not here though. There was some teasing and very mild hazing but more in the spirit of team building and making us all closer as a unit.
I could see Maggie fighting a smile. “I’m one of the team now, huh?”
“Sure are. Come on, let’s go get changed and we can plan how to get revenge,” I waggled my brows.
Once we’d showered and changed, we settled down to dinner together.
Beamer was on cooking duty tonight and had made a delicious-smelling lasagne.
After everyone was fed, they began playing poker, teaching Maggie how to play as well.
I settled in an armchair near them to do some paperwork.
I knew how to play poker, was a very good player in fact because Daddy had taken all of us to his late-night poker games at The Lonely Bison over the years, but it felt weird to play without him.
I could feel my eyes drifting shut and my pen even fell out of my hand at one point.
But just as I was considering turning in, the alarm blared and red lights started flashing.
Janine ran in as we leapt to our feet, my fatigue immediately evaporated as adrenaline started pumping.
She followed us as we made our way out to the truck, shouting the information as we suited up.
“Dispatch just called through; we’ve got an MVA over on Briarcroft Way,” she called out.
“Shit, how may vehicles involved?” Len asked.
“Three, car, truck and tractor.”
“Fuck,” Beamer huffed.
“Tractor, at this time of night?” Maggie asked, pulling her overalls up.
“Least amount of cars on the road so sometimes safer. I guess not today.” I answered, then turned to Janine. “Survivors?”
“Unknown, but I’m praying,” Janine looked to the sky.
Round here, we were such a close-knit community that any call like this immediately brought a hush of silence over us while we rode out. It could be someone we knew, and we have to separate that in our heads.
What if it was Leo? Or my sisters?
After what happened with my dad, I’m not sure I could cope with another emergency involving a loved one. It was hard enough to keep my cool then.
We hopped into the truck, Len driving, me and Beamer side-by-side with Maggie, Paul and David in the back.
“Take care of yourselves, come back in one piece,” Janine said, squeezing Len’s arm which hung out the driver’s side window. He covered her hand with his and then we were off.
“That’s new,” I murmured to Beamer.
“Nah, they just stopped hiding it once they got caught making out like teenagers a few weeks back,” he replied, tone hushed.
I turned to him, eyes wide. “Shut the fuck up!”
“It’s true.”
“Len!” I slapped his arm. “You dawg!”
“Shut up,” Len grumbled but there was a hint of a smile there.
The banter helped distract us from what we could potentially face. It seemed to take forever to get to Briarcroft Way, but eventually we turned a bend in the road and saw the road cordoned off, a couple of police cars there with their lights flashing.
“Shit,” Maggie breathed, the rest of us taking in the scene as quickly as possible while Len pulled the truck into place. That way we didn’t waste time once we got out.
“You’re taking the lead on this, Mads,” Beamer said. “Run point and shout up if you get stuck.”
I’d led the scene before but Beamer was letting me do it more often since I’d expressed interest in becoming a Lieutenant. The fact that he allowed me to do it not only meant that he trusted me, but that the team did too.
“Gotcha,” I replied and then we were all hopping out of the truck.
Rushing over to the scene, my eyes darted everywhere, trying to take it all in and put together a plan of action. I surveyed the flipped truck, but it was free of passengers so that wasn’t my main concern.