When the fatal news of her brother’s loss in a forest fire out west had destroyed her family’s peace two years ago, her only thought had been to run away. She hadn’t physically run. Until ten days ago, she had continued to live in the home that still had her brother’s favorite mug in the kitchen cabinet. Instead, she’d emotionally tried to put distance between herself and that day, and she hadn’t succeeded.
Drinking wasn’t the answer. Burying herself in American History by attempting to write a historical novel had gone nowhere. Dating a man who loved himself far more than he cared about her... Uh, no. He hadn’t been much better than the immature guy she dated after him.
Only one thing had gotten her out her bed on those dark winter mornings, and it was the idea that someone might need her, that someone was suffering more than she was.
“Excellent work,” she said to Kimberly and Jordan. “You each get a save on your record.” The lifeguards beamed, their wet hair gleaming in the sun. “Go back to the hut and take a break while I get your areas covered and we reopen the beach to swimmers.”
Laura followed established protocol, explaining only what was necessary to other beach guests and getting the swimming area back to normal. Laura thought about what could have gone wrong and what she would have done.
If the swimmers hadn’t been breathing, what would she have done? She had her CPR certification from being the assistant coach on the cross-country team. So she probably could have done something. But she could do more, couldn’t she? She wanted to do more.
Rebecca’s Aunt Diane was becoming a volunteer firefighter. Just like that. Following an idea and a passion. People reinvented their lives all the time and for all sorts of reasons.
She had reasons.
She thought of Tony’s words about training and experience. What if she shocked him and herself by becoming a rescuer? The thought was bold and jolted her from her head to her toes. Could she join the fire department? She’d tried volunteering and community service. She’d joined a community group raising money for a food kitchen. She’d spent holidays throughout the school year volunteering instead of sitting at her family’s dinner table where someone would always be missing.
She had to admit to herself that her activities had at first been motivated by the need to escape that empty place. And then she’d slowly discovered the truth behind the old saying that helping others was the best way to help herself.
What if she took her volunteer service to a whole new level and became a first responder? As she crossed the beach, she clung to the idea as if it were a valued possession.
Afraid to even say it aloud, she kept the thought to herself throughout the rest of her long shift, but she mulled it over all day. The idea wouldn’t let go.
The late afternoon sun had lost some of its intensity when Laura parked her bicycle in front of the Cape Pursuit fire station. She was careful not to block the five massive overhead doors, which were open to reveal shining fire trucks. She had a reason for being there, a solid reason for asking where Tony Ruggles might be so she could get information for her incident report. But she also had a secret fire in her chest.
At the front of the station, a sign with changeable black letters advertised the upcoming volunteer class. Was that the one Diane was taking? Maybe she should call Rebecca’s aunt and talk to her?
Those trucks were beautiful. The lights, the chrome, the complicated pumps, the ladders stored along the sides...and the tires. Huge and waist high, the thick black rubber tires looked as if they could plow over any obstacle. The power was intoxicating, and she wanted to learn their secrets. Had her brother felt that way?
“Hello, Laura.”
She spun, feeling awkward about her fascination with the trucks. Tony stood, arms crossed, as if she were an intruder in his domain. His dark navy uniform shirt was buttoned neatly, and a silver bar over a chest pocket said Chief Ruggles. Hadn’t he been a captain last summer?
“The report,” she stammered. “You said I could contact you for information so I can complete my incident report about today’s...incident.”
He nodded, but his expression didn’t change even when she stumbled over her words. She almost wished he would laugh at her and break the tension. Her chest thrummed with excitement, but she wanted to appear calm and deliberate.
“Come into my office,” he said.
Laura somehow felt safer in the middle of the wide bay surrounded by the trucks. They inspired confidence. Tony, with his look of professional neutrality, did not make her feel as if she were a woman on a mission to change her life by changing the world around her.
“Thank you,” she said, bravery in her tone. “Lead the way.”
Tony had already started to turn toward a long interior wall with several doors down it, but he paused and looked back at her when she spoke. Good. He should know she wasn’t intimidated by him.
Tony opened one of the doors in the long wall. Laura entered the cool, dim office with faded color photographs of former chiefs on the walls, a massive steel desk and functional ugly furniture.
“When did you become the chief?” she asked.
“At the end of last summer.”
Small talk. It bridged the gap of the past year and built a tiny social foundation between her and Tony, but it was a delay. She needed to tell him her real reason for coming to the fire station.
“Your dad was the chief, wasn’t he?”
Tony nodded.
“And you followed in his footsteps.”
Tony’s forehead wrinkled and Laura recognized irritation in his expression.
“I earned it if that’s what you’re asking.” He tried to smile, but it was nothing like the friendly smile he’d given the kids on the beach, their parents and even his firefighting partner. Her impression of Tony from the previous summer was of a lighthearted but sincere man who would do anything to help someone. But no one likes having their work questioned.
“Of course you earned it,” she said, putting enthusiasm behind her words to try to dispel the tension.
Tony’s features relaxed. “My dad retired and there was a shift in leadership positions. I was in the right place at the right time. Kevin is a captain now, but your sister probably already told you that.”
Before arriving in Cape Pursuit for the summer to live with her sister, Laura talked to Nicole almost every week on the phone and more often via text message and email, but the fire department was not something they typically talked about.
Tony handed Laura a printed copy of the report from the beach run. “That’s an extra. You can take it with you,” he said.
Was he dismissing her?
“I wanted to make sure it was available for you since I’m going off duty in about an hour,” he added.
Oh. He was being considerate and organized. Of course. He helped people and didn’t ask questions. When he’d taken her keys away from her in the parking lot of the Cape Pursuit Bar and Grill and held open the door of his truck, he’d hardly said a word. As she disgraced herself being sick from too many drinks on an empty stomach, he’d held her hair and offered her damp washcloths.
The memory burned her cheeks. If he had seen her over the course of the past year, he would probably have tried to rescue her. The days she’d left her teaching job and sat in the parking lot, head on the steering wheel, fighting tears. The nights she slipped out of the house after her parents were asleep so she could go for long walks without answering questions.
That was why she had come to Cape Pursuit. She was doing so much better than what he probably thought. At least she was trying...
“How did you become a firefighter?” she asked, forcing