The thought that Callie might not come back to the fire station once she had finished here filled Ben with unexpected dismay. He had no one but himself to blame if she made that decision.
‘I shouldn’t have said that you were in the way earlier. It won’t happen again.’
‘I can take care of myself in these situations. I do it all the time.’
‘Got it. I apologise.’ Ben saw her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Was that what she thought of him? He was perfectly capable of saying sorry when the situation warranted it.
But prolonging the conversation now while she was still angry with him probably wasn’t a good idea. He’d said his piece and he should go.
‘I’ll see you later?’ Ben tried not to make a question out of it, but his own doubts leaked through into his words. Callie gave a nod and he turned, making for the front door. He guessed he’d just have to wait and see about that.
* * *
The wait at the hospital hadn’t been too protracted, and after X-rays and lung capacity tests had been carried out, Mae was discharged. They arrived back at Mrs Jacobs’s house to find that the charity task force that Ben had put her in touch with had already boarded up Mae’s window.
She had no qualms about leaving Mae here. Two cups of tea and a plate of mince pies appeared, and a yelled exhortation brought Mrs Jacobs’s son tumbling down the stairs, a board game in his hand. He and Mae began to sort through the pieces together, and Mae finally smiled.
Mae’s Christmas would be just fine. Callie’s was a little more uncertain. The success of her project at the fire station depended on clearing the air with Ben, and there was no time to sit quietly and wait for him to let her in. She had to do something.
She took a taxi back to the fire station. He wasn’t with the others in the ready room and Callie found him alone in the small office with the door wide open. She tapped on the doorframe and he looked up.
Blue eyes. The most photogenic eyes she’d ever seen, flickering with warmth and the hint of steel. The kind of eyes that the camera loved and... That was all. The camera loved them but Callie was just an impartial observer.
‘Everything okay?’
‘Yes. Mae was discharged from the hospital and she’ll be staying with Mrs Jacobs over Christmas. The charity task force has been great.’
‘Good.’ His gaze was fixed on her face. ‘I’ve been thinking about what you might be wanting to say to me.’
Perhaps he was trying out a management technique. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Callie sat down.
‘Okay, I’ll play. What might I be wanting to say to you?’
‘That I’m not giving you credit for the experience that you have. You need access to be able to work and I’m being unreasonable in withholding it.’
Actually, that pretty much summed it up. Callie dismissed the rather queasy feeling that accompanied the idea that he’d been reading her thoughts.
‘And... I guess that you’d say in return that you and the others rely on teamwork. That kind of trust isn’t made over a matter of days and you’re not sure of me yet.’
The look on Ben’s face told her that she was right. More than that, he found it just as disconcerting as she did to hear someone else voice his thoughts.
‘I’ll...um... I’ll be honest. I wasn’t much in favour of you being here when the station commander first told me about it.’
‘Really? You hid that well.’ Callie risked a joke. Somehow she knew that he wouldn’t take it the wrong way.
He narrowed his eyes. Maybe he was taking it the wrong way. Then suddenly Ben smiled. ‘So we see eye to eye, then.’
Rather too much so. If he really could see what was going on in her head... Callie gulped down the sudden feeling of panic. Of course he couldn’t.
The awkward silence was broken by the alarm bell. Ben rose from his seat, making hurriedly for the door, and Callie followed him.
She took her turn climbing up into the fire engine and found Ben sitting opposite her. As the sirens went on and they started to move out of the fire station, he leaned forward, bracing his foot against the lurching of the vehicle and checking her helmet.
Callie frowned. He’d been the one to say it and he hadn’t even listened to himself. He was still double-checking everything she did.
‘If I get the chance, I’ll take you in as close as I think we can safely go.’ The light in his blue eyes kindled suddenly.
‘Thanks for that, boss.’
Ben’s eyebrows shot up as he realised that Callie was using the word ‘boss’ to make a point. Then he grinned. Maybe this was going to work after all.
* * *
The word ‘boss’ on Callie’s lips could hardly be anything other than a challenge. But they’d both risen to it. Ben had motioned her to stand next to him as he directed the firefighters in extinguishing a small blaze at the back of a shop. Callie had become like a shadow, never giving him a moment’s concern for her safety, and adroitly stepping out of the way of both equipment and firefighters.
‘I got some good shots. They’ll do you all justice.’ She waited until he was about to tell her that they were leaving now, catching his attention for the first time since they’d been there.
‘Good. Thank you.’ He smiled, and she smiled back. Then she turned to join the rest of the crew climbing back into the fire engine, leaving Ben with the distinct impression that his legs were about to give way under him.
It took some time to persuade himself that this evening would be nothing to do with wanting to spend more time with Callie but simply a matter of showing her another side of the job. But for once she made things easy for him. As the night shift arrived she hung back in the ready room, flipping almost disinterestedly through the photos she’d taken that day, as if she were waiting for something.
Ben dismissed the thought that it might be him. But then he found himself caught in her clear gaze.
‘I wanted to catch you before I left. To say thank you for this afternoon.’
‘My pleasure. You have plans for tonight?’ Ben tried to make the question sound innocent. He’d already heard Callie’s answer when Eve had asked earlier.
‘No, not really. It’s an hour’s drive home and I’ll probably just curl up with some hot soup and decide what I want to try and shoot tomorrow. You?’
‘I’m going carol singing. We have a decommissioned fire engine, which is kept at one of the other stations. It’s used for charity and public awareness events and this evening it’s parked up in town. You should join me.’
She gave a little shake of her head. ‘Are you ever entirely off duty?’
These days...no. Ben had always been immersed in his job but he’d known where to draw the line between work and home. But in the last year his work had been a welcome relief from worrying about what Isabel might do next.
He reached inside his jacket, laying two hats on the table. ‘Can’t really be on duty when you’re wearing one of these.’
Callie’s hand drifted forward, her fingers brushing the white ‘fur’ around the edge of the Santa hat and then moving to the bells around the edge of the green elf hat. A sudden vision of texture and movement and the feel of Callie’s fingers on his skin drifted into his head. He could tell she was tempted to accept his offer.
‘You get to pick. Elf or Santa.’
She