Her full lips curved into a knowing smile. “So you’re Tru, huh?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Should I not be?”
“I’m Nora.” She waved me over into the station’s open garage, where a few camping chairs were set up near the wall. There was one rig still parked inside, currently being restocked by two young men in station shirts marked Volunteer. “I’m second-in-command here at South. Beau’s on a call right now.”
I sucked my teeth. “Shame. I wanted to catch him.” I held out the bag of scones. “Guess you’re the one who gets to eat these scones, then.”
“Oh, twist my arm,” she said. We sat side by side in the camping chairs.
Nora pulled a scone out of the bag. “He should be back soon, if you want to wait. I assume you do.”
“Oh?” I asked. “Do you now?”
“Just a guess.”
“So he’s mentioned me?” I crossed my legs and leaned toward her, openly interested.
She grinned at my posture. “Why do you ask?”
“Let’s just say I’m interested.” I took a scone for myself. “What’s his deal?”
“Cutting straight to the chase, huh?” she asked.
Then she took a bite of her scone and chewed thoughtfully as she peered at me, not judgmental, but certainly discerning. Like she was trying to figure me out. I just propped my chin in my hand and waited, comfortable being surveyed.
“Well,” she said, “First of all, he’s my husband.”
I straightened up so fast the rickety chair rocked backward and threatened to fall. I caught my balance and then raked my nails through my hair, messing it up where it was tied up in a bun. “Oh,” I said. “Oh, well, that, uh, complicates things.”
Nora cleared her throat. “Ah, I misspoke. Ex-husband.” She winked at me. She was fucking with me! She reminded me suddenly of Star: smart, funny, a little sneaky.
“Jesus,” I said, slumping. “You about gave me a heart attack.”
“Couldn’t resist,” she said.
“So he’s bi?” I asked.
Nora snorted. “Fuck no, but you’re going to have to talk to him about that, not me.” She paused and pinned me with that discerning gaze again. “Do you want that, though? The whole story?”
“Of course I do,” I said with a tilt of my head. “Why wouldn’t I? I’m interested-interested, in him, not just because he’s a hot firefighter.”
“Just checking,” she said. “You might be just what he needs.”
I filed that little comment away to ask about later. “Though,” I noted, “his being a hot firefighter doesn’t hurt.”
With a short laugh, Nora shrugged. “Gotta say, we hear that a lot in this line of work. But it’s not as glamorous as people think it is.”
I gasped in faux-shock. “You’re telling me you’re not doing shirtless photoshoots every week?”
“Absolutely not. Monthly, at the most.” Nora grinned. “But seriously, we’re not the easiest people to get involved with. Ask my husband.”
“Which one?”
“Oh, I walked into that one.” She waved a hand dismissively. “It’s a demanding career, though. Long shifts, lots of overtime, not to mention the risk. Takes a particular brand of crazy to do this for a living.”
I shrugged. “Takes a particular brand of crazy to join a motorcycle club.”
“My current husband almost dumped me multiple times because of how much time I spent at work, back when we first got together,” Nora said seriously. “It’s just the reality. Especially now that Beau’s the chief—he pretty much lives here. If someone gets hurt, or sick, or a volly doesn’t show up—”
“Volly?”
“Volunteer,” Nora clarified. “Or if we’ve got students to proctor, or citizens who want to do ride-alongs—that’s all on him. I’m the second, but this is his station. His baby, really.”
“I’ll take a workaholic over a deadbeat any day,” I said.
But I understood what she was saying—she was trying to let me know that if I was going after Beau, his job was likely going to take precedence. I couldn’t blame him for that, though. It was the same way I felt about the Crew. They were my family, and my family came first—and it sounded like the station was the Beau’s family.
“As long as you know what you’re getting into,” Nora said.
“What’s he like outside of work, then?” I asked. “Since you’re the expert.”
“Funny,” Nora said immediately. “Selfless. A big sweetheart. Cries over romantic comedies. Bit of a momma’s boy.”
“Okay, but which romantic comedies? This is an important distinction.” I tried to ignore the way my stomach swooped at her description. A competent, strong leader who was a big softie in his personal life? I was about ready to drop to my knees the next time I saw him.
Nora must’ve seen the flash of interest in my eyes, because her cheeky grin only widened. “Don’t tell him I said that.”
“I’m definitely going to tell him.” The fire engine crested the hill and rolled toward the fire station. “Oh, speak of the devil.”
We both climbed out of the camping chairs and hurried out of the garage. I followed Nora to the edge of the driveway, leaving plenty of room for the truck to back into the bay.
I hooked my thumbs into the belt loops of my jeans and cocked my hip just slightly. Whatever his reaction was to seeing me at his station—I knew it was going to be fun.
4
Beau
Jono drove the rig back toward the station with the attentive, slightly nervous focus of a new hire while I leaned heavily back into the seat and toweled the sweat off my forehead. The adrenaline crash after a call like this wasn’t quite as heavy as some other calls—even an intense medical call was worse—but the drop was always there. The rig was quiet, and I knew the other guys were feeling the same.
Alongside the drop, though, there was that niggling itch of suspicion. This was the second fire in an empty building in just a few weeks. It wasn’t completely outside the realm of possibility that two similar, but unrelated, fires could occur within a short span of time but it was… odd. Neither of the two fires had occurred near any wildfires, and I hadn’t seen any evidence of a trash burn or mislaid cigarettes.
Something about it was piquing my curiosity. As Jono backed the rig into the garage, I composed a quick email to the Elkin Lake North investigator on my phone. He’d been the one to handle the last fire, and I wanted to see his report after I put mine together.
As soon as the rig was parked, I stepped out of my coveralls and headed directly into the station to the showers without even glancing over my shoulder. I knew Nora and the other firefighters needed a debrief, and I wanted to wash the sweat and ash off me before anyone had a chance to ask questions. But we were still on duty, so I couldn’t luxuriate in the hot water—I scrubbed down and changed into a clean t-shirt and sweatpants with efficiency honed over eighteen years of this work.