“Is this a real thing?”
“Look at our team. Kevin and Vanessa barely feel for their dates let alone care to know them. Carver doesn’t know himself, which its own problem. Luna doesn’t want to be ‘known’ because it would make her vulnerable. Aiden wants it so badly he’s a pain magnet.” Theo made great points.
“What about you and Drew?”
“I had feelings, but I didn’t know him well enough to understand what he wanted. Leonard and I loved each other, even in the end. Didn’t mean I didn’t make mistakes and that it wasn’t complicated. We were separated when he died.”
“You guys separated?” Erin tried not to pry on what had been a painful enough subject for Theo to move two hundred and fifty miles away.
Theo fiddled with the wedding ring hidden under his uniform top and pulled over into a parking lot. “We’d fought over something ridiculous. Replacing a cabinet became remodeling the bathroom which became when to start a family. When we argued, he told me he didn’t know me, and then he died.”
“Mid-argument?” Erin was a terrible friend if she was unaware of this. “I thought he caught a virus.”
“Not mid-argument. He got the flu. I was hurt and annoyed with him. He called me while I was on shift, and I didn’t answer. The next time I saw him, he was on a ventilator.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s nobody’s fault, but I was there at the end, holding his hand. I lost the person I loved, the person I knew best. Cincinnati was never the same for me. So, I came here, and then I found you. And Firehouse 15.”
Erin sniffled since Theo had kept this to himself for almost two years. “I feel dumb and selfish with my stupid problems. It’s a stupid firehouse and a stupid job.”
“My best friend hurting isn’t stupid.”
“So, what do I do now? About Han?” Erin asked him.
“Are your feelings strong enough that you want to know him? Or will you walk away and move on?”
“That’s too many feelings! Between him and team, I’m lost.”
“And as for the team… I worried about pressuring you on that,” Theo said.
“Pressuring me?”
“I want to stay with you. If you transfer, I will. If you don’t, I won’t. Be my best friend and not leave me alone?” he said with total sincerity.
“Aww, crap.” Erin brushed a tear off her cheek. “Yes. I accept.”
They shared a gentle head bump of friendship, and Erin felt a teensy bit less alone. What she lacked in family, she made up in friends.
Chapter 43
With forty-eight hours remaining until the Firefighter Ball, Noah, unreasonably irritated, considered firing Hannah Fitzpatrick. They were on their second hour of reviewing the final details. She’d brought one of her assistants, Francis No-Last-Name, to his office with seating charts and paperwork for him to sign off.
“After hors d’oeuvres, it’s time for the speech,” Hannah said. “Where does that stand?”
“I worked on the rough draft. The usual—thanking everyone for coming, discussing how hard we’ve worked the past year. I’ll mention the upcoming firehouse remodels and thank people for their tolerance on the staffing issues.”
“Francis?” Hannah snapped. “Where’s our list of talking points?”
Francis reached under a pile and pulled out another folder. “Perhaps a few lines about the women?”
“How many female firefighters confirmed? We did offer them free tickets, right?” Fitzpatrick said.
“It’s free to all firefighters. They pay for their dates,” Francis reminded her. “The Mayor’s party is invitation-only and three hundred and fifty dollars a ticket.
“That’s right. Who’s going to it?”
“Chief Nelson, Chief Hastings, their wives, Chief Vega and his husband.”
