Heading outside to my Jeep, I laugh as she bounds past me, tail twirling as she waits for me to open the door for her. Always a lady. Once she is settled in, I stow my gear in the back and climb in. I will spend a few nights at the firehouse before Icome back up the mountain. It’s a good I am forced to socialize—otherwise I might never speak to another human.
Driving towards Ashwood’s small metropolis, I smile as Smokie hangs her head out of the window, as pleased as peach punch. This dog was all I had left after the fire. We’ve been thick as thieves ever since she made it out of that blaze. Poor thing tried to drag my sister out, but she was just a pup.
“Did your best, Smoke,” I assure her, giving her a cuddle.
Smokie barks as if she knows this, a big grin on her brindle face. I smile too. At least we have each other. I’m not sure what I would have done without her since the fire. Having a piece of something left from that tragedy was enough to keep me going. To know I had to take care of her the way my sister would have, it gave me a purpose while I got through the grief.
“You did better than your best for me, girl,” I assure her as she thumps her tail happily, head still hanging out the window.
Pulling up to the fire station, I take my usual spot on the corner. Grabbing my duffel bag out of the back, I let Smokie out and she bounds inside, greeting by the other fire fighters already here. Following her inside, I hesitate for a moment. I take a moment to get my bearings, to prepare myself for interaction with the other guys here today.
We will spend the next four days together, so I will put up with their jokes, their talks about their old ladies, bad music, and lots of bro bonding. I don’t mind the time with these guys, but it does take me time to adjust. I glance down over Ashwood, admiring the quaint town I call home.
This place, the people in it, they’re not why I do what I do. Well, not at first, they were not. Now though...I’ve grown a fondness for this place and the people here. Angie the mouthy butcher always gives me the best steaks, Gene the grocer keeps the freshest produce in the county, and Abigail the mail ladyalways brings a bright smile and a bad joke with the daily mail.
This is my home now. I may not be close to anyone here, have no real ties here, but the guys I fight fires with, and the local town folk are my new family. It’s taken me some time to adjust to life without my family, but I am slowly getting there. The hurt of my loss will always be with me, the guilt that I somehow survived, but it aches a little less with each fire I fight. With each life or home I make a difference in.
If I could just let in some happiness, I might be doing alright.
“What’s up Pace? How you been, brother?” Jagger Dillon calls in greeting, shaking me from my thoughts.
Blinking at him in the fading light of the afternoon, I offer a shrug. I turn to watch him wrapping a hose up for the number two truck. Going to join him, I grab the hose for the number three truck and together we work on wrapping tight, uniform Cleveland rolls. I consider things we could talk about, that I could start a conversation about, but I don’t.
“Pace, we don’t have to talk. We all get you’re the strong silent type, yeah?”
Smirking, I shake my head. “Not sure about that strong part, Jagger. Wait…does this mean all the guys think I am also tall, dark, and handsome? Do I fit all the storybook clichés?”
“Well, Alcide was my vote for tall and dark, if we’re talking about romantic types. No, I just mean…it is enough that you show up. Sometimes that is all we can do, you know?”
Glancing over at him, it feels as if I’ve just come to after a too-long nap. Sometimes it is all we can do, just to show up. At one time it was all I could do to get out of bed, to take a shower, to want to do a single thing other than mourn. Now…now I do all of that with ease most days. I can do more than just show up now.
I can make friends with these guys I trust my life, andothers, with. I can talk bullshit and have a beer with them, or tell the bad joke for a change. We can hang out on our off days if they still want to have that fish fry we were talking about a few weeks ago. Hell, we could all go on a fishing trip if the offer is still open.
“Yeah, sometimes it is all we can do, to show up. I think I can do more, brother. Do you think…well, do you think Caden and Alcide might still want to take that fishing trip?”
Jagger stares at me for a moment before he grins. “Hell, yeah, man. We were just talking about it with Maksim. He has a sweet boat, one of those pontoon numbers. Even if we don’t catch a single fish, that would be a sweet way to spend a weekend off, yeah?”
“It would be. Let’s do it, Jagger. I could host a fish fry at my place if we manage to catch anything.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, brother. Yeah, man, let’s do it. I’ll tell Maksim…ah, shit, saved by the bell,” he chortles as the alarms sound, alerting us to a call-out.
Tossing the hoses on the trucks, we hurry to our gear. We change out fast as the other guys come rushing in. As we’re pulling our boots on, Jagger tells them I want to take that fishing trip. I laugh when they all turn to gape at me. Yeah, I guess for a while I was just showing up, because for a while it was enough.
It's about damn time I start doing more than just showing up.
Chapter Two
Piper
Life cannot be all crimson and clover.
If you were to ask me, I would say it would be boring if life were crimson and clover. Didn’t someone say you can’t appreciate the light without darkness? If no one has said it before, I am saying it now. Sometimes we must deal with a few frogs before we find a prince.
Laughing at my train of thought, I quickly erase the frog I just drew. He has no place in this week’s story. I focus on the entire strip in front of me, deciding what I want my character to do. What do I want her to endure or experience this week?
“Do I let Bettie get a little bit of romance this week?”
Sitting back from my drafting board, I let out a sigh. Stretching, I kick my crossed legs out from beneath me. Pushing away from my work, I spin in the wide, plush chair to overlook the small apartment. Boxes are stacked all over the place, some empty, most of half full. I ought to be unpacked and settled in by now, but I rarely do anything with haste.
