I nodded. “Yeah. He called to see if I would be interested in helping out the Sacramento FD with the fires in southern California.”
“How would you do that?”
“Fly over them and dump water on the fires.”
She spun to face me. “But you’re not a firefighter?”
“Baby, I’m one of a handful certified to fly the helos.”
“How long would you have to go for?” she asked.
“No idea, baby. Probably a few weeks.”
“But we just found each other, I can’t lose you.”
“You’re not gonna lose me,” I said, shaking my head. “Jesus, don’t kill me off just yet.”
“The fires are bad, Flash. You should stay here.”
I slid my hands up her arms and cupped her face. “I haven’t even been asked to go anywhere yet.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “But you will be.”
“Possibly.”
“Do I have any say in this?” she asked, and I wiped her tears away.
“Yeah, baby, of course you do.”
She blinked rapidly, then dropped her head into my chest. “So, I can ask you not to go.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” She wrapped her arms around me. “I probably won’t, just to be clear, but it’s good to know I have that choice.”
I smiled, holding her tight. “You have all the choices, honey.”
She pulled away and wiped her tears. “I’m going to finish making breakfast.”
“That would be good.”
Nodding, she turned back to the stove.
* * *
“Igot one of you outthere playin’ rock star, and now you wanna play fireman,” Dad growled.
It was two weeks later, and I’d gotten the call yesterday asking me to be on alert to fly down to California. There had been quite a bit of rain which had helped, but with the rain, brought the fear of landslide. The fire wasn’t totally out, so they wanted to make sure that I’d be available and ready to go if they needed me.
I was in my dad’s office at the club and my news that I’d been requested to help out the firefighting effort in California was not going over well.
“First of all, we’re firefighters, second of all, I’m not playin’ anything. This isn’t trick or treat, and I’m not a fuckin’ kid. It’s life or death out there. In case you forgot, you were the one who taught me all about leadership, honor, and sacrifice, so I would have thought you’d show a little more respect.”
Dad ran his hands through his hair. “You are not a firefighter, Flash.”
“Close enough in this situation.”
A knock at the door brought my mother who looked pissed. “What the bloody hell is going on?” she growled.
