Ivy spots her at the same time. "GEMMA!"
She takes off running.
Gemma looks up, sees Ivy charging toward her, and her face goes open and unguarded---not the professional composure she wears at the station, something easier and faster than that. Ivy crashes into her with enough force to knock most adults over, but Gemma just wraps her arms around her and lifts her up. "Hey, dinosaur girl! Ready to blow everyone's minds with your paleontology knowledge?"
"I'm gonna tell everyone about the K-T extinction!"
"Mass extinction events are excellent conversation starters," Gemma says seriously.
I reach them just as Courtney does. The PTA president's smile drops about fifteen degrees.
"And you are...?" Courtney asks, her smile staying perfectly in place while her eyes do a head-to-toe assessment that would make a drill sergeant proud.
Gemma sets Ivy down and extends her hand. "Gemma Lockhart. I work with Beck at Station 7."
Courtney takes her hand like she's accepting something mildly unpleasant. "Oh." Her voice goes up half an octave. "You're the new paramedic."
"That's me."
"I heard you moved here from Denver." The way she says Denver makes it sound like a communicable disease.
"Yep."
Courtney's smile sharpens. "And you're living...?"
Here we go.
Ivy, bless her complete lack of social awareness, announces to everyone within a fifteen-foot radius: "Gemma lives at my house! In the apartment that came with our house!"
Every parent in the vicinity turns to look.
Gemma's smile doesn't waver, but I see the slight widening of her eyes. "I'm renting Captain Delano's in-law suite. Temporary arrangement while I look for something permanent."
"How convenient," Courtney says, her voice dripping with artificial sweetener.
"Super convenient," Gemma agrees, completely missing the subtext. "Great landlord. Very professional. Fixes things really fast."
She has no idea Courtney just declared war on her. I'm not sure if that's refreshing or concerning.
Ivy grabs Gemma's hand. "Come ON. I need to show you my station. We're doing fossil digs and I get to be in charge of the sand table!"
She drags Gemma toward the far corner of the room, leaving me standing with Courtney and her knowing smile.
"She seems nice," Courtney says.
"She's a good paramedic."
"I'm sure she is." A pause. "It must be nice, having someone so close by. Especially with Ivy."
I don't answer. Can't answer without saying something I'll regret.
Courtney pats my arm. "Well, if you need anything---and I mean anything---you know where to find me."
She walks away, and I head toward Ivy's station before anyone else can corner me.
Gemma has already been absorbed into the chaos. She's helping three kids sort through a bucket of plastic dinosaurs while Ivy narrates the entire Jurassic period at maximum volume.
"---and the LONG-NECK ones are actually called sauropods, and they were HERBIVORES, which means they only ate plants, and---"
