Braun nodded. “I guess it probably sounded like it.”
Harmony frowned. “What else could it be?”
Braun blew out a breath and ended up almost smiling at her.
“Curiosity, maybe. Everyone at Twenty-nine likes you, Harmony. You’re part of our family.”
She swallowed at that word and looked away, just a little.
“I just don’t like to share too much about myself.”
“That’s fine, Harmony. No one here is going to make you say or do anything you don’t want to. I just…”
He paused and she looked back up at him, trying to see what his expression could tell her.
“I just think that some of the people here at Twenty-Nine might seem a little… much sometimes.”
She lifted her chin and lowered it down, slowly. “More than sometimes.” She managed a smile. “I… I appreciate that you’re trying to help me.”
Braun shrugged. “I just feel like… we’re a bunch of different people working toward the same goal, stuck in a big brick building.”
Harmony smiled at him, really smiled. “That’s how I see it sometimes.”
He nodded, smiling like she did. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “But most times, I feel like I’m just kind of here and everyone else is… there.” She shook her head. “That probably sounds stupid.”
“Actually, Harmony,” he sighed, “not everyone sees things here the same way. Some days I feel like I’m in a bad dream about a frat house.”
She thought about it for a moment, frowned at the idea. “I’ve never been to a frat house, but I guess I’ve seen movies.” Harmony felt a smile lifting the corners of her mouth. “I guess it fits.”
Braun shrugged. “Crazy, but true.”
Harmony plucked a flower from the vase and held it between her fingers, twisting it back and forth. When she looked back up at Braun, she was smiling from ear to ear. “Thanks, Lieutenant.”
He shrugged. “I just want you to know you don’t have to ‘fit in’ the way others do. We appreciate you for who you are.”
He left a moment later and she sat there on the edge of her bed, enjoying the flowers and her new mindset on Firehouse Twenty-nine.
She took her phone out of her pocket and started to dial Crois’ number.
The klaxon sounded again. “Ambulance Nineteen. Possible heart attack at-”
Harmony was up and running while she listened to the rest of the call.
TWELVE
(This is the ‘flip side’ of Chapter 10 in Take Me as I Am, Walker & Kennedy’s book)
CROIS
When he’d startedto pursue Harmony, Crois knew that their schedules were going to be one of the biggest issues in their relationship, but he’d underestimated just how big of a problem it was going to be.
Harmony wasn’t a woman who was particularly eager to be in a relationship.
Crois had a feeling that she was using their schedules as a buffer between them.
While it was frustrating, he didn’t once let it change how determined he was to give their relationship the best chance he could. He was just struggling to open up more… communication between them.
