Dustin’s baffled expression says everything we’re all not saying.
After we disperse, I check the medic truck. Everything’s in order. The last crew restocked as they should. Then I join my crew moving things out of the shared room Patrick and Dustin occupied.
Dustin and I will be bunking together. This new rookie better be worth his weight in gold.
We’re running equipment checks a few hours later with the doors to the bay rolled up. The spring air still has a chill to it in the early mornings, but by midmorning, the sun breaks through. A presence on the driveway captures my attention. I lift my eyes from where I’m re-rolling a hose on the engine.
The woman walking up the sidewalk hesitates a beat and then steps forward. I see her frame from my vantage point before I see her face, but then she’s there, standing in the bay opening.
Hallie?
I shake my head, closing my eyes and opening them again.
She’s still standing there, looking at each one of us in turn. Her eyes land on me. A note of recognition in them, but not one that tells me she remembers our past. I’m the guy she saw picking up pizzas. That’s all.
“Hi?” She says, tentatively. Then she squares her shoulders just the slightest and repeats herself with more confidence. “Hi. I’m Hallie—the new rookie.”
“No kidding!” Dustin shouts. “You’re the rookie! A woman! A firewoman? That’s so ... Wow. Captain didn’t tell us about that part. The woman part. Meaning that you are one. We weren’t informed—or ready. Not that we aren’t ready. We are. We …”
Patrick steps in front of Dustin. “What he means to say is, welcome to Waterford Fire. Cody’s in the office. We cleared a room for you to bunk in. I’m Patrick. The blathering one is Dustin. And that man of few words over there is Greyson.”
I stand and walk slowly toward her, extending my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. I saw you … getting pizzas.”
“Yes. I remember.”
We stare at one another and then I drop her hand, slowly brushing mine down my uniform pants.
She’s a firefighter? I thought she was going to be a doctor.
And she’s here. In Waterford.
“I’ll show you to the office,” Patrick says, walking ahead of Hallie.
“I know where it is,” she tells him. “I came in for my interview a few weeks ago.”
“On a day we were all off?” Patrick asks.
“Yes. I think it must have been.”
I don’t hear the rest of their conversation, because Patrick holds the door to the office open and steps inside with her.
Dustin stares back at me. “What’s the matter, Grey? You look like you saw a ghost.”
I don’t answer him. Most questions resolve themselves without an outright answer. This one isn’t something I could answer anyway. Not without adding a whole lot of complication to the already complex situation.
“Don’t worry,” Dustin says. “We’ll all get used to working with a woman. It will just be an adjustment.”
“Yeah,” I say with a soft chuckle. “Like you got used to it when she walked into the bay?”
Dustin laughs. “What can I say? I was not expecting a woman. Cody pulled a fast one. You’ve got to admit it.”
“Yeah. He sure did.”
I stare in the direction of the office. How did this happen? And how am I going to work here now—with her on the crew?
Nine Years Ago: Munich, Germany
