“Yeah, but I still can’t stop thinking about that bacon mac and cheese you made the other day,” Billy chimes in. “I say we make that again on Friday.”
I fill my plate and do my best to eat more than I did at lunch. I’m too big a guy to be skipping meals. The last thing anyone wants is me walking around here hangry on top of my already, how did Callie put it? Ah, yeah, on top of mydazzling personality.It’s been getting easier these last two and a half months since moving here, but sometimes it feels like day one all over again. As everyone eats and talks, I find my thoughts drifting to one of the last times I had BBQ chicken. It was about a year ago at a firehouse just like this, but completely different.
“Boys, boys, relax! There’s plenty for everyone,” Krystal calls out across the kitchen.
I’m down the hall, doing a final check on some inventory for the rig, but it sounds like the food is ready, and despite what she said, there’s no way that Krystal made enough for this crew.
“Not if the Captain gets in here before I get mine,” Olson answers her, just in time for me to walk through the door with a wide grin because he’s absolutely right.
As soon as Krystal sees me, her beautiful brown eyes light up, and her long brown hair bounces as she rushes me and jumps into my arms, stealing a kiss.
“At least pretend like I’m your superior while we’re at work, Krys.” I try to sound serious, but her smile is so infectious that it has me giving up entirely.
“Not gonna happen.” She kisses my nose, and the crew lets out a collective mockery of ‘awws’.
Here we go.
I glare at each of them until it stops, but as soon as I look back at the woman wrapped around me, my woman, my glaring stops completely.
“I heard there was BBQ chicken.” I wiggle my brows.
She grins and hops down. Olson sets the table, and Peters places the side dishes on the table. When she reaches the stove, she looks at allof us, pulling our attention so that we’re all looking as she reveals three trays of BBQ chicken. Her specialty.
“What do you think? This enough?”
It wasn’t any special occasion, but looking back now, every moment feels special when you’d give everything for one more. She made sure we all had more than enough, and some of the crew even took home leftovers. She was thoughtful like that, always taking care of others before herself and going out of her way to make people’s days better.
She’d say, “Si puedes dar, das.” Which roughly translates to “If you can give, you give.” To her, it was law, the way she was raised, but to everyone else, to me, her big heart was everything. It’s the reason I’m still here.
“What do you think, Captain?” Chief asks, and I haven’t the slightest idea what he’s referring to.
“You okay?” Billy asks, his eyes dragging from mine to where my fork is in my hand, with concern written all over his face.
I stare at the folded metal in my hand.
Oops.
“What was the question?” I ask, clearing my throat and bending the mangled metal back until it almost resembles a fork again. Everyone exchanges looks, but no one says anything about it.
“They’re still discussing BBQ fires,” Maria says, waving her fork toward Mark and Billy.
Chief Mason watches me with all too knowing eyes as I try to come up with some sort of answer.
“I don’t know,” I finally say, giving up on choosing a number just to make them happy.
“Oh, c’mon. You gotta’ at least try to guess,” Billy encourages, but I frankly don’t give a damn.
“No, I don’t,” Isay with finality.
Beside me, Chief exhales loudly, showing his disappointment once again, but my mind is far past the conversation at this table. These dinners are meant to make us feel like a family, but right now, they’re only making me miss the one I had with Krystal.
“If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my bunk.” I get up from the table, dumping my dinner and placing my dish in the dishwasher. I don’t want to make small talk. I want to be left alone.
By the time I make it to the living quarters and into my designated bunk, my phone vibrates in my pocket.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” I answer.
“You sound like you’re in a good mood,” Tom says sarcastically over the line.
