“Like I’m too accepting?” I ran my finger up and down my glass of cola. “I’ve always known Marlon was a jerk, He was my nemesis in school. Everyone knew he got his job because of his dad…and his dad wasn’t a great chief.”
Ulysses snickered.
I offered a small smile. “Yeah. So I think I’ve just been waiting for something bad to happen. I just held my breath and hoped that whatever happened didn’t cost someone their life.” I rubbed my forehead. “But a child died, and David. And all those dogs—” I swallowed. Hard. “So yeah, I’m upset. Me being upset doesn’t change things. That’s why I said I feel like my world is tilted.”
“You consider applying for the job as chief?”
“What?” I eyed him. “I’m too young.”
“You’re good with people. You’re organized. You keep your head in a crisis.”
“I want to fight fires while I’m still healthy enough to do it. Maybe when I retire from firefighting, then I’ll look at some kind of administrative job.” He leaned closer. “The truth? I like our current mayor, but the last one was an idiot. So do I want to spend all my time embroiled in dealing with politics? Hell no.”
Ulysses smiled. “See? Just like I’d never want to be on the inside of law enforcement.”
I held out my glass.
He clinked his to mine and we both sipped our drinks.
Finally, he put his glass back down. “I have news.”
I held his gaze. “Yeah?”
“The Vancouver Sun called—they’ve offered me my old job back.”
My gut clenched. This was everything he’d wanted—and they were offering it to him. “Oh?” Casual.
“Yeah.”
“But what about what happened before?”
“According to the editor, I’ve done my penance and most people will forget about the entire thing.”
“Do you believe that?”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “Well, my part in theincidenthas been addressed several times in the last twenty-four hours and no one’s come after me with a pitchfork.”
“Did you expect them to?”
“Truthfully? Anything was possible.”
“So you’re going back to Vancouver?”That’s not so bad. It’s only an hour away. Maybe he can come out on weekends…or I can goin on my days off. Or—
“Uh, no.” He offered a smile. “That’s not the life I want anymore.”
This time, I blinked. “I don’t understand.”
“I also got offers from papers in Calgary and Toronto. Which is crazy because I don’t know those cities. I guess they figure I can adapt.”
“You can. And if that’s what you want, then you should definitely go for it. Grab that chance.”
“Like I said, though…that’s not the life I envision for myself. I like the slower pace of a small town. And I know this might be all the excitement I ever see in Mission City. I’m okay with that. I can nurture talent here. I can encourage kids who are interested to pursue journalism. Hell, I’ve been offered a chance to do a lecture at the university in Abbotsford. And UBC called as well. They want to do a feature about me as an alumnus. I said sure—as long as I could be a cautionary tale.”
“Yeah, I can see that about you. But Mission City? Aren’t you going to get bored?”
“With Spring Dixon as my protégé? No, not likely. More like I’ve got to stay sharp and on my toes. Plus, I like Mission City. I like my boyfriend.”
I sipped my drink again as I tried to gather my thoughts. “So where does that leave us?” Heat raced to my cheeks.
