“And he said I fit the criteria, and as long as I have the doctor’s go-ahead, he has a spot for me on the team.”
Seth’s hoot caused Sammy to pull the phone from his ear for a moment. “That’s great! When are you sending in your paperwork?”
It was great news, and Sammy should feel better about it, but something still tugged at him. He didn’t feel excited about the idea. Shouldn’t he be thrilled with the chance to prove himself a hero?
Instead, all he felt was…nothing. Or maybe a tiny bit of fear.
Because, what if he really didn’t want to fight fires and explore wildernesses? What if he didn’t want to leave Deep Haven?
“I’m still thinking about it.”
Sammy waited for Seth’s rebuttal, but his friend went easy on him. “Hey, you missed trivia night at the VFW last night.”
“Yeah, I was busy.” The space heater must be working double time. He turned down the temp.
“Busy with what? A Saturday night fix-it job?”
“If you must know, I was out dancing.” Shoot. After the razzing he’d gotten from the guys the other day, maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned anything.
“Did your mom talk you into doing that square dancing down in Beaver Bay again?”
Sammy laughed. “Actually, square dancing with my mom was a lot of fun. But this time, it was more like work. Robin Fox and I chaperoned the Snowball Dance at the high school. She got roped in somehow, and then she thought she’d share the torture.”
“Man, I haven’t thought about the Snowball Dance in years. Remember when that kid got sick?”
“This is sounding eerily like a conversation I had with Robin,” Sammy said.
“Sounds like you’re having all kinds of conversations with Robin.”
“It’s kinda natural since I’ve been over there fixing the kitchen.”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure it’s only natural.”
His friend’s teasing hit close to the mark. He had been thinking about Robin. A lot. He loved hearing her laugh, seeing her easy way with others, but most especially he admired her determination to do the right thing. He’d have to keep his distance if he had any chance of keeping his promise to be just friends.
On the phone, Seth was wrapping up. “Okay. Keep me posted. Both about the smoke jumpers and this nothing-is-happening with Robin.” Sammy could practically hear his friend winking through the phone line.
He ended the call and stuffed the phone into his pocket. The Ping-Pong paddles sat at the end of the bench, waiting for Sammy to deliver them to the youth center. No time like right now. He had nothing better to do this afternoon. Plus, he could check on the new furnace. He picked the paddles up and stuffed them into the courier pouch on his bike. After flipping the space heater all the way off, he opened the door to the kitchen.
“Ma, I’m going out,” he called into the house.
“Be safe,” she called back.
He grabbed a set of gloves from his workbench and headed out.
Straight into a snow shower.
The snow fell from heaven in giant flakes, eddied about on the wind. The road didn’t look slippery, so he pushed off in the direction of the youth center.
A fifteen-minute ride later, he pedaled the last few feet into the parking lot near the center. He put his bike in the rack and went inside.
A clicking noise coupled with the whir of a fan and the warmth of the building told him the new furnace worked fine. He went to the closet to check it out. At the back of the glorified pole shed that served as the youth center, the janitor’s closet did triple duty as the electrical room, cleaning supply storage, and a catchall for sports equipment.
Sammy pulled the chain to turn on the bare lightbulb, and light illuminated the space. Once he located the bucket of Ping-Pong balls on a shelf, he put the paddles next to it.
At the back of the five-by-five-foot space hummed the new furnace. It was a beauty. The compact machine put out enough heat for the whole building while still being energy efficient. As an added bonus, it ran quietly. The kids who came to the youth center brought enough noise as it was. He checked the thermostat. Everything looked great.
His phone buzzed and he looked at the screen. Casper.
