Grady walks aroundlike a man on a mission, and I wonder if he has a bone to pick with someone. A man huffing about like that has something on the mind. I don’t bother asking. If I have learned one thing in my thirty years of existence, it is not to pick another man’s brain. There are all kinds of shit going on in there. He’ll talk to you when he’s good and ready. But I have a feeling it’s about Shelby, his brother probably told him some shit about last night, and now he’s all wound up like a fucking clock.
The call comes in at eleven a.m. A wildfire on the outskirts of town. We suit up and pile up in Engine 1. Johnson shouts out the situation. A few of us are going in, I’m one of them, and that thought alone gives me a rush. I have missed the adrenaline coursing through my veins. It’s just a containment assignment, but the urgency is still there. One slip, and we won’t be able to tame it.
These men are tight-knit, they have each other’s back, so I have a lot riding on this. If we get this right, I’m part of the team. It’s strange having to prove myself all over again. I don’t know what it is about knowing you’re accepted, part of a team that drives a man. It’s been about a month, and although I’ve done everything to fit in, I feel like an outsider, which is why that asshole Grady needs to know that I’m not about to go after his best friend if it puts my job in jeopardy. The fact that he’s such a little bitch about it is the only thing that irks me.
The door to the truck opens after we’ve been on the road for about twenty minutes, the smoldering aroma feels my lungs, and it smells familiar like it’s a part of me. Grady yells to get our attention, pointing out the control line, a small river. I can barely see through the smoke, but I know which direction I’m headed.
Johnson and I start at the scorched earth, working our way around the fire's perimeter, spraying all around toward the heart of the inferno. We take our positions, digging or pouring. The thing about containment is that just when you think you got it all under control, it can flare up again, so you have to work fast and with precision. My breathing is ragged, my muscles ache where it strains.
I can hear the sound of the aerial crew above the whish and whir of the flames. It’s alive, it always is, and when I am in the middle of it, I realize how minuscule I am, as a human being, against a fire’s might.
After a couple of hours, we have things under control, a few of the guys stay on-site, but I’m clear to leave. I’m quiet in the trucks' front seat, driving back to the station with Grady.
“You okay?” Grady asks, and I want to tell him I’m not, but that isn’t the kind of thing a man does. A real man deals with his shit, doesn’t offload it onto others. My father told me that whining only makes you weak, so I swore that I would never be weak.
“Yeah, just exhausted.” I lie.
“I hear you were out last night. A hungover firefighter is not something I can afford in these situations.”
“I did my job. My personal life is none of your business, Malone.” I feel my jaw tick.
He presses on the gas, and I assume he’s pissed off too.
“I heard about your little stint at the bar. Let me make one thing clear since I obviously wasn't clear enough at the barbecue, Shelby is off-limits.” I look over at Grady, and his jaw is set, looking ahead as if he didn’t just give me an instruction which he has no fucking business to.
“What? Are you serious right now?” His knuckles are whitening on the steering wheel.
“You heard me. There are plenty of women in this town, single, and not Shelby. So you might as well shift your attention.”
“I am so confused right now.”
“She is not some woman you pick up at a fucking bar.”
“Are you her daddy, Grady?” I ask, suddenly pissed off that he thinks he can tell me what the fuck to do and with whom.
“No, but Shelby and Brody are like family, and I will not let anyone hurt either of them.”
We arrive at the station, and I jump out of the truck, slamming the door behind me. Malone has some fucking nerve thinking he can talk to me like that. I am not interested in marrying Shelby. It was a bit of harmless flirting between two grown-ass people. I do not have time for this shit in my life; a woman ain’t worth this crap.
“Ember,” he calls as I walk away. “Stop.”
I do and turn, coming face to face withtheGrady Malone. “You don’t know fuck about me, man. And nothing is going on between Shelby and me. And even if there was, it would be none of your business.”
His jaw ticks. I back away, not bothering to shower or change. I hop into my truck, caring less whether this is against protocol or not.
Fuck Grady, and fuck his perceptions of me.
Fuck this town.
I take a drive to the waterfall. It’s late evening, and the peach sky peeks through the trees. I park close to the diving edge and sit there, wondering what to do next. The last thing I want is to get into it with my boss, and for fuck sake, I am not even ready for any kind of relationship. But the fact that he thinks he can make the rules pisses me off.
I should go see Marcy and my nephew, maybe that’ll calm me down. But I am in no mood for that. I just need to blow off some steam. I undress and take a deep breath before taking a leap, soaring through the air and cutting through the surface of the icy water.
Chapter 7
Shelby
The house is decorated in blue and pink, with balloons, streamers, even a dual-color cake. It’s chocolate and vanilla, and despite having my reservations about baking it, I cannot deny that I had a lot of fun. Brody was so thrilled to see me baking that I made him a batch of cupcakes.
