The Firefighter's Vow

by Amie Denman

  “So she’ll reconcile herself to loving another one,” Tony said. “You.”

  “I hope so.”

  Tony pulled into the bar’s parking lot and cut the engine, glad when Laura didn’t immediately open the door and jump out. It was nice having quiet conversation with her, away from anyone else’s ears. If he couldn’t give her his love, he could at least offer his friendship.

  “What happens next?” he asked.

  “I go home and tell my sister about my day whether she wants to hear it or not. I need to share with her what happened to me during the maze.”

  Tony held his breath, hoping Laura would go on. He suspected something emotional had transpired, but he wasn’t in a position to ask.

  “I almost gave up at one point,” she said, turning to him in the dark pickup. The nearest light in the parking lot sent a shadow over one side of her face.

  “It happens to everyone.”

  “But I kept going. I thought about Adam. I owed it to him to not give up. If he’d had a shred of a chance, even just a sliver of hope, he would have kept going. I couldn’t fail. I kept thinking about the power of being able to save someone.”

  “You did it for him,” Tony said quietly, remembering the tears on her cheeks when she pulled off her mask.

  “At first, yes. It was as if I could feel him there with me, fighting alongside me. But then, when I got out of the maze and I knew I had done it, it was like starting life all over again.”

  She brushed her hair behind her ears and leaned forward, and Tony saw her intensity even in the dim light.

  “I knew then that my accomplishment was for me, not for Adam. And that’s okay. I realized my own power and strength—something I suspected I had but hadn’t challenged myself to find. Now that I know it’s there for sure, I’m more motivated than ever to be part of the fire department. To save people who need saving, no matter what it takes.”

  Tony remembered another young firefighter who had been idealistic like that. He’d only been on the department six months when a tragic fire took the lives of three children and there was nothing anyone could do. It had broken his spirit, and he left the service. Tony often wondered what had become of that man, and he never forgot the hollow expression on his face when he turned in his badge.

  “That’s wonderful,” Tony said, knowing that Laura would face terrible things and would have to draw on her strength to handle them. Could she? “I’m really happy for you.”

  She leaned toward him and touched his shoulder. “I have you to thank for it. You’ve been a great teacher and mentor.”

  Her hand lingered on his shoulder for a moment, and then she withdrew and got out of his truck.

  Teacher and mentor. Anything more than that would be impossible.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  NICOLE’S WEDDING GOWN sparkled in the sun, competing with the glint off the ocean. Laura stood by the trellis and watched her sister and their father walk down an aisle made of beach mats between two groups of white chairs. Laura had arranged for a tent to be on standby, but it wasn’t necessary. The mid-July day was pure sunshine and blue sky. Jane stood next to Laura, and across from them, Kevin waited with his brother Tyler and cousin Tony.

  It had been a week since Laura had talked with Tony in his truck. She had left so much unsaid, but what choice did she have? Although she had been growing emotionally closer and closer to him all summer, her realization of what she wanted to do with her life had given her a stark choice. Tony or the fire service. She couldn’t have both.

  She already missed the regular Tuesday night training sessions. Now that her class had completed their requirements, they were all official volunteers. Laura’s cell phone, turned off and in her car for the wedding, was set up to receive notifications when volunteers were needed. She was ready, even anxious, to face her first emergency.

  A firetruck, the shiniest pumper, waited in the parking lot closest to the beach wedding, the sun shining off its chrome. At first, Nicole had rejected Kevin’s suggestion for a lights and siren ride to the fire station reception after the beach wedding. Laura was glad her sister had changed her mind.

  In the front row on the bride’s side, Laura’s father took a seat next to her mother and watched the wedding begin. Adam should have been there with them. He would have been a groomsman. Would be standing across from Laura with the other firefighters. That was the only missing piece in an otherwise fairytale wedding. Amid the sand, waves and happy faces, there should have been one more smiling member of the bride’s family. Laura bit her lip and tried to think about the incredible happiness that was there, not what was missing.

  She caught Tony’s eye and he smiled at her. In a suit and tie, Tony was irresistibly handsome. But she had to resist him. Now that she had found the occupation that filled her soul, there was no room for Tony—at least there was no room for a man who happened to be the fire chief. There was no way she was going to be a cliché like that. And there was more. Tony had demonstrated over and over that he wanted to protect her. Had treated her specially, watched over her. She had thought he didn’t have faith in her, lacked certainty in her ability. But slowly she had realized it was something both better and worse. If he cared for her and wanted to protect her, it would be a distraction. A dangerous one. He had to care equally for all members of the department.

  The minister began the ceremony, and Laura held her sister’s bouquet so the bride would have her hands free for taking her new husband’s hands and exchanging rings. Laura was glad to have something to hold, as it kept her from trembling with emotion. She pushed all thoughts of the fire department from her mind and watched her sister marry the man she loved so much that she was willing to vault over the major obstacles keeping them apart. What must a love like that cost...? Even more importantly, was there a way to estimate its worth?

  The photographer snapped pictures, and Laura realized with a shock that those pictures would always be part of her family story now. Their story was evolving in front of her eyes. Tony was in the new pictures along with Tyler and Kevin. Jane had become family. One powerful love had caused the lines around the Wheeler family to blur and evolve. Maybe life was like that, Laura thought. Her own lines around what she believed to be possible had taken on such a new shape she hardly recognized the old boundaries.

  The ocean breeze brushed over her neck. She had gone to the salon for a simple updo with Jane and Nicole. Her ocean blue dress left her shoulders and calves bare with a hint of sparkle at the waist. It was surreal, being part of a beach wedding in Cape Pursuit, but it was peaceful. Happy. The audience in white chairs included many members of the community, some family from Indiana and almost all of the Cape Pursuit Fire Department.

  The photographer captured Nicole and Kevin’s first kiss and Laura felt tears sting her eyes. She fought them back with a huge smile, determined to fill her heart with such joy that there wouldn’t be room for anything else. She followed the newlyweds down the aisle and helped her sister onto the back of the fire truck. White lace trailed over the silver steps, and Kevin kept one arm securely around his bride.

  Tony got in the driver’s seat and leaned out the window.

  “Ride shotgun, Laura?”

  She shook her head. “I’m driving my parents. See you there.”

  She would have loved to get in the cab of the truck next to Tony, but she had to choose her family on such an important day. She would have to break the bad news to her parents before they left town, but it would have to wait until after the wedding. She would not ruin her sister’s happiness.

  The photographer took dozens of pictures of Kevin and Nicole on the truck, and then Tony activated the lights and siren and drove off at parade speed to the fire station. Laura gathered her parents and arranged for her aunts and cousins to follow her. She tucked her bouquet in the back seat and drove her family to the reception where she hoped all her plans wou
ld work out.

  Her mother leaned forward from the back seat. “It’s been wonderful for Nicole to have you here this summer to help make all these wedding plans. I don’t know what she would have done without you.”

  Laura glanced in the rearview mirror and met her mother’s smile.

  “But we sure will be glad to have you home again,” her mother continued.

  Laura swallowed and it felt as if an ice cube was sliding down her esophagus. Her sister knew she probably wasn’t going back to hall passes and bell schedules, but Laura hadn’t dropped the bomb on her parents yet. She was an adult and she could do as she liked with her life. But who would fill the long winter nights for her mom and dad if she chose to stay here? And how was she going to tell them?

  She knew one thing for certain—she wasn’t telling them on her sister’s wedding day. She had also skimmed over the fact that she’d trained for and passed the volunteer exam and was an official member of the department. Instead of telling her parents the truth, she’d given them a vague story about helping out at the fire station in her off hours and allowed them to believe what they wanted. She was playing with fire and taking a risk that no one at the party would tell her parents what she’d been up to. Luckily, they were so focused on Nicole that Laura could fly under the radar. For now.

  Laura parked down the street from the fire station where there was also space for her aunt and cousins to park. The trucks were all out of the fire station, staged on the front and rear concrete aprons, ready to go in case of emergency. Laura hoped hard for no emergencies that evening. No fires, no medical issues, no one stepping on something sharp on the beach or pulling a false alarm at a hotel. Nothing that would mar her sister’s wedding and send half the guests running for turnout gear.

  She’d had a little time to get used to seeing firefighters in suits instead of flame-retardant yellow gear. The ones who attended the beach wedding looked like men she was meeting for the first time. At the station, it was even more surreal to see the dozens of full-time, part-time and volunteer firefighters dressed for a wedding instead of a fire. It was nice.

  Her heels clicked on the concrete floor, and Laura almost wanted to laugh at the contrast between her clothing and the life she had chosen that summer. The columns in the station were wrapped in white lights, and banquet tables decorated in blue and silver were scattered around the edges, leaving a sizable dance floor in the middle. Would she dance with the men who had become her colleagues?

  “You must be starving,” Tony said, appearing right by her side as she walked through the station.

  “I’m fine,” Laura said, smiling at him. He really was appealing with his cropped blond hair and blue eyes that reflected the colors of the wedding. His eyes and her dress were almost a perfect match.

  “You can’t be. I’ve seen you running around all day making sure everything was perfect. You haven’t even taken time to have a drink of water or get off your feet.”

  Protective. Overly so.

  “I guess you weren’t there in the salon right after brunch when we had our feet up and sipped mimosas while Suzette did our hair,” Laura said.

  “That was hours ago.” Tony lowered his voice and stood close to Laura. At a little over six feet, he was taller than she was but her heels put her at almost eye level. They were behind a column dressed in white lights. It would be so easy to meet his very kissable lips with her own.

  And so, so stupid. There wasn’t a precedent or a protocol in the big book of firefighting rules about what to do when the chief kissed a member of the department. Laura toyed with the sparkling sash around her waist, looking down where the view of the hard concrete floor was a much safer choice than Tony’s sweet mouth and soft blue eyes.

  “It was hours ago,” she agreed, choosing a playful tone. “So you better not get between me and the buffet line. I’m giving you fair warning.”

  She turned and walked over to the caterers where she could at least pretend to check on details. The guests flooded in and found tables, and the bride and groom made an entrance. Laura got a plate of food and sat with her parents and relatives from home, even though she was dying to hear the conversation at one of the large tables of firefighters and their wives. One of the older captains was telling stories, and Laura knew from experience they were usually a humorous mixture of fact and fiction.

  She belonged in both worlds. The dutiful daughter from Indianapolis, making sure her uncle could find low-salt foods on the buffet table and that her parents were happy. But she also belonged to her new family. As dinner wrapped up and Tyler Ruggles stood to make a speech in honor of his brother, Laura felt her heart trip faster. Her speech was coming up. It was written on an index card in her purse, the medium chosen intentionally to keep it short.

  Tyler launched into all the reasons—some of them humorously compelling—why Kevin wasn’t good enough for the lovely Nicole but concluded by saying he’d never seen his brother so happy and wishing the new couple well. As Laura stood to give her maid of honor toast, the now-familiar sound of a call from dispatch echoed throughout the station. She froze. Would everyone have to leave? Would she? How would she manage her beautiful satin dress inside turnout gear? The elegant twist Suzette had done her hair in would interfere with the fit of her helmet.

  What would her parents say? Oh, sweet goodness...she was going to have to choose between her two families.

  Tony held a radio to his ear and pointed to two of the guys who were standing at the back in their uniforms. The three men exchanged a nod, a whole paragraph of silent communication passing between them, and the two on-duty firefighters got in the ambulance behind the station and took off. Because all the doors were open to the warm evening air, everyone at the reception watched them go.

  It was just an ambulance run.

  “I can hardly compete with that excitement,” Laura said, “so I will just say that Nicole and Kevin deserve all the happiness in the world, and they have found it in each other. Their story reminds us all that true love is alive and worth every risk. Congratulations, and I love you.” She raised her glass, paused and took a sip of the champagne along with all the guests. Tony’s eyes met hers over the rim of his glass, and she looked away because the look she saw in them had nothing to do with putting out fires.

  * * *

  TONY PICKED UP two pieces of wedding cake from the serving table where the remnants of the three-tiered cake sat among a sea of silver forks and blue napkins. He found Laura fussing with a string of white lights at the bottom of a column that had gone out, and he knelt in front of her, offering a piece of cake.

  “I don’t think anyone’s going to notice those lights are out,” he said. “There are plenty of others.”

  “I want it to be perfect,” Laura said.

  He shrugged. “It is. They have each other and they’re leaving on a cruise tomorrow morning. How much better can it get?”

  Laura accepted the plate from Tony, but she tipped it as she straightened up and she had to catch the fork in midair before it hit the concrete floor.

  “Fast reflexes,” he said.

  “My nerves are on high alert. I’ll probably be too exhausted to run the toaster tomorrow morning.”

  He had already noticed Laura was organized and good at handling pressure, but he didn’t want her to wear herself out. At least not until she’d danced with him, no matter how foolish that might be.

  “Let’s sit down and eat this cake,” he said. “We could talk.”

  She gave him a questioning glance, but she sat in the chair he pulled out from a table near the edge of the dance floor. The overhead fluorescent lights were turned off, it was dark outside and only the decorative white lights provided a glow.

  “Hardly recognize this place,” he said. “Unless you close your eyes and take a deep breath.”

  “I’ve loved the smell since I walked in here earlier this su
mmer,” Laura said. “I think it’s tires, engines and old smoke.”

  “I love it,” he said. “But mixed with wedding cake, it’s even better.”

  “Everything’s better with cake.”

  Tony nodded. “Except the groom’s dad. With his diabetes, this cake would torpedo his evening.”

  “Is that why he isn’t a firefighter like the rest of the family?”

  “Yes. My dad was the lucky brother.” Tony glanced over to the table where the older guys sat talking and watching the dancing. “He put in thirty years on the department and retired as chief last summer.”

  “I saw his picture on the wall. You resemble him, especially the picture of him from when he was younger.”

  “He’s enjoying retirement, but I think he misses it,” Tony said. “I sure would.”

  Laura laughed. “You’re pushing thirty, but I think you have a few good years left.” She ate a piece of cake and touched the blue napkin to her lips.

  Tony wanted to touch his lips to hers and taste their sweetness. He’d known Laura was beautiful from the moment he met her last summer, but her physical beauty had taken on depth this summer and he dreaded the thought of losing her in his life. He couldn’t hold her tight and tell her how he felt about her because that would end their friendship. All he could hope for was her time. Being near her.

  “What happens at the end of summer?” he asked. Laura put her fork on her empty plate and set it on the table. He saw her look over at the table where her parents and other family members from Indiana sat. “Do your parents know you’re not going home?”

  She shook her head. “How did you know I’d decided for sure to stay?”

  “I’ve been paying attention,” he said, and he hoped she wouldn’t ask him to elaborate. He’d paid far too much attention to her.

  “I’ve been putting off telling them, but I’ll have to soon.” She smiled at him. “I belong here.”