Shelter for Koren

by Susan Stoker

  “She’s also standing right here,” Vicky said in irritation. “And can hear you.”

  “I’ve never seen Taco act like he has the last couple weeks,” Penelope said quietly. “I don’t care what your browsing history is or how many charities you donate to. That’s all superficial stuff. What I care about is Taco. And his happiness. And he’s happy. Really happy. And he definitely wasn’t when he was with Jen. So, for that alone, I’m happy to welcome you to the fold.”

  Koren swallowed hard. She’d already hung out with Quinn, Sophie, Adeline, and Blythe, but hadn’t spent much time with the female firefighter. And to have her endorsement seemed like quite an accomplishment. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, whose turn is it to watch Beth and make sure she doesn’t start a bonfire to rival the ones that Texas A&M used to build in the eighties and nineties?”

  “How do you know about that?” Adeline asked. “You aren’t old enough.”

  Penelope smiled. “I have my ways.”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “Whatever. And I think s-since you brought it up, you get to go babysit Beth. I mean, she’s definitely the best when it comes to grilling, but still…”

  “Gladly,” Penelope said, winking at Koren and heading for the back deck.

  “Now that that awkwardness is done, I need a drink,” Sophie said.

  As everyone headed for the kitchen for drinks and snacks, Quinn approached Koren. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m sorry about Beth. Don’t be mad at her.”

  “I’m not mad. I get it, I do.”

  “Taco’s gonna be pissed when he hears,” Quinn said.

  Koren blinked in surprise. “How will he hear about it? I’m not going to say anything, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  “Oh, nothing around here is a secret. Guarantee he’ll hear about it eventually, and that he won’t be happy. He’s just as protective as the rest of our guys, and hearing that Beth invaded your privacy, partially because of him, isn’t going to sit well.”

  “I understand why she did it.”

  Quinn shrugged. “Even so… Anyway, enough of that. It’s drink time!”

  “Vicky and I drove,” Koren protested as she followed behind Quinn.

  She shrugged. “You can stay here tonight if you have to.”

  Surprised by the impromptu invitation, Koren just stared at her. “Really?”

  “Sure,” Quinn said. “Sophie loves it when people stay the night. I think it has to do with the time she almost died while Chief was on duty. She always feels better when she’s not alone in the house.”

  “Oh Lord,” Vicky said under her breath. “Another drama?”

  Quinn heard her and chuckled. “Right? But this wasn’t anything that anyone else did…unless you believe Chief’s Native American beliefs that it was the work of a skin-walker.”

  “I think I’ll have that drink after all,” Koren said.

  “Me too,” Vicky echoed. “My husband will come and get me if necessary.”

  After dinner, and after Beth did not burn the burgers and hotdogs, Koren was sitting on the couch next to Penelope.

  Vicky’d only had one drink and had gone home to put her son to bed. Beth had also left a bit ago, saying without embarrassment that she’d reached her limit of “out of the house time.”

  Blythe had been overjoyed with the ideas Koren had given her for the mini getaway with Sawyer. She said she’d think about them and get back to her.

  Now, Smokey was asleep at Koren’s feet, and the remaining women were playing a card game at the table behind them. Koren wasn’t as comfortable with Penelope as she was with the other women, but she was going to make her best effort to get to know her better.

  “I was surprised to hear you’d be here tonight,” Koren said. “Taco said that you haven’t been around as much lately. He’s worried about you.”

  Penelope shrugged. “That’s nothing new.”

  Koren wasn’t sure which wasn’t new. People worrying about her, or that she hadn’t been around the fire station and the guys as much. She didn’t know Penelope’s story. The others had hinted that it was tragic, but then again, all of the women’s histories seemed to be tragic.

  “So…you and Moose?” Koren tried again.

  Penelope huffed out a breath and looked down at Smokey. She absently rubbed the donkey with her foot. “Nah.”

  “Really? Because even me, a newcomer, can see there’s something between you guys.”

  “I’m not good for him,” Penelope said quietly. “Did you know Sledge is my brother?”

  “Beth’s fiancé? Really?”

  “Yeah. I signed on to be a firefighter because of him.”

  Koren struggled to understand Penelope’s abrupt topic change. “So, you don’t like it?”

  “It’s not that. It’s…” Her voice trailed off. Then she said, “Have you ever wondered what your purpose in life is?”

  “Yeah, of course,” Koren answered immediately. “I mean, I’m a pretty good travel agent. I can find really good deals and most of my clients have no complaints, but I’m not sure I’m changing the world or even making the tiniest of differences. But it pays the bills.” She shrugged.

  “I’ve seen too much,” Penelope said quietly. “I used to think I was lucky. That I’d survived when others didn’t for a reason. But as time goes by, I’m having trouble figuring out what that reason is.”

  Koren was a bit alarmed now. She wasn’t really equipped for a conversation like this. It sounded like perhaps Penelope needed professional help, but the last thing she wanted was to blow her off. If she needed to talk, Koren would listen. “I don’t know your story, but—”

  “You don’t know my story?” Penelope interrupted, her eyes wide.

  “Um…no.”

  “Wow. Color me shocked,” the other woman said with a small chuckle. “I think you’re the only one in the entire country.”

  Koren shrugged. “I don’t really do gossip. I don’t like drama.”

  “Then you’re friends with the wrong people,” Penelope stated.

  Koren had no reply for that.

  Penelope sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m being bitchy. What happened to me doesn’t matter. But I’m a different person now, and it seems as if everyone wants me to be the old Penelope. But the harder I try to find her, the more she seems to slip away.”

  “Maybe you need to forget about being the old Penelope and embrace the new Penelope,” Koren suggested. “I mean, the things that happen in our lives shape us, for good or bad. And we either embrace those changes or go crazy.”

  The other woman nodded. “Yeah.”

  “I’m probably the worst person to talk to about anything remotely having to do with tragedy, as I’ve lived a charmed life, and I know it. But I think life is about more than what we’ve lived through. It’s also about how we see ourselves. We have two choices there: we can see ourselves as others do, or we can say ‘fuck that’ and see ourselves as we truly are. Strong, powerful, kick-ass women.”

  Penelope was silent, and Koren suddenly felt like she’d overstepped. Or she’d at least been somewhat overly impassioned.

  But then Penelope whispered, “What if you can’t see yourself at all? If you’ve lost her?”

  Koren opened her mouth to speak, when Coco suddenly bounced up from his spot on the floor next to Smokey and began barking ferociously at the sliding glass door.

  “What in the world?” Adeline said. “He never acts like this. Coco! No! Down!”

  But the dog didn’t stop. He began to scratch at the door as if his life depended on it. Then Smokey got into the act, throwing his head back and braying.

  The noise in the room was deafening. Adeline and Penelope went to the door to see what the animals were so upset about.

  “I don’t see anything out there. No wild animals or anything,” Adeline said in confusion.

  As Adeline held Coco back, Penelope opened the door and looked to the
left—and then said, “Oh, shit. Sophie, call 9-1-1. Your shed’s on fire.” She slid the glass closed, turned to Adeline, and ordered, “And you call Crash.” Then Penelope ran for the front door.

  Koren gaped at the others, then she, Blythe, and Quinn followed Penelope, close at her heels. The second they went out the front door and turned right, they could see the kind of glow that only comes from a fire, lighting the darkness on the far side of the yard. The flames growing stronger and brighter in the night sky as they watched.

  Penelope ran fast for someone her size, and she disappeared around the side of the house and out of view. By the time they rounded the corner, Penelope was frantically trying to get the faucet turned on.

  “We’ve got this. Go!” Koren shouted, pushing Penelope out of the way.

  Nodding, the firefighter began unraveling the hose and heading toward the shed, which was almost completely engulfed.

  Koren cranked on the faucet as the other women helped Penelope stretch out the hose.

  The second Koren turned to look at the fire, she knew the hose wasn’t going to do much. The flames were shooting high out of the shed’s roof and the sound the fire was making was definitely scary. But she quickly realized Penelope wasn’t actually spraying the water on the shed anyway, she was soaking the grass around it and trying to wet down the trees, bushes, and the fence as well.

  Sophie came running out of the house then, holding the phone to her ear. “Did you s-see any dogs around?” she yelled frantically.

  Koren was confused.

  But apparently the others weren’t. “No, nothing. It’s not that. It’s all good, Soph.”

  “Dogs?” Koren asked Blythe.

  “I’ll tell you later,” the other woman said.

  Just then, a huge explosion sounded from the shed and a fireball shot up in the sky.

  “Holy shit!” Quinn exclaimed.

  “Probably the lawn mower engine!” Penelope yelled. “Everyone get back!”

  They all backed up about five feet.

  “What did Crash say?” Penelope asked Adeline.

  “They’re comin’!”

  And a second later, they heard the sirens.

  “Thank God,” Blythe said.

  One second they were all standing there watching Penelope do her best to keep the fire contained to the shed, and the next they were surrounded by firefighters in full bunker gear.

  Moose—easy to pick out because of his size—headed straight for Penelope. He took her by the arm and leaned in to say something. She shook her head, and Moose physically ripped the hose out of her hands and pointed back to where the rest of the women were standing.

  She glared at him then spun and stomped away. Past the group watching, straight into the house. Within seconds she was back, leading Smokey. Without a word or a look to anyone, she skirted around the fire trucks, got into her PT Cruiser, and sped away.

  “Well, shit,” Adeline said.

  “Something’s definitely wrong there,” Blythe commented dryly.

  Koren kept her mouth shut. It wasn’t just that she was new to the group and didn’t want to speculate on something she didn’t know anything about. It was more because of the conversation she’d had with Penelope. The woman was hurting. Deeply. And it was only a matter of time before she broke.

  She felt the hand on her back before she heard Taco. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” She looked up at him—and melted a little inside. Wearing his gear, he reminded her of the day she’d seen him on the job for the first time. She was so proud of him and what he did for a living, and not just because he’d saved her.

  Taco nodded and got to work. She stepped back and watched as the fire in the shed was put out within minutes. The hoses on the truck, along with the high pressure, were obviously much more effective than the small garden hose had been.

  When the shed was nothing but smoldering ruins, Sledge took all the women aside. “What happened?” he asked.

  “Coco went crazy,” Adeline said. “Barking and clawing at the window. I’ve never seen him do that before. Then Smokey joined in. Penelope saw the fire first. We called 9-1-1, and you guys, and then she came out here to do what she could until you got here.”

  It was a succinct version of the events of the evening.

  “Is anyone hurt?” Sledge asked.

  All five of them shook their heads.

  “Good.”

  Chief came up then and, without a word, took Sophie in his arms. They clung to each other for a long moment before he took her face in his hands and asked, “Coyotes?”

  “None. I asked. No one s-said they s-saw any.”

  He nodded. “Good. I’ve been careful, and the guys all have my back. This wasn’t because of me.”

  Koren frowned. “Of course it wasn’t,” she blurted. Everyone turned to look at her, and she blushed. “I mean, you weren’t even here,” she said lamely.

  Chief’s lips quirked.

  “When Sophie and Chief were dating, she saw a coyote one night, and later that evening, she almost died of carbon monoxide poisoning,” Taco explained quietly, snaking his arm around her waist. “Chief concluded it was a skin-walker, something that his people believe in. Now, we do our best to make sure Chief doesn’t come into contact with any dead bodies; in his culture, they’re known to hold evil spirits.”

  Koren nodded even though she was still confused. She’d go home and look up skin-walkers and coyotes and make the connection later.

  “Sorry about your shed, man,” Crash told Chief.

  The other man shrugged. “There wasn’t anything in there that can’t be replaced. I’m just glad the women are all right.”

  “What was in there?” Squirrel asked.

  “The usual. Lawn mower, weed eater, other gardening odds and ends.”

  “Gas?” Driftwood asked.

  “Of course.”

  “Was it wired? Like for electricity?”

  “Yeah. I even had a small fridge in there with cold drinks for working in the yard.”

  “Hmm. It could’ve been a short in the cord or something,” Crash said. “But I’ll call the fire investigator tomorrow just to be sure.”

  “Sounds good,” Chief said. Then he leaned close and told Sophie, “I know you miss me when I’m gone, but this is going a bit far, isn’t it?”

  She giggled. “S-Shut up. But it is good to s-see you.”

  Taco tightened his arm around Koren’s waist and led her away from the others. When they were out of earshot, he asked, “You really okay?”

  “Yeah. That was a little scary, but Penelope was awesome.”

  Taco frowned and turned his head to look at where her car had been parked.

  “She’s hurting,” Koren said softly.

  Taco looked back at her. “I know. We all know.”

  “Can’t you guys convince her to go see someone or something?”

  “She was, then she quit. Moose is trying to get her to continue. But she’s putting distance between all of us and herself.”

  “You can’t let her,” Koren said, shaking her head. “She needs you guys. Make Sledge do something. He’s her brother, she can’t refuse to talk to him.”

  “I’ll say something to him,” Taco told her. Then he bent his head and nuzzled the side of her neck. “You smell good.”

  Koren giggled and pushed his head away from her. “Your beard tickles. And you stink.”

  Smirking, Taco bent her backward over his arm and playfully rubbed his head and beard over as much of her neck and face as he could.

  Koren shrieked and laughed even as she tried to shove him away.

  Then he stopped, but didn’t set her upright.

  Koren remained pliant in his arms. She grabbed hold of his bulky bunker jacket and stared up at him. “Taco?”

  “Just counting my blessings,” he said softly before kissing her tenderly. He finally brought her upright, but Koren didn’t let go. “You’ll drive safe going home?” he asked.

  S
he nodded. “I only had one glass of wine and that was hours ago.”

  “Good. Text me when you get there?”

  “Of course.”

  The other guys were rolling up the hose they’d used to put out the fire and getting ready to go.

  “I’m glad you boys weren’t too far away.”

  “Me too.”

  “I’ll talk to you later.”

  “I’ll call tomorrow.”

  “Okay.”

  “Can I come over when I get off shift the day after tomorrow?” Taco asked.

  She beamed. “Yeah. I’d like that.” And she would. She’d been spending a great deal of time with Taco, and every day that went by, the more she fell for him.

  “Me too,” he said. Then he kissed her once more before gently peeling her fingers off his sleeve with a grin. “Fuck, I love that you always grab hold as if you never want to let me go.”

  “Reflex,” she teased.

  Taco grinned and merely shook his head as he backed away.

  Koren watched as he turned and jogged over to the truck. He helped his friends get the fire truck ready to go again, then they were gone.

  “Good Lord,” Blythe said, one hand resting on her pregnant belly.

  “What?” Quinn asked.

  “We have some hot-ass men,” Blythe said.

  It took a second for her words to sink in, but as soon as they did, the women all burst into laughter.

  Koren followed them inside with a smile on her face. Things sure weren’t boring around this crew, that was for sure.

  Nadine Patterson stood up from behind the tree where she’d been hiding. Luckily, firefighter number one’s yard backed up to a wooded area. Otherwise she may not have gotten away without being seen. The damn dog had obviously seen or smelled her.

  It hadn’t been hard to get into the shed, the stupid Indian didn’t even keep the thing locked. She scrounged around until she found a greasy rag. She carefully poured gasoline from a tank in the corner on it until it was soaked. She wanted the fire to look like it was an accident, at least at first glance. She didn’t care if investigators figured out that it was arson at some point though. She shoved the rag under the back side of the refrigerator next to the wall and set the end alight. She waited until she was sure it would catch, then exited the shed as silently as she’d entered it.