by Sable Hunter
Disgusted, Shane went to the living room to wait for her husband to take his leave. Rodney had played her for a fool. For years she’d worked hard, putting in an eight-hour shift at the nursing facility, then juggling a full class load so she could get her EMT certification. An uncertain future loomed before her.
To keep from crying, she let herself make plans. She didn’t want the house. She’d finish her degree. She’d leave Houston and she’d take back her own name, that was for damn sure.
“Are you sure you want me to leave?” Rodney stood in front of her.
Shane let her eyes move over him scathingly. He was handsome, no doubt about it. A little too pretty, now that she studied him with frozen emotions. “Yes. I want you to leave.”
He gave her a long look, raking up and down her body, making Shane feel dirty. “You ought to ask me to stay, Shane. It’s not like anyone else wants you.”
Shane jumped up, pointing the pepper spray at him that she still held in her hand. “I don’t need you in my life, Rodney. I don’t need anyone. I’m through with men and I’m through with you.”
He held up his hands, backing slowly toward the door. “I’ll leave. If you change your mind, you have my number. I like our arrangement, you know. You take care of me and I take care of you. All I have to do is close my eyes when I’m fucking you and pretend you’re someone else. You could do the same.”
“Get out!” She pressed the trigger and he whirled in time to dodge the burning spray. “Get out! Get out!”
He was long gone by the time Shane locked the door behind him. Leaning against the door, she slowly let herself slide to the floor, then she buried her head in her arms and cried.
CHAPTER TWO
“Congratulations, Brodie.” Logan slapped him on the back. “This is a big day. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, Chief. It’s been a long-time coming.” Brodie didn’t stop to analyze his feelings. His friend was right. This was a big day. He’d worked tirelessly to get grants so their community could have a dedicated EMT unit housed in the Stonewall VFD.
“Mary would be proud,” Logan said, placing his helmet on his head. “Let’s roll!”
As Brodie watched the firefighters load up to answer a call, he tried to keep his mind blank. He wouldn’t be joining them. As of today, he was a devoted first responder. The money he’d worked so hard to raise had gone to purchase state-of-the-art equipment. Gillespie County was now the proud owner of two brand new ambulances with all the bells and whistles. He also had an office in the fire station and they’d hired a new guy to partner with him and two more men who would report for duty in a week or so.
For the past thirty-six months, since…
For the past thirty-six months, he’d been totally focused on this one goal. The harder he worked, the less time he had to think.
Checking his watch, Brodie went to his office, shutting the door behind him. He had work to do. The first order of business was to check in with the dispatcher. Taking his radio, he held down the button. “Rose? This is Brodie. Do you read me?”
There was a bit of static, but in a few moments a voice answered, “I read you, Walton. How you doing, baby?”
Brodie rolled his eyes. No one could accuse Gillespie County of not being a friendly place. “I’m ready to get rolling. Our new man comes in today. All we’ll be waiting on is for you to tell us where we’re needed.”
“Will do.”
Brodie was about to sign off when Rose continued to speak. “This is a good thing you did, Brodie. A wonderful way for everyone to remember Mary and the others.”
“Yea. Thanks. Later.” Brodie released the button, swallowing down the bitter taste of grief. If an EMT unit like this one had existed back then, Mary might’ve been saved. Others had told him this wasn’t so, that she’d been dead before she hit the ground.
Brodie didn’t know for sure. He couldn’t think about Mary in detached terms. She’d been his life and now his life was over. What he did now was merely exist. Brodie wanted to help others because he couldn’t help the one who really mattered to him the most.
…Down the road a couple of miles, Shane Wilder sipped her coffee. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Today was a new beginning for her. A new job. New apartment. New town. A whole new start. She let her eyes take in the view as she drove. Rolling hills, limestone cliffs, sparkling stream flowing alongside the road.
Yea, she thought she might like it here.
Her Aunt Bess had only good things to say about the area. She’d been the cook and housekeeper for the McCoy family of Tebow Ranch for years. Shane had met most of them when they’d come to visit her in the nursing home. It always amazed Shane that those rich folks went out of their way to be kind to a woman who used to work for them.
From out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a movement. Without thinking, Shane reacted, slamming on the brakes to avoid a small dog who’d managed to wander onto the road. She swerved, missing it, but the jerky movement and the sudden stop caused Shane to baptize herself in coffee from head to toe. “Oh, crap.” Glancing at the clock, she hoped she might be able to grab a shower at the station and a change of clothes before her shift started. Shane wanted to look her best when she met her new boss.
…Back at the fire station, Brodie bided his time waiting on his new guy and their first call-out by immersing himself in a training video. No use wasting an opportunity to learn something. As he watched and listened, he made notes. The idea that he could be called upon to intervene in any number of medical emergencies was intimidating. Brodie wanted to do everything he could to make sure no one else suffered the way he had after losing Mary.
After about forty-five minutes, he shut the computer and glanced at the clock. “Where is Wilder?” The guy had five minutes to report in or he’d be late on his first day. Standing up, he opened his office door. The truck bay was empty; the guys weren’t back.
So…what was that noise coming from the locker room?
“Hey! Who’s there?” He pushed open the door. His first thought was maybe a homeless person had wondered in and decided to take advantage of a deserted building and handy facilities. Brodie believed in helping the less fortunate, but he also believed in observing boundaries and asking permission. “Who’s there?” he repeated, hearing one of the showers running. “Did you know you’re trespassing?” A surge of frustrated anger made him want to expose the person who displayed such little regard for other people’s property.
With a jerk, Brodie pulled aside the curtain and what was displayed was not what he expected…
“Hey!” Shane jumped, causing a big dollop of shampoo suds to slide into her eyes. “I’m not through!” She made a grab for the towel that she’d thrown over the side of the stall.
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my fire station?” Brodie yelled. The woman wasn’t paying him a heck of a lot of attention. She had turned the water on full force and was doing her best to rinse off. Brodie tried not to look, but the sight of a slippery, soft, naked woman was something he hadn’t seen in a long time. Not since…
“Hell!”
Perky tits. Soft curves. Pink silky skin. His cock hardened and the automatic, normal male response infuriated him. “Hurry the fuck up and get out of there!”
“All right. All right. Keep your turn-out suit on.” Shane did the best she could. Wow, what a horrible beginning. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to work with this guy very often. Brodie Walton had to be an improvement over Mr. Nasty here.
Just outside the locker room door, Brodie paced. “Where in hell did that woman come from? Is she with one of the guys?” If so, he’d have a ‘come to Jesus’ moment with whomever thought it was okay to bring their good times to work. “And where the hell is my new partner?”
Even as he said the words aloud, an uneasy feeling came over him. “Oh, hell no. Shane Wilder is a man. I reviewed that job application myself.” Storming back to his desk, he jerked a folder out of a drawer. Sla
pping it down on the wooden surface, he jerked it open and stared. “Well, shit.” The spot marked Gender was adorned with an unmistakable F – for female.
How in the fuck had he missed that?
Back in the locker room, Shane pulled on her clothes, taking little time to reapply makeup. Just a bit of lip gloss and she was ready to face whatever discordant music that the shower interruptus had evoked. Picking up her things, she inhaled a big breath and walked out. Shane didn’t have far to go before she encountered a human thundercloud, one of the biggest men she’d ever seen. “Good God, you are huge.”
“My face is above my belt buckle.”
Shane jerked her head up. His admonition made her face flush with shame. Before she could say anything, the talking mountain continued his tirade. “Now, who the hell are you and what are you doing taking a shower in my men’s locker room? Did it ever cross your mind to ask permission?”
She was receiving a verbal tongue lashing. Damn, the man was so hot, she couldn’t comprehend his censure, all she could focus on was how much she’d love to experience a tongue lashing of another kind from him.
“I’m Shane Wilder, I’m here to meet Brodie Walton. I had a little accident on my way in and needed to freshen up, so I took advantage of the locker room at my workplace, which I am entitled to use.” As she spoke, her tone went from calm to razor sharp. The man might be sexy as hell, but he was being unreasonable as far as she was concerned.
Damn. Damn. Damn. Brodie cursed under his breath. “Get in here.” He motioned toward his office, grumbling as he stomped away.
Shane followed, her stomach sinking when she saw the name BRODIE WALTON inscribed on the glass window of the door. Damn. Damn. Damn. “You’re Brodie? You’re my boss?”
“That’s Mr. Walton to you and I’m not so certain I’m going to be your boss.”
“Why? Are you transferring?” After their inauspicious beginning, she would certainly welcome the news.
“No. You are. I don’t want to work with you. You’re not the type of employee I need.”
His clipped, concise criticism eviscerated her. “How can you say that? We’ve just met. You don’t know what I’m capable of doing.”
“I don’t need to know. We can’t work together.” He avoided looking at the woman. There was no way he could spend hour after hour, day after day with her – no way in hell.
“Why? Because you saw me naked? That wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t barged in on me, I was behind a curtain.” She knew she wasn’t much to look at anyway. “I apologize if what you saw offended you.”
“Don’t insult us both.” Brodie grated out the words. “You’re simply not suited for this job.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so!”
Shane needed more of an explanation, then a thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. “Is it because I’m a woman? Discrimination is illegal, you know.”
Oh, hell, no. “Don’t threaten me, Miss Wilder! Sit down!” He pointed at a chair in front of his desk.
Shane sank into the chair. How had this all gone so horribly wrong? “Look. I want this job. I’ve struck out in life more times than I can count. I want to do something right. I’m not sure how I offended you, but whatever I did, I apologize.”
Brodie sat down, staring at her job application. She had good grades, good references, not much of a work history unless you counted her work in a geriatric facility. Of course, her dealings with the elderly and the recommendations she’d been given spoke volumes to him. She even had one from the Governor, for God’s sake. How had she managed that? He cut his eyes to her face. She looked anxious. If he let her go, would she sue? Possibly. Damn. He really couldn’t take the chance. To make matters worse, he didn’t really have just cause. “You need to make arrangements to shower elsewhere.”
Conflicting emotions bombarded her. As an employee, she was entitled to separate but equal accommodations in the workplace or at least a semblance of an effort. Yet, she wanted an unequivocal answer to one question before she pursued anything else. “Does this mean I can stay?”
“Yes.” He closed the folder and slapped it down. “On a trial basis.”
“To see if I can cut it?”
Brodie shifted uneasily in his chair. “Yea, you’re…sort of small.” She was also a beautiful woman and he had no desire to spend time with her. To avoid a lawsuit, he would work with her long enough to find some reason to legitimately fire her.
“I’m stronger than I look.” Shane sat straighter in the chair. She wished Brodie Walton weren’t so handsome. Good looking guys were always so dang cocky. “As far as the showers go, I’ve been doing my research. Most departments with coed employees have an occupied/not occupied system. Am I the only woman assigned to this station?”
“Yep.” Brodie let the word drop like a coin bounced on a tin table in a silent room. “The only one.”
Shane was about to tell him she would cooperate to the fullest when the sound of the bay doors opening broke the silence. The fire truck was returning. Following her boss’s example, she stood.
Brodie avoided looking at Wilder. “What kind of name is Shane for a girl, anyway?” He opened the door and walked out ahead of her.
“My father wanted a boy and he was into Westerns. Shane was his favorite movie.” The short explanation would have to be enough.
“Huh. Here’s your radio.” He handed it to her from off a bookcase by the door. “Turn it on and keep it with you at all times.”
Shane hooked it to her belt loop. When she looked up again, three firemen were coming toward them. They looked hot and tired, their faces smudged with soot. “Well, Brodie. What have we here? A lady EMT! Did you arrange this surprise for my birthday?”
“Down, Ronan. She’s a professional, as you’re supposed to be.”
Shane felt overwhelmed. They were all big men, especially the one coming from the driver’s side of the engine. “Shane Wilder, I presume?” At her nod, he offered his hand. “I’m Chief Logan Gray. Good to have you. Brodie has worked hard to see this day. Any calls yet?”
“Not yet,” Brodie answered before she could.
In the next few moments, Shane met the rest of the crew, including Chris, Ronan, and Blaze. “I’ll learn your names soon,” she promised.
“It’s good to have a woman onboard.” Blaze offered. “You’ll brighten the place up.”
Shane wasn’t sure how to take that statement. Thankfully, she didn’t have to think of a reply because the radio sounded.
She and Brodie had their first call.
* * *
Once they were in the EMT response vehicle and on the road, their professionalism came to the forefront. “We’ve got a 10-year-old male, code 99.”
“Needs resuscitation.” Shane nodded as she stared ahead at the road. With sirens blaring, they raced to the south side of town and whipped into the driveway of a small wooden house. A frantic young woman waited at the door. “Hurry! Hurry! He’s not breathing.”
As she stepped out, Brodie hurried to the rear of the ambulance and grabbed the backboard. Shane stepped alongside him, throwing the bag of equipment over her shoulder. Once in the house, they found the father kneeling on the floor by the lifeless body of his son. He was performing compressions, his face as pale as the child he was trying to save.
“He just collapsed, Mr. Walton.” The mother wrung her hands. “Help him, please.”
“He was breathing when I started, but he just went pulseless.” Not giving up, the father kept up the mechanical movements that sent life-giving blood flowing through the boy’s veins.
“Let me take over.” Shane stepped in, seeing the father looked exhausted. She worked up until the moment that Brodie was ready to place him on the backboard. As soon they could, they carried the child out of the house and loaded him into the ambulance. Before taking off, they worked together. Shane continued CPR while Brodie worked to find a vein. The monitor read asystole, so they didn’t administer the
defibrillator.
“Tell me his medical history.” Brodie directed the question to the boy’s mother who stood just outside the vehicle door.
“He was running and playing outside. When he came in, he was breathing hard.”
As soon as Brodie sank the needle into the vein, he vaulted out and climbed in the front. “Follow us,” he threw the words at the mother as he pulled out, speeding off toward the hospital. Shane didn’t let up, pausing after five cycles to give the patient one round of epi, then continuing CPR. When that didn’t work, after five more, she tried an atropine with the same negative result.
“I don’t think I can tube him, there are too many potholes.” Shane announced.
“We’ll be there shortly.” He spoke into the mic. “We have an asystolic 10-year-old male, CPR in progress, IV administered. ETA, six minutes.”
“Come on, kid.” Shane encouraged, refusing to give up. “You’ve done this before, Wilder. You can do this,” she whispered to herself.
In the front, Brodie listened to her speak, his attention equally focused on getting them to the emergency room in one piece. “Try another epi.”
“All right.” In another few seconds, her answer came. “No effect.”
Shane’s arms were getting tired, but she refused to acknowledge it. She was no stranger to death and trauma, but dealing with a child in trouble just broke her heart. Every five cycles, she tried something else, another atropine, and then sodium bicarb. “Come on, don’t you dare die on me.” Refusing to surrender, Shane fought through the despair. After five more, she placed her fingers on his neck. Yes! “I’ve got a pulse!” she announced, ecstatic.
“We’re here!” Brodie shouted as he came to a stop in the circular drive next to the ER door. Two attendants rushed to meet them and together they got the child inside. After giving the ER staff all the information they’d gathered, they transferred care to the hospital medical team.
“He’s going to live.” Shane smiled, looking to Brodie for affirmation.
He gave her none. “Let’s go.”
