“How can you read at a time like this?” Haley yelled to Dixon. Dixon’s eyes appeared over the top of his book and then he looked back at it.
“What the hell’s wrong with him?” Smith yelled to Haley.
Haley looked at the man with venom in his eyes, and that was Sam putting it lightly.
The truck roared out of the station and Sam heard the siren screaming. He saw a group of the other recruits – he couldn’t count how many, they were tearing out of the station so fast – watching them in awe.
Vehicles came to a stop as the engine roared into the street and then they were going down the road; the vehicle bumping and jostling the recruits into each other. In the front seat, McCready was calling out to Peterson, but Sam was completely overwhelmed and couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were actually talking about. He thought it was directions – but he couldn’t be sure.
The rest of the rookies were silent, except for Smith, who kept making wisecracks. Sam had the distinct impression that he was making up for being nervous, though he couldn’t prove that.
The city flew by; all the grays and whites and all of the other colors of New York City. The sleet had stopped sometime in the night but it was still cold and a harsh wind blew. Sam couldn’t feel it, but he watched the people along the sidewalk walking. Some looked up as the fire engine passed; most just kept their heads down to ward off the cold.
Soon, they were up on the highway, and the traffic had already started to back up. Peterson drove along the shoulder, the tires rumbling underneath them as they drew ever closer to the car wreck.
Sam felt the brakes start underneath the engine and he turned to peer out but could see nothing but stopped cars. They slowed and then finally they were stopped and McCready yelled, “Let’s go!” and the first one out of the truck was none other than Dixon, followed by Haley, Sam, and the others.
As Sam’s boots hit the cold pavement, the first thing he noticed as the almost panic surrounding him. He saw the two cars tangled together – he saw people surrounding it. He saw police officers and civilians, though he wasn’t sure what they were doing. He saw cars parked in the road, some honking, others just sitting there, looking bored. A few even had the decency to look concerned.
But there was McCready, followed by the other three, and they were like a calm in the storm. People moved around them and the cars suddenly stopped honking. Sam was behind them, staying as close as he could. One of the officers tried to stop him but he pointed at logo on his uniform and was waved through.
Sam heard McCready yell, “We need the jaws!” and Dixon was back immediately. He grabbed the tools, hoisting them up easily and was back in a flash. He handed the tools out to the other three men and they began cutting. Sam could see into the car. The woman inside was covered in blood. He couldn’t tell if she was alive or dead. A man was sitting next to the other car, looking shell-shocked. Sam knew he had been in the other vehicle. An ambulance was pulling up, men were running towards them; it was complete chaos. But somehow, through it all, there was a sort of calm of the firefighters, paramedics, and police officers. Sam was unsure how they kept their calm – he wasn’t even involved, and he was shaking almost uncontrollably.
He heard a yell of anguish behind him and turned. There was a man running up to the officer, followed by a young girl.
“That’s my wife!” the man screamed. The officer grabbed him and tried to hold him back but the man was crazy with emotion – he punched the officer and ran towards McCready and the others. Without thinking, Sam was in his way, grabbing him and holding him tight until more officers swarmed in and held him back. Sam knew he had been told not to interfere – but he couldn’t just stand back and do nothing.
He saw the little girl standing there stricken with horror – her mother was in the car and her father was being hauled away, screaming, grief overtaking him. He didn’t know what he was doing – he’d never been particularly good with kids – but he walked over to her and knelt, blocking her view of her mother.
“Is that your mother?” he asked. She nodded. “She’s going to be okay. Trust me – I’m a firefighter. Those are my friends over there that are going to get her out,” he said, and then he pointed towards the paramedics and said, “And those men and women are going to take her to the hospital and make her all better.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding. Behind him, he heard Smith scoff at him.
“Let’s go over here and let my friends do their job,” he said, taking the little girls hand, and he lead her away.
The job search was not going well. Brooke had a list of prospects in front of her and she’d called every last school – private, college, or just regular – and no one had any openings.
She wasn’t surprised, of course. What kind of school would have openings in January? She knew the answer: none. Yet she had kept calling and calling, striking names off the list as she went. She dialed old contacts, old teachers, and friends – and there was nothing.
Avoiding her mom as best she could, Brooke gave up and decided to walk the mansion. She first started on the top floor, leaving her room and peeking into all of the rooms. As a rule, they were usually empty. Only during holidays were any of the rooms full. Her older brother’s rooms were further down the hall. Like hers, they had been untouched after they’d moved out, though she knew that they were on better terms with her mom than she was and often visited.
There was Ronald, who was the oldest. He had just been too much older than she had been and because of it, they’d just missed going to school together. His room was even more retro than hers. She didn’t feel right being in his room without him so she left quickly.
Her other brother, the middle sibling, was Mark, and he was only a year older than her. They were close. They’d gone to school together and when he’d been picked on by bullies, she’d done her best to keep them away from him. His room was extremely similar to hers; a trip back to their childhood that she could relate with.
She’d seen her brothers at Christmas but only for a few hours on Christmas night. She had been trying her best to be independent and avoid her mother, so she hadn’t been around as much as she probably should have.
And look at me now. Back here, after all.
The other rooms were many, and if she was honest, they were pointless. There were extra bedrooms, reading rooms, offices, and more rooms that served no actual purpose than her parents knew what to do with.
But they earned it. Both of them.
Her father had moved up in the political side of New York. Sure, he’d started out as a firefighter, but he’d used what he’d learned to move up in those ranks. He was Sergeant in his second year, Chief four more years after that, and then the sky was the limit.
Her mother had done well for herself, too – and when they had gotten together, it had been her job that had paid for the house and the lifestyle she liked to live. She was a well-known fashion designer and had made more than a small fortune before retiring.
She found herself down the stairs and in the library. It had been a place she’d found herself in as much as she could. It had been her father’s library at its heart. Her mother had never cared to read, unless it was to do with her job. As always, Brooke found herself taking after her father. She wandered around the room, seeing the shelves lined to the ceiling with books she would never have the time to read. She picked one out at random and sat down in the armchair, idly leafing through the pages, just enjoying the room.
This isn’t so bad, she thought – and then her mother appeared in the doorway.
“What are you doing, honey?”
Brooke held up the book and said, “Reading.”
Her mother’s eyes watched her curiously.
“Let’s do lunch.”
“I’m just taking a break from calling about jobs…” But her mother saw right through that and Brooke relented and said, “Fine. But just lunch. I don’t want to be out all day.”
As Steve brought their ca
r around, Brooke waited by the front door. The sleet had let up – but the rain had not. It was barely above freezing and Brooke shivered as she stepped outside. It was a dreary day that perfectly matched her dreary mood. She had wanted to spend some time with her dad, yet he’d had to go into work early and she knew she wouldn’t be able to spend much time with him in the coming days and weeks.
By the time he’s gotten everything under control, I’ll have left. Hopefully…
She just had to keep telling herself that. If she didn’t, she thought she might go crazy.
“What are you thinking for lunch?” she asked as they climbed into the car. The new car smell hit her instantly and she realized just how different she was from her mother. She knew it would be some fancy restaurant that she could never afford by herself.
“There’s this new place I’ve been wanting to try on the east side. I’ve heard it’s to die for. You’ll love it, Brooke, I’m sure of it.”
“I’m sure I will,” Brooke said, rolling her eyes and looking out the window as they pulled out onto the road. She hated how somehow, despite her being a grown woman, her mother always made her feel like a little girl again.
“No luck on the job hunt, then?”
Brooke grudgingly admitted, “Nothing yet. I’ve called everyone I can think of. Not a single opening.”
“That’s to be expected this time of year,” her mother told her. It was exactly what Brooke had been thinking; hearing her mother say it, though, was grating.
“Yeah, I know.”
Her mother shot her a look but said nothing about her short and clipped attitude.
“I am glad you’re home. As is your father.”
“I know,” Brooke said.
“And I take it you’re not glad to be back?”
“Mom – look at me. I’m a college graduate that hasn’t been living at home for five years. I just lost my job and I’m losing my apartment, too.”
“We could have helped pay for you to live there.”
“That would be even worse than moving back home,” Brooke told her. She sighed. “Look, I’m just in a weird spot right now. This isn’t even close to how I imagined my life going. Look at you and Dad. When you were my age you were already making waves in the world.”
“You did choose to be a teacher.”
“I wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to help people! I don’t care about making a lot of money. I just wanted to live a normal life and help others. That’s the difference between you and me. You wanted to help others and make money while doing it.”
“That’s a little bit out of line, Brooke.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, and she knew that her mother had been right. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just – I can’t do what I’m meant to do if I don’t have a job. And it’s not just for them. It’s for me. Helping others – it helps me, too.”
“I understand,” her mom said, though she didn’t know if she truly did or was just saying that to make her feel better.
Lunch – as was to be expected – was extravagant, out of Brooke’s price range, horrible and delicious all at the same time. The food was good – it was really good – but it wasn’t her.
They ate at a fancy, extremely high class restaurant on the top floor of a skyscraper. Her mother ordered some kind of fish in a weird sounding sauce and Brooke ordered a steak that cost the same price as 10 of the normal steaks Brooke bought from the store.
But it was good and to her mom’s credit, she wasn’t too awfully bad. They talked about Brooke’s work: her favorite children, toughest days, lesson plans, and all sorts of other stuff. And for once, her mother seemed genuinely interested.
Brooke couldn’t feign the same interest her mother seemed to be giving her but she tried her best when she asked what her mother had been up to. She was unsurprised to find a lot of spending and quick weekend vacations to everywhere under the sun. She couldn’t fault her mother for that: it was her money. Though to be honest, not faulting her was hard, especially not that Brooke was unemployed, homeless, and completely broke.
After lunch, Brooke had hoped to head back home – she hated thinking of it like that – but she knew she wouldn’t be that lucky.
“How about we do a little bit of shopping? Get you some new clothes?”
“I have plenty of clothes back at the house. And even more at my apartment. We could just go there.”
“You deserve something nice.”
Brooke opened her mouth to argue but she knew it was pointless. What her mother wanted, her mother got. So they went shopping. She had hoped one store would be enough but of course it wasn’t. They parked and walked blocks and blocks of stores.
She picked out the cheapest outfit she could find at the first store. Her mother had made a tsk-tsk noise at it but had bought it just the same. At the second store, Brooke tried waiting around while her mother picked out a purse for herself, but after that was done, she turned her attention back to Brooke and Brooke got another outfit – this time picked out by her mom.
The next few shops followed the same pattern: her mother would buy something for herself that she wanted and then she would find something for Brooke. She blanched at the prices but had to admit that some of the stuff her mom had picked out was nice and that she would be happy to wear it, though even admitting that to herself was hard enough.
And finally they were done. It was nearing dinner time when they climbed back in the car, damp and cold and shivering, ready to go home and laden down with plenty of new clothes.
“Thank you,” she told her mom.
“Anytime, honey,” she said. “I know it’s been tough on you. And I know it’s going to get tougher still until you find just what you’re looking for. But we’re here for you. As long as you need us.”
“Thanks, Mom. It means a lot. It really does.”
They drove home and for once, actually just chatted about life. They talked about her brothers, how her dad’s job had been going, and all sorts of stuff that didn’t amount to much. It felt good.
Her mother pulled up and parked. By this time, Steve had already went home for the evening, so they drove around back, opened up the garage, and parked inside of it. Brooke was relieved to see that her dad’s truck was already parked. She was looking forward to seeing him.
They went through the back door, thankful to be in the warmth and out of the cold. It felt good, and she felt good, and Brooke found herself actually smiling. She called for her dad and he met them in the kitchen and smiled.
“What’s gotten you so happy?” she asked him as both her and her mother pulled out their clothes and started to admire them.
“I think I found something that will make you happy,” he said, his golden eyes twinkling. Brooke eyed him carefully. “I found you a job, if you want it.”
“Doing what?” she asked. She was thankful that her dad was looking for her – but she didn’t want to just take any regular old job. She wanted to teach again. She wanted to help others.
“Teaching, of course.”
“What? I’ve looked everywhere.”
“Well, you didn’t look at the fire department.”
“What?” she repeated, dumbfounded. The fire department? That didn’t make any sense.
“We have a new set of recruits and they need to be taught. The higher ups think someone that’s a little less – golden in the eyes – would bring new blood into the department.”
“Dad, I don’t know the first thing about… any of that.”
“You don’t have to, honey. You just have to teach it.”
“You did good back there, Carver,” McCready said. They were back at the fire department.
“He disobeyed a direct order!” Haley yelled. “You told him not to do anything! And what does he do? He gets involved with that guy and then he was talking to that little girl! He’s not qualified to do any of that. We could face a lawsuit!”
“And you always do what you’re told, Haley?”
“I do!”
“Then get the hell out of here!” McCready yelled. Haley looked like he wanted to argue but knew he’d caught himself in a position he couldn’t get out of. With a glare, he left the office.
Sam sat there in front of McCready’s desk, unsure of what to do. The day had been a complete whirlwind of emotion and activity. Sam felt physically and mentally drained from it.
They had saved the woman. Or rather, the other men had – Sam had sat back and assured the woman’s daughter that everything would be okay. At times, he wasn’t sure if he was lying to her – but she had pulled through and they’d received word that she was going to make a full recovery.
He hadn’t been sure how long they were gone from the fire department. It had been most of the day, it had seemed. And when they’d gotten back things hadn’t improved any.
Sharp had been there and he’d brought some bad news. Sam hadn’t been in the room with McCready and Peterson while they’d talked to him, but everyone else could hear them yelling inside of McCready’s office. The mood had been more than somber outside of it, too. Even the rest of the men weren’t making the rest of the recruits – Sam and the other three were allowed to relax – do much work. Tension was high in the air.
Now, it was just McCready, Peterson, and Sam sitting in the room. McCready’s mood was stormy, though he wasn’t above giving Sam a compliment.
After the door had closed behind Haley, McCready was back to business. “But I have to ask. Is this something we’re going to see out of you? You did disobey a direct order to stay out of the way and just observe. Haley’s right – though you did well.”
“I’m getting mixed signals here, Sarge,” Sam said. “I couldn’t just let that poor girl sit there and watch if her mother was going to live or die. Her dad was being handcuffed not 10 feet from her. I couldn’t just stand around and let her suffer. I wasn’t.”
Bear Heat: BBW Fireman Bear Shifter Romance (Firefighter Bears Book 1) Page 5
