America's Bravest (57 page)

Cal stalked into the firehouse the next
morning ready to spit nails. Fuck! What did that woman want? He
found the Rescue Squad sitting around the outdoor picnic table,
each holding a sheet of paper. They were grim faced, despite the
warm sunshine and slight breeze, so he knew they’d all read the
blog.

“Good morning,” he said for lack of something
else to say.

“It should have been.” He expected the worst
from Felicia and could tell by her words and the sour expression on
her face that he was going to get it. Her guy, Ryan O’Malley, in
his police uniform, reached over and put his hand on her
shoulder.

Exhausted already, Cal dropped down into a
director’s chair that was at the head of the table. He hadn’t slept
much last night. “I don’t know what to say. The blog isn’t what I
thought it would be.”

“Damning with faint praise,” Ryan offered.
When everyone blanked, he added, “It’s from an English poem.”

Brody rolled his eyes at his brother. “I
suppose you know who wrote it.”

“Alexander Pope.” He shrugged. “So I like
poetry.”

Ignoring the byplay, Gabe said,
“I’d
like to be given credit where credit is due.” As captain, he was
trying to keep it together, but Cal could tell he was furious.
“What more could she expect from us?” He directed his question to
Cal.

“My thoughts exactly. Saves, excitement,
enthusiasm and the unselfishness of the night shift.” He tried to
battle back his anger but it was hard. “Jesus.”

“She didn’t even balk at the housework,” Tony
put in. He seemed puzzled by another person’s selfishness.

Sydney, who’d gotten up to get the coffee
carafe from inside, set a mug in front of the chief and filled it.
“I don’t think it’s too bad.” She spoke as she refreshed the
others’ morning brew.

“That’s because your head’s so in clouds with
Delinsky that you can’t see straight.” Brody’s tone was teasing but
there was an edge to it. Must be true love only went so far.

Sydney didn’t have a retort.

“I’m not sure how to handle this,” Cal told
them honestly. “Maybe you were right, Licia, about letting her into
the inner sanctum. That she’d twist things. Hell, if she’ll do this
on a good day…”

Felicia said, “I didn’t want to be right.”
She dragged her laptop in front of her and tapped a few keys.
“There are some comments. Holy shit. A lot.”

“Read us some.” Cal thought maybe there would
be community support, at least.

“The group you spent the day with sounds
great. How come your blog isn’t?’”

“Well, that helps.” This from Gabe.

Felicia read on.
“‘I wonder what it will
take for you to like these guys. They’re our heroes.’”

“Somebody we know write these?” Tony
asked.

Felicia scanned the entries. “No they’re
signed by legal residents of Hidden Cove but not family.”

Leaning forward, Brody peered over her
shoulder. “Scroll down. Emma said she was going to write
something.”

Brows furrowed, Felicia scrolled. Finally she
said, “Here it is.” A smile.
“‘Thank you so much your effusive
praise of our local firefighters. It’s appropriate to celebrate
that the life of a car accident victim was spared, a child was
rescued from a fire and four people were pulled from a cave-in at a
local restaurant. Or didn’t you know that?’”

Felicia laughed out loud. “Good for her.
She’s so sweet I didn’t know she had sarcasm in her.”

“Easy for you to say.” But Brody’s grin was a
mile wide. “You don’t live with her.”

Ryan scowled. “They were sorority sisters.
I’m surprised Emma would attack her.”

“She knows where her loyalties lie.” Brody’s
chest practically puffed out.

Sighing, Tony sat back. “I think the best
thing to do is ignore her lukewarm review.”

“I don’t.” This from Brody. “I’d call her on
it.”

Gabe shook his head. “We’d better decide how
we’re going to handle this before tomorrow, when she comes
again.”

Cal folded his arms over his chest. “I think
we need to object. But I’ll voice our displeasure. The rest of you
act like you don’t hate her guts.” He lifted his chin to conceal
his disappointment. “I’ll take care of it now.”

“Wait a second, chief.” Gabe dashed inside
and brought out the Joke Jar. “We need a pick-me-up.”

A lot of grumbling.

“I don’t want to.”

“It won’t help.”

“Not now!”

“Don’t be such crybabies,” Gabe said. “We’ll
only do one.” He held the jar out to Cal. “Pick it, Cal.”

“No thanks, it’ll be another chief joke.”

Brody winked at Sydney. “We’ll wait to get a
blonde one.”

Rolling his eyes, Cal grabbed a slip of paper
and handed it to Gabe. It took three tries to get the female one.
He read:

“A fire broke out in a six-storey apartment
building last week in a nearby town. A blonde, a redhead and a
brunette escaped the flames by climbing up onto the roof. When the
fire department arrived, they got out a blanket, held it up and the
Chief called to the brunette to jump into the blanket.

“The brunette jumped. As she was falling, the
firefighters pulled the blanket away and she landed on the street
like a brick. The firefighters then held the blanket back up, and
the chief told the redhead to jump. ‘No way! I saw what you did to
my friend,’ exclaimed the redhead.

“‘I am sorry,’ said the chief. ‘My wife was a
brunette and she divorced me. I don’t like brunettes. We have no
problems with redheads. ‘Jump it’s your only chance.’ So the
redhead jumped. On the way down, the firefighters pulled the
blanket away and she hit the pavement like a tomato! The
firefighters again held up the blanket and the chief told the
blonde to jump. The fire was getting worse and her only chance of
survival was to get off the roof.

“‘No I am not jumping. I saw what you did to
my two friends.’

“‘I’m sorry,’ said the Chief, ‘I explained
what happened to the brunette and when the redhead jumped, we were
a little distracted. It will not happen again. Just jump!’

“The blonde thought for a moment. ‘Okay, I’ll
jump, but first I want you to lay the blanket on the ground, back
away, and then I’ll jump into it.’”

Everybody laughed and the sound rang out in
the sober morning.

“You got the chief in there, after all.” Cal
stood and said good-bye. But he was still smiling when he reached
his office. His cell phone rang, so he answered, hoping it was
Parker Allen. It wasn’t.

“Hey buddy, it’s Max.”

Leafing through the stack of pink phone
messages left on his desk, Cal said to his friend, “How are
you?”

“I’m having breakfast at The Hidden Cove
Diner and thought you’d like to know your nemesis just walked in.
Looks as if she’s here to stay. She’s got her computer. You might
want to head over here and, maybe, um, clear the air about the
bloody blog she published this morning. Syd said the day went a lot
better than that.”

“Hmm. Maybe I will. You staying?”

“I can. Come and pretend to have breakfast
with me.”

“Will do.” Cal left his office in a hurry.
Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he jumped into his
fire department Jeep and headed out of the parking lot.

oOo

Dressed cheerfully in a summer skirt and
matching yellow top, Parker had come to The Hidden Cove Diner for
some coffee and to work on her computer because she couldn’t stand
her own company. For the first time, she felt like she’d been
unfair to the firefighters and her lack of integrity bothered her.
Last night, she’d dreamed about a visit from the chief. Her hand
went to her mouth, remembering…

There was pounding on her door. She awoke
and was afraid. Daddy? No wait, her father was dead. She wasn’t
fifteen. She was thirty-five and an accomplished woman. Flinging
off the covers, she didn’t bother with a robe, forgetting about the
plunging neckline of her gown. She walked to the front door,
checked the peephole and saw the battalion chief standing on the
porch. How did he know where she lived? She opened the door. He was
dressed in jeans and an HCFD polo shirt that outlined all his
muscles. “I need to talk to you.” His gaze dropped to her chest. He
swallowed hard. Ah, this was good.

“You sure you want to talk,
Cal?”

Suddenly, he grabbed her waist and drew
him to her. She was filled with his scent. His arms banded around
her. And he took her mouth.

She should have been afraid, but she
wasn’t. She was aroused…

“Fancy meeting you here.”

The voice drew her out of the erotic memory
and Parker blinked hard. Hell, what had she done, conjure him?
“Good morning, Chief.”

“I’d like to talk to you. I was, um, meeting
my friend over there”—she followed the direction of his hand—“and
saw you when I came in. Let me speak to him first.” He walked away,
not waiting for an answer. As he talked to Max Delinsky, she noted
the breadth of his shoulders in his crisp white shirt, his
confident stride, the way his head tilted. And then he was back,
seated across from her, taking up her personal space. She wanted to
shrink in his presence. Was it because he was so big and male, with
his arms crossed over his chest, or because she’d betrayed him? No,
no, she hadn’t done that. But she hadn’t stayed true to herself,
either.

The waitress showed up and he ordered coffee.
His green gaze was more piercing today, but she held it. Waited for
him to speak. He finally said, “I saw the blog. I have to say I was
disappointed.” His voice caught a bit.

“It’s the way I saw the day.”

“Don’t lie to me, Parker.” That was the first
time he hadn’t called her Ms. Allen. Or worse, probably.

She swallowed hard.

He held her gaze.

“What
did
you expect, Chief?”

“Praise where praise was due. Criticism when
it wasn’t. Your bias was hard for my crew. Next time, they’ll all
be looking over their shoulders.”

She hadn’t thought about that.

“Have you read the comments?”

“Yes.”

“Ninety percent of your readers see right
through you.”

“Through me?”

“That you’re not going to give us a fair
shot.”

“Would you like to cancel my visits to the
firehouse?”

“Hell, no. We aren’t cowards. Even if you
are.” He stood then and threw a twenty on the table. “Breakfast is
on me.”

Unable to watch him walk away this time,
Parker sat staring at the money. Her eyes stung. She told herself
her reaction came from the fact that he’d called her a coward,
something she vowed she’d never be again, not after all she’d been
through. But that wasn’t it exactly.

There had been hurt in Cal Erikson’s
beautiful green eyes and
his
reaction bothered her. A
lot!

oOo

It was a rotten thing to do to her. Cal knew
that in his heart. But when he’d gotten a call from Jeb Caruso, the
BC in charge of the Academy, who said that there was a screw-up in
scheduling and they needed a crew to refresh Rapid Intervention
Training, which his group hadn’t done recently, Cal said yes
immediately. He believed the training was something Parker Allen
should experience. For someone who’d technically won the first
round, she’d seemed incredibly vulnerable at the diner yesterday.
The plot hadn’t hatched in his mind until after he saw her again
today, face impassive, wearing black and white, ignoring him.

She sat all morning listening to Ian Woodward
give the details of what to do when a firefighter was trapped.
Mayday calls were always the worst. Allen had been quiet and edgy
the whole two hours of prep time. Now, they were out at the
training tower, where a dummy would be rescued by the crew.

Cal insisted she go inside, too, so they
dressed her up in firefighter gear first, and O’Malley had even put
the air tank and mask on her, so she was totally weighted down.
Standing before him looking like a spaceman, she tried to maneuver.
“Hell, I can barely move.”

“That’s why we have daily exercise. I think
you called it
personal workouts
on company time, but we
need to be in top shape to do our job.” Reaching over, he removed
the headgear. He snagged her hair, had to untangle it and noticed
how thick and luscious it was. “Go in without this.”

“No, I want to experience what they do.”

“My decision. It’s too much for you. You can
keep the turnout coat, pants and boots on, but unbutton the coat.
It’ll be hot in there.” Admitting he shouldn’t be sending her in,
especially alone, chivalry got the better of him. “I could take you
inside.”

She shook her head, sending skeins of that
hair around her shoulders and down her back. “No way. All I have to
do is find them, right?”

“It’s not that easy. You’ll be operating
blind. The house is filled with mist, but it’s thick and opaque.
That’s why this training is so demanding. Even seasoned
firefighters have trouble rescuing a dummy when it’s been pinned
down.”

“You pinned it down?”

“Of course. They need experience in the worst
scenarios. Ready?”

“Yes, I am.” She arched a brow. “I’m going to
do this, Chief. And do it well.”

Not a chance,
he thought, but said,
“I hope so.” He handed her a radio. “Call
Mayday
if you
get disoriented.”

“I won’t.”

“Take it,” he barked, startling her, but she
did as he instructed. He watched her disappear into the first floor
of the training tower and glanced at his watch. He’d bet on five
minutes tops before he got the Mayday.

Across the line, he heard his team
inside.

“Jesus, where’s the wire on this side?”

“Who’s got the cutters?”

“One’s free.”

“Oops. I feel blood.”

“Damn it. There’s more wires.”