4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Andy

I arrived at the fire station at 7:15 on Tuesday morning. I always tried to be early, but most of the guys did too, so it was no surprise to see that all of A shift was already here.

"Hey, Probie!" Ford called. "Don't forget, it's your turn to cook."

"I didn't forget. I'm just not sure who makes the grocery run when I'm the one cooking." As the newest member of the crew, it was usually my job to make any store runs. At least that was the case now that Keith was on light duty. He'd sustained an injury when a serial arsonist had rigged a building, causing him to fall through the floor. When he was on shift, he did all the cooking, and he insisted on doing the shopping as well, taking his best friend Robert with him. I couldn't wait until he was back, and not just because he was an excellent cook. He was also an excellent firefighter.

"Who does the store run? Same as always, you do, Probie." He laughed. "But it's your lucky day. The chief had something he had to do, so he can't fill in for Keith this shift, which means we have a floater." He motioned towards the back of the bay where one of the biggest men I've ever seen in my life stood. "You can take him with you."

"Seriously, him?" The last thing I wanted to do was get off on the wrong foot with Goliath back there.

"Yeah, seriously. He's new to the department, and he's just waiting for a full-time position to open up."

"He's new? He looks like he was born in turn-out gear."

Ford chuckled. "From what I understand, you're probably not too far off. He spent ten years in the Navy, and that's where he got his training. He grew up in Vesper, so when he got out of the service, he came home and joined Vesper FD. As soon as a spot opens up, he'll be here full-time."

"Here at the Sixty-nine?"

"That's what he's hoping for. I don't think anything will open up on A shift anytime soon, but I hear that Mario Medina might be looking to retire, so there could be a spot opening up on B shift before long."

"That's cool. But still, he doesn't look like the kind of guy who would appreciate being bossed around by a probie, even if technically he is one himself."

Ford rolled his eyes. "Then don't tell him. Ask him if he wants to go."

"I guess I could do it that way."

The chief walked through and motioned for us to follow him to the bay. Barring an early morning call, our shift always started with a morning meeting where the chief would brief us on what took place on the previous shift and any special assignments for the day.

Chief Sheridan introduced Jeremiah, told us about the multi-car accident D shift had worked the night before, and gave us our assignments for the day. He pointed out that Robert would be in charge while he was gone for the day, since he was the most senior firefighter on our shift.

The other shifts at the Sixty-nine all had a captain and a lieutenant, but A shift's hierarchy got disturbed when Samuel, the previous captain, became the station chief. But that was all before I came to work here.

Things had been a little crazy up here between Chief Sheridan being new at the job and Keith being injured. I was pretty sure that once things calmed down around here, Robert would become our captain, and either Keith or Kevin would be named Lieutenant. They were all three great guys, and I would be happy to work for any of them.

Once the morning meeting was complete, I made my way over to where Jeremiah was standing, talking with Robert and Ronda.

"Morning, Probie," Ronda said. "Did you have fun on your camping trip?"

"I did. I'm just about as bad at fishing as I expected to be, but I really enjoyed spending time in the kayak. Did anything interesting happen Saturday after the photo shoot?"

"Nothing worth mentioning," Kevin said. "Unless you count Ronda over here trying to set the park on fire grilling our burgers."

"I did not!" Ronda punched him on the arm. "Just for that, I'm never cooking for y'all again. As a matter of fact, next time it's my turn to cook at the station, I'm bringing stuff for sandwiches."

"May the gods save us from you having another turn at all. Hopefully, Keith will be back before we make it through the next rotation," Robert said.

"Like you can talk," Ronda said with a glare. "When it was your turn, you didn't even try. You just let Dell make us a big pot of her slow-cooker white chili."

"It only said I had to provide the meal, not that I had to cook it myself." He winked at her, and we all laughed.

"Speaking of the food rotation, I need to make that store run before we get to work on the day's chores." I looked at Jeremiah. "Do you want to go with me?"

He smiled and shrugged. "I don't see why not."

He followed me out to my car and got buckled in.

"So, what are we eating tonight?" he asked.

"I don't know. I had this idea that I would make a few quiches and a big salad, but I don't know if they would really like that back at the station. So maybe I'll just make spaghetti instead?" I made that last part sound like a question because I really wasn't sure.

Jeremiah scoffed. "Seems to me if you're doing the cooking, they can eat whatever you make."

I looked over and grinned. "You know what? You're right. Quiche it is."

"Crust or no crust?" he asked, making it sound like a challenge. I wasn't sure exactly which answer was the correct one.

"Without crust," I said. "We'll save all those extra calories for dessert."

"Dessert? What's for dessert?"

"I was thinking ice cream sundaes. It's pretty hot, and everybody can fix theirs however they want. Besides, I'll already have to bake the quiches. No need to keep the oven on all day."

I pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store, and we grabbed a cart. We hit the produce area first, and I put in some spring greens for the salad.

"Maybe I should get some fresh fruit in case anyone wants any for dessert, either on their sundae or in place of." I added a container of strawberries to the cart.

Jeremiah chuckled beside me. "Station Sixty-nine has it going on. My last assignment was on the other side of town, and we had to fend for ourselves."

I looked at him, surprised. "Really? I didn't know that. Somebody cooks on every shift at Station Sixty-nine. As a matter of fact, half the time, our lunch is leftovers from the shift before."

We continued on through the store while we talked.

"I heard a rumor there might be a spot opening up on one of the shifts at Sixty-nine. I'm really hoping that's true and that it works out for me to get that spot. Hearing there was a station that was so inclusive made me feel a lot better about coming back home. The idea of moving back here was a little scary. I'm not gonna lie."

"Why did you?"

"This is where my family is. I've been gone for ten years. My grandma isn't getting any younger."

"You're lucky. All I have left is my brother. Our parents passed away a few years ago. My brother's great, though. He's why I moved here. I'm lucky to have him."

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents, but I'm glad you have your brother. Not everybody is lucky enough to have a family that supports them. I saw it a lot in the military. Guys and girls joined up as a way to get away from their families. That wasn't my reason. My parents were nothing but supportive when I came out."

I tried not to show my surprise, but I'd really pegged him as straight. "So, why did you join the Navy then?" I asked.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I played football in high school, and I was pretty good for a small town in West Texas, but I wasn't good enough for a scholarship or anything, so going to college without my parents' help wasn't an option. I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself, so I signed up."

I pushed our cart to the self-checkout and started scanning groceries. "Makes sense to me. It's kind of ridiculous the way they expect us to know what we want to do with the rest of our lives when we're eighteen or nineteen. I went to college for three years, and I was so sure what I wanted." I laughed.

"Let me guess. It wasn't firefighting."

"Not even close. If you'd told me then I'd be a firefighter, I'd have thought you were insane, but here I am."

"I hear you. The military gave me a chance to grow up and figure out what I wanted to do with myself. I just hope that spot opens up soon. Not all the stations here in town are anywhere near as welcoming as Station Sixty-nine."

"I got lucky. This is my first station, so I haven't had to deal with any of that. The former chief? He was gone before my time, but he made sure that the Sixty-nine was one of the most welcoming, diverse, and inclusive stations around."

"It's so great that you have a place you can work that accepts you as you are."

"It is. That was actually the whole point when the former chief did it. His son, Keith, is one of our firefighters. He's the one you're filling in for today."

"Oh yeah, I heard all about that. It was a scary incident."

"It was, but he's doing fine. He should be back at work in the next few weeks. Although you'll probably meet him later today. He's doing some community relations work until he gets off light duty. He usually comes in early, but he's doing story time at the local library where his boyfriend works this morning."

"Ah, I see. He created a safe space for his son."

"One hundred percent, and we're all grateful for it."

We loaded all the groceries into the car and started back to the station.