Into the Fire (First Responders 3)

“There’s a two-year vet-tech course in Truro at the college. Or I could go to Halifax for a bit and take a certified grooming course. I’ve got my canine and feline first aid and behavioural courses, so I could look into running a doggy daycare and kennel. But the last two mean I’d have to have enough cash to start up my own business…”

“A lot to think about.”

“Yeah.”

She scraped the last of the crisp off her plate and licked off the fork. “Okay, now I know why you got both. I didn’t have lunch and that pie smells amazing.”

There wasn’t much left of his piece, but he sliced some off with the edge of his fork and held it up. “Try some,” he said, holding it out.

She leaned forward, took the fork between her lips and sucked the custard off the tines. “Oh, it is good,” she said, closing her eyes. “I should have listened to my mother. She said to get the pie.”

She opened her eyes to find him watching her the same way he had the other night, just before he kissed her. But he wouldn’t do that here, not in the middle of a community event. Instead, he stayed put, just watching her in a way that made her feel all jumped up and tall and perhaps even pretty.

And then snippets of the conversation behind them hit her ears.

“The fire must have scared her somethin’ awful, Judy. Any word of what’s happening with the shelter?”

There was a pause and then she heard her mother’s answering voice. “We rather hope she’ll give it up. Ally’s got a good heart, all right, but it doesn’t put food on the table. It wasn’t really a life plan, Mary.”

Her father’s voice chimed in, “It lasted longer than we expected. Ally’s never been a long-term planner. Not that the shelter wasn’t a good thing, but it’s time she got her head out of the clouds and applied herself to something real. We had such high hopes, you know…”

Did they not realize that she was standing just a few feet away, or that their voices carried above the general din of the crowd? Tears of hurt and humiliation sprang to Ally’s eyes. She had always known they’d felt that way and words had been said at home but never in public. She felt like a ten-year-old child who’d disappointed her parents with a bad report card.

Chris had straightened his shoulders—he’d heard it too. And he turned around to face her parents, making Ally’s heart beat double time. Oh God, the last thing she needed was a scene.

Chris, when he was full height, was a rather impressive specimen, taller than her father by a good three inches and a solid wall of muscle. In a quiet but firm voice, he stated, “You should both be proud of Ally. She worked hard and not for personal gain but to help others. A lot of people could learn something from her.”

Ally put her hand on Chris’s arm. Oh, she appreciated what he was trying to do but now wasn’t the time or the place. “Chris,” she said quietly.

But Ernie Gallant looked at Chris and shrugged. “All I’m saying is it’s not a long-term plan. It’s time she got into the real world with a real job.”

She could see a muscle in Chris’s jaw ticking. “Dad, I—”

But Chris interrupted. “Running that shelter meant that she had all the work of running a small business without the remuneration for it. Who secured the funding? Who found the location and bought the equipment? Ally did the day-to-day running of it, including inventory, finding foster and adoptive homes, and supervising volunteers. If that’s not a real job, I don’t know what is.” He leveled his gaze on the group. “Perhaps I don’t have a real job because I’m part of a volunteer fire department. A volunteer department, I might add, who happened to save your daughter’s life.”

There was stunned silence.

Ernie’s face turned scarlet and her mother put her fingers on his wrist to keep him from speaking out. “This is also the same girl who gave you back your engagement ring, or have you forgotten?” Ally’s mother asked quietly.

Ally’s face burned. Why on earth would her mother bring that up? Did they think that everything she’d ever done was such a screw up?

“Of course I haven’t forgotten. But we were both to blame. I can hardly hate her for not wanting to rush into a decision that would change her entire life. I didn’t respect her wishes then, and I didn’t trust her when I should have. That was my mistake. We all should have believed in her more.”

Did he really mean that? All of it?

She tightened her fingers on his arm, felt the faces of her parents and the rest of the group staring at her. She had no idea what to say, but with Chris beside her she gathered strength. “No decision’s been made about the shelter yet,” she said, willing her voice to come out stronger than she felt. “I’m looking into a number of options. My parents are right, financially it’s not feasible.” She looked up at Chris. “But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.”

Their gazes held for several seconds until someone dropped a spoon and the clatter broke the spell.

“You about ready to go?” he said it quietl

y, made it sound like the plan all along was for her to go with him.

She nodded. “I’m ready.”

She looked at her parents’ shocked faces and felt nerves bubble inside her tummy. This felt like teenage rebellion about ten years behind schedule, but they couldn’t have it both ways. If they wanted her more independent, they’d have to accept her making her own decisions more often. “Chris’ll bring me home later,” she informed them. “Have a good afternoon.”

She was shaking now, stunned by the surprise confrontation. On one hand, she wished Chris had just let it go. On the other, it had been so amazing to hear him stand up in defense of her. Had he truly meant all that about respect and trust and believing in her? Because no one ever had before.