817 Fireman Ln. (Cherry Falls)

I pocket my phone. She still has no idea. Nothing is going to happen to me. Absolutely fucking nothing is going to come between Ava and me.

Ava

Being on this end sucks. I’ve always worried about my dad and my brothers for years, but this feels different. I all but run to my kitchen and grab the scanner to listen to it. I listen for a few minutes and discover that there’s a debris fire out at the Ranch Lands.

My heart is racing when I start to think of all the possibilities. Debris fires are sometimes hard to deal with. There are so many things that can change the pattern of the fire. I turn the news on and listen for the weather. The weather man talks about the lack of recent rain and how windy it is tonight. My heart drops again.

When Kent was talking to me the other day about how he’d worry about me on a call, I instantly got defensive. But now I get it, I understand. Kent is very capable and has been doing this for years, but that doesn’t mean anything. The future is unknown and can change in an instant.

Is this what it’s going to be like every time he goes on a call?

I walk outside with the scanner in my hand. I look to the west toward the Ranch Lands, but of course I don’t see anything. How can I sit here all night and not be there?

I pull my phone out and text the chief. I hear you have a debris fire. You need more hands?

Technically, I could help with this fire, but if I do, it will make tomorrow night’s shift short. But if I’m needed, I’ll do it. The chief texts back. We got it under control. See you tomorrow, Catlett.

I take a deep breath and decide I can’t sit here and worry all night. I try to keep myself busy by cleaning the house, doing laundry, fixing dinner. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t keep my mind off Kent. I can’t text him. I need him to focus on what he’s doing, and I don’t want to be a distraction.

When I’ve done all I can at the house, I curl up under the blanket on my bed and listen to the staticky scanner. It’s hours later, and thankfully, they’ve gotten the blaze under control. I fall asleep early in the morning wondering if it’s always going to be like this.

8

Kent

Meet me at the Fountain at 4:30.

I look at my phone again. I sent Ava the text this morning and she read it, but she hasn’t responded. Not until now.

Okay is her only response. I try not to read too much into it.

I had to pull some strings to get off thirty minutes early. And I had to promise I’d be just down the block until the end of my shift, but it’s totally worth it. This may not be how I imagined our first date, but I’ll take what I can get.

At exactly four-thirty, I’m sitting on a blanket at the Fountain. I have a basket of food spread out, and I stand up when I see Ava walking toward me. She must have parked at the station and walked over.

“Hey!” she says with a huge smile on her face. “What is this?”

I pull her into my arms and kiss her. I’ve missed her, and I told myself I wasn’t going to paw at her, but obviously I can’t keep my hands off her.

She pulls away with a giggle. “Are we supposed to be doing this in uniform?”

I raise my eyebrows. “You can take yours off. I won’t complain.”

“Har, har.” She brushes her hand across my brow and searches my face. “Are you okay? I heard it was a doozy with the wind and everything.”

I grab her hand and pull her back to the blanket. “Oh yeah, how’d you hear that?”

She blushes. “The scanner.”

I notice the dark smudges under her eyes. “Did you stay up half the night listening to the scanner?”

She nods almost reluctantly, like she doesn’t want to admit that she did just that. “Were you worried about me?”

“I was.”

I take a deep breath, and my chest hurts like it has a weight on it or something. “I’ll be the same tonight.”

She squeezes my hand. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will, but I’m still going to worry.”

She wants to say something. She opens her mouth but closes it quickly. “What is it?”

She shakes her head and looks around. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

“I’ve been thinking about our first date, and I wish we could have at least gone to a restaurant, or at the very least been out of uniform... but I didn’t want to wait.”

I hand her a sandwich. I really need to thank Caroline Park at Virgin’s Diner. She put together a really good spread and on short notice. She even had it delivered and set up for me.