One Bride for Three Firemen

“Am I?” she muses.

Trigger looks confused. “Isn’t that what we are talking about?”

She sighs apologetically and cocks her head. “I’m sorry, I’m just making a bad joke,” she says. “The truth is, I’m looking for a job. Or looking for an apartment? Or both?”

“I still don’t get it,” Trigger admits.

“I sort of got fired from my job,” she murmurs, clearly embarrassed. “And I sort of can’t afford my apartment now. I sort of… Well, I am sort of screwed.”

“Wait, what?” Stephan asks as he takes a seat and leans forward on his elbows on the wooden surface. “What are you talking about? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m telling you now, I guess,” she shrugs.

“Well, frankly, I don’t think you should be in that apartment either,” Stephan says. “I don’t like your landlord. He seems like kind of a jerk.”

“Yeah, he is kind of a jerk,” she nods. “When we were dating—”

“You were dating?” Trigger interrupts, sounding hurt. “That guy? You dated him?”

She makes a face. “Well, yes? Not recently, but…”

“You lived with him?” Trigger continues, incredulous.

Olivia reaches out across the table and touches his fingers with her fingertips. It’s sweet how she cares about his feelings. It’s also sweet the way he is so obvious about sharing them.

“I didn’t live with him,” she explains quickly. “I just lived in the same building. Which he owns. Okay, yes, it’s definitely not a great situation.”

“Must have made it uncomfortable to date other guys,” I muse.

She shrugs one shoulder. “I didn’t date other guys,” she explains. “We dated for a while, then we didn’t date for an even longer while. But it seemed kind of weird to have that. I always got the feeling he was keeping an eye on me, you know?”

“That’s weird. I told you I didn’t like that guy,” Trigger nods.

She narrows her eyes, but keeps a smile on her face. “Okay, so you guys aren’t going to like anyone? Is that it? How am I going to find a job if you are going to be interviewing everybody I meet? Do I need to stick to women-only establishments? Is that what it will take?”

“That’s okay by me,” Stephan shrugs.

“You should work here,” Trigger adds.

A silence falls over the table. Trigger picks up a piece of strudel and pops it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

“Wait, what?” she says softly. “What are you talking about?”

“You could cook and stuff,” he explains simply. “Like, but you would have to live here.”

“Really?”

I raise a hand in warning. “Guys… the budget? I would have to check.”

Stephan gives me a challenging stare. “We never filled that position,” he reminds me.

He’s right. About ten months ago, there was a vacant position to have an extra staff person here in the station, kind of an office manager for a firehouse. They were supposed to cook, clean… But then the guy who filled the job, Mario, got a better job as head chef downtown. Which was disappointing, because Mario was an amazing cook. He could make anything. It was nice, kind of like having someone who cares about you around. Kind of like a girlfriend.

But not like a girlfriend. Not like a girl.

After Mario left, the position stayed open, then we kind of forgot about it. Actually, that bedroom is being used as storage right now.

Trigger may be onto something.

“It would have to be up to Bubba,” I caution them.

“Who’s Bubba?” Olivia asks.

“He’s the chief. Nearing retirement,” I explain.

“He said he’s leaving,” Trigger announces.

“What?” Stephan asks.

“What?” I repeat stupidly. “What are you talking about? How do you know that?”

Trigger takes another huge mouthful of strudel and chews it, his face a mask of satisfaction. “He told me the other morning. He says it’s time. He wants to go to Florida. I thought he told you?”

“No, he didn’t tell me…” I reply, then remember. “Oh. I guess he did tell me. But I thought he just meant he was going on a vacation. Like fishing or something like that. Seemed weird to go there on vacation this time of year. Retirement in Florida makes more sense.”

Trigger shrugs innocently. “Okay. Well, now you know. The chief is retiring to go to Florida.”

“Okay, so…” Olivia asks. “Let’s talk about this. Are you serious?”

“Are you serious?” Stephan challenges her.

“It’s definitely a lot to think about,” I caution, unable to let them all run amok with the idea.

Even though I said it’s a lot to think about, I can barely think about it. I can’t get my head around it. We just met, and here she is. Sliding right into the middle of us. Is this crazy?

Or, is it brilliant?

“Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” I ask. “You can’t work in a firehouse if you have ever been convicted of a felony.

She purses her lips together thoughtfully and stares at the ceiling. “Hmmmmmm, let me think about that. Does the stuff we did yesterday count as a felony?”