CHAPTER 7

After nearly a week of no activity, walking into the fire station felt exhilarating. And the welcome from Rafe’s firefighter brothers and sisters made his heart swell. It felt like coming home again. These people were part of his family. He’d missed them.

Rafe never took his job for granted. He knew what it took to be a firefighter. He also knew the risks. His dad had taught him that from an early age, when he came to live with the Donovans. After he came off shift, Dad would tell him stories about what had gone down. His father had never shied away from honesty, and when they asked questions about the fires, he’d always been honest with them.

After all, Rafe and his brothers had lived through one. He figured that’s probably why they had all joined the squad. Not only surviving a fire but being rescued by an amazing man.

Being lucky enough to be adopted into that world was something Rafe was incredibly grateful for, especially considering where he’d come from.

He walked down the hall and stopped as he saw Captain Kendall Mathias. The captain shook his hand.

“Welcome back,” Captain Mathias said.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Got your release?”

“Yes, sir.” He handed the paperwork to the captain.

“You took a hell of a hit from that backdraft. Glad your injury wasn’t more serious.”

“Me, too.”

“Don’t let it happen again. Good firefighters like you are hard to come by.”

It was a warm compliment, shrouded in an admonishment. But Rafe took it for what it was—his gruff captain’s welcome back.

“I’ll be more careful in the future, sir.”

Captain Mathias nodded and disappeared down the hall. His captain was a man of few words, but Rafe respected him. He got the job done and wasn’t afraid to put himself on the front lines with his team.

He found the rest of the squad in the kitchen. With the welcome he got, he felt like he’d been gone for months, instead of just a couple of shifts. They had even held breakfast so they could all eat together.

“Glad you didn’t die,” Tommy Rodriguez said, winking at him.

“He’s just glad you took the blast instead of him since you were in front of him,” Zep Richards said.

Rafe laughed and scooped the egg-and-ham casserole onto his plate. “Hey, that’s what a firefighter brother does for another.”

“And maybe next time you can get out of the way before the door blows up in your face.” Ginger Davidson grinned.

“That would mean he’d have to use his brain,” Kal said. “We already know he doesn’t have one.”

“And what little brains he did have leaked out when he got conked on the head,” Mitchell Hendricks said.

“Very funny. Shouldn’t you be shoveling food in your mouths so you can all shut up?”

Fortunately, the food was more important than talking shit about him, though it was natural to give an injured firefighter a hard time. Rafe knew it meant they cared about him. And as he looked around the table, he realized how much he cared about them, too. These people all had his back, no matter what.

That meant a lot.

“So, what did you do with all that time off, Rafe?” Callie Vassar asked. “Lie in the sun and work on your tan?”

“He probably took a lot of naps,” Rodriguez said. “You know how Rafe is. We always catch him napping around here.”

The reprieve didn’t last long. “Not much, since I was on activity restriction. I’m looking forward to a hard workout today.”

“You’ll get it,” Jackson said. “Truck needs washing, and there’s a knocking sound in Ladder 6’s engine. See if you can figure out what the problem is.”

Everyone knew Rafe was the mechanic of the fire station. If any of the rigs had a problem, they’d call on him first rather than sending it out for service.

“I’ll get right on it. As soon as I eat a second helping of this breakfast casserole.”

“He’s back to normal,” Ginger said, grinning.

“Yeah, normal, all right,” Kal said. “Eating all the food.”

Rafe ignored them and finished breakfast, then moved the Ladder 6 truck into the mechanic’s bay where all the diagnostic and repair equipment was located. It didn’t take him long to figure out the problem in the timing system. He adjusted it and then drove the truck outside to wash it.

It felt good to be doing something again. He liked staying active, and five days of doing nothing had been frustrating. Being able to use his muscles again felt like he’d received a second chance at life.

He knew that the backdraft at the house could have gone much worse. He’d been lucky to end up with only a concussion.

He got up on a ladder to scrub the top of Engine 6.

“You could have yelled for someone to come in and help you.”

He turned around to see his brother Kal staring up at him.

“I’m okay.”

Kal grabbed a long-handled brush and a ladder, then appeared on the other side of the truck. “I know you’re okay. But I’ll still help you.”

Rafe cocked his head to the side. “You’ve gotta wash Ladder 6, don’t you?”

Kal grinned. “Yeah.”

“So now you’ll want me to help you do that.”

“Well, yeah. Brothers help brothers, don’t they?”

Rafe rolled his eyes, but he didn’t mind. He planned on washing the ladder truck anyway. Not that he was going to tell his brother that.

With the two of them working, they had both trucks washed and dried in no time. They cleaned the windows, then rolled the trucks back into their bays.

Rafe and Kal picked up all the towels and tossed them on top of the washing machine. They hosed out the shop and started sweeping out the water to dry it.

“So, I asked Carmen Lewis out to dinner.”

Kal stopped and stared at Rafe. “Did she say yes?”

“She did. She’s reluctant, though. I had to tell her it was a thank-you for bringing that casserole over the other day.”

“Maybe she doesn’t like you.”

Rafe shook his head. “Not possible. All women like me.”

Kal laughed. “In your mind, all women like you.”

“Whatever. Carmen likes me.”

Kal leaned on the broom handle. “And you like her.”

“Yeah, I do. She’s feisty and smart and beautiful. What’s not to like?”

“She’s also our next-door neighbor. If you start dating her and things go south, she’s still going to be our next-door neighbor. Have you given that any thought?”

He had thought about it. Too much. And he didn’t want to think about it again. “I’m not going to get into a relationship with her. We’re just going to dinner.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And anyway, I don’t hurt the women I date. I’m always honest with them, letting them know that we’re just going to have a good time, and I’m not looking for more. I’m pretty sure Carmen isn’t looking for anything more, either. I think we’ll be fine.”

Kal shrugged. “As long as you don’t screw things up with her and make her mad.”

“Have I ever done that with a woman?”

“Not that I know of. But then again, you’ve never dated a woman long enough to have what I would consider a relationship.”

He was about to respond to that with a denial, but he paused.

Was Kal right? He’d gone out with Kaylee for a month. And then there’d been Gina, but that had been only a few weeks. Maria had lasted six weeks, and she’d probably been his longest relationship. And she was a flight attendant, so she’d been gone for half of that time.

“Huh.”

Kal slanted a smug smile at him. “See? You’ve never had a long-term girlfriend.”

“I guess not. I don’t know why not. I like women.”

Kal swept the broom down to the end of the shop and out the door before turning to face Rafe. “Yeah, for short durations. Then you get bored. Or maybe they get bored with you.”

He frowned as he swept. “I am not boring.”

“Are the women you date boring?”

“No.”

Kal shrugged. “Then you must be the problem.”

“Fuck you.”

His brother laughed and grabbed Rafe’s broom, sliding both of their tools back in their spots on the wall in the workshop. “Maybe it’s time for some self-reflection.”

“Oh, this coming from a guy who also doesn’t do relationships?”

“We aren’t talking about me. Plus, I had a long-term girlfriend in high school. So at least I know I can have one. Can you say the same thing?”

He couldn’t, so he let the subject drop and went back into the fire station. They got a call right after that, so Rafe had to clear his head and concentrate on his job.

It felt great to be back in his rig again, to have his gear on, to hear the sirens roar, to know that he was healthy and capable of doing his job. The ride to the scene took about five minutes, and it was the best damn five minutes he’d ever had. The rush of adrenaline made him feel alive.

They pulled up in front of an older one-story. A middle-aged man came running toward them from the side of the house.

“It’s my wife. She was cleaning out the storage shed, and a shelf fell on her.”

Their EMTs had also been called to the scene, but Engine 6 was going into the shed first.

“What’s your wife’s name?” Jackson asked.

“Shelly.” The man was shaking. “I told her I was gonna get to cleaning it out, but she got mad and she went in to do it. I told her not to.”

Jackson grasped the man’s arm. “It’s okay. We’ll get her out.”

Jackson turned to them. “Rafe, you and Mitchell take lead. Ginger, see if you can get up on a ladder and shine some light into that shed.”

“Yes, sir.” Rafe never gave a second thought to taking orders from his older brother. At least, not on the job. Jackson had earned his lieutenant’s bars, and on scene, he was in charge.

The oversize shed was filled to bursting with junk piled so high it wasn’t a surprise that it had tumbled down on Shelly. Rafe had no idea how an actual person was in there. But then he saw a path off to the left, so he made his way in.

“Right behind you,” Mitchell said.

Rafe took careful steps. There were plastic boxes, cardboard, file cabinets and all kinds of things in his way. And the piles weren’t steady, so the last thing he wanted was stuff coming down on top of Mitchell and him. Then there’d be two more people to rescue.

“You hear anything?” Mitchell asked.

“No.”

But then Rafe thought he heard a moan. He raised his hand to halt Mitchell, hoping the quiet would let him hear it again.

He did. It was a soft moan, coming from the back of the shed.

“This way,” he said to Mitchell.

As they rounded the corner, Rafe bumped a tower with his shoulder and a couple of boxes came tumbling down on top of them. He braced himself for the impact, wincing at the weight. Fortunately, they were only cardboard boxes, so he was able to lift them up and stacked them to his left.

“You okay?” Mitchell asked, helping him readjust the pile.

“Yeah. How about you?”

“Fine.”

Rafe nodded. “Let’s keep moving.”

The moans were getting louder, and then they were blasted by a bright burst of light.

“Does this help?” Ginger asked, holding a flashlight.

“Better, thanks,” Mitchell said.

“More to the left, Ginger,” Rafe said.

The light moved to the left, which guided them to a woman on the floor. A sizable amount of debris had fallen on top of her. She had a cut on the side of her head, and she was in and out of consciousness.

“We found her,” Rafe radioed to his team. “She’s semiconscious. We’re going to free her from the debris.”

“Roger that,” Jackson said.

“Shelly,” Rafe said, “can you hear me?”

She blinked, then frowned. “Yes. My head hurts.”

Okay, at least she was coming around now. “We’re going to fix that, Shelly. You just stay still.”

They had to maneuver in a tight space and pull the debris off of her, including a damn heavy file cabinet. Fortunately, Rafe and Mitchell were able to lift it upright, freeing Shelly.

They checked her for broken bones but didn’t find any. They put a c-collar around her neck to stabilize her spine and strapped her on the portable stretcher, winding out the way they came in.

Since they now had Shelly between them, it was even more slow going. It was hot as fuck in the shed, too, with sweat pouring off them, so the sooner they got out of this hot box, the better.

This time, Rafe followed Mitchell. At least they had light and communication with their team outside.

And when they made it outside, Miguel and Adrienne took over, loading Shelly onto the stretcher and doing their assessment before putting her into the ambulance and taking her to the hospital.

Rafe finally exhaled, then headed to the truck, where cold water was waiting for him. He needed hydration in the worst way, so he guzzled it down.

“A little tight in there?” Jackson asked.

Rafe’s lips curved. “Good thing I’m not claustrophobic.”

Jackson slapped him on the back. “Good job. Go put up your gear and let’s head back.”

It had been crazy tight in there, but it had also felt good to be at work again.

But as he sat in the truck on the way back, he thought about his earlier conversation with Kal. He wondered what it was about him that made him pull back from women just as things were heating up.

Kal might be right. Maybe it was time for some self-reflection. Because he liked Carmen. And the last thing he wanted to do was screw anything up with her.

Even if it was just dinner.