ON MONDAY MORNING, Scott sat across from the fire chief at the Bayside station. Chief Portman had awarded Scott the job of building and fire inspector less than two months earlier based on Scott’s experience, education and passion for the position. Instead of proving himself, though, Scott was letting himself and the chief down. Evaluating the construction plans for the hotel project at Starlight Point was his first major job, and he was removing himself from it.
Scott laid the construction diagram and blueprints open on the chief’s desk. “I’ve done all the legwork on the new construction. It’s solid. Meets code.”
Portman nodded. “Good to hear. And the renovation of the old part?”
Scott shrugged. “It’s trickier.”
“Does it follow the law or not?”
“Depends on how you look at it,” Scott said.
Chief Portman huffed out a breath and held his hands in the air, palms up. “I appointed you to do this pain-in-the-neck paperwork so I wouldn’t have to look at it.”
“I know. And I want to do it, but I can’t,” Scott said. He paused. “I have a conflict of interest.”
The Bayside chief leaned back in his chair and tapped a pencil on the desk. “You didn’t have a conflict of interest earlier in the season when you made the Hamiltons dance over the marina plans.”
That was before I thought about Evie’s feelings with every decision I made.
Scott cleared his throat. “That was a clear-cut case.”
Portman put down the pencil and leaned forward. “If it was so clear-cut, why did you overrule the plans Marty had already approved before he retired?”
Scott’s heart accelerated. Was his boss disagreeing with his ruling on the safety issues at the marina? Why hadn’t he said so at the time?
“I have nothing but respect for Marty,” Scott said.
“But?”
“But he let a few things go that…on a closer inspection of the updated codes, maybe it wasn’t the best review of the plans.”
“You’re dancing around it,” Portman declared. “Marty was ready to retire. He was friendly with Starlight Point and other places around town. Didn’t want to make trouble for people by enforcing some pickier parts of the fire code.”
“I think all the parts should be enforced,” Scott said.
“Officially, yes. But we both know some of the code is bendable.”
“I don’t like bending it.”
“So why are you really backing out of doing your job now?” the chief asked. “What’s going on over there at Starlight Point?”
“I’m not backing out of my job. I just don’t want to be the one to sign off on this particular set of plans.”
“I still don’t see what’s changed since the marina issues two months ago,” Portman said.
Scott had no desire to explain his feelings to his boss. He didn’t even want to admit them to himself. He shrugged. I feel like a kid trying to explain to his dad that he didn’t mow a patch of the front yard because there was a scary dog walking by.
Chief Portman blew out a long, noisy breath. “So you’ve worked there all summer and gotten friendly with somebody there. And now you don’t think you can be objective.”
Scott stared at the wood grain on the ancient desk. “I’m happy to work with whoever you appoint. But it’s a conflict of interest for me to make the final judgment.”
“Fine. I’ll review the plans myself,” Portman said. “I used to do it all the time before we instituted the inspector job twenty years ago.”
Scott got up. “Thanks.”
“Not so fast. First, tell me what it is you don’t like about the plans to remodel the old section. Whatever it is, I think you’re afraid to come out and say it.”
Scott stood with his hands gripping the back of his chair. How much was he willing to tell the chief?
“You know how it is with old buildings. Dropped ceilings, false walls, chases cut through fire walls for modern plumbing and electrical. Fixing up old buildings creates fire hazards.”
“Old buildings are a nightmare,” Chief Portman agreed. “And we’ve got them all over downtown. It gives me heartburn.”
Scott’s hope lifted. Maybe the chief would see it his way, even if it took a stricter line than the code technically required. The chief would be the one to say no to plans he thought might endanger firefighters and hotel guests in the future.
“But the Lake Breeze is a historic building,” Portman said. “It’s on the register. Got a big bronze plaque. It was built long before there were fire codes and it’s exempt from most of them.”
“Look at those plans,” Scott said. “They’re renovating most of the building. More than fifty percent. Probably endangering their historic status.”
“They can give it up if they want to.”
“But if they lose the protection of that status and make substantial changes, they could be forced to modernize safety systems,” Scott insisted. “Like sprinklers in every room.”
Portman put his elbows on the plans and stared at the newest member of his department. “You’re a hell of a firefighter, Bennett. And I like your ambition. But sometimes I wonder what force is driving you. I swear you’ve got the devil at your back sometimes and you’re trying to outrun him.”
“The same force drives me as everyone else here,” Scott said. “I don’t want to see anyone die, not on my watch, not now or on some distant day in the future when a fire breaks out in a building whose plans I approved.”
The chief raised his eyebrows. “I’ll look at the hotel application this week. If I have questions, I’ll consult with the inspector from Port Huron. You’re off the case since you want to be, but you have to agree to stay out of it and abide by my decision. No matter what this conflict of interest is that you think you have, you’re giving up your right to say anything.”
Scott left the chief’s office and went into his own tiny one. He shut the door and sat behind his desk. Evie had sat across from him just weeks ago, but he didn’t want to think about her right now. He didn’t want to think about her smile, her eyes or the way she laughed. Because all those things added up to his failure to do the job he’d sworn to do. Falling for her was a huge mistake.
For the next three days Scott avoided Evie. He worked one shift at Starlight Point and he was lucky to have a quiet night and keep a low profile. If he had to interact with Evie and she asked him about the plans, he didn’t want to lie about the status of the application. But he sure didn’t want to explain why he’d felt compelled to hand them over to a neutral party.
He was no longer neutral, and the feeling burned him. He considered quitting his job at Starlight Point so it wouldn’t jeopardize his work in Bayside, but as long as his sister Caroline insisted on doing dangerous work at the point, he would be there. Watching over her as best he could.
* * *
FOUR DAYS AFTER the fight in the Silver Streak queue lines, on a hot evening after the park closed, hundreds of summer employees were still on the premises. Instead of working, however, they were lined up for rides on the Sea Devil, Silver Streak, Space Race, Mine Ride and even the carousel. The lights of the midway were on, loud music blasted from the speakers, and the food vendors were open late to serve up food courtesy of the owners of Starlight Point.
Employee appreciation night at the end of July was a longstanding tradition meant as both thanks and inspiration to carry the summer workers through the rest of the season. When August came around, staff would peel off like layers of an onion as college campuses and local schools reconvened.
Because it was tradition, the entire Hamilton family worked the event. They spread out over a small section of the front midway. Evie put her mother, Virginia, to work handing out prefilled cups of soda at a table in front of the carousel. She heard June over the microphone on the loading platform of the Sea Devil reeling off safety instructions. She laughed at Jack as he ran around and checked seat belts and door latches on the Scrambler.
Every year, the siblings chose jobs for each other. Evie had assigned June to the Sea Devil where she could use her stage voice but not wear herself out. June had chosen the Scrambler ride for Jack because she thought it would keep him awake. New baby at home. Jack had selected a job on the midway for Evie because of her notorious dislike of games and gambling.
Evie considered her assignment to be a three-hour sentence. Running the age and weight guessing game. At least people weren’t throwing away their money tonight, she thought as she looked at the long line and groaned. Usually, chances to win an inflatable banana or a plush gorilla cost guests three bucks each. Tonight, the game was free.
Evie’s job was to guess either age or weight—player’s choice. Players stepped up and wrote their age on a slip of folded paper or agreed to get on the scale after Evie stated her guess over the speaker for all to hear. If she was within three years or five pounds, the player went away empty-handed. If her guesses were farther from the mark, she gave them their choice of souvenir.
She sighed. Thanks a lot, Jack. I’ll get you back next year by making you clean the restrooms.
A burly teen who still wore a green uniform designating him as one of the trash collectors stepped up.
“Bet you can’t guess my weight,” he said.
You’re probably right, Evie thought.
She gauged his height and tried to guess accurately based upon some algorithms she had looked up online to prepare for her job. About five foot ten, lots of muscle.
“Two hundred,” she said.
The teen laughed and got on the scale, an old-fashioned ornate model with an array of numbers at the top. There was a moment of drama while the assembled crowd waited for the needle to stop. The gold arrow pointed to two hundred and twenty.
“Fooled me,” Evie said over the microphone. “Pick your prize.”
She gave away ten more prizes to the next ten contestants, and her line started to grow. I’m an easy target. If I don’t improve my success rate, I’ll run out of inflatable bananas.
A petite girl with a baby face was next. “Age,” she said. She wrote a number on a piece of paper, folded it and held it behind her. Evie studied the girl. She will probably still be getting carded when she’s forty, Evie thought. But I’m getting wiser.
“Twenty-three,” Evie declared.
The girl’s smile faded and she handed over the paper. “Twenty,” Evie read aloud. Finally got one right. “Sorry,” she told the girl. “Get back in line and I’ll guess your weight next time. I’m terrible at that.”
The next person, a rail-thin retiree who took tickets at the front gate, moved forward.
“Don’t make me guess your age,” Evie said. “I’d have to say you don’t look a day over forty. Give me a fighting chance.”
The man laughed. “Fine,” he said. “Guess my weight. I want to win a gorilla for my grandson. Not that I’m old enough to have grandchildren, mind you.”
Evie laughed. “One hundred and fifty pounds,” she said.
“Let’s see.” The man stepped on the scale and the needle stopped at one hundred and sixty-five. “My wife’s meatloaf,” he said. “Does it every time.”
This was going to be a long night. Evie was glad she wore comfortable shorts, a T-shirt and sneakers. Because of her bruising, she wore her hair long and parted on the side so it would sweep over her face. Even with stage makeup—thanks to her sister June’s expertise—she still looked like she’d been in a fight. Evie didn’t want to answer any more questions. There’d been more than enough for the police report and at the hospital.
To her great surprise, Scott and Caroline were her next two contestants. She hadn’t recognized them in the dim light beyond her game booth. Caroline smiled and looked closely at Evie’s eye.
“Would never know,” she whispered.
Evie laughed. “Sure. That explains all the comments I’ve had.”
“You’re beautiful, anyway,” Caroline said.
Scott stood behind his sister. He was dressed casually, like most of the other employees. She hadn’t seen him since four nights ago when he’d dropped her off at her door after the trip to the emergency room. He’d lingered, making her wonder if she should invite him in. She hadn’t.
Evie was surprised to see him at the employee appreciation night since fun wasn’t exactly something she equated him with. He’s probably here to spend time with his sister.
“It wouldn’t be fair for me to guess your age,” Evie said to Caroline, “because I already know you’re one year away from being old enough to be a bonded officer. How about weight?”
“Sure,” Caroline said.
Evie made a big show of looking Caroline over. She cocked her head and closed one eye. Because Caroline was very similar in size and build to Evie, Evie gave her own weight.
“One hundred and thirty-two.”
Caroline grimaced and got on the scale.
The needle hovered for a moment and settled on one hundred and twenty-six.
“Is that all you weigh?” Scott asked his sister. “You need to bulk up.”
“Every woman’s dream,” Caroline said. She rolled her eyes at her brother.
“Winner!” Evie announced into the microphone. She rang the bell and told Caroline to choose a prize.
Scott stood in front of her and Evie’s pulse raced. All summer long she had tried to view him as a professional. An employee. A potential friend or adversary in the matter of the hotel plans. He held the fulfillment of her dream and future plans in his hands.
He’d held her in his arms a few nights ago. Despite the pain and shock of the punch to the face, she remembered clearly what his arms felt like. His scent, the warm skin of his neck as her forehead had pressed against it.
She held his eyes and drew a long breath. “Age or weight?”
“Whatever you want.”
She handed him a slip of paper and a marker. “Age,” she said.
He wrote down a number and handed it to Caroline. She opened the paper and looked at it. “Just checking,” she said. “Keeping my brother honest.”
Evie smiled at Scott. The warm lights around the booth played over his face. His dark eyes looked soft, sweet.
“Forty-two,” she said.
Scott laughed. A deep, rich sound. Had she ever heard him laugh before?
“Exactly right,” he said. “If we fast-forward fifteen years.”
Evie rang the bell. “Winner!” she announced over the microphone.
Scott didn’t move to grab a prize. Was he going to say something?
Evie’s security radio sat on the table next to her. She could barely hear it and had not paid much attention to it this evening as the park was closed anyway. But now it came alive with noise.
Scott turned his head and zeroed in on the radio. Stepped closer. He appeared to be listening intently.
Evie made out two words: Bayside Fire.
She picked it up and handed it to Scott. “Do you need to go?”
He turned up the volume and held the radio in the air between him and Evie so she could hear, too.
“Boat accident, Starlight Point break wall. Request fireboat and dive team.”
“That’s my dispatcher’s voice,” Evie said.
“Security here must have called it in, but it’s Bayside’s territory. They cover the break wall.”
“Are you on the dive team?” Evie asked. She hoped the answer was no. Sliding under the dark waters of Lake Huron…it was a scary thought.
“No. But I’m going, anyway.”
“I’ll come with you,” she said. Evie glanced down the line of people. Should I close the booth and disappoint them? No choice. Scott was already running toward the beach exit.
“Sorry,” she said to the waiting staff. She shut off the lights in her booth. “There’s another guessing game over by the dodgem cars. Good luck.”
She clutched her radio and ran after Scott. He was way ahead of her and she couldn’t see him in the darkness. He wouldn’t be crazy enough to go out on the rocky break wall in the dark. Would he?
Caroline ran up beside her, matching her stride. Good. Maybe she would convince her brother not to take a terrible risk.