Deck the Fire Halls

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

THREE MONTHS LATER

Gunter and I stood in the empty store next to the youth center, staring at the ceiling, waiting, tapping our fingers, pacing. Outside, through the glass front, the sun was shining, the trees outside that lined the river were in blossom, the flowers were in bloom, the birds were singing, and I was growing impatient.

Gunter hummed. “So, I heard Doctor Humphries is so happy with you he might retire as early as next year.”

I nodded. He was only doing two days now and I was doing the three on my own. “It’s going well. And he’s ready to hang up his coat. He’ll be seventy-five next year.”

“Can’t see yourself working until you’re seventy-five?”

I grimaced. “Not if I can help it. When he does retire, I might have to look at getting another part-timer so I can still have my four days off. Going for bike rides with Soren, helping you out whenever I can. Life’s too short not to be happy, right? ”

“No cap.”

I burst out laughing. “Okay, you need to start spending time with grownups.”

He laughed. “Oh, Chuck and Delaney’s site got cleared and approved for a rebuild, I hear.”

The change of topic was welcome. “Yes, thank god. The insurance is all through now. They can finally look at rebuilding; it’ll be good for them. Fingers crossed they might have a new home by Christmas.”

“That’ll be nice.” Gunter nodded slowly. “So will Soren move back into his house when they move out.”

“Uh, no,” I said with a smile. “He wants to rent it out. But he’s staying with me.” Then I spoke louder to the utility hole in the ceiling we were both impatiently watching. “Well, that’s if he hurries up.”

Then Soren’s smiling face appeared. “I heard that.”

“Please say you’re done,” I whined.

He handed me down his clipboard, then his face disappeared for a second before his boots appeared atop the ladder, followed by long work pants as he stepped down, then a sliver of abdomen showing his very defined Adonis belt, his white Hartbridge Fire Department T-shirt, and bulging biceps as he lifted himself down.

Damn.

Gunter gave me a nudge, but I wasn’t even sorry.

Soren was sexy AF.

And I’d learned what AF meant from the kids at the youth center...

“And?” Gunter asked.

“Fire regulation check done,” Soren answered. “And approved. Congratulations. ”

Gunter and I hugged each other and then I hugged Soren. “Thank you.”

“All part of the service,” he said, innuendo fully implied. “For you.”

Gunter cleared his throat.

Soren laughed. “No, seriously, it all looks good up there. Circuits are new, wiring’s all tagged. Sprinkler system couldn’t be more than three years old.” Then he nodded to the shell of a storefront. “Once you get any remodeling done and all your displays installed and all that fun stuff, we’ll need to discuss operational things, such as fire blankets and extinguishers, of course.”

“Of course,” I repeated.

He took his cute little clipboard. “It’s a great thing you’re doing here,” he said. “I’m glad you got all the applications and permits approved. Can’t wait to see it up and running.”

“Same,” Gunter said.

The three of us stood there in the little empty store, looking around at what was going to be a café and training center for teens. The plan was to open up and utilize both spaces. In the summer, there’d be tables outside, in the winter maybe a projector screen with movies.

Possibilities were endless.

Gunter nodded slowly. “Sooo, you two had sex in the fire station yet?”

Soren burst out laughing, stunned.

“No. God.” I shoved Gunter. Then I mumbled, “Not allowed, and there’s security cameras. ”

He laughed, and my god, it felt so good. Life was good. So freaking good.

“Well, we better get going,” Gunter said. “We now have a million things to do.”

“Yes, we do.”

“Yeah, I should get back and write up this report,” Soren said.

We locked the doors, and despite the three of us knowing we had somewhere else to be, we all stood there in the warm sunshine, looking back at the empty store. We had so much work ahead of us that it could have been so easy to be overwhelmed.

But it wasn’t.

It was exciting.

I’d gone from feeling helpless, stretched too thin, and being strung so tight I’d almost snapped, to now being the most relaxed I’d ever been. The most content, and definitely the happiest.

“We’re gonna do some real good here,” I said.

“Yep.” Gunter nodded. “Can feel it.”

I could feel Soren’s eyes on me, and when I turned to look at him, his smile was warm and proud. “I wish I could stay,” he said. “But I kinda get the feeling I’ll be spending enough time here in the next six months.”

I laughed, because we were going to need all the help we could get. “Yes, you will.”

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Soren replied. Then he stepped in close to me, in the way he used his body to press against me instead of leaning in for a kiss. The way he knew I liked. “And you, I will see at home.”

It gave me a thrill, as I knew it always would. “Yes, you will.”

~ the end