Loving A Firefighter (Loving Series) (3 page)

She picked thing
s up and moved them out of the way so the remediation people could get right to work when they arrived after lunch.

It was l
unch time.  She reminded herself she needed to eat something.  She checked the refrigerator and decided to have yogurt for lunch, a meal of which her mother would not approve.  Mom wasn’t here so she had the yogurt.

She had just settled down to eat when the phone rang.  It was Chip calling to see if it would be okay to stop by sometime this afternoon.  “
Sure,” she said.  “Stop by anytime.  The remediation people will be here and I’ll be here all afternoon.”  His phone voice was deep and resonant, confident sounding.  It made her wonder if he sang.  An image of him in a church choir popped into her mind.  “I’ll see you around two unless something comes up and I’ll call if it does. Goodbye, Carrie.”

“Goodbye, Chip.” 
“I’m so glad he called.  I’m really looking forward to seeing him again.  A good-looking guy like he is surely has a girlfriend.  Wonder what she looks like?  I think I’ll grab a quick shower and freshen up a bit.”
 

Carrie brushed her hair until it
fairly shone, added a bit of blush to her cheeks and carefully applied a coating of lipstick.  She picked out a pair of designer jeans and a loose-fit short sleeved sweater.  She looked critically in the full-length mirror attached to the back of the door and tried to objectively evaluate the image looking back at her.  She turned, and rated her bottom as okay, not too large and nicely tight; her long brown hair was one of her better features.  Her breasts fit a 34B cup and were firm and rounded.  Her face appeared attractive enough. The sweater showed a bit of cleavage but not too much unless she bent forward.  She knew she had nice legs.  She gave herself a “B” in overall attractiveness.  Satisfied, she returned to the kitchen, had some water and waited for the agonizingly slow movement of the clock hands to reach two.  Finally, it arrived, but no Chip. 
“Did he change his mind?  Was he coming at all?
Well, he did say around two.  What is wrong with me?  Why am I acting this way about someone I just met?”

There was a
knock at the door.  She walked anxiously to the door.  It was the remediation company, ready to begin work.  Disappointed, she stepped aside to let them bring their tools and materials inside.

Ten minutes later, came another knock.  It was Chip.  She took his warm hand and shook it lightly. 
Elation at him being here chased the doubts from her mind.  The smell of his after shave smell went straight to her head.  She really liked the woodsy aroma.  It reminded her of trees in the springtime.  “Come on in.  The remediation company just got here about 15 minutes ago.”

“Hi,
it’s good to see you up and around.  How are you feeling?  Have you had any symptoms from the smoke inhalation yet?  The warmth of his smile was reflected in his green eyes.”

“No, I’m fine.
”  Her face began to redden.  “How are… I mean how is the investigation going?”

He exuded confidence, as he said, “
It’s pretty much over now.  The findings have been turned over to the police.  We’ve declared it as arson and I understand the police have a suspect in custody.  One with a history of arson, by the way.”

“Yes, the detectives came out and talked with me, then called back and
they have Nathan, my ex-boyfriend in custody.  What a creep he turned out to be.  I can really pick them can’t I?”

“Don’t beat yourself
up over that.  You can’t judge a book by its cover.  Listen to me.  I can’t believe I just said that.”  A disarming grin broke over his face.”  It sounds like my mom.”

“Mine too
,” and she laughed.

“Did the manager
give you any trouble about the new locks?”

“Not after I told him I would contact the arson
investigator.  He was so cool butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.  He is also going to replace the sofa.”

“
He’s not doing you any favors.  It doesn’t cost him anything.  That’s why they have liability insurance.  Well, I don’t have any more questions.  Do you have any?”  He stood and said, “I’d better get going.  My paperwork is piling up.”

“Chip,
thanks for your help, even if it is a part of your job.”
“Hint.  Hint”

She walked with him to the door.  On the way, he looked in on the remediation people that were hard at work, cleaning the smoke darkened walls.  “These people do a good job.  You won’t be able to tell anything ever happened.”

“I hope so but it doesn’t change my mind about moving.  She opened the door, “Well thanks again for coming by.”

“My pleasure.
  Carrie, I’d like to see you again, would you mind if I called you?” he asked in a hopeful tone of voice.  “Maybe we could have dinner or see a movie?”

“I’d like that.  Please do.”

“I’ll call you.  You be careful and let me know if you have any problems.”  They shook hands.  Carrie would have preferred a kiss.

He turned and walked toward the wheezy old elevator and pushed the Call button
.  He looked back and smiled.  He raised his arm and waved goodbye.”

“Yes.  Yes,”
Carrie said to herself.  Her face broke into a happy smile, as she remembered the chills she got from his touch.  She stood with her back to the door smiling, day dreaming.

* * *

“Ma’am?”  The leader of the group working, rapped on the door outside the bedroom where Carrie was working with her laptop.

“Yes?”

“We’re leaving for the day.  We should be back around eight in the morning and finish the kitchen.  We’ll clean the furniture and appliances and we’ll paint the next day.  I wouldn’t advise your being here while we’re painting.”

“Good.  Thank you and I’ll see you around eight.”

The next day

The workers
finished by mid-afternoon.  Their leader said, “The paint crew will be here about the same time tomorrow.  See you then.”

“Okay.  It sure smells better in here.”

“You’ll be okay, the smoke odor tends to linger, but all of the particulate should be filtered out.”

Carrie decided a quick trip to the grocery store was in order.  She made a short list and off she went.

When she returned, she retrieved her mail from her mailbox in the lobby and also picked up her copy of the newspaper.  Then she rode the groaning elevator to her floor.  She let herself in using the new keys to the locks on the door.  She made sure both locks were secure and checked to make sure the baseball bat was in its place by the door.  While out, she had purchased another can of pepper spray for the bedroom.  She put this in an easily reachable spot by the side of the queen sized bed in which she slept.

It was about eight when her phone rang.  She said
, “Hello, this is Carrie.”

She instantly recognized the
thin, and hollow voice whining through the phone.  “Carrie, why are you doing this to me?  You know I would never hurt you.  We need to talk about this.”

“Nathan, I have nothing to say to you.  If you call me again, I’ll call the police and you’ll never get out of jail.”

“But Carrie…” as she slammed the telephone down. 

 
“That did it,”
she thought. 
“I’m getting caller id right now.”
  Her mind made up, she made the call to the telephone company and arranged to have caller ID activated.  Now, she had to get a phone that could display the ID. 

“
While I’m at it, I’ll get cordless phones and have one in the living room and the bedroom she thought aloud.”

The phone rang again.  She picked it up and said, “Nathan, I told you not to call me again.  I’m going to call the police.
”

“Carrie, this is Chip.  Did he call you?”  The tone of his voice reflected his concern.

“He called a few minutes ago.  He wanted to know how I could do this
to him and said we needed to talk.”

“You really don’t want to talk with him do you?”

“No I don’t.  I just ordered Caller ID but I wonder if that is enough.  Maybe I should get my number changed and restricted.”

“That might
not be a bad idea.  Have you thought about a restraining order?  That way if he comes close, you’ll have grounds to have him arrested.  I’ll go with you if you decide to go that way.”

“Do I need a lawyer?”

“I don’t think so.  The reason I called is to see if you would like to go to dinner tomorrow?”

“
I would.  It’ll be nice getting out.”

“Why don’t I pick you up at seven? 
Tomorrow’s a day off.  If you’re going to the police, I’ll come by and go to the police department with you.”

“I’m pretty independent and used to taking care of myself.  I would appreciate it
though, if you have nothing else to do.”

“No, no plans
.  If ten o’clock is okay, I’ll see you then.”

“
Ten’s fine.  I’m going to leave my phone off the hook for the rest of the evening.  I’ll see you in the morning at ten.”

“
Great.”

“
Thanks for thinking about me.  Bye now.  See you tomorrow.”

True to his word, a sharp rap on the door alerted Carrie she had company.  When she opened it, a smiling Chip Reynolds stood there.  “Ready to do this,” he asked?

“I’m ready.  Come on in, while I get my purse.”

He walked in and looked around.  Her pictures and knick knacks had all been cleaned and were on a table waiting to be placed in their settings.  “They did a really good job; you can’t tell there was a fire in here.  Are they going to paint?”

“They will be here first thing in the morning.  I’m
good to go.”  She looked at him, hoping for a kiss.  He didn’t get the message. 

He turned and walked out, she pulled the door closed and rattled the knob to make sure it was closed
and caught up to him. 

Chip had found a parking spot for his fire engine red Chevrolet Silverado
down the block.  He rushed to hold the door for her and with a hand on her elbow; he helped her into the shiny vehicle that looked fresh from the dealer showroom.  His warm hand on her elbow made her feel all fluttery inside.

“You really go all out with the firefighting bit don’t you
?” indicating the fire engine red pickup.

“I’m proud of my
firefighting profession,” in an uncertain voice, not really sure how to take her remark. 

“And well you should be.  You do a great public service along with the police.  I wasn’t criticizing your job.”

“Oh, I know that.  I’m a third generation firefighter.  My dad is still on the department, so is my brother.  Grandpa retired from the department.  We’re a family of smoke eaters.”

“You’re lucky. 
At least your family is nearby.  Ours is spread out.  Dad lives on the west coast so I don’t get to see him much,” she said with a touch of sadness in her voice.  “Mom is a nurse at Parkland.” 

“What do you do at WFAA?”

“I was a production assistant for a while.  That’s boring most of the time, but you’re exposed to all of the on-air personnel.  I’m in the news department now and I get to be involved with breaking news and doing research on background for production.”

As he looked at her long, dark hair, he
had a strong impulse to take her in his arms.  Instead, he looked into the dark pools of her eyes and said, “Is Salt Grass okay?”

“You lost me.”

“Is the Salt Grass Grill okay for dinner tonight?

“Oh.  Sure, I’ve hardly eaten anything since I got sick and any place is okay.  I
haven’t been to Salt Grass.”

“You’ll like it.  Their food is excellent and the service is good.  It’s on I35 near the 3094 exit.”

* * *

The parking lot was nearly full and they had a short walk from the truck to the
police department entrance.  Chip helped her out of the elevated truck.  She linked her arm in his as they made their way through the parking lot.  “We need to go to the Desk Sergeant,” Chip said.

In front of the Desk Sergeant, Carrie
was feeling intimated looking up to the pedestal desk and the imposing figure staring down at her.  She told him who she was and that she would like to get a restraining order against someone they were currently holding on arson charges and why she wanted the order.  The sergeant said in a stern voice, “This isn’t the place to do that. He looked at Chip as if to say, “You should know better.”  “It would be a good idea for you to have an attorney take care of this for you. “You can’t just walk in and pick up a restraining order.  Now, Miss, you can fill out the papers yourself and submit them to the court.  The judge will decide whether to issue the order.  You have to pick up the papers at the courthouse.”

She looked with a plea for help in her eyes at Chip
and said “Can we just go get the papers and then I’ll fill them out and file them.”