The Fire Inside (23 page)

He winked at her. “Oh, I’ll be lucky, and so
will you, doll.”

o0o

On Friday evening, Jack yanked open the front
door as soon as he saw the car pull into the driveway. Though he’d
been preoccupied with Tess, he’d missed his kids big-time. When he
caught a glimpse of them, a wave of love burst through him.

Sara came running up to the porch and threw
herself into his outstretched arms. “Daddy! I missed you.”

He hugged her tight. “I missed you, too,
princess.”

His son followed suit with the hug. He was
glad Seth was as demonstrative as Sara. He’d raised them not to
stereotype, and it was good to see it worked.

Drawing back, he studied the twins. Every
time they came home, they seemed changed. Sara’s hair was longer,
Seth’s shorter. The sun made them even blonder. “You both look
great. And older… Geez, I hate that.”

“No bad thoughts, Dad,” Seth said.

“Need help with your things?”

“We don’t have as much as we had last May.”
For the sophomore year, they’d gotten an apartment together and
kept it year round. Seth was taking a class in the early session,
and Sara was doing research for one of her professors. So Jack had
them for only about ten days. The notion made his heart hurt this
time.

They carried in suitcases, and Jack went to
get the last stuff out of the trunk. But what was left wasn’t
clothes. It was a crate. “What the…?”

A tiny bark.

Oh, my God, they hadn’t! “Sa-
ra
!”

His daughter scooted back down the sidewalk.
“I was going to tell you.”

The Harrisons had never had a dog, because
when his kids were little and wanted one, Jack had had all he could
do to take care of the twins and himself.

With uncustomary gentleness, Sara opened the
crate door. Out of the small enclosure crept a puppy so small Jack
could hold it in cupped hands. It was a Yorkshire terrier with
beautiful copper markings.

“Boy or girl?” he asked.

Sara snorted. “Girl, of course.”

“How old is she?”

“Five months.”

“You have to take care of her while you’re
home.”

Seth joined them. “I told her it was a bad
idea. The beast keeps us up at night.”

“She’s still little.” Sara nuzzled the pet
and sent a nasty glance to Seth. “Besides, I’m the one who tends to
her at school.”

“Not always.” Seth and Jack exchanged an
indulgent look.

Then Jack took the pup from her and held her
close. She smelled like dog but in a good way. “What’s your name,
sweetheart?”

“Hattie,” Sara answered.

“Well, Miss Hattie, let’s go into the
house.”

While the twins unpacked, he took the dog
outside. After she did her duty, she tried to crawl up Jack’s leg.
He picked her up again. “I’ll bet the outdoors is big and scary to
you.”

After he walked her down to his room, he put
Hattie on the bed and stretched out next to her. “So, how’s Sara
treating you? She’s a pistol. Maybe you can keep an eye on her for
me.”

Sara breezed in fifteen minutes later. “You
talking to my doggie?”

“Yep. She says you’ve been behaving
yourself.”

“I have. No trouble. And I got straight As
for the semester.”

“Which is wonderful, honey. I already told
you that.”

Wandering around the room—the girl couldn’t
sit still—she made small talk. Until she turned around, holding
something. “What’s this, Dad?”

He focused on what she held. Oh, dear God, he
hadn’t planned on getting into this with his kids. “None of your
business.”

Her blue eyes danced. “Dad, do you have a
girlfriend
?” She pulled a strand out of the brush. “With
dark brown hair?”

His son came to the door. “Who has dark brown
hair?”

“Dad’s girlfriend.”

What to do? Hell, maybe this would be a good
time for the kids to get to know Tess some.

“I’ve been seeing someone, yes.”

“Are you sleeping with her?”

“Sara, that’s too personal.” This time the
admonishment came from Seth.

“Why? I told him the first time I had sex. He
was great about it.” She’d been seventeen and he’d fumbled his way
through the whole thing. But apparently, he’d done okay.

“If you’re asking if she’s stayed the night
here, she has. But she won’t when you’re home.”

“Why? I don’t care.” This from Sara.

“Me, either,” Seth told him.

“No. I wouldn’t feel comfortable.”

Sara smiled. The one that always meant
trouble. “Let’s discuss it with her.”

“No way.” He stood. “You’re trying to stir
things up, kiddo.”

“It’d be cool to meet her,” Seth said.

“Okay, I’ll ask her. Meanwhile, let’s go
start dinner.”

“You can tell us more about her.”

Slipping an arm around each kid, he pulled
them close and walked to the kitchen. Right now, he was a totally
happy man.

o0o

“God, I like this place.” Tess hadn’t yet
been to Badges, the fire and police hangout, in the month she’d
been in Hidden Cove. She’d been too busy with her family and work.
And Jack. Now she took in the firefighter and police pictures on
the wall, a tribute to 9/11 in one corner and the sounds of some
oldies on the jukebox.

Jenn linked arms with Connie. “I know you
don’t come here much, sis, but I want you to be comfortable.” There
was a time when Connie resented Jenn for being a firefighter and
the three siblings excluding her.

“I’m comfortable now, Jenny. Don’t worry
about me.”

They wended their way through the
crowd—hearing snatches of shoptalk:
the fire was really
rolling…yeah, a drug bust…my wife’s mad I took a second
shift…

At a table in the corner, they found their
party.
Girls night out
, they’d called it. Megan was seated
with Sophia, Tony’s wife and Lisel Woodward, whom Tess had met at
the camp workday.

“Hi, Lisel. Sophia.”

Tess didn’t consider her femininity much, but
these two would make Scarlet Johansson wonder if she was enough for
her man. Hmm, Tess realized, she liked those words.
Her man
.
Maybe too much. Sometimes, when she admitted what was happening
between her and Jack, she got scared. Remembered losing Joey. And
worried about getting too close to anyone.

While they were still standing, they were
joined by another beauty, Faith Ruscio, a friend of Lisel’s. Her
waist-length blond hair and delicate skin were lovely. After they
took seats, she said, “Thanks for letting me come tonight. I love
these outings.”

“Of course you do.” Sophia laughed. Even that
was sultry. “Faith has two sets of twins, Tess.”

“Oh, wow, how do you manage?”

“I have help from Rick’s family and mine.
Besides, they’re five years apart.”

Reaching for the pitcher, Tess poured some
beer into a glass. Jenn did, too. Connie and Faith ordered
wine.

Soon, Tess was lulled by the cozy atmosphere
and the conversation: how the kids were, school getting out and
plans for the summer, their jobs.

Lisel turned to her. “Do you like teaching at
the Academy, Tess?”

“You know, I do. I’d rather be on the line,
but I can’t because of an injury.”

Suddenly, Tess realized she’d made the
comment without rancor. Without resentment. She’d have to think
about when her attitude had changed.

“Do you work outside of the home, Lisel?”

“Not in theater anymore. Have you met my
sister-in-law, Eve?”

“No,” Tess replied. “But I’ve heard terrific
things about her.”

“She’s retired, too. We run a food cupboard
for people in Hidden Cove who are poor and homeless. Believe it or
not, orchestrating things takes up a lot of time.”

“If you ever need help, I’m available.” In
Rockland, the fire department practically staffed a downtown soup
kitchen by themselves.

Again, the talked turned personal.

From Faith: “Rick’s working so hard to keep
his business flourishing.”

“Mitch is thinking about retirement.”

Sophia grinned. “Tony and I have never been
happier.” She smiled. “Thanks to Jack. I’ll never forget what he
did for us.”

Tess knew the story of Sophia and Tony. She
wondered what it would be like to be loved so much a man would quit
his revered profession for you.

“Jack’s a great guy.” This from Lisel.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tess saw Jenn
and Connie exchange glances. The look on Jenn’s face was familiar
to Tess. Uh-oh. Her cousin pretended innocence. “Yeah, I wish Jack
had a girl. His wife’s been dead a long time.”

Please don’t let me blush,
Tess
prayed.

Sophia turned to her. “What about you, Tess.
Is there a man in your life?”

It was the first time Tess ever wanted to
discuss her love life. But of course she couldn’t. Their situation
would remain confidential, except for the family knowing, for at
least several more weeks. Tonight, the secrecy didn’t sit right
with her.

o0o

On a special Saturday morning class, Jack
watched as Tess finished lighting the fifth fire, which rose up
about four feet. Its pinkish-red flames glimmered in the midday
sun. Today would be the first time the recruits came in contact
with the real deal. The task appeared to be a simple drill, but
often, recruits failed to accomplish it.

Today, Tess was in charge. “Before we test
you, tell me the four steps to activating an extinguisher.”

Anita raised her hand. “The book said to
remember it as PASS.
P
ull the pin.
A
im at the bottom
of the fire.
S
queeze the handles.
S
weep the fire from
side to side.”

“Good, Cruz.” She scanned the others. “Why do
you aim at the bottom of the fire? Murphy?”

“If you aim at the top, the extinguishing
element will go right through the fire.”

Jack zeroed in on Danny Mauro. His expression
was remote today, as if he wasn’t even listening.

“Mauro?” Tess’s voice was neutral, but she
must have noticed his expression, too. “Why sweep the bottom of the
fire?”

He looked up, surprised. “Huh?”

“Not paying attention, recruit?”

“This is easy stuff. I’ve done it
before.”

“We’ll see.” Tess crossed to the five
extinguishers. “Come get one, everybody.”

When she handed Danny his device, she said,
“Better pay attention here.” To the whole group, she added, “This
drill is going to test several things. How well you studied your
assignment. How you handle yourself under stress. And how quickly
you react. It will be heavily weighted in your RTE this week.” The
kids knew about Friday evaluations. They dreaded the assessment
because it would make or break them.

“I’m going to time you,” Tess went on. “When
you’re successfully done, step back.”

Mauro rolled his eyes.

“Go.”

Each raced to a fire. Landon went in close
and stopped. He’d forgotten what to do already. Tess yelled, “PASS
Landon.” He started the drill.

The other four had pulled the pins. One aimed
at the top of the fire. One at the bottom but forgot to sweep.

And, as Danny Mauro, compressed the handles,
nothing happened. He frowned. He squeezed again. He shook the
extinguisher, which he should do to see if it was full. “Son of a
bitch.” He rounded on Tess. “Did you do this on purpose?”

“I did. We dismantle one extinguisher every
time we have the drill. We set you up so your adrenaline gets
going. Make it important. Then insure something goes wrong to see
how you handle it. Your grade is based on your reaction to
equipment malfunction.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He was far enough
away from her, but he straightened to his full height and took a
few steps forward. Jack went on alert. “Did you give me the broken
one on purpose? So I’d fail in front of everybody?”

“You mean because you said this was a piece
of cake?”

His face reddened and he moved closer. She
raised her chin. “What do you think, Mauro?”

The recruit stared at her, then gave her his
back. Jack hoped the kid was calming himself. He was silent for the
remainder of the class, but Jack sensed he was fuming.

Half of the recruits had made mistakes and,
in the process, learned a valuable lesson. Nothing could be taken
for granted in a fire. Jack wished he could say he agreed with the
method used. Falling into step by Tess as she started inside, he
asked, “Go for a short walk with me, will you? They have some free
time now.”

Her dark eyes were troubled, and the sun made
them almost mahogany. “I can’t. I’ve got—”

“It’s important, Tess.”

Nodding, she headed out toward the woods with
him. “What is it, Jack?”

“I want to talk about what just happened
there.”

“Where?”

“In the class.”

She stopped and faced him. “I thought the
training went well. When recruits make mistakes, have their
shortcomings shown to them, they learn a lot about facing the Red
Devil.”

“Mauro, especially.”

“Mauro wasn’t paying attention.”

“He thinks you singled him out.”

“I
did
single him out.”

He jammed his hands in his pockets.

“I’m right about this, Jack. I couldn’t let
his attitude in front of everybody go unchecked.”

“Do you think what you did was wise?”

She took in a breath and let it out slowly.
He appreciated that she was trying to control her temper.
“Obviously, you don’t.”

“I’m worried about Mauro.”

“Seriously? You should be worried about
Cruz.”

“Why?”

“She’s having a rough time keeping up. I
asked her about it. Turns out she has a baby and is juggling the
child, her grandmother
and
the class.”

“Her file doesn’t indicate those things.”

“Cruz omitted that on her form because she
thought she wouldn’t be accepted to the Academy if we knew her
family responsibilities.”