Up in Smoke (9 page)

We all three looked at each other and shrugged. Cole gave Kane the clipboard he was holding.

“I’m down,” Cole said. Looking over at me, He said, “Let’s show these boys how it’s done.”

Nodding, I told Kane, “C’mon, man the hose clamp, McCormick.”

Brian and the rest came and stood by Kane as Micah, Cole and I circled around the hose. I smiled up at them as we waited.

“Child’s play,” I said with a hearty laugh. “It’ll be like the good ol’ days, like that fire down on Division at the old Mill shop.”

Micah laughed. “Man . . . that hose was out of control. I thought it was going to kill someone.”

“Yeah. We got lucky. You guys ready?” I asked.

They both gave me a confirming nod.

Shooting a look back at Kane, I said, “Let ‘er rip!”

Kane loosened the clamp, and the water came gushing through the hose line and out of the end of the nozzle. Cole dove for the hose first, but it whipped itself out of the way before he could grab onto it securely. Pacing my feet back and forth as I tried to line up for it, water shot up into the air as the nozzle’s end launched upward and twirled.

“Come on!” I shouted as I danced with the hose.

Micah dove onto the hose way down the line. Then I went for a closer spot up near Cole as he was scrambling.

Got it.

Using all my strength, I grabbed on to it and held my position as I knew Cole was about to jump back on. Cole latched on right behind me and helped gain control. Micah’s help on the back end secured our positioning on the hose. We got control quicker than the other guys did by a long shot. Kane re-clamped the water.

“Wow . . . I’m impressed,” Kane said, approaching us with a long clap.

Smiling as I pushed myself up off the cement to rise to my feet, I said, “It’s called teamwork.”

Cole said as he stood up, “We know how to work together extremely well. You can’t try to be a hotshot and win it all. It takes all of you at once—which we seem to have to remind you all every time. There is no
I
in team.”

Kane nodded. “I guess I was trying to be
the one
when I was jumping right at the nozzle each time.”

“Yeah,” Micah said as he stepped up beside Cole. “It seems like a good idea, but without someone having your back, things are going to get messy and you’ll lose control.”

“That’s why we started having a group hose training,” I said. “Don’t beat yourself too hard, McCormick.”

“I’ll try not to,” Kane laughed. “We haven’t really done these much in the past. I’m glad we’re going to start doing these more often.”

Around the dinner table in the dining hall that evening, we all sat waiting anxiously for Micah’s firehouse specialty—Chicken Alfredo. The smell of the French bread cooking in the oven filled the air as my mouth watered.

“About done in there, Freeman?” Cole called out, leaning back in his seat in an attempt to get a better look into the kitchen.

Micah popped his head out of the kitchen doorway for a moment. “It’s getting there.” He smiled and vanished back into the kitchen.

“Man, I love this meal,” Brian said, glancing back at the kitchen for a moment and then folding his hands together in front of him on the table. “My Widow Maker burgers might be good, but his Alfredo . . . Mmm. I bet I could eat that stuff every single day for the rest of my life and I’d be happy.”

“Maybe the taste wouldn’t bother you, but it’d mess your body up. He puts cubes of butter and loads of cream cheese into that Alfredo sauce! That’s why it’s darn tasty. Healthy? No way,” I said.

Cole raised an eyebrow at me as he cocked his head to one side. “When did you get health conscious, Alderman?”

I shrugged. “I’m not health conscious, but something like this every day would wreak havoc on anybody’s body. That’s just logic.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely not an ‘eat everyday’
type of meal, that’s for sure,” Cole replied.

Micah brought in a big vat of the Chicken Alfredo and set it down on the table. Steam rose up from the pot as he took off the lid and set the pot holders down next to it and returned to the kitchen to grab a second one. He made plenty, knowing how much we all loved this dish.

“Let’s bless the food,” he said, setting the second pot down and bowing his head. “Cole?”

“God, Thank you. Thank you for our station, our brotherhood and this meal. May you please bless Freeman’s hands that prepared it and bless this time we are about to spend together.”

Everyone said, “Amen.”

“Dig in,” Micah said.

“Need bowls and forks,” Ted added, getting up from his chair.

“Oh, yeah,” Micah said, laughing.

“I’ll grab them,” Ted said, following Micah into the kitchen.

“You were saying earlier that your daughter is in town,” Cole said from across the table, looking at me. “How are the grandkids doing? Been a while since you’ve seen them, right?”

“Yeah. It’s been a while. They’re doing well from the little time I’ve seen them so far.”

“I talked to Chief Jensen earlier. He said you can take an extra couple of days off.”

“I don’t feel it’s necessary. Thanks, though.”

Cole nodded. “No problem.”

Micah returned with the French bread in hand. Following behind him was Ted with the forks and bowls. We all began serving up our bowls as we heard the bay doorbell buzz downstairs.

Everyone looked around at each other, wondering if someone was expected. “Anyone know who that might be?” Cole asked.

Everyone said, “No.”

“Rookie,” I said as I grabbed the spoon and dished up my bowl.

Brian set his fork down and let out a sigh. “Fine . . .” he said, standing up from his seat as he hung his head and headed for the stairs that led down to the door.

“Man, I hated being the rookie back in the day,” Kane said, laughing as he watched Brian leave the room.

“Everyone’s a rookie at some point,” I said. “They tormented me. Some of the stuff they pulled . . .” I shook my head. “We’d be fired if we did it nowadays.”

“Like lighting your sheets on fire?” Cole asked, grinning.

I laughed. “Yep. Exactly. Taylor knows the story. Man that was ridiculous, not to mention dangerous!”

“Really? That happened?” Ted asked as he took a bite out of his piece of bread.

“Yep,” I replied. “They had a fire extinguisher so it wasn’t that big of a deal—”

“Alderman,” Brian said from the doorway of the dining hall.

“Yeah?” I asked, turning to him.

“There’s some guy here for you downstairs.”

“Some guy?” I asked, partially nervous that it was the kid from the poker night.
How’d he know I was here? At this fire station particularly?
I wondered. I felt a mixture of anger and nervousness.

“Yeah. He said that he’s here to talk to you.” Brian came back over to the table and sat down.

“Okay,” I said. Cole had known me too long not to notice my nerves about it.

“I’ll come with you,” Cole offered, standing up from his seat.

“No. That’s okay. I got it,” I replied, holding up a hand to Cole. There was no way I’d drag Cole into this mess. I got up from my seat and proceeded out of the dining hall and down the stairs to the bay.

Getting to the door, I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the doorknob. I opened it up.

It was Ron, from Heidi’s diner.

“Ron?” I asked, looking outside and down both ways of the sidewalk outside the door. My nerves settled.

“Sorry to stop in like this, but I had a heavy heart.”

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Cole up at the top of the stairs. Stepping outside, I shut the door behind me. “What’s going on?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Heard you talking to that guy in the diner the other day.”

“Yeah?” I replied.

“The kid rubbed me the wrong kind of way. I’m not here to tell you how to spend your money or free time, but I wanted to tell you something ain’t right ‘bout him.”

I wanted to tell him right then, but I couldn’t. He’d be flaming mad at me for getting involved in the first place. It was too embarrassing to reveal what happened. “Okay,” I retorted.

“You already did . . . it’s all over your face.” Ron let out a sigh and shook his head. “You’re in trouble, aren’t you?”

“I’m fine,” I replied, adjusting my footing.

“Well, you know where you can find me if you need anything. Can I pray with you?”

I nodded.

Ron stepped closer and put a hand on my shoulder and we bowed our heads. He said, “God. You are our God, our salvation and our Savior. The world’s Savior. It’s through your grace that we are standing here today. Help us love you, honor you and always walk in the Spirit. Help Rick with his struggle right now, whatever that may be. And I pray these things in your Heavenly and gracious name, Amen.”

“Thank you,” I replied, setting my hand on the doorknob behind me to go back in.

“Sorry to bother you at work.” He turned and headed back to his GTO that was parked along the curb.

“It’s all right. Have a good night,” I said with a short wave as he got into his car.

Going back into the fire station, I shut the door behind me. I was happy to see that Cole wasn’t looming over me waiting at the top of the stairs. As I climbed the stairs back up to the dining hall, I couldn’t help but smile knowing I had a friend like Ron in my life. He wasn’t like the other friends in my life that had come and gone; he was one of those few rare gems that you kept around for a lifetime. And I appreciated it. Outside of the station men, Ron was the only true friend I had.

T
he next day I arrived home at eight thirty in the morning. I found my grandchildren and daughter in almost the exact same position I had left them in the previous day.

“Morning, Dad,” Beth said as I walked through the living room and into the kitchen. She was sitting at the kitchen table holding her cup of coffee with both hands as the boys were eating their cereal.

“Morning, Beth,” I said, smiling as I kissed the side of her head. I sat down at the table and looked at her.

“How was your time with Mother?” I inquired.

“It was okay,” she replied. Taking a sip of her coffee, she set it down and forced a smile. “I miss Jonathan.”

“When are you planning on heading back?” I asked.

“This afternoon,” Beth replied. “I need to get the house cleaned up and ready for our visitors.”

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, “Oh yeah? I thought you were staying longer.”

“Jonathan’s mother, Julie, decided to come stay with us . . . so I’m going to use my extra time off to clean up.” She shook her head as she got lost in a thought for a moment. Then she looked over at me. “She’s so critical. If the house isn’t spotless, she just gets all upset.”

Stretching a hand across the table, I rested it on top of Beth’s and said, “My mom was the exact same way with your mother.”

“Grandma was like that?” Beth asked, her eyes wide.

“Yep. Even when she was getting older and had that bad hip, she’d zoom around the house and clean during random points of her visit. The bad part about that hip was that she’d sit on the couch and whine after doing all the work she found around the house. I don’t think she ever meant any offense, it was just what she was good at . . . and she was trying to be helpful, ya know?”

Beth let out a deep sigh and said, “Yeah. I suppose.” Beth looked up at me with all seriousness as something must have entered her mind. “Is your back still bothering you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused by the question.

“Yesterday, you let out a little sound of anguish when you were leaving for work.”

Shaking my head, I said, “I’m just getting older, Beth. Nothing is wrong. Things just randomly ache and hurt.”

“I don’t want to get old,” she said, looking out the window next to the table.

Smiling warmly at her, I said, “Nobody really does.”

Susan appeared from the hallway with a full basket of clothing on her hip. Even when she was mad with me, she still lit up a room whenever she entered it. I watched as she walked through the kitchen and toward the living room. She glanced at me for a moment but continued on her way. No emotion, no words, nothing.

“Mom?” Beth said. “What was that? Why are you being so cold to Dad?”

“Winter’s not for another couple of months, dear,” I said sarcastically.

Susan loudly set the laundry hamper down on the couch and began pulling out clothes, folding them ferociously. “Your father thinks it’s okay to lie to me, Beth.”

“Susan!” I said, standing up. “Don’t drag her into this. She doesn’t need to know everything that goes on between us.”

Susan threw down the shirt she had been folding and came into the kitchen furiously, heading in my direction. “Why, Rick? You don’t want your perfect image distorted in your daughter’s eyes? She should know you’re a liar!”

My blood boiled at her words. She always
assumed
Beth liked me more than she liked her. “Susan. This isn’t the time.”

Shaking her head, she scoffed and said, “When is a good time for you? You never want to talk about anything you don’t like! And now I don’t know if you’re telling the truth whenever we do talk! Do you realize how much that hurts? Not being able to trust the man you’ve been with all your life, the man who
is
your life?”

“Susan!” I said. “Stop.”

She said nothing in reply, just turned and stormed back into the living room to continue folding the clothes.

“Uh. What’s going on, Dad? Mom seems pretty upset. What did you lie about?” Beth asked cautiously.

“Don’t worry about it, Beth. Unless you want me asking you about every time you and Jonathan get into a spat, leave it be,” I said firmly.

Looking toward the living room, I spoke a little louder so my words would carry, “I’m going out canvassing with the guys from the station.”

“Okay . . .” Susan replied with a senseless shrug.

“Why the tone?” I asked sharply.

“How am I supposed to believe you, Rick? Anything you say? Plus Beth leaves soon and you’re just taking off again. Don’t you even care to spend some time with the grandkids?” Susan asked.

“I’m going to get the boys dressed,” Beth said, sounding a little wary of being involved in another spat between us. She grabbed both boys and retreated back to the spare room down the hall, where Natalie was still sleeping.

Hearing the door shut, Susan came over to me in the kitchen. “Rick, I love you, but I can’t trust you.”

“Because I played poker?” I asked defensively.

“You lied to me, Rick. Lied to my face without even feeling a little bad! Do you know how stupid I felt when Cole called?” Susan shook her head. “I was mortified. You’re fifty-three years old. You don’t need to sneak around me like a child!”

I was ashamed, far more than she could comprehend in the moment. She had no idea of what I had really done, only the tip of the mountain. Fear gnawed at my insides as I contemplated telling her everything right there in that moment. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was too weak.

“Well, I won’t play poker anymore. No casino, no games around town. No nothing.”

“I wish I could believe you. I hope that’s true,” Susan said.

“I am going canvassing with the guys, though.”

“What’s it for?” she asked. I hadn’t told her about the drama with the city and the budget cuts. I didn’t want to worry her when nothing was solid yet. It wasn’t worth the pain.

“Supporting the local firefighters. Just a petition and rally that the station is doing to draw support from the community,” I said. It wasn’t a total lie, but it was still shying away from the truth about the cutbacks at the station.

“All right,” she replied. “When is that?”

“Not until three.”

She smiled and said, “That’s good. You get to spend at least
some
time with Beth and the kids before they leave. Jonathan’s mother is coming into town . . . ugh.”

“Yeah. I heard. I told her my mom was like that.”

Susan lifted an eyebrow. She looked surprised. “You did?” The corner of her lip curled up in a smile. “I thought you’d never admit that.”

“I always knew it, Susan.” I smiled at her.

Beth came down the hallway and said, “We should all go to the zoo in a little bit. It’d be fun.”

Susan looked over at me with hopeful eyes. It was the least I could do for her.

After the zoo trip, Susan, Beth and I were visiting out on the back deck at the house. The kids were running out their energy before the drive back to Coeur d'Alene.

“Thanks for the fun day today, guys. It was nice having us all together,” Beth said.

“Yeah,” I replied, beaming as I watched Gregory chase Natalie in the yard just beyond the deck. “The kids seemed to really enjoy it.”

Beth nodded. “They were surprisingly good.”

“They’re always good,” Susan added.

Beth laughed. “Sure, Mom.”

Suddenly Gregory tripped in the yard and began crying. Susan and I stood up as Beth rushed down the steps and into the yard.

“Come here, my baby,” she said, pulling him up into her arms.

“Is he all right?” I asked from the deck.

Beth pulled him from her shoulder and did a once-over. “Seems okay.”

A light knock came from the French doors behind us. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that it was Cole. “Hey,” I said, opening the door for him.

He stepped out. “Sorry, nobody was answering the front door, and I figured it was okay to walk in.”

Shaking my head, I said, “It’s all right, Taylor. You can walk in anytime you wish, you know that.” Patting his shoulder, I said, “You get those flyers printed out?”

“Yep.” He handed me the stack. “All two hundred and fifty.” His voice was a bit skeptical sounding.

“I know what you’re thinking, but I think we can get some supporters to hand out extra ones.”

“Maybe,” he replied. He shifted his sights to the back yard and saw Beth. Walking over to the railing of the deck, Cole leaned over and said, “Long time, no see, stranger. How you been?”

“Pretty good, Cole. Yourself?” she said, smiling as she set Greg back down to play.

“Doing well. Don’t you love that age?” he asked, smiling as he watched Greg chase after Natalie in the yard.

She came back over to the deck. “It’s interesting, that’s for sure.”

He nodded. “Megan and I went to Silverwood, that big water and theme park, last weekend. Wow! That was an interesting experience with a couple of toddlers.”

“I could imagine,” Beth replied.

“It was painful in spots, but we had a good time,” Cole said.

Beth came back over to the table and looked at her phone. “We’d better get going if we want to beat rush hour.” Turning to the kids in the yard, she said, “Let’s go, kids.”

The kids began whining and crying as they hung their heads and headed for the deck.

“Why do we have to go?” Natalie asked as she came up the steps.

“Your father misses us, dear, and Grandma is coming to visit,” Beth replied.

“Tell them to just come here!” she pleaded.

“Maybe another time,” Beth said, scooping up the boys in her arms.

We all journeyed to the front of the house and out to the vehicles in the driveway.

“Drive safely,” I said, giving Beth a final hug next to her car. “Tell Jonathan I said ‘hi.’ ”

“I will,” she replied, smiling.

My daughter and the kids started on their journey back home. Once her taillights rounded the corner of our block, Cole and I got in his car and headed out to start canvassing.

Coming up on the first street, Oakview Drive, a smile broke across my face. While my feet were aching thinking about all of the walking ahead, I couldn’t help but enjoy the arching overgrown trees that created a tunnel down the street. Glancing over at Cole, I saw his awe as he looked up at the tops of the trees.

“That’s amazing,” Cole said, looking up as we rounded a sidewalk and walked up the street.

“How’s everything with Susan going?” Cole asked.

Shrugging, I said, “She’s all right.”

Cole looked over at me. “I know that tone. What’s up?”

Shaking my head, I said, “You know I like to play poker, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I told her I was playing with the guys from the station, and I obviously wasn’t. She figured it out because you called that night.”

“Oh, jeez. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause problems.”

“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah. You shouldn’t have lied.”

Stopping, I looked at Cole. “I shouldn’t have to explain myself to her all the time.”

Cole didn’t say anything.

“What?” I asked. “You think I should?”

“It’s marriage. I think it’s an obligation you have. To be forthright and honest with your spouse. It’s like when we’re in a fire, man. You gotta know someone has your back.”

“I’ve worked too long and served my family and community for too many years to get to this point and still explain my every move to someone.”

Cole turned and we continued walking. “I don’t know, man. Have you prayed about it?” he asked.

“Some. But not a whole lot. I don’t know what God can really do about Susan.”

“It starts with you, not Susan,” Cole replied.

“I’ve been around for a while, Taylor. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I’m doing okay. Really.”