Amie Denman - The Firefighter's Vow

Laura heard Allen’s chair creak, and she wondered how he’d received the subtle put-down from Tony.

“I know you, Marshall, but I don’t know if anyone else does,” Tony said, pointing to the only person left aside from Laura.

“I’m Marshall, and I’ve been on the police department here for five years. Sometimes we get called to the same situations the fire department does, and I’d like to be more knowledgeable and more helpful in those situations. That’s why I’m here.”

“And we appreciate it,” Tony said. “In a small town like this, you’d be surprised by how much crossover there is between the police and fire departments. In fact,” he said, pointing to Laura, “we work with the beach rescue also, where our last class member comes from.”

Was Tony trying to help her by giving her a cue or a suggestion of what to say? She couldn’t claim he was treating her differently than the other volunteers, but something about this half introduction made it seem as if he were trying to encourage her. Was he?

“I guess it’s my turn,” she said, smiling and turning in her seat to face her seven classmates. “I’m Laura, and I am working on the public beach this summer. I’m not a lifeguard, but I helped rescue someone last week and it was part of what inspired me to be here tonight.”

Part, but not all, and maybe as time passed and she knew her classmates better, she would eventually tell them. But not tonight.

“You did a great job,” Tony said, and Laura felt the uncomfortable attention of everyone in the room. Was this how Tony was going to act? Drawing attention to her, even in a positive way? It wasn’t what she wanted, but it would be hard to tell him to knock it off when he was being nice. She didn’t want to come off as defensive.

The door to the meeting room opened and a young firefighter dressed in uniform came in. He moved with confidence to the front of the room and stood next to Tony.

“This is Gavin Kennedy,” Tony said, introducing the firefighter. “He’ll be helping me with this class. He’s only been out of the academy two years, so he remembers what it’s like to be in your shoes.”

Gavin smiled politely as Tony picked up the stack of books and handed them to his helper. “Pass these out.”

“Sorry I missed the introductions,” Gavin said. As he handed a book to each class member, he read their name tags and said their names aloud. “I’m bad with names, so I’m going to need to practice.” When he got to Laura, he paused and said, “Hey, you’re Nicole’s sister. Kevin told me you were coming.”

Laura smiled, wondering how much Kevin had said about her. Did the other men on the department know about her brother’s death?

“Let’s take a quick look at your books,” Tony said. “These will also serve as an overview of the class. There are twelve chapters, and we’ll cover one most nights, but you’ll have to read a lot on your own. We’ll meet here for three hours each of the next Tuesday and Thursday nights, and you’ll also be expected to be here for truck inspections, meetings and trainings on Sunday mornings.”

Laura ran a finger down the table of contents. Fire behavior. Fire suppression. Emergency scenes. Hazardous materials. As a teacher, she was confident in her ability to read, break down information and memorize what was necessary. The book work would be the easy part. When it came to putting on heavy gear and testing her strength and will against a real fire, she would have to dig deep.

“Chapter one,” Tony said. “Becoming a firefighter.” He looked up and smiled. “I knew I was going to be a firefighter all my life, but that didn’t mean I knew what I was doing. When I screwed up as a rookie, nobody cared that I was the chief’s son. They were letting me know about my shortcomings.”

“Uh-oh,” Oliver said, and he was greeted by nervous laughter.

“Don’t worry,” Tony said. “I’ll share my wisdom. For example, don’t put on your seat belt and then try to pull on your turnout coat and fasten it. You might be successful getting the coat on while you’re on the way to a fire, but you’ll just about kill yourself trying to get out of the truck.”

Laura smiled, imagining the scene. She hardly took her eyes off Tony as he stood just four feet in front of her, holding the class’s attention. Gavin jumped in with a detail or story a few times, but Tony held the floor as he walked the class through the book and gave them an understanding of what the next six weeks would entail. She knew many instructors back home, but none of them had commanded her interest and respect as Tony did. He was strong, compassionate and more attractive than she wanted to admit to herself. Finally, he closed his book—dog-eared and with sticky notes spilling over the top like a bad hair day—and glanced at the wall clock, which was fashioned to look like a fire truck. Its hands were miniature fire hoses, telling them almost half the class had gone by. She was amazed, but it also worried her. With only twelve class nights to learn everything she needed to know, it already seemed to be going too fast.

“Break time,” Tony said. “Feel free to use the restroom and get a soda from the pop machine. Say hello to the guys working tonight and check out the trucks.”

TONY WENT DIRECTLY to his office, closed his door and sat behind his desk, enjoying the silence for a moment. He had gladly signed up for the series of courses that would qualify him as an instructor because he’d been inspired by a great teacher himself. He knew the fire service needed the right people training the next generation of firefighters.

He just wished he could fast-forward through the classroom lectures and get to the hands-on stuff that would really make the difference between life and death. As he soaked in a few minutes of solitude, he kept an ear tuned to the station beyond his door. He heard a truck door shut. A chirp of a siren. Radio traffic that made up the background music of his life. Conversations. Laughter.

Gavin’s booming laugh shot through him. Had he been flirting with Laura, or had it been Tony’s imagination? He tried to shut it out, but he imagined Gavin out there, regaling Laura with stories of his own heroism and trying to impress her. As a new member of the department, Gavin had a tendency to take risks to prove himself. He had tried to rush into a house fire without waiting for his partner once, and he’d shown up at an accident scene while off duty and tried to help despite the fact that there were on-duty guys there with protective gear.

His offenses were the result of trying too hard, too fast, not a lack of integrity or training. Admirable, but dangerous. Young guys like Gavin were the reason older guys with experience were in charge. One of the reasons Tony had selected Gavin to help train the new recruits was to remind him he was relatively new himself and didn’t know everything. But Tony was beginning to wonder if he’d made a mistake. Would Gavin’s assistance have the opposite effect on the young hotshot?

He got up and opened his door.

“Kennedy,” he barked into the station where Gavin was holding open the door of the firetruck and laughing with whomever was inside. Tony imagined it was Laura, and the thought of Gavin flirting with her irritated him right under the collar of his uniform shirt.

Gavin turned to face him and the person in the truck slid out. It wasn’t Laura. It was Diane, the older lady in the class. Gavin offered her a hand as she stepped down from the pumper.

“Need to see me, sir?”

Tony nodded and gestured into his office. When Gavin entered and took a seat, his face all innocent friendliness, Tony took a moment and closed his office door before sitting down himself.