Amie Denman - The Firefighter's Vow

The ocean roared in her ears—or was it her pulsing blood? Close up, the waves seemed much larger than they had from her post in the rental shack.

When Laura reached the edge of the surf, Kimberly was already way out in the water and another lifeguard, Jordan, was making her way out. Laura paused and evaluated the entire scene, trying to make certain the plan, as she knew it, was being followed. No swimmers were in the water, and several lifeguards patrolled long stretches of sand, making certain no one was going in. Satisfied that the entire emergency scene was under control, she returned her attention to Kimberly, who had reached the struggling swimmers.

Kimberly gave Laura the hand signal for help. Laura radioed Rebecca and told her to call 911, then laid the radio on top of her shoes, took a deep breath and plunged in.

A good swimmer but a better runner, Laura stayed on her feet as long as she could. When the waves were over her waist, she threw herself on top of the water and swam freestyle. Every ten strokes or so, she paused and looked forward, making sure she was heading for the small group that included two struggling swimmers and two lifeguards.

The undertow swirled around her legs, but she battled it. Her loose-fitting polo shirt sagged with water and slopped against her side, and her knee-length shorts grew heavy. She calmed her breathing and stayed in tight control of herself by counting each stroke.

Finally Laura reached Kimberly as she towed a swimmer in. Was the swimmer breathing? Laura searched Kimberly’s face for an answer and was reassured with a weak smile.

“They’re okay,” the lifeguard said. “Just exhausted. Jordan and I got life jackets on them and we’re bringing them in.”

“I’ll help,” Laura said. She quickly evaluated both the rescued people—two teenaged boys—and took the arm of the one who needed more help. She saw it in his panicked expression and the way he tried to fight Jordan while also clinging to her.

With one hand on the rescued teen and the other one sweeping broadly as she dug deep with her leg strength to keep moving, Laura helped the two trained lifeguards fight the waves and close the distance to the shore.

Despite the water in her face and her focus on helping the group move, Laura noticed people on the beach. An ambulance. Firefighters in navy blue pants and shirts. As she grew closer, she watched them take off their radios and shoes just as she had done and wade into the water.

Luckily for the firefighters, the five swimmers were in water they could stand up in, and they were walking clumsily the last dozen yards to the firm sand. For the first time since she had entered the water, Laura felt utter exhaustion flood her body. She felt like sinking down on the sand and taking a long nap in the sunshine.

“What do we have?” a voice asked as Laura forced her legs to carry her onto the beach while she supported the teen, whose arms were over her shoulders and Jordan’s. She knew that voice.

Laura looked up and saw Tony Ruggles from the Cape Pursuit Fire Department. He was dressed in a navy blue uniform shirt and pants, and his broad shoulders and blond hair looked exactly as she remembered. They hadn’t seen each other since the previous summer, but she knew Tony would never forget the impression she had made on him that day.

She was doing a lot better today, despite being drenched, covered in salt and sand, and wearing waterlogged clothes not designed for swimming. Her heart raced as she took in the scene on the beach and handed over the young swimmer to Tony and his partner.

She had taken charge of the first emergency of the summer, acted with strength and courage, and helped save someone. Her body no longer needed the adrenaline surging through her now, and Laura felt like a bubbling pot on a stove, threatening to blow its lid off with pent-up energy.

“Are you okay?” Tony asked. He put both hands on her upper arms and steadied her, looking closely at her face.

Gooseflesh raced over her arms and legs, a physical manifestation of the shock of cold ocean water and excitement. Tony rubbed his hands up and down her arms, and her equilibrium returned. “Laura?” he asked.

Judging from his expression, Laura was afraid he was about to scoop her up and tuck her into the back of the ambulance.

“Never better,” she said, meaning it sincerely. She looked past Tony and saw the boys and their rescuers sitting on the sand and smiling together as the other lifeguards and firefighters handed them sports drinks and watched over them.

TONY CAUGHT HIS BREATH. Despite his nearly dozen years of firefighting, his blood still pumped with excitement whenever a call came in. Fires, heart attacks, car accidents, beach rescues. All of them activated his love of coming to the rescue, no matter what. Helping other people live was his reason for living.

Catching his breath was pretty darn hard when he realized the woman on the beach was Laura Wheeler. He had no idea why she was in Cape Pursuit, or at the scene of a beach rescue, but he remembered three things about her from the summer before.

He remembered her eyes filled with pain and vulnerability—a look he’d seen so many times in the fire-and-rescue service. He recalled her hair, soft as silk in his fingers as he’d held it while she vomited up her mistakes from the Cape Pursuit Bar and Grill. And he couldn’t forget her dismissal of him... Her dismissal and rejection as if his help had burned her.

Looking at her now, he saw something else. She had the same long dark hair, now streaming with water, but her shoulders were square. Her eyes were the radiant blue he remembered, but the expression in them was...different.

“Everyone seems okay, Chief,” his partner, Travis, said, taking Tony’s attention away from Laura and reminding him that he was the officer in charge, superseding lifeguards and anyone else when he showed up on a scene. “Lifeguards did a good job.”

Tony grunted. Laura was walking over to her lifeguards, who were standing together in a group, animatedly discussing the event. She touched the shoulders of two of them and talked with them in a low, calm voice while Tony and his partner knelt and talked with the rescued swimmers.

He wondered when Laura had arrived in town. If she had moved to Cape Pursuit, he was surprised his cousin Kevin hadn’t mentioned it. Kevin’s upcoming wedding to Laura’s sister, Nicole, meant Tony had expected he’d see Laura in July. But why was she already in town?

“Sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” Travis asked. “Just in case?”

“We’re fine,” one of the teens said.

“Where are your parents?”

“At the hotel,” the other one said, pointing to one of the many beachfront hotels with balconies overlooking the Atlantic.

“We’ll need to talk to them,” Tony said. “Which hotel?”

The teen gave him the information and Tony made the call. Within minutes, a middle-aged man and woman were running across the sand, even though both teens were on their feet and waving sheepishly at their approaching parents.

Tony had seen a similar scene more times than he could remember. The relatives showing up at the hospital just after a car accident, concerned adult children skidding into their parents’ living rooms as the paramedics were loading up someone with chest pain. He’d seen happy endings like this one, but also gut-wrenching sad ones that both tested and reinforced his resolve to continue being a first responder.

“We’re okay,” both boys said at the same time. Their parents hugged them, not seeming to care about getting wet or sandy, and Tony gave them space for a minute before he approached. The teens needed a lesson about getting too far out and going beyond the limits of their swimming abilities, and Tony knew they were probably hearing that message now. He would talk with the parents in a moment and give them their options for further medical care if they felt it was needed.