Amie Denman - The Firefighter's Vow

“I thought you were being serious about me being a good candidate,” Laura protested, laughing.

“I believe you can do anything you want to,” Nicole said. “But I don’t want you doing this.”

The sisters paddled toward the dock where Kevin sat on the tailgate of his pickup truck, his legs dangling. As soon as they reached the dock, he jumped down from the truck and offered them both a hand.

Nicole stepped onto the dock first, her paddle in one hand, and then Kevin steadied Laura as she did the same.

“Did you see anything interesting?” he asked. “Stingrays or jellyfish?”

“A shark followed us, but I fought him off with my paddle,” Nicole said.

Kevin clutched both her arms. “Really?” he said, his voice full of alarm.

Nicole laughed. “No.”

Kevin blew out a sigh of relief.

“Laura fought him off,” Nicole said.

Her fiancé shook his head. “Not funny—not that I doubt you, Laura.”

He helped haul the paddleboards up to his truck, then lifted them in and secured them with a bungee cord.

“Did you know Laura wants to be a volunteer firefighter?” Nicole demanded as the three of them squeezed into the cab of the truck, Nicole taking the middle seat.

Laura leaned forward so she could see Kevin’s face when he answered. His expression was neutral and cautious.

“Tony mentioned that.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I thought Laura would tell you,” Kevin said.

Nicole scoffed. “Coward.”

Laura leaned back, happy her sister had someone else to vent her frustration on, even though she knew she hadn’t heard the last of it.

Why firefighting? Her sister’s question stuck with her. Why the fire service and not one of the dozens of other volunteer possibilities? Nicole’s assertion that it was an homage to their brother made Laura pause. Was that her reason?

She had to admit that was part of it. The ultimate way to handle her grief and guilt over Adam was to face it directly, not to run from it as she had been. If she hadn’t shown him the campus flyer asking for volunteers, he might never have known about the summer job. He might be alive right now.

She swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to remember to focus on the present and the future—the only things she could do anything about. Being in Cape Pursuit took her away from her parents, but she could be with Nicole. And the blue water, sunshine and vacation vibe of the town had warmed and welcomed her. She could see why Nicole had fallen in love in more ways than one.

Laura watched the downtown shops blur past as Kevin drove them to her sister’s house. Cape Pursuit was where she wanted to be, and squeezing every ounce of bravery she possessed out of her was the way to start over and be whole again.

She’d been planning to tell Nicole she wanted to quit her teaching job, but given her sister’s reaction to her plans to join the fire department, Laura decided to save that additional bombshell for another day. Her family wouldn’t understand, and she doubted she could explain it in a coherent way because she hardly understood it herself.

“You’re not going to try to talk her out of it?” Nicole asked, tapping her fingers on Kevin’s knee as he drove. “I thought you had to be on my side since we’re getting married.”

“Maybe I could think of some arguments if you give me some time,” he said. “But I have to go to a class in Virginia Beach as soon as I drop you off. Tony’s meeting me at your house so we can get on the road and not be late.”

Nicole dropped the subject as they turned onto her street, and Laura saw Tony’s truck parked in front of Nicole’s house. It brought back the memory of the previous summer when Tony had driven her in that truck back to the house and stayed with her for hours, even when she hadn’t deserved his kindness.

She wasn’t that person anymore, and she needed to prove that to everyone...starting with herself.

TONY WAITED NEXT to his truck while Kevin carried the paddleboards into the garage and Nicole followed him to help secure them on brackets along the wall. The garage was just large enough for Nicole’s small red car, and Tony noticed that Laura was keeping her vehicle tucked alongside the driveway.

“Did you have fun?” Tony asked, hoping to fill up their few minutes together in the driveway with neutral conversation. He was afraid of the negative impression he’d given Laura when she approached him about joining the fire department. He didn’t want her to think he didn’t believe she could do it, and she’d have other obstacles to face.

“We did,” she said. “I love being on the water.”

“It’s different here than it is back in Indiana, though, isn’t it?” he asked. He tried to picture rivers and freshwater streams, but he’d hardly traveled outside of Virginia and the Atlantic coast region.

“Very. At home, all the beautiful scenery is above the water, but here it’s above and below the surface.”

Below the surface. Tony wondered what was beneath the surface of Laura Wheeler.

“I hope you’ll get to enjoy it a lot this summer,” he said.

“I downloaded the application,” she said. “For the volunteer department.”

“About that,” he began. It had occurred to him that her residency in Virginia was temporary and that she probably didn’t even have a Virginia driver’s license. Not being a resident would prevent her from getting certified as a volunteer firefighter in the state.

“I didn’t look at it yet,” Laura said. I planned to do it later today since it’s my day off—I asked for Mondays because that’s the day the gallery is closed.”

“That’s great,” Tony said.

“Were you about to tell me something?” Laura asked. “You don’t have to reveal any secrets if you don’t want to,” she added quickly.

“Nothing special. It asks for your contact information, relevant background and experience, special skills you have and why you want to be a firefighter.”

“Okay.” Laura nodded.

Tony swallowed and looked toward the garage. He wished Kevin would hurry up and finish stowing the paddleboards so they could get on the road to the evening class they were both taking to advance their careers.

“There’s no test to get started, right?” she asked.

“No. Just a criminal background check, standard procedure for anyone wanting to join. And you need a valid Virginia driver’s license.”

Laura bit her lip and looked nervous, and Tony was afraid he’d destroyed her dream. He didn’t want to see Laura put her life in danger in the line of duty, but he also didn’t want to wreck her hopes with a technicality. Even though that technicality might be the easy way out for him.

“I’m going to the license bureau after work tomorrow to transfer my Indiana license to a Virginia one. I hope that won’t slow down the process for my application.”

“Transfer? Does that mean you’re planning to...stay in Cape Pursuit?”

“I drive vehicles for my job supervising the beach guards and surf shack, and for insurance purposes it makes it a lot easier for them if I have a Virginia license,” she said.

Tony noticed that she hadn’t answered his question, and there was no polite way for him to pry further.

He’d noticed that Laura was not afraid to ask tough questions, which didn’t quite fit with the picture he’d formed last summer. He wished he knew her better, but there was no way he could say that, either. Not if she planned to join the department and be under his supervision as a trainee and member. A personal interest or relationship was definitely out of the question, especially since he was the youngest fire chief in the area. He always felt he had to be careful to act twice as professionally as the other chiefs.