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Rumors spread, especially after one of the firefighters had cheated with Chase Mark’s wife at the time. They divorced soon afterward. In a small town, everyone knew everything. While Captain Mark’s ex-wife was still living in town, the other firefighter had quit not long afterward and moved away. Colton wasn’t willing to risk a second chance with Eris.
No, in fact, the thought of Alec or Lance flirting with her almost made him stay put instead of taking Zane to see the truck, but he had to trust her – and she needed to know that. If things were going to work, there had to be trust and respect, and though he’d never had a reason to doubt her… their relationship had ended abruptly once before.
“I’ll be back,” he said quietly, looking at her.
Zane’s amazement at the truck made him remember the first time he’d seen a fire truck as a young boy. His dad had been a firefighter, and he’d gotten to do a ride-along as a boy. That was all it took for him to want to be a fireman. That thought had never wavered – not even after his father had died, a casualty of a fire. No, while it had hurt so much, seeing the ‘family’ at the station come together for him had been everything. They took care of each other, and watched out for one another… and that was how it was supposed to be. The last two years, his ‘family unit’ had been falling apart but there was definitely a different aura to them all now.
“Oh Daddy, wook at dis big ‘ol cruck!” Zane was rambling as he scrambled to climb up into the cab. “Oh wowww… this hat? And this? Wook at this, Daddy!”
His son was so excited that his enunciation was slipping, sounding more like baby gibberish to him, making the two men chuckle easily as they shared a look. Chad was a really good guy and so excited about their first child being on the way. Maya was barely five months pregnant, and he was on cloud nine.
“Put on the hat, buddy…”
“Yep, climb up here, and we can honk the siren together,” Chad offered, grinning. “Get up in the captain’s seat…”
Colton hesitated only for a second – and then shook his head.
“I’m not ready yet.”
And felt a hand on his shoulder.
Glancing back, he saw his captain standing there, nodding at him.
“We’ll learn together,” the other man said quietly, his voice barely audible as the two talked. “No one is ever ready, but we pay attention, bounce ideas, and work together. That’s why I told you to have my back, and I will have yours. Don’t you think I recognize the next captain waiting on my team? There’s nothing wrong with that either. I want a team full of strong men who can work together – and I’m not threatened in the slightest by that. If I’m ever not here, I will be looking to you to fill in, so you might as well see how that seat feels.”
“What about Chad?” Colton asked in a hushed voice. “Isn’t the engineer next up?”
“If the engineer is ready or wants it. Chad doesn’t want it – yet, but I have a born leader who functioned as our engineer for quite a while before Chad arrived. I know why you are still on the line and can appreciate it. Go,” he urged softly and then grinned. “Just don’t move my seat or screw with my mirrors.”
“Yes, Captain,” Colton grinned.
* * *
It wasn’t twenty minutes later that they got another call. Colton was shoveling in his last bite of lasagna and tearing his piece of French bread in half so Zane could have some more since they’d finished the loaf off only to hear the alert.
Structure fire reported
A chorus of groans rose as they all shot to their feet, Lance and Alec quickly shoveling in their last bites with zero manners. Justin was already heading for the truck, and Chad quickly kissed his wife on the lips before racing out the door behind him.
“Zane stay here with your mama,” Colton ordered, getting to his feet – only to see Eris do the same. Her eyes held his for only a second as she nodded.
“I did want to see you – be safe, okay?”
“What are you doing Tuesday night, Gorgeous?”
And heard her chuckle shyly. They both knew he got off work Tuesday morning and would be home spending time with them. Yeah, he was going to make sure his girl fell for him once again.
“Perhaps you have a hot date with a sexy firefighter?”
“We’ll see,” she smiled.
“I won’t take no for an answer,” he grinned – before leaning forward to kiss her cheek again – and seeing the lights flashing already. He was gonna get left behind if he dawdled much longer. Yanking off his shoes, he pivoted on the balls of his socked feet, hollering over his shoulder. “Zane, take care of your mama for me. See you soon, buddy.”
“See ya, Daddy!”
Climbing onto the truck not a moment later, still yanking on his gear and suiting up, he rolled down the window of the cab and stuck out his arm, waving as Zane’s face illuminated, and he saw Eris blow him a kiss.
Yeah, he wasn’t going to mess things up this time.
