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EASTON
“You’re done,”Captain Reed called out after the last drills were run.
“Apparently not,” I mumbled, wrapping a hose around my hand and forearm. Obviously, I was still obsessing over the gauntlet Gramps had thrown down during dinner the week before. His words were consuming me, which was silly, but I couldn’t help it. Somehow, it felt like I had let him down, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. He may have driven me to the brink of insanity, but he raised me, and there was no one I admired more.
“Hey,” Daniel slapped me on the back as we headed to the showers. “You going to Sunday dinner tonight?”
“Nah,” I shrugged. “I’m taking the night shift for Richards.”
“To be nice, or so he can return the favor later?”
“Both,” I winked. “He wanted to head to Fiddler’s, and I wanted to avoid dinner. Win-win.”
“Avoiding Sunday dinner? Whatever is going on with you must be serious.CanI go and pretend to be you?”
“Sure,” I laughed, “You know Grams would feed you well.”
“Could you imagine menottaking my pregnant wife a cheeseburger and, instead, going to your grandparents’ house for dinner? I’d be divorced by morning.”
Yeah, right. Daniel had been my best friend since we were kids, and he and Carlee had been together since we were in ninth grade, thanks to me. I told Carlee that Daniel liked her, and she took over from there, telling him he was her boyfriend and that he needed to bring her flowers. He did, and they had been together since.
They exuded joy and contentment with their third child on the way. They were the perfect version of happily ever after, and had I not been completely happy being the cool Uncle Easton to his kids, I’d have been envious.
But love was not something I had ever needed or wanted. The only two people I had ever loved died when I was 12, and that heartache changed my entire life. I wasn’t interested in letting my heart get too involved with feelings that were so easily taken away. My love for my brothers and grandparents was scary enough.
Afterquick showers, some of the crew left while others settled in for their overnight shift. Most everyone headed to the day room to watch TV and play video games while I made my way into the kitchen to see if Captain Reed needed help with dinner. I knew if he was left alone, none of us would be eating for hours.
“Good evening, Lieutenant,” he gruffed under his big mustache when I swung the door open. “Grab a knife.”
“Toss me the peppers,” I offered, then got to work quietly preparing dinner for everyone on shift. “Hoping for a quiet night?”
Captain Reed huffed and nodded, but we both knew quiet would be an understatement. Sundays in Harmony Haven weredownright boring. The entire town shut down at seven. Even the grocery stores closed, and most traffic lights started blinking yellow. The only place open would be Fiddler’s, the dive bar on the main highway, and any calls from there would be for the police department.
“Hey,” Rory Marte popped her head into the kitchen. “Need help?”
“If you want to eat any time soon, then yeah. You know, Captain here is a slow poke.”
I pointed to another knife and rolled her a few more vegetables to cut. Even with a long counter to work with, she got up beside me, her elbow slightly rubbing mine. It was just like her to be intentional when it came to being close to me. It irritated me, but I usually let it go for the sake of the station. Plus, it was never more than a few touches or amorous looks. I had been dealing with those since high school.
“Oh,” I set my knife down. “I need to call West. Y’all eat without me.”
Captain grumbled again to let me know he heard me, but Rory’s eyes shot up in disbelief. She hadn’t come to help, she’d come to be close to me, and even though I had no intention of calling West, I had decided that I couldn’t deal with Rory until after I’d had a good night’s sleep.
Not only had it been a long week of overthinking Gramps’ idea of a pop quiz, but I had also been retraining at work, and renovating my house. My older brother had taken it upon himself to buy, and slowly restore, every old home in Harmony Haven. It worked out well, though, because I got a free place to live. I didn’t mind the work I put into it, either. I considered myself pretty handy, and even though my body ached after bigger projects, I realized that renovating and using my hands to build was a hobby I hadn’t expected to love. It felt fulfilling to see the changes come to life.
As the lieutenant in charge, I had my own bunk room, and that included my own stash of protein bars, which I munched on as I scrolled Pinterest and organized my boards. Judge me all you want, but my Pinterest boards were sacred.
“Yes,” I whispered to myself, clicking and pinning an outdoor seating area to my board labeled “Summertime.” It was a fire pit with several wooden swings facing the center. It may have been too big for my small backyard, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t tuck it away for an idea later on.
In the meantime, I had a hole in my backyard ready for an understated yet intricate fire pit to be built. I needed ideas, something that would fit and wouldn’t cost me an entire month’s salary to create.
I had scrolled and pinned for a little while, but by eleven o’clock, I finally felt myself dozing off. I set my phone down and closed my eyes, and my first thought was about that fire pit with the swings. I envisioned Daniel’s kids roasting marshmallows while Carlee panicked that they might burn themselves. I placed myself on one of the swings and looked around, seeing Gram and Gramps, Miles and West.
The closer I got to sleep, the easier it was to envision my parents there, laughing at me and my brothers while looking lovingly at each other. They used to do that all the time. I may have been young when they died, but I will never forget the way they looked at each other. It was the same way Gramps and Grams looked at one another. The way I never thought I’d look at anyone.
My eyes popped open at the unexpected blaring of the alarm. It was the ring we dreaded, the telling sound of someone being in trouble, and my body went on autopilot.
Jumping from my bed, I grabbed everything I needed from my locker and ran into the hall to gear up. Everyone, myselfincluded, was shocked to hear the alarm, and some of the guys weren’t moving at the speed we were trained to use.
