Page 49

The truck rolls out with red flashing lights

Another one of my sleepless nights

I’m begging a God who I don’t know

To guard your pretty golden halo

You kiss me quick like it’s nothing at all

Like you’re not walking into a burning wall

I fold the sheets and I fold my fear

Down small enough to make it through the year

Every shift I whisper a prayer

That I never have to live without you there.

(chorus)

I’ll keep the porch light burning bright

I’ll keep on loving you through the night

and hope I’ll see my burning Ember in the morning light

(verse 2)

They say the brave ones don’t feel scared

They fight the blaze like they’re fighting a dare

I say they just don’t let it show

And I hold on tighter than you know

Because I believe what you’re fighting for

And that only makes me love you more

(bridge)

If the sirens ever stop for good

And you don’t walk back through the neighborhood

I want you to know I’d do it all again

Love you past the hellish end

It wasn’t perfect, but it made me think about what I was signing up for when it came to Thatcher’s job, or at least I thought I had. I closed my notebook and put it in the drawer to revisit the song another day, probably never showing it to anyone.

I grabbed a pair of underwear from the drawer Thatcher had emptied for me in his dresser. I walked into the kitchen to get a cup of the coffee Thatcher had made that morning. Thatcher had explained to me that he’d bought the second coffee maker so he could set it up to greet him when he returned home after his twenty-four-hour shift. I planned to do something better than just offer the smell of coffee to welcome him home. I just needed help.

River, I need help with a couple of things. You up yet?

Ten minutes later, River responded.