The Fire Inside (16 page)

Against her team were Mitch, Zach, Jenn, Noah
and Eve, Quinn Frazier and two others.

In the server’s position, Zach tossed up the
ball and punched it over the net. Right to Tess, who jumped up and
popped it back into the air. Paulie slapped it over to the other
side. He high-fived her. Connie served next. Right into the net,
unfortunately. “Get the hook,” Mitch called out.

Connie stuck her tongue out at her big
brother.

They batted the ball back and forth until the
score was tied at fourteen. “Win by two,” Noah announced as he
served. The ball went high and was coming right toward Tess, who’d
moved to the front line. “Mine,” she yelled and spiked it down to
the water of the opposing team.

“We changed our mind, Teresa.” This from
Mitch. “You can go back to Rockland.”

In the end, Tess’s team won. She was
energized by the play and swam to the steps. Where she found Jack,
holding a towel out for her. It was the same color blue as the one
she wore the night they made love, and from his expression, he
remembered, too. But he said easily, “You looked good out
there.”

Hell,
he
looked good. He wore a black
suit with red stripes and a red T-shirt to match. The color did
great things for his complexion. And she’d forgotten how muscular
he was. His biceps and pecs and chest were sculpted.

“Like what you see?” he asked, amused.

She was in a good mood; he’d helped after a
nightmare, so her smile was broad. “I never made any bones about
that, Doc.”

His gaze turned hot as he looked down. She
wrapped the towel around her waist only. Her chest was exposed, and
though the suit was one piece, it was cut high at the legs and low
at the top. “Watch yourself, Doc.”

“If you don’t want people to look, don’t wear
something like that.”

“Touché.”

Cory Cameron came up to them. “Tess, want a
hot dog? They’re cooking them in the kitchen.”

“I would.” Nodding to Jack, they left.

Jack stood where he was, confounded by his
feelings about Tess walking away from him with another man. He
couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“You’d better stop staring like that, Doc, or
somebody else is gonna catch on.”

Turning, he found Sophia Ramirez behind him.
Wearing a ruffled bathing suit, she resembled a young Sophia Lauren
so much she was breathtaking. Jack said, “I have no idea what you
mean.”

“I’ve been watching you since you got here.
You keep looking for the prodigal cousin, and when you find her,
you stare. When did all this happen?”

He wouldn’t lie outright to Sophia. “Oh, God,
don’t tell anybody.”

Her laugh was sultry. “I won’t.”

“I, um, knew her in Rockland when I went to
take the recruit class.”

“You going for it?”

“No. Professional ethics and all.”

“Hmm.”

A whistle blew, and Noah Callahan asked for
everybody’s attention. “Food’s on in the other room, but if you
want to be in a diving contest, do it before you eat.”

A flurry of activity—soon, all the Malvasos
were lined up at the diving board, including Tess. The family loved
each other but were super-competitive, too. They let Tess go
first.

So, as if he
needed
this, Jack had to
watch her climb the steps to the high board. Stride to the end, and
bounce. Once, twice. She leapt into the air, bent her body in a
perfect jackknife, glided downward, then hit the water almost
without any splash.

Fuck, was there anything the woman wasn’t
good at?

“Come on, Romeo, let’s go get food,” Sophia
said dryly and tugged at his arm.

o0o

Tess was familiar with RTE’s, Recruit
Training Evaluations, though each department did them differently.
At the Anderson Fire Academy, the staff would meet on Friday
afternoon while the recruits spent the end of the day with Jack.
Tess liked the evaluations, mostly because everything was brought
out in the open.

Olive nodded to a pizza on the table. “Jack
Harrison got some pie for the recruits, and he bought one for
us.”

Briefly, Tess wondered about the familiarity
of sharing a meal with students. It was customary to maintain
structure and distance at first. Dismissing the idea, she took a
piece and bit into it. Hmm, cheese, pepperoni, spiced sauce.

After everyone had a bite to eat, Olive rose
and stood by the white board. “Listed up here are the recruit
names. Each of you will give them a grade, on a scale of one to
five, five being the best. We’ll discuss their ratings. Let’s do it
orally. Since there’s been no EMS, Larissa isn’t here today.”

The first name up was Anita Cruz. Tony said,
“Three.”

Jenkins gave her a four.

Tess said, “One.”

All gazes focused on her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“We don’t give ones, Tess,” Tony told
her.

“She practically fainted on the first
day.”

He shot her a questioning look. “But she’s
done well physically the rest of the week.”

“Huh. I guess you don’t grade as hard here as
we do in Rockland.”

“As a matter of fact, we grade hard.” Olive
smiled at her. “But we don’t give ones. We found doing that too
demoralizing to the recruits. And discouraging.”

“Okay, I change mine to a two.”

Next up was Dan Mauro. Scores were
4/5/5/4/3/2.

Again, everybody looked to Tess. “Hell.” She
shook her head. “I just don’t get it. This guy, for example. He’s a
hotshot.” Like Joey had been. “He’s arrogant.”

“He’s aced every single written and physical
test we’ve given him.” This from Jenkins.

Tony sighed. “I agree with Jenkins.”

Frazier shook his head. “I gave him a three.
I agree with Tess. Something’s off about that kid. When he
challenged Ian, it was almost like he was asking to be called
out.”

“I have a suggestion.” Olive spoke with
authority. “Let’s outline what we’re basing the evaluation on.”

They hadn’t done that in Rockland. Scores
reflected more of a general impression.

Olive looked to Tess. “What do you
think?”

“I guess so. I’m clearly on a different page
from most of you.”

“Then, let’s see if we can start a new
chapter.”

At the end of the first week of recruit
class, Hale’s Haven held its kickoff, cleanup weekend beginning
Friday morning. Firefighters and police officers who were off shift
worked from nine to five, as well as some veterans in the area.
Academy people and those who were on day shift would put in a few
hours at night.

Now, at five o’clock, Megan Malvaso smiled at
the assembled group. “Wow. What a great turnout. There were a lot
of people here today, but I’m surprised to see so many of you
giving up your Friday night.”

“Did we have a choice?” Zach Malvaso whined.
Jack knew he was one of the camp’s biggest supporters and spent a
lot of free time here, fixing things up.

Casey Malvaso rolled her eyes. The dynamic
between the married couple was fun to watch, though there was a
time when it was excruciating to observe their dealings with each
other.

Megan continued, “You all know Parker Erikson
and Lisel Woodward, the duo who are heading up the camp this
year.”

Both women, dressed in plain shirts and work
pants, waved. Jack knew they were as lovely inside as out.

Giving the crowd a huge smile, Parker stood.
“Everyone’s invited across the lake to our house for dinner at
eight p.m., so you only have a few hours of actual cleanup time.
We’ll begin again tomorrow, early morning. We promise to tire you
out this weekend.”

Lisel stood beside her. “We’re having people
for dinner tomorrow at six, when we quit for the day. Across the
lake, too, in case you don’t know.”

After the applause for their hospitality and
some shout outs, Megan went on. “I’m in charge of the campers for
the summer.”

Mitch, standing by her, shook his head and
assumed a look of feigned annoyance. “Still!”

As if he didn’t work as hard as she did.

“And Jack Harrison’s with us tonight. He runs
support groups with kids and is often around to participate in
activities.” She winked. “You should have seen him on the ropes
course last year. He was amazing.”

A second round of clapping flabbergasted him.
He’d helped a lot of these people, but still…

“These are your work assignments.” Megan
passed out clipboards. “If you don’t feel comfortable with what
you’re doing, come see me.” She shot a glance at her husband.
“Don’t worry, dear, I’m not making you climb any heights.” She
cleared her throat. “You’re a bit past that.”

People laughed. During times like this, humor
and happiness ran high. Jack wondered how Tess would get along
here. She’d come in as he did, but he’d purposely not searched for
her in the crowd. Since they’d agreed it might be unethical to get
involved—after all one of the recruits had written that she was a
bitch—he best stay away from her. He’d dealt with the incident by
saying the instructors had the best interests of the recruits at
heart but they each went about it differently.

When the clipboard reached him, Jack found he
was working with Gabe Malvaso, Rachel Wellington and Larissa James
on the caretaker’s house, aka where Mitch and Megan lived for the
summer. During the rest of the year, others used it for special
weekends and events in the fall. The place needed a good cleaning
after being closed up most of the winter. Others would work on the
outside, emptying the gutters and washing windows. He checked to
see who they were. Shit. Tess. And yay! Tess. Obviously, he was
conflicted about more contact with her.

“Again, thanks so much for this.” Megan’s
eyes got misty. The camp was named in honor of her dad, Patrick
Hale, who’d died in the line of duty. She’d been one of these kids
they were trying to help.

Jack meandered down to the water and met up
with Noah Callahan. The chief said, “I was hoping to catch you. How
did the Recruit Concerns class go this week?”

Sighing, Jack looked out at the lake. The sun
was low, sparkling off the water, so he had to shield his eyes from
the brightness. “Awkward about covers it. They wouldn’t talk at all
the first day. I had to
order
them to write out concerns
they had, then I read them aloud.”

“Did you expect that kind of reticence?”

“Pretty much, after observing them at the
beginning of the week. Today was better. One kid asked about
confidentiality. We spent the better part of the ninety minutes
deciding what that meant. I let them come up with what they wanted,
first, and I accepted everything. All I had to add was the part
about hurting themselves and others.”

Like the friend he was, Noah clapped him on
the back. “If anybody can make this work, it’s you.”

“How you doing, Chief?”

“Good. Closer to retirement, I think.”

“Have you talked more with Eve about it?”

“Same old, same old. She wants me to retire.
But she isn’t pushing me.”

“Remember what I said, no option is going to
be a hundred percent.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He turned to face the camp.
“Can you believe we did this?”

“Sometimes I can’t. You have a lot to be
proud of.”

“I’m not responsible for Hale’s Haven.”

“You are in many ways. Without your support,
the camp wouldn’t have been built or grown so fast. Don’t downplay
your importance, Noah. Take joy in it.”

“You’re right. I will.”

“How many kids this year?”

“Four sessions. About thirty kids each
session. Then, there’s Junior Hale’s Haven.” The overnight camp was
set up for kids seven to seventeen. Junior camp was for the
three-to-seven age group. Jack had spent time there last year and
changed a few diapers.

“I heard Lela and Beck took over the junior
camp.” Two years ago, Beck Sloan, a retired army colonel turned
firefighter, had suggested they include kids of veterans at Hale’s
Haven. It had been such a success, they’d made it a permanent part
of the program. Other war heroes who’d returned home had
volunteered.

“People just step up, you know?” Noah
mused.

“Give them an opportunity and they do.”

Someone across the way yelled, “Jack, you
ready to clean up?”

“Oh, Lord, my favorite task. See you later,
Chief.”

When he reached the caretaker house, Rachel
Wellington handed him a pail and sponges. Jack liked the tall,
lithe woman. “Hey, Jack. I’m so glad to see you again.”

“Same here.

”Which do you want? The kitchen, bathrooms or
living space?”

“Anything. Doesn’t matter.”

“Take the kitchen.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He squeezed her arm. “How are
things going?”

“Good, I’m back full-time. Anabelle went to
kindergarten, so it seemed right.” Jack had helped her decide when
to return to the line and encouraged job sharing—which Noah agreed
to—in the department so women like Rachel could work part-time.

On his way to the kitchen, he stopped to say
hello to Larissa. “Hi. I’m surprised to see you here.”

She looked cute with her hair up in a
ponytail and a shirt that sported an ambulance on the front. The
slogan read Nobody Calls Us `Cause They Did Something Smart! So,
she had a sense of humor. He liked that in women.

“I wanted to help,” she said sweetly. “Maybe
we can get more of the EMS workers in the city to support the
camp.”

“Good idea. Be careful what you say out loud,
though. If you suggest something, Megan will put you in charge of
it—forever.”

She laughed and so did he. “Good to see
you.”

When he reached the kitchen, he whipped off
his overshirt, so he wore only a black T-shirt with jeans. He was
already hot, so he opened the kitchen window. He filled a bucket
and began with the exterior of the cabinets. The outside people had
set up a radio, and it blasted some god-awful heavy metal. So he
blanked his mind and scrubbed and washed, scrubbed and washed. When
he went to the sink, the music changed, thank God, to oldies. But
when Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” came on, Jack swore under his
breath and scrubbed the sink with excessive force.