The Switch (10 page)

Danny hung his fire turnouts back on their hook and headed for the shower. It wasn’t going to be a very merry Christmas for the family whose home had just burned out. Three crews had been working on it for the past two hours. The brick façade might be salvageable, he thought, but the rest of it was a bust. Why was it fires seemed to multiply during the holidays?

He loved being a firefighter even more than his paramedic shifts. He loved to watch the flames roar, to hold the hose as water rushed through it, onto the blaze. There was magic in fire, in the way it moved across floors and walls, eating everything in its path. It was a force stronger than man, unpredictable in many ways, dangerous, fascinating. He often thought he’d like to be trained to identify and track arson, but he wasn’t done with his paramedic skills, yet. He figured there was plenty of time, he wasn’t even thirty.

The water beating down from the shower head was refreshing, left him feeling human again, softening the exhaustion of carrying around all his gear for hours—those oxygen tanks were heavy after a while. He dressed and trudged back to the kitchen to grab some food and a sports drink. Fluid replacement was one of the most important things the firemen had to remember. Dehydration was nobody’s friend and in the heat of the fire with all of his gear on, it was a serious threat.

Finished with lunch, he decided to do a supply check on the rig he’d be using the next day. He was halfway through when James bellowed at him. “Hey, Danny, where are you?”

A moment later he stepped out of the back of the ambulance, clipboard in hand. “Yeah, what’s up?” His eyes slid from his coworker to another man he didn’t recognize and back to James.

“This dude’s lookin’ for ya.” James wandered off.

Danny returned his attention to the dark-haired man. “What can I do for you?” He studied the stranger, trying to figure out what he was doing there.

“I hear you know Laura Dunaway really well.”

Danny drew into himself a little, wary. What did this joker want? “Yeah. We grew up together.”

“My name is Gavin McFadden.” He stuck his hands in his pockets, obviously uneasy. “Is there somewhere we can sit?”
 

Danny’s radar went off, telling him there was something wrong. His wariness increased, though he wasn’t sure why. “I need to finish this inventory. Just tell me what you want.”

Gavin paused for a moment, as if considering his words. “Do you have a sister named Janie?”

Suspicion joined Danny’s other emotions. How could this guy know? And why did he care? If he was a friend of Janie’s he should have just said it. And how did he know Laura anyway? The name Gavin wasn’t familiar. Was he a reporter? One or two had tried contacting him after the accident, but Danny had ignored the phone. What would be the news angle now? “Yeah.”

Gavin looked extremely uncomfortable, but he looked at Danny straight on. “There’s really no way to say this, so I’m just gonna come out with it.” He paused to take a fortifying breath. “Laura’s alive. There was a mistake. She’s had amnesia.”

Hope followed by wrenching pain assaulted him and it was all Danny could do not to strike out at the jerk when the memory of Laura lying in the coffin popped into his mind. “Do you think this is a funny joke?” Danny’s eyes narrowed as he wondered who sent the man to mess with him. “Get out of here.”

He shook his head. “She’s alive. You buried the wrong person.”

“I saw her body, buddy. Do you really think I wouldn’t know her? No matter how badly she was hurt, it’s not like I wouldn’t know my best friend.” But he remembered all of the damage to her face and wondered if he would have recognized her without the mortician’s artistic license. It was easy to dismiss, though, so he took a menacing step toward Gavin. “Get out.”

Gavin moved back but didn’t act as though he intended to leave. “Look, Danny, she’s alive, and she needs to go home to her parents’ house. You’ve known her for years; you’ll know who should break the news to her parents. I can take her there myself, but I need some information first.”

Danny stepped closer, hurt and anger pouring through him. “You leave those poor people alone. Don’t you think they’ve been through enough? Do you have any clue how it’s torn us all apart losing her?” He was able to contain the hitch of pain that nearly stopped his speech, but just barely.

Though his eyes showed his nervousness at Danny’s aggressive movements, Gavin stood his ground, keeping his hands loose at his sides. “Since my friend—my brother—just found out that you buried his sister months ago and Laura isn’t Adrianna, then yeah, I have an idea.”

That made Danny pause. The dude was serious? “You actually believe this woman is Laura? You said she had amnesia. Did she suddenly remember everything?”

Gavin shook his head. “She had an appendectomy this morning. Adrianna already had an appendectomy years ago. It’s not her. I poked around a little and realized she had to be Laura.”

Danny’s brows winged up. “That was your
first
clue?” He still wasn’t sure he believed, but he wanted it to be true so badly he couldn’t walk away. Hope burgeoned in his chest and he fought to keep it under control.

Gavin gritted his teeth. “Look, she said she used to come to your place for a gingerbread house eating contest every year. You would make screaming noises for the gingerbread men when you ate them. I think she would have insisted on doing a gingerbread house this year except Megan’s too busy and Laura’s frankly dangerous with an oven.”

Danny stopped and stared at Gavin as his questions dissolved. It took him a minute to reign in his emotions enough to talk. Then he chuckled without mirth. “You actually let her into the kitchen?”

An answering smile was all he needed.

* * *

 
It took seven calls and begging major favors for Danny to get the rest of his shift covered, along with his next one so he could spend time in Junction City for a few days with Laura and his family. He was glad his apartment was on the way to the hospital, since he still had to pack a bag.

Back on the road, he grabbed his cell phone and called Tia. She would be on her way to pick up Samantha from school by now. Luckily she answered on the second ring. “Hey, Tia.”

“Hi, Danny. I heard about the house fire. Did your crew respond to it?”

“Yeah, it was pretty bad. The poor family lost everything.” His mind was only half on the conversation, while the rest of his brain tried to figure out how to tell her what was going on.

“How heart breaking.”

“Yeah, it can be.” That was entirely true, though he’d leave off the part about how much he loved fires—no need to freak her out. He switched his mind back to the purpose of the call.

Tia spoke first, “Samantha’s so excited about our plans tomorrow. She’s hardly talked about anything else.”

Danny bit back a groan. He
hated
letting people down. Tia would understand, but would Samantha? “Yeah, that’s why I’m calling, actually. I have a problem.”

Three seconds passed like rings of a gong before she responded. “What kind of problem? Did you pull another shift at work?”

He gripped the steering wheel harder. “No. I guess
problem
isn’t the right word. Complication is more like it. You’re not driving are you?” He didn’t want her to cause an accident when he told her about Laura.

“No, I’m parked outside of the school, waiting for Samantha.” Her voice was wary.

“Good.” His gut felt tight, a ball of tension growing. “You remember me telling you how Laura and I had been friends since we were kids?”

“Of course.”

“Well, this guy came to talk to me today. He said Laura
isn’t
dead. Apparently there’s been a mix-up and she’s alive and been living in Paola, but she’s in the hospital now after getting her appendix out, and she needs a ride home to her parents.” He knew he wasn’t explaining it well. He didn’t know what to think about any of it, so how could he explain it?

“She let you all think she was dead this whole time? That doesn’t sound like something a best friend would do. Come on, Danny, maybe the man was pulling your leg.”

“I keep thinking that, but he was so certain. He said she has amnesia. She really hasn’t known who she was until now.” When he said it out loud, it sounded even more lame than it had when Gavin had told him.

“Do you think it’s true?” Skepticism filled her voice.

He found himself nodding, even though she couldn’t see him. “I think it might be. He told me something she’s said about us growing up that only a few people know. And as for the amnesia, you’re right that there’s no way she would leave me and her parents thinking she was dead if she knew who she was. No way. So if it
is
her, then it has to be true.” He wondered if he was rambling, but wasn’t sure if he cared much at this point. He needed to get some of his thoughts out in the open. “I don’t know. What if it isn’t her? What if we get there and find out it’s someone else? Her death has been haunting me, and now I find out she’s not dead after all?”

“Are you okay?” Tia’s voice was now pure comfort and concern.

He wished he knew. “Right now I’m running on adrenaline. When I see her I’ll find out what’s up. Then we’ll go from there. This guy, Gavin, asked me to take her back home to Junction City.”

There was a long pause before Tia spoke again, and her voice had cooled slightly. “You’re not going to be back in time to take us out tomorrow, are you?”

“No, I’m really sorry. I won’t be back until early Wednesday, or late the night before—Tell Samantha I’ll make it up to you guys next week. I promise.” He hated to cancel their date, but it wasn’t his fault that things were going wrong.

The sound of a car door opening and closing, and Samantha’s voice filtered through the background on Tia’s end. “Of course,” Tia said.

“Who is it Mommy?” Samantha’s voice asked.

“Danny. He said he’s not going to make it tomorrow. Something came up, sweetie.”

“What? But he promised!”

Danny’s gut clenched. He
hated
disappointing people. He wished he had time to wait until Samantha had gotten out of school so he could explain it all in person, but it wouldn’t wait and he was already halfway to the hospital. He heard Tia’s soft murmur, then Samantha’s demand that she be allowed to talk to him.

A moment later her voice came onto the line. “Hi, Danny. What do you mean you can’t take us?”

“Sorry, sweet pea. I have a problem.” He searched for the right words, to ease the disappointment as much as possible.

“What kind of problem?”

“I have this friend who’s sick and she needs me to pick her up from the hospital and take her home.”

“But I thought you took sick people
to
the hospital, not from the hospital to their homes.” Her voice was petulant and he could imagine her slouched in a pout, her free hand fisted and pounding her knee as he’d seen her do before.

Danny smiled at the image. “This is different. She’s over the border in Kansas and she needs to get home to her parents in Junction City. She’s been away from home a really long time.”

Her voice turned to a full-out whine. “Why can’t her parents come get her? I want to go to the movie.”

“I know, sweet pea. I’m sorry. I promise we’ll still do movie and dinner and everything next week when I get back.” He felt like a jerk and wished things were different.

“When are you coming back?”

“Not until Wednesday. And then I’ll have to work for a few days. It’ll probably be next Saturday before we can go out.”

“But, Danny, you promised!” Samantha’s voice rose to a wail and he heard her sniffle.

“Honey, I’m really sorry.” He grasped for any way to make her understand. “Hey, I want you to think of Casey. What would you do if she was sick?”

No sounds but sniffling came through the phone, so she was still listening.

“And what if she was so sick she needed you to help her, because no one else could. If you had to give up something you wanted to do so you could help her, would you help her anyway?”

Sniffle. “Yeah.”

“I have to help my friend Laura. When I’ve helped her get home and straighten things around, I’ll be back and we’ll still get to have a fun time together. I’ll explain everything to you then, and I’ll make sure you get to meet her someday.”

She heaved a deep, put upon sigh. “All right. I’ll see you later.” She didn’t sound happy, but at least she wasn’t throwing a tantrum anymore.

“Thanks, Samantha. Can you pass me back to your mom?”

“Yeah. Bye.” Her voice was low and filled with disappointment, making guilt twist in his stomach.

“Bye, honey.”

A moment passed before Tia’s voice returned. “Sounds like you worked it out with her.”

“I am really sorry about all of this. If I’d known—”

“That’s why they call them emergencies, Danny.” Her words were perfectly sensible, but her voice was clipped. “You can’t schedule them into your week.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“Have a safe trip.”

“I will. Take care of yourself, and the girls.” He wanted to say more, but didn’t know what to say. He wanted to tell her what he was feeling, except he wasn’t sure he
knew
what he felt. A big part of him still thought this was going to turn out to be a wild goose chase.

“Of course. That’s what I do.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow.

“Sure.”

“Bye.” Danny hung up feeling dissatisfied about the way it had all gone, and unable to figure out how to fix it.

* * *

Tia’s grandmother lived in a tiny house in an old, dilapidated neighborhood in east Kansas City. She had raised two sons in the two-bedroom apartment while her husband worked strange hours as a bus driver for the city transit system. When he received a spinal injury in an accident at work, he was unable to return to his job, or any job full time again, and she’d gone to school and received her CAN. Then she worked her tail off in a nursing home while she earned her RN certification. She had spent most of her life working in that nursing home, and had commented to Tia more than once that she feared she would work there until she had to move into it herself.

Thankfully Ron had been successful enough to pay off the little home she lived in and purchase her a decent car. When her social security benefits had kicked in, Glena was able to quit work and settle back on her 401K and government benefits. In addition to a couple of trips to her hometown in Alabama, she’d even taken a few trips to
exotic
locals like Florida and Louisiana.

Tia smiled to herself at the thought of her grandmother stretched out on the beach, trying to get a tan. It would never happen, though it was easy to see her under an enormous umbrella in a light sundress and lounging while she read. She had invited Tia to join her in Florida, had even offered to pay the plane fare a couple of years back, but Tia hadn’t taken her up on the offer. It would have meant leaving the girls with Nichole for several days when Tristi was far too young to be left with someone else, and kicking in for a few expenses, which Tia couldn’t manage financially.

She pushed the doorbell and smiled at the plastic flowers arranged in a vase beside the door. They were faded and nowhere near realistic, but they made Glena happy, so what could Tia say?

The door opened, exposing her grandmother’s wrinkled smile and bright blue eyes. “Tia, I’m so glad you stopped by. Where are the girls?”

Tia entered at her grandma’s behest. “At the neighbors’. I believe the older girls will be making gingerbread houses with graham crackers while the younger girls tip over stacks of blocks. I’ll bring them next time, but I wanted to talk to you without a dozen interruptions for a change.” The house always smelled of pine cleaner and had a warm, comfortable feel.

Glena’s belly laugh—her laugh was as full out and heartfelt as everything else in her life—filled the room. “Well, I’m glad to see you, anyway. How are things at work?”

“They’re going well. I’ve been thinking about putting together a cookbook. It’s kind of overwhelming and exciting all at once.”

“Good for you. How excitin’. I always knew you were the grandchild who would go somewhere, do somethin’. Right there in the hospital I could see it in you.”

“You’re sweet.” Tia sank into the old gold sofa and accepted the tin of cookies Glena handed her.

“Not at all. I’ve always felt lucky to have you for my granddaughter.” She bustled to the kitchen for drinks—as she always did when someone arrived. “Now, what else is goin’ on in your life? Any hunky men?” She peered out through the doorway into the living area.

Tia smiled to herself and took a bite of the rosemary shortbread from the tin. She sighed in appreciation as the flavors hit her tongue. “Is this my recipe?”

“Of course, honey. Where else would I get a recipe like that?” Glena brought over a couple Cokes, handing one to Tia, who took it gratefully and popped the can open.

Glena settled into the chair across from her and opened her own can. “What was that smile? You have yourself a man, don’t you? Come on, child, tell me everythin’.”

Tia laughed. “I’ve been seeing someone. It’s nothing serious.”
Now. And after he ditched us, maybe never.
The thought made her uncomfortable, though, so she moved past it. “We’re just enjoying each other’s company. He’s so unlike Lee in so many ways, but in the best ways, they’re very alike.” It surprised her to hear the words, as she hadn’t allowed herself to think about how the men compared and contrasted, but she knew it was true.

“Is this someone you’ve met since the birthday party? Why haven’t you been over here tellin’ your old grandmother all about him before now?”

“Actually, we’d met before the dinner, but we didn’t start seeing each other until after.” She ran her finger around the rim of her soda can, a little confused by everything.

“Well why not? What’s wrong with the man that he can’t look and see my grandbaby is the best thing he’ll ever find? I don’t know if he’s good enough if he didn’t want to snatch you up the moment you met.”

Tia sipped her soda and tamped back her smile. She should have come here sooner. Grandma always made her feel better. “I was having a bit of trouble breathing when I met him—and not because he’s gorgeous and has a gentle touch, though both are true.”

“Mmmhmm, that’s what I’m talkin’ about, girl, if they make you catch your breath, it’s worth checkin’ into. You been alone too long already.”

Tia’s objection was automatic. “It hasn’t been that long since Lee died.”

“You keep sayin’ that, but time passes so fast. One minute it’s here, and the next,” Glena snapped her fingers for emphasis, “it’s gone. Don’t waste your time, honey, or you’ll regret it.”

Privately, Tia thought she was better off taking her time with this one. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So what you been up to other than gettin’ yourself a young man—he is young, right? You’re not seein’ someone old enough to be your daddy?”