His Promise by Shelley Shepard Gray

Author:Shelley Shepard Gray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-10-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

“Hope you ate your Wheaties last night, Miller,” Captain Butler said as they entered the firehouse together at seven o’clock the next morning.

“I don’t know what that means,” John Michael said. “I’m thinking it has something to do with you working us hard today?” He could only imagine the training exercises the captain had up his sleeve.

“Yep. You’re on the right track. But it’s not me that’s going to be working us hard. It’s the season. Yesterday’s crew got called out for two vehicular accidents and one kitchen fire.”

Though he knew Captain Butler expected a lighthearted response, John Michael couldn’t summon a joke. “I’ll be prepared to do my best.”

After a beat, the captain clapped him on the back. “You’re right, rookie. The best is all we can do.”

As always, the first thing they did after putting their personal items in the lockers was start a load of laundry since the last thing each member of the previous crew did before leaving was strip their sheets. It was then up to the next team to wash the sheets and make their beds.

And because John Michael was the most junior member of his team, the bulk of the laundry duty usually fell on his shoulders. It was something that never failed to strike him as funny. He’d grown up thinking that doing laundry was strictly women’s work.

But he quickly learned that carrying around linens and towels from four men and four beds wasn’t all that light. Thinking of how his mamm had always washed the clothes in the basement of their home before carrying it upstairs to the clothesline outside, he felt ashamed. He should have never taken that for granted. Or, at the very least, he should have offered to carry up the wicker basket of wet laundry for her.

He had only time to start the first load of laundry when their captain called them together. Sitting around the kitchen table, he listened intently as Captain Butler read notes from the company log.

It described the vehicular accidents and the kitchen fire in greater detail, as well as the number of community and home visits the team had gone on.

Looking up from his notes, Captain Butler turned to him. “In regards to Dorma Schultz, Deputy Beck said he was going to put her on his rotation. So far, he hasn’t been able to get ahold of any of her next of kin.”

“I spoke with a friend of mine who is going to join me on paying Miss Dorma visits, too,” John Michael said. “She’ll be looked after.”

“Glad to hear that.” After assigning jobs for the morning, the captain pulled out his phone. “So, I wanted to give you an update on the suspicious fires,” he began, his voice turning more serious. “I received a memo late last night from the fire inspector and Sheriff Brewer.” He sighed. “The news is, there is no news. No other county in the state is experiencing an outbreak of this sort. And, beyond the usual holiday spike in robberies, the sheriff doesn’t have anything conclusive to report.

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