In Love with the Firefighter by Amie Denman

Author:Amie Denman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-04-12T15:20:09+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

GETTING OUT OF his house and having company other than his dog was worth the effort of showering, shaving and putting on clean clothes. Seeing Nicole across the bar was a bonus. When Tony, Ethan, Charlie and Tyler stopped by his house and wouldn’t take no for an answer, Kevin cleaned himself up, agreeing to a night at the Cape Pursuit Bar & Grill. It was Thursday, their usual time to blow off steam. The previous Thursday Kevin hadn’t felt like talking. Now that more than a week had gone by since the drowning, he was ready to put it in perspective over a glass of whatever was on draft.

Tyler sat next to Kevin. “How are you doing?”

“Fine,” Kevin said.

“Ankle better?”

“Yep.”

“Good,” Ethan said. “We’re tired of covering for your butt at work. About time you pulled on your pants and showed up.” Ethan slid a glass of beer across the table to Kevin as he spoke, his smile showing he didn’t mean any harm.

“You’re buying, right?” Tony asked.

“Sure,” Kevin said. “Any excitement at the station this week?”

Tyler shrugged. “Lots of minor runs. Little stuff. Smoke alarm at the Marriott, Dumpster fire at the Holiday Inn.”

“Bunch of squad calls,” Tony added. “Usual stuff. And some tourists tangled in their rental cars. None of those guys ever look where they’re going.”

“So I haven’t missed much.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ethan said. “Chief’s getting worked up about the big party in August.” The other three men glanced at Tony. The chief was his father.

“Go ahead and say it. I know what he’s like.”

As Kevin had mentioned to Nicole, the Cape Pursuit Fire Department one hundredth birthday was coming up—one hundred years since they officially put out their first fire with a steamer truck and four volunteers. Coinciding with the Cape Pursuit Homecoming Festival, they were planning a big celebration and open house in August, and Chief Ruggles had become a bridezilla planning the reception.

“Chief misses you,” Tyler said. “I think I saw him wearing your cleaning apron the other day.”

“Screw you,” Kevin grumbled.

“This week we cleaned out the squad room and the equipment locker. He’s talking about having the carpet in the meeting room professionally cleaned. Now he wants us to repaint the whole interior, bays and all,” Ethan said.

“When are you coming back?” Tony asked.

“Couple of days.”

“Good. We’ll save the painting for you. I’ll tell Dad you volunteered and it’s some kind of light duty transition period for you.”

“Why is he so worked up over the party?” Kevin asked. “Unless it rains, no one will even notice the inside of the station.”

Tony shrugged. “He’s getting ready to retire, probably wants to leave on a high note.”

Kevin wondered how many of his friends were considering applying for the promotions that would open up with his uncle’s retirement. Tyler wasn’t interested. As he’d put it, the higher up the ladder a guy gets, the more meetings and headaches he has. Kevin was willing to put in extra hours to advance in a career he loved.

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