Page 8 of Fired Up By the Mountain Man
“Sometimes it does get old, but I usually make myself something that’s not on the menu when I need a change.”
“Well maybe you can cook something for me sometime, something not on the menu.” Then Cole motioned down the sidewalk toward the ice cream shop with a swing of his arm and a grin wide enough to skin a cat.
***
While walking along the beach, Cole and Maeve talked about all kinds of things while they tried to finish their cones before they melted. Who knew they had so many similar interests and they’d laughed so hard when Cole dropped his cone in the sand. After a while they stopped to relax on a park bench. The discussion covered pretty much every inch of their childhood memories, surprised at the things they had in common. He was from south Texas while she haled from the north and both of them had been raised on cattle ranches. They sympathized equally about being only children as well.
Her parents were still working full time and living in the house she’d grown up in, but Cole’s father passed away a few years ago, and his mother moved to Florida to be with her sister. He said it’d been almost a year since he saw her.
“You should probably try to get over there to visit sometime, I bet she misses you.”
“I really need to. Work has been so crazy but maybe I’ll make a point to take some time off soon. I miss her.”
Several hours and a good portion of daylight had passed as they’d worked their way back toward the shop. When Cole’s cell rang, the tone let him know it was the fire station. Just as he answered, the station siren sounded, drowning out who was on the line.
“Hold on a second” he literally screamed into the phone.
They knew it was his night off so why the hell would they be calling him? It also wasn’t his night to be on call. They gathered their shoes and headed right to the station when they noticed discolored smoke coming from the same direction.
“Cole, look!” Maeve pointed in the direction of the station but the closer they got the worse it looked.
“Chief, what’s going on up there?” Cole was talking really fast in between the siren blasts. He was concerned; they didn’t usually call him for a fire on his off hours unless it was a big one and they needed all their manpower.
“Shit, you’re kidding, right? We’ll be right there.” Cole slammed his phone shut and stuffed it in his front pocket then grabbed Maeve’s hand and started to run.
“We need to hurry, now!”
Chapter7
“What in the world is going on?” Maeve tripped and stumbled trying to keep up with Cole’s long strides as he ran, pulling her along behind.
“I can’t keep up with you, will you slow down?” His grip tightened on her hand but if anything, he ran faster.
“No time Maeve, we need to get to the station fast.”
“Why, what did your chief say?” Cole didn’t need to answer because as they rounded the causeway beside the station, one of the engines sat in the middle of the intersection. Two guys were hooking up a hose to the hydrant but there was no way to see around.
“Oh my God! Please tell me it’s not my place on fire?” Maeve could feel herself starting to panic. She wanted to run to the intersection, but Cole grabbed ahold of her hand, halting her progress.
“Maeve, we have to go slow. Don’t panic, please? We are going to calmly walk over there and talk to the chief; I see him now.”
He led her in the direction of the fire chief who called him only a few minutes ago, while they were on the beach.
“Cole I’ve never really been one for patience, in case you didn’t know that about me yet.”
He smiled sympathetically but he kept a grasp on her hand and led the way. The closer to the intersection they got, the moreher hands trembled. Once around the fire engine, her suspicions were confirmed. Itwasher café the smoke was coming from.
“Oh no!” Maeve wanted to run but Cole kept a firm grasp, holding her at his side.
“You need to stay with me Maeve, it’s going to be okay.”
A man in uniform approached them.
“Cole. Thanks for coming so quick. This must be Maeve?”
She shook her head but couldn’t make her mouth move. It took all her strength not to cry.
“I’m Tom Parker, Cole’s chief.” He extended a hand to shake hers.
