Page 16 of Make It Last

Chapter Seven

Tanner

Pepperoni and teenage wisdom

“How’s your mom?” Maisie asked, looking up from behind the counter—or as she called it, her command station—at Willow Brook Fire & Rescue.

“Pretty good,” I said, resting my elbows on the counter.

Kincaid, Griffin, and Parker stood beside me, sipping coffee.

“Wow, all from one crew,” Maisie observed, glancing around.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Just an observation. There are four crews. All four of you are on the same one.”

Griffin chuckled. “It’s not that unusual. Your husband’s crew is in Fairbanks for training.”

“I know,” Maisie said with a sigh.

Just then, the emergency line rang. Maisie answered without missing a beat, tapping her earbud. “Willow Brook Fire & Rescue, how may I help you? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. Give me the address.” She glanced up at us and mouthed, ”Town call.”

Within minutes, we were hustling toward the back. During winter months, everyone pitched in—even hotshot crews—when town calls came in. Kincaid caught my eye as we climbed into the truck.

“You okay, Tanner? You’re quiet today.”

“Doing fine.”

We drove toward the call site—an old hotel that had been renovated into apartments. The place was a little worse for wear. As we neared it, my gaze drifted across the street and landed on a familiar house, my ex-fiancée’s parents’ house. They’d moved to a smaller place sometime in the past few years, while she’d moved out of town right after we broke up. I didn’t miss her, but her words still burned.

“You’re beige,” Laney had said.

We’d dated in high school. I asked her to marry me because I thought it was what I wanted. Except now, I wasn’t so sure. I’d followed a track laid out for me, never questioning my direction. When all was said and done, that one word echoed in my thoughts—beige.

“Tanner?” Kincaid’s voice punctured my thoughts. I whipped my head around to look at him.

“Yeah?”

“You zoning out over there?”

I gave a small shrug and forced myself to smile, to shake off the bitter taste Laney left behind. Hours later, we hustled through the showers back at the station. As much as I enjoyed going out in the backcountry to fight fires, there was something nice about helping out close to home and being able to look forward to a comfortable bed later.

The locker room buzzed with chatter as guys made dinner plans with their families. Yet again, like clockwork, my brain reminded me—I didn’t miss Laney. I didn’t want her back. But damn if I didn’t still feel the jagged tear she’d left with her words when she walked away.

Statistically, the odds of high school sweethearts working out were slim. I only knew one couple who’d pulled it off—Cade and Amelia. They’d been a few years ahead of me in school. They’d had a breakup for the ages before getting back together. Laney’s words were the equivalent of a sharp pebble in my shoe. She’d made me question whether being reliable, kind, and decent was a liability. I didn’t appreciate the bitterness that lingered. Even more, that part of me wondered if she’d been right.

I pulled on my jacket, shaking those thoughts away. Griffin fell into step beside me in the hallway. “How are you doing?” he asked. Griffin Cannon was a good guy. He only worked part-time now and was happily married.

“Pretty good.”

“You just seem…” He stopped walking and stood by the back door. “I don’t know, maybe preoccupied.”

I shrugged. “I’m good. Give Tish my best.”

“Always.” He studied me for a second, clapped a hand on my shoulder, and pushed through the back door.

My boots crunched on the gravel as I crossed the parking lot to my truck. Once I climbed in, Ava danced along the edges of my thoughts. She wasn’t what I expected. She was sarcastic, quick to laugh, and brutally honest about her bad luck in love. But damn if she didn’t light something up inside me. I knew I was attracted to her, but it wasn’t just that. Before I thought it through, I pulled out my phone and zapped her a text.