There was a rushing noise on the other end of the phone. Luke furrowed his brow. “Are you driving?”

“What does it matter?” Mel asked. Her voice was grainy, and the rushing noise continued. “I can’t believe the house Mom and Dad gave me doesn’t allow controlled burns. You have to check the codes again. It can’t be right. We used to have fires out there all the time when we were younger. Remember?”

“I’m sorry.” Luke closed his eyes. Across the room, Xander and Tim were snickering. “Rules change over time, Mel, and what we did as kids isn’t a reflection of what we can do as adults. I know that it’s in a quiet area and there’s a lot of land, but controlled burns aren’t permissible in the county without the proper licensing... licensing that you don’t have, and won’t be able to obtain without a reason.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“That’s how the law words.”

“You’re a firefighter, Luke! You know how ridiculous that is!” Mel was starting to snap at him. “I’m your sister. I’m responsible. All I want is to burn away the brush on my lawn. You know that it was overgrown. Mom and Dad never took care of it.”

“I’m sorry. You’ll have to call the city and arrange to have a chipper stop by.”

He could almost feel the waves of loathing from the other end of the phone.

“The city website says that I need to bundle the brush. Do you know how much of it there is, and how long that would take me?”

“I don’t, and I’m sorry, but there’s no way I can help you. Right now is prime time for wildfires, and you’re not going to be given permission to do a controlled burn... it’s as simple as that.”

Mel sighed heavily. “I wish it wasn’t so hard all the time. It’s not like I want to detonate dynamite, or kill a man.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, sorry doesn’t really solve anything, does it?”

Luke winced.

“Goodbye, Luke,” Mel said sternly. Then she hung up.

Luke dropped his cell phone onto his lap as Xander and Tim burst into laughter. Xander slapped his knee. “How much longer until she calls back to ask you if anything’s changed? Five minutes?”

“It’s not funny, Xander.” Luke covered his eyes with his hands and leaned back against the couch. “She’s been on my case non-stop about this controlled burn stuff. If she spent half the time organizing the brush into bundles that she did calling me to complain about it, it’d already be organized, and she could call the city chipper in to get rid of it.”

“I don’t know, man,” Tim said, snickering. “You never know when the law might change and everyone’s able to do controlled burns whenever they want. She’ll probably start sitting in on town meetings.”

“I can only imagine,” Luke mumbled. He raked his hands down his face, then let his arms fall to the side and picked his head back up. He looked at Xander and Tim, who were seated on the opposite couch. “Next time she calls, one of you guys should talk to her — tell her that I’m out on call because someone decided to do a controlled burn and it got out of hand, and now I need to set it right.”

“Nope.” Xander held his hands up. “Not touching your sister with a ten foot pole. Getting on the phone with her is a little too close for comfort. That girl is... well...”

“Crazy,” Tim completed.

Xander jabbed a finger in Tim’s direction. “He said it, not me.”

Luke sighed. “She’s not crazy. My family is just... ugh. You know how they are.”

“We’ve heard enough stories,” Xander said. “That’s one group of people I think I’d prefer not to meet. From the way you put it, I’m pretty sure they’d prefer not to meet me, too.”

Luke got up from where he was sitting. He stretched his arms over his head until he cracked his back. “You know, they’re not all bad.”

“No one is all bad.” Xander shrugged. He stood, too. “But they sound bad enough that I’d rather keep them at a distance, no offense meant, Luke.”

Luke dropped his arms back to his sides and watched Xander offer a hand to Tim. Tim took it, and he stood. They were a team, and over the last two years, Luke had come to view them as brothers. Their long shifts at the fire station meant they spent a lot of time together. He knew that Xander didn’t mean any harm. “No offense taken.”

“Good.” Tim beamed at him. “We wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of the day with bruised feelings, especially not since the Chief is on your ass today about almost showing up late for work.”

“But I didn’t.”

“But you almost did.” Tim wagged his finger in Luke’s direction playfully. “In Chief’s eyes, that’s as bad as showing up late. The boys in Shift B don’t want to cover for our asses, and he doesn’t want them to, either.”

Luke frowned. It wasn’t his intention to be almost late, but Mel had been on him all day, interrupting his morning routine after she’d read his email response letting her know she wasn’t allowed to burn the brush at the old cottage. He’d been trying to get ready for his day, but she wouldn’t leave him be.

“I’m sure he’ll find me at some point during the day to have a talk about it,” Luke said. He shivered. “That’s a conversation I’m not looking forward to having. Guess I can’t get off the hook today, huh?”

“Nope.” Tim slapped him on the back. He headed from the small common room they shared to the workout room. “I’m going to go row for a while. Are you ladies going to join me?”

“You know it.” Xander followed him, but Luke remained behind. He didn’t feel much like working up a sweat — right now, he was so tired he figured it would be in his best interest to get some sleep. “Coming, Luke?”

“I’m going to take a nap on the couch.” Luke pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the couch he’d just abandoned. “I’m going to take a piss first, though. You two going to be ready if we get the call?”

Small-town Prescott, Georgia didn’t have many fires, but most of the emergencies they responded to didn’t involve flames. Vehicle accidents accounted for the most action they saw, and those were as unpredictable as they came. When Luke had first started training to become part of the fire department, he hadn’t realized just how detached from fire his job would be. Not that it was all that bad — no one looked forward to dealing with fires.

He snorted.

Except for maybe Mel and her damned controlled burn.

“Ready as can be. I think you’re the one who has to worry about being prepared.” Tim looked over his shoulder and winked on his way out of the room. “Get some beauty rest, Princess.”

“Only the finest couches in the kingdom will do,” Luke replied sarcastically. He smirked at Tim. “Guess you’ll just have to wake me up with a kiss if we get the call, now won’t you?”

“And I’m out,” Tim said with a laugh. He slapped the side of the door as he left. Xander followed behind him, and for a blissful moment, Luke was alone. He went to relieve himself, washed his hands, then returned to the couch and lay back, staring at the ceiling. It was morning, and his body was firmly of the opinion that he shouldn’t be asleep. He closed his eyes anyway, just to try, when he heard footsteps. Luke covered his face with his hands and spoke without opening his eyes.

“You know I said I was going to try to sleep. What’s up this time?”

“Whatever it is, it’s not your performance, Taylor.”

Luke sat upright immediately. It wasn’t Xander or Tim who’d replied, but the Chief.

Chief Powell was a hard man who’d spent a lifetime caring for Prescott. His salt and pepper hair was cut close to his scalp, and his face bore decades of worry lines. His skin was thick and leathery, and his brows were bushy. They were knit together when Luke met his gaze, and Luke had a feeling that today wasn’t going to go exactly as planned.

“This morning you were here with a minute to spare before your shift started,” Chief Powell said. His tone was steely. “When are you supposed to arrive?”

“Fifteen minutes early,” Luke replied automatically. “I’m sorry, Chief. It was a hell of a morning.”

“You have a duty, Taylor.”

“I know.”

“And I expect you to be here on time to perform that duty.”

Luke frowned. “I understand, Chief. It won’t happen again. You know I’m good for it.”

“Then make sure you remind me of it.” Chief crossed his arms over his chest, but most of the anger had left his expression. “If you’re having a hard time, reach out to someone. Me, McMillan, Keller... it doesn’t matter. There’s help if you want it, and there will always be someone here to listen if that’s what’s keeping you down.”

“Thank you, Chief.” Luke didn’t think it was wise to say any more than that. It wasn’t exactly that he was down — his family wasn’t the most supportive, but that wasn’t anything new. It was just his sister making everything about her, even when it was of detriment to him.

“I expect you’ll be on your toes today, alert and ready?” Chief Powell asked. “I can count on you, can’t I?”

“You can, Chief.”

“Don’t promise more than you can deliver on,” Chief Powell warned. He uncrossed his arms and returned in the direction he’d come from. “I’d rather be disappointed than deceived.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” Luke promised, and he meant it. He was a good firefighter, and he wouldn’t let his team down. “I’ll be—”

The alarm went off, and the blinking light overhead started flashing red.

A fire.

Luke jumped to his feet, and instinct took over.

It looked like he’d make good on his promise right away.