Chapter Two
The next morning Jane guided a big RV to the side of the station house where Lieutenant Boone directed her. The RV was filled with thirty barking, whining canines, her best friend Sarah and a teenage volunteer named Cathy.
“Okay,” Jane said, speaking loudly over the barking dogs, the still-running engine, and air conditioning unit going full blast. “This should go smoothly. Sarah and I will be outside with the checklist. I’ll call off the dogs one by one. Cathy, you’ll fetch the dogs and the papers attached to the kennels, and bring them outside. Sarah will take the dogs to their new families, check to make sure everything is in order, and send them off to their ‘furever’ homes.” She bent and glanced out the large side windows. “Looks like there are already a lot of people here.”
“We still have about fifteen minutes. They’ll be fine in the shade until we’re ready to go.” Sarah squatted down beside a wire kennel that held a whining, quivering chihuahua mix. “It’s okay, baby,” she crooned, sticking her fingers between the wires to scratch wherever she could reach on the little dog. “We’ll get you outta here real soon.”
Jane walked Cathy through the process and, seeing the intelligence in the sixteen-year-old’s eyes, felt confident she knew what to do. Sensing the calm that radiated from the humans in their midst, the dogs one by one began settling down.
Jane glanced at her watch and saw they had just a few minutes before the event was to start. “Okay, I’m going to go have a quick chat with the lieutenant.”
“Not with Ransom?” Sarah lifted her hands and eased her long, black ponytail out of its scrunchie, then with a few practiced moves had it in a messy bun toward the top of her head. She gave Jane a side eye. She knew how attracted Jane was to the firefighter, and as good friends were wont to do, never missed an opportunity to tease her about it.
Jane’s face went hot. Knowing her cheeks were probably fire engine red, she cursed her fair complexion and mumbled, “No, not Ransom. He’s not the one in charge. Lieutenant Boone is.”
Sarah stood and looked out the windows toward the station. “But Ransom’s out there,” she said. “And he looks mighty fine this morning. Got on a tight t-shirt and some hot stubble action. Woof!”
Apparently of the opinion that Sarah had spoken the language of their people, the dogs started up again.
Jane shook her head. She grabbed the clipboard that held the checklist, snatched a pen from her purse, and exited the RV. Forcing herself to not look Ransom’s way, she walked over to Lieutenant Boone, lifting her free hand to shade her eyes against the morning sun. “Good morning!”
“Mornin’.” Nathan Boone smiled and changed position so that his broad back blocked the bright light from her face. “You ready to get started?”
She nodded. “I’d like to begin with you and your new station dog, Frankie, if that’s all right. It’ll be nice for the community to see you and your men setting the example.”
“No problem.” He lifted his head and let out a shrill whistle, then motioned to someone. In less than thirty seconds it seemed, a body at her back radiated heat and she immediately knew, she just knew, who it was. “Raines,” Boone said to the man behind her, “this was your idea, so you’ll take receipt of the new station mascot.”
Jane felt more than heard Ransom’s sigh.
“Of course,” he said, his voice deep and husky, pleasantly rasping across her sensitive ears. “Mornin’, Jane,” he added.
She forced a smile toward the lieutenant, her breath fluttering in her throat as she turned to face Ransom. “Hi,” she said, feeling like all eyes were on them and suddenly struck shy because of it. Her gaze flicked to his face then down to her clipboard, and the heat that had faded from her cheeks washed over them anew.
“Are we ready?” he asked as he guided her to the RV, one large hand splayed lightly against the small of her back.
“Y-yes.” She fought against a shiver, forcing her mind back onto the job and not on how much she’d like to feel that big, warm hand somewhere else. She cleared her throat and stopped at the open door of the RV. “Because most of the adopters will want to leave with their new fur babies pretty quickly, we’re going to start with you and Frankie, so everyone can see how Station 58 is leading by example.”
“I hope that doesn’t mean we’ll be expected to adopt another mutt,” he said around a grin. “I have a feeling Frankie’s gonna keep us on our toes as it is.”
She laughed. “He probably will. He’s a rascal.” She clicked her pen on, then off. “But, no, no more adoptions unless you really want to.”
He leaned a shoulder against the side of the RV and folded his arms across his chest.
Jane’s eyes were drawn to Ransom’s bulging biceps and strong, wide shoulders. Man, this guy had some guns on him! It took an effort not to look at her own biceps and make an unflattering comparison about her lack of toning. Her ex had complained, especially toward the end of their disastrous relationship, about how much she’d let herself go. It wasn’t like he’d been in great shape, either. Certainly not like Raines and most of the other firefighters. But it hadn’t stopped him from denigrating her body every chance he got.
Still, she’d lost the thirty pounds she’d gained in her unhappy marriage and had every intention of joining a gym as soon as she could afford the membership. After all, five years of punishing herself for a failed marriage that wasn’t completely her fault was enough.
“You can start with the station’s adoption on one condition.” Ransom’s deep drawl jerked her attention away from her thoughts.
She stared at his face. “What condition?”
“Have dinner with me tonight.”
She blinked. And blinked again. That wasn’t what she’d expected. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but that definitely wasn’t it. “Say again?”
“Dinner,” he said, his dark green eyes beginning to twinkle. “You know, where people go out and get food? And eat it. If they do it together, it’s a date.”
She scowled at him. “I know what dinner is, wiseass. And I know what a date is. I just didn’t expect…”
When she didn’t continue, he said, “You didn’t expect me to ask you out? Why? We’ve been dancin’ around each other for almost a year now. Why wouldn’t I ask you out?”
She drew in a breath and, with it, some courage. “I’m older than you.”
“I know.” His voice was as quiet and solemn as hers had been.
“Quite a bit older than you, actually.”
“And your point is?”
She searched his face, seeing only truthfulness there. “It doesn’t bother you? That I’m almost ten years older than you?”
His brows shot down. “You’re not.”
“I am.”
He shook his head. “No way. If I didn’t know better I’d say you were my age. There’s no way you’re forty.”
“Just turned forty last month.”
Broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. “And I’ll be thirty-three my next birthday, in December. So you’re eight years older than me. Really more like seven and…” His brow scrunched up. “Seven and a half years.”
“And that really doesn’t bother you?”
“Nope. What’s the statistic? On average, men die about seven years before their wives? So if something grows between us, with you bein’ seven years older than me, we should be ready to die at about the same time, all things bein’ equal.”
“Seven and a half,” she muttered. Those six months mattered. And wasn’t he jumping into the deep end awfully fast? They hadn’t even had their first date yet and here he was talking about them dying together. She turned a frown his way.
“Listen, I’m in a dangerous job. I’ve lost co-workers on the job. Not many, but enough so that I try not to take anything for granted. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. No promise of living beyond this very moment.” He leaned closer and lifted a hand to lightly stroke the back of his fingers down her cheek. “I’m old enough to settle down. Grow some roots. That might happen with you. It might not.” Broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. “But we won’t know ’less we try.”
From behind her she heard Sarah say, “Hey! Are we ready to get started? It looks like people are starting to get a little restless.”
Jane glanced out over the crowd and realized it had grown in the few minutes she’d been talking to Ransom. Many of the attendees looked like they were ready for the event to begin so they could get out of the heat. She looked at her watch and saw they’d overshot their start time by about ten minutes. She turned and said to Sarah, “Yep, let’s get started. The first one out is Frankie, for the station.”
“I meant what I said,” Ransom murmured. “The fact that you’re bringing Frankie out first is your implicit agreement to have dinner with me.”
She couldn’t pretend she didn’t want to. “All right,” she said and smiled. “What time?”
“Seven?”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated quietly.
They moved to one side of the door, and Sarah brought out Frankie, a mostly Border Collie mix who immediately went to Ransom and jumped up on him. Ransom laughed and ruffled the dog’s fur, bending to let the dog get in a couple of licks before he straightened again.
“Well, I don’t have to tell you who we’re starting out with,” Jane announced to the crowd with a laugh. “This is Frankie, and the folks here at Station 58 have decided to lead by example and have adopted him as their mascot.”
People in the crowd hooted and hollered, causing the dogs in the RV to start up barking again.
Jane knew the rest wouldn’t take long. Within twenty minutes all the dogs had been paired with their new families, their names checked off the list, identities and signatures verified. “Before I let y’all go,” Jane called out, “just a reminder that we’ll be having another one of these events in about two months, so spread the word. Let your friends and family, neighbors and co-workers know what a great deal—and a great new addition to your household—you got here today. And thank you!”
A smattering of applause, and the event was over.
While she’d been working, Ransom and Frankie had wandered away. Cathy came out of the RV and stood next to Jane. The teenager fanned herself with an empty clipboard, her hair darkened with sweat at her forehead and nape.
Jane put an arm around her and gave her a quick hug. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help today, sweetie. And that you were willing to stay in the RV with the dogs.”
“The air conditioning was on, so it wasn’t too bad. Though running back and forth did make me hot. Anyway, they’re worth it.” Cathy waved at someone then looked at Jane. “My mom’s here. Is it okay if I go?” She tipped her head down a fraction. “I really need to go get a shower. I smell like sweaty dog.”
Jane grinned. “Go. And thank you.”
Cathy returned her grin, handed over the clipboard, and ran over to her mom.
Jane became aware of a warm weight against her left leg and looked down to see Frankie sitting there, leaning against her, his head tipped up, tongue lolling.
“Well, hello there, Frankie.” She went down on one knee and scratched behind his ears. “What’re you doing over here with me? You should be with the guys.”
“I don’t blame him for wanting to be with the prettiest woman here.” Ransom walked up and hunkered down beside her. He reached out and scrubbed one hand up and down the dog’s back.
The difference in the size of their hands took her breath away. He was so blatantly masculine, in his prime. She was…not so much. Oh, no doubt she’d be able to keep up with him in the bedroom. Women were just starting to hit the peak of their sexual desire in their thirties and it lasted well into their sixties. Whereas by then men were starting to need little blue pills to help their stamina.
Though she doubted Ransom would ever need to worry about low testosterone or impotence. Women could almost get pregnant just by looking at him.
She rose to her feet, as did he after grabbing Frankie’s leash. “I’ll see you tonight,” she said softly.
“I’ll make reservations,” he said. More quietly he added, “I’m looking forward to it, Jane.”
“Me, too.” She gave him a smile then climbed up into the RV. Starting it, she waited for Sarah. As soon as her friend was aboard, Jane set the RV in motion. She had a date tonight with Ransom Raines. She was excited, nervous, and feeling dread all at the same time. Hopefully by the time seven o’clock rolled around she’d have herself settled down.
Except…what in the heck was she going to wear?