“Do you still want to go to the fire station, or should we take Tiger home?” Rhett said, gathering up his snoozing puppy after lunch.

“He’s had a nap, so I think he’ll be okay. One more stop and then I think we should call it a day.”

“At some point you need to show me your remodeling project,” Rhett pointed out. “It’s part of our deal and I don’t want to slack.”

“I could have showed you last night, but I was so focused on food after your move, it didn’t occur to me.”

“It’s okay. We have all summer,” Rhett smiled.

All summer. It always seems like summer is going to last forever, and then suddenly it’s over. Would this summer be like that? My therapist used to say, “Stay in the here and now.” I’ll worry about that when we get there.

Fire stations are just like you imagine they would be. They look like they do in the movies, at least all the ones I’ve seen. Enormous red trucks with gleaming chrome sit inside spotless garage spaces. A crew of hunky firefighters populate the building around the clock, all of them tending to shift duties, managing checklists, and razzing each other. It’s a testosterone wonderland. At least this one was.

The masculine energy hit me like a wall the moment I walked into the station with Rhett. Tiger woke up, did his business in the grass out front, and headed for the door. This dog was always ready and excited to have a new adventure.

“Hey, you kept the dog!” One super blonde guy called out over his shoulder. He and a few others were playing cards. I wondered how good they were.

Rhett noticed me looking at the cards and elbowed me. “No hustling,” he said.

“Spoil sport,” I laughed. Socializing was easier with props, and cards were some of the greatest props of all. Maybe just one game? I looked around the room, taking a full inventory of the space. So many men in such a small space. Rhett must know this entire town?

“Hi, I’m Finn.” A guy with dark hair and big green eyes held out his hand in greeting.

“I’m Oscar,” I said, taking his hand. “I’m the dog trainer.”

Finn’s eyes widened. “Dog trainer! Rhett, you are getting fancy.”

“Dalmatians need it,” I laughed. “Proper training is always a good investment.”

A booming voice behind me said, “Dog trainer? Aren’t you the guy who bought the McFarland place?”

I turned around to come face to chest with one of the biggest men I’d ever seen. I looked up, and his tan face smiled down at me. “I’m Chief,” he said.

“Chief?” My mouth twitched. I wanted to ask him if his mother named him that.

“Yeah, everyone here has nicknames. Mine is also my title,” he boomed, grinning at me.

Chief’s chest was like a wall. His arms were like tree trunks. He was like a Paul Bunyan fable. He was like a cartoon.

Rhett leaned over and interrupted my runaway brain. “Don’t let his size fool you,” he said under his breath. “He can outrun us all.”

“Lucky for me, I’m in charge so now I don’t have to,” Chief grinned. He squatted down and wiggled his fingers to Tiger. “Come here, boy.”

Tiger happily wiggled toward the chief. Before he could pet him, I interceded.

“Just a moment,” I said. “Sorry about this, but it’s important.”

Rhett noticed what was happening. “Just a second Chief. We’ll show you what we’ve been doing.” He turned to Tiger. “Tiger, sit.”

Tiger looked at him, considered for a brief moment, and then plopped his butt down on the shiny terra cotta tiles. He looked up to Rhett for approval and wagged his tail. He waited expectantly for the next order.

“Good boy. Wait!” Rhett used his hand signals and I crossed my fingers that Tiger would do as we’d practiced. “Okay Chief, you can pet him. Don’t rile him up or anything. We are teaching him to sit to meet people and receive affection without jumping up on them.”

Chief said, “I’m impressed!”  He engulfed Tiger’s spotted head in his hand, running his hand down over his velvet fur. “Did you know that Dalmatians are practically waterproof?” he said. Tiger basked in his attention.

“How did you know that?” Rhett said.

“It’s on the fire chief exam,” the chief winked at me. “Just kidding, but speaking of exams, Rhett, can we leave Tiger with your friend and talk for a moment?” He stood up from his squat and dusted his clothes straight.

The life drained from Rhett’s face. “Sure thing Chief.” He handed me the end of the leash. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

As soon as Rhett was gone, the other guys moved closer and bombarded me with questions. “What’s the story with you and Rhett?” “You look familiar, do I know you?” “Can you train my dog too?”

That last one gave me pause, maybe I could train other people’s dogs. Would that be enough to pay the bills? Probably not, but it would be more money than nothing. Before I could answer, more questions rolled in.

“Hey, aren’t you the guy who bought the McFarland place?” The guy with white blonde hair regarded me curiously.

“That’s me. Oscar.” I held out my hand and shook his.

“I’m Mitch,” he said. “This is Finn, Kai, and Thane.”

“You guys are playing cards?” It was a dumb question. Anyone with eyes could see that they were playing cards.

Fortunately, these guys had manners. “Yeah, we’re playing a game called seven twenty seven.” Finn said.

“Seven twenty seven, huh?” I scratched my head. “I’ve heard of that. How do you play?”

They dealt me in and by the time Rhett got back from his meeting with the chief I was winning. He came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. “A friendly game of cards, I see?” His voice had a new edge.

“They’re teaching me how to play seven twenty seven,” I said, giving him my best “say cheese” grin. “I have great beginner’s luck!”

“That’s nice of them,” Rhett said. “Just remember, these are the guys who decide how fast they come to your house in an emergency.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Finn leaned around the table, dealing a card to each player.

I accepted another card, this one was an ace to go with my five. I kept cool, not yet showing I had a winning hand combined with my face-down card. “I think he means if I piss you guys off, you’ll let my house burn down.”

“Never,” Mitch said. “We’re professionals. We’ll just not invite you to the auction.”

I decided to play dumb so I could see what they had to say. “There’s an auction? This sounds interesting.” My attention was on the table and counting what everyone had, but my body was keenly aware of Rhett standing behind me.

“Rhett never plays,” Finn said. “You should convince him to join us.”

“Never plays auction?” I laughed.

“Never plays cards, though he never plays auction either. If you knew how many older women in this town wanted to bid on him last year…”

“Fuck off Finn,” Rhett laughed. “I just don’t want to steal any of your glory. You can walk around on stage like a prize animal. I prefer to keep some semblance of dignity.”

“This coming from the guy whose bare chest is on every calendar in this town, and across the country,” Mitch laughed.

Rhett joked around, but the tension emanating from him was palpable. I realized we needed to leave, cards be damned.

“I think I’m out, guys. Thanks for the deal in. I’d love to play again sometime.”

I pushed my cards to the dealer and left my ante there. They wouldn’t realize what I had until the round was over. Rhett ignored the cards. His lips pressed together in a horizontal furrow, and his forehead creased with echoing lines. He held Tiger under his arm and robotically stroked his chest with his thumb.

“Time to go home. This puppy has had all the fun he can stand.”

It was true. Tiger was done socializing, as was Rhett. We walked to the truck and climbed inside in silence.

“What’s going on?” I straightened Tiger so he had the best traction on the seat as Rhett pulled out into the road.

“Ugh,” he said. “Nothing.”

“Don’t nothing me. I lost money dumping that hand.”