Chapter 22

Cade

I walked into the fire station and leaned my elbows on the reception desk. Maisie was on the phone, her eyes flicking to me as if puzzled at my presence. It was midway through my second week on duty, and I’d determined I was going to kill her with kindness. It just goes to show how prickly she was that me, a man who’d worn my bitterness toward women like a badge for years, was trying to cajole her into being nicer.

But damn. She was like a cactus, and Carol had been more like a mother hen to all of us. It was difficult to believe Maisie was actually related to her. They shared the same wide brown eyes, and though my memories of Carol when she was younger were through the hazy lens of a little boy, I recalled her being pretty. Maisie could be if she stopped glaring at everyone.

I’d mentioned to Amelia that I missed Carol and couldn’t quite believe Carol had persuaded my father to agree to hire Maisie for dispatch. She’d looked over at me and sighed, reminding me Maisie had spent her childhood dragged all over the place with pretty much nowhere to call home. According to Amelia, Maisie had come to visit Carol when she was in hospice, and Carol had asked my father to give her a chance with a job. She’d then pointedly ordered me to be nice.

I figured if Maisie couldn’t pamper me and the guys, we’d kill her with kindness. In my short time here, I watched her ignore all the guys, studiously avoid anything resembling a friendly conversation and wear the chip on her shoulder as if it were a cinder block. She’d been so prickly, the rest of the guys avoided her at all costs with the exception of Beck who occasionally, very occasionally, eyed her and made some attempt at small talk. Beck’s exterior was like a non-stick pan—everything slid right off of him, so Maisie’s unfriendliness didn’t bother him much.

All in all, I was feeling magnanimous. The last two weeks had been about the best of my life. Being with Amelia was just short of heaven. Oh, we had some stuff to get through, and she was as stubborn as I remembered, but then so was I. The best thing about arguments was we knew how to have fucking awesome makeup sex. My libido, long sidelined to casual encounters, was getting a hell of a workout these days. Only an hour ago, Amelia’s mouth had been wrapped around my cock in the shower. That was after I’d been buried to the hilt inside of her right after we woke up.

There was my overall good mood and the fact I preferred to have my crew like and trust our main dispatcher. I didn’t worry Maisie wouldn’t be on the dot when it came to her job. She took it very seriously. Her attitude, however, left more than a little to be desired.

I leaned on my elbows and smiled at her when she finally tapped to end whatever call she was on. She adjusted her headset and glared up at me. “Can I help you?” she said stiffly.

She had no idea how lucky she was I wasn’t feeling as cranky as I had been for seven years straight. Otherwise, I’d have snapped right back at her. Instead, I reminded myself to be patient. If I didn’t want her to act like this, I needed to not be an asshole.

“Rex, Beck and I were hoping to have lunch with you,” I said. Beck and I had chatted with my father the other day about doing this.

Maisie raised one of her dark brows, staring at me as if I’d just proposed she go roll in a puddle of mud.

“Why?” was her only reply.

“Because you’re our main dispatcher, and we’d like to meet to talk about a few things around the station.”

I heard the door open and close behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Beck approaching. Beck leaned against the counter beside me, his eyes flicking from me to Maisie. Beck ran a hand through his black curls. “Well, I see you’re as friendly as usual,” he said to Maisie.

Maisie’s cheeks flared red. If possible, I was fairly certain her eyes would have burned holes in Beck. She huffed and crossed her arms. “I don’t have to be friendly. I take my job seriously and all calls are routed promptly.”

Beck eyed her, and I sensed a thread of irritation from him. Not unusual given how flat-out cranky Maisie was, but unusual for Beck. After a beat, Beck glanced to me and nodded as if he expected me to handle her.

I had trained for all kinds of things as a hotshot firefighter and had been foreman on a crew in California for three years. None of that prepared me for an epically cranky dispatcher who had my crew running for cover whenever they happened to be near her.

“Maisie, let me rephrase. We’re going to lunch. You’re coming with us. This is not a request. Consider it a job meeting. I’ve already arranged coverage. Meet us here at noon,” I said.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth tightened, but she nodded without a word. I pushed away from the counter and strode through the door into the back.

Beck followed me. The moment we made it to the break room in back and saw no one was around, Beck rolled his eyes. “Damn. That woman can be a serious bitch. Gotta say, I’m glad you’re here. She’s only been with us a few months, and I’ve been so damn busy covering both crews, I didn’t have time to notice how she was affecting the guys. Plus, your dad’s pretty protective of her.”

I caught the back of a chair at the break table and swung it out to sit down. Beck plunked down across from me with a sigh.

I chuckled. “Yeah, she’s not easy. Practically the opposite of her grandmother.”

I glanced behind him to the counter lining the wall, eying the coffee pot. Seeing it was half full, I stood and grabbed a mug. “Want some?” I asked, glancing to Beck as I poured. At Beck’s nod, I passed the first mug to him and filled another for myself before sitting back down.

“I’d bet my dad’s protective of her. You know him. He’s a softie. Carol was one of my mom’s good friends too, so she probably sweet-talked him into hiring Maisie.”

Beck took a gulp of coffee and leaned back in his chair. “Oh, I’m sure of it. Honestly, if we can get her to just be neutral, it’s a win. She does a good job. She’s fast and actually good on the line with the emergency calls. She’s sharp and focused, which keeps her from getting sidetracked by being freaked out. She also doesn’t laugh when people call about the craziest shit. Did you hear about the guy who called because someone was trying to relocate his hunting cabin?”

I almost spit out my coffee. “What?!”

Beck nodded with a gleam in his eyes. “Oh yeah. Only in Alaska. Guy has a cabin out toward the mountains for hunting. Calls up and says someone has the place up on jacks to load onto a trailer. I mean, it was a small place, but still. Fuckin’ hilarious! Anyway, I’d have laughed my ass off if I took that call. Maisie stayed cool the whole way through. Good thing too because the guy was seriously pissed. So your dad headed out there and then called us for help to get the cabin back onto its pilings. A change of pace for us, that’s for sure.”

I shook my head. “Change of pace is one way to put it. What the hell did my dad charge the attempted cabin thief with?

“Attempted theft,” Beck said with a shrug. “He put a dollar figure on it, but the guy who owned the cabin thought it wasn’t enough. You know how that goes. Anyway, rumor has it you’re shacked up with your girl again.”

I couldn’t help it. Just thinking I could actually call Amelia my girl again made me feel so damn good. I flashed a wry grin. “Rumor may be true.”

I’d been staying at her place every night since the first night I’d been there. I sobered. “Seriously, I’m guessing Earl might have some thoughts about that, but… Hell, I don’t know. It’s like we picked up right where we left off.”

“Doesn’t really matter what Earl thinks. Plenty of chatter about it, but who gives a damn? Look, Earl’s not a bad guy, but he’s always been a tad too sure of himself for me. Look at me, I play the field and like it that way. Earl’s always done the same, but tries to act like he doesn’t. Amelia was like a prize for him. You’re damn lucky he didn’t make the other night into more than it was. He’s like that. Kinda petty if you ask me.”

I couldn’t help but wonder what Amelia had ever seen in him. Then, I remembered what she’d said—something to the effect that was the best she’d get. Just like that, I felt as if I’d been kicked in the gut. Though we were floating along in a hazy, lust-driven madness after seven years apart, I knew there were some deep waters getting stirred. I had my own anger I’d clung to after she shut me out, while I knew she had her own pain after seeing Shannon make a play for me. I didn’t want either one of those issues to linger in any way. I hated the rub of worrying about her thinking she didn’t deserve more.

I was about to reply when the intercom crackled and Maisie announced a call for a fire downtown. Within minutes, the rest of the local crew was buzzing through the station and sirens were blaring as they flew down to respond.