“Cody is off for the next two weeks,” Sean Kelly said to Jack when he arrived at the station on a bitter cold, dark Monday morning.

“The lucky bastard gets to live it up in Vail with the jet-set crowd,” Josh said, passing Jack a fresh cup of coffee.

“Yeah, but you know Cody,” Sean said. “He doesn’t care about that stuff as much as making a good impression on Cassie’s folks. It’s not just a ski trip, it’s a meet-the-parents ski trip.”

Josh made a noise of commiseration on behalf of the absent Cody.

Jack sipped his coffee. He was feeling quiet that morning, quiet and more than a little bit grumpy because he’d gone his entire four days off without seeing Elizabeth. Her cabin had been dark and empty, and her dog was staying with her brother—or so Jack presumed, although he would have been more than happy to dog-sit the funny little guy.

He and Elizabeth had been texting while she was gone, with him asking after her father and how things were going. She’d replied that all was fine, but there was no room for real conversation in text messages. He’d just wanted her to know that he was thinking of her.

And thinking of her he was. He couldn’t stop. It seemed like every waking and dreaming thought Jack had was of Elizabeth. The sweetness of her lips, the softness of her skin, her sharp clavicles and the curve of her stomach, the way her hair looked silver in the moonlight. The way she felt when he was inside of her, the perfect tight embrace of her body wrapped around his.

It was agonizing how much he yearned for her. What made it worse was now that Jack had made the decision to tell her about his father’s theft of the drug money and his own knowledge of it, he was anxious to get it over with. Rip off that bandage, show her the honesty and truth that he should have all along, and accept the consequences, whatever they might be.

For a moment, he watched Josh. His younger brother’s smile was a lot easier these days and his manner more relaxed now that he’d found his treasure of a girlfriend in Hayley March. Jack knew that he was about to overturn his entire family’s relationship with their dad—not just Josh, but his sisters, too. Maggie, Sophia, and Lila were all close with him. Josh, however, was closest of all––he was a friend to Bruce as well as a son, and Jack wished there was any other way.

There isn’t, he reminded himself. Not if you want to make things right.

Josh was in the middle of telling Sean about how he was planning to take Hayley down to Florida in the spring to introduce her to Lila and Sophia—she already knew Maggie because until recently Maggie had been Josh’s roommate—when the ladder crew got a medical call to a nursing home.

“Don’t eat all my cereal, Jack,” Josh called as he walked out the door into the bay.

Jack glanced at the kitchen counter and had to smile. A new box of Cocoa Puffs sat out on the counter. It was expensive in Alaska and had been a rare treat in their house growing up, but it was both Josh and Jack’s favorite guilty-pleasure junk food breakfast cereal. The sight of it cheered him up just a little bit.

“So Cody’s gone,” Sean said.

Jack looked over at his engineer. Sean’s green eyes were gleaming, and he wore a prankish smile.

“What are you thinking?” Jack said.

“Oh, I’ve already thought ahead.” Sean jerked his head toward his room. “I brought supplies.”

Ten minutes later, Jack and Sean had the big yellow name patch from the back of Cody’s turnout coat—“BRADFORD”—spread across a utility table in the bay. They worked industriously together applying sequins, glitter, and a few pink bows, using non-permanent glue.

The bedazzled effect was over-the-top, and by the time they were done Sean was laughing so hard that he was doubled over.

“Bonus points if it ends up on the news,” Jack said. “Cassie always makes sure to get a shot of Cody if he’s on scene.”

This made Sean laugh even harder. “Yes!”

Jack was grinning, too, as they carefully hung Cody’s coat back in its locker, placing it carefully so the glinting sequins of the name patch wouldn’t be noticed. Then they made bets on how long Cody would wear it like that before somebody told him. Jack thought three shifts was reasonable since they only put on fire turnouts once or twice a shift.

With that important work of the day accomplished, Jack went to his room and took a moment to call Elizabeth. When she didn’t answer, he left a voicemail.

“Hi, Elizabeth. It’s Jack. Hope you’re well and that your dad is settling in okay. I just wanted to see if you’re available on Wednesday for that dinner date. Let me know. I’m on shift right now so if I don’t pick up, leave a message or text or whatever. Hope to see you then.”

He hung up before he could overanalyze his message. He only wished he hadn’t called it a “date” because he doubted that after he was done confessing the truth, Elizabeth would want anything to do with him or his family ever again.