DORIAN

 

Two weeks later…

 

Burton sat at his desk. The grumpy look on his face wasn’t different from the way it usually was. All of the wrinkles on his forehead and cheeks. Bags underneath his squinting eyes. Being in charge of the fire station wasn’t easy, so I didn’t hold it against him.

He leaned back in his seat and held the paper up in his hands. His eyes scanned the front page.

“Front page,” he sighed.

He tossed the paper back onto his desk and stared at me.

“I suspended you from the station and you still made front page news.”

He let out a deep sigh then turned out toward the window.

“You found a serial arsonist,” he said. “Even when our investigators said it was an accident, you figured out that a criminal was responsible for it.

“You’re a hero. You’re so brave. You’re so courageous. The whole fucking town knows because of puff pieces like this in the paper.”

He turned back to me.

“I know people like you. I’ve never met any of them but I know who they are. Some people are just born into who they are. You can’t fucking help it. It doesn’t matter if I suspend you. It doesn’t matter if you join some biker club. You’re always gonna do what you’re gonna do.”

“Sorry,” I said finally. “Is there a reason you wanted to talk to me?”

“Keep your pants on, son. I was just getting to it.”

He stood up and walked over to the window. I didn’t know what he was thinking but he seemed reluctant to tell me whatever the fuck was on his mind.

His hands behind his back, Burton sighed before he finally started talking.

“I’ve been in Ivory my whole life. I went to the same high school as you. That was a hell of a long time ago but it was the same school. I went off to college. I went through the fire academy, same as you. I left Ivory when I had to but I came back. This town is a part of me. I love this town more than anything else. Just like I know you do.”

He kept staring out of the window, lost in his thoughts as he kept talking.

“You’re a danger to yourself. You keep trying to be a hero and one day, it’ll be the last time you ever try. You’ll move from the front page of the paper to the obituaries.

“But… I know your heart is in the right place. I know you just wanna help this town, same as me. And it’s good publicity for the station. They see a hero like you working here, maybe city council will give us the funding we need to get this place into better shape.

“That’s why I’m lifting your suspension, effective next month. You keep doing good and maybe I’ll let you work at the station full time.”

“I… I don’t know what to say,” I sighed.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just say you’ll follow my orders and not get yourself killed. From now on, you stop trying to be a hero. Just do your fucking job and you’ll be fine.”

He slowly turned back toward me.

“You got that, Sullivan?”

“Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “I got it. Trust me. After all the shit I just went through, I’m not interested in diving through any more flaming rings.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

He took a seat and glanced down at the newspaper in front of him. Then he glanced up at me.

“What the fuck are you waiting for?” he said. “Get the hell out of here.”

“Yes, sir.”

I laughed as I got out of my seat.

I let out a sigh of relief as I left Burton’s office. I never imagined he would lift my suspension, so coming back was something I wasn’t sure how to react to.

When I got to the garage, all of the boys working there greeted me with smiles and handshakes. The arson incidents made front page news that everybody read. They painted me as some kind of a hero. I didn’t care either way but I couldn’t stop everybody else from being enthusiastic.

I was laughing along with all of the other firefighters when I noticed Adams sitting at the side of the garage. He had his head down as he worked on some of his equipment.

“Excuse me, fellas,” I said.

I walked over to Adams. He didn’t look up at me as he started talking.

“The town hero,” he said. “The man who stopped the serial arsonist from blowing everything up. Then again… the crazy bastard wouldn’t have blown everything up in the first place if it wasn’t for you.”

Adams slowly turned and looked up at me with a straight face.

“Must be some kind of crazy shit you went through when you were on tour.”

“That’s not the word I would use to describe it,” I said with a nod. “But something like that, yeah.”

“That’s the word I would use. For some guy to come back to town and try to blow shit up just to pin it on you…”

“He went through a lot. I can’t hold it against him.”

“No… No, you can’t. Nobody knows what another man is thinking.”

Adams put his head back down as he kept working on his equipment.

“You could have left me in that barn,” he said. “You could have let me burn in there. You could have said there was nothing you could do and everybody would believe you. You could have gotten away with it.”

“I’m not about to let an innocent man die. Not when I can do something about it. You should know that by now.”

“Yeah,” he said with a nod, his head still down.

He put his equipment down and dusted his hands off. Then he pushed himself up from his seat and stood right in front of me. He stared right at me.

“I never liked the clubs in this town,” he said. “Riding around the streets a like pack of wild animals and acting like they own the place. No respect for the law. Doing whatever they please. Outlaws. I know you agree with me.”

“That’s one way to describe them.”

“That’s what makes you so strange. I look at you… You’re not like the rest of them. You’re not looking for an excuse to get into a fight. You’re not anxious to pull your piece out and blow somebody’s head off.”

“Clubs in this town just wanna do good. The Black Reapers don’t go looking for problems, they just solve ‘em.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is that when it comes down to it, you’ll make the right decision. You’ll make the right decision.”

He dug his index finger into my chest.

“I still don’t respect club members,” he said. “The less there are of them, the better off this town is. But I can make an exception for you.”

He raised his arm up and held his hand out. Adams smirked and I did the same as I shook his hand.

“When we’re out there, I got your back,” he said.

“I’ll listen,” I replied. “Whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do it. We gotta work together if we wanna save this town.”

He gave me a nod then went back to working on his equipment. Everybody in the garage returned to their business. I headed out of the station toward my bike where Gina was sitting.

“So?” she said. “How did it go?”

“Burton said my suspension will be over next month. I can volunteer at the station again.”

“That’s great!”

She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek.

“Have you thought about working here full-time?”

“That’s a big commitment,” I said with a laugh. “Right now, there’s only one thing I’m committed to.”

I held her waist as I kissed her again. It was like nothing else mattered when my lips were on hers. I pulled away from her and sighed as I rested my forehead against hers.

“It was because of the article in the paper,” I said. “Burton read it and realized that my heart’s in the right place.”

“The article in the paper… You’re a town hero.”

“I’ve been in the paper before. Back when we were in high school, there were articles about me all the time because of what I did with the football team.”

“It must be nice though.”

I pulled away from her.

“Is that what you care about?” I asked. “Me being famous in Ivory?”

“Being famous in a town as small as this doesn’t mean much.”

She giggled softly.

“I don’t care about any of that. I just care about you.”

“I would trade it all,” I sighed. “I would give up all of that glory if I could get Logan back.”

“Don’t blame yourself for that. You know you had no control over what he did.”

“I know. It just makes me realize what’s important now.”

“…When are you gonna see him?”

“I talked to Sutton. Once Logan is sentenced, I’ll be able to visit him regularly. He’ll be behind bars for a long time but at least I can be there for him now. He’ll get out eventually. I’ll be waiting for him.”

“And I’ll be there with you.”

“It could be a long time.”

“I’m prepared to wait for a long time. Just as long as I’m with you.”

Gina gave me another kiss.

I got on my bike and she squeezed her arms around me.

“Where are we headed?” I asked.

“Well… The bakery is still being fixed up. Lydia doesn’t need me around because Sean is there to help her out.”

“My suspension is still in effect. And there isn’t any business at the clubhouse at the moment. It looks like we’ve both got clear schedules.”

“I’ve been thinking… The big city up north was nice. It’d be fun to visit it without having to visit some shady arms dealer. And the weather is kinda nice today.”

“Say no more…”

I revved my engine and sped off down the road.

The streets were empty. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The wind blew through my hair as I spend down the road up north away from Ivory.

There was nothing better than the freedom of the open road. Having Gina there with me made it that much more special.

She and I were two of a kind. Ivory was a part of me just as it was a part of her. She was always the one. I just didn’t realize it until I met her.

I didn’t know if I would stay in Ivory for the rest of my life. I didn’t know where my future would take me. But the one thing I did know was that Gina would be a part of it. Wherever we went, I would be there for Gina and she would be there for me.