Page 24 of Until We Come Home

“Dark River,” Callum snorts. “Still volunteering with those guys? You know the country crews don’t appreciate you like we do.”

That cracks me up. Dark River is where I stay whenever I’m out in Washington, and I pick up shifts with the volunteer department there on my days off. That crew feels like family, but it’s an older crowd. Being back around Callum and James is a different kind of noise entirely, and I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it.

“So what changed your mind?” James asks, leaning a shoulder against the wall. “Last we heard, you were headed back to Boston for the summer. Barnes said you were being ‘evasively noncommittal.’”

“I prefer strategically undecided,” I say, and Callum laughs. “Truth is, I knew you guys were short-handed and the numbers looked ugly. Plus, a friend of mine’s in town for the season, so it made sense to stick around.”

"A friend," Callum repeats, narrowing his eyes. "What friend?"

"Mia," I say.

Both of them light up. Mia spent a week out here last summer and dropped by the station a couple of times, and within ten minutes she had the entire crew eating out of the palm of her hand.

"Mia's here?" James asks, his attention snapping to me. "For how long? Is she stopping by the bay?"

“The whole summer,” I tell them. “She’s teaching at Meridian. I’m sure she’ll come harass you guys soon enough.”

“Awesome,” James says. “This place is always better when she’s around.” He gives me an exaggerated wink. “And don’t worry, neither of us are going to ask her out. We know how it is, hell, I won’t even flirt.”

“There’s nothing to know.” I roll my eyes at him. “Ask her out if you want, she’s a grown woman and she’ll say whatever she wants to say. Makes no difference to me.”

“Totally, you definitely don’t care at all,” Callum says, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Right, right, we believe you," James adds, the two of them exchanging a synchronized nod.

"Jesus," I say. "I can't believe I actually missed you guys."

"You love us," James says, clapping me on the shoulder. "Seriously, man, it's good to have you back. It's been a long couple of months with just Callum's ugly mug to look at."

"He means that lovingly," Callum says.

"I don't," James says.

I laugh and hitch my bag higher on my shoulder. "Okay, as fun as this has been, I'm going to go find Barnes."

“See you later. Drinks on Thursday,” James calls out behind me as I head past them, the two of them going right back to trading jabs.

Lainey’s sitting at the front desk when I walk past, dark brown hair pinned up with her glasses, frowning down at an ancient monitor that looks like a relic from the nineties. She’s Barnes’s niece, a recent college grad, and easily the sweetest person in this entire station—so shy it took her a full month of shifts to stop addressing me as sir. I tap two knuckles on the laminate counter.

“Hey, Lainey.”

She looks up, her face instantly brightening into a wide smile. “Oh, Mateo! Yay, I heard you were coming back on contract. Uncle Ray’s been in a suspiciously good mood all week, so I figured it was either you or a Mariners winning streak.”

“Probably the Mariners,” I laugh. “How’ve you been? How’s the book club going?”

“Really good! We’re diving into our third mystery novel this year, and we finally recruited enough people that we outgrew my living room.” She adjusts her glasses back down her nose. “Thanks for asking about it.”

“Of course. You’ll have to drop some recommendations on me. I’m going to need something to pass the time on those long night shifts.”

“Oh, definitely! I’ll put together a whole list,” she says brightly.

“I’d appreciate that,” I say, smiling as I move down the hallway.

It’s good being here again. Of all the places I bounce between, this station feels more like home than anywhere else, even though I spend more of the year in Dark River and Boston combined.

Further down the corridor I run into Eric and Mike coming from the dayroom. Eric’s got a fifteen-year jump on me but still outruns every probie on the floor, and Mike’s sporting a shiny new wedding band I didn’t see last year. They pause for quick handshakes and a welcome back before heading off toward the apparatus floor.

Then I head for Barnes’s office. The door sits propped wide open, same as always, and I catch sight of Barnes behind his desk talking with a kid who looks to be in his early twenties. Must be the new guy. Ollie, I think Rebecca said his name was.