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ChapterFive
KRYSTAL
Pulling up to the fire station, I scanned the parking lot for Bryce’s truck. Even in high school, this had been the best place to find him. As a junior firefighter, he had done everything but step inside a burning building.
He was parked in the back, so I pulled into a nearby space and stepped out.
Unlike the rest of town, which still boasted slick spots and compacted snow, the parking lot at the fire station was completely clear. And salted.
I opened the door, catching a glimpse of the fire engine and ambulance inside the garage windows.
“Krystal Daughtry, as I live and breathe.”
I laughed at the overly dramatic greeting. “Dylan Cole. Do they just let anybody into the fire department these days?”
“Yeah, they just wanted me to be on the calendar.” He flexed and struck a bodybuilding pose.
“Put that ego away before you hurt somebody,” I heard Bryce’s voice from across the room.
He waved an arm to invite me back, and I looked back at Dylan with a grin. “Good to see you. Tell your sister I said hi.”
Bryce led me into the kitchen and over to the small table that sat inside. He spread his arms wide. “Welcome to my office,” he said.
“What? No corner with a view?” I grinned to let him know I was joking.
Bryce shook his head sadly. “Our penthouse headquarters is under construction.”
I chuckled and hung my bag on the back of a chair before sitting down.
“Cup of coffee?” Bryce was pouring one as he asked, so I said yes.
He sat with a sigh and took a long pull from his mug.
“Long night?”
His head bobbed and he answered after swallowing. “Yeah, you could say that.” I waited for him to continue. I was surprised to find I was hanging on his every word. Finally, he looked around and then leaned forward. “It’s kind of strange here. We can go an entire shift without a call. And then sometimes we will get three or four.”
I looked around, heard the firefighters in the other room laughing.
“It seems pretty quiet in here—”
Bryce tensed. “Shush!! You can’t say the Q-word around here! Are you crazy?”
Apparently, Bryce had some energy now. I held up my hands in apology. “My bad.”
He looked around nervously.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s the first thing you learn around here. If someone says it is Q-U-I-E-T you’re bound to get a call. And not a good one.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that superstitious?” I was surprised a strong Christian like Bryce would buy into that nonsense.
He shrugged. “It’s happened enough times that I can’t quite call it a coincidence. Maybe God just has a sense of humor.” He looked around again. “You must be lucky. I think we’re in the clear.”
I shook my head at his crazy behavior. “Okay then, let’s talk about this auction.” I pulled out a notebook. “I was thinking that we could make a list of local businesses and divide and conquer. I can visit half of them, and you can visit the other half.”
Bryce gave me a confused look. “Okay? But why are we visiting businesses?”
