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“It’ll be like choosing from a menu. Nice, except the thought of eating makes me want to barf.”
“I hope you’re not coming down with anything,” Jake said, reaching his hand out to feel her forehead. “You don’t feel hot.”
“I’ll take my temp when we get to your place.”
“I don’t have a temperature thingy.”
“Okay, I’ll force fluids,” she said. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
She scrolled through her phone, looking at dates, not sure it was nothing, thinking itmight be something.Something big.
Chapter 7
The way of life for Geri encompassed three factors. Number one was her career, which entailed the job at Station #34 and, of course, school. The curriculum was brutal with quantitative reasoning, building construction and fire prevention, and incident command systems. Because her work schedule was so concentrated in three-day shifts, she was free to take a full course load. But the four days off were regimented with study, test taking and paper writing.
During that week of recovery between the fire event and New Year’s, she became even more determined in her resolution to stick to her plans. On course to graduate in eighteen months, the next thing she’d do was concentrate on getting as much experience on the job as possible, which meant volunteering for every opportunity to learn, including participating in all the public outreach events the fire district held.
Factor number two was all about fitness: running, working out, and nutrition. Trail runs with Jake’s brothers and their wives and girlfriends became a weekly activity, along with leading workouts for everyone at the station and anything workout related she could fit in her hectic schedule. If she could get the family to run with her, or even take a walk rather than sit in front of the television, that was what she aimed for.
And the third factor, as much as she hated to put him last, was her relationship with Jake. Jake was turning out to be a true saint, too. He was so patient and loving; even when she doubted her feelings for him, he steadfastly refused to be discouraged. “You’re just overwhelmed,” he’d say. “Let me worry about everything. You just study.” So that was what she did.
There was thatone other thingthat she didn’t allow herself to think of, the thing that was about the size of a pea. She read everything she could get her hands on, and had every emotion possible, from thinking she could easily rid herself of it secretly, to just embracing it and letting nature take its course.
So she decided not to tell Jake right away. When the time to tell him came, he would surely go nuts and want to get married, and she didn’t want to marry him just yet, if at all. She didn’t want her life to change until it was unavoidable. And then she’d deal with it. But not until then.
During the month of January, they worked out a routine: working together at the station when Charlie allowed it, and when they were off, studying together because, true to his word, he signed up for liberal arts classes at the community college.
At night at the station, instead of sitting in front of the TV, Jake and Geri sat in the dining hall across the table from each other and studied. On their days off, they were careful to plan excursions to cut up the study marathons.
“Let’s go to the zoo,” Jake would say. They’d head east to the safari park two miles from the station. Or—
“I’ve wanted to see that new movie about the vampire.”
“I hate vampire movies,” he’d reply.
“What if we see the action movie you’ve been talking about next time?” Geri said, bargaining.
They saw all the new movies and tried one new restaurant a week. But sometimes they just liked to stay home.
“We should book our cruise,” Jake reminded her. They were on the couch watching a movie. This time, Jake sat with Geri’s feet in his lap. “If Charlie doesn’t mess with the schedule again, we’ll both have Valentine’s Day off. It’s on a Friday this year, so it will be a long weekend. What do you think?”
“That will be perfect,” she said, pointing the remote to turn the TV up. She was trying to listen to the dialogue, and he kept talking.
“I’ll set up a spa day for you. It will be all about pampering.”
“Jake, you don’t have to do that. You know I’m not really a spa kind of girl.”
“I’ve been meaning to say something about your feet—”
“What’s wrong with my feet?” she asked, trying to pull them off his lap.
“They’re a little beat up from running. You need a foot massage.”
“Jake, your feet aren’t exactly photo-shoot ready, you know.”
“And a pedicure. You’d look good with pink toenails. I think I’d like to give you a foot massage if you’ll let me.”
“Just leave my feet alone,” she said, laughing, finally succeeding in getting them out of his hands. “Are you developing a fetish?”
