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I scoffed. “Against Kershaw? No way.”
“You would be a Kershaw fan,” Jordan said.
“Of course I am. He’s not just the best pitcher on the Dodgers—he’s the best pitcherin the league.”
“Little league, maybe,” Taylor said, rolling his eyes. “He’s past his prime. Ohh!”
Taylor shouted and jumped up as the batter, Buster Posey, crushed a ball toward left field. It was high and deep… but then curled foul at the last minute.
“See that?” Taylor chided me. “A few feet away from a grand slam.”
“A foul ball is just a long strike,” I replied. “My dad used to say that.”
Rather than sit down again, Jordan stood next to me in front of the screen. “Busy night tonight?”
“Yeah, you know how Fridays are,” I replied. “But once the dinner rush ends, it should be slow until we close at nine.”
“Oh, cool,” Jordan said. “I get off my twelve-hour shift at nine, too.”
I looked sideways at him and waited for him to say more. That couldn’t have been a coincidental comment, right? Mentioning that we got off at the same time… It seemed like he was thinking awfully hard about something.
Was he going to ask me out?
He turned his emerald gaze on me and rolled the remains of a pizza crust between his fingers. He opened his mouth…
…And then the siren went off in the firehouse.
The three men rushed into action with practiced ease. They hurried over to the lockers on one wall, rapidly stepping into their pants and pulling the suspenders over their broad shoulders. I watched Jordan throw his thick fire jacket on, then carried the rest of his gear over to the fire engine. Derek and Taylor were right behind him.
“I’ll put the food away in the kitchen for you!” I shouted over the siren.
“Thanks!” Taylor shouted back, giving me a thumbs-up.
Before the engine could drive away, Jordan suddenly jumped out of the passenger seat and ran back over to me. His face was flushed from running around, an his eyes were wide with adrenaline.
“Hey, do you, uh, want to get a beer or something when we get off?”
“I…” I stammered. A date invitation was the last thing I expected while the fire siren was still going off. “Yeah. I’d love to.”
“JORDAN!” Derek roared. “Move your ass!”
“I’ll pick you up at your restaurant!” Jordan said before giving me one final, parting grin and hurrying back into the fire engine.
Dazed, I watched them drive out of the station and down the street, lights flashing the whole way.
3
Clara
I smiled as I watched the fire engine disappear down the main street of Riverville. Partly because it was exhilarating watching the firemen rush into their gear and drive away to do something heroic.
But mostly I smiled becauseI had a date with one of them.
Once I shook off my stupor, I packed up their food and carried it inside the station proper. I passed several rooms with bunk beds and a big communal bathroom before reaching the kitchen. First I turned the oven to thewarmsetting. The pasta was already in an aluminum tray, so I threw that inside right away.
The pizza was tougher. Although the cardboard boxes wouldn’t burn at such a low temperature, I didn’t think the firemen would approve of me putting cardboard directly in an oven. Instead, I found two baking trays in the cabinet and began transferring slices of pizza to them. Then I covered both trays in aluminum foil and threw them in the oven.
Now the guys would have hot food when they returned, and the temperature was too low to be dangerous. Just to be safe, I scanned the bottom of the oven for any crumbs or pieces of loose food. They wouldn’t ignite at that temperature, but I figured better safe than sorry.
