AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He patted my shoulder. “Steve and Pearl’s shop? Good man. Well, how long you got in?”
“Seven years, sir.”
“You plan to put in the full twenty?”
A rock settled in my gut as I nodded. “I plan to, yes. I recently put in my reenlistment package for another four years.”
“Have they approved it yet? We could use someone with your skills around here.”
“You deal with a lot of aircraft fires in Bluffton, sir?” I asked, knowing full well that the answer would be a resoundingno.
Not unless they dealt with small plane crashes on a regular basis. Which would be unfortunate, considering I knew skydiving was a big thing around here.
“No, that we don’t. But I’m sure you know your skills are transferable to the civilian world, and when you retire, you’ll be too old to join us.”
My shoulders shook, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “When I retire, I plan to stay retired.”
Or, you know, help Hattie run the flower shop as a crusty old veteran. Well, if “old” meant late-thirties, of course. Which, at my age, it kind of did.
The thought went through my brain like lightning, feeling completely wrong. In order to do that, I’d have to spend something like eleven years apart from Hattie first.
Would we survive that distance?
“Well, son, give it some thought. I won’t lay it on too thick,” he said as if he hadn’t already been heading in that direction, “but I come from a long line of firefighters on my dad’s side, but the men in my wife’s family were all Marines. You could say I have a soft spot for your kind. I don’t even know you, but I can tell you’re a good man.”
“Thank you, sir. But I really plan to stay in. I love my crew and my job.”
“Your crew will change before you know it, Marine. I’ve worked with some of these guys for twenty years.” He backed up and sat on the edge of his desk, folding his hands in front of him. “I know you’d have an accelerated learning curve transitioning to the civilian side, so don’t even worry about that. With your years of service, I’m sure you could move up in rank fairly quickly.”
“Rank, huh?”
He gestured to his sleeve. “We have stripes too, and they aren’t just for decoration. Our fitness standards are likely below yours, if I’m being frank, and the hard parts for others won’t be as hard for you.”
I thought back through my career as a Marine so far. From boot camp to our strenuous training to the frequent drills we ran that were often more intense than some of the actual aircraft fires we’d put out.
“Plus,” he went on, “I know you’re well-versed in dealing with the hard stuff and getting through it stronger on the other side. Sounds to me like you’d be a great fit around here.”
My eyes flicked to the roses on my cart, and I sighed.
It sounded too good to be true. Could it really be that simple?
I’d grown up knowing I wanted to be a Marine. Like I’d told Hattie, becoming a firefighter had been a surprise after I’d already joined. My future was completely secure as it was. All I had to do was keep doing what I was doing, and in less than thirteen years, I’d get out at thirty-eight years old with full benefits and be paid for life. That wasn’t something I wanted to throw away to start over in a new career.
“I’ll think about it, sir. But in the meantime, where should I put your roses?”
He smiled, the corners of his eyes showing deep lines toward his hairline. “All around the room. Make it look really good.”
“What’s the occasion?” I asked, picking up two of the vases and placing them on his desk.
“I’m proposing to my secretary today.”
My brows flew up. “You are?”
“Yep. She’s sat right there outside this office for the last ten years, and I’ve loved her for almost all of them. But I’m just now getting around to doing something about it.”
“Congrats, sir.”
“Thanks. Take it from me, son. The years are going to pass anyway. Make sure you enjoy them.”
