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It doesn’t take long before the emergency calls start coming in, and they continue non-stop. Every time Trey and I get a breather, “Nagging Nancy” starts blaring at us again. We’re on our eighth call, and exhaustion is beginning to weigh heavily on us both.
“This better not be another prank call!” I say, frustrated.
“I’m not holding my breath. It would be the third one in a row. Are you getting any tingles this time?”
“Nope. Not a one.” The previous two prank calls were nothing but heaving breathing on a burner phone, forcing the dispatcher to use cell towers to ping a general area. This time, a voice on the other end of the line yelled, “Send help to the corner of 6thand Knackers Ave,” before hanging up.
I see a police car and Engine 12 parked in the lot of an abandoned strip mall when we arrive. We pull in behind them and get out, greeting Officer Jordan and the team of firefighters from the station my brother Brody works with. It’s not a surprise when it’s Brody who walks up to us with a grim smile.
“Hey, Lee. Bad news. Nothing is going on here, and it looks like a prank call. Officer Jordan was the first to arrive on the scene and scoped out the place, finding nothing but a burner phone lying on the ground. What is with kids these days? Don’t they realize that prank calls prevent us from being in a position to help people who really need it?”
“It’s disturbing, to say the least. This is the third one in a row we’ve responded to tonight. I’ll do another quick sweep and then call it in. You guys go on and get back. No sense in us all being out here.”
He gives me a brotherly hug before they depart. Officer Jordan walks up to us next, shaking his head. “I’ve called it in, so you don’t have to do another walk.”
“Thanks.” He gives me a single nod before striding back toward his cruiser. That’s when our radios squawk with another emergency, and my fingers begin to tingle. At least I know this one is real.
Sirens blaring, we take off to transport a pregnant woman to the hospital. Her husband is deployed, and her parents are currently driving up from Florida.
“I guess they’re a day late and a dollar short. You know? My parents are going to be so bummed if they miss the birth. I know that Parker is. That’s my husband.” She continues to talk to me the entire ride while I help her through the labor pains. Patients like this always brighten my day.
Rolling into the fire station half an hour before our shift ends, I’m happy but tired. I’m barely out of the vehicle when Sebastian stomps towards us and says, “We need to talk.”
“Can it wait? I need caffeine first.”
“You’re going to need more than caffeine, Leanna. You’re going to need four new tires.
Chapter fifteen
Carter
Idon’tknowwhyI expected Leanna to call or even text, but she didn’t, and I felt a pang of disappointment at the fact. Since returning to my hometown, I’ve missed her fiercely, as if a piece of me was missing. The sound of her voice would have dulled the ache in my heart, but knowing her, she was giving me the space I needed to figure everything out. Although I’m frequently gone on various assignments, this is the first time I’ve felt this innate sense of loss. I don’t like it, but I’m unsure what to do.
For the past several days, I’ve been spending my free time fixing up my father’s old house. It’s a tiny, two-bedroom abode that had put a roof over our heads, and occasionally there was food on the table. It’s the only thing I have left that belonged to my father, and I want to preserve his legacy. Yet, at the same time, not all the memories are good ones, and I want to get rid of the place. Like right now.
I’m standing in the very same spot I did as a child when I watched my mother pack her bags. I had no idea it would be the last time I would ever see her. My father was in town, picking up the few meager groceries we could afford, when she turned to me and said, “Goodbye, Carter.” That’s it. There was no “I love you” or explanation for her departure, just a kiss on the cheek before she walked out the front door, never looking back. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I found a note hidden in my father’s sock drawer that I finally understood.
Dear Richard,
When I married you, this was not the life you had promised me. Our hopes and dreams have fallen by the wayside, and our plans to leave this place are all but gone now. I wanted to travel, to experience life, and leave this tiny town in the middle of nowhere. You promised to give me all those things, yet nothing has changed.
Being a mother was never something I wanted, and it’s time for me to put my needs first. I fear that if I don’t leave now, I’ll forever be stuck in a life I don’t want. For ten years, I have lived every day wishing things were different, and now they will be.
Goodbye,
Margaret
The one woman who was supposed to love me unconditionally never loved me at all. My presence made her feel trapped, and she thought leaving was the only way to find happiness. Years later, when Melissa left for much of the same reason, it only solidified my belief that I would never be enough for any woman. That is until I met Leanna.
From the moment I met Leanna at a Sunday barbeque two years ago, I knew she was something special. I had no idea at the time how much she would come to mean to me, and I never expected to fall in love. I thought that keeping our relationship platonic was the best thing to protect my heart, but Leanna stole it a long time ago like a thief in the night. I don’t know when it happened, but I do know that I need to let her know how I feel.
Leanna is not only my best friend, but also the person I want to see every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to sleep. The roommate situation has given me what I want, but now I want more.
When she agreed to go on a date with Joe, the fear of losing her to someone else suddenly became a very real possibility. I won’t lose her, not like that, and not because I let fear dictate my actions. Now, I just need to figure out a way to tell her without ruining what we’ve built between us.
Sitting on the front porch with my head resting against the door and my feet straight out in front of me, I close my eyes and imagine a future with Leanna. I smile when I picture two kids running around our yard, playing laser tag, and laughing joyously. My daydreaming is interrupted when my cell phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket and notice the caller ID says SKPS.
“Andrews,” I answer, using my last name.
