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“Look man, if you want to save her for yourself, all you have to do is say so.”
I don’t respond. This guy needs to take a walk.
Maybe I need to take a walk.
He starts to leave but stops. “Oh, the captain wants to see you.”
I get a weird sense of déjà vu.
I frown over at him. “Why?”
Levi shrugs. “Probably wants to talk to you about you being a hero and whatever. But I wouldn’t keep him waiting.”
I grunt a response.
After brushing my teeth and getting dressed, I head down to the opposite end of the building where the captain’s office sits. He’s on the phone, and when he sees me through the glass of the door, he motions for me to come in.
I step inside and stand next to the chair opposite his desk, feeling awkward for eavesdropping on his conversation right in front of him.
“We are very proud, sir, yes.” A pause. “Of course, we’d be honored.” He pauses, looks at me and smiles. “I’ll let him know. Thank you, sir.”
He hangs up. “First week on the job, and you already made front page news. Almost makes me want to ignore the fact that you’re not clean shaven.” He quirks a brow. “Almost.”
I rub a hand over my chin. I know the rules. My way of bucking them, I guess. I still don’t like to be told what to do.
I’ll shave it. Then I’ll let it grow till he says something else.
He nods at the chair next to me. “Have a seat.”
I sit, but everything about this is already making me uncomfortable.
“That was the chief,” he says. “He’s out of town, but he wanted me to pass along his thanks and tell you we’re all impressed with what you did out there last night.”
“I was just doing my job, sir.”
He leans back in his chair. “The whole town’s talking. Center page spread of the scene in the paper. And they want to come down and do a feature on their friendly neighborhood firehouse.”
“They said that?” I wince.
Captain Donoho’s expression matches mine. “Must feel good to be a hero.”
I look away and give a nonverbal reply.
“You might not think it,” he leans back, “but to this town, you’re a hero. The reporter wants to do a follow-up with you and the girl you saved—Miss—” he picks up the newspaper to search for her name.
“Smart,” I say. “Emmy Smart.”
His eyes flick to mine. “Miss Smart, yeah. You know her?”
“She’s my sister’s best friend,” I say.
“That’s why you barreled your way in there the way you did?” He pauses. “Or did that have something to do with what happened in Macon?”
I flinch and grit my teeth.
“Just wanted to help,” I say curtly, hoping my tone signifies that this isn’t a subject I want to discuss.
“Good. Then you can head down to her bookstore and check in on her,” the captain says. “Take her by her house to get any important documents, see what can be salvaged, that sort of thing.”
