AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As Christmas quickly approached, the routine of the firehouse was already second nature to Geri. Between answering calls, she took charge of the firehouse Christmas, decorating the outside of the building by getting into the bucket of the ladder and attaching thousands of lights to the outside of the building and in the trees around it in a design she’d put on paper first.
“How beautiful!” The crew loved it and didn’t spare their praise. “We’ve had the lights for a long time, just no one motivated enough to do more than wreaths on the garage doors.”
Everyone who saw it said it inspired them to decorate. The local paper even came out and did a photo shoot. For Geri, it made her feel more a part of the fabric of the station.
The crew’s trust in her grew as she continued to play the role of rookie. There had been a shift in Jake’s and Geri’s work schedules, too, so that he wasn’t always working when she was there and vice versa.
“What’s this BS?” he said when it happened.
“What?”
He pointed to the schedule. “You’re off next weekend while I work.”
“Ugh, I wonder why.”
“I’ll ask Charlie,” he said, leaving her at the bulletin board.
Bridget had just arrived. “Ew, looks like Jake is not happy.”
“Schedule trouble,” Geri explained. “Charlie switched us around. I wonder if someone complained.”
Bridget motioned her over. “Come to the supply office,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t repeat this because I don’t want to cause trouble. But you should know.”
“Oh God, what now?”
“Charlie’s wife, Lila, is Devon Lyon’s friend. They’re real close. Anyway, Charlie told Lila, and Lila told Devon, who told Aisling, who told me that Rick Jackson told Charlie that you and Jake slept together in his office.”
Frowning, Geri shook her head.
“But we didn’t actuallysleepin there,” Geri said honestly.
Bridget sputtered, laughing, and shut the door for privacy. “Rick Jackson is just jealous. Firehouse sex is as old as the hills. Joey and Candy screw their brains out whenever he’s here overnight. Ask her. She conceived here in the firehouse.”
“So you’re telling me that when Jake confronts Charlie, he’s going to call him out.”
“Probably. Do you care?”
“Not really. If they had a decent place for me to sleep, we wouldn’t be in Charlie’s office.”
“This is true,” Bridget said.
There was a tap at the door, and when she opened it, a stony-faced Jake was there on the other side.
“Ugh,” Geri mumbled. “What happened?”
“He’ll fix the next schedule,” Jake replied.
“So what do we do now?” Geri asked. “I don’t want to lose my job, but I don’t think I should have to stay away from you, either.”
“He said we’re doing a great job. It’s not that. It’s…”
“Um, Bridget told me what the gossip is. Charlie told his wife what Rick Jackson said and so forth.”
“I want to kill Rick Jackson right now.”
“Jake, deep cleansing breath. No killing, okay? It’s not a biggie. I’m not sure how we’ll survive being apart for a whole weekend!” she said, teasing him, but he was serious.
“I don’t even want to find out,” he grumbled.
