Chapter 4

Hayden

"Did you have fun driving around this afternoon?" he asks as he prepares to take the first bite of his burger.

"Yeah." I pop a fry in my mouth. "Got stuck up on the pass, though," I admit. "Had a flat tire and almost didn't get it off because of some tight lug nuts."

"Oh yeah? Might be time to put a pressure wrench in your car." He looks as if he's already making a note to do just that. It wouldn't surprise me. Dad has always been the type of guy to fix whatever he sees may be broken. "How'd you get it done?"

"Nice person stopped and helped."

I purposely keep it vague. The last thing he needs to know is it was one of his firemen and, from what I can tell, his rookie. Plus, in most situations, I can take care of myself. This one was a matter of strength.

"I would ask if you were safe, but I know better than that. If you didn't feel safe, you wouldn't have allowed them to help."

"Well, thank God you know that about me by now," I scoff. "I'm a grownup," I remind him.

"I know all too well. Sometimes I still see you and your sister as the two little girls who ran down the stairs ready for school in the morning."

A snort works its way past my lips. "I wouldn't say we ran down the stairs. More like we grudgingly stumbled."

He laughs before taking a drink of his beer. "Yeah, you're right. Neither one of you were ever happy about having to go to school."

In hindsight, that's funny because we both went away for college and completed a four-year degree. I came back, but Hailey didn't. She's enjoying her life in Nashville. "So, tell me about your station. Since I'm back in town, I'd like to get to know what's going on with you and your guys."

A look of pride crosses his face. "The best group I've had in a long time. It's hard to find the right balance, but I think we've managed to do it."

"How are they?"

Like a proud papa, his chest puffs. He puts down his burger, wiping his fingers on the napkin in front of him. "They're something else. Danny, he's my rookie. He's got a lot of pressure on him. His daddy owns a lawn care business and Danny helps out all the time. With the extra training he's expected to have in his first year, I'm worried he's going to either get burnt out or miss something he should easily see. I'm keeping an eye on him."

"Is he young?" I'm trying to figure out if this is the man who stopped to help me today.

"Same age, maybe a year older than you."

Definitely the same guy. "That's a lot of responsibility."

"He seems to handle it well. Then there's Cameron. He's a single dad and I feel a certain kinship with him, even though I shouldn't admit it."

"As you should. You've both been through the same thing. I'm sure you can sympathize."

"Sometimes too much." He takes a long drink of his beer. "Gauge is kind of a pet project. He was injured on the job last year. He's been riding a desk ever since and has lost something in his eyes." Dad shakes his head.

"How was he injured? Is he the one who got burnt in the house fire?"

"Mmmhmm," Dad confirms. "It was a hard situation all the way around. Some of the guys still don't know how to approach him and I think he's not sure how to be one of them anymore. It's a situation I wouldn't wish on any firehouse."

"What about the guy you're grooming to take your place?" I grin over at him. Not many know he's looking to retire, but his twenty-five years will be up in a few months and I know he's been on the lookout for the right candidate.

"Brian," he grins. "That kid is a lit match. He's going to turn the service upside down, but it's what they need. He'll have a lot of people to prove himself to, but I have no doubt he'll do it."

"That's high praise coming from you."

"I don't give it lightly, so you know it's good."

Wracking my brain, I know there's someone he hasn't filled me in on. It hits me suddenly. "What about Chance? We graduated together and I was keeping up with him on Facebook, but then he stopped posting."

A darkness clouds his face. "Chance's wife up and left him one day. He came home from shift and she was gone."

"Why?" I gasp. They'd been high school sweethearts. If anyone had asked me who I thought would make it, it would be them.

"He doesn't know. For a while he looked for her, but finally decided maybe she didn't want to be found."

"How heartbreaking."

"Yeah, he was pretty messed up for a while. He puts in the most hours of any of my guys and is the hardest worker I have. Part of me wonders if it's because he has to be exhausted in order to rest at night."

"Makes sense." I dip my fry in ketchup before popping it into my mouth. "Especially if he has no idea where his wife is."

Dad clears his throat. "I've done my best to try and help him, but I'm not sure if I'm helping or hindering, to be honest."

"Mmm." I don't have anything to add to the conversation.

"Are you excited about starting your job tomorrow?"

"Mmmhmm." I chew my food, nodding. "I can't wait to get into a routine. Since graduation, I've felt like I haven't had one," My shoulder pops up in a shrug. "I knew that would probably happen, especially since I wasn't sure if I would stay there or come back here. I've been staying up all night and sleeping most of the day. The only reason I think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight is because I drove so long to get here."

"You'll do great."

"You always have faith in me."

He grabs my hand across the table. "Because we've always been there for each other."

Truer words have never been spoken. I can remember him taking me to the nearest mall to get my prom dress. We'd been amongst the group of girls with their moms, and here I was with my dad. He'd offered to let Hailey take me instead of him, but he's always been the one there for me and I couldn't imagine going with anyone but him. He'd even taken me to the salon to get my hair and nails done, never complaining that he was the only dad in the shop. He'd stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching me come down in my dress, taking pictures, and smiling brightly.

Hailey had been right there next to him; my own support system built out of not only necessity, but the desire to be there for me. These two stayed when our mom left and will always be the most important people in my world.

"Are you working tomorrow?" I turn the conversation back to a topic that isn't so emotionally heavy.

"Not officially, but I'm going into the national park with the service to see about doing a controlled burn. There's a lot of dead wood after last year's ice storm. It's a concern for the upcoming storm season. Whether we burn or try to cut it out, we need to do something. It's a powder keg as soon as lightning hits it."

"That's scary. I hope you finish the work you need to tomorrow."

"Me too," he sighs. "Sometimes the park service is hesitant to do anything they think will destroy the land, but," he shrugs, "it's either we do this now or face some consequences in a month or so."

"I hope you'll be able to talk them into what you need to."

"Ehh, I'm just a Fire Chief, what do I know?"

Laughing at his self-deprecating humor, I push my plate back. "That was really good. I'm glad I'm home."

"I'm glad you are too, Hayden. I missed ya."

Those words are golden from him, the closest he'll get to letting me know he felt a hole in his world when I wasn't here. He's not a man of many emotions and hid them from us when we were kids, more often than not, but he proves every day he loves us.

"Missed you too." My chair makes a noise against the wooden planks of the porch as I stand before going around the table to give him a hug. "Believe it or not, I missed this place."

"Knew ya would. It's in your veins just like it's in mine." He pulls away. "Wanted you and Hailey to go away so that you'd have something a little different. It makes me proud that both of you decided to come back to Tennessee, even if Hailey didn't stay in this area."

Listening to the sounds of nature surrounding us, I admit something that I probably wouldn't have a year ago. Glancing around, taking in the comforts of home, I know I'm never going to leave again.

Because this place?

It's where I plan to be for the rest of my life. It's my comfort, the other piece of me, and my own little haven away from the chaos of the outside world.