Feisty Firefighters Bundle

‘I mean, if we were married, we’d have a great case for going for permanent custody of Megan.’ Jason looked around again. ‘And this is such a great house. You own it, don’t you?’

‘Yes.’ Laura swallowed hard. She had a lot going for her, didn’t she? ‘I’m sharing it with Charlie at the moment, though.’

‘Your best friend, right? The serious crash investigator?’

Laura pulled her hand away from Jason’s. It hadn’t been difficult to distract Jason from any thoughts of proposing marriage, had it? Laura couldn’t bear trying to analyse why that might be the case. Changing the subject was probably a wise move.

‘Did you hear about the mass casualty incident up north yesterday?’ Her voice sounded oddly high pitched so Laura cleared her throat and tried again. ‘The train v. bus?’

‘It was all over the news. Wish I’d been there. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, working on a job that big.’

‘Huge,’ Laura agreed. ‘Charlie and her partner got sent up to help.’

‘So she’s away?’ Jason looked hopeful. ‘You do have room for a visitor or two, then?’

‘She’s back tonight. And you can’t just run away from this, Jason. It’s got to be sorted. Where is Shelley now?’

‘I dropped her off in town.’ Jason shook his head. ‘She didn’t get up until eleven and she didn’t bother even holding Megan before telling me she needed to go and meet her brother off the bus from Dunedin. They’re planning to check the availability of flights back to the UK. Apparently neither of them have enough money to stay much longer.’

‘She’s putting the pressure on, then, isn’t she?’

‘You’re not kidding.’ Jason checked his watch. ‘I’d better head off. With a bit of luck I’ll get some time to myself and a chance to try and get my head straight. My guess is that this brother of Shelley’s will be wanting a place to stay tonight as well. I’m going to have to try and talk sense into both of them so I need to figure out how I’m going to do it.’

‘Good luck.’

‘Are you sure you won’t come and stay? Help me convince them?’

Laura shook her head sadly. ‘It would only make things more difficult, Jase. Shelley’s after you, despite pretending she’d be happy with a “name only” marriage. If I’m around, she’s only going to be more determined to get exactly what she wants.’

Laura had to hold back tears as Jason kissed her goodbye. The kiss was tender but it eased the look of frustration and misery on Jason’s features only momentarily.

‘I miss having you around,’ he said sadly. ‘So does Megan.’

Laura looked away. She wanted so much to hold him, to tell him that she loved him and would be there for him no matter what, but she knew what was holding her back. She was desperate for any clue that what they had together was precious for its own sake and not just because it bonded them into a set of parents for Megan.

‘Are you managing OK…with Megan?’

‘Oh, sure.’ Jason’s smile was as tender as his kiss had been. ‘You’ve taught me a lot, Laura.’

The tears were much harder to control now. Impossible, in fact. Laura held the door open and her voice was muffled.

‘Are you coming into work tomorrow?’

‘Of course. I’m going to need a day away from my unwelcome visitors.’ Jason managed a lopsided grin. ‘Besides, Mackie would have my guts for garters if she missed out on a day with Peanut.’

Jean McKendry wasn’t thrilled with the offer of help to care for Megan the next day.

‘What does she think she’s doing? She made a right pig’s ear of changing the bairn’s nappy.’

‘I guess she’s out of practice.’

‘She’s never been in practice, if you ask me.’ The sniff was scathing. ‘Why doesn’t she just go back where she came from?’

Laura turned to look at Shelley, sitting in the far corner of the commonroom, flicking the pages of a magazine. She smiled as she caught an audible muttering from Mrs Mack concerning the desirable location of a great many Sassenachs.

‘The problem is that she wants to take Megan back with her.’ Laura kept her voice as low as the whole conversation had been. ‘And Jason isn’t prepared to let her.’

‘I should think not,’ Jean hissed. ‘She’s no fit mother for the likes of our wee bairn.’

Shelley must have been able to feel the heat of the glare she was receiving. She sent back an ‘oh, whatever!’ expression and returned to her magazine with an audible and very bored sigh.

‘She’ll get sick of sitting around here, pretending to be interested in being a mother.’

‘I hope so,’ Laura murmured. The novelty of having Shelley on station might wear off for the rest of Green Watch as well. Despite even more obvious support for Jason and Laura than Maxine’s visit had inspired, there was no getting away from the fact that the men found Shelley astonishingly attractive.

Stick had been seen to poke Jason hard in the ribs as they’d left for their first callout that morning. ‘Didn’t you say she had an identical twin sister? Bring it on, mate!’

‘You don’t want to go there,’ Jason responded.

‘Are you kidding?’

‘She’s dead, mate.’ Jason’s voice had faded as the door swung shut. ‘But you’re welcome to the one that’s left. She’s dead keen on finding a New Zealand husband. Be my guest.’

Jean McKendry’s attitude took a turn for the worse that afternoon. Waves of righteous indignation met both Jason and Laura when they arrived back from separate jobs at almost the same time.

‘She just left her lying on the couch and walked off.’

‘Where did she go?’

‘Last I saw was her getting on a bus at the stop across the road. That’s when I went to check on Megan and found the puir lassie just lying on the couch.’

Jason looked worried. ‘Thank goodness she didn’t take Megan with her. We’re going to have to keep a closer eye on her when she comes back.’

‘I hope she’s no’ coming back at all,’ Jean snapped. ‘That bairn could have rolled off that couch and done herself a right mischief.’

But Shelley did come back. Laura groaned inwardly when she arrived along with Jason, Megan and Oscar again early the following morning. Jason looked tired and his grim expression deepened as the day got busier for his crew. Shelley looked sullen but determined, and totally ignored both Laura and Jean, who were not about to leave her alone with Megan.

Thankfully, she also ignored the baby and, other than disappearing for several hours in the middle of the day, spent her time watching television and reading magazines.

Laura and Tim had an unusually quiet day. The call that came in at four p.m. was only the third one for the shift. An hour later, they had treated a child’s asthma attack, transported the young girl to hospital and were returning to the station, planning to give the ambulance a wash down and check equipment stores.

The sight of Mrs McKendry standing at the door of the garage and practically wringing her hands sent a chill snaking down Laura’s spine.

‘What’s wrong? It’s not Megan, is it?’ The difficulty with which Jean was struggling to find words was unusual enough to hit panic buttons. ‘What’s happened? Is she-is she all right?’

‘We don’t know. She’s…she’s gone!’

‘Gone where?’ Laura’s tone sounded curiously blank. Her brain felt foggy, the thought processes slowing enough to make her feel stupid.

‘We don’t know,’ Jean repeated. ‘She’s just…gone. That woman has taken her.’ A stifled sob broke through. ‘It’s all my fault but I had to go and see about the water, didn’t I?’

‘Where’s Jason?’

‘They arrived back just a few minutes after I found she’d gone. They’ve taken the fire engine and the whole crew has gone looking for her. She wouldn’t have got far on foot. But…but Jason doesn’t know about that man yet.’

‘What man?’