“I’m ready, sir. There’s nothing in my life that’ll impede working toward my goals.”
Chief Marks nodded then smiled as he hefted out of his chair with his hand stuck out. “Glad to hear it, McBride. Welcome aboard Barker Street Station as a full EMT for the next two months.”
Clasping his chief’s hand in his, he grinned widely. It was all he could do to keep from running out of the office, yelling his excitement. Instead, he quickly placed a call.
“Erin? Guess who’s a newly hired EMT!”
The excited squeal from his twin met his ears. Erin had joined the Army at the same time he did. She had gotten out shortly after him, ready to return to Hope City as well. She had chosen to become an Army medic also but had seemed lost when she first came home. A specter of sadness had filled her, and she had kept her thoughts to herself, only beginning to unburden her experiences to their oldest sister, Tara. She’d recently worked on her certification for nursing aide and acceptance into nursing school.
“Rory, I had no doubt you’d make it,” she assured.
“Well, the even better news is that they want me to stay at this station for now and then transfer to Clifton. So, I’ll be riding out with EMS as a paid employee now instead of as a volunteer on the fire truck.”
“Good for you! I’m proud of you, bro. I’ll let you share your news with Mom and Dad, but don’t wait too long. It’ll be hard for me to keep it a secret.”
“You’ve always kept my secrets,” he joked. “But don’t worry, I’ll tell them when I get home tonight.”
Saying goodbye, he sent Blay a quick text, then shoved his phone into his pocket. Time to go find Carlotta and get acquainted with their ambulance.
5
Work had been exhausting, but Sandy finally had another evening when a drink at the Celtic Cock was exactly what she wanted. And the idea that she would see Rory again made it hard to not break into a jog as she neared the pub. She hoped he would be there. Hoped they would have another dance. And prayed they’d have a chance to share another kiss. Tonight, I’ll give you my phone number. Other than Bill, it had been a long time since she’d given her phone number to another man. And with Bill, they were just friends. But for Rory, she hoped for a lot more.
The place was already filling when she got there, but she squeezed past people and found an empty stool near the end of the bar. Maeve walked over and grinned, already mixing a Lemon Drop Martini. As soon as it was set in front of her, Sandy took a large sip. Licking her lips, she smiled at the woman behind the bar. “I needed this!”
“Rough week?”
“Yeah, but I managed to snag a huge, new contract, so I thought I’d come to celebrate.”
“Congratulations,” Maeve said. With more people coming in, Maeve tossed her a wave with the dish towel before flinging it over her shoulder and heading down the bar to serve more drinks.
Taking another sip, Sandy heard laughter coming from one of the pool tables at the back. Straining to see over the heads of others, she recognized Rory. Heart pounding and stomach fluttering, she gulped the rest of her drink, placed her money on the bar, and hopped down. Once again, she moved through the crowd, trying not to appear in haste even as she darted past people, throwing them her best smile as she excused her way past them.
Not wanting to interrupt the gathering, she stood to the side and waited until Rory finished his game and handed his pool cue to one of the other men. His eyes had still not found her, but as he stepped to the side, she moved directly to him.
“Hey!” she said, smiling up at him.
He looked down and smiled in return, his eyes not nearly as bright as she remembered. “Hey, Sandy.”
“I was hoping I’d see you tonight. I thought I might entice you to another dance or maybe try out a witty pickup line.”
He looked back toward the table where some of the other firemen had started a new pool game. He roared a cheer along with the others before bringing his gaze back to her. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “It was a good shot.”
“Oh… yeah… sure,” she agreed but had no idea what she was agreeing to considering her attention had been on him and not the pool table. He continued to dart his eyes back to his friends, and her stomach plunged at the realization he didn’t seem to want to spend as much time with her as she’d looked forward to spending with him. Not wanting to seem clingy, she said, “Well, I’ll leave you to the game. I’ll be over at the bar later if you want to chat.” Even as the words left her mouth, she prayed he’d finish with his friends and seek her out, but the flip-flops that began in her stomach wouldn’t stop.
He glanced back down and nodded but said nothing before turning his attention back to his friends. Filled with awkward uncertainty, she stepped away, soon slipping between patrons as she made her way to the bar. Her former seat was still empty, and she climbed up onto the stool, unable to keep the desire that Rory would join her from filling her mind.
Maeve walked over and grinned. “Hey! You’re back! You want another drink?”
She nodded, her wide, practiced smile firmly on her face. “Absolutely.” She tried to ignore the cheers she heard from the pool table area, but the noise simply made it harder to stop thinking about him.
“Hey, can I buy you a drink?”
The question came with an accompanying hand on her arm. So focused
