Page 10 of Anchor Point

“So far, so good.” She tucked her head further into me, scooting down into the couch to lay her head on my chest. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was trying to be extra sweet. But I knew my rebellious child. These snuggle sessions were rare, and she’d never extended them to get closer.

My Spidey senses were tingling. There was more to her story than she was letting on.

“What about you? Is this move everything you wanted it to be?”

“So far, so good.” I echoed her words on a grin. She’d tensed up when I mentioned my crew. I needed to explore that more. “My visit to the stations starts tomorrow, and I’ll have a chance to meet the rest of the department. But the captains were all nice. I felt very welcomed.”

“Were any of them cute?”

“Honey.” I leveled my gaze on her. “They are my subordinates. It doesn’t matter if they are the most handsome men in town, they aren’t for me.”

“Shae said they do this firefighter calendar, and all the guys in it are hawt.”

“You mean attractive.”

“No, I mean haaaawt.” She giggled, fanning her face as she drew out the word. “At least that’s what Shae sounds like when she says it.” We shared a chuckle. “So, are any of them in it? Maybe we should get a calendar just to make sure.”

I choked on air.

“Rosa Nell Hawkins,” I started when I could find my voice. “Young lady, you will not pursue this line of thought. These men work for me. We will not be ogling them.”

She sat up, whipping around to face me. “It’s for charity, Mom.”

If eyes could roll any harder, I’d be surprised.

“Anyway.” She settled back into the curve of my arm. “Shae showed me a bunch of pictures from when the tornado came through. I checked them out.”

I let the silence ring, hoping she would continue.

“There was this one old guy. He was decent looking. He’d done some real hero shi—stuff during the storm. I was just wondering if he works for you. If, you know…” She picked at the frayed hem of her jean shorts. “Maybe you met him? You know, to find out if the stories were true.”

“Don’t think I missed that slip. Good catch on not cussing, by the way.” Honestly, this child tested my nerves sometimes, and aside from her tendency to cuss, she was a good kid. But good kid or no, we weren’t ready for the discussion she seemed to be headed for. So, like a big chicken, I hedged and made a mental note to do some research about the tornado.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to anyone about it, but I’ll let you know after my station visits. How’s that?”

She didn’t like my answer but didn’t push.

“Tell me about the rest of your day, sweetie. You made a new friend named Shae. Anything else good happen?”

She pushed off the couch, gathering her backpack. “It wasn’t terrible. But I’m not sure about that bus.”

“What do you mean?”

Dragging her bag across the room and rifling around in it, she produced a handful of paperwork for me to sign. “There’s a crew of kids on there who make me feel sort of weird.”

“What’d they do?”

“They’re just… not nice. Made fun of some kids. Normal bullsh—stuff.”

“Good catch, again.”

She dug out a notebook and opened it to her agenda. My girl was organized and shared my love of planners and journals. I admired her profile while she shuffled some papers. She really was the best part of my life. She paused on a page, a frown marring her features.

“Okay, Mom, don’t yell.” She flipped a page up so I could see it. On it was a list of mandatory supplies.

I sighed because the absolute last thing I wanted to do was run to the store for school supplies. “Tell you what, I’ll drive you to the store, and you start filling out forms on the way. We’ll also stop and grab a bite to eat, because I’m starving and don’t feel like cooking.”

An hour later, we were headed home, takeout in hand, and Rosie was making her sales pitch. “Well, hear me out. I have to wait two whole years to get my license, and that’s going to suck. I don’t want to ride the bus with those jerks. I need some wheels. Besides, I could be finished with my homework way before you get home, and I could cook and have dinner ready when you get home if…”

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