Page 41 of Embers of Love

He left her alone. Ember stood there for a good five minutes. Her fingers itched, she wanted to pick up the phone and call Josephine. She wanted to tell her the good news. The need was so overpowering, she couldn’t breathe. Ember went and sat in the car for a while. Then she curled up on the seat. The tears flowed freely.

“How the hell did you get the car running in less than a week?!” Farcy asked, gaping at the Buick. She’d told him over the phone, she didn’t expect him to show up to actually see the car.

“Went by the junkyard to check on Joan. The car is gone but most of her engine was still in good condition since the collisions came from the side and the rear. Salvaged what I could.”

The car was nowhere near ready for the drag strip. The new engine was a temporary solution to keep it running well enough to drive it to the grocery store and back.

“Well, you would’ve made a damn fine mechanic if you weren’t a firefighter.”

Ember nodded. She’d learned quite a lot about cars while building Joan. Not that she’d worked on it alone, but the professionals didn’t hesitate to show her the ropes and answer any questions she had. She had learned a lot online. Through videos. Through books. It was a passion for her. All of that skill came in handy now that she was working on her second car.

She settled into something of a routine, largely shutting herself away from the world as she worked on her car and attended her appointments with the psychologist.

The day had started like the rest. Ember spent most of her day at home, she was in the garage, working on the car. She wasn’t doing anything particularly important. She was mostly zoned out until her phone ringing woke her from her reverie. She jolted and reached for her device. It was Captain Carter.

“Hey,” Ember answered, her voice was hoarse and scratchy from crying.

“Ember!” Jenna yelled. The urgency in her voice had Ember on alert immediately. “We need you!”

“What?!”

“Where the hell are you?!” Jenna screamed into the phone.

In the background, Ember could hear the unmistakable chaos of a fireground. People were screaming, some in panic, others were giving orders. She could almost smell the smoke.

She was out of her car in a blink. Ember stepped out of her garage and was confronted by what she would have described as a nightmarish sight. In the distance, it looked like the edge of the world was on fire. Thick clouds of smoke blanketed the sky, underneath it was the orange glow of fire, burning underneath it. Phoenix Ridge was on fire and she’d slept through half of it.

“This can’t be real,” Ember said out loud, into the phone.

“It’s real! Get your butt to the fire station and gear up, we need every hand on deck and you’re one of the best firefighters we got!”

Her hood slammed shut and she hopped into the Buick. Swift Hog wheezed a couple of times, churning out a plume of black smoke.

“Come on, Hog,” Ember encouraged.

She gave it a couple of pumps before the engine rattled to life. She threw it in gear and tore out of her driveway. The city was in panic. Understandably so, everyone could see the smoke plumes from the fire. Ember was yet to make out the extent of the forest fire, it looked like the whole outskirts of Phoenix Ridge was on fire. Most likely, the fire wouldn’t reach the city, but if the flames went into the suburbs, the destruction to lives and property would be unthinkable.

The fire station was a mess when she arrived, everybody had been called in to work. The parking lot was filled to the brim. Nobody batted an eye when Ember rushed into the locker room to grab her gear. She was dressed and on the next fire truck heading out.

Haley was in the back. Leilani was with her. Elle was behind the wheel. Ember could see her lips moving, she was likely praying. As she stared ahead into the danger they were riding into, she understood her urge to pray.

The radio crackled. Becky’s unmistakable voice came through the speakers.

“Engine four?”

“Chief?” Elle replied.

There was a pause before Ember’s mother spoke again.

“Ember?” she called.

“Here, Chief,” she answered. There was tension in the fire truck as they anticipated what her mother was going to say next.

“Glad to have you back,” her mother said. “Stay safe, all of you.”

Ember could almost hear Elle heave a sigh of relief as she turned the intersection. It was a red light, sirens were blaring, everyone stopped to let them pass. They could all see the smoke.

“Engine four, I want you on the front lines, you will join engine two in securing the suburbs and making sure the evacuations continue without a hitch.”

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