Page 15 of Big Timber

Raising my eyebrow at the information I’m scanning over; I give him a grin. “She’s got deep roots here. Firefighters, fire captains, one was a fire captain who became a two-term mayor—let’s see, her grandfather, I think. And check this, the only family member who didn’t stick around Flagstaff lives up in Idaho.”

Axel’s smile matches mine when he replies. “It’s like a goddamn sign.”

Chapter 5

Talia

The smell of the meat simmering in the crock pot gets my stomach rumbling and I pick up the pace of washing the fire truck. All in all, this is one of the endless chores around here that I somewhat enjoy, especially in the summertime.

“No offense to your breakfast, Talia,” Greyson calls out from the other side of the engine. “But I always look forward to Donny’s meals.”

“Ditto,” I call back. “Now, in exchange for my silence, do you want to finish up washing this beast?”

“Fuck off! I told Melissa that if either Donny or I swung that way, I’d leave her for him and wouldn’t care if I gained two hundred pounds in a year,” he says, and I can hear the laughter in his voice, even though Melissa is not half the cook that Donny is.

Greyson and my cousin got married a few years back, which usually results in a lot of inside jokes between us when we’re on the same shifts. No matter which house I’d been assigned to, I probably would have been related to someone there—either by blood or marriage.

Gradually, I make it to the front of the engine about the same time he does, I but throw my sponge in the bucket when I feel my phone vibrate and smile to see a text waiting from Tarak.

Your brother is here. He’s bringing me to your aunt’s house??

“Um, Greyson?” I tentatively say his name, suddenly feeling a little sick. “Why is Tanner bringing Tarak to Aunt Sue’s?”

“Because it’s Sunday,” he responds, giving me a shrug.

“Butwhy?” I repeat, trying not to raise my voice.

This time he turns to look at me, quietly studying my face. “Does he have work or something today?”

“No. I want him to rest his ankle a bit more.”

“Okay, well, he can do that at Sue’s just as easily. Why are you freaking out?”

“We’ve only been together a week, Greyson!” This time I do raise my voice.

“The key word there istogether, Talia. It’d be weird if they didn’t include him.”

“They’re going to scare him off,” I whisper, knowing that my family is a bit extra.

“If you having a big family that enjoys being around each other is a problem for him, I wouldn’t think he’s worth being with,” Greyson’s words aren’t unkind, but they don’t comfort me either. None of them know Tarak’s background like I do, and I’d much rather be around to stop any uncomfortable conversations. “He’s a big boy, Talia. I doubt he’d have gone with Tanner if he didn’t want to.”

I’m sorry. I didn’t think they’d expect you to be there.Is the text I send back to Tarak.

As the day wears on, I continue to check my phone. It’s almost a relief when we get a call to provide back up to an ambulance. Once we return to the fire station, I finally check my phone and smile in relief.

I’m home. Give me a call if you can talk.

Most of the guys are watching TV, so I wander out to sit on the bench in front of the station. I’ve been smiling since I saw thetext. I never thought the simple sentence,I’m home, would mean so much to me.

“Hey, babe,” he greets me, answering on the first ring. “I’m not bothering you, am I?”

“No, I can talk. Unless there’s a loud bell in the background, my schedule’s pretty flexible. How was today?”

“It was fun,” he says, but I can hear the laughter in his voice and wonder what I missed. “Your mom and aunts want to get matching tattoos, but they can’t decide on the design or where to get them.”

“No!” I can’t contain the giggle at that comment and decide to fill in him on the family dynamic. “Fair warning: they’ll discuss it for a year, then Aunt Sue will get annoyed at waiting and go get one impulsively. After that, the others will rush to copy it.”

“And your grandma asked if I could tattoo eyebrows on her, so she wouldn’t have to pencil them in anymore.”

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