Page 54 of Combust
Cade had parted ways with her after their outing, retreating to his cabin.
“You probably want to talk to your mama and papa without me hoverin’ in the background like a fifth wheel on a wagon,” he’d said with a parting kiss. “Come by later if you’re in the mood for company. You know I’d love to see you.”
Now, Mom clung to Maggie. “Oh, sweetie, I was really looking forward to seeing Matt and the others!” Then she took a deep breath and loosened her hold, stepping back with a watery smile. “But the three of them are a brand-new family. We should expect that they’ll be establishing holiday traditions of their own.”
Mom’s tone was philosophical, but her usual vanilla-and-cinnamon scent was underlaid with the sharpness of distress.
Maggie nodded.Mom’s right,she told herself. But it didn’t help the pain and sadness. Sophie had finally gotten in touch, but only to deliver bad news.
And all autumn, her big brother Matt’s replies to Maggie’s emails and text had all been terse and uninformative, along the lines of “we’re all fine, but really busy.”
Maggie wondered if the holidays would ever be the same again. And if her brother and his mates actually intended to move back home once Sophie was a full-fledged doctor.
* * *
Sunday, November 23
Tonight was the first time in a week that Maggie was going to spend the night apart from Cade. She’d been excused from Grandma Elle’s weekly dinner because it was her turn for overnight firefighter duty in town.
This was a rotating shift among the Bearpaw Ridge Fire Department. It ensured that there was always at least one person available to drive a fire engine to the location of an emergency, while the rest of the volunteers responded to the call from their homes or businesses.
She arrived at the firehouse shortly after the end of her work day at Cinnamon + Sugar.
For the first hour of her duty, Maggie busied herself with unloading her bulky personal protective equipment from her car, then hanging her turnouts on the hooks along one wall of the apparatus bay where the ladder truck was parked. She organized the rest of her PPE—helmet, insulated gloves, masks, various gauges, and SCBA breathing gear—for quick donning if a call came in.
Then she changed out of her bakery uniform and into her firefighter’s uniform of work boots, dark blue cotton pants, and long-sleeved cotton BPRFD t-shirt. Cotton didn’t melt under high heat the way that many synthetic fibers did, so they were the safest fabric to wear while fighting fires.
With all that taken care of, she went into the firehouse’s common room and plopped down onto a worn sofa.
Normally, she looked forward to having an evening entirely to herself. She pulled out the mystery novel she’d started reading a couple of weeks ago, but found herself unable to concentrate.
Things didn’t feel right. She had the sense that she was forgetting something important. It made her antsy.
After a few minutes, she recognized that her restlessness stemmed from Cade’s absence. In the quiet solitude of the firehouse, she and her bear both felt his absence keenly.
You are so pathetic, she told herself.
With determination, she opened her novel again and resumed reading.
Another hour dragged by. Her bear was doing the equivalent of pacing back and forth inside Maggie’s head. Pretty soon, she felt like putting her book aside and pacing, too.
This is getting ridiculous, she chided her bear.We saw him this morning! And we’ll see him again tomorrow.
Her stomach growled.
The firehouse had a kitchen, and she’d packed the ingredients to make herself spaghetti Bolognese. But right now, the thought of having to stand up and cook made her feel unspeakably tired. This was the week when everyone ordered their Thanksgiving pies, so it had been a long, very busy day at the bakery.
From experience, Maggie knew that once this week was over, it would be at least a year before she wanted to smell pumpkin spice again.
A collection of folded paper menus pinned to the kitchen’s cork message board sparked an idea.
She remembered that a new Italian restaurant had opened on Main Street this past summer, and their menu included pizzas. And delivery within town limits.
I could order something, and they’d bring it to me, she thought wistfully.
It was a tempting notion, even though she was trying to save up enough money to buy a new car.
Her Subaru had been bought used and had served as her trusty companion for several years now. But at some point, she’d have to replace it, and she wanted to have sufficient savings when that day came.
