Page 20 of Ink and Ashes
RE: SUBJECT: Wildfires
Thanks for the tip, but I have to pass on the date. I have a boyfriend back home. Let me know if you think of anything—or anyone—else.
Best,
Holland Rhodes
Freelance Investigative Journalist
With my mouse hovering over the send button, I glance up to find his eyes trained on me and a smirk on his face. I click it, and within seconds, his phone pings with the email. He shifts his gaze toward his phone in his hands, a frown filling his features as he reads. His jaw clenches, and any hope I had of getting his help vanishes as he turns and walks to the back office without another glance my way.
CHAPTER 8
Colson
“Mom?” I call out as I walk through the front door of my childhood home, Dom and Liv following close behind me.
“In here,” she calls back from the kitchen. We remove our shoes before making our way deeper inside.
Normally, my family has a weekly dinner together—my mom and dad, Beau and Dom, Cass and usually Sam, Liv, myself, and sometimes Hannah all gather at my parents’ for a good, home-cooked meal. We didn’t get to have one over the last few weeks because we were busy trying to get the fires under control, but now that they are, we have time for them again.
Knowing my mom, she’ll have whipped up one of her best meals, assuming it’s been a while since any of us ate well. My guess is her famous spaghetti. When I walk into the kitchen to find a loaf of garlic bread and a bag of croutons, I know I’m right.
I head over to where she stands at the kitchen sink, leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek. “Smells delicious.”
“Thank you, baby.” She turns off the tap, drying her hands on a nearby towel. “Hi, Dominic,” she says to theman next to me, pulling him in for a hug.
Through clenched teeth, he smiles. He hates being called Dominic, only tolerating it if it comes from my mom or his. “Hi, Stacy.”
“Livvy,” Mom says with a smile as she greets my cousin, hugging her too. Liv smiles back, wrapping her arms tight around my mom.
Liv Campbell is the daughter of our dad’s sister. Her dad is the sheriff for the Ember Grove Police Department, and her mom is a primary teacher at the only school in town. Our families spent a lot of time together when we were little, but as we got older, her parents slowly started distancing themselves more from us when they realized Liv was starting to show an interest in firefighting.
Caldwell women have always been part of EGFD, but Liv’s mom was one of the few that decided against it. Her husband, Liv’s dad, is super controlling and views firefighting as a “man’s job,” which meant he refused to allow his wife or daughter around us for the better part of a decade. He has effectively brainwashed Liv’s mom into many things over the years, from attending church every Sunday—my family has never been religious—to having the same beliefs about firefighting, despite the family she grew up in.
My grandfather wasn’t happy about that, and her “decision” to separate herself from the family legacy was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It put a huge strain on their relationship—and, by extension, her relationship with my father, my grandpa’s golden child.
Because of that, I consider us lucky that we had a relationship with Liv at all, though in a town this small it would’ve been hard for them to completely avoid us. And thankfully, Liv eventually found her way out from under her father’s thumb and has since become one of the best firefighters I’ve ever known.
I can’t help but feel for her, though. She makes herself at home with my parents now, closer to them than she is her own, but I’m sure that sucks sometimes. Dad is so disappointed in the way his sister has managed to alienate her only child, and I know we all wish that my aunt and uncle could be supportive toward Liv.We’ve mended some fences since my grandpa died and now at least say hi to them when we see them, but their relationship with Liv is still rocky. They’re set in their traditional ways, and I don’t see that ever changing.
Mom turns back to me. “Where’s your sister?”
“She’s on her way with Beau and Sam.” I toss a few croutons from the salad into my mouth. “She and Sam had a call run late, and Beau had to finish up some paperwork, so she said they’d ride with him.”
Mom smacks Liv’s hand away from the plate of garlic bread. “Well, they better hurry up before you three eat me out of house and home.”
I roll my eyes, laughing, but take another handful of croutons anyway. “Where’s Dad?”
“Out back. He should be in any minute.”
As if he heard us talking about him, Dad enters the kitchen a moment later.
“Hey, kids,” he says, pulling me in for a hug first, followed by Liv, then Dom.
“Hey, Dad.” I note the sawdust covering his shirt as he heads to the fridge, passing me and Liv each a beer and Dom a Gatorade, knowing he doesn’t drink.
