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Chapter 12

Jimmy – Kiss the Cook

Melena wasn’t subtletaking her stealth photo of Dr. Webb. I didn’t know that he noticed, but I sure as hell did. I didn’t want to be jealous of another man, especially a hotshot doctor. But I was. It pained me to have him know about our nonexistent sex life, but endangering Melena wasn’t an option. At least she seemed as disappointed as I was by his recommendation.

Melena pulled up behind me and got out of her car to follow me upstairs. “What’s for dinner?”

“I was thinking pasta. Sound good?”

“Sounds great.”

“Come sit with me while I cook. You can tell me about your day.”

She was dressed in a bright blue shirt with peacock feathers printed on it, and her dark hair was braided back from her face. She looked healthy and happy sitting on a stool at the counter. I enjoyed the sparkle in her eyes as she told me about her day at her office. She’d battled an insurance company for payment and won. The rush of victory lit her voice.

“What about you? How was your shift?”

I thought back through my day. Some calls were too raw to share, and I didn’t like talking about them. What could I tell her? Did I tell her about the motor vehicle collision that sent two to the hospital? The code yellow assisted-living call for a ninety-year-old woman who fell and needed lift assistance her care home wouldn’t provide due to liability fears? Or the squirrel fire? I didn’t get called out for squirrel fires every day...

“You don’t want to hear about that,” I said.

She took another sip from her glass and watched as I sliced zucchini and stirred the bacon frying on the stove. The pop and sizzle provided soft background noise in the silence.

“But I do.”

“Ah, I guess one call was kind of interesting. Someone called 911 for a squirrel fire. When we arrived, we found the transformer on fire. The little guy had climbed a high voltage wire, bit down, and the arc flash blew the pole transformer. Fried the furry dude good and tripped the power.” I glanced up to see how she was taking my story. She watched my hands intently as I chopped onion and garlic for our pasta.

“Then what happened?”

“We contacted the utility to shut off the power and evacuated the area.”

“Was it dangerous?”

I shrugged. “Electricity and water don’t mix. We followed precautions and got the fire out without loss of life or property.”

Melena shook her head. “Except the squirrel. Poor squirrel.”

“What brought you into firefighting?”