Page 7

CHAPTER 7

When they pulled away from the curb in front of Bea's house, Rhea turned and waved out of the passenger window of the rig, "Bye, baby! Bye!"

Brody managed to keep his laughter under wraps. He didn't think it would help matters if she heard him.

He wasn't making fun of her. It was sweet, really.

It was just something that he'd get used to.

Brody looked at the crayon drawing that Chip had given his mother earlier when they'd started their egress from the house.

It was a smiling stick figure standing in front of a cottage house that looked very similar to the Hardy home.

He nodded at the picture that they'd taped to the dashboard. "He's a good artist."

She smiled at him. "Better than I am. You should have seen the drawings I made in biology when we were studying the digestive and circulatory systems. My teacher Mister Lee gave us the assignment of drawing both systems and labeling the different organs. I thought it was pretty good, but Mister Lee started calling me Picasso. He said I could make any image look like it was surreal."

Brody gave her a quick look before he turned back to the road. "Did you tell him that Picasso wasn't a surreal artist?"

She laughed and damn he loved the sound of it.

"Yeah, I kept that to myself. If I'd tried to tell him that Picasso's style was cubist and not surreal, he might have docked me some points."

She shifted in her seat beside him.

"Don't get me wrong. He was a great teacher. He just had this way about him where he knew everything and he wouldn't hear of anyone telling him he was wrong."

"Yeah?" He slowed down when Josie Anderson skipped across the street to her friend's house. "Like what?"

She tapped her fingers on the inner door of the rig. "Well, there was my friend Jaycee. The first day in class when he called roll for the first time, he looked at Jaycee, narrowed his eyes behind his glasses and announced that he'd taught her mother."

Brody continued to drive down the street toward the firehouse. "That's all?"

Rhea sighed and shook her head. "No. Jaycee did ask her mother about it and it turns out that her mother had gone to the same school that we did, and Mister Lee had been a teacher at that time, but he didn't teach Jaycee's mother. Her mom even had her old report cards with her teacher's name on it, but Mister Lee was never listened. He didn't believe that he was wrong."

Brody laughed softly.

"I wonder what it would be like to 'know' everything so certainly."

Rhea laughed. "That would be great, but I'm pretty sure I would find a way to doubt myself."

Brody reached out and touched her thigh before he could think better of it, and then he pulled it away, trying not to make a big deal about it. "Sorry."

She looked out the window and he couldn't tell from the reflection if she was smiling or not. "It's okay."

He hoped it was.

He had a feeling that reaching out to touch her wasn't going to be a one-time thing.

The night before, he'd touched her again and again.

She hadn't told him to stop.

Which probably shouldn't be the measure of whether or not he should do something, but...

"You know," he swallowed and tried to keep his voice light, "if you don't want me to... to touch you like that, you can always tell me to stop. I'm not... I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable."

She did turn to look at him as he turned into the firehouse lot and looked at him. When he pulled to a stop and set the rig in park he looked back at her.

"I'd tell you to stop if you made me feel... uncomfortable." She nodded. "I'll tell you."

"Good." He smiled. "I have a feeling that we're going to be great partners, Rhea. You and me. This is going to be good."

She nodded. "I agree."

They both opened their doors and Rhea turned back to look at him.

"I've been looking for a new start, Brody. I really think I chose the right place to do it."

He smiled. "This town is going to love you and Chip. This is going to be your home."

"I hope so."

* * *

Brody gave her a tour of the firehouse. Pretty much everything was the same as her old firehouse, just in slightly different places. It was smaller, too. Which made sense since it's a smaller town, but even then, it felt... better.

A better fit for her.

She could become a part of things here.

When they returned to the common room, she looked at Brody and nodded. "So, what are the chores we do when we're not on a call?"

He sighed. "Well, I've already restocked the rig. So that's good." He looked up at the clock. "Meal prep doesn't start for a few hours. Unless you get hungry and you know where the snacks are."

She grimaced a little. "I'm not big on snacks."

He looked up at the calendar on the wall. "The firefighters are at a community function. They'll be back in about an hour and-"

The speaker on the wall flared to life.

"Ambulance needed at 422 Pine Street. Four. Two. Two. Pine."

Brody slipped into the driver's seat and Rhea was already in her seat clicking her seat belt into the connector. "Let's go, partner."

He smiled as the engine turned over and they were off.

* * *

Rhea was having her own kind of fun as she helped a soon-to-be father weather his wife's Braxton Hicks contractions.

Brody was talking to the expectant mother, going over her condition and checking her vitals, but Mister Cutter was green around the gills.

She put her hand on his back. "Why don't you sit down, Mister Cutter."

He shook his head, but he might have done it a little too hard because he had to cover his mouth with his hand. "I'm good."

Missus Cutter, Emily, gave her husband a sweet look from across the room. "Stephen. Sit down please."

He crouched down on the floor and Rhea made the most of it, gently putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Please sit down. If you fall I don't want to take you to the clinic for stitches."

That did something.

He sat down hard and groaned. "I don't like... needles."

Rhea took out her blood pressure cuff. "I think we need to do a work up on you, Mister Cutter."

He waved his hand at her as if he was trying to swat her hand away.

Nothing dangerous. Especially given the condition he was in.

"I called you for my wife."

Rhea got down on one knee and smiled at him. "I know, but she's absolutely fine. You're the one I think might pass out." She looked across the room and saw his wife smiling at him, but there was some worry on her face. "I can tell you care about her. Now, let's take care of you."

He looked a little defeated. And sat heavily on the floor. "I feel like I'm going to make a mess of everything."

She felt a connection to him in that moment.

Charles had worried like Mister Cutter.

"Give me your arm so I can take your blood pressure."

He gave his arm over to her a little more meekly than she'd expected.

Quickly, she slipped the cuff around his arm and secured it. Then she placed the stethoscope's head over the brachial artery on his arm. Then she started to pump. "When I was pregnant with my son, my husband tried to educate himself on everything he needed to know about childbirth."

She stopped to hear his pulse and released the pressure as she continued talking. She'd done this so many times she could easily talk and listen at the same time. Multitasking was a beautiful thing.

"H-how did he do?"

"He forgot everything. It was all wiped out of his head the moment my water broke."

She lifted the head of the stethoscope from his arm and sat back on her haunches, smiling.

He put his head into his hands and groaned. "I know I'm going to mess this up."

Rhea reached out and touched his arm. "You want to know the secret?"

He looked at her, one brow lifted in a curious question of sorts. Then he nodded. "Yeah. I want to know."

She met his gaze and smiled. "Emily is your only concern. When her labor starts, forget the books. They'll tell you a thousand different ways to help her. Things to look out for. But none of that is important."

He frowned at her, his brow furrowing above his nose. "It's not?"

Rhea shook her head. "The important thing is Emily."

He dropped his chin. "Of course she is. But-"

"You keep your focus on her. If she wants ice chips. Get them. If she needs a hand to hold. Hold it. Make sure she's comfortable, well... as comfortable as you can make her. Just give her your focus."

He was nodding his head. "That's all?"

"That," she leaned in with a smile, "is a lot. Believe me. If you're there for her, that's worth more than the rest. The doctor? The nurses? They've got the rest down and memorized. You know Emily best."

"And then after that?"

"After that?" She tugged the Velcro open and slipped the cuff off of his arm. "Well, then pray."

She wasn't sure how he'd react to the joke, but a moment later his head dropped back and he laughed.

Emily moved over to his side and he got up to his feet beside her, wrapping an arm protectively around her. "Are you okay?"

Stephen kissed her on the cheek and turned to face her. "Are YOU okay?"

Rhea watched as Stephen gently rubbed his hands up and down her arms.

"I'm going to take such good care of you and the baby, honey. Just wait and see."

Emily tilted her head and looked up at him as if he'd hung the moon. "Of course you will, silly. I have no doubts about that."

Emily turned to look at her. "He's okay, right?"

Rhea nodded. "He was just nervous. When is your due date?"

Emily touched her belly with her hand, gently smoothing over her bump. "Two weeks from now."

Rhea looked over at Brody and saw him smiling at her.

He lifted his chin at her. "Ready to go?"

She reached down and put the blood pressure cuff and stethoscope on top of her kit and lifted it by the straps. "I'm good."

As she passed by the couple who only had eyes for each other, she grinned. "Take care, you two."

They said something as she walked out the door, but they were cuddled close so it was hard to hear. She knew what they meant.

They were happy.

They were healthy.

And that was just what she wanted for everyone.

When they got back to the rig, they took a few minutes to clean their equipment before climbing back into the cab. As soon as she had her seal belt on, she heard Brody's voice.

"How about a milkshake?"

That got her attention. She looked at him. "A milkshake?" Her lips pursed as she thought about it. "I don't think I've had one... for years!"

He smiled at her. "It hasn't been that long for me, but I think I want one. Sunny Side Up has the most awesome milkshakes."

She grinned. She hadn't even thought of food yet, but once he'd mentioned milkshakes, her stomach was all for it.

"Great! Let's go."

As Brody put the rig in gear she smiled to herself. "You know, that is a good idea."

"Well," he turned to look at her for a moment before the ambulance pulled onto the street, "I think we need something to celebrate our first call together."

She looked at him with a bit of a smirk on her lips. "It isn't really our first call."

His expression changed a little, becoming a little more serious before he smiled again. "It's our first call as partners."

They drove for a block or two before he spoke again. "So this is my treat as the Senior EMT on this rig."

Rhea laughed softly. "You don't have to treat me."

"I want to."

* * *

He felt her tense as if she was about to argue with him.

"You can't take away my chance to celebrate with you."

She hummed a little. "I can pay. It's not a big deal."

Why did he feel like this was a good introduction into how it was going to be between them for a while? "Good, if it's not a big deal. I'll pay."

He heard her hum again and wondered if that was how she helped to manage her frustrations.

"You know," he chanced a look in her direction, "the same thing you said to Stephen applies to us."

That got her attention and she turned a little in her seat to look at him. "Oh? In what way?"

"I'm going to take care of you, Rhea. You and Chip."

He turned onto the road leading toward the center of town and waited to see if she was going to say something.

No, he knew she was going to say something, just not what she was going to say.

"You... you don't have to, Brody."

He smiled and flicked on his signal to turn. "I know I don't need to, but I want to."

"Brody..."

He shifted forward in the driver's seat, keeping his hands on the steering wheel because if he didn't, he knew he'd reach for her.

Again.

"You've just moved to a new town. You and Chip have been by yourselves for a bit from what I understand. I just want you to know that you're here in Fallport and you're not alone anymore. You're my partner on the rig and that means something. I've got your back."

"Brody. My head's spinning."

Yeah.

"Spinning?"

"Moving here was supposed to be something... calm. This has all been a bit of a rollercoaster in just the first couple of days."

"I bet." He smiled and pulled to the side of the road while he dialed the diner on his phone.

It picked up quickly. "Sunny Side Up. This is Sandra."

"Sandra." He hoped his voice wasn't too upbeat. "Glad I caught you."

"Brody? Always good to hear from you. What's going on? Can I make something for you?"

"Yes, you can." He grinned at Rhea and then lowered his voice a little. "I forgot to ask. What flavor?"

She half-whispered back. "Banana? Do they have that?"

He shrugged and talked into the phone. "Two milkshakes, please. One chocolate and one... do you have banana?"

"We do! What about some fries?"

He didn't need the fries, but there was something addictive about the fries from the diner. "You know me too well. Fries, please."

"I'll have it ready in a couple of minutes. I'll put it on your tab."

"Thanks, Sandra. You have a good night."

"And you," she replied, "stay safe out there."

"Thanks."

He ended the call and continued on the street.

"Did your husband have family? Are they nearby?"

She didn't say anything, but he caught sight of her shaking her head in his peripheral vision. "It's part of the reason I wanted this job. It's hours away from them."

They pulled up at the curb in front of the diner and Brody put the rig in park. Before he could get his boots on the asphalt, Sandra was pushing the door open with her shoulder. When she reached the ambulance, she handed the drinks through the window and once Brody handed Rhea her shake, he took the box from Sandra.

She waved at both of them as she headed back inside.

"Talk about customer service. Another reason I'm glad I moved here."

When he put the cup in her hand, he smiled because she had to grab it with both hands. "Heavy."

He grinned and put his own cup down in the drink holder. "Wait before you start. You have more that goes with it."

She smiled at him. "Oh? I get to share some of your fries?"

He laughed out loud. "Of course. I'd never keep anything away from you if you want it." A little bit of a look crossed over her features, but he decided not to worry about it at the moment. "You have something that goes with your shake."

Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a little package and held it out to her.

"Here."

Rhea took it from his hand and he saw the hesitation in her movements.

She drew the package closer and opened the top wider. "What?"

He saw her smile and felt it in his chest.

And other places.

"Did you know..." She reached her hand into the package and pulled out a Nilla wafer. "That it was coming with these?"

He shrugged. "I've never had a banana shake from there, but Sandra always puts those wafers in the banana pudding so I guessed it goes with a banana shake too."

Rhea held onto a wafer with one hand and pulled the top off the top of her cup with the other.

With a spark of mischief in her eyes she scooped the shake up with the wafer and swept it into her mouth.

"Oh, my..." She scooped more up and finished the wafer, chewing with a kind of childish glee that made him smile.

"I bet Chip looks like that when he's eating dessert."

She nodded as she chewed. "He gets," she swallowed, "quite a few mannerisms from me. But I'm not sure if he got them genetically or if he's just copying me."

He smiled back at her. "Sarah is her mom in looks, but so far, her mannerisms seem more like Thomas, but we'll see how she grows and changes over the years."

"And Jack," Rhea agreed. "It'll be interesting to see how things change in both of them." She took out another wafer and delved back into the cup. "Do you think they're planning on having more kids?"

Brody finished another sip of his shake and stopped to think about an answer. He'd never really asked Kay about it.

"It's okay," her words rushed out, "I don't think you should answer. I'm not... I'm not part of the family. Or even Kay's friend, I'm-"

He reached out and took hold of her wrist since her hand was busy with the milkshake cup. "Rhea. It's okay."

Her owlish gaze called him a liar.

He shrugged and took another sip of his shake while he carefully took his hand off of her arm, because he honestly didn't want to let go and that was a whole other problem.

"I just didn't answer at first because I didn't know the answer. Kay just let us know when she got pregnant. So I guess I assumed she'd just tell us if it happened again."

She relaxed a little and he used his free hand to open the bag and pull out the box of fries.

He used the side of his hand to flatten the brown paper sack before he laid the box down. "I didn't want it to sweat in the bag and get soggy."

Rhea nodded. "I agree. Soggy fries are a travesty."

"Smart and beautiful? I'm a lucky man."

Her expression changed.

It was twilight so he couldn't be sure but it looked like her face paled a little, but the color in her cheeks seemed higher.

He wanted her smiling again. "I can't help it if you and I have similar fry knowledge. If it ends up that we like the same kinds of movies or the same kind of music, I might have to marry you."

"What?"

Oh, shit.

Way to put your big ass foot in your mouth, Brody .

"I mean, it's rare that I find a gorgeous woman who has such discerning taste in fried potatoes."

She smiled again. "I don't know about the gorgeous thing, but I have been to a restaurant where they were called pommes frites ."

Brody dropped his chin and stared at her with wide eyes. "What. The. Hell is that?"

"French Fries that you can charge an arm and a leg for." She smiled and lifted a fry held delicately between her thumb and forefinger. "And you have to hold it like you're drinking tea with the Queen of England."

Giving her a suspicious look, he picked up a fry like she did, winging out his pinky finger for the effect. "Like this?"

She laughed softly at his attempt at a foreign accent. "Yes," she nodded, and copied his ridiculous pinky, "just like that."

Then they reached toward each other and touched french fries like champagne glasses before devolving into laughter.

As soon as his radio came alive, he stuffed the french fry in his mouth and answered. "What do you have for us?"