Page 4 of Last Chance Christmas

If it was about Christmas, Izan wanted to be there.

Eddie Rice, his fellow firefighter, leaned over his shoulder. “It looks like Christmas threw up on your tree.”

“I know.” Izan grinned at his friend. “Isn’t it great?”

Eddie slapped him on the back, laughing. “Sure, bro. Whatever you say.”

From his bunk, where he’d been reading a parenting book, Zack Stephens said, “It’s like you forget every year how he acts around Christmas.”

“I don’t want any Grinches,” Izan told them. “Got it?”

“I’ll leave a sternly worded note for B shift not to mess with it.”

Izan winced. Eddie had the right idea, but…“Doesn’t that usually make them mess with it more?”

“Hmm. Good point.”

Zack said, “We can tell them it’s Amelia’s tree. They’ll never mess with it then.”

“Or the chief’s wife and kids put it up. Spent hours decorating it,” Izan suggested. Not that he wanted to be a liar, but desperate Christmas times called for desperate Christmas measures. “I’ll figure it out. Coffee?”

Eddie frowned. “It’s nearly one in the morning.”

“Any time is coffee time.” Especially with the life they lived. No one wanted to be dragging or slow on the uptake in the wee hours when someone’s life was on the line.

Izan trailed through the hallway to the day room, which was a long rectangular room with a kitchen area at the far end, a dining table to the left, and the living area to the right. Zoe was curled up in the recliner, reading a book, while Della watched the local news report from earlier in the evening.

“…storms rolling in. You can expect heavy rain the next few days and dropping temperatures, bringing the possibility of snow in the forecast. So take care out there on those roads. More in the next segment. Back to you, Wilma.”

Izan headed for the coffeepot to fill his and Eddie’s cups. “Anyone else want coffee?”

“Yes!”

Izan glanced back and saw Della’s attention on him from over the top of the couch. He lifted his chin. “Had enough tea?”

She smiled. “Never. But coffee is fine once in a while. I took my grandma to the doctor, so I had to get up early.” She stretched her arms above her head.

“Everything okay?”

Della rolled her eyes, smiling. “She wouldn’t let me go in with her. Said it was old lady things and apparently none of my business.”

He brought her a full mug of creamy coffee with sugar. “Here. This is strong enough to put hair on your chest.”

“And that’s something I want?” She took a sip and sighed. “Good stuff.”

He chuckled. “As good as Christmas.”

“You’re like the Christmas evangelist.”

“You know you love it.”

Della just snorted.

He’d worked with Zoe, Della, and their lieutenant, Amelia, long enough to know the three women pretty well. Zoe had two boys, her husband was deployed, and her mom looked after the kids while she was on shift. Della lived with her grandma and read books a lot.

Izan knew Della well enough to have run up against the things she didn’t want to tell anyone, the dark parts of something that’d happened to her. She wore a bracelet sometimes, when she wasn’t on shift, with the name Lily on it. Amelia, their lieutenant, was in a category all her own. A force of nature.

Izan could’ve easily fallen for Della or Amelia, but the moment he’d seen a certain police officer, he’d been a goner. It was better that way, because he could keep things at work professional and friendly. It had never gotten weird between him and any of the female firefighters due to attraction.