Page 8 of From the Ashes

“I think you both mean 49ers,” our lieutenant, Lieutenant Flores, chimes in.

Lili and Sawyer look at each other. “Nope,” they say in unison. I chuckle as I tie my shoelaces, finding their banter comforting, even if I’m only observing it.

Young Teddy closes his locker door and scowls at them. “Garda still holds the record for the highest completions and hadmore than four thousand passing yards every season.Andhe’s from right here in Redwood Bay!”

Lili softens. “We know, dude. We’re just pulling your chain. But didyouknow that our very own Beast played ball with him?”

Teddy’s eyes go wide and his head snaps over to where Lochlan is fussing over Rocky, who is clearly eager to get out of the station and go for a long walk. “Really?” Teddy practically squeaks.

Lochlan shoots his best friend Lili a look before nodding at Teddy. “Yeah, I did. How do you not know this already? I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before.”

Our probie scoffs. “I would definitely remember if you had.”

Lochlan chuckles. “Fair point. Well, we were in different grades, but yeah, we were on the high school team together. We’re not even Facebook friends or anything, so I’m afraid I can’t hook you up with an autograph.”

Teddy’s slightly rounded cheeks flush pink. “No, I’d never…that would be rude…I wouldn’t…” He huffs in frustration. “I just think it’s a shame he had to retire after that knee injury. But it’s cool that a local guy made it big, you know?”

“And your admiration has nothing to do with how smoking hot he is?” Lili says with a grin, slinging her arm around his shoulders as we all start to trail out. The second watch are already out on a call, so the house feels echoey as we walk out onto the empty floor.

“Oh, screw you,” Teddy grumbles, but he still lets Lili hug him and kiss his cheek.

Warmth ebbs through me. I always feel better after time with my work family. They’re a handful and slightly crazy at times, but there’s also an abundance of love between us all. It’s hard not to take comfort from them, even when they’re teasing.

The last few days have been rough on my mental health. I’ve tried not to let Colt’s reappearance rattle me so much,but I’m only human. There have been times where I’ve swung from feeling angry to sad to almost hysterical about it all. The uncertainty of whether or not Colt is just visiting or is back for good has left me on uneven footing. I always assumed he went off to get his law degree as his family has a practice on the outskirts of town, catering to the more upscale clientele in San Clemente. It wouldn’t be too much of a leap to think he was back to work there now.

When he was firmly in my past, I was able to push my memories of him to the peripheral of my mind. But the prospect of accidentally running into him has my nerves on edge. It’s like I’m anticipating getting rejected all over again.

After a day and night with the One-Thirteen, though, I’m feeling secure in myself once more. Despite the minor quake yesterday afternoon, our shift was a relatively calm one. Even the tremors only caused some minimal structural damage around town and a few fender benders, so it gave me plenty of time to reflect on the situation.

Redwood Bay is my home. It’s Colt who left. I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. If he’s got any sense of self awareness, I’d hope he’s the one feeling anxious about coming back around.

Yes, some good company has reminded me of what really matters and where I stand. It makes me reluctant to go home to my empty apartment, but my grandma’s door is always open. In fact, she likes to complain that I don’t visit her enough, despite the fact that I’m there at least two to three times a week. The idea of surprising her for breakfast sounds like an appealing plan right now, and I smile to myself.

As the crew bustles toward the open front of the house, I cast my gaze across the concourse for Yara. She’s in the kitchen, boxing up the cookies she made early this morning for the current shift. I adore that she often does things like this. She’s astaunch believer that random acts of kindness are what make the world go round.

I wave the other guys off, then slow down and wait for her so we can walk out together. I also know that she’ll have a box of cookies to bring home that I can sneak a couple out of, but I mostly wait to have another few minutes of her company.

Mostly.

“Smells good,” I comment as she skips over to join me.

“White chocolate and raspberry,” she declares proudly. “Want one?”

“Oh, if you insist,” I say with a wink. It’s still warm when I bite into it, and I moan slightly.

“No sex noises this early in the day,” Yara tells me primly, and I just laugh.

“Trust me, if I were making sex noises, you’d know it, young lady.”

She giggles and wrinkles her nose. “Ew, Del. No thank you.”

“You started it.”

“And now I’m finishing it,” she says in her best, most smug mom voice.

I chuckle and shake my head. “Can I have another cookie?”

“You’re so predictable,” Yara says, but she’s already holding the box over to me.

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