Leaving Normal, Stef Holm [ebook reader screen .TXT] 📗

He was secure in himself, knew what he was good at, what his strengths and weaknesses were. He didn't have an ego, wouldn't know what to do with one if he did. Acknowledging he was well liked was something he prided himself on. If he gave his word, he meant it. If he said he'd take someone's shift, he was there.

He stepped around the shoreline—the electrical cord that kept the engine charged to a battery. When the truck was washed and dried he stepped out of his work pants and boots, put on a pair of jeans and Nikes and he swapped the button-down for a long-sleeved, navy tee with Boise Fire Dept. written across the back.

As he drove down the residential street where the fire station was located, he noticed all the people out shoveling snow. The skies had dumped six new inches on top of an already heavy snow cover.

Tony dialed his cell phone with one hand, waited for the rings and then a voice picked up.

"Rocky's Tavern."

Tony cracked a smile. "You wish."

"When I retire, Cruz. Just wait and see."

Hoseman Rocky Massaro worked the A Shift at Station 6 on Franklin Road. Assigned to the ladder thick, he sometimes forgot to be humble on the job, but it was that trace of arrogance and pride that Tony respected in his friend. He and Rocky had graduated from the same fire-academy class and had formed a pretty tight friendship during the last eight years of service in Boise.

After their shifts they often met at the local gym to work out together; mostly they talked bullshit about the job while lifting weights. Sometimes their talks got serious if one of them was having personal problems. Rocky was single, no steady girlfriend; he just dated a bunch of women and kept things easygoing. Tony felt comfortable telling Rocky about Kim and the pressure he struggled with in not wanting to start a family right now. Nobody knew about that, not even his mom. It just wasn't something he discussed with everyone, but Rocky didn't criticize him. He pretty much just listened, and offered a little advice when he was asked.

"I heard Gable raided 13 last night," Rocky chuckled.

"You don't even know how pissed I was."

"I know you well enough mat I can figure it out. What's the payback?"

"Still working on ideas. Maybe Nair in his shampoo bottle—the guy's already blowing a gasket about going bald—or a lady's thong in his duffel. Frye told me Gable just started seeing a woman he likes."

"I say go with the thong." The radio in Rocky's car was blaring to a rock-and-roll song. "So are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Probably. The roads suck. Let's forget the gym this morning. I just want to go home and crawl in bed with my wife."

"Reading my mind. I want to go home and crawl in bed with your wife, too."

"Shut up." Tony shook his head while laughing. "I gotta go. Talk to you later."

"Yeah, later."

Tony drove down the sanded roads, traffic moving at a slow pace.

He hated the winter. It was long and cold. Thinking about how many Kelly days he had banked, he could take a two-week vacation this summer. He wanted to go someplace tropical. Hawaii. Cabo. The Virgin Islands. Kim had mentioned the latter.

His wife would be waiting for him at home, just getting Parker up for school. He'd been married for just over two years and had bonded with his six-year-old stepdaughter. She had irresistible dimples, and a head of white-blond hair. She'd been after him to get her a kitten for Christmas and he'd been thinking about it. In fact, he'd gone to the pet store yesterday just to see what they had. He'd opted out of buying one, deciding to go to the animal shelter instead.

Pushing through the morning commute while the radio played in his truck, he thought about all he had going for him in his life. At thirty-four, he had a great job—an eight-year veteran with the Boise F.D.—he owned his own house and had a fairly solid marriage. The sex was good…but it was the lack of emotional intimacy that sometimes kept things more unsettled than they should be.

He loved his wife, was faithful to her, but there was something in his heart that kept him from committing to having a child with her. It was an indefinable thing, but the uncertain emotions were there.

Kim had wanted a baby with him for the past year and he just hadn't been able to give himself over completely to the idea. At first, he thought his reservations stemmed from the fact that he wanted Parker to feel important to him, safe and secure, before he brought another child into the house. But that wasn't it.

The intangible reasons troubled him because, more than anything, he wanted a child of his own. Kim had been waiting for him to come around, but Tony had sensed a distance in her lately. He worked one twenty-four-hour shift, then was off for forty-eight. Recently, during the time when he was away overnight, he'd begun to get an, unsettled feeling.

Tony pulled into his driveway and caught sight of Natalie Goodwin across the street. She was tackling the snowpack blocking in her car.

Killing the ignition, he climbed out of the Ram and paused. He was dead-ass tired, really wanted to go inside, take a hot shower and go to bed with his wife after Parker left for school.

But something stopped him. A recollection of something Natalie had said.

He pocketed his keys and walked across the street.

"Mornin'," he greeted, catching Natalie unaware. She looked up, a line of worry on her forehead. The tip of her nose was red from the cold air, her cheeks flushed against her pale complexion. Green eyes lifted to study him with a sense of hope.

Folding his arms over his chest, he said, "Having your car stuck in the garage is a bad way to start off the grand opening."

The firm set of her