Page 108 of Finding Hayes
“I know, baby. But you love that house. I don’t want you to rush into selling it.”
“Go to work, Captain.” She raised a brow and smiled.
“All right. Call me later.”
“I will.”
I grabbed my keys and glanced over one last time to see my wife, who was now holding Roddy in her arms and cuddling him.
My family.
My whole world.
I shook it off and made it to the firehouse in less than five minutes, parking in the spot markedCaptain.
I would have more flexibility in my schedule now, but I didn’t want to do anything too drastic until I got the hang of things.
It was quiet when I walked in, and I dropped my duffle in the hallway and turned toward the kitchen, when everyone shouted all at once.
“Captain Rambo is here!”
I rolled my eyes and pulled up the chair at the head of the table where Cap had always sat. They’d decorated it like a throne, so I assumed that’s where they wanted me.
Bones set a plate in front of me with about half a dozengiant pancakes stacked on top of one another with syrup and sprinkles all over it.
“You trying to kill me with all this sugar?” I teased.
“Oh, now that he’s married, he’s eating healthy and taking care of himself,” Beebs said with a cocky smirk.
“Hey, I’ve got to stay fit for my woman.” I winked, and the whole table erupted in laughter.
Beebs and Bones were cooking today, and Stinky, Stretch, Biscuit, and Santa piled food onto their plates and dove in.
“So what happens with Lenny? He didn’t show up for his shift the last three days. What’s up with that?” Santa asked. The man was always direct and asked the questions that everyone wanted to know but didn’t always have the balls to ask.
“I don’t know. He said he was sick. I’ve got to give him the benefit of the doubt right now. We’ll see how it plays out. Either way, we’re okay.”
“You deserve this job, Hayes,” Santa said, catching me by surprise. He didn’t do the emotional shit, and it’s why we’d always gotten along so well. “You were made for it.”
I finished chewing and nodded. “Thank you. I’ll do my best to fill Cap’s shoes any way I can. But nothing changes here, all right? We’re a team. I’m still going to be out there fighting fires right alongside you. I’m just going to be overseeing everything to make sure it runs smoothly.”
“You mean you’re going to fight fires and be a babysitter, too?” Biscuit said over a mouthful of pancakes.
“Dude. You just spit sprinkles all over me,” Stretch groaned, which made everyone laugh some more.
“And he gets the king’s suite now.” Beebs took the chair beside me and waggled his brows.
“The king’s suite? That’s a bit dramatic, yeah?” I asked.
I would get my own room, and I would be lying if I said thatwasn’t a perk I was looking forward to. My own shower and a bed that wasn’t next to a bunch of chatty-ass dudes.
“It means you can have the little missus stay over.” Bones jumped to his feet when I flicked a piece of pancake at him, and his head fell back in a fit of laughter.
“All right, I’m going to head down to the office, and I’ll call you guys in one at a time to go over the schedule for the month. So, if you have any requests, get them together before I call you in. I want to get this nailed down today.”
“Damn. Santa was right. You are made for this,” Beebs said, keeping his tone light, but his eyes were telling a different story.
He wasn’t being funny. It was heartfelt, and it meant something to him. Meant something to me.
