Everyday Hero: The Volunteers - a Darling Bay Short Story (4 page)
Read Everyday Hero: The Volunteers - a Darling Bay Short Story Online
Authors: Lila Ashe
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Women's Fiction, #Contemporary Women, #Contemporary, #Contemporary Fiction, #Romance, #love, #hot, #sexy, #firefighter, #fireman, #bella andre, #kristan Higgins, #Barbara freethy, #darling bay, #island, #tropical, #vacation, #pacific, #musician, #singer, #guitarist, #hazmat, #acupuncture, #holistic, #explosion, #safety, #danger, #cupcake, #coffee, #maple latte, #plumber, #wrench
She got the fire extinguisher off the wall, finding it heavier than she remembered. Would she have to read the instructions? The list of words on the fire extinguisher was discouragingly long. In the distance, she could hear a fire engine’s siren. Although now that she had the extinguisher, she bet she could have it out by the time they got there. Grace knew one thing about herself—she was good at handling a crisis.
Well then,
crap
, why hadn’t she thought to unplug the danged air conditioner? Reaching forward, she yanked out the plug and threw open the window next to it. Fresh air, at least.
Or would that make the fire happier? Fire wanted oxygen, right? What if the fire sped up the wall into the attic? The cottage her office was housed in was more than a hundred years old. She’d barely glanced at the attic when she bought it, just noting it was dusty and had housed mice at some point over the years.
Speed.
Hurry.
Grace stood straight, willing herself to breathe slowly. She pulled the pin on the fire extinguisher and pressed the handle, directing the nozzle at the air conditioner. The fire inspector, when testing her business, had instructed, “Sweep the spray side to side, hitting the base of the fire.”
The difference was instant. The fire that had been creeping up the wall disappeared in a blanket of white spray. Grace took a deep breath of relief and immediately convulsed in a fit of choking.
From behind her, she heard a man yell, “Got a victim here, roll medics code three!” She turned to see a huge man in some kind of a yellow jumpsuit coming at her. He had shaggy blond hair and a jaw like a cliff. His eyes snapped green fire at her. Or that’s what it felt like.
She tried to tell him she wasn’t hurt, that she had it all under control, but she just said, “Thhbt.”
Then everything went dark.
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