Reading Time: 88 Minutes
Title: Freefall
Series: Becoming Evan
Series Order: 3
Author: chimera01
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Contemporary, Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Kid!fic
Relationship(s): Gen
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Hate Crimes, Hate Speech, Rape/Non-con/Dub-con. Discussion of Rape.
Author Note: See main page for glossary
Word Count: 83,235
Summary: Adulting shouldn’t be this hard, should it?
Artist: Twigen
Chapter One: Salutations
Nov 18, 2009
Really, Evan??
I mean, I was naturally curious when you told me to tune into that silly gaming channel on the 13th, but I had no idea it was so I could bear witness (after the fact) to my best friend committing an insane act on international television!
Also, I’m hurt that you didn’t ask me to go to Japan with you. I mean, I wouldn’t have been able to go, but still…
Anyway—Holy cow! Know that I plan on bragging for EVER that you’re my bestie! Michael also sends his incredulous congratulations, because he’s also certain that you’re insane.
Geoff
~~
Nov 15, 2009
Evan—Wish I could have been there. I am so proud of you, and I can’t wait to see what kind of man you’ll grow into.
Daniel
~~~~
Dec 3, 2009
Dear Friend Evan—
I’m sending this care of your grandmother since Geoff let me know you were out of the country for a while but he wasn’t sure where.
Firstly—Oh my freaking god!! That Ninja Warrior thing was out of this world! I watched it in my dorm lobby, which was odd for me because I live with a bunch of girly-girls and they wanted me to change the channel every five minutes. Until you came on, that is. And none of them believed me when I said you were a friend of mine, so I had to bring up the pictures from Prom on my phone just to prove it. You were amazing, and I am so proud of you!
Secondly—Sorry I haven’t been in touch until now. I know it sounds lame, but I really have been busy settling in and getting my bearings. I didn’t even call home to Mom until after Labor Day, and the next call was in October. I’m sure you can imagine the guilt-trip. Freshman classes are okay, but I expect things to get harder after next semester. I haven’t picked my major yet, but I’m leaning toward Environmental Sciences and Meteorology. I know, I know—no jokes about being a Weather Girl on the evening news, please! My sister already jumped on that bandwagon when I mentioned it in my call home. Of course, Dad wants me to focus on Ethnic Studies, which—ugh! I mean, I’m sure I’ll take some courses, but his mindset lately has been highly suspect. Even more than after Isaiah was born, if you know what I mean. He finally gave up on Alicia after she graduated with a degree in Media Studies, of which he understands nothing.
Third and Lastly—I think I’ve finally settled in here, you know? I am making friends and I’m even considering Rushing a sorority, which would have been so unlike me in high school. I was so shy then. And then I met you and Geoff and learned how to make friends and be my honest self. I don’t think I ever thanked you for that, so thanks. The divorce and my father’s not-so-covert racism really did a number on me and my older sister, and she coped by going away to college and not having anything to do with him. I suppose heading to Berkeley for college makes it seem like I’m doing the same thing, but I haven’t cut him out of my life yet. I respect my grandparents too much for that right now.
College life is…different. Really different. My roomies are all about boys and dating, but I’m not dating anyone here. Not yet, at least. I want to be more settled before dating. But my still-single dorm-mates and I went to Homecoming as a group, and we did a group Halloween costume for funsies! I’ll send you a pic because that was awesome! We went as a girl-group from the 60’s. There are a ton of vintage stores around here.
I’m including my phone number, if you want to text every now and then. Don’t be a stranger, and please continue to kick ass in life.
Love, Jill
~~
Dec 12, 2009
I know it hasn’t been so long since my last (first?) letter, but I’m visiting Mom for semester break now and thought I’d send a Merry Christmas Greeting to you.
Just a bit early.
Finals kicked my butt, seriously. And I know it’s only going to get worse from here out, so thanks for showing me how to properly study. That just might get me through college. I really envy you for your time in Peru. It sounds…educational. (wink-wink)
Speaking of our ‘study weekend’, I really haven’t taken the time to explore that side of college life. My roomies certainly have, so I’ve learned to be a bit pickier after watching multiple members of the baseball team crawl out of their rooms before my early morning classes. Never the same guy twice, I swear, and those chicks never look happy afterwards. I’d never slut-shame, but I explicitly remember you telling me that your brother told you that sex was supposed to be fun. And I also explicitly remember happy fun noises coming from the both of us that weekend, and the walls in this dorm building aren’t exactly sound-proof. Nobody sounds like they’re having happy-fun—least of all the displaced roomies. I swear I’ve been locked out of my room every Friday night since orientation was over. I finally complained to my RA and got my bed rights returned to me. My displaced suite-mates were thankful.
And perhaps now I can explain that, for some reason, the men’s dorm on my side of the campus is off limits to women (except for the study rooms on the main floor), but the women’s dorm is basically a free-for-all on the weekends. I thought I’d feel freer here, but I think I’ll be applying to the co-ed buildings next year.
But this letter has totally gone off the rails, so I’ll just expound on how jealous I am of the Machu Picchu expedition! You need to post that stuff to your Insta, I swear! I need to travel vicariously through you.
Love Ya—
Jill
~~
July 2010
(Wacky Birthday Card with cartoon cat—
Exterior: I normally Make a Big Deal out of Birthdays
Interior: But for you, I’ll make an exception)
Hey, Bro! Happy Birthday!
Sorry about the completely tacky cartoon birthday card, but I could only imagine how you’d laugh when you saw it.
Congratulations on your college choice! I know Dad is so proud that you’re attending his Alma Mater, even if it is online at this point. I’m sure Mom is proud of the same thing. Maybe.
Anyway, when you make your way back to the States, we’re totally going out for a late celebratory dinner. Late for your birthday, that is. Just in time for my first solo knee replacement.
Daniel
~~
June 2011
Thanks for the trip, Dude! Climbing might not be my thing like it’s yours, but the whitewater trip was freaking awesome! I guess I never thought about spending an entire weekend floating down a river, especially one with dangerous rapids, but the scenery was worth it. I can’t wait to get the pics from my waterproof disposable. G’ma is going to be thrilled to see them.
Also, thanks for taking my mind off everything, even for just a weekend. It hurts that I had to skip my sister’s graduation because of my parents (mostly my father), but floating down that river was just what I needed.
I think I’m going to propose to Michael when I see him during Fall Break. G’ma gave me my grandfather’s wedding ring, and I think it’s perfect.
Geoff
~~
December 2011
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I am definitely NOT going to Rush a sorority.
I went to a few Rush parties this semester, and I learned very little about the sororities on campus. During Freshman Orientation, we were told about all the good works the Greeks do, but all I saw was a lot of people wearing Greek letters on their shirts, drinking out of red Solo cups. No matter where I went during Homecoming week, which was the beginning of Rush, there were Sisters holding red cups, talking about parties.
Evan! I actually got shamed when I said I didn’t think getting drunk was my thing. I actually found more kinship and sisterhood at the coffee shop/tea house on the edge of campus. And it’s a quiet place for studying that is not a library. I have a close, small group of friends now, and I think you’d like them. Most of them. I’ve been showing off your personal Insta, but none of them want to actually follow you. Frankly, I think they think I’m only following some random hot guy and really don’t believe that we’re great friends.
They’re pretty vocal about your travel pics, though, and a few said they would like to follow your example when they graduate. Personally, I’m thinking about going down a river with you before graduation. If you’re still guiding next summer, that is.
I think about you fondly, every day.
Love—
Jill
~~
December 2011
(Generic Christmas Card depicting a watercolor of a snowy scene)
Merry Christmas, Evan!!
Michael said YES!! I’m enclosing a photo of our happy engagement day, taken by a game waiter at Olive Garden. (We left a huge tip)
Hope to see you soon!
Geoff and Michael
~~
December 2011
(Photo Card: Daniel, Philip, Margaret, and Magdelina Buckley standing in front of an ice-sculpted fireplace)
Hey, Bro, Merry Christmas.
You live in Pennsylvania now, so I totally don’t understand why you couldn’t be in our family Christmas Card.
Love Ya!
Daniel
~~
December 2011
(Photo Card: Daniel, Evan, Philip, Margaret, and Magdelina Buckley standing in front of an ice-sculpted Santa Claus)
You freaking goof!! I took that photo!
Evan
~~
December 2011
(Picture Postcard from Venice, Italy)
Dear Evan,
I’ve been hearing so many good things about you!
I’ve also heard some alarming things. Do you really think hanging from an expansion bridge is such a good thing?
I’m proud of you, little brother. You’re making a good choice in college, and I hope your life moving forward is just as hopeful.
I’ll be travelling through Italy for a bit before returning home. I think I may go back to school, just to see what new things I need to learn. You’re never too old, right? I just don’t think nursing is a good choice for me right now. Anyway, I’ll try to be in contact more often now that I know where you are.
Love, Maddie
~~
Chapter Two: 2011—The Jump
Evan Buckley dropped his overstuffed duffle on the luggage rack just inside the hotel suite door and shrugged off his heavy canvas jacket.
Winters in Pennsylvania were cold, but Minnesota was in another category altogether. Shivering unconsciously, Evan moved to check out his hotel suite—his ‘home’ for the next two weeks.
It was clean and tidy and certainly not a luxury suite, but Evan could deal as long as there were decent food options close by.
The Urban and River Rescue unit he would be attending was the last in a long list of rescue certifications that Evan had been accruing in his ‘spare time’ since he decided on becoming a firefighter. His grandmother had always valued education, but even she thought he might be overdoing it and made him promise to take time off between college graduation and attending the fire academy in Denver. Since his slot in the Academy was slated for October, Evan had agreed and was planning a rafting trip in West Virginia in late June—that he would take with his dear friends and possibly Daniel, and another once he moved to Denver, just to get the lay of the water in Colorado. Maybe hiking as well, just to get the lay of the land. It was going to be his new home, after all.
But at that moment, getting the lay of the land meant settling into a hotel in Minnesota before going out to a welcoming dinner hosted by the captain of the Task Force Station that would be training him and several others. It was an odd situation to be sure, but from what Evan had come to understand, Captain Nash had specifically asked to take his station offline for two weeks in December in order to provide the facility for this particular training session just so he could take the measure of the trainees. Job offers would be coming, of that Evan was sure.
It was too bad Evan had set his sights on the Mile High City. St. Paul might be a pretty city from what Evan saw on the cab ride from the airport, but it was very…flat. And there wasn’t even an ocean or beach to make up for it. The last time Evan took training away from mountains or the ocean, he was helping with Search and Rescue and Recovery after an earthquake in Mexico. Valuable training, horrible scenery—in more ways than one.
The welcome dinner was being hosted at a local pub, so the dress code was casual. After that, Evan would be given uniforms to wear during the training. That just meant Evan could pack extremely lightly, and his duffle held a few changes of clothes, a fresh set of pens and highlighters, a few of his favorite composition notebooks, and his Kindle e-reader. He also carried a portable phone charger, just in case, and a disposable digital camera. Just because the terrain was flat didn’t mean there was nothing to see. And he did plan to scope the city for an appropriate place to celebrate Christmas when his grandmother joined him near the end of his training.
Picking up his phone, Evan hit the speed-dial for said grandmother, just to let her know he had arrived. She did worry.
“Hey, Lina, I’m here.”
“Si, Evan, so I gathered. And where are you staying?”
“I’m in the Hilton, if you can believe it.” Evan could almost hear her roll her eyes.
“Well, if you can not stay in a Rubio property, I suppose Hilton will do.”
Evan laughed and checked his watch. “As much as I’d love to tell you all about the substandard hotel room, my flight was delayed due to winter and I have to freshen up before dinner.”
“All is well, Evan,” Magdelina said, and he heard her smiling. “Is a welcoming dinner a usual thing for this kind of training?”
“Absolutely not!” Evan laughed. “I think it’s a quirk of the training captain or something. Or maybe it’s just Midwestern Hospitality? Either way, I’ll just be meeting the crew that I’ll be learning from and the other trainee cadets before we begin the intensive program. I do know that we’ll have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off from training and the whole thing should wrap up just before New Year’s.”
“It seems so much! Are you certain you are not pushing yourself too hard?”
“I’m sure, Lina,” Evan consoled. “And any further training I need to pick up after the Academy, I can do gradually. I’m set as far as certifications go right now, so I can concentrate on actually learning to be a firefighter after I graduate.”
“Very well, Evan. You know I will always worry about you when I think you are putting too much stress on yourself. Promise me that you will try to enjoy your time in St. Paul.”
“Lina,” Evan sighed, “I promise that I will rest while I am here. But I will only really enjoy St. Paul when you are here to celebrate the holiday with me.”
Magdelina sighed heavily. “It will be a very small celebration, nieto. La familia está muy separada este año.”
Evan laughed again despite himself. “Lina! You have family literally all over the world. We’ve always been spread apart, and you can visit any of them whenever you want to. Mom and Dad being in Pennsylvania and Daniel in Germany doesn’t change that fact, and you’re barely in Pennsylvania anyway. You could even spend the holiday with Maddie, wherever the hell she is at the moment.”
“Si, you are correct,” Magdelina conceded. “I could spend the holiday with my son or any of my grandchildren, but I feel like I should specifically spend it with you.”
“Well, I mean—are you sure you wouldn’t rather travel to Maddie? She’s probably in more need of your supervision than I am right now.”
“Do not sass, nieto,” Magdelina snipped. “I will be in Murcia for the next week before I meet with Jasper in Denver. I may meet your sister before coming back to the States. Be safe, Evan, and I will see you before Christmas.”
~~ ~~ ~~
The Dark Horse Eatery was…cute.
Evan wasn’t sure that was a good thing, but really, the place looked like every other sports bar he’d ever been to in his life. He really hoped the food was good because the beer list was impressive and that usually (to him, at least) meant the proprietors wanted people sloshed enough that they didn’t mind greasy burgers and dry fries.
The group he was meeting was easy to find: fifteen sturdy-looking men and women dressed in jeans and flannels sitting around several large tables that had been pushed together in a U-formation. A tall, blond, middle-aged man stood from the group and met Evan with a grin when he approached the group.
“Evan Buckley, I presume?” the man asked by way of introduction, and Evan smiled in return.
“That’s me,” he said, holding out his hand. “Sorry I’m late. I have no real excuse other than talking to my grandmother before I left the hotel.”
“Bobby Nash,” the man replied, “and talking to family is always a good excuse for being late for dinner. Just don’t use it as an excuse for being late for work.”
“No, sir,” Evan agreed. “I do take work seriously and my family understands that.”
“Well, come on then. We’ve got two empty seats, and the waiter is chomping at the bit to take our drink orders.”
Evan nodded toward the bar with the large chalkboard beer menu and asked, “Is the food as good as the beer selection?”
Nash laughed. “The food is actually better, which is why I chose this place. I cook at the station house, but I figured an informal meet-and-greet in a public place would be nice. I’ve never led a closed course before.”
Evan nodded as he followed the older man back to the tables. “I figured this was out of the norm. I’ve never been to a certification class quite like this. I’m excited to learn from you.”
Nash waved over a trio of waiters and their drink orders were given while Evan perused his menu, choosing a decidedly unhealthy avocado/bacon burger and sweet potato fries. Once the food orders were given and the drinks had been delivered, more formal introductions were made, and Evan officially met his fellow certification trainees and the fire squad that would be training them.
Bobby Nash was, of course, the captain of the firehouse, and would ultimately be in charge of the ‘classroom’ training. His second-in-command, Ethan Magnus, and Lead Paramedic/Firefighter Angela Johns, would be assisting the field training with the other squad members for backup. After introducing the squad, Nash motioned for the trainee class to sit and mingle and get to know each other. Almost immediately, glasses were picked up as people changed seats in order to accommodate the mingling.
The training class was small, only seven other people who were mainly from the St. Paul area. One man, Bentley Summers, slid into a chair beside Evan once their food had been delivered and said, “You look like someone who’d make a good study partner.”
Amused, Evan raised an eyebrow and asked, “What makes you say that?”
Summers pinked slightly. “Well, you have a real serious vibe, like you take yourself seriously and pay attention really well. I like studying with people who can pay attention to the lectures and still learn from outside sources.”
Evan nodded and sipped his beer. “I do do that,” he conceded. “Lectures are one thing, but books and other study materials usually fill in a lot of blanks. I do admit to already reading through the course packets that were sent out last week and making margin notes for further study based on the class material. But this set-up is unique for an S/R class and I’m really looking forward to hearing personal rescue stories from the actual squad as they lead the training exercises. Experience like that can’t be duplicated in a textbook.”
“See,” Bentley said with a smile, “a great study partner. I would never have seen that side of things.”
Evan laughed. “Are you scoping me out before anybody else asks for study help?”
Bentley quickly swallowed the bite he had been chewing and shot Evan a sideways glance. “Well, yeah. Absolutely. I sometimes work better with a partner, you know?”
Evan pushed his beer glass slightly away from him as he shifted in his chair and turned his full attention to Bentley Summers. From what Evan could see of the man while he was sitting, he was slightly shorter than him, but he looked like he had an athletic build. It was hard to tell under the layered flannel. What Evan could see immediately was that Bentley had wide, green eyes and an open, friendly smile. There was an air of intelligence, too, which Evan appreciated because he hated to think someone was taking a certification course hoping to skate by.
More importantly, Bentley had approached Evan, boldly stating that he hoped to spend time with Evan…studying for the course. He seemed to be scoping Evan out, at least to Evan, and Evan found that he wasn’t opposed to spending time with the other man. He did promise his grandmother that he would take time to relax, after all.
“I think I can help you study, if you really need it,” Evan said after a moment. “But if you’re in this certification class you obviously have a handle on the rescue part of Search and Rescue already. This is considered an advanced course for Urban Search and Rescue.”
Bentley nodded. “I do. I’ve just come out of the St. Paul Fire Academy and there are several stations that I’m looking at for employment. I just need to get this certification before I can entertain serious offers. I already have my close-quarters rescue cert, which is a minimum requirement for St. Paul. What about you?”
“I’ve got a spot in an academy waiting for me to graduate college,” Evan admitted. “I already have a lot of my SAR TECH certifications, mostly due to my work during the summers between semesters.”
“Oh! A college boy!” exclaimed another trainee, Scott Everett, who had maneuvered his way closer to Evan’s table as the meal progressed. “I suppose you think going right into the Academy was beneath you, huh?”
“Wow,” Evan said dully. “What happened here? Did you look at me coming in a bit late and decide to immediately judge and offend me before introductions were made?”
Bentley blinked in shock but Everett just frowned.
“Seriously,” Evan continued, “what makes going to college a bad thing? My family believes in education and self-improvement, and I don’t consider that a bad choice. And for the record, I took a bit of a gap year between high school and college just to make sure my decision was right for me. I just didn’t take the whole year.”
Everett scoffed again. “Only rich kids take gap years; everybody knows that.”
“Oh, that’s not remotely true Scott!” interjected yet another trainee, a woman Evan thought was named Nomie Jackson. “I took a gap year to work so I could pay for college, and I’m still paying for classes in my free time so I can finish my degree.”
Evan turned his attention to her and asked, “What are you studying?”
“I’ve been working on a degree in mechanical engineering. I’m hoping it will help with my Engineer training within the Fire Department.”
Evan nodded as he finished his beer, but Scott Everett broke in again, saying, “There’s no way a woman will become an Engineer in a Firehouse.”
“Actually, the St. Paul Fire Department has three female Engineers at the moment–because one retired at the beginning of the summer this year.”
Captain Nash had paused by their table after hearing the topic of the conversation and he looked rather perturbed at Everett’s attitude.
“Personally,” Nash continued when Everett flushed with embarrassment, “I prefer my squad to always improve their knowledge and experience, which is why I asked to take on this course. It’s a way for my team to impart important information onto aspiring firefighters, as well as to express personal experiences to fill-out the coursework. I can read and recite the texts all I want, but I believe that I can teach better from personal experience, and sometimes what I’ve done is of better use than what is written. I have always encouraged my firefighters to improve and expand their work requirements.”
Evan smirked and saluted Nash with his empty beer glass.
~~ ~~ ~~
Evan gasped as Bentley Summers backed him against the door of his hotel room and began kissing and biting his neck and throat. Evan put his hands on Bentley’s shoulders and pushed firmly.
“No marks,” Evan said sternly. “It’s just tacky.”
Bentley nodded in response, green eyes dark with desire. “But you’re good with…everything else?”
Evan grinned and pushed away from the door, leading Bentley into the living room area of the hotel suite. “I’m good with whatever you’re offering, but I’m against hickeys and bite marks. I’m even against hidden marks because that stuff never stays hidden and they’re really tacky.”
Bentley flushed. “Yeah, sorry. I actually think they’re tacky, too. I just got carried away because you’re hot like the sun and I can’t believe you let me follow you home.”
Evan laughed and went to the fridge to grab two bottles of water. “Well, home is in Pennsylvania, so if you followed me home, we’d have a problem.”
Bentley laughed and took the offered water. “Yeah, that would be too psycho/stalker.”
Evan held out a hand and pulled Bentley toward his bedroom with a grin. “I figure we can both enjoy a good time before we get really busy tomorrow with the training course.”
Bentley shrugged and nodded. “And maybe we can have a good time after course work is done for the day?”
Evan smirked and backed into the door, pulling Bentley closer. “Let’s just see how good this time will be, okay?”
Bentley melted against Evan, lips parting to Evan’s kiss for long moments before Evan pushed back again—this time to push Bentley toward the bed. Evan uncapped his water bottle and took a quick swig of the cold liquid before setting it on the bedside table. He then pulled his partially buttoned flannel shirt over his head and kicked his shoes off, prompting Bentley to do the same. While Bentley was divesting himself of his clothes, Evan backed toward the open bathroom to gather some supplies before he returned to the bed.
“Have you done anything like this before?” Evan asked casually as he slipped his belt free from his jeans.
Bentley, almost naked and very tempting on the crisp white sheets, quirked an eyebrow at Evan. “What? Picked up a fellow trainee in an S/R course? Of course not! I’m not an idiot, but my gaydar is rarely wrong.”
Evan laughed and shucked his jeans, kicking them aside before dropping onto the bed beside Bentley. “Not that. I meant, have you been with a man?”
“Oh.” Bentley blushed in a most delightful way. “Yeah, I have. Actually, I am recently out of a long-term relationship, and I really need to release some stress from my mind and body, but I don’t want a new relationship right now.”
Evan smiled and pushed Bentley back against the pillows before straddling his hips and hovering over him. “That’s good to know, because stress relief is a good thing, but I’m definitely headed back to Pennsylvania after I get this Cert.”
Evan leaned forward and pressed his lips to the other man’s mouth firmly, rubbing gently back and forth until Bentley reached up and pulled him roughly down and opened his mouth with a hot tongue.
Evan enjoyed the heat of the firm body beneath him, and he stroked his hand down Bentley’s chest and abs, feeling the muscles flex under his touch.
Bentley pulled away from the kiss and rasped, “Feel like doing some work, Evan?”
“What did you have in mind? Explicitly, I mean?”
Bentley smirked. “Explicitly? I’m in the mood to be fucked hard. Bonus points if you can get me off more than once.”
Evan ducked his head and chuckled darkly. “I think I’m going to like this. Do you have preferences?”
Bentley shrugged. “Not really, but my last boyfriend hated ass-play. I mean, he’d open me up, but it was very clinical, if you know what I mean.”
Evan chuckled again, briefly having a flash-back to his friend Jill holding the sex book diagram with such a serious expression on her face. “I can think of better, less ‘clinical’ ways to do that.”
Bentley’s eyes darkened again, and he bit his lip briefly. “I, um, also wouldn’t say no to giving you a blow job, if you can see that in the future. Jack liked to fuck, but he never let me suck him off.”
Evan sat back and reached for the lube he’d dropped beside his water bottle. “I don’t mean to get too personal here, but what kind of boyfriend was this Jack? Because he sounds like no fun at all.”
Bentley winced as he lifted his hips to shimmy his boxers down his legs. “He really wasn’t much fun. He came onto me during Senior Class Night, and he was a great kisser, but he didn’t like being on the bottom and hated to have me touch him with intent.”
Evan paused from opening the lube and just stared at Bentley for a moment. “Um, don’t take this the wrong way, but it sounds like Jack was a horrible person who just wanted to get his rocks off without giving any pleasure at all.”
Bentley laughed and kicked his boxers off to the left of the bed. “He really was. I mean, he’d cook me fantastic meals because he was in culinary school, and he’d offer to give me a neck massage or to draw me a bath, but he only wanted to stick his not-so-impressive dick into me until he got off. I even had to stroke myself to his pace if I wanted to finish with him.”
Evan began laughing so hard he had to move to the side so he didn’t crush Bentley.
“I’m sorry, man,” he said when he could breathe. “I mean—wow! How long were you with him?”
Bentley sighed and dropped his head back onto the pillow. “Maybe two years? He was busy in school, and I was busy getting some certs before the academy, and then I had the eighteen week session at the academy and he was in Chicago for pastry school.”
Evan sat up and retrieved the lube and uncapped it. “Let me guess, he met a woman?”
Bentley shook his head. “Nope. But he did meet a total twink submissive with pink hair and too many facial piercings that worked in the theater district in Chicago. He actually said I was ‘too manly’ for him.”
Evan let his gaze wander over Bentley’s prone form on the bed, taking in the strongly muscled arms and chest, firm abs, and muscular legs. Evan even took in the narrow feet and long toes that supported the man every day before he smiled and met Bentley’s eyes.
“Well, you are definitely a man,” Evan said appreciatively. He ran a firm hand down Bentley’s chest, pinching the nipples just enough that the other man squirmed a bit.
“And I’ve never been attracted to twinks,” Evan continued as he massaged Bentley’s abdomen gently, dipping a fingertip into his navel briefly before letting his hand drift lower.
“And I’ve always appreciated a strong body because I know my strong body can keep me safe when I’m climbing or rafting,” Evan whispered as his hand massaged Bentley’s lower abs before moving to stroke a thick, hard cock rising from a nest of wiry black hair.
Bentley moaned and arched his back as Evan stroked his cock with firmer and firmer strokes. Evan deftly and carefully used his teeth to open the foil package of a condom before placing it on the tip of Bentley’s cock and rolling it on swiftly. Once the condom was in place, Evan squirted some lube onto the fingers of his left hand and reached down to circle and press into Bentley’s asshole, causing Bentley to moan again and press against Evan’s fingers.
“Let’s see what I can do with your strong body, yeah?” Evan whispered as he pressed in and began scissoring his fingers to open Bentley to his touch.
“Yeah,” Bentley rasped. “Let’s see what you can do.”
Evan pressed in with two fingers, twisting them to find Bentley’s prostate. Feeling the rough texture of his target, Evan pressed gently and opened his mouth over the tip of Bentley’s cock at the same time. The dual pleasure of prostate stimulation and gentle suction on the head of his cock made Bentley gasp and jerk, and Evan placed his free arm over Bentley’s hips to keep him down.
Evan fucked into Bentley’s asshole with his fingers, pressing against his prostate with random thrusts, until Bentley’s legs fell open and he began thrusting back against Evan’s fingers. All the while, Evan was sucking Bentley’s hard cock, stroking the length with his free hand. Bentley was panting harshly and Evan could see his hands fisting in the sheets by his hips. When Bentley’s knuckles turned white with strain, Evan pushed a third finger into his ass, stretching it more, and pressing again against his prostate.
“God! Evan!” Bentley gasped, and he came with a sharp buck of his hips. Evan stroked his cock through the orgasm before he pulled back and removed his fingers from the blissed man’s ass.
Evan sat back and wiped his hands on a towel he’d brought from the bathroom and helped Bentley remove the condom with a tissue.
“So, how was that for round one?” Evan asked, and Bentley chuckled.
“I can’t wait to see if round two is just as good,” Bentley replied with a grin, “because that was fan-fucking-tastic!”
Evan reached for another condom and rolled it onto his own very stiff erection (because getting Bentley off had done wonders for his own arousal) and lubed it generously. “How do you want this?” he asked Bentley when the other man’s breathing became regular.
Bentley shook his head. “I’ve only ever been on my knees,” he admitted. “I know it’s a good position for me, but…”
“But you really want to try something new?” Evan surmised. “Do you still want me to do all the work, or do you want to give me a ride?”
Bentley laid back against the pillows and bent one leg at an angle. “Why ruin the good job you’ve done so far,” he said with a saucy grin.
Laughing, Evan reached out to grab Bentley’s hips and jerked the other man toward him on the mattress. Evan pushed against Bentley’s bent knee to raise his leg over Evan’s hip, allowing him full access to the stretched hole. Evan leaned forward to offer a firm kiss as he pressed his cock into Bentley’s hole and Bentley groaned with pleasure and grasped at Evan’s shoulders.
“God, you feel so good,” Bentley gasped as Evan gave a wicked twist to his hips when he pressed further inside.
“Yeah,” Evan agreed. “Your ass is amazing.”
Evan’s head was dipped down and his eyes were closed as he enjoyed the heat and pressure of the tight hole. Evan twisted his hips again, aiming for Bentley’s prostate and grinned to himself when he hit it, and Bentley gasped and shuddered.
Bentley reached forward to grab Evan’s hips before releasing him and grabbing at the pillow instead, rolling his own hips to meet Evan’s thrusts.
“So close, Evan,” Bentley hissed, and Evan moaned in response, feeling his own orgasm building quickly. Evan began to thrust harder, his hips snapping forward with the growing orgasm—and then he went over the edge and his hips stuttered as the orgasm swept over him.
Beneath him, Bentley shuddered through his second orgasm with a quiet moan, hands gripping the pillow tightly and tearing the pillowcase.
“God, I’m glad I followed you from the pub!”
Evan laughed and pulled gently from Bentley’s body, wincing at the tension as they separated. He rolled from the bed and disposed of the condom in the bathroom before wetting a cloth with warm water and bringing it back to Bentley for clean-up.
“I can’t say I’m mad about it,” Evan said as he handed over the cloth. “I need more water, though. How about you?”
Bentley glanced at his half-empty bottle and said, “Yeah, that might be a good idea. But then I need to get home so I can walk my dog.”
Evan quickly donned his boxers and dashed to the kitchenette for two more water bottles, handing one to Bentley. “Please tell me you have a Dalmatian?”
“Nah, I have a Chihuahua named Fang.”
Evan blinked. “Seriously?”
Bentley laughed and shook his head. “Seriously. It was my sister’s dog, but she had to move when she went to college, and her dorm doesn’t allow pets, even if they’re tiny, vicious, ankle-biters. I think she named him as a joke when she got him because she was eight and may have thought it was funny. Now, however, he’s a ten-year-old rat-dog with only one tooth because of bad breeding, and the name has taken on a new meaning.”
Evan laughed as he pulled on his jeans and reached for Bentley’s flannel to hand it to him. “So you have an elderly attitude that fits into your pocket?”
“Pretty much,” Bentley agreed. “The dog is really her baby, but he tolerates me and hates both of our parents, so I agreed to take him when she went into the dorms. He’s a spoiled little thing and he’s used to walking before bed when I can work it.”
“What are you going to do with him when you get assigned to a station?”
“Well, I’m very fortunate that ole Fang really likes the old guy that lives in the apartment across the hall, so Mr. Peterson has agreed to look after him when I’m at work. Walking Fang in the courtyard will get him outside for fresh air, so his daughter has been bringing me baked goods as a thank-you, like any of that was my idea.”
Evan laughed again. “I had a neighbor like that when I was younger; she was always up for proof-reading essays for me and my friends, so she’d make tea and have snacks for us on Thursday afternoons, and her son and daughter-in-law would thank us kids every time because they knew we didn’t need any real help.”
Bentley finished his water before tying his boots. “It’s good to help the neighbors, even in small ways. I think the elderly get overlooked too often, so if Mr. Peterson wants to spend time with Fang, then I’m happy to let him. He can’t care for a pet full time, but he can babysit.”
Evan walked Bentley to the door and said, “I’ll see you at the station tomorrow. For the record, I will be available as a study pal if you really need one, but I would rather our personal encounters not get mentioned around the station house or the other trainees. It’s nobody else’s business and I never gossip about partners.”
“Agreed,” Bentley said as he opened the door. “I’m not in the closet in any way, but I’ve always tried to protect my partners in case of stupidity. And I’d like to think I can come out of this with a friend if nothing else.”
~~ ~~ ~~
Station House 11 was just like every Fire Station Evan had ever seen, even the ones on television. There was a large vehicle bay that housed two fire trucks and an ambulance. There were red metal tool boxes along the far wall that Evan assumed held the tools and other equipment to maintain the vehicles. There was an open kitchen/dining area opposite the vehicle bay, as well as several closed wooden doors that probably hid the offices, supply closets, and maybe a bathroom. Beyond the dining area was an open lounge with a couple of squishy sofas, sturdy tables, a television, and a low bookcase filled with magazines and paperbacks, and just beyond that was a wide staircase leading up that probably led to bunks and lockers and private showers. Even knowing what a safety hazard it was, Evan was disappointed to not see a brass pole leading from the upper area to the vehicle bay.
Captain Nash was waiting for the trainees in the open archway to the dining area with an anticipatory smile on his face. Clearly, he was eager to begin this course—almost as eager as most of the trainees.
Nomie Jackson led the group with the two other women, Erica Browne and Amy Johns. Evan followed at a short distance, listening to Amy chatter about how weird it would be taking a class taught by her younger sister. Bentley Summers was right behind Evan, walking between Jake Masters and Tyler Walker after greeting Evan with a handshake in the parking lot. The only sourpuss in the group was Scott Everett, who was still clearly sore about being put in his place at dinner the night before.
He wasn’t going to be one of the fun classmates, Evan could tell.
Nash got their attention by clapping his hands loudly just once. The group of seven surrounded him in a semi-circle, with Everett standing just far enough apart to make a statement. Nash frowned at him briefly before announcing that formal text learning would occur in the dining room, where coffee, water, and snacks would be available, and that the lounge could be used for study space between segments.
“This class is two weeks long, and Christmas is right in the middle of it all,” Nash said seriously. “Normally a training course like this is held in a three-week session but I can’t keep the station off-line that long in the winter. As it is, the Department Chief has agreed to me leading this course with the understanding that we may be pulled into action in a severe emergency. As most of you have already gone through the academy, we could treat such emergencies as auxiliary training for you…if they happen.
“We’ll be doing field exercises every two days, barring Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which I hope we can all spend with our families. The house squad may be called in for work on those two days, but you all will be exempt at those times. Uniforms have been provided for you for the field exercises, all based on the Fire Department uniforms you will wear as professional firefighters. Because of this, Trainee Buckley’s uniform will be slightly different than those of the rest of you, as he will be going through the Fire Academy in Denver next fall.”
Evan nodded in acknowledgement, having already paid for his uniforms because they had to be specially ordered. His legs were annoyingly long, and he had bulked up quite a bit due to his workouts, so his shoulders were notably wider and more muscular than the others in the trainee class.
“I will be issuing those uniforms before the lunch break so we can note any alterations that will need to be made,” Nash continued. “So, let’s get to the introductory portion of this course.”
Evan followed Captain Nash into the dining area and found a seat at the long table. Eyeing the coffee maker on the kitchen counter, Evan left his course book and notebook on the table and proceeded to make himself a cup of coffee.
“Hey, if you’re pouring?” Nomie Jackson asked as she slid another cup in front of him.
Smiling, Evan gamely filled her cup before saying, “I usually take mine black unless there’s hazelnut creamer available.”
Nomie opened the fridge and peered inside. “I see whole milk and 1% milk, but no flavored creamers.”
Evan shrugged and carried his cup to the table. “No great loss. It’s probably too much sugar for the morning anyway.”
Evan noted that Bentley had taken a seat on Evan’s left, which made him smile. The seat on his right was taken by Amy Johns, who was pulling a bottle of orange-mango juice from her bag, along with a pack of tiny, powdered donuts.
“Didn’t eat breakfast this morning?” Evan asked genially.
Amy shrugged. “I think I was too nervous, which is ridiculous. I mean, I’ve taken these courses before, you know? And I’m a fully employed firefighter and have been for six years, so I have nothing to be nervous about.”
“No, you don’t,” Bentley agreed. “What station are you with?”
“I’m with Station 27 in Minneapolis. My Captain said he would look favorably on anyone who went further in their qualifications and this course was the first to come up.”
“So, fire captains always ask for extra courses after the academy?” Everett asked sourly.
“If they’re smart captains who care about the quality of the work done in their stations, they do,” Captain Nash answered. “Technology is always changing; equipment is always improving. Firefighters, like anyone in any physical job, can stagnate if they only stay in their comfort zone. Every station captain in the Twin Cities encourages their teams to further themselves. Some people are encouraged in one direction or another depending on specialty, but even the annual basic recertifications count as far as that goes. It’s never a good idea to learn nothing beyond the basics in any profession.”
And with that statement, Captain Robert Nash began the text coursework for the Urban and River Rescue course.
The morning passed quickly, and Evan filled several pages with notes and questions he wanted to find answers to. Lt. Ethan Magnus started handing out the uniforms that had been delivered shortly before the lunch break and everyone rushed to the locker rooms to change so the fit could be checked. The uniforms were all dark, Evan’s being Navy Blue rather than Black, and were stiff with starch.
Evan began to do knee bends and arm stretches to loosen the stiff material. The black hiking boots he wore almost matched the uniform boots, so he elected to keep them on until he could treat his new boots with a preferred water proofer. Evan was particular about his footwear.
“So, Denver does blue, huh?”
Evan turned and glanced at Tyler Walker, who was doing the same deep knee bends that Evan had just finished.
“Apparently. I haven’t done any research, but I bet the cops do, too.” Evan shrugged. “I do know that the official gym wear for Denver is bright red with yellow print, so I’m not looking forward to wearing that during my workout.”
Tyler laughed and worked his shoulders in wide rolls. “I hate breaking in new clothes. Any kind of new clothes. I haven’t bought jeans in three years.”
Evan gave the man a good look-over before saying, “So you’ve always been this size?”
“Yeah. I played football in high school—offensive lineman. All the men in my family are on the large size, so I just decided to work with what God gave me.”
Evan shook his head. “I was a skinny thing until I hit puberty. Then I shot up six inches almost overnight and spread out more than a little. I like watching football, but playing never entered my mind. I was on the wrestling team, though.”
“You do other sports, though, don’t you?” asked Jake Masters when he and Bentley joined them.
“Um, yeah,” Evan admitted. “I’ve practiced Tai Chi since I was twelve, and Aikido for about the same amount of time. I also like rock climbing, hiking, and whitewater rafting, which I’ve actually been paid for.”
“Don’t forget weightlifting, because you couldn’t possibly do any of that with poor muscle fitness,” Tyler joked.
“Well,” Evan said with a shrug. “I mean, that’s a given, right. We’ll have to carry equipment, which isn’t light, and possibly fire victims or fellow firefighters with all their equipment.”
“The minimum standard for lifting for firefighters is 250 pounds,” Scott Everett interjected.
“Yeah,” Evan agreed. “But maybe the minimum should be more, especially if the weakest firefighter is expected to carry, oh, someone like Tyler here, with all of his equipment?”
Everett scoffed. “Like any of you have had to carry anything of weight in an emergency.”
Evan shook his head and loosened his belt by a notch. “I don’t know what your problem is, but that attitude will be less than useful in a fire station. And for the record, I personally had to carry half of a stretcher through rough wilderness when a 300-pound hiker slipped on a path and broke his ankle. He thought he was in shape for the hike but didn’t adjust for the recent rains, and that was not a fun trip for me.”
Evan slipped past Everett and descended the stairs to the kitchen/dining area, where Nash was preparing a meal. “Do you need any help?”
Nash looked up and frowned. “I don’t want to sound elitist, but I’m particular about who I let into my kitchen.”
Evan grinned. “Yeah, so is my grandmother. I’ve been cooking since I was a kid. My brother would have starved while in Medical School if he didn’t know how to cook.”
Nash nodded and waved him over. “How are your knife skills?”
“Better than passing, but not good enough to make Sashimi. I’m working on that, though.”
“Fair enough. You can make the salad, and the beets need to be diced small, but not minced.”
Evan hummed as he washed his hands before accepting the offered knife. Evan worked in silence with Nash as the meal was put together. Mixing the salad together in a large bowl, Evan asked, “Do you cook all the meals on your shift?”
“No,” Nash replied with a laugh. “I try to start with breakfast, and I hope for dinner, but sometimes we’re so busy that the best we can hope for is burgers on the way back from a scene or an ordered pizza or four. But I like to treat my crew well so they’re happy on the job. We have too much stress for the food to be bad on top of it.”
“I can get that,” Evan said with a brief nod. “Is there a dressing, or would you like me to mix something up?”
Nash raised an eyebrow. “Well, there is always a bottled dressing, but if you have a quick idea, we can go with that.”
Evan nodded toward the fridge. “I saw the lemons. Are there any food allergies in this group?”
Nash opened his mouth to answer before snapping it shut. “I…think that’s something I should ask. It wouldn’t do to have to call an ambulance to my own house because of salad dressing.”
Evan laughed and opened the spice cabinet instead of the fridge. “I’ll just use some dried herbs and the rice wine vinegar instead of risking it.”
“That might be a better idea until I have the allergy question answered,” Nash agreed genially.
Evan quickly whisked an herb and vinegar dressing together before tossing it into the prepared salad, then helped Nash move the food to the counter to be served buffet-style.
Nash indicated for the trainees to serve themselves first before the station crew moved in. There was plenty of room for everybody to eat together at the large table, which had to have been custom made, so Evan took the seat he’d been using during class time. Evan crossed himself and bowed his head briefly and silently, just like Nash did, but nobody said anything about it and the conversation was light. Evan mainly listened to the Johns sisters chatter about family matters across from him and it reminded him so much of the last time his family was together for a large meal.
Evan had been lost in thought when someone said his name.
“I’m sorry. What was that?”
Angela Johns laughed. “I said, what was the worst fire you’ve ever seen?”
“Um,” Evan blinked. “You do know I’m not a firefighter yet, right?”
“Oh, we know,” Magnus said with good humor. “But we’ve all seen fires before we decided on a career path.”
Evan frowned in thought. “Well, honestly—the worst fire I’ve ever seen was Centralia. It’s like a rite of passage for people in Pennsylvania to go there, but the town is basically a ghost town.”
“Centralia?” Nash asked with a frown. “Why does that sound familiar?”
“Was that a structure fire?” Nomie asked.
Evan shook his head. “Nope, Centralia was a coal mining town. In 1962, a fire was started in an abandoned open coal shaft, and it’s been burning ever since.”
“No. Way.”
Evan chuckled at the look on Magnus’ face. “Yes, way. The town has been on fire since 1962, but there are lots of stories about how the fire started. The official story is that city maintenance was burning trash in an open surface coal shaft, and wind blew burning cinders into the shaft and the fire spread deep underground into the main mine. A few people still live there, but the noxious fumes coming from the area of the fire make most of the town uninhabitable. I really can’t think of a modern fire worse than one that’s been burning that long, but I’m not a working firefighter yet.”
“I need to look that up,” Nash said, “because it sounds horrific.”
“We studied it in science class since it was theoretically local. Some scientists say the fire could burn for another 250 years. Part of a highway had to be shut down near the town because the road began to buckle due to the fire beneath it.” Evan shook his head and gathered his empty plate to take to the kitchen. “It’s a real mess, but it’s great for local urban legends.”
“Hey!” Nomie interjected. “We have the Candyman Caves! They’re not on fire, but they’re really dangerous.”
“Oh, yeah,” Evan asked as he took her plate onto his stack, “did they inspire a video game?”
“What video game?” Bentley asked.
“There’s a rumor that Centralia inspired the look of Silent Hill, the game and the movie in 2006.” Evan shrugged. “I wouldn’t know because I’m not a fan of horror games.”
“How do you feel about scary movies?” Bentley asked with a grin.
“The scariest movie I ever saw was ‘Psycho’. I watched it with my brother and grandmother when I was a kid. The end of that movie haunts me to this day.”
Evan and Angela Johns finished collecting the plates and took them to the kitchen, but she waved him away when another member of the crew came in to wash and load the dishwasher. Evan returned to the dining area where Captain Nash was getting ready for the rest of that day’s lecture.
Chapter Three: 2011 Continued
Evan stood on the bridge, rope coiled in front of him, and watched anxiously over the side.
This wasn’t like rock climbing or hanging over a cliff face. It wasn’t even staring down a timber rattler from the end of a rope. This was a serious certification for Search and Rescue, and this wasn’t a training exercise, no matter how it started out.
The first few days of training for the Urban and River Rescue course in St. Paul were different enough to keep Evan’s attention. Captain Bobby Nash sprinkled enough personal rescue stories into his lectures to keep it interesting and he engaged with his trainees very well. Evan could see how good a Captain it made the man. And this urban course was different from the other S/R certifications Evan had acquired.
Evan had already been certified in Wilderness Mountain and River Rescue due to his work in West Virginia as a climbing and rafting guide. He’d gotten his SARTECH II certification before his last fall semester of college. He had made a habit of being incredibly busy once he had decided on a career path, and he was only in college because getting the degrees seemed important for that career. Training with a Task Force Station, even if he wasn’t fighting fires, was a dream come true for Evan.
Training on a bridge over a semi-frozen river in Minnesota in December was not quite a dream.
And then came a drunk driver on a frozen bridge in December. Totally not dream material. Nightmare perhaps, but not a dream.
The driver in question hadn’t even had the decency to be seriously injured, which was more the pity. No, that guy had a bruise from the seatbelt and a concussion from the airbag, and he was whisked away in an ambulance, completely unaware of the havoc he left behind.
Because prior to being loaded into an ambulance, That Guy had driven the wrong way onto a bridge, shoving three vehicles off the edge of the roadway before sending another two off the bridge. One was still on the landward side of the bridge, and so it landed on the inclined shoulder of the roadway. The other went off the middle of the bridge, where it landed somehow balanced on the bridge structure, hovering over the icy water thirty feet below.
And Evan had the (mis)fortune to be training on that exact bridge, in the exact middle, watching the Task Force Captain, Bobby Nash, hanging from a steel support under the bridge as he demonstrated how to use a winch and pulley to rappel into raging waters.
The vehicle that was forced off the middle of the bridge managed to hit the fire engine that carried the winch on the way down, which somehow jammed the winch and caused Captain Nash to slide further down the cable than he was meant to be. Ever the professional, Nash used the opportunity to rescue the occupants of that vehicle before gravity took it into the water, and he directed his crew to lower harnesses by hand because he wasn’t sure the winch could handle the extra weight. It would, as luck would have it, take too long to get another rescue unit on-site. Firefighter/Paramedic Angela Johns was examining victims as they were pulled from the vehicle hanging on the supports, and soon enough she was joined by another team of paramedics while Lt. Magnus was working with another engineer to get the winch repaired.
Once the victims were safely on the bridge, Evan watched at the edge of the bridge as two of the firemen tried to get the winch working again before Nash plummeted down into the raging water. Or bounced off the bridge supports. Either way, that would not have been good news for Nash.
It had been a rainy autumn and an icy winter, and the water below them was as turbulent as any Evan had seen in his time as a river guide.
There was a loud crack, and then a shout from Nash, and Evan whispered a prayer of forgiveness before he anchored his rope to the frame of the bridge with knots and carabiners and hauled himself over.
“What are you doing, Buckley?” shouted Firefighter Lt. Ethan Magnus as Evan began to lower himself toward Nash.
“I’m doing what that winch won’t do,” Evan replied. “And that crack you just heard was part of Nash’s cable snapping. We don’t have time for anything else.”
Evan groaned to himself as the winch swayed and jerked again.
Before everything went to hell, the training was going as much like clockwork as it could be on an icy bridge. After the accident, Nash was left hanging over the churning river by a quickly fraying winch cable. Fixing the winch would take too long and Evan liked Nash enough to break protocol and initiate a rescue himself.
Evan began to lower himself from the free-hanging rope when Magnus tried to stop him.
“Cap said for you to stay up here and I’m next in charge. So you stay. You’re just a trainee at this point, so observe like the other trainees!”
The other seven trainees, even the ones who had graduated the academy already, weren’t even on the bridge, having wisely decided to evacuate when the accident occurred.
Evan shook his head. “I’ve got experience with this, Magnus. Yell at me when we’re both at the top again.”
Evan began lowering himself slowly by the rope. “I’m coming, Cap! Hold on and try not to move.”
“I’m not even thinking about moving, Buckley,” Nash shouted back. “But this wind is horrible!”
He wasn’t kidding, but Evan was hoping the weight of his gear would keep him steady because rope descent into thin air was much harder than rappelling down a mountain. Hand under hand, Evan lowered himself until he was level with the captain.
“Your cable is rubbing against the bridge support, Cap.”
Nash looked up and nodded. “Yeah, I noticed. What’s the plan?”
Evan held out one hand that was holding a length of rope and a carabiner. “I’m going to need you to, as quickly and safely as possible, tie this rope to your harness and clip onto me. And then you can release your fraying cable.”
Nash reached for the rope. “Have you done this before?”
“Not without a rock wall behind me,” Evan admitted. “But I have faith in me, so I’ll need you to do the same.
“Yeah, kid, I’ll have faith.”
Evan took the extra weight of his training captain while gritting his teeth. Captain Nash weighed easily one-hundred-fifty pounds without his gear, and Evan lifted twice that much easily—but not while hanging from a rope over the side of a bridge. Thinking back to his Sasuke trial, Evan looked up at the top of the rope, crossed his ankles, and began to climb hand over hand.
And to pray.
“As I begin my day, I turn to you, Lord, and ask for strength. Be my rock whenever the day shakes me. Guide me through the day as I navigate choppy waters that might come my way.”
Nash began to pray along with Evan, “Empower me to speak up when I need to, even if my voice shakes.”
“Amen,” they both finished as Evan reached the top of the rope, and Magnus reached out to pull Nash over the edge while Evan held tight. Once Nash was safely on the bridge, Evan was helped over the edge, and he immediately began to release the knots on the rope he had been using.
Evan was coiling the ropes when Nash approached and said, “So, I didn’t know you were Catholic.”
Evan shrugged. “My grandmother is Catholic, and I grew up with her. I’m not lapsed, per se, but I don’t attend church much. I think I find spirituality in nature more than a brick-and-mortar building, but I still attend Mass when we’re together.”
“Right, well, thanks again for coming after me. We need to send the truck for repairs since the winch is completely trashed.”
Evan watched as Nash looked over the side of the bridge. “The fall wouldn’t have killed you; you know.”
“I know,” Nash admitted. “But it might have broken my back.” Nash turned back to the truck. “It might have been a recoverable injury, but it certainly would have changed my life. The bigger problem is, if anyone had been on the winch with me, they also could have gotten hurt, and I find that untenable. I need to know why that winch jammed the way it did. Because that should not have happened, even after a vehicular impact.”
That statement was punctuated by a loud crash as the minivan finally fell loose from the bridge supports and crashed into the raging river below.
Evan shrugged and finished coiling his rope before turning to Nash. “Is this going to count against me for the cert?”
Nash laughed and slapped Evan’s shoulder lightly. “I think you just passed with flying colors, Buckley. Are you sure you don’t want to stick around after the course is over?”
Evan chuckled. “Yeah, actually. I’m headed to Denver after I gather my BS in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon.”
Nash frowned. “That’s in Pennsylvania, right?”
“Yeah. Pittsburgh. My parents went there. I’m staying in a decent apartment while attending classes on campus because my grandmother’s townhouse is five hours from campus, and I’m getting another degree online from Regis University in Denver.”
“Really? What’s that in?” Nash sounded impressed.
“Fire Science Technology. I’ve been studying both degrees full time since about a year after I graduated high school. I do online classes during summer and winter semester breaks while also working. And I’ve also been seeking rescue certs during semester breaks as I can get them. This is my last pre-academy certification before my final semester of college.”
Nash quirked an eyebrow at the younger man. “You’re taking all of this more seriously than most of the cadets I’ve seen at the St. Paul Academy.”
“That is very sad, sir,” Evan replied gravely. “Once I got my heart set on becoming a firefighter, I was all in on making sure I could be the best one I could be. I mean, it took me a few years to get on the path, but once I was, I was all in.”
Evan rode back to the station house with the rest of the crew, including three of the other certificate trainees. All three, Everett, Johns, and Walker, were giving him the side-eye, but Evan let it roll over him. He got the same looks from fellow contestants after the Sasuke: a mix of envy and irrational anger at a much younger person doing much better at a task that might be perceived as easy.
The only thing was, Evan knew nothing he was doing was easy. The rock climbing was not easy. Tai Chi was not easy, even if his grandmother did it. Aikido was not easy, and he practiced the forms for over an hour every other day. Weight training, climbing walls, riding a huge rubber raft down a raging river; none of it was easy. Evan may have made it all look easy, but that was because he trained hard. And he trained hard because it was something he wanted.
Evan was always willing to work hard for something he wanted.
~~ ~~ ~~
“So why a firefighter?” Magnus asked when they were back at the station house. “I mean, I know it’s a kick-ass career, but we all have reasons why. The other cadets have given me their reasons.”
Evan inclined his head as he stowed the ropes in the storage bin. “Okay, I must have missed that Q&A session. I’ll tell you what. You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”
Magnus laughed. “I’m easy, Buckley. My great-grandfather was a fireman in Chicago, and my grandfather was a firefighter in Chicago, and my father was a firefighter in Chicago.”
Evan shook his head. “So you’re a firefighter in…St. Paul?”
Magnus laughed. “I met a beautiful girl at a Chicago Cubs game. She was there visiting family, and she stunned me with her theory of why Cubs fans were so loyal despite the incredible losing streak. I mean, I overheard her at the beer stand, but I had to jump in and ask questions about that theory.
“Her family left her to her own devices after the inning change, and I just kept talking to her. And then, after a whirlwind courtship, I married my Angie and followed her to St. Paul. I was already a firefighter in Chicago, so the transfer was easy enough. Angie is an English teacher at the local high school.”
Evan nodded and chuckled softly. “That…makes a lot of sense. And it’s a really good story. Thanks for sharing.”
“Okay, Buckley,” Bobby Nash interrupted, “how about you come over here and help with dinner, and you can tell us how you decided on your career path.”
Evan followed Nash into the kitchen and began nimbly slicing the veggies he was handed as Nash worked on browning the sausages. After the first day of the course, Evan was a frequent helper in the kitchen. Nash didn’t seem to trust any of the others to help with the cooking.
“So why did you decide to become a firefighter, Buckley?” Nash asked casually, completely aware of everyone listening while they set up for dinner.
“Honestly?” Evan shrugged. “I never really felt like I had a purpose, you know? My older brother always knew he was going to be a doctor, so that’s what he did. I think my older sister always wanted to go into nursing, and that had a lot to do with them both growing up when my brother was sick and in the hospital all the time. I’m a lot younger than them so I didn’t have the same experiences.
“However, when I was in high school, a building behind the Martial Arts Academy I attended caught on fire. I saw the glow of it when I was getting some cleaning supplies out of a back room, so I called 9-1-1 to get the fire department, and then I ran around the block to the other street to make sure anyone there knew about the fire because it was barely noticeable.”
“Let me guess,” Angela Johns laughed, “young you rushed into a burning building and rescued the people who lived there?”
“Uh, no,” Evan said with a frown. “But I made sure another shop owner also called 9-1-1 to make sure my report was taken seriously. And I did watch the fire department take care of the fire when they arrived, but I stayed on the other side of the street.” Evan shook his head and huffed. “I was just…amazed…at how competent those people were, you know? And how calm they were under that kind of pressure, and how kind when they were talking to the occupants of the building. I didn’t stick around for too long because it was getting late, but I went home and began to research what it took to become a firefighter, because that job sounded incredible. Hard, but incredible.”
Evan looked up to find Johns, Nash, and Magnus staring at him. “What?”
Nash shook his head in wonder. “That is the best reason I’ve ever heard for anyone becoming a fireman. Seriously.”
“Wait,” Magnus said, holding up one hand. “You researched requirements for becoming a firefighter when you were in high school, and then decided it was what you wanted to do?”
“Yeah?” Evan crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that a bad thing? I mean, there were other things I wanted to do first before I applied to a fire academy, so I had a busy few months after graduating high school.”
“There’s nothing wrong with taking time to make up your mind by taking a gap year,” Johns confirmed. “I know I wish my younger sister had, because she ended up dropping out after one and a half semesters and works at Starbucks now, unlike my older sister and me, who went into the Fire Academy. What did you do?”
Evan shrugged. “I traveled a bit. Right after graduation my grandmother took me to Japan, and then to Peru. During summer breaks while I was in high school, I guided climbers and rafters in West Virginia for a while. I continued doing that when I came back from Peru, and I also visited extended family all over the place in this country and in South America. I climbed a lot because rock climbing and wilderness hiking relaxes me. My grandmother wanted me to spread my wings a bit before settling into a career.”
“Were you her favorite?” Johns asked with a grin.
“I was the one that needed her help most,” Evan corrected. “I have family literally all over the world, and we’re known to pull together when one is in need. Lina said the family motto is La Familia Lo Es Todo: Family Is Everything.”
The entire squad gathered around the large table in the kitchen for the afternoon meal, family style, and food was quickly passed around for everyone to begin eating. Evan ate quietly, listening to the snippets of conversation around him. When he was finished, Evan took his empty plate to the sink and washed it before placing it on the drying rack and reaching for the pots in the sink. Before long he was joined by Johns and Nash.
“You don’t have to wash all of the dinner dishes, Buckley,” Nash admonished.
“No, I really do,” Evan replied. “You cooked, and while you did clean a lot as you went along, you don’t need to clean everything.” He looked up and smiled. “That’s a rule in my family: He who cooks does not clean.”
“That still doesn’t get you out of your regular training duties, Buckley,” Johns joked.
“No, it doesn’t,” Evan agreed, “and I fully intend to finish writing up my worksheets and reports once I clean up here. Everything else I was assigned to do has been finished.”
“You do take all of this seriously, don’t you?” Johns asked.
“Um, yeah,” Evan replied. “It’s going to be my job, hopefully my life-long career, so of course I take it seriously. There are no unimportant jobs in a station house.”
Magnus snorted and grabbed a clipboard before heading to the supply closet. “Truer words have never been spoken, brother.”
Evan was sitting at the long table in the dining area, writing out his reports for his certification. Five of the other rescue trainees were gathered in the lounge, chatting amongst themselves, and Bentley Summers was doing his own paperwork at the opposite end of the table, but Evan was going to be working ahead for his Fire Science degree when he was done, and he didn’t feel like socializing. Truth was, he felt more comfortable near Captain Nash, who was loading the dishwasher and brewing a pot of coffee.
“You know,” Nash said as he took a seat beside Evan, “I’d happily offer you a position here once you get through the Academy in Denver. Or any academy if you feel like St. Paul could feel like home.”
Evan grinned as Captain Nash took a seat next to him. “That’s a very nice offer, Captain, but my place is already secure in Denver.”
“I’m curious. Why the Mile High City, when surely you could find a place in Pennsylvania near your family?”
Evan shrugged. “Actually, I am going to be near my family in Denver. My father is an architect, and he recently finished supervising the construction of a family resort just outside of Denver proper before moving on to a new housing project in California. I mean, my parents are back in Hershey for the holidays, but they’ll be in California just after the New Year. I fully expect to be ambushed by the family members that will be running the resort as soon as I cross the Colorado State Line.”
“Your family will be operating the resort?”
Evan nodded and leaned forward, inviting Nash to move closer for privacy. “Have you heard of Rubio Resorts International?”
Nash frowned. “I think so? High-end, high-quality resorts in various countries, specializing in luxury vacations and experiences?”
Evan laughed. “You read the promotional information?”
Nash shook his head. “My wife, Marci, has been looking into an all-inclusive family vacation for us; something spectacular, she said. We have two kids, Robbie and Brooke, and it’s hard to find something that will interest both of them while entertaining us adults.”
“I can imagine,” Evan said. “How old are they?”
“Robbie is ten and Brooke is seven, and they have incredibly different ideas about what makes a good vacation. We tried the beach last year, but Robbie was more interested in playing video games at the hotel arcade and Brooke and Marci both got burnt lobster-red and spent most of the time inside wrapped in aloe cloths.”
Evan winced in sympathy. “That sucks big time, and I truly sympathize because I’m so pale. But back to my question about Rubio Resorts: My grandmother is Magdelina Francesca Rubio Buckley. We have family all over the world running luxury resorts and spas, and Denver is soon to be home to the newest jewel in the Rubio Family Crown.”
“Wow!” Nash said, impressed. “I bet your family never had to angst over vacations.”
“You’d be surprised,” Evan laughed. “My family is big on experiences, so my siblings and I got ‘adventures’ for graduation gifts when we left high school. My mother isn’t big on travel, though she recently spent time at one of the Rubio spas in Switzerland with my sister. And I’m so much younger than my siblings that I don’t know about any family vacations my parents might have taken with them. We basically have to go our own way if we want a relaxing holiday because family travel just doesn’t happen.”
Nash nodded. “Well, you have the inside track on this one, so tell me about the resort in Denver. I think I’d rather stay in the country if I can.”
Evan laughed and pulled his phone from his pocket, logging into a website. “Okay, well, this place was in the planning stages when I graduated high school, so Lina—that’s my grandmother—asked me for my opinions as a young adult, and I got to meet with the big planners in the family in Peru. The resort in Denver has riding stables and carriage rides, an indoor water park for all season use, family downhill tubing trails in all seasons, and a mountain gravity coaster. There are also three restaurants on site, a small movie theater, and an arcade. Lina said they’re going for families with this one, rather than just couples.”
Captain Nash took Evan’s phone gamely and looked through the specs that Evan had brought up. “This looks really reasonable, as far as costs go.”
“Yeah, that was the idea with the resorts. I mean, there are pricey resorts under the Rubio name, but there are also less expensive options. I worked for a while at the resort in Peru, and it was basically three resorts in one. There was the extravagant luxury resort, a traveler’s inn with a bar and spa, and a family resort with ziplines, hiking, and surfing.”
Nash smirked at him and asked, “Did you teach surfing?”
Evan laughed. “No, but I did get lessons. I bartended for something to do while I waited for online classes to start. I also got some spending money, which helped when Lina and I did the five-day expedition to Machu Picchu before I came back to the states.”
“You hiked to Machu Picchu with your grandmother?”
“It was an experience,” Evan explained carefully. “And we’re all about those. Besides, I couldn’t get her on the zipline, and I refused to go hang gliding with her off the cliffs.”
Nash broke into startled laughter and reached for his coffee. “I mean it, about offering you a job.”
“And I appreciate that, sir,” Evan accepted. “And maybe I’ll be ready to move along one day and I’ll take you up on it. But I’m on my direct path right now and I’m really looking forward to seeing that particular branch of Rubios. The managing director is the youngest son of Lina’s youngest brother and he recently managed a property in New Jersey.”
“So you really are going to be staying with family. That must be nice.”
“If I keep a respectful distance, it’s great,” Evan admitted. “Otherwise, we get like every other family and we’re all up in each other’s business. I’ll tell you what, though. If your wife thinks the Denver resort might be a good fit for your family vacation, give me a call and I’ll set you up–just like family.”
“I may take you up on that Buckley. Even I feel the need for a break coming soon. And if I get to treat my family at the same time, it’s all good for me.”
Evan grinned and got back to his paperwork before motion from the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked up just as Bentley moved his own worksheets to the place beside Evan and took a seat, leaning into Evan’s space.
“I couldn’t say anything earlier, but that rescue you did on the bridge was seriously intense,” Bentley whispered into Evan’s ear. “How did you get those skills?”
Evan shook his head. “I’ve been rock climbing and rappelling since middle school. Part of my summer jobs leading people on climbing and hiking trips involved rope rescue techniques.”
Bentley sat back and shook his head. “You didn’t even hesitate to go over the rail of that bridge. I mean, I could tell Walker and Browne wanted to help, but they were afraid they’d lose the certification if they interfered.”
“I just couldn’t let Nash fall,” Evan admitted. “I knew that the winch wouldn’t hold much longer. You were too far away, but I could hear that cable starting to snap, so time was of the essence.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Bentley said. “They kind of pounded that into us at the academy, that sometimes split-second decisions needed to be made in emergency situations. I just never expected to see it in action during a training course.”
“Yeah, well I never expected to see an accident like that during a training exercise,” Evan said dryly. “So there’s that.”
Bentley huffed lowly. “Yeah, but that didn’t make it any less hot.”
“Oh, really?” Evan asked, amused. “I don’t suppose you’d like to join me after class to discuss your reaction?”
“God, yes!” Bentley hissed. “I have much to discuss about your rescue techniques.”
~~ ~~ ~~
“Hey big brother! How’s Germany this year?”
“Oddly even colder than Pennsylvania in the winter,” came the reply, making Evan laugh as he stirred the bone broth on the stovetop.
“How is Helle’s family? Are they still mocking you for your butchered German?”
“Ha, ha, Evan. Helle’s father has been spending the whole time practicing his English on me. He wants to be fluent when he meets Dad later this year.”
Evan blinked at that. “Helle’s father is…planning to meet…our father? Soon?”
“Yeah, soon. You got any vacation plans you can’t change?”
Evan smiled at the sound of Daniel’s voice. “My calendar is free right now, but I’ll be moving to Denver at the beginning of June so I can get settled before my term at the academy starts. Did you have anything in mind?”
Daniel laughed heartily. “Sort of, and that’s why I’m calling.”
“Wait—what?” Evan gasped. “You’ve set the date! That’s fantastic! When is it?”
“Well, first you need to tell me when you’ll be available, because I need my best man by my side for this. And we’re going to have one of those kitschy, overdone Harry Potter-themed weddings, so you need to get measured for wizard robes as well as a tux.”
Evan frowned and pulled his phone away from his ear to stare at it for a moment. “Wait a minute,” he hedged. “I thought Helle was of the opinion that Harry Potter is pure childish balderdash? Those were her words, yes?”
“Yeah: Reiner, kindischer Blodsinn,” Daniel chuckled softly. “I finally got her to read the first book last summer, before we decided to visit her family for this Christmas. Turns out, her ten-year-old niece has just begun the series and was very excited that ‘Aunt Helle’ was reading the same books that she was.”
“That is both hilarious and awesome, Daniel,” Evan said as he pulled out his pocket agenda. “And does she appreciate the magic that is the Harry Potter book series?”
“She’s already finished reading Goblet of Fire,” Daniel confirmed, “but yes, she understands the real magic there, especially since young Annika has requested recommendations for books to read after she finishes the series.”
“Ah, ha, and what recommendations did you make?”
“Well,” Daniel said wryly, “the first thing I recommended was that Annika’s parents don’t allow Annika to read past book four until she’s a lot older. Once I explained why, Helle’s sister took the boxed set Annika got for her birthday and told her that they would read them together.”
“That’s a very responsible response,” Evan said seriously, “and I hope Annika understands the decision. I’m still traumatized by the last book, and I read that ages ago. Okay, graduation is the first week of May, then Lina wants me to go to Peru with her for a week in June. I’ll be traveling to Denver when we get back so I can find a place to live and get to know the city before I start at the academy. Are you sure you want to schedule your wedding based on my schedule?”
“Yes, I am,” Daniel said. “Once you confirm a solid date, we can start reserving vendors and flowers, not to mention settling on a venue. What week in May?”
“Um, how about the thirteenth through the nineteenth? That’s not quite close enough to my birthday for it to count as a double reason for a vacation.”
Daniel laughed and Evan grinned. Other than occasional weekends and book launch parties, Evan never got the chance to spend a lot of time with his brother. He’d met Daniel’s fiancée, Helle, several times over the years and he thought she was a bright and beautiful woman, and he thought his brother was fortunate to have her as a partner.
“Are you going to be in charge of the reservations, or do you want me to make them?”
“I think Helle and I can manage it. Um,” Daniel paused, “is there anyone you want to bring along? Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Pet hamster?”
Evan laughed. “I’ve dated casually since coming back to the States, but there’s nobody I’d want to bring to my brother’s wedding. That’s a serious commitment, you know, and I’ve been more concerned with getting through college.”
“Well, I’d suggest you bring Geoff, but his boyfriend might get bent out of shape about it,” Daniel joked.
Evan laughed. “Yeah, I figure that would get me kicked off the Christmas Card list for sure! What venues are you looking at?”
Evan chatted with Daniel for a while longer as he marked his calendar for the future vacation. Evan had been planning to take time for another climbing expedition immediately after his final graduation, but going back to Baltimore for his brother’s wedding seemed like a better idea. Besides, Marble Canyon wasn’t going anywhere.
And Daniel Buckley was the sibling that always tried to stay in touch with Evan, no matter where Evan was in the world. Living in Pittsburgh for college made it easier for Evan and his older brother to meet up every once in a while, since the travel time was only two hours by car. It was harder for Evan to be in contact with his sister, since she basically left the country, for her own health, when Evan was in high school.
Hell, Evan didn’t even really know where Maddie was anymore. Sure, his grandmother kept up with her only granddaughter either by personal visits or phone calls, and Evan got the occasional postcard, delivered by his grandmother, but he could never really keep up with her locations. Magdelina had always casually traveled through Europe on business and pleasure, and it seemed Maddie was taking up that tradition.
Evan was sure to call his father every week, and his grandmother at least that much when she traveled. He called Daniel when something important happened, and Daniel did the same. Evan even wrote physical letters and sent cards to his mother, since they meant so much to her, and he passed along Facebook greetings with various relatives, for birthdays and such.
Magdelina Rubio Buckley had always maintained that ‘Family was Everything’, and Evan believed that as well. He did his best to be close to his family and had mostly mended fences with his mother regarding the Incident from his childhood. Tenuous counted, right?
Most of the extended family followed Evan’s Instagram, which he loaded with photos and videos of his travels and training trips. He got a lot of encouraging comments when he posted about getting another certificate ahead of attending the Fire Academy in Denver. Now he could look forward to filling his Insta with photos from Daniel’s wedding. He was certain that the extended family would enjoy those future posts as well.
But now Evan had other plans to make. He had another week of Urban and River Rescue in St. Paul, and his grandmother was coming for Christmas weekend, so he wanted to get his worksheets finished before he picked her up from the airport.
His long-term plans were more involved. He would be graduating with two degrees soon, and his slot in the Denver Fire Academy was assured. He would be starting at the Academy in August and would be attending for fifteen weeks. In that time, he would need a place to live. There would be a place for him at the new resort, Rubio in the Rockies, because the family maintained living quarters in all their properties, but Evan preferred not to live on site like that. Of course, a lot depended on which station Evan was hired into, so he was looking at all his options. For the time being, Evan knew his best bet would probably be an efficiency apartment near the Academy complex. It would make travel easy, and he could have a bit of independence in a new city.
Magdelina knew a realtor in Denver, because of course she did, and she was planning on helping Evan find a more permanent home once he was hired into a station. Evan also knew that she would suggest that Evan find a way to stay with family in some capacity. There were also cousins (there were always cousins) that he could stay with temporarily while he studied and trained, so he kept his options open.
But for now, Evan had Christmas plans to make. Thank goodness the family had made their Christmas cards just after Thanksgiving that year, just before everyone went their separate ways.
~~ ~~ ~~
Magdelina’s flight was annoyingly on time, so Evan barely made it to meet her at the luggage carousel. He greeted her with a kiss and hug, but she pulled back and held his face between her hands.
“You are tired,” she said, concerned. “We do not have to do anything this evening.”
Evan laughed and caught her hands between his and kissed her knuckles. “It’s fine, Lina. I only have two days off from training, so we need to make the best of this. We’ll have dinner and catch up, and then we can decide which church we shall grace with our presence for Christmas Eve Mass tomorrow.”
Magdelina laughed and pulled him to the carousel so that he could take her bags. “I am happy that you have the Christmas holiday off this year. That will not always be so, si?”
Evan shook his head. “First responders don’t get holidays off, so this may be the only time I’ll have both the twenty-fourth and the twenty-fifth off at the same time. It’s something I’ll get used to, I’m sure.”
“Si, I am certain that you will. Now, where are we having dinner this evening? The food on the flight was non-existent and peanuts are bad for my teeth.”
Evan raised the handle on her large suitcase and began rolling it behind him as he led her through the airport. “Well, I thought I’d cook tonight, as a preview for Christmas dinner. I mean, it’s just the two of us, so why not make some of those recipes that we’ve been drooling over for years but never got around to.”
Magdelina’s smile widened. “Oh, I do like that idea, nieto. Perhaps we can make that cheesecake we’ve always wanted to try!”
“I can feel my waistline expanding with every second,” Evan joked as he led his grandmother through the airport to his rental car.
Once they were leaving the airport, Evan casually said, “I heard from Daniel two days ago. He’s going to propose to Helle while they’re visiting her family for the holidays, so that will be nice.”
“I would not use the word ‘nice’ at this moment, Evan. He and Helle have been dating since you were in high school.” She looked over at him and scowled. “I do love my grandchildren, but you all take so long to seal relationships.”
Evan laughed at the scowl. “Lina, the only one of us that hurried a relationship was Maddie, and that didn’t end so well. Daniel started dating Helle when he was at the end of his schooling—but she was at the beginning of hers. She’s only just getting her feet under her, career-wise, so of course Daniel wasn’t going to tie her down until she was established.”
Magdelina huffed again, and said, “Evan, you are only twenty-years-old and your life is just beginning. Daniel is thirty! How am I supposed to become a very young great-grandmother if he waits to have children?”
Evan reached across the front seat and covered her hands with his. “No matter when the babies come, you will always be a very young great-grandmother. You have not aged at all since I started high school.”
Magdelina blushed and she pulled her hands away with a laugh. “You flatter me. Someone is going to meet you and be completely at your mercy because of your charm. I don’t know where you learned that.”
Evan put his hand back on the steering wheel with a smirk. “I have no idea, either.”
Evan allowed his grandmother time to settle into the unused bedroom in the suite while he checked that all his paperwork for the S/R course was together and finished. The second week of the course would be filled with field exercises and exams. Just before dismissing the trainees for the short holiday, Captain Nash had informed them that they would be assisting in actual emergencies as they came in, just to add stark realism to the training. Evan was looking forward to the challenge.
Magdelina came into the living room and asked, “What shall we make for dinner?”
Evan grabbed his phone and began to look up recipes in a saved file. “Well, we’ll have to go shopping, but here are the favorite ‘what ifs’ that I’ve saved over the years.”
The next half hour was spent fantasizing about a menu before the duo decided on something appropriate for just the two of them. The decision had been made to make just enough for leftovers for the day after Christmas, just so Magdelina would not have to eat out before heading back to the airport. Her visit would be incredibly short, but Evan was in the city on business, and she knew and understood that.
The shopping trip for groceries was basically an excuse to show Magdelina the beautiful city. Evan had enjoyed his time there the previous week, barring that horrible bridge incident.
~~ ~~ ~~
The small church Evan and Magdelina chose for Christmas
Eve Mass was tastefully decorated and not at all crowded. Evan was relieved to not see Captain Nash and his family there, not wanting to blend his personal and professional lives at that moment. The choir was pleasantly melodic, and the sermon was lively and joyful, two things that were often missing in churches in Evan’s opinion. Even modern priests tended to drone on and on at Christmastime, battering the story of a holy birth nearly to death. Evan had often found himself nearly nodding off in the middle of Mass, no matter what time they attended.
Magdelina smiled faintly during the sermon—a clear sign that she, too, was enjoying the fluid timbre of the priest’s voice. Evan gently squeezed her hand as they shared a hymnal and added their voices to the choir’s. He might not attend church as often as Magdelina might wish, but he did enjoy Christmas Mass with his grandmother.
When they left the church just before one o’clock in the morning, snow had been falling lightly, lending a blue tint to the streetlights. Magdelina sighed happily as she wrapped her arms around Evan’s muscled forearm and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“It is lovely, is it not?” she murmured.
Evan laughed softly. “Sure, Lina, it looks very pretty right now. But this beautiful snowfall will lead to slick roads, and slick roads lead to accidents. And the forecast said it would be snowing for the next few days, off and on. Captain Nash said we’ll be supplementing our training by assisting with actual calls, so I’ll be working in this ‘lovely mess’.”
“Then you shall have to be especially careful, nieto,” Magdelina tutted. “You should have no injuries when you are merely training.”
Evan gently nudged her shoulder before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. “You know it doesn’t work that way. I promise to be as careful as possible, but there is a reason they’re called ‘accidents’. You just can’t plan for them, especially in bad weather.”
“Si, I know this,” Magdelina said, patting his shoulder before resting her head there again as they walked to the taxi stand. “I will trust that you will do everything you can to stay safe, but it is my right to worry when you have chosen this profession.”
“I just feel like it’s my calling, you know”
“Si,” Magdelina acknowledged. “And it is a noble calling. But I worry. And that is my calling.”
The next day, their Christmas dinner was pleasant, with good food and easy conversation. Magdelina asked appropriate questions about Evan’s training, which worried the hell out of her, and Evan asked about the family members that she had been visiting.
“Have you seen or heard from Maddie lately?”
Magdelina sighed. “Maddie has accepted my help with investments, just as you and Daniel have, but she has secluded herself away from any family. I do know she is living in Venice at the moment, so she has not even availed herself of the luxury of living in one of the Rubio hotels. She told me, the last time that I spoke with her, that she has been continuing therapy, but she is not working at this time.”
Magdelina shook her head and took a sip from her wine glass. “I do not think her life is entirely healthy, Evan, but I cannot force her to rejoin the family. Perhaps if her parents did not still live in the city in which she almost lost her life…”
“You can’t think like that, Lina. You didn’t force Maddie to shut herself away from everybody. You gave her the opportunity to heal and that’s all, just like you gave that to me. What Maddie did after that was all on her. She’ll come back when she’s ready, and you did say you might visit with her after you leave here.”
“Si, I know you are right.” She patted his arm lightly and asked, “Are you dating anyone, querido?”
Evan laughed. “No, I’m not. I may go out casually, but there’s nobody serious because I’m too busy with classwork for both degrees. I mean, I do have a study group that I spend time with after classes, but I’m too dedicated to graduating on time.”
“Well, then, have you at least had another torrid affair?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Evan shook his head and chuckled. “I will admit to having the odd one- night-stand, but there have been no torrid affairs. Not since Peru, at any rate. I may have learned a lot about myself back then, and about what I enjoy, but the one thing I really learned is that I don’t want to be casual and I don’t want to be open.” He sighed heavily. “It might have been a fun night, but when I thought about it afterwards, I wondered about that relationship, you know? I mean, how could they have been devoted to each other and still want to look outside of the relationship for ‘fun times’?”
Magdelina only said, “I do not know.”
Evan had learned, later in the day after his threesome in Peru, that the couple in question, Franco and Angel Picconetti, were frequent visitors to the resort. He was told this by his great-uncle at the family dinner that night, when it was learned that Evan had been seen leaving the Picconetti’s suite.
Apparently, the two enjoyed the freedom the resort allowed, and they visited twice a year—always seeking sexual adventure far away from their home where nobody would know them. Until that night, their targets had always been female servers or other resort guests. Ramon Rubio could not say for certain if Evan was the only male they had ever invited to their games, but he was certain that Evan was the only family member.
Evan had to point out that the couple could not have known Evan was related to the resort owners because he was clearly an American. Ramon, in turn, pointed out the birthmark that Evan shared with more than a few other Rubios, but Evan said that only one other person at the resort had that birthmark, and Beatrice was in her forties and stayed in the business offices.
Then Ramon pointed out that Evan had been specifically targeted by one of the Picconettis’ friends—Lucas the bartender. Lucas had been working at the resort for a few years, but it had only recently become known that he was the one vetting ‘playmates’ for the Picconettis. When Evan thought Lucas was being a friendly bartender, sucking up to a tourist, the man had actually been getting a read on Evan to see if he would be open to Angel Picconetti’s advances.
Evan had been disheartened by the conversation—and the apology for the encounter—and spent the next day on the beach taking stock of his life and what he really wanted for himself.
Then he got a second tattoo and arranged to go climbing for a few days before returning to Pennsylvania for college. He’d been preparing to visit Machu Picchu when Magdelina returned to the resort, and she decided to join him on the trek so that she could offer emotional solace to her grandson. They spent the entire journey discussing the incident. Magdelina said that he could learn from the experience without hating himself for it—and then congratulated him on an extremely lurid torrid affair.
The fact that Magdelina was bringing up that whole sordid deal again after so many years made Evan think.
“Are the Picconettis still causing issues at the Peru resort?”
Magdelina snorted indelicately into her wine glass. “Oh, if only that were so. Ramon had decided last spring, when two of the housekeeping staff—two very young local girls—became pregnant at the same time as one of the Picconettis’ annual visits, that he would be banning them from the resort. Apparently, they had lost all sense of care with their encounters.”
Evan blinked and drank deeply from his own wine glass. “Wow. That’s…a lot.”
“Eso es quedarse corto,” Magdelina muttered. “Of course, the family rallied around both young ladies and the children are being well cared-for, but the Picconettis have found themselves blackballed from all Rubio properties. While we would never seek to enforce strict morality upon our visitors, we also cannot condone the abuse of our employees.”
Evan shook his head in disbelief. “They seemed…um…They were very understanding of the limits that I set when they invited me back to their room. I told them that I played safe, or I did not play at all.”
Magdelina smirked at her youngest grandchild. “Si, and I suppose your rather impressive physical condition made sure that they would comply with your demands. As I recall, even at your young age, you were very intimidating at that time. I suppose that if he saw you now, Franco Picconetti would be hesitant to approach you, no matter how delicious you look.”
Evan blushed deep red, and his eyes widened. “Lina! I’m not sure you should be saying things like that about me.”
Magdelina laughed brightly. “Oh, Evan, it is only that I am so proud to have such beautiful grandchildren!”
Evan took his grandmother to the airport extremely early the next morning before moving on to the first day of the final week of training. He was looking forward to finishing this certification, if only so he could get back to Pittsburgh. He was ready to finish his course work for his Civil Engineering degree and put college behind him for a while. Despite his urge to work hard and succeed, Evan really was looking forward to a few months of relaxation.
Also, to witnessing his brother getting married.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
The accident scene wasn’t anything Evan hadn’t seen before, at least in passing: four cars of varying sizes smashed and tumbled over a four-lane separated highway. Since it wasn’t Evan’s job to figure out who caused the accident, he focused on getting drivers and passengers out of vehicles, which technically wasn’t his job, either. This was, incredibly enough, a part of the certification that Evan had been looking forward to—having the chance to apply the knowledge imparted on him to rescue actual victims at an accident site. Traffic on the west-bound lanes was slow, mainly because of looky-loos, but the east-bound lanes were stalled out due to the accident. Clearing the victims and vehicles was the first order of the day.
Evan jammed his prybar into the door hinge on a red station wagon, ignoring the driver bitching about the ruined paint job, while the paramedic, Andrea Johns, took vitals and decided if the man needed help getting out once the door was opened. Evan sincerely hoped that would not be part of his job because he really was damaging the paint on this car—not that there was going to be much of a car left.
“Okay,” Johns yelled, “let’s get this guy out of here!”
Evan backed away, pulling the door and the pry bar with him as the other paramedic, Mitch Degas, came over with the gurney. Evan moved forward but Johns waved him away.
“We got this, Buckley,” she said. “Go help Cap with the SUV.”
Evan nodded and saluted her with his prybar, making her laugh. Evan trotted across the glass-covered pavement to join Captain Nash as he tried to access the rear of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the truck behind the SUV had impacted hard, causing most of the damage to the rear of the vehicle.
“What do you need, Cap?” Evan asked, and Nash turned around and huffed.
“I need that,” he said, pointing at the pry bar. “Only I need a bigger one.”
Evan looked at the prybar and then looked at the rear hatch. “Maybe you need bigger arms?”
Nash pulled up short and stared at him before looking at his own arms. “Maybe I do, Buckley.” Nash nodded to the rear hatch. “Give it your best shot. We have to get the baby out of the back because the mother refuses to move until she is.”
Evan nodded and checked the rear hatch of the SUV. The whole vehicle was a wreck, mainly because it had been smashed between a large cargo truck and another SUV. It had basically become concave on both sides and all four doors were crumpled shut. Nash had got the driver, the baby’s mother, out of the vehicle through the window.
Finding a small gap in the hatch, Evan jammed the prybar into it and heaved with all his strength. The metal began to give way, so Evan jammed the bar in again. Two more tries had the rear hatch bent enough for someone smaller than Evan to climb through. Luckily, Andrea Johns was thin and wiry, so she was volunteered to climb in and retrieve the now-screaming baby.
“You were right about bigger arms,” Nash said as he clapped Evan on the arm.
“It’s never too late to start weight training, Cap,” Evan quipped with a grin.
“My wife doesn’t like big guys,” was the wry response, and Evan laughed.
“Okay, Captain Nash,” called a firefighter from another house, “all victims are clear of the scene. Clean-up is on site and ready to go.”
Nash nodded and motioned for the three crews that had been called to the accident to clear the scene for highway clean-up. Because Nash was first on scene, he was the incident commander—so he oversaw the whole mess. And it was a mess. There were no fatalities, thank goodness, but there were injuries, including the frantic mother from the SUV. The baby had been unharmed.
The police were also on scene, taking names and photographs to figure out how the accident happened and who was the ultimate cause. Evan was glad he had no part in that. He just pulled them out and got them on the way to the hospital. And tried to avoid broken glass and spilled gasoline.
Evan carefully crossed the highway to the firetruck he’d arrived in. Captain Nash always rode in the truck with the rest of the crew, unlike other fire captains who rode in their own official vehicles. It brought him closer to his crew, which Evan appreciated.
Evan strapped into his seat and Nash climbed into the jump seat beside the driver. The rest of the team piled in, and the driver followed the ambulance back to their station.
“You did real good out there, Buckley,” Nash said with a nod in Evan’s direction.
“Thanks, Cap,” Evan replied. “Just using my natural talents.”
“And your huge shoulders,” muttered Ryan Goldman, another veteran firefighter on the squad and Evan only laughed.
“That, too,” he agreed. “These shoulders take a lot of work.”
“Congratulations on successfully participating in an actual Urban Rescue on your last day of certification,” Nash announced as the rescue vehicles began heading back to the station. “Since every one of the trainees took part in the accident recovery, I’d say that more than takes care of the final certification.”
There were quiet cheers from the crew, but all Evan did was smile and nod at Nash. He knew his work had been solid during the class portion of the course, and he had certainly impressed the members of Nash’s crew with his inadvertent rescue techniques.
He might never live down the bridge incident.
The rest of the ride was quiet and soon enough they were pulling into the station garage. Evan quickly changed out of his turnouts and washed his hands and face before heading to the kitchen to help Nash with the afternoon meal. Once Bobby Nash learned that his certification trainee knew his way around a kitchen and was a better than average cook, Evan was often conscripted to work on the firehouse meals with the captain between course sessions.
“Thanks for the recipe ideas, Buckley.”
Evan smiled and gamely took the knife and cutting board from Nash. “No problem, Cap. I’ve been expanding my personal recipe list since I was out of high school and living on my own. I grew up eating a mostly Mediterranean diet because of my grandmother.”
Nash’s eyebrows shot up. “You lived with your grandmother?”
“Yeah,” Evan confirmed. “Since I was nine or ten. There were…issues with my mother, but we’re okay now. Lina is my father’s mother, and she’s a world traveler, so she taught me a lot about international cuisine and how to eat healthy. We’ve been working on a recipe wish list together since I started on-campus college classes. We actually made a couple of them over Christmas when she was here.”
“It’s a good thing to know,” Nash acknowledged. “My wife, Marci, and I took cooking lessons as a couple when we first got married. Neither one of us knew our way around a knife set when we first got together, and we decided that we didn’t want to spend a lot on take-out or fast food while we got our careers on track.”
Evan nodded. “I didn’t even go for fast food as a treat as a kid. The only time I eat that crap is when I’m at a theme park with my family, because there are never healthy options in those places.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Johns interjected from where she was setting the table. “My family went to Disney last year for my parents’ anniversary, and there were good restaurants there. Pricey, of course, but good dining options.”
“Huh. I’ve never been,” Evan admitted. “I grew up near Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. It’s small compared to anything Disney, but they have a good coaster or two.”
Nash laughed. “You like roller coasters?”
Evan grinned. “When I was a kid, you couldn’t keep me off them. Then I discovered the climbing gym in middle school, and that’s a different kind of thrill. My grandmother hates coasters, but she and I zip-lined together in Peru.”
Nash laughed out loud. “Your grandmother zip-lined?”
“Yeah, and she’s gone hang gliding, and we hiked to Machu Picchu together. She said stuff like that keeps her young.”
Nash shook his head as he added the chicken sausage to the pot on the stove. “It sounds like you have an interesting family, Buckley.”
Evan shrugged. “As I’ve said before, we love experiences over physical gifts. For the past three years, I’ve waited in a kayak on the New River on Bridge Day, hoping not to have to rescue my own grandmother as she floated off the bridge on a hang-glider. Nobody sane would believe me if I said that, at least until they met Lina. She’s incredibly young at heart, strong in mind, and healthy in body.”
“I think I’ve heard of Bridge Day,” Bentley Summers said as he sat down at the dining table. “Isn’t that when a whole bunch of nuts free dive and bungee jump off the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia?”
Evan laughed. “Free jumping, hang-gliding, bungee jumping—all the fun ways to get from the top of the bridge to the river below, eight-hundred-seventy-six feet below. Other ways to celebrate Bridge Day are walking the span of the bridge, which is seventeen hundred feet across, and rafting under it. One of my summer jobs was guiding adventurers on river and climbing tours in the New River Valley.”
Nash chuckled softly as he pulled the pasta from the stovetop. “Now I understand the appeal of Colorado. You’re a real outdoorsman, aren’t you, Buckley?”
Evan smiled and shrugged. “I do love being in nature, but I’m a total city boy, really. For most of my life, I lived in Philadelphia, and that’s as urban as you can get. The only nature I got was when I went on orienteering excursions. I started climbing and rafting in high school, and I got the job as a part-time junior guide after making my own rafting trips when I was sixteen.”
“Don’t suppose you like camping?” Bentley asked.
“Well,” Evan said after a moment, “some of the trips I guided were overnighters and we slept in tents on the riverbank. I suppose that counts as camping, right?”
Bentley smiled. “Yeah, it meets the bare requirements. Tents and all. I was a boy scout when I was a kid, and camping was always the best and worst part.”
Evan frowned. “How could it be both?”
Bentley rolled his eyes. “Surely, you’ve heard that the mosquito is the Minnesota state bird? There is no place in this whole state where you can camp and not get eaten alive.”
“That sounds like absolutely no fun.”
The rest of the crew laughed as they took seats around the table. Angela Johns took the seat on the other side of Evan and she leaned into him with a grin.
“So, you’re from Hershey, Pennsylvania, huh? Does it really smell like chocolate there?”
Evan huffed. “In some places, yeah. But the original factory shut down and is set to be demolished next month, so I doubt the scent will linger for long. I just got used to it as a kid; we all did. It wasn’t until I moved to Philly when I was ten years old that I realized the air didn’t smell like that everywhere.”
Johns groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “Oh, God! That would drive me so crazy! I love chocolate.”
“I like chocolate, too,” Evan confessed. “But fortunately, my grandmother introduced me to superior chocolate, so I avoid Hershey products for the most part. She imports chocolate from Europe and South America and always has.”
After the late meal, Captain Nash distributed the certification letters to the trainees. Two others besides Evan, Johns and Summers, received special commendations along with their certifications due to exemplary participation and performance. Since Johns was already employed, the commendations would make Evan and Bentley excellent candidates for employment. Bentley actually slumped in relief, which made Evan laugh.
“Like you weren’t going to be getting job offers,” Evan teased. “Your test scores were as high as mine.”
Bentley grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, but you did that awesome bridge rescue.”
Evan rolled his eyes. “And I’m sure that if there was anyone else with the experience to do something like that, then they also would have stepped in at that time. I was the fortunate choice, is all.”
“Yes,” Nash agreed. “Fortunate for me, in this case. That accident on the bridge just showcased the fact that decisions sometimes need to be made on the fly during emergencies, and there isn’t always time to go through proper channels. If you have the certifications, experience, and ability to perform a rescue or other action on the scene, then you should do it and be prepared to defend your choice after everyone is safe.”
“Yeah,” Magnus agreed. “I did try to stop Buckley from going over the rail, but he informed me that he knew what he was doing and that I could yell at him later. Since I was dealing with that winch, and I didn’t have the rope experience that he evidently had, I let him go and prayed that he really did know what he was doing.”
“Yeah,” Nomie Jackson said with a grin. “That was some epic Ninja Warrior stuff that day.”
Evan felt his face grow hot. “Wow,” he muttered softly.
“Wow is right,” Nomie laughed. “I thought your name sounded familiar when we were introduced. I didn’t have the chance to Google you until later, but I finally remembered to on Christmas.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Everett Scott, the one trainee that never warmed up to Evan during the two-week course. In fact, Everett Scott seemed to become more hostile every day as evidence of Evan’s dedication to the course became more overt.
Nomie, proud to have gotten the attention of the entire group with her statement, waved her arms like Vanna White, presenting Evan like a prize on a stage.
“I’m talking about Evan Buckley, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who at the age of just seventeen became the youngest contestant—and the only American contestant—to win the grand prize in Japan’s Ninja Warrior show.”
“It’s called Sasuke in Japan,” Evan said defensively, arms crossed over his chest.
“Wait,” Everett sputtered. “I’ve seen that show. It looks crazy, but I thought it was all some kind of farce or something.”
“Nope,” Evan defended. “Not a farce. It’s really an incredibly challenging obstacle course with four increasingly difficult levels. I got hooked on watching it in high school, and when I was a junior the proprietors of the martial arts academy I attended built a course on their rooftop.”
“Just for you, I suppose,” Everett sneered.
Evan shook his head. “Not hardly. That show was getting really popular and a few academies were training people. But I did have to audition to get on the show, and most of the contestants were weeded out in the first round. I got really lucky, that’s all.”
“I don’t suppose there’s some video proof anywhere?” Magnus asked eagerly.
“There is,” Nomie confirmed. “The Japanese are very proud of all of their crazy game shows, and you can find footage of all of them on the web, if you know where to look.”
Bentley nudged Evan’s shoulder and asked, “Have you seen the footage?”
“Yep,” Evan confirmed. “I saw the whole show, since it actually aired a few months after I competed. I sent letters to my best friends to let them know when to look for it since they were at different colleges in different states by then. I got a few amazed letters from them after the show aired in the US, and I really wish I could have watched it with them. Even I’m amazed that I managed to do so well on the show because I remember how freaking difficult it all was.”
“Okay, then,” Magnus said, clapping his hands together, “let’s see this thing.”
Nomie fiddled with her phone for a moment before nodding. “I can show you the final level or the whole show, which is two hours with edits and stuff.”
“Can we play it on the TV?”
Nomie shook her head. “Not from my phone, sorry. I don’t have the fancy phone or cable.”
Amy Johns stood up and said, “I have the cable adapter for my fancy phone in my car. My husband and I both have them for recording his nephew’s games. Let me go get them.”
As she left the dining area, Captain Nash looked at Evan and asked, “Are you okay with us seeing this?”
Evan shrugged. “I don’t mind. I mean, I knew it would be televised when I went on the show, so I really didn’t mind then, either.”
“Okay,” Nash said with a nod. “As long as you don’t feel like we’re putting you on the spot.”
Evan grinned. “My ego is pretty healthy, sir. I don’t usually brag about my accomplishments or stuff like that, because bragging is ugly according to my grandmother. I have good self-esteem because of therapy for most of my childhood, so bragging about something like this never entered my mind.”
“But you told your friends about it,” Everett pointed out.
“Yes, I did,” Evan agreed. “Mostly I did that because my very best friend, Geoff, watched G4 just like I did, so I wanted to warn him about it. I think he might have hunted me for sport if he’d seen me on that show without a warning.”
Nash laughed with the rest of the group and soon enough Amy was back with an HDMI adapter for her phone and Nomie was helping her search for the show. Evan began gathering the plates and glasses from their dinner and began loading the dishwasher. Bentley began helping by gathering the serving dishes and running water in the sink for the cook pots.
“You seem oddly unconcerned about that video they’re getting ready to watch,” Bentley said softly.
Evan looked up and winked at him. “Because I’m not concerned, Bentley. That show was recorded years ago, and a lot of life has happened to me since then. It’s not like there’s anything on that recording that can impact me now. It’s all over and done with, and while I’m proud of my performance at that time, since then I’ve been working toward my ultimate goal of becoming a firefighter.”
Bentley grinned. “And your performance in this course has definitely demonstrated that you’re serious about it.”
“I’ve wanted this for a long time,” Evan said seriously.
Bentley handed Evan the last washed pot to dry before leaning out to see everyone gathered around the television. “They all look so intense.”
Evan looked over and shrugged. “I haven’t seen a recording of that show in a long time, but from what I recall they’re just watching the first level. That one has the most contestants washing out.”
Bentley blinked at the matter-of-fact tone Evan used. “Lots of washouts, then?”
Evan laughed. “Yeah, seriously. I was one of the last to go through in a group of one hundred. By the time I hit the course, sixty or more had already been disqualified. My height almost worked against me on that part.”
Bentley jerked his head to the side. “Well, let’s go watch with everyone else, and you can provide color commentary much after the fact. And then,” he added in a low voice, “maybe we can settle on a plan to celebrate finishing the course before you leave town?”
Evan grinned and said, “You’re on. On both counts.”
By the end of the video, everyone—even Everett Scott—was loudly convinced that Evan was a complete badass at age seventeen.
By the time Evan had boarded the plane back to Pennsylvania, he’d been thoroughly laid every way but Sunday and was pleasantly achy in all the right places. The First-Class seat was definitely appreciated.
Chapter Four: Salutations
February 2012
Hey, Friend Evan,
School is going extremely well in sunny California! Environmental Sciences is actually interesting—who knew? And I managed to make a lot of friends that are NOT in sororities or fraternities. Actually, I do have a few friends that are in frats, but only because they’re actually smart and don’t get drunk every weekend. Or weeknight.
The co-ed dorms that I’m in are much nicer than the ones last year. I think I’ll stay here until graduation. They’re like apartments: they have four bedrooms for two people each, two bathrooms between the bedrooms, a communal living room and a small kitchenette. We only have a fridge and small appliances, so no big meals get cooked here. My grandfather got me a toaster oven for my birthday, and one of my other roomies has a decent microwave.
Oh, and before I forget—I met someone!
His name is Alan Stager and he’s majoring in chemical engineering. He lives in the same building as me, just a floor above me. I met him through one of his roomies, Elaine Trask. She’s in my Eco-Biology III class and she maintained that I needed more of a social life. Alan is awesome, Evan, and I’d love for you to meet him. Maybe I can convince him to ‘meet the folks’ at Spring Break. Not sexy or exciting, but I could do with a visit home. Gramma Jackie’s health isn’t the best and Isaiah is almost a teen, and I really don’t want to miss out any more than I already have.
Love and Kisses,
Jill
~~
March 2012
Dear Evan,
I know we don’t really know each other very well, but I’d like to think we are friends.
Gah! That sounded horrible, even to me as I write this!
Look, I know that you’re Geoff’s best friend until the end of time. I’m glad about it, really. You never have too many good friends in your life, and I’d like to count you as one of mine. That being said, I’ll be heading to Stanford for Law School in the fall, and I’d like to have a permanent ring on Geoff’s finger long before that. Even if he was the one to propose. I have an idea about the wedding, and I’d like your input as someone who knows Geoff possibly better than me.
Normally you would be his best man. I would never argue with that, except that my brother is standing up with me. And Geoff loves his family despite everything in the past five years. He can only call his mother on Wednesday nights because that’s the night his father has a standing pick-up basketball game at the Y. His sister is writing him emails and text messages, but on a burner phone that the parents know nothing about. At least until she heads out to college herself. I thought perhaps, with your encouragement, that Geoff could ask his sister to be his best woman.
And I know this sounds so stupid, but I thought you could do that online ordination thing so that you could officiate at the wedding instead of just standing there beside my true love? It’s a bigger role, so to speak, but I think you can handle it. It’s a lot to ask, and I haven’t mentioned it to Geoff yet because I know he wants you to be the best man. If you agree, then I’ll ask him about it. But only if you agree. If you’d rather be the best man, then you will be the best Best Man ever!
Thanks—
Michael
~~
March 2012
Hey, Michael!
So, I looked into it, and I can have that online ordination done in just a few weeks. If I put in just a few hours, I can be a legally ordained Minister with the Universal Life Church online. I talked to Lina, and she thinks it’s a great idea, so long as I still go to Mass with her every now and then. I reassured her that I was not changing my religion no matter what it may look like and she was very relieved. So go ahead and ask Geoff if he’d rather have his sister stand up with him, and if he says yes, then I’ll stand up in front of God and Everybody and pronounce you Husband and Husband.
With my blessing,
Evan
~~
May, 2012
(Picture postcard depicting Verona, Italy)
Little brother!
When people marry their best friends, they don’t usually marry them to other people! Gran told me all about it. So proud of you for being there in the best way possible.
I’m leaving Italy tomorrow and heading to France for a bit. Finding myself is hard work.
Maddie
~~
July, 2012
(Photo Card: Geoff and Michael Healey, Evan Buckley, Jill Thomas)
Happy Birthday, Evan! I guess I always knew that Geoff and Michael would make it. And look at you, in your smart suit, officiating like a boss!
And thank you for welcoming Alan like an old friend when I introduced you. I really think he’s The One, you know. I haven’t told him about how you helped me ‘study’, but he has reaped the rewards of that weekend. He might never measure up to the Perfect First Time, but he is a generous lover, and he cares for me very much.
Anyway, I’m not sure what your social life is like, but I hope you have an outstanding birthday. Drink one for me!
Love,
Jill
I’m enjoying this even more than I thought I would.
A joyous continuation. Thank you