Annie moved to the small Virginia town because she got a teaching position at the local grade school. She had heard good things about the town and when she went to check it out she liked what she saw. She had lots of experience teaching and an impeccable record so the local school board snatched her up right away – finding good teachers for a small-town school wasn’t easy!

As soon as Annie had secured the job she began looking for a place to live. She was lucky that there was a place available just a block away from the local fire station. You see Annie had a thing for firefighters ... not just a dreamy romance novel kind of fancy, but a real attraction to these heroes! She watched every firefighter movie and TV show she could; she drove by the fire stations when she knew they would be out front of them checking out their trucks or something ... she couldn’t get enough of these men in their turnouts! She even bought a scanner so she could go wherever they were working a fire so she could watch them! It was her version of porn!

So to get a place so close to the station where she could look out her window or sit in her front yard and watch them was a dream come true for her!

Annie couldn’t really tell you where her attraction to these men came from initially, but it was cemented the day that her old apartment building in Baltimore caught fire. She was only twenty-two then and hadn’t been working as a teacher for very long. She was tired from a day of teaching and had fallen asleep before dinner. There was no alarm or warning at all – the cheapskate landlord was tired of getting bills for false alarms from the kids in the apartment pulling the alarm as a prank, so he disabled them.

By the time the sirens on the fire trucks woke her up the room was full of choking gray smoke. She tried to run out of the building but when she opened her door the hallway was in flames between her and the stairway. She was trapped. She ran back into her apartment and shut the door. Thinking quickly she then ran to the window and threw it open to scream for help. Some firefighters on the ground outside heard her and started coming to rescue her. It was only a moment or two later she saw one firefighter kick her door down and he swooped her up in his arms carrying her to safety outside. He gave her some oxygen to help clear her lungs out and asked her if she was okay. When she said she was, he told her to go over to the Red Cross vehicle and they would help her from there. She started over there, but then turned around to ask her rescuer his name. But he was gone ... off to finish his work.

After that experience, she couldn’t get enough of these brave men on their shiny red trucks. And now she was going to be living practically right next door to them!

The day she moved in she saw “the boys” as she would come to call them outside in front of the station. They had their turnout pants on but because it was a warm day they only wore their department t-shirts. They had their helmets and gloves on though because they were checking out and powering up the various power tools they had.

For Annie, these boys in their turnouts were proving to be quite a distraction and she had a hard time focusing on getting her things inside. It was only when they were done and had gone back inside that she was able to concentrate on what she had to do.

Annie finished getting her things inside and decided that day that she would go over and introduce herself and get to know “the neighbors”!

That week when she went to the grocery store, she picked up what she needed to make a large batch of cookies. She wanted to have a reason to go over and she figured they would like a treat.

Friday after she got home she started baking cookies. She made three dozen cookies and hoped that was enough for a hungry shift. She wasn’t sure what types of cookies they all liked so she figured to start off with she’d make simple sugar cookies. Something simple that everyone liked.

Early Saturday afternoon, she got dressed in a nice springtime dress and her best heels and got ready to go to the station. It was only a short walk–less than a city block–to the station and it would give her a chance to rehearse what she wanted to say ... and calm her nerves!

“Can I help you, miss?” the dispatcher said from behind the counter as she went inside.

“Yes, I just moved in down the street a few houses and I made some cookies for you guys here in the department,” she said, showing him the tray of goodies.

“Cookies eh? Well let me call the captain up here then!” he said.

“Captain Walker, please come to dispatch for a visitor,” came the announcement over the paging system. A few moments later, a man in a white shirt and black pants came to the dispatch office.

“Hello, I’m Captain Walker. How can I help you?” he said, approaching Annie.

“Hello, Captain Walker. My name is Annie McKinley. I am a schoolteacher and just moved here from Baltimore. I moved into a house a little way down the street. I made some cookies for everyone as a way of introducing myself.”

“Well Miss McKinley, let’s go introduce you to the fellas ... I can tell you right now you’ll be a big hit – just keep your fingers away from them when they eat these cookies! It’s like feeding time in a gator pen sometimes!” he laughed.

He took the tray of cookies and introduced her to all the guys working that day. Annie was in her glory. All the guys thanked her for the cookies and made her feel very welcome. She sat with them in the day room – the station’s version of a living room. She told them about moving from Baltimore and her job as a schoolteacher. She also told them about her experience with the fire dept when she lived in Baltimore.

“That’s why you boys hold a special place in my heart. It was a firefighter that saved my life that day.”

“Well, Annie, that’s what we do. But here in Harpersville, things move a little slower. We have our fires and car accidents and such, but we aren’t ‘big city’ like Baltimore. We like the slower pace too – it gives us a chance to actually get to know the folks in town here. We go out into the community and do building inspections, have activities like the Labor Day boot drive, and tours of the fire station. We do it up for Fire Prevention month in October and we are always in the Founders Day Parade and the State Fair.

“We also drive around the neighborhoods on occasion. It helps our guys stay sharp on the road conditions and changes in traffic patterns. It also lets people see we don’t just sit around all day playing checkers and watching TV!” the captain said.

“Oh, I’ll be sure to wave if I see you boys drive by!” she said. The thought of these hunky firemen driving that big truck down her street excited her in ways she dared not show!

“Well, your road is the one we use most when coming back to the station since it’s lined up with our bay doors. Makes backing into the station easier if we can line up straight to the doors.”

“I hope that when you do drive by, it’s because you are going out to drive around the town and not because somebody needs help!” Annie said.

“So do we, Miss McKinley. We’d much rather visit just to say hi than have to go to your house because of some emergency!” the captain said.

“Well you boys can stop by to say hi anytime!” she said, hoping she didn’t sound too forward.

“And you can consider this firehouse your house too – especially when you bring cookies!” one of the other guys said jokingly.

“I love to bake, so you’ll get plenty of cookies from now on!” she said.

“Hear that guys? Looks like we may have to increase our time at the gym!” the captain said. A collective groan came from the guys with that bit of news.

“Oh boys, it’s okay ... I will see if I can find a recipe for low-calorie cookies for you!” she giggled.

“We don’t get much chance to bake here, Miss McKinley – you never know when the bells will go off and we’d burn more cookies than we ate!” the captain said.

“It must be tough to cook a meal if you are always having to run off to go help someone,” Annie said.

“Well, Annie, unless it’s something really extreme like a natural disaster – an earthquake or tornado or something – we don’t all go. We leave a crew back here in case another emergency comes up. And they can pick up doing the cooking while the first crew is out,” the captain explained.

“Oh I see. That makes sense.”

“We all take turns with kitchen duty, so we all have learned to cook to some degree. Of course, we all have our ‘specialties’. Like tonight, Franco is making his famous Firehouse Chili with cornbread, isn’t that right, Franco?” Captain Walker explained.

“That’s right – these guys are gluttons for punishment, ‘cause I make it hot!” he winked.

“Oh my!” Annie gasped.

“Occasionally the wives will get together and cook for us. Most of the guys here aren’t married so we don’t really have a Ladies Auxillary like other bigger departments so the wives do what they can to help out. It’s really informal and the guys always like having them over.” the captain said.

“That does sound like fun,” Annie said. The wheels in her head were already starting to spin...

“Yeah, we’re just one big family. When the girls come over it’s like a big family get-together!” one of the other firefighters said.

“So how many of you are in the department? Is this everyone?” Annie asked.

“Oh no! This is only A-Shift. We have three shifts in the department, A, B, and C. Each shift has 15 men on it. We have three vehicles, not including the Chief’s vehicle and Fire Inspection. Our Pumper has a driver, a crew chief, and 5 firefighters. Our Ladder truck has a driver, a crew chief, and three firefighters. Our Ambulance has two firefighter/paramedics on it. And then there’s a captain for each shift. We work a 1-on / 2-off shift schedule – 24 hours on duty and 48 hours off. While one shift is working, one shift is off duty and can do whatever they want. The third shift is on standby – they respond to the station when we get a call to standby. So they have to stay in town and carry pagers while on standby.

“We have a mutual aid agreement with the neighboring towns that says if they get a bad call and need our help, we’ll go. And if we have a bad call, we know we can count on their help as well. We cover each other’s backs. Also, we have a few volunteer firefighters who can help us out as well. They aren’t allowed to go inside the buildings, but they can do exterior work and free up one of us,” Captain Walker said.

“Sound like you have things pretty well in hand here!” Annie said impressed.

“Well like I said we are a small town department but we like it and we want to make sure it’s well-protected,” he said.

“I know I’ll sleep better now, that’s for sure!” Annie smiled.

After she visited a bit more, the guys showed her around the station a bit. They showed her the trucks and some of the equipment they used. She got to try on one of their helmets and then they took her into the dispatch room to show her how they would get a call and dispatch a crew. Annie was thoroughly impressed with all of it and by the time she left, she was completely enthralled with these “hunky firemen” down the street!

Things for Annie went on as usual after that. School let out for the summer a couple months after her arrival and so she had a chance to finally finish unpacking! She had been to the firehouse a few times since that first visit and had met all the boys on all three shifts, bringing her now well-known cookies to them when she came by.

One day watching the evening news she saw a news report of a bad fire in Baltimore and she immediately recognized the building as one that was just down the street from where she used to live. It really struck home for her and brought back all the memories of her own experience. She remembered that her old landlord had disabled all the alarms so she had no warning and it wasn’t until the sirens woke her that she realized the danger.

Not wanting to go through that again, she decided she needed to get some smoke alarms for her new house. But she didn’t know the first thing about what to buy or where to put them. But she knew who would!

“Hello, what shift is working today, please?” she asked the dispatcher, making sure she called on the administration line and not the emergency line.

“That would be ‘A-Shift’, ma’am,” the dispatcher said.

“Oh good, may I speak to Captain Walker, please?”

A couple moments later another man’s voice came on the line. “This is Captain Walker, can I help you?”

“Captain Walker, hi this is Annie McKinley. I was wondering ... I want to get some smoke detectors for my new place but I don’t have any idea which ones are good ones, how many I will need, or where I need to put them. I know that some departments will send someone to help a homeowner figure this stuff out and I was wondering...” she started.

“I’d be happy to help you get some smoke detectors, Annie. I can show you which are the best brands, the types and number of detectors you need, and even help you install them if you like. We want all of our residents to be as safe as possible – especially the ones that bring us cookies and visit with us!” he said.

“I certainly appreciate it. That newscast brought back some unpleasant memories, I’m afraid. I don’t ever want to go through something like that again,” Annie said.

Captain Walker heard something in her voice ... something that worried him. “Are you all right Annie?” he asked.

“I will be ... the fire was in a building just down the street a block or so from where I used to live. The same kind of building that my fire was in. It hit a little too close to home, you know?”

“Yeah, I do. You aren’t the first person to have flashbacks of bad experiences. There are a few fires in my career that come back to haunt me from time to time. Fires that make me wonder if I did everything I could to save the victims that didn’t make it ... things I could have done differently. It’s pretty common in my line of work.”

“I’m sorry...” she said.

“It’s an occupational hazard, I’m afraid.”

“I suppose. So how do you want to do this – should I come to the station or what?” she asked.

“Well first I will need to see your house ... so I can see where and how many detectors we are talking about. Then we can go to the hardware store and I can show you what to buy. We should also look at fire extinguishers too – you only live a couple blocks from the firehouse here, but every second you can save before we get there is that much less damage that occurs!”

“That sounds logical. You’ll have to show me how to work them though – I’ve never used a fire extinguisher!” Annie said.

“No problem, Annie. I get off duty at 1800 hours tonight so how about getting together tomorrow?” he asked.

“1800 hours?” Annie asked confused.

“Sorry, I am so used to talking to these knuckleheads around here that I forget not everyone knows military time! 1800 hours is 6 p.m ... about an hour from now!”

“Oh, I see. Yes tomorrow is fine for me – with school out for the summer, my days are pretty much open!” she said.

“Good. How about around 1:00 then? I’ll come by and have a look around and then we can go shopping after that.” he said.

“Sounds fine, Captain Walker. I’ll see you then,” she said.

“Okay ... and it’s Brett. Brett Walker.”

“Okay ... Brett,” she said with a subconscious sigh. Once she hung up the phone, she had to lean against the wall for a moment until her knees regained the strength to hold her up themselves again.

Annie had just pulled her head out of the clouds when she heard a knock on the door, breaking her out of the last of her daydream. She went to the door to see who it was.

“Captain Walker – I mean Brett! Wh-what are you doing here? I thought we were getting together tomorrow!” she said surprised.

“We are Annie, but when we were talking a little while ago, I heard something in your voice ... that newscast really bothered you. So once I got off work, I came by to see if you really were okay like you said. I wanted to see for myself that you were all right,” he said.

“I guess I didn’t do a very good job of hiding it. You see I had just moved out of my parent’s house a few months earlier and that was the first time I was out on my own. I had a new job and a new apartment. I guess being alone, the fire scared me more than I thought it had. I’m sorry to be making such a big deal of this...” she said, ashamed.

“There’s no need to apologize, Annie. Fires are scary things for anyone. They are dangerous and unpredictable and they can’t be reasoned with. It’s only when you learn how they work, how to figure out where they are going to go and beat them there that they don’t seem so frightening. And even then we have to be ready to change tactics suddenly because fire wants to win, no matter what.” he said.

“I don’t know how you do it, Brett ... but I’m certainly glad you do.”

“Annie, have you had dinner yet?” he asked.

“No, I was just going to start fixing something. Why?” she said.

“Good. Get your purse and a jacket if you want – I’m taking you to dinner!” he said.

“But...”

“No arguements and no buts. I had no plans for dinner either ... I just know I don’t want to eat alone tonight!” he said.

“Brett, we don’t have any reservations! How are we...”

“Annie this is a small town. Everyone knows everyone here. We don’t need reservations except for a couple places and we aren’t going there tonight.”

Annie smiled, but she got her purse and picked up her jacket. She liked his take-charge attitude and his commanding personality. She could see why he was a captain in the department! Brett helped her with her coat and then they left her house in his car.

“So where are you taking me Brett?” she asked as he drove.

“Well, I wasn’t sure what kind of food you liked so I thought I’d take you to a little family-style restaurant I know of that serves a variety of food. I’ve eaten there often and it’s good food at reasonable prices,” he said.

“I’ll take your word for it then Brett,” she said, settling back to enjoy the ride.

Soon the couple pulls up to a small restaurant with blue siding and white trim. “We’re here!” he said.

Annie looked at the name on the sign. “The Rooftop Steakhouse”? she asked.

“Yeah, it used to be another restaurant – I forget the name – but these people bought the building and brought the restaurant back under a new name. It’s called the Rooftop because there’s a rooftop dining patio people can use when the weather is good. Anyway, the food here is really good and I eat here a lot,” he said.

“I see. Well if you say it’s good then let’s go inside. I’m suddenly very hungry!” Annie said smiling.

“They specialize in steaks here as the name says, but they also have a wide variety of other things too. They really take care of their customers!” he said.

Brett and Annie went inside and were greeted right off by the hostess. She took them to their table and waved the waiter over. “Brett, I don’t know what to order here. Would you order for me – I trust your judgment,” she said.

So Brett order a couple medium-well done 12oz rib-eye steaks with baked potatoes and steamed asparagus. He also ordered a couple glasses of the house Merlot to go with dinner. As the waiter trotted off to put in the order, the pair got to know each other better.

“So Brett, what made you want to be a firefighter? I mean that’s a wonderful profession, but isn’t it scary going into all those burning buildings? I was scared to death when my fire happened and I didn’t even see the fire itself!” Annie said.