One of the Good Ones (Strawberry Inn Book #1)

Chapter 8

HARRISON

After my encounter with the new owner of the inn in town, my stomach was growling up a storm. I hadn’t planned on the detour but when I heard the smoke alarms going off I just couldn’t help myself. Fire and rescue was my whole life. It is so cliche to say that I run towards the danger and not away, but I don’t know another way to describe it. Just like the other day when I heard the car accident. Another person may have thought about finding a phone and calling for help, my first instinct was to get there to be the help.

That is why losing my job was such a stab to my heart and soul. Firefighting wasn’t just my job, it was everything. If I couldn’t be a first responding in some way, shape, or form, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Meeting Angela was a pleasant outcome of responding to the smoke alarms. She was adorable and spunky in a hot mess kind of way. Maybe she was a bit too grown up to be called adorable, that is how her personality came off though.

She certainly was all woman though. A petite little thing, I can’t imagine she was taller than 5’5”, I towered over her at my 6’7” height. I was used to towering over people, I had an ex-girlfriend say that my height was my best feature. Apparently, women liked the idea of a tall, fit man throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her away. At least I had that going for me. Her blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, but I kept getting distracted by visions of tugging on that pony to tilt her head up to face me. It had clearly been way too long since I had been with a woman and my body was sending me that message loud and clear.

Angela didn’t seem like the type of person who would be into a hookup with a man that wasn’t going to be around for very long. Even if she was down with it, something I would never ask her because I have better manners than that, she’s not the kind of person I’d want to do that to. If only my mom didn’t raise me the way she did.

She wasn’t out of my mind when I headed into the diner down the road, my original destination for the afternoon. This town was growing on me and I could see why my parents loved it so much. Everything was easily accessible, almost all by foot. My second stop of the day was going to be the firehouse and it was a quick five-minute walk from the diner. All firehouses look a bit different, but the second I saw that truck in the oversized garage, I felt at home.

“Can I help you?” I didn’t recognize the guy who hopped off the truck from the car accident the other day, but he was wearing navy pants with a matching fire department-issued t-shirt. It was a uniform that we all knew well.

“Yeah, my name’s Harrison Thatcher. Grizz told me to stop by and say hi.”

“Ahh okay. The name’s Dalton McCoy, nice to meet you.”

He holds out his hand and I shake it, “You too.” I follow Dalton through the garage and into the building a few turns later and we’re standing in front of the office door of Captain Grizwold, Grizz makes a bit more sense now.

“Hey Cap, this guy says you wanted to see him?”

Grizz looks up for a moment and then steps to his feet once he recognizes who I am, “Harrison! I was wondering if I was going to see you.”

“Yes, sir. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“No, not at all. Dalton, this is the guy from the accident outside of town that I was telling you about.”

“No way,” Dalton holds his hand out again, “Grizz hasn’t stopped talking about you.”

I shake my head, “I didn’t do much of anything, pretty sure any first responder would have done the same thing.”