The Fire Inside Read Free

take advice from a mystery man. Besides, he was wrong about
going easy on the recruits.
    After a half hour of decadence, her body was
relaxed and calmer. Her irritation at John Mason had diminished. As
she got out of the bath, she thought about dinner. She’d picked up
pizza from a local place, along with a gooey chocolate-chip cookie.
She dried off, dressed in a red, one-piece pajama thing she could
live her life in and had reached the living room of her patio home
when the phone rang. She checked caller ID and smiled at what she
saw.
    “Hello, favorite aunt,” she said.
    “Ha, tesorino , I am your only aunt.
How is my girl tonight?”
    “I’m fine, Aunt Sabina.”
    “Are you liking the Fire Academy any more
now?”
    “A bit.” She could hear the sadness in her
own voice.
    “You are still sad because of your
ankle?”
    “Uh-huh. Because it’s not healed enough to go
back on the line.”
    “For me, that is a blessing. I worry enough
about the other three.”
    The other three, Mitch, Zach and Jenn
Malvaso, were firefighters downstate. “How are my cousins this
week?”
    “Mitch is very busy. They keep giving him
more and more responsibility.”
    “He probably loves it.”
    “I took care of Genevieve’s Angel yesterday.
She is growing so much.”
    “I love the pictures you sent.”
    “And Casey’s girls spent last night with
me.”
    “You have a lot of grandchildren now. From
all your kids.”
    “Not the one I am speaking to. There should
be a nice man in your life who gives you babies.”
    Because Tess had lost her parents when she
was fourteen, Sabina and her kids were the only family she had. She
and her brother had gone to live with the Malvasos for six years
after the accident that took away their mother and father. Since
then, Sabina viewed her as another child. Sabina was her mother’s
sister, which was why Tess didn’t have the same last name. “I don’t
think I’m cut out for marriage.”
    “Bless your heart, you don’t know anything,
Teresa.”
    Again, Tess laughed. “Maybe not.”
    “Tell me about the teaching.”
    “You know, I like it. I can contribute to the
department by training the best recruits.” Contrary to what Mason
thought. She spoke more of the fire department, which was her
life.
    Before Sabina disconnected, she said, “Zach
has reserved a house for all of us next summer in the Finger Lakes.
We hope you can join us.”
    Images of the Malvaso clan and their kids
made her smile. “Oh, Aunt Sabby, I’d love that.”
    “Good.” She gave her dates. “Meanwhile, stay
in touch. And remember what I said about men. I still miss my
Angelo.”
    “I know you do. I miss him, too.” The
patriarch Malvaso had treated her and Joey as he had his own
children.
    “Goodbye, dear. It is your turn to call me
next week.”
    “I will. I promise.”
    Tess hung up, feeling nostalgic. After rocky
beginnings in their relationships, all her cousins had gone on with
their lives. She must not have gotten the gene that enabled a
person to pick up the pieces and go on. Or maybe those pieces were
permanently broken. On that negative thought, Tess sought out her
pizza.

Chapter 2
     
    After the morning inspection, half of the
recruits went with another instructor and the rest stayed with
Captain Righetti. Unfortunately, Jack was assigned to her. But
maybe he could help out the kids without antagonizing her.
    She tugged on one of the braided coils
hanging from the ceiling. “This rope will hold three hundred pounds
of weight, and at least you all appear to be in shape. The task
today is to climb to the top and shimmy back down.”
    Jack scanned the recruits. Their faces were
blank, and some jaws dropped.
    She noticed. “You’ve had classroom
instruction in this technique. You’ll be asked to do this in the
practical exams you take at the end of the fourteen weeks. What’s
the problem?”
    “We’ve never seen anybody do it. Could you
demonstrate, Captain?” Jordan, one of the twins, made