Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“Mom…” Jace said in that tone that made it clear he was embarrassed by the way she presented it.
“That’s right,” I replied to her. “They’re very interested in working with your son, so I say if we both give him a little push, he’s looking at a really stable, secure future.”
“Who you trying to pitch this to? Me or my mom?” Jace asked, seeing right through my tactic.
“Anyone who’ll get you to agree to this.”
“I admire that approach, Dax,” she said. “I’ve always believed the Lord comes to the aid of those who are persistent.”
“I have a similar philosophy,” I said. Minus the Lord stuff, though.
“But he’d need to leave his job at the fire station?” Nance asked.
“He’d have to get some time off, at least. And he’d be at the beck and call of the company for a year, barring the need to renew his contract because the campaign has been so successful, they want to keep using him. But if you’re worried about the money—”
“Oh, no, no. He told me about the money. It’s just, well, Jace loves his job. I can’t imagine him being content with anything else. When he was a kid, he was always running around telling everyone he was going to be a firefighter. Went to our local college for his BS in Fire Science.” I could hear her pride in the way she spoke the words. “You know how some people just know what they’re going to be when they grow up? Well, that was Jace. All he ever wanted to do in the world, isn’t that right?”
He smiled, not seeming embarrassed by her revealing this much, but rather proud of his commitment to his work. “That’s right.”
“He hadn’t mentioned that,” I said. “Can I ask what about the job appealed to you, Jace?”
Keegan passed the casserole dish to him, and Jace stacked some lasagna on his plate. “As I mentioned, I was in the shelter until I was ten, and the guys from the station would volunteer together and come every other weekend and spend time with us. They encouraged us to participate in group activities with them. There was this guy, Crawford, who took me under his wing.” He finished piling the pasta on his plate, then set the dish in the middle of the table. “We’d play basketball and Skee-Ball, and he’d tell me about all the adventures he had on his job, all the people he got to help. Sounded like he was a superhero, or at least, it was the closest thing I knew of to one, actually getting to run around and save people’s lives.”
“But dangerous.”
“Wouldn’t be much of a superhero if you were never in danger.”
“Superman,” I muttered, reflecting on Hacksmore’s comment during our meeting.
“More like Batman,” Keegan interjected.
“What?”
“Superman had superhuman abilities. He was an alien. Batman was just a regular guy.”
“Very true,” I noted.
“Well, if you guys insist,” Jace joked, feigning arrogance, though he was clearly being far more humble than he was letting on.
Jace Kruse didn’t run out of admirable qualities, did he?
“Aren’t you leaving out something about Crawford?” Nance asked.
Jace’s pleasant smile from when he described the guy diminished. “He became my dad and Keeg’s, and introduced me to one of the most amazing women in the world.” He and Nance exchanged a fond look, though I could see the sadness in their expressions as well.
“They must’ve been greedy for kids,” Keegan chimed in, “because they adopted me from there too, but I was too little to remember.”
Nance smiled. “We were very greedy for those little rosy cheeks you had.”
Keegan rolled his eyes in an overdramatic display, as though he didn’t want there to be any confusion about his annoyance. “Oh, why did I even bring it up?”
“Crawford and I loved kids, and God blessed us with two of the best.”
Jace must’ve seen the question in my expression because he looked at me for a moment before his gaze sank, and he said, “Our father’s not with us anymore.”
Nance’s, Jace’s, and Keegan’s expressions all seemed to mirror one another’s as they mourned the man missing from their dinner table.
“Crawford was a lieutenant at the station and was about to transition to the assistant chief position when he had an accident on the job,” Nance said. “I was a proud wife, and I’m a proud mama.” She clearly had every reason to be. But even as she admired Crawford and Jace, I could tell the Kruses’ mood had shifted as they reflected on the one they’d lost.
“And I’m an exhausting brother,” Keegan followed up, seemingly trying to ease the tension. “See the kind of expectations this one sets me up for? I’m still questioning my major.”
“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with questioning things,” Nance insisted.
“No, no. Nothing wrong with questioning things at all,” Jace added as he gazed right at me, clearly referring to the conversation we’d shared on the ride over.