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THE BOSS’S BABY RESCUE

DISASTER CITY SEARCH AND RESCUE

JENNA BRANDT
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Locale and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance
to actual persons, living or dead, actual events, or actual locations is purely coincidental. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission
requests, email jenna@ jennabrandt.com .

Text copyright © Jenna Brandt 2022.

Cover photo copyright depositphotos.com

PRAISE FOR JENNA BRANDT
I am always excited when I see a new book by Jenna Brandt.
— LORI DYKES, AMAZON CUSTOMER

Jenna Brandt is, in my estimation, the most gifted author of Christian fiction in this generation!
— PAULA ROSE MICHELSON, FELLOW AUTHOR

Ms. Brandt writes from the heart and you can feel it in every page turned.
— SANDRA SEWELL WHITE, LONGTIME READER

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CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Sneak Peek of Arresting Her Heart
Sneak Peek of Rescue Agent for Dana
A Note from the Author
Also by Jenna Brandt
Join My Mailing List and Reader’s Groups
Acknowledgments
 Dedicated to my husband, Badge #5654.
Thanks for being the inspiration behind my stories.
1

I f Carter Reid didn’t know any better, he would think God was trying to block his snap decision to leave his firehouse of five
years. He was getting ready to move halfway across the country for a new job, albeit it was his dream job with Disaster City
Search and Rescue.
The flight from Boston to Dallas had been a grueling and exhausting endeavor. What should have only taken three and a half
hours ended up being nearly twice that due to overbooking, a nervous flyer, and a delay getting his K9 partner, Fuego’s, crate
checked in. Though he could have fought to get the Dalmatian a spot in the cabin of the plane, he figured it would be easier for
everyone if the full-size canine rode below in the cargo area. He wished others were as considerate on the flight, but quickly
found out that was not the case. A pair of toddlers kicked his seat and whined throughout the flight, making what was already a
tedious day, even worse. It wasn’t that he didn’t like kids, he simply liked order, and kids tended to create chaos wherever they
went. It was probably the reason that he hadn’t settled down and gotten married. That…and Nora.
Why did she have to come into his head right when he was about to start his new life? Hadn’t he decided to forget about her
when she up and left town without a word two months ago? After all they had been through together, it had nearly broken him
when she disappeared without a trace, taking his deceased best friend’s baby with her. That was why it was better to focus on
the future and not the past, and Nora was firmly in the past. At least, that was what he kept telling himself. The problem was,
the more he tried to deny the hold she had on him, the more he realized he wasn’t over Nora. Probably never would be. She
was always right at the edge of his thoughts, waiting to make him wonder where she was, and what she was doing. He thought
changing his own scenery would make a difference, but so far, even the anticipation of arriving at the elite search and rescue
training academy wasn’t banishing her from his thoughts. What was it going to take to finally get her out of his system?
A few minutes later, Carter pulled up in his rental car to a large, black metal gate in the middle of the Texas countryside.
There was a speaker box with the words “Disaster City Search and Rescue Academy” neatly written at the top. He reached out
and pushed the button, causing a buzzing sound to emanate through the quiet air.
A deep male voice came over the speaker, “Hello, may I help you?”
“Yes, I’m Firefighter Carter Reid, and I’m here for my new position as an instructor with the urban fire division.”
“Oh, that’s right. We have two of you showing up today,” the deep voice said in acknowledgment.
Two of them? What did the other man mean by that? Carter had no idea that there was another search and rescue K9 handler
showing up today. Not that he expected them to roll out the red carpet for him. It would’ve been nice to not have everyone
rushing around to get someone else situated when he was trying to get familiar with the place himself.
There was a buzzing sound as the gate started to move to the side. “Come on in.”
As Carter entered, he was in awe of how massive the campus was. Coming from the city, he wasn’t good at guessing
acreage, but he figured there had to be around two dozen. He drove by several signs that directed to various training areas
before reaching a cluster of large buildings. “This place is overwhelming,” he muttered to Fuego, who was sitting in the
passenger seat next to him looking out the window.
Carter deposited his rental car in one of the parking lot spaces in front of the administrative building and auditorium.
“According to the email the commander sent me, we’re supposed to report to the administrative building upon our arrival.” He
climbed out of his vehicle and snapped the leash onto Fuego’s collar. They made their way into the large brick building. He
stopped in the entryway and looked around to figure out where to go next.
“You must be the new guy,” the same deep voice from the speaker said with a grunt. A man with brown hair, dark eyes, and
a thick beard came up beside him. “I’m Master Sergeant James Franklin. I’m the co-instructor for the mountain division. This is
my K9 partner, Siku, and we specialize in avalanche rescue.”
“Nice to meet you,” Carter said, reaching out his hand to the other search and rescue officer, who took it and shook.
“Where am I supposed to report?”
“A couple of guys from the fire division are away on a special assignment, so you’re going to be shown around by our
wildfire instructor, Travis Moody, and one of our arson instructors, Kristi Kimiko. I’ll take you to the fire division office.”
Carter’s brown eyebrows arched up in admiration, impressed by the caliber of instructors, just proving he made the right
decision to take the job. Both were experts in their field and had given guest lectures about their areas of expertise all over the
country. He’d never dreamed he’d get to meet either of them, let alone get to work alongside them both. “Lead the way.”
They weaved their way through the hallways until they reached the back area of the building. “This is it,” Franklin
informed Carter as he gestured to the door. “Good luck.”
The leery way the mountain rescuer said the last comment made him wonder what to expect from the other instructors. Were
they going to be hard on him? Was a huge amount of hazing going to happen since he was the new guy? It wouldn’t be the first
time, since it happened at the fire academy and the four firehouses he was stationed at in Boston. It didn’t mean he looked
forward to it, since he figured after his long career he had earned the right to not go through it again.
Taking a deep breath, he patted his brown hair into place and pushed his shoulders back before knocking on the door. He
was ready for whatever was on the other side. It couldn’t be worse than the last year of his life when he lost his best friend and
fellow firefighter in a tragic accident, or when his widow decided to abandon him only eight months after that. If he could
survive losing his only family the way he did, he could manage handling anything the team at Disaster City dished out.
“Come in,” he heard a female voice say from the other side.
Carter opened the door and walked inside to find a middle-aged brunette sitting behind a desk along with a tall, sharp-
faced, honey-colored skinned man leaning against it from the front. “You must be Carter Reid from the Boston Fire
Department,” the man stated as he scanned him up and down, as if assessing him simply by looking at him. His eyes moved
over and landed on his Dalmatian beside him. “And that must be your K9 partner, Fuego.”
“It sure is. We’re happy to be here,” Carter told the other search and rescue K9 handler. He glanced over at the woman,
who was continuing to remain quiet as she watched him. From her critical stare, he could tell she was sizing him up.
“I’m Travis Moody. I oversee the wildfire division here at the academy. That’s Kristi Kimiko, and she’s one of the arson
investigation instructors. Those are our K9 partners, Phantom and Ember.”
Carter glanced over at the kennels that housed two Dalmatians, the breed of choice for firefighters due to their long history
of helping put out blazes. Nowadays, it was their fierce sense of loyalty and determination that made them excellent K9
partners.
“Your previous chief said you were an excellent firefighter,” Kimiko finally spoke up from behind her desk. “We’re going
to put that reputation to the test, starting today.”
“What do you mean?” Carter asked in confusion. “Are you giving me a pop quiz?”
“More accurately, a pop fire simulation,” Moody corrected. “We’re taking you out to the training grounds so you can show
us what you’ve got.”
Most firefighters would be intimidated being put on the spot like that, but not Carter. He knew he had what it took to
impress the socks of the other fire experts. “By all means, let’s go do this.”
“We’ll show you the rest of the facility as we head out,” Kimiko explained. “You can put your stuff away in the staff villas
after the simulation.”
“And there’s a gym next to that if you need it, though I’m betting after what we put you through this afternoon, you won’t be
able to work out for a week,” Moody snickered as he pushed off the desk and headed to the door. He didn’t look back, clearly
expecting everyone else to follow after him.
Kimiko hopped up from her seat and scurried after her fellow fire instructor, leaving Carter to trail behind.
“He might want to use the sauna in the gym, though,” Kimiko pointed out as she gestured to the buildings across the campus.
“It’ll help tremendously with the sore muscles.”
Why did it feel like they were talking to him as if he was a rookie? Yes, he was new to DCSR, but he’d been working in
search and rescue back in Boston for seven years. He needed to nip this in the bud before it got out of hand. “I think I will be
just fine,” he stated tartly. “I can handle my own.”
“Care to put your money where your mouth is?” a big, burly man with dark skin and eyes asked with a wag of his bushy
eyebrows as he came up to the group. “I hear we get to see the rookie in action, and if there are any bets going on, I want in.”
“Me, too,” another man with brown hair and matching eyes said in a Louisiana accent. “I’m betting he flames out and tucks
tail and bails after today.”
“No way. I read his file. He’ll stick around at least one rotation of classes just to try to prove to everyone here he can hack
it,” the first man countered.
“He’s our rookie,” Moody growled out. “Why don’t the two of you go back to urban disasters where you belong?”
“Hey now, Sarge says we’re all one big family here at DCSR, granted it’s a dysfunctional family, but family nonetheless.
We all get to vet the rookie,” the second man challenged.
“I’m not a rookie,” Carter snapped out in frustration. “I’ve been a firefighter for fifteen years, and a search and rescue K9
handler for seven. I know what I’m doing.”
Moody stopped walking and turned to glare at him, blocking his path and causing Carter to nearly knock into his thick,
muscular frame. “Oh no, you don’t. Let me stop you right there. You may have a lot of training under your belt, and you might
even be the best firefighter back in Boston, but that means exactly zilch here at the academy. Disaster City Search and Rescue is
the best of the best. We’re so elite that we’re flown to locations around the world to help in scenarios no one else can handle.”
“We are so busy training other K9 handlers to be the best of the best,” Kimiko interrupted. “We get less and less time to be
in the field conducting rescues between all the classes we run,” she grumbled with a frown. “Ember and I’ve been itching for a
good arson case to solve.”
Moody shook his head and grunted in frustration at his fellow fire instructor. “That’s not the point, Kimiko. Let’s stay on
topic.” Turning his attention back to Carter, he continued, “The point is, you need to leave everything you know behind and
learn to do things our way. Yes, Sarge thinks we need to expand the fire division to include dense urban firefighting, so he
brought in two city firefighters, but that doesn’t mean you get a free pass.”
“He’s right; you got to prove yourself,” the Louisiana man insisted. “And we’re going to be there to watch.”
“Fine, Dixon, you and Bilmont can come along,” Moody gave in. “We might as well put the rookie under as much pressure
as we can to see if he cracks.”
They continued their quick tour as they made their way to the training grounds, the other K9 handlers pointing out the
veterinarian hospital and kennels, the medical clinic, cafeteria, and training center with classrooms and additional offices.
There also were the dormitories for the trainees. All in all, the DCSRA campus was a full-fledged mini-city. Carter would
have liked to explore the place a little bit, but it seemed there was a growing crowd that was following them to the training
grounds. By the time they got there, he counted eight people waiting to see if he could prove himself capable.
Carter had heard other firefighters talk about how detailed they made the scenarios. From the burned-out vehicles and
buildings, to the debris sprinkled throughout the area, it looked like the aftermath of a real urban fire. Carter was taken back to
his own fire academy days with Nora and Hank, and he felt like he was twenty-five again. He could feel his pulse speed up as
the adrenaline dumped into his bloodstream, making his senses heightened as he surveyed the area to determine where to start
first. His K9 partner was standing at attention by his side, ready and eager to work alongside his handler.
Kimiko handed him a firefighting suit, boots, and helmet, along with a first aid kit and search and rescue bag. While he
climbed into the gear, she handed him his hose as she explained where the water access points were located. His last step was
to outfit Fuego with his own protective vest and booties.
“We have three dummies buried in the smoldering debris on the west side of the area. You have thirty minutes to locate and
rescue all of them,” Moody informed him. “Be aware, there are accelerants, so fires will be popping up all around you. You
will need to contain them to be able to conduct your searches.”
The loud bell signaled for him to start. Carter charged into the south side of the area, judging that the flames were the
biggest and needed to be subdued before they could get to any victims that might be trapped near the flames. If he was planning
this test, he would make sure to create the exact situation. Most firefighters would go for the easier areas first, but end up
losing a victim because of it.
Carter hooked his hose up to the nearest water access point and pushed towards the flames, ignoring the intense heat as he
got closer to the fire. He directed the water at the base, working to get the flames out enough to give Fuego the command to go
in and search for survivors. When he was certain it was safe, they made their way into the partially burned-out building. Fuego
took in deep, strong sniffs, ignoring the ignitable liquids, the smoldering embers, and managing to avoid the decoys and traps.
After a couple of minutes, Fuego barked, alerting his handler that he had found something. Sure enough, tucked under a set of
stairs was one of the dummies. He assessed for damage, then pulled the dummy free once he was sure it was safe. Carter
slipped a flag onto the chest of the dummy to show they’d found the first victim.
From the other edge of the training grounds, there were claps and cheers as Bilmont shouted out, “That only took you seven
minutes. That might be a record for a first find in a fire scenario.”
Carter didn’t let the praise go to his head. He gave a treat to Fuego as a reward before giving him the command to start the
next search. They continued to move through the rubble with Fuego leading the way. The canine followed a trail that only he
could smell, determined to make his handler proud. “You’re doing great, boy. Keep up the good work,” he encouraged the
canine.
Fuego stopped for a moment, but didn’t move toward the vehicle. He whined instead, letting Carter know that there was
something wrong with the car. That’s when he noticed there was another trap just under the front wheel. “Good job, Fuego.
Nice catch.” They avoided the area and moved on.
There was a small office building next. Fuego didn’t sense anything off, so they made their way inside. They picked through
the first floor without finding anything. Carter headed to the stairs, but before they could climb them to the second floor, a fire
erupted in front of them. They backed up and Carter attached his hose to a nearby water access. He made quick work of putting
out the flames. Upstairs, they found a second victim under a desk.
“You’re at twenty-one minutes,” Moody shouted out in warning. “You only have nine minutes to locate and rescue the final
victim.”
Carter didn’t let the stress get to him. He methodically worked his way through the rest of the area, knowing that if he
rushed, they would miss something. Fuego found another scent and headed into an area where there was another car. This time,
Fuego went right for it and alerted. Carter was about to open the door, when he saw the edge of something that didn’t belong.
Another trap. He let go of the handle, and went around to the other side. He yanked on it several times before being able to get
it open. Inside, they found the third and final victim. They finished the simulation with a minute and a half to spare.
Everyone rushed up and started patting him on the back, congratulating him on a job well done.
“No one ever finds all three victims on the first try,” Dixon said with admiration. “Very impressive.”
“We might be wrong on this one. I want to change my bet,” Bilmont said with a wink.
“Don’t jump the gun too quickly. He still has a long road ahead of him to prove he’s got what it takes to be a permanent
member of this team,” Moody objected.
“I don’t know; I think he’s got what it takes,” Kimiko countered with an approving smile. “I’ve never seen anyone do as
well as he did straight out of the gate.”
“It’s not surprising he did so well; he’s always been a great firefighter,” an unexpected familiar female voice said from
behind them.
Carter could feel his blood run cold as he tried to process what he was hearing. It was the voice he thought he would never
hear again. Slowly, he turned around, and his blue eyes landed on Nora Parker. Not only was she standing right in front of him
after two months of no communication, but she had Baby Hank nestled in her arms. She blew her brown bangs out of her face, a
habit he’d seen her do a million times over the past fifteen years. Even though they bothered her to no end, she refused to grow
them out, saying she had too high of a forehead to go without them. He couldn’t help but notice how good she looked in her blue
jeans and black t-shirt. It sparked a desire in him that had lain dormant since she disappeared from his life. He hated that she
could still get to him. Frustrated with the effect she had on him, he blurted out in accusation, “What are you doing here?”
She frowned, causing her bright green eyes to lose their twinkle. “Same as you, apparently. Reporting for my new job.”
2

N ora Parker couldn’t believe her eyes. Standing right in front of her was the very man she’d run away from two months ago.
Not only was he the best friend of her deceased husband and previous co-worker of fifteen years. Carter was a constant
reminder of how the three of them were inseparable until the fateful call when the building came down on her husband and
ruined all of their lives. Just seeing Carter again brought it all back in an unwanted wave of painful memories.
It was a balmy, autumn day when Nora’s crew was called out to contain a fire in an abandoned warehouse. As the fire
captain, she rode along with them, but stayed outside the building to control the scene. The fire was raging, devouring
anything in its path, making entry problematic. A concerned citizen, however, called and reported that there were occupants
inside the building, which meant search and rescue had to find a way in.
“I know you don’t want me going in there, Nora, but it’s my job. How many times do we have to go through this?” Hank
complained to Nora through gritted teeth. “You married a search and rescue firefighter, remember? I run in when everyone
else runs out—that’s what you love about me.”
“I know, but every time you go in there, a part of me is terrified you might never come out,” she whispered with dread.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, but you know it’s part of the job. Don’t embarrass me in front of the guys and try to bench
me again,” he pleaded, his hazel eyes begging her to relent.
“You don’t have to worry, Nora. I’ve got his back like I always do,” Carter promised. “I’ll make sure nothing happens
to him.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Nora stated firmly, as she punched her lifelong friend in the arm. “You two better both
come out of there safe. I couldn’t stand losing either of you.”
Carter chuckled as he gave her a fake salute. “You got it, boss.”
“Stop that,” she chastised with a roll of her eyes. “You know I didn’t ask for this promotion. It’s just as hard for me not
to go in there as it is for you to stay out here.”
“Part of the job, Honey,” Hank said, leaning over and giving her a kiss on the cheek before putting his helmet on. “I’m
proud to be married to the fire captain. You earned it.”
She glowed under his praise, grateful to have a supportive husband. Not many men were able to handle having a wife
that could be viewed as more successful than them, let alone when they were in the same profession. His unselfish nature
made her know that when God decided to bless them with a child, he would be a great father. “Stay safe in there,” she
ordered as she watched them turn around and head into the burning building.
That was the last time she saw her husband alive. It had been the worst moment of her life. For the first few days, she
pretended that he was away for training, but that didn’t last long. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Eventually,
she had to accept that he was gone and never coming back. When she found out a month after his death that she was pregnant
with the child they both had wanted so much, it was almost more than she could bare. If it hadn’t been for Carter taking care of
her, she wasn’t sure what she would have done.
Even through the sea of condolences and the department funeral, she never discussed the floor collapse that claimed Hank’s
life. Her mind wouldn’t let her revisit the memory of when she lost him. There was a permanent block there, and she was glad
to have it. Living through it once was painful enough, she didn’t want to have it on repeat. Every time she started to remember
hearing the event happen over the radio, she tried to force herself to think about something else. She’d distract herself with
busy work, or getting ready for the baby. She did anything to not think about Hank and how her life was never going to be the
same without him. As she looked down at her infant son in her arms, she had no idea how she was going to one day explain
why he didn’t have a father anymore.
“Glad you’re here, Parker, but the training grounds is no place for a baby,” a tall man with an angular face and judging eyes
chastised her as he stood over her in his blue cargo uniform.
This wasn’t the first impression she planned on making, but her nanny hadn’t shown up from the agency yet. When she
called to verify that the other woman was coming out to the campus, the agency manager informed Nora that she had gotten lost
and would be late.
“We should all head back now that Carter has proven he deserves being here,” a short brunette in the same blue uniform
told the group.
“What about me? Are you going to put me through the same test?” Nora asked as they turned around to head back to the
main part of the campus, causing her brown hair to flip over her shoulder in the process.
“No, Sarge told us you were off-limits,” the tall man said in a way that made it clear he didn’t approve.
Nora didn’t like the sound of that. Was it because she was a woman and a new mom? She wanted to be treated like
everyone else, not handled with kid gloves because of her gender. “That isn’t necessary. I’m capable of handling my own
around here.”
“Trust me, she isn’t exaggerating,” Carter added as he and Fuego trotted up beside them, freshly out of the fire gear he’d
been wearing for the simulation. “Give her the chance. She will be able to put out the fires twice as fast as me.”
“I don’t need you vouching for me,” Nora snapped out, overwhelmed by how quickly everything was changing.
She avoided making eye contact with Carter. She knew he was staring at her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. If
she looked him in the eyes, he would know it was about him. There was no way she could let him know that, though. Guilt
washed over her, and she could feel her cheeks burning red. The feelings that she developed for Carter after her husband’s
death were wrong, a complete betrayal of his memory. Most likely misplaced because Carter had been by her side and
reminded her so much of Hank. It didn’t excuse it, though, and when she almost let him kiss her after the baby’s birth, she knew
her only option was to get as far away from him as possible. “Having us both here isn’t going to work. I need to talk to
whoever is in charge,” Nora demanded, wanting to fix the situation before she had to spend one more minute with Carter. He
reminded her of all the things she wanted to escape back in Boston. Having him around was too painful, and she wanted—no
needed—to start over. She couldn’t do that with him here.
“That would be the Deputy Commander Ben Miller,” Moody explained as he gestured to the administrative building as he
started walking toward it. “Come on, I’ll take you to his office.”
“Both of us,” Carter piped up as he sprinted after them. “This is about me, too, and I’m not about to lose my dream job
because Nora doesn’t want to work with me anymore.”
“Firefighter Parker, or Head Instructor Parker, if you prefer,” she coolly corrected Carter, hoping he understood they
weren’t friends anymore. She didn’t even want to be co-workers.
“We’re not that formal around here. We just use last names, except for the deputy commander and commander of the
academy. We call them D.C. and Sarge,” Moody explained, clearly not getting the point she was trying to make to Carter.
They reached the administrative building and were guided inside. At the back of the building, Moody pointed to one of the
larger corner offices. “Personally, I think this is a bad idea. D.C. doesn’t like having his hiring choices questioned, but it’s your
funeral.” Moody took off down the hall, then over his shoulder added, “Whoever ends up staying, come find us over in the
cafeteria. I’m sure everyone’s going to want to know since there’s going to be bets on who comes out on top.”
Nora wasn’t sure what that was all about, but she also didn’t care. She wasn’t there to make friends, but rather to do the job
she was hired for. That started with getting Carter removed from her department. When they told her she was going to have a
new rookie search and rescue K9 handler working under her, she had no idea it was going to be him. She raised her hand and
knocked on the door.
“Enter,” a loud voice boomed through the door.
She twisted the knob and pushed it open. On the other side was a salt-and-peppered, dark-haired man sitting behind a large,
wooden desk. “Are you my new instructors?” he asked as he looked between them. He noticed the baby and his eyebrows
arched up in surprise, but he didn’t address the child’s presence. Instead, he focused on Nora and Carter. “I’m assuming that
since you worked together in Boston for almost your entire careers, this is a well-received reunion.”
“Hardly,” Nora grumbled as she shifted her stance to make holding her son more comfortable. She was grateful that he was
still fast asleep, because the moment he woke up, he was going to start crying due to his colic.
 “Take a seat,” he ordered her.
Normally, she would stay standing to keep the position of power, but truthfully, Hank Jr. was a big baby. She was relieved
to have a chance to sit down and rest her arms for a few minutes.
“So, are you going to tell me why you aren’t happy about this arrangement?” the deputy commander asked as he opened his
desk drawer and skipped through several files before pulling out two. When neither of them responded, he shook his head and
skimmed through them until he found what he was looking for. He tapped a spot, saying, “From the notes we have here from the
vetting process for both of you, Firefighter Cruise talked to your fire chief back in Boston. Your chief explained that both of you
were excellent firefighters and worked well together for years. We figured you can’t teach teamwork like that, and why not hire
you both. Parker, since you’re senior to him back in Boston, we decided to offer you the position as the division head. It’s
unusual for us to hire anyone who doesn’t have K9 handler experience, but since you’re going to be managing a majority of our
clerical work, we figured it wouldn’t matter as much. Plus, you’ve worked closely with other K9 handlers at your previous
job. You know the type of support they need,” Miller told her as he placed the files back on the desk.
She didn’t like the sound of that. Did they hire her because she was female and figured it would help them fill their quota
and look good to the public? It wouldn’t be the first time she was dragged out for a P.R. stunt. She put a stop to being used like
that back in Boston, and she would do it here, too. “I’m a firefighter just like the rest of the ones here at the academy, and a top-
notch one at that. I’ve had well over a dozen commendations and received two Medal of Valor awards in my fifteen-year
career. I’m not going to be shoved behind a desk because I’m a woman and just had a baby.”
“I can attest to how great of a firefighter Parker is,” Carter spoke up for the first time. “She deserves to be treated as an
equal to her peers.”
“Listen, I know what you’re getting at, and that’s not what’s going on. We have several females that work for Disaster
City.” Nora opened her mouth to interject, but the deputy commander raised his hand to silence her before she could. “And no,
I’m not talking just about support. We have three female K9 handler instructors that train recruits and go out on assignments just
like their male counterparts. Parker, you will be treated no different, except, since you are in charge of the entire new urban fire
division, you’ll be required to spend some time in the office creating the new curriculum and keeping up on paperwork. That
means that you, Reid, and Firefighter Derik Cruise—when he gets back from his current assignment—will occasionally have to
run the classes without her. All of us work together here and help each other out. As a matter of fact, Kimiko works in the arson
division, and she and Perez trade their workload back and forth, even though Perez is technically senior and in charge. I expect
the same out of the two of you, which is why I need to know now if this is going to work, before the batch of new recruits
shows up over the weekend. Come Monday, we’re heading into a full month session of training.”
“This has nothing to do with any of that. It’s personal,” Nora objected.
“She’s the one with the issue, not me,” Carter refuted as he slung himself in the chair next to her. Fuego curled up at his feet,
contently chewing on his rubber ball. “I have no problem meeting whatever expectations you have for me.”
“Neither do I, other than I have to work with you,” she stated tartly. “You should understand why it would be hard for me,
given your history with Hank.”
“Don’t you mean my best friend? And that baby in your arms is my godson because that’s what Hank wanted. You yanked
him out of my life without even a word. Do you know what that did to me? It gutted me,” Carter shouted at her, the deep pain in
his eyes showing her something she’d never realized up until that moment.
Her selfish choice to run away didn’t just affect her. She’d hurt Carter in the process, and that was never her intent. She
thought by leaving he could finally move on and find a woman to settle down with and start a family. Part of her always
suspected he’d stayed single because he’d had feelings for her, but she ended up with Hank. He never acted on them, but she
wondered if it kept him from pursuing other relationships. She’d even gone as far as to try to set him up on dates from their
church, but he always found a way to avoid going on them. Add to that the grief they were both going through, and everything
got messed up between them. A new, fresh wave of guilt flooded her, but she couldn’t bring herself to apologize. Instead, she
decided the next best thing to show him she was sorry was by giving in and accepting their new arrangement. Maybe by letting
him keep his dream job, they could find a way to let their past mistakes go and learn to work together again. “Firefighter Reid
deserves to be here as much as I do. He’s an excellent search and rescue K9 handler, second only to my late husband.”
“I can’t argue with that,” Carter murmured from the seat he had taken next to her. “Hank was the best.”
Miller nodded his head in approval. “Good, now that we have that settled, I’ll have one of the other instructors show you to
the staff villas. You both have townhouses next to each other.”
Nora wanted to object, but she knew complaining one more time about her situation would only make the deputy
commander look at her as an ongoing problem. She needed him on her side if she was going to succeed as the urban fire
division head. She remained quiet and nodded her head. “Thank you, D.C.,” she said, using the nickname that Moody told her
that her boss preferred.
Having Carter there was going to make things harder for her, but she couldn’t give up on the dream they all shared together.
She owed it to her late husband’s memory to stay and make it work. Deep down, she knew it was what he would have
wanted.
3

A fter their discussion with the deputy commander, Carter had looked for an opportunity to talk with Nora alone. He still
didn’t understand why she left the way she did, and hoped that she might be able to shed some light on it. Nora had other plans,
though, avoiding him all weekend. First, by having to settle her new nanny into the townhome, then later, by giving tours to the
newly arriving recruits. Add to that, he was still having a difficult time getting used to the campus and the other instructors.
Carter really did feel like a rookie firefighter all over again. It was an uncomfortable sensation to feel like he was starting all
over as the “new guy.”
What made it even harder was that Nora didn’t seem to be struggling the same way. She’d already established a friendship
with several of the instructors, gained the favor of several of the new recruits, and taken control of compiling their new
curriculum. The better she was doing, the worse it made him feel about his own inadequacies.
What Carter wouldn’t give to have his old friend back, and he wasn’t just talking about Hank. Nora had always been a
good listener and someone he could confide in. That wasn’t the case anymore, though. He barely recognized the woman that
showed up at DCSR; she was cold and distant. So unlike the fun and vivacious woman he used to know before Hank died.
Where was the strong and determined woman that pushed through all the pain and grief to find a way to be a good mom to her
baby?
“What are we going to do about all of this, Fuego? I want to make this work, but Nora isn’t making it easy. Did we make
the right choice in coming here?” he asked his K9 partner, rubbing the top of his head. They were sitting on the couch in their
townhome after finishing their lunch. He hadn’t braved going into the cafeteria to eat with the other instructors, opting to pick
up food and take it to his own place. “The deputy commander said we needed to get the curriculum ready for the first day, but
how are we supposed to do that when Nora will barely talk to me?” Fuego barked softly, wagging his tail as he nuzzled deeper
into Carter’s side. “Are you saying we should just blow off the assignment and stay here?”
Carter knew that would be easier, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He prided himself on working hard and never
taking the easy way out of a tough situation. If he was going to keep his position at DCSRA and do the best job he could, he
needed to take charge of his own path. He could not let Nora push him into the background. “Nice as that sounds, boy, we need
to head over to the office. It’s important we don’t let our problems with Nora interfere with our job performance. We have to
prove we can stay professional, even when things aren’t going the way we want them to.”
Begrudgingly, he got up from the couch, slipped his backpack over his shoulder, and headed over to the administrative
building with Fuego by his side. When he walked into the urban fire office in the middle of the building, he was surprised to
find Nora absent. His surprise turned into utter shock, however, when he realized that she’d already managed to organize the
entire area—her way. It was just like back in the firehouse in Boston when she became the captain. She didn’t ask anyone what
they thought or what they wanted, she just bulldozed right over them and did it her way. It took both Hank and Carter to
convince her that she needed to listen to those under her if she wanted to be a good leader.
 “Why is she reverting to her old ways?” he asked himself in utter confusion.
It only took him a few moments to realize the answer. Nora wanted to make sure he knew his place. She was in charge and
wanted to assert her authority. Well, that wasn’t going to work for him. She might be his boss, technically, but D.C. made it
clear that they were supposed to work together. She needed to see that if they were going to be successful, she needed to let
him have some input on how things were going to be in their division.
The more he took in his surroundings, the more agitated he became. Carter picked up the bottom edge of the large flower
calendar on the wall and thumbed through it. It was littered with bright neon sticky notes plastered on the dates. There was also
a list of what they had and what they needed along with a mission statement. Next to all of that on the bookshelf, she’d even
gone as far as to color-code their office supplies and departmentalize their papers with rainbow folders. The final straw was
when he noticed that she’d moved the desks as far away from each other as she could manage, facing them against the walls
rather than toward each other.
“This isn’t going to do, Fuego. We need to fix this nightmare of overcompensation,” Carter grumbled with frustration.
He took the next twenty minutes to rearrange the furniture into a more productive configuration and added his own dates to
the calendar. He pulled out the folders he’d brought with him, and placed them on top of hers, hoping she got the point that he
wanted her to include his information for the first day. “That’s a good start,” he stated as he stepped back and looked at the
room, then nodded his head in approval. “This is much better than the way she had it.”
“Is that so?” he heard Nora ask from behind him.
Carter spun around to find Nora standing in the door frame, her hands on her hips as she glared at him through narrowed
slits of anger.
“How are we supposed to work together if we aren’t even facing each other?” he questioned defensively. “You may not
like it, Nora, but we need to be able to talk to each other to figure out how we’re going to teach these classes.”
“That’s what email is for,” she stated tartly as she came into the room and scanned the area. A look of disapproval settled
on her face as she added, “You’re free to send me any information you think is relevant, and I will go through it and determine
if I want to use it.”
“Oh really, because you’re somehow more of an expert when it comes to K9 handler tactics than me?” he challenged with a
snort. “You’ve never even been one, Nora. You’re a great fire captain, and when you don’t get in your own way, you can lead
with the best of them. You need to use the resources the academy is giving you, namely me.”
“Listen here, Reid, you might have been hot stuff back in Boston, but here at DCSR, you’re not special. As a matter of fact,
they consider you the rookie, which means you don’t get to come in here and tell me what to do. I spent all afternoon getting
this place ready, then I step away for just a few minutes to feed my baby, and you manage to undo all my hard work in a half-
hour. You’re going to put every single thing back the way it was,” she commanded, pointing around the room at everything he
changed.
“Oh no, I’m not. You don’t get to ignore me for the entire weekend and then bark orders at me on a whim. I’m the biggest
resource you have, and you need to—”
“What on earth is going on in here?” Moody chastised as he barged into their office and stepped between them. He shifted
his disapproving gaze back and forth, his disappointment deepening with each pass. “I could hear you all the way down the
hall. You both need to get it together and figure out a way to work this out. D.C. wants us to give you both a chance, but for the
first time ever, I think he might be wrong about what he saw in both of you. DCSR instructors don’t act like this.”
Carter could feel his cheeks burn red with embarrassment. This wasn’t like him. He always managed to stay calm and
collected, even in the middle of a blazing inferno. It frustrated him to no end that Nora was able to get him to behave so out of
character. He knew he shouldn’t have let her rile him up when he was fighting to prove his worth at his dream job, but despite
his best effort, she was able to get under his skin like no one else ever had. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Moody. I won’t let it
happen again.”
“We won’t let it happen again,” Nora added, giving Carter a dirty look over Moody’s shoulder.
“Right, we,” Carter echoed, wanting to add all sorts of sarcastic comebacks. He knew it would only make Moody dislike
him more, and that would be a mistake. He needed to make the other instructors his allies, not his enemies, if he was going to
survive at the academy.
“If you two promise not to kill each other, I’m going to head back to my own office now. I have plenty of my own work to
do before classes start tomorrow.” Moody exited the room and pulled the door shut behind him.
Nora glanced between the door and Carter apprehensively, before moving over to her desk. She slumped into her chair and
sighed. “I suppose you should show me what you have for tomorrow.”
“It’s on the top of your files,” he explained as he took a seat at his own desk. “All of these K9 handlers are going to come
in here with a basic knowledge, so we don’t need to go over any of that. What we need to focus on is teaching them the new,
cutting edge techniques. That folder has a bunch of them that Hank and I—” as soon as he said his best friend’s name, he
wanted to stuff it right back in his mouth.
Nora seemed interested in what he was saying, but as soon as Hank was mentioned, her eyes glazed over and the color
drained from her face. She pressed her lips together as her eyebrows furrowed together pensively. “Maybe we should call it a
day. I can take the files with me and look them over back at my place.”
“But I wanted to explain which ones I think we should focus on first.”
“I’m sure I can figure it out,” she told him as she stood from her chair. “If you need to tell me anything else, you can email
me. Otherwise, I’ll see you in the morning for orientation.” Nora didn’t wait for his response, instead, turning around, she
exited the room.
“Well, I totally managed to mess that up,” Carter told Fuego. “Why didn’t you nudge me and stop me?” he asked his K9
partner, knowing that Fuego had no way of realizing how Carter continued to ruin things with Nora. Every time he thought he
was making a little progress with her, he managed to set himself back by doing or saying the wrong thing. What was wrong
with him? Why couldn’t he seem to fix things with the one person who mattered most in his life? Silently, he sent up a prayer
and asked God to help him find a way to make it right.
4

O n her walk back to her townhome, Nora fumed over how Carter had behaved. She was trying to let it go because she knew
it was what was best for the team, but she hated how it made her feel like she was back in Boston. It wasn’t the first time one
of her male counterparts thought that he knew better than her. She had to work twice as hard to prove she was as capable as any
man. It was a constant problem as she rapidly moved up the ranks of her old fire department. When her previous department
chose to make her the poster girl for female empowerment and inclusivity, her male peers found ways to punish her for it. They
cut her out of conversations, made verbal jabs, and did not include her in firehouse activities. By the time she became a
captain, most of the men in the department hated her. She had pretended like it didn’t bother her, but her previous poor
treatment had left a wound that Carter had just poured salt into.
“He isn’t like the rest of them,” she gently reminded herself. They’d started out as rookies together, along with Hank, and
her success never caused an issue between the trio. On the contrary, they were happy for her and rooted her on to push for
more.
As she entered her residence, her nanny, Trina, had a relieved look on her face. She stopped pacing by the window and
rushed over to Nora. “Here you go, Mrs. Parker. H.J. is ready for his next feeding. It’ll be better if you do it.”
There was plenty of fresh breast milk in the fridge, but she knew the real reason that the older woman was ready to
relinquish the baby to her was that her son had horrific colic. She’d tried everything to get it to subside, from rocking him, to
changing what she ate, to driving aimlessly so the vibration of the car could soothe him. Nothing seemed to do the trick. She
gathered her son into her arms and moved over to the couch to start his feeding. “Thanks for your help today, Trina. I’ll see you
tomorrow. Make sure not to be late because it’s the first day of class.”
“Of course, Mrs. Parker. I’ll make sure to get here right on time,” Trina promised as she gathered up her coat and purse and
rushed out of the townhome like it was on fire.
This was Nora’s first time being a mother, but this couldn’t be normal, could it? Were all babies this fussy? She looked
down at her son’s red, scrunched-up face, and felt the tightening of his stomach. She took in a deep breath, preparing herself for
the bout of cries that were about to erupt. When his blood-curdling cry pierced the quiet night air, she could feel herself
internally flinch. “Lord, please help me. I don’t know what to do,” she prayed earnestly. “If I’m doing something wrong, please
show me.”
H.J. continued to cry for the next hour. It took twice as long as it should have to feed him, and by the end of it, they were
both exhausted. She wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to keep up the pace of working all day and attend to her son by
herself all night. Even with her paycheck from DCSR and her husband’s death benefits, she couldn’t afford a night nurse, which
meant if he continued to cry through the night like he had since birth, she wasn’t sure how she would get enough rest to do her
job successfully.
There was a knock at her front door, and when she opened it, she was surprised to see Kimiko standing on her porch. “Do
you need some help?” she asked as she glanced down at the baby in Nora’s arms. “I can take a shift rocking him if you like. I’m
not saying I’m an expert by any means, since my only experience is helping out with my nephews, but I’ll give it a shot.”
“Yes, please,” Nora jumped at her offer, depositing H.J. into Kimiko’s arms. “I’m dying for a shower. Do you mind
walking with him by the window? He seems to tolerate that the best.”
“No problem.” Kimiko came in and went over to the living room window. She started pacing back and forth, making sure
to point him toward the moonlight. “Like this?”
“Perfect,” Nora said with an appreciative smile. “I’ll be back as quick as I can.”
Kimiko returned her smile. “Take your time. I don’t have anywhere to be.”
Nora was grateful for the help and took full advantage of it. She even had enough time to shave her legs, which she hadn’t
done in nearly a month. As she emerged from her bedroom in a pair of freshly laundered gray sweatpants and a blue t-shirt,
Kimiko rushed over to her side.
She pushed her crying infant son at Nora, saying, “I have to get back and check on Ember. She doesn’t do well when I’m
gone too long.”
From her rushed excuse and frazzled look on her face, Nora could tell that the other woman was being polite. The reason
she couldn’t wait to get away was the same as Trina. H.J. was too much to handle and she wanted to escape. Nora didn’t blame
her, wishing that she could find her own break in all the chaos of her life.
“I totally understand, Kimiko. Thanks for stopping by, though, and helping me out. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, and I’ll see you tomorrow for work.”
It wasn’t lost on her that Kimiko didn’t offer to come back for a repeat performance of babysitting. As she shut the door
behind her and went into the baby’s room to change his diaper, Nora couldn’t help but wonder if the reason her son was so
fussy was because of all the emotional turmoil she went through during her pregnancy. Some of that had to pass through her to
the baby, didn’t it? Was his chronic crying her fault? Did she do this to him? The thought of her being responsible for all his
pain made her want to cry, and she collapsed into the recliner by the T.V. with a sigh. She picked up the remote to turn it on, but
couldn’t find the energy to pick out a show. She let the news channel from the previous day play in the background, too tired to
pay attention to it anyway. H.J. continued to cry incessantly, and after another half-hour, she wondered if he’d set the world
record for the longest round of crying by a baby.
There was another knock at the door, but Nora didn’t even have the energy to climb to her feet. “Come in,” she called out
instead.
This time, it was Clara Reynolds, one of the bomb detection instructors. She had her black hair pulled back in a ponytail,
and it swished back and forth as she came into the room with a small bag in her hands. She took a seat next to Nora on the
couch. “I just got back from town and thought I would bring you something that might help.” She opened the bag and pulled out
a small bottle that looked like medicine.
“If that’s one of those liquids that help with gas, I’ve tried them all, and they haven’t helped,” Nora told the other woman.
Clara shook her head. “This is organic Gripe Water. It helped my little sisters tremendously. My mom swears by it. You
mix it in with your breast milk or formula, and it relieves the colic symptoms.”
“Really? I had no idea,” Nora said as she reached over and took the small bottle. She turned it around and scanned the
information. “That’s so nice of you to get this for H.J.”
“I know you’re new around here, but we’re like family. We take care of our own, and now you’re one of us. Sometimes it
can get to be a little much with everyone always in your business, but the perks definitely outweigh the drawbacks.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Nora murmured as she stood up and set H.J. in his vibrating cradle and made her way into the
kitchen. It wasn’t more than five minutes after she pulled out a bottle of her breast milk and warmed it up in some warm water,
that H.J. started crying again. She rushed to put the Gripe Water into the bottle and shook it. When she got back to the living
room, Clara was holding the baby in her arms and quietly humming to him.
“You know, you’re really good at that,” Nora observed as she came up beside her.
“Adam wants to have a baby, but I keep telling him that I’m worried it will get in the way of me doing my job.” Her eyes
widened as she shook her head. “But I don’t mean that’s the case with you. I’m sure you’ll manage just fine.”
“That’s the plan,” Nora said as she reached out for the baby.
Clara gently pulled away and held out her hand. “Why don’t I feed him so you can have a little longer break?”
“Really?” When Clara nodded her head, Nora handed over the bottle to her. Clara took a seat in the recliner while Nora
plopped back on the couch. “Thank you.”
“It’s really no problem,” Clara said as she offered the bottle to the baby. “I’m sort of an expert when it comes to helping
with babies. My mother had my twin sisters when I was fourteen, so I was almost like a second mom to them while they were
growing up.”
“I was an only child, and my parents died in a car wreck when I was in college,” Nora admitted. “My late husband was the
only family I had until this little guy came along.” And Carter, but she didn’t want to talk about him. It was too complicated to
talk about with Clara. Even though she seemed like a good listener, as the newest member of the DCSR team, Nora needed
everyone’s respect more than their friendship.
H.J. stopped eating and turned his head away. His face was scrunched up and red, and Nora knew exactly what was
coming. The scream took Clara by surprise, as her eyes grew round and she glanced over at Nora. “Did I do something
wrong?”
“Nope, that’s just H.J. for you.” Nora stood up and came over to pick him up. “I’ll try to give him the rest of this and see if
it makes any difference.” She wasn’t holding her breath, though. She didn’t say that to Clara, grateful that at least her co-worker
cared enough to come by.
“I could stay longer if you want. Maybe if you put him in the football position and pat him on the back it’ll help,” Clara
suggested.
“I’ve tried that,” Nora stated with a sigh. “I honestly just think he’s going to be this way until he’s on solid foods.” The
thought of that was almost more than she could bear, but she had to prepare herself for the worst-case scenario. Besides, she’d
already lost her husband before she was even forty; having a crying baby for another couple of months couldn’t be worse than
that. “I appreciate you coming by, but I know classes start tomorrow. You should go and rest."
“Are you sure? You have a big day tomorrow, too,” Clara pointed out.
“I know, but there’s no point in both of us staying up all night.” Nora placed H.J. back in his cradle before walking Clara to
the door. “I really do appreciate you coming over. I’ll see you tomorrow at the trainees’ orientation.”
Clara glanced past Nora to where H.J. was crying in his cradle. From her concerned face, it was clear she didn’t feel
comfortable leaving. “Okay, but if you change your mind, Adam and I live at the other end of the villas. We’re the last
townhome on the south side.”
Once Nora was alone again, she decided to turn on the T.V. and pick up her son to give him the bottle again. He took it
easily, but after drinking about another third, he turned his head away again and started to cry.
Why was this happening to her? Was it some sort of punishment for not keeping H.J.’s father safe? Did she deserve to have
a miserable motherhood experience because it was her fault that Hank was dead? After all, if she hadn’t let him go into the fire
that day, he would still be alive. As she looked down at her son writhing in pain, she felt an intense bout of guilt flood her. She
felt as if she was at her wit’s end. How long could one baby cry?
There was another knock at the door, and Nora swung it open saying, “Clara, I told you I’ve got it covered.”
“I beg to differ,” Carter countered from her porch. “I could hear Hank Jr.—”
“H.J.,” she interrupted and corrected. “That’s what he goes by now.”
“I didn’t know you shortened his name,” he murmured as he looked down at the baby in her arms.
“It was easier,” she told him. At the time of her son’s birth, she wanted to give him a name to remind both of them of his
father, but every time she said Hank’s name out loud, it was like a dagger to her heart.
“Can I come in?” he requested. “Maybe I can help with the baby. After all, we have a long day tomorrow, and I need you at
your best.”
She bit back her reply that she would be at her best even if she didn’t get a lick of sleep tonight, but she didn’t have the
energy to fight with Carter again. Instead, she stepped back and gestured with her free hand for him to come inside.
“Have you changed him lately?” Carter asked as he looked the baby up and down.
“I did before Clara showed up; that’s not the problem. It’s his stomach. He has really bad colic.”
“Why don’t I take him and see if I can help?”
“Knock yourself out, but I guarantee you, it’s not that easy. I’ve tried everything, and nothing works. Sometimes I wonder if
he’s ever going to quit crying. From the look on Trina’s face when I got back home tonight, I think she’s going to quit. I don’t
know what I’m going to do then.” Nora could hear herself prattling on about her troubles. She wasn’t even sure what came over
her, except that she’d always been able to go to Carter with her problems. He’d been one of the two people she’d leaned on
since as far back as she could remember, and doing it now was like wearing her favorite, comfy sweater.
“It’s going to be okay,” he assured her as he gently removed H.J. from her arms. “We’ll figure this out.”
He pulled out his cell phone and clicked a button, causing the soft, white noise of a fan to fill the air. He rubbed the baby’s
back as he swayed with him. Slowly, H.J. calmed down and fell asleep against Carter’s chest. It wasn’t lost on her that he was
still a natural with her son, just like he had been during the first days after H.J.’s birth. For all his protesting that he was never
going to get married and settle down, Nora couldn’t help but notice Carter looked good with a baby in his arms.
“I think he remembers me,” Carter whispered as he slowly sat down in the recliner. He kept his phone on the arm of the
chair as he gently reclined until he was laying back, letting H.J. spread out across his muscular chest.
It was a welcome relief. For the first time since Nora got home, H.J. wasn’t crying. Did that mean Carter was right? Had
H.J. bonded with Carter while he was in the womb, as well as during those first few days after he was born? Did that mean she
took him from someone who cared about him because she was afraid of her own feelings? If so, what type of mother did that
make her? The thought was unsettling. She never imagined her son being connected to anyone but herself, but the evidence
seemed to prove Carter correct as H.J. contently cooed in his arms.
The Gripe Water. It might also be that the gift Clara brought her finally kicked in, she reminded herself, as she took a seat
on the couch. Either way, Nora was grateful that H.J. had finally stopped crying. She let her body sag against the plush cushions
as a yawn came tumbling out of her mouth. If she didn’t watch out, she’d be passed out any second from now. She wanted to
insist Carter leave before that happened, but it was far too tempting to let him stay since he seemed to have the magic touch
when it came to H.J.
“Why don’t you lie down for a while? I’ve got things covered with the baby,” Carter gently coaxed her.
She knew she shouldn’t lean on him like this; that after how mixed up she let everything get, the last thing she should be
doing was giving him mixed signals. Her protest never even made it past her lips as her eyelids fluttered rapidly. She tried to
keep them open, but the heaviness of them overpowered her will. As she drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t help but remember
all the good times she had with Carter.
5

C arter had never intended to fall asleep in the recliner with the baby on his chest. Before he knew it, however, he woke up
and it was five-thirty in the morning. He was just grateful that H.J.’s nanny showed up at six ready to take over.
He quietly handed the infant over to the older woman and gave strict instructions to wake Nora a half-hour after he left,
knowing it would give her enough time to get ready before orientation. Additionally, she wouldn’t have to wake up and feel
awkward about the fact he spent the night at her home.
After heading back to his own place to shower and get dressed for the day, he picked up Fuego from the kennel before
heading to the auditorium. Most of the staff was already there, but the trainees hadn’t filed in yet.
“I hear you had a sleepover last night. That’s not going to be a problem, is it?” Bilmont asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“We already have the Reynolds and the Moodys coupled up and living around here, we don’t need another addition.”
“Married, Bilmont, we’re married,” Adam Reynolds corrected the other K9 handler as he joined them. “And you don’t
have to stay single forever, you know. There are plenty of women out there if you gave them half a chance.”
Bilmont shook his head venomously. “I’m all good. I don’t need badge bunnies or fireflies like the rest of you.”
“Hey now, my wife is a down-to-earth cowgirl. She spends her time with horses more than people. Don’t lump her with the
type of women who hang out at the bar over in Woody,” Moody chastised as he came over.
“What about you?” Bilmont challenged.
“What about me?” Moody asked in confusion.
“You’re a person, and she hangs out with you. Heck, she decided to marry you—twice,” Bilmont stated in shock.
“What can I say; I’m the exception to the rule,” Moody stated with pride. “I even got her to move here to be with me, and
that was a tall order.”
“Oh yeah, you think you’re hot stuff because you got your ex-wife to take you back and move here? I got my best friend to
move me out of the friend zone, and now we’re engaged. Did I mention she’s a state senator?” Dixon challenged, clearly
wanting to one-up the other K9 handler.
Carter was surprised at how open they were being around him. It was the first time they were actually treating him like part
of the team, rather than an outsider. He didn’t ruin it, though, by speaking up. He quietly sat back and let them bicker as he
waited for the rest of the instructors to show up.
Nora was one of the last to arrive. She was still adjusting her navy-blue button-up shirt as she came to a rest in her spot
next to him. Her eyes met his as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. “I can’t believe H.J. slept through the night like that. He’s
never done that since he was born. When I woke up, and Trina was there, I was confused as to what happened until she
explained the situation.”
“What situation?” Carter stated with a shrug. “It was just one friend helping out another.”
“It was more than that and you know it. I was about to unravel, and you pulled me back from the edge,” she whispered.
“Thank you for that.”
“We’re partners, remember?” he said, as he reached out and plucked a piece of lint off of her shoulder. His hand hovered
there for a just a second. He was about to tell her how he would always have her back, but the doors opened and the trainees
flooded the room.
From that moment on, there wasn’t time for anything other than doing their job. The commander of the academy greeted
everyone, saying, “Welcome, trainees, to the elite Disaster City Search and Rescue Academy, better known as DCSRA.” He
went over the layout of the facility, the rules and guidelines, and the expectations. “Because we make sure you have everything
you need while you’re here, make no mistake, there is no excuse to underperform. Each of you needs to meet our high standards
in order to graduate. This class may only be a month long, but it will be the most difficult time of your life. It will challenge
what you think you know about search and rescue, put you in situations you’ve never considered, and test your limits.”
D.C. was next to speak. He explained how he was directly in charge of the training and would be making sure that they
were being taught the top techniques and skills of their trade. He gestured behind him to Carter and the rest of the instructors.
“We have the most qualified instructors in all of the world. They will make sure that when you leave this academy, you can
truly call yourselves the best of the best.”
Miller spent the next twenty minutes putting the fear into them by explaining how they would be under constant scrutiny.
“Every victory and every failure will be accounted for and weighed, determining whether or not you should stay to finish out
your training. We have a sixty percent loss rate. Half are from those that wash out and the other from those that drop out. Don’t
let yourself be in either category,” he warned the group. He finished by going over the staff and the schedule. After he was
finished, the classes were released to their areas of focus.
Nora and Carter met their group at their designated classroom in the training center. As they both reached the front of the
room, they looked at each other with puzzled looks. Even after all their planning, they didn’t decide the most basic of things.
Who was going to speak first?
They stared at each other for several seconds, both of them shifting their stance until there were a couple of polite coughs
from the trainees, reminding them that they weren’t alone. Carter gestured to Nora to take the center spot, knowing that as the
head of the division, it was her right. He stood behind her at attention in his freshly pressed DCSRA blue cargo uniform and
polished boots with Fuego alertly sitting by his side.
“Good morning, trainees,” she greeted. “Welcome to your first day at the most elite and prestigious search and rescue
academy in the world. You get the honor of being the first class to go through the urban fire training program. I’ve read all of
your files, so I know all of you come from large cities, filled with tightly packed, massive buildings. You’ve seen a lot of fires
and you know they spread fast, so you’re wondering what someone like me can teach you. Let me be clear, I was a fire captain
at one of the most densely populated areas in all of the U.S. Add to that, Boston was founded nearly four hundred years ago
before modern amenities. The streets and historical buildings weren’t built for modern firefighting, meaning our department
had to learn to adapt and overcome obstacles most cities never dreamed of. That’s what makes me, and my fellow instructor,
Firefighter Carter Reid, experts in urban firefighting. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are at firefighting or search and
rescue, how many awards you’ve won, or how many buildings and lives you’ve saved. Remember, we are the experts in this
field. Between us, Firefighter Reid and I have earned three dozen accommodations, two Medal of Valor awards, and have both
been inducted into the Firefighter Hall of Fame. Our firehouse helped put out over four five-alarm fires last year alone.”
Nora stepped back and gestured for Carter to take the next part. At least he knew what he was going to say. He’d watched a
couple of the videos from the DCSRA archive, and gleaned the best parts of several of the welcome speeches, adding his own
spin on them. “Here, all that matters is what we tell you. DCSRA is like a family, and like any good family, you have to have
house rules. Since this is our house, that means it’s our rules. You will do what we say when we say it without interjecting your
own opinion for the duration of your training. We don’t want to hear about your training in New York, or how you do it in
Seattle. We know all the best techniques because we literally wrote the manual on it.” Carter picked up a book from the desk
and waved it in the air. “We have all the answers, we are the beginning and the end, the absolute authority on all things to do
with urban fire. Just think of us as your all-knowing Mother and Father.”
Nora’s head jerked to the side as she stared at him with shock. He didn’t realize when he prepared the speech it would
strike so close to home, especially after he spent the night at her house and helped with her son last night. Even though he could
tell from all the years of knowing her that she was uncomfortable with the comparison, she didn’t contradict him. Instead, she
stepped forward and started going over their expectations and requirements for the class.
The trainees pulled out their notepads and pens and furiously took down notes. They finished their time by giving the
students a pop quiz. As they worked on the assignment, Nora was going over the next day’s lesson plan. Carter couldn’t help
but notice how pretty she looked in her new uniform. She didn’t fuss over herself the way a lot of women did, opting for
minimal makeup and a simple braid down her back. She didn’t need it, since she was naturally stunning. It was one of the
things he liked most about her. As she concentrated, she bit the top of her pen, a habit that he’d come to adore over the years. At
the moment, the habit drew his attention to her pretty, pink lips, and he wondered what it would be like to kiss them. When she
glanced up and saw him staring at her, he immediately felt his cheeks turn red as he averted his eyes. He reminded himself that
he shouldn’t think about her like that. It was a betrayal of his best friend. Part of him wondered if she had noticed that he’d
developed romantic feelings for her and that’s why she took off on him. He needed to stop it before he caused her to bolt again.
By the time lunch rolled around, Carter was ready for a break. They dismissed the class, and he turned to face Nora. “You
want to go grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria?” he suggested.
She shook her head. “I need to go check on the baby. I’ll be back in plenty of time for the afternoon session, though.”
Carter tried to hide his disappointment, knowing that H.J. came first. “No problem. I’ll see you in an hour.” As he watched
her walk away, he couldn’t help but notice that the uniform looked equally enticing from the back. Stop it , he chastised
himself. What is wrong with me? She’s strictly off-limits. Even though he was doing his best to convince himself it was best, it
was harder than he could have ever imagined keeping Nora in the friend zone.
6

O n her walk back to her townhome, Nora couldn’t help but think about her past with Carter. He’d been there for her in a
way no one else ever had, not even Hank. During her entire pregnancy, he was as steady as a rock, never wavering. He went to
all her doctor’s appointments with her, and even drove her to the hospital when she went into early labor. He made sure she
did all the things she needed to make it to full-term, including picking up her prescriptions and helping out around her house.
She honestly didn’t know if H.J. would have been born healthy if it hadn’t been for Carter.
Even in the birthing room, he held her hand and encouraged her the entire time, despite how everything seemed to go
wrong.
“What do you mean the epidural didn’t get turned on?” Nora screamed at the nurse as she gripped the sides of the
hospital sheet in her fists. “You mean I’ve been having full labor without any pain meds?”
The blonde twenty-something-year-old woman quickly nodded her head as she slowly backed away, her eyes rounded
with terror. “I don’t know how it happened. I swear, after I gave you the first dose, I turned the pump on.”
“Did you make sure it was plugged in?” the older, more experienced labor and delivery nurse asked the younger one as
she came into the room.
The blonde pressed her lips together as she bent down between the bed and the wall behind it. There was a loud gasp
that confirmed why Nora had been in so much anguish. “I told you I knew the difference between pressure and pain,” she
grumbled out in bitterness as another contraction tightened through her body like little shards of glass.
The older woman came over and patted Nora’s hand. “What can I say, Mrs. Parker, this is a teaching hospital, after all.
Susan will learn a lesson from this and get it right the next time.”
Nora yanked her hand away and glared at the older woman. “I don’t care how this helps Susan. I just want this to be
over,” she whined as she forced herself to push for what felt like the hundredth time.
“It’s going to be okay, Nora. You’re the strongest, and the bravest, woman I know. If anyone can go through childbirth
without pain meds, it’s you,” Carter encouraged her, reaching out and taking her hand in his.
As the pain intensified, she cried out and squeezed Carter’s hand so tight, she thought she might actually break it.
“Okay, the doctor is here. It’s just a few more minutes,” the older nurse said as she looked between Nora’s legs. “I see
the head. You’re only going to have a couple more pushes before you get to meet your new son.”
Carter started to move down toward her lower half, but Nora reached out and yanked him back up beside her. “Oh no,
you don’t. You’re not going anywhere near there,” she commanded. “As your boss, I order you to stay chest level until all of
this is over.”
He let out a small chuckle and nodded. “You’re in charge, like always.”
Another wave of pain hit, and she felt the intense need to push. It took all her strength to do it, but she managed to do it
two more times. The sudden cry of a baby pierced the room and she tried to look over her stomach to see her son. “Where is
he? Can I hold him?”
“We’re going to have to take him over to the incubator,” the nurse informed her.
“What’s wrong? Is he hurt?” Nora asked in a panic, unable to wrap her head around the fact that she might lose her
only connection to her husband. “You need to tell me what’s going on.”
“Calm down, Nora,” her doctor directed her. “He’s going to be okay. He had the umbilical cord wrapped around his
neck, but we were able to remove it and get him breathing again.”
“Again? What do you mean again? He wasn’t breathing?” she shrieked out in disbelief. “I want my baby. Give me my
baby, right now!”
“We can’t do that, Nora. Not until he stabilizes.”
Nora started to cry, big sobbing buckets full. This was supposed to be a happy day, something to lessen the gut-
wrenching pain from the last eight months. Just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did. How was she
supposed to go on if her baby didn’t make it?
“It’s going to be okay, Nora. God’s got this,” Carter told her as he sat down on the bed next to her and gathered her
into his arms. “Your baby is going to be fine. He’s part Hank, remember?”
“That’s true. He was built like a tank. Nothing ever got in his way,” Nora mumbled against Carter’s chest. Nothing but
a floor collapsing under him, she thought bitterly to herself. Things were always good until they weren’t.
“See, Hank Jr. is going to make it through this, I just know it,” Carter promised her.
“Hank Jr.? I told you I wasn’t sure about that.” Nora leaned back and looked at him with indecision in her eyes. “I was
never big on naming kids after someone. Too much to live up to.”
“I think having your son live up to Hank’s memory would be a great thing,” Carter countered.
“Here we go, Mama, your baby is all better now.” The older nurse brought the baby over to her and placed him on her
chest. “This little guy is a fighter.”
“Just like his daddy,” Nora murmured as she gently rubbed her son’s back. “I think you’re right, Carter. Hank Jr. is the
perfect name.”
Even though it had been a bittersweet day not having Hank there for their son’s birth, Carter had done everything in his
power to make up for that. She knew, deep down, he still blamed himself that he hadn’t been quick enough to pull Hank off of
the collapsing floor. She’d told him a hundred times that it wasn’t his fault, but it didn’t matter. Carter even told her one time
that he wished it had been him instead of Hank. She’d reprimanded him, telling him that Hank would’ve been ashamed to hear
him think so little of his own life like that.
That’s why it was so hard to turn him down earlier when he wanted her to go eat with him. When she saw Carter, she
remembered all the good times they had through the years, and all he did for her after Hank’s death. She just couldn’t bring
herself to socialize with him, though, after what happened in the nursery. It wasn’t just that Carter almost kissed her. It was the
fact that she would have let him. What type of person would want to kiss her dead husband’s best friend less than a year after
his death? Not anyone she wanted to be, which is why she had to keep herself emotionally cut off from Carter. It was the only
way she could do right by Hank’s memory.
Nora entered her home and found Trina feeding the baby on the couch. “I’m so glad your friend brought this miracle water
by,” she said with a nod toward the bottle. “H.J. has been excellent all morning. No fussing.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Do you mind if I take him for a while before I have to get back to work?” Nora asked as she reached
out for the baby.
Trina slapped her hand away and pointed to the kitchen table. “You need to eat first. You’re far too skinny.”
Nora couldn’t argue with that. She tended to skip eating when she was under stress, and she’d lived in a perpetual state of
stress ever since Hank passed away. She made her way over to the table and took a seat. The sandwich and salad weren’t
gourmet by any standards, but they did the job of nourishing her. She washed her hands in the kitchen sink after cleaning her
dish, then retrieved H.J. She curled up in the recliner and placed her son on her chest, just like Carter had done the night
before. “This is exactly what I needed,” she murmured as her eyelids fluttered for several seconds before settling down against
her cheeks.
The sudden cry of H.J. woke Nora from her nap. She jerked awake, barely holding onto the baby in the process. What was
going on? Where was she? Wasn’t she supposed to be at work? She glanced down at her son and then out the window. She
came home for lunch, then decided to hold the baby for a while. “I fell asleep, that’s what happened,” she yelled at herself,
only making H.J. more upset in the process.
“Miss Nora, it’s okay,” Trina told her as she came over and took the baby from her. “Mr. Carter said I should just let you
sleep.”
“What are you talking about? How did you talk to Carter?”
“He called looking for you. I answered your phone and told him you were napping. He said not to wake you up, and he
could take care of the class for you,” Trina said with a warm smile. “He seems like such a nice fellow.”
“That’s what he wants you to think,” Nora snapped out in anger as she rubbed her eyes and adjusted her clothes before
heading toward the door.
“I could tell he cares about you, Miss Nora. It’s not good for a woman to raise a child on her own,” the older woman
advised her.
“I’m not raising him alone, Trina. That’s why I hired you,” she quickly corrected with her hand on the doorknob, wanting to
point out that she wouldn’t be alone if her husband hadn’t been killed in the line of duty. It was still too painful to use to make a
point, however, so she refrained. From the lack of reply, she could tell her son’s nanny was upset, and that was the last thing
she wanted. Not only could she not afford to lose her, but she also liked her as a person. She turned around and faced her. “I’m
sorry, Trina. I shouldn’t have gotten mad like that. Please forgive me.”
“Of course, Miss Nora. I know you have a lot on your plate,” the other woman said with a nod. “Go, I’ve got H.J. for you.”
“Thank you,” she said over her shoulder as she hurried out the door. As she sprinted toward the training center, her anger
intensified with every passing second. By the time she reached their classroom, she was ready to explode. The problem was,
no one was there. She glanced around and noticed a note on the desk. She marched over and picked it up.

Nora,

Called the house,

and H.J.’s nanny told me you were sleeping.
Figured you needed it,
so I decided to test the students
at the training ground on my own.
I’ll let you know how they do.

Carter

He had some nerve putting her class through their first evaluation without her. She thought she had made it crystal clear who
was in charge, but he didn’t seem to be getting it. Yes, she was tired. Moving halfway across the country with an infant would
do that to anyone, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do her job. He needed to treat her with the same respect he would any other
boss, rather than with kid gloves because of Hank.
Nora arrived at the training grounds ready to chew Carter up and down. When she got there, he was right in the middle of
showing them how to fight fires that are spreading rapidly between tight structures. He was effortlessly swishing the hose back
and forth, but in a deliberate manner, starting from the bottom and working his way up and then back down again. The trainees,
along with their K9 partners, were standing behind him watching. Even Nora had to admit to herself his firefighting skills had
only gotten better since the last time she saw him in action over six months ago.
“Oh great, Nora, you’re here,” he said as he caught her out of the corner of his eye as she approached him. He reached over
and handed her the hose. The gesture was so unexpected, she almost dropped it. A couple of the trainees snickered, causing her
cheeks to tinge pink with embarrassment. She hadn’t made a rookie mistake like that in over a decade.
To prove she knew what she was doing, she turned the volume on the water to double what Carter was handling. She
changed her stance, pushing her feet hard against the ground as she squared her shoulders and held her arms tightly against her
middle.
“As you put out the fire, I’m going to move into the structure with Fuego and show them how to search an active fire,”
Carter yelled over the noise of the spraying water.
She nodded her head, enjoying the feel of having a hose in her hands again. She hadn’t been allowed to use one since she
had to disclose she was pregnant back in Boston, and it was like greeting an old friend.
Nora and Carter worked together in tandem. She would put out enough of the fire to make it safe for him to move forward,
and he would give Fuego the command to search in a specific area. They continued their pattern until the entire area was
cleared and had marked four places where dummies were located.
“And that ladies and gentlemen, is how it is done,” Nora declared as she turned off the hose and dropped it on the ground
like a microphone.
Everyone cheered and clapped around them, causing Nora to laugh as Carter joined in. It reminded her of how it felt back
in the days of their academy stint. She smiled over at Carter, who returned it with a firm pat on the back. “Just like old times.”
She was about to reply when both their phones buzzed with an alarm. They pulled them out and looked down at the screens.
A text popped up from DCSR command.

Three-alarm fire at Wilmont dairy farm.

Report in twenty minutes to central parking lot
 with K9 partners and full gear.
Will be assisting local volunteer fire department
with containment and search and rescue.
This is all hands-on deck.
Bring your trainees with you.

“Looks like you guys are going to get to try your hand at the real thing instead of a simulation. There is a live fire nearby, and
we’re going there to help out,” Carter informed their class.
“I’m forwarding the details to all of your phones,” Nora told the trainees. “Head back to the dorms and gather your
supplies.”
Everyone took off for the exit, rushing toward the main campus.
“Does Trina know you might be late tonight?” Carter asked as they headed to their classroom to gather their gear. “You
should probably let her know.”
“That’s a good point; I haven’t had to go out on a call since having H.J.” She pulled out her phone and typed a quick
message to the nanny, explaining the situation. Once she got confirmation back, she continued packing up her gear.
They arrived just as the arson and wildfire teams were loading into DCSR vehicles. “You two can go in there with your
class,” Moody pointed to the last truck before hopping into the vehicle with his team.
Carter ushered their class onto the remaining truck, then reached out to Nora to help her on. She arched her eyebrow and
tilted her head with amusement. “You don’t actually think I need your help to climb in, do you?” She pushed past his hand and
jumped onto one of the benches.
They went over the rules and expectations they had for the active scene, explaining that even though all of the trainees had
experience with fires, they were representing DCSR now. “You need to make sure to handle yourselves accordingly,” Carter
ordered.
When they pulled up to the dairy, it was complete chaos. The local volunteer firefighters hadn’t secured the scene properly,
and there were cows running around everywhere. It was all Nora could do to jump out of the way of the frightened animals as
she headed over to the mobile command.
“Where do you want us?” she asked D.C., who was working with the volunteer fire chief.
“And who is this pretty little thing, coming in here and acting like she owns the place,” the gray-haired fire chief asked as
he eyed her up and down. “Is she even strong enough to handle the hoses the way she needs to?”
“I’m the head instructor for the urban fire division for DCSRA, and I can manage just fine,” she replied tartly, hating that
she was having to prove herself all over again. Back in Boston, everyone knew not to mess with her. Texas was a whole other
place, filled with good ol’ boys who still held to the idea that women weren’t capable of doing certain jobs.
D.C. nodded with approval as a smirk formed on his face. “You can take your team and secure the milk silos on the west
side of the property, here.” He tapped a section of the farm on the map. “They are packed close together, so it’s right in your
wheelhouse of expertise.”
Nora guided the class to their designated location and took half the trainees to work at putting out the fires while the other
half were led by Carter and Fuego to search for farm workers and animals. It was a long and grueling process, and by the time
they were finished two hours later, they were covered in soot. They nearly fell over on their feet from exhaustion when they
met up with the rest of the DCSR team back at the vehicles.
Nora sagged against the truck as Carter removed his helmet and brushed his hair back with his hand. He leaned against the
side of one of the trucks and took a swig from his water bottle before leaning down to give a cup full to Fuego. “I haven’t been
in a fire like that since the night Hank…” Carter didn’t finish the sentence. He looked over at her, and from the regret in his
eyes, she knew he was about to say the fire that claimed Hank’s life.
His words stirred something in her she didn’t expect. Something about the fire bothered her. “I need to check with Kimiko
about something.” She pushed off the truck and headed over to the front vehicle where the arson investigator was getting her
own drink of water.
“Hey, Nora, how was your first fire with DCSR?”
“My class did well, and we were able to contain it quicker than I anticipated,” she told the other instructor. “The only thing
that bothered me about the fire is the burn patterns I saw. I could tell there were multiple origin spots, and they spread out like
a fan. Do you think there’s a chance this could be arson?”
Kimiko’s brows furrowed together as she glanced around the burned-out area. “Now that you mention it, when I was
helping Moody oversee the east side of the fire, I noticed the same thing. I didn’t have time to think about it at the time. If this
fire was from natural causes, such as a lightning strike, there would have only been one point of origin. I saw at least three on
our side.”
“So, there is a chance it’s arson?” Nora confirmed, the unease she felt from earlier escalating into a deeper concern.
“I need to go back over the scene, but yeah, there might be evidence to support that possibility.”
 Nora returned to Carter, who was looking at her with a puzzled look on his face. “What is it?”
“I just confirmed with Kimiko that this might be arson.”
“So, it was probably some kids messing around with firecrackers in a nearby field,” Carter stated with a shrug.
“I don’t think so,” she murmured as she continued to think about what she saw. “Didn’t you see the burn patterns? They
were fans, just like the ones at the scene when Hank—” she couldn’t finish the sentence, and she didn’t have to.
Carter knew exactly what she meant. He reached out and touched the side of her arm as he whispered, “I know that night
haunts us both, but that doesn’t mean this has anything to do with that.”
Her phone buzzed, causing her to jump slightly. She pulled it out and looked down at the screen. There was a text from a
blocked number.

Do you like my present?

She hated when she got random texts from a stranger. She quickly replied.

Sorry. Wrong number.

Three bubbles appeared and then another message.

No, I know exactly who you are Fire Captain Parker.

I bet you look pretty hot in your new DCSR uniform.

Nora’s brows came together in confusion. Obviously, whoever was texting her knew her from back in Boston, but also knew
she’d taken the job with DCSR. The problem was, she hadn’t told anyone but her previous fire chief when she asked for his
recommendation. There was no way he would talk to her in such a flirtatious way. His wife would have his head for it. There
was the possibility he told someone else from her old firehouse. She decided it would be best to be direct.

Who is this?

The bubbles appeared for a second time, followed by a message that made her blood run cold.

You didn’t think you could get rid of me

that easily, did you?
We both know you love my work.

Nora’s hand began to shake as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. A lump formed in the back of her throat, and she could
feel herself sweating from the stress. It was all she could do not to lose it right in front of her entire class.
“What is it, Nora?” Carter asked with concern.
She couldn’t even push the words past the lump, instead she handed over her phone so he could see the messages. Fuego
must have noticed the tension in her because he came over and pressed his muzzle against her side. Absent-mindedly, she
rubbed his head.
“It can’t be,” he gasped out in shock.
“It is. I don’t know how he found me, but he did,” Nora cried out in despair. “Why can’t he just leave me alone? Hasn’t he
put me through enough already?”
“What’s going on?” D.C. asked as he came over to them. “Tell me you two aren’t fighting again.”
Carter shook his head as he handed over the phone. “It’s worse than that.”
“I don’t get it. Who sent those texts?” D.C. questioned with confusion.
“The arsonist from Boston who’s responsible for setting the fire that killed my husband,” Nora told her boss.
“He became obsessed with setting fires in certain areas during her shift just so Nora would have to put them out,” Carter
further explained. “He would send her obsessive texts, playing cat and mouse. His very last fire was the one that killed Hank.
We never caught the guy, and we thought that he went into hiding due to the murder charge he was facing.”
“That’s awful what happened to you, Parker, but how do you know it’s the same guy?” D.C. asked with skepticism.
“Because he used his calling card,” she explained, speaking up for the first time. “He would use an ignition pattern that
spread out like a fan. The same pattern is here at the dairy farm in at least two places.” She looked over at Carter and bit her
lip, debating if she should tell him the whole truth. It would make it even worse for him if he knew what she did.
 “What is it, Nora? What aren’t you telling us?”
Why had she looked up and made eye contact? She’d forgotten how well he knew her. Letting out a heavy sigh, she finally
divulged the secret she’d been carrying. “The arsonist didn’t stop texting me after Hank died. He continued for months, teasing
me about what he did, and how he wasn’t done until he got what he wanted from me. One of his final texts told me that he
purposely set a trap for Hank, wanting to get him out of the way so we could be together.” Carter let out a low growl of anger
as he crossed his arms over his chest and gritted his teeth. He didn’t say a word, but from the menacing look in his eyes, she
was certain if the arsonist was in front of Carter right now, he would have strangled him with his bare hands. “It was a sick
game to him, and when I finally couldn’t take it anymore, I left Boston to try to get away from him.” And you. Don’t forget how
I nearly let you kiss me, she chastised herself, though she wasn’t about to blurt that out. It was better if Carter thought it was
just about the arsonist.
“It seems he’s tracked you down somehow,” D.C. said with worry in his eyes. “And he’s back to his old tricks to get your
attention. We’re going to have to have a meeting about this tomorrow with the rest of the DCSRA staff. We need to be on alert
and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity near the campus. In the meantime, I want you to take your class back, along with
the others, and debrief them before giving them tomorrow morning off.”
“Yes, D.C.,” both Nora and Carter said at the same time.
Once they were alone again, Carter turned to face Nora. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth about the arsonist?”
“Because I figured you already had enough guilt to carry. I didn’t want to give you one more thing to make it worse,” she
told him with a sympathetic smile. “I had to live with it, but you didn’t. I wanted to spare you that.” It had been difficult for
Nora to stop blaming herself for what happened to Hank. She knew deep down it wasn’t her fault, but if the arsonist hadn’t
become obsessed with her, Hank would still be alive today.
“Well, there’s no more of that,” Carter gently rebuked her.
“No more what?” she asked in confusion.
“Keeping things from me. We’ve been friends for far too long for you to keep me in the dark like that.”
“I just don’t think it’s fair that my problems become your problems. You deserve to have a complication free life.”
“There’s no such thing, and for the record, I love the complications you bring to my life.” He reached out and touched the
side of her face, letting his thumb rub along the cheekbone. The old feelings started to stir in the pit of her stomach, and she
could feel herself wanting to lean into his sturdy frame.
“Are we heading back already?” one of their trainees called out from the back of the truck. “I’m starving.”
Nora jerked back and mumbled, “We really should be getting back to campus.” She didn’t wait for Carter’s response or
dare look into his eyes. Instead, she jumped up and joined the team that was sitting in the back of the truck. Silently, she sent up
a prayer on the ride home asking God to show her what to do next.
7

E veryone in the fire division was on pins and needles, waiting and worrying when and where the arsonist was going to
strike again. Even though the rest of the week went without any incident, Carter could tell Nora was afraid of what he might do
next to get her attention. To keep her mind off of the situation, he kept her busy working with their class, showing them some
new techniques for handling fire suppression while active searches were happening.
“That’s it, good job,” Nora praised from one side of the training grounds. “You almost have the fire contained.”
“When you go in there, you need to be mindful of your surroundings. Don’t lose sight of everything else because you’re too
hyper-focused on the fire,” Carter warned from his end of the area where he was overseeing the search and rescue portion of
the training with Fuego by his side. “Remember, there’s no room for mistakes when fire is involved.”
The trainees continued to push themselves, implementing the new techniques as best they could. Just when Carter thought
they were getting the hang of it, he noticed a piece of debris dangerously hanging above one of his youngest handlers. “Watch
out,” he called out as he charged into the area with Fuego by his side. He shoved the kid out of the way just as the burned piece
of wood came tumbling down. Carter tried to dodge it at the last minute, but his shoulder got nicked by the edge. He cried out,
“Ouch,” as he landed on the ground with a hard thud.
“Everyone, stop training, right now,” he heard Nora call out from the other end of the area. “We have a K9 handler down.”
Carter was trying to sit up when Nora reached his side. She bent down beside him, a terrified look on her face. “Are you
all right?”
“I’m fine,” he grunted as he climbed to his feet. The moment he did, however, a sharp jab of pain radiated down his arm.
He grimaced and corrected, “Okay, maybe not that fine.”
“Come on, we need to get you over to the medical clinic,” she informed him, as she placed his uninjured arm over her
shoulders and guided him toward the exit.
“We’re going to call it for the rest of the morning. Once I have a status update on Instructor Reid, I’ll text everyone, and let
you know if we are continuing with training this afternoon.”
“I really don’t think it’s that bad,” he told her as he held his arm close to his chest. “The piece of debris barely hit me.”
“We both know that sometimes the injuries we think are nothing turn out to be the worst ones. I can’t afford to lose you, so
pardon me if I want to make sure you’re safe to work again,” she gently chastised. “And before you go and argue with me, this
isn’t a request. It’s an order as your division head. I want a clean bill of health before I’m letting you back on the training
grounds.”
“What about the classroom?” he countered.
“This isn’t a negotiation,” she warned. “And the fact you’re trying to get me to engage in one makes me wonder if you know
the injury is worse than you’re letting on.”
“Nope, just hedging my bets,” he teased with a chuckle.
 They arrived at the medical clinic and went inside. Dr. Frazer was inside sitting behind the front desk and came right over
when he saw them. “What’s going on?”
“Instructor Reid was hit by a piece of debris during a training exercise. We need to make sure it’s nothing serious,” Nora
explained.
“It isn’t,” Carter protested. “I’m fine.”
“You keep saying that, but I notice you haven’t been moving you’re left arm at all.”
“Okay, you two, let me be the judge of how bad it is,” the doctor interrupted. “I’d heard that the two of you get into it often,
but I’ve never seen it in person, myself.”
“It’s his fault,” Nora said at the same time Carter said, “It’s her fault.”
“You just proved my point for me,” the doctor said with a chuckle. He gestured for them to follow him through a set of
double doors, then down a hallway to another door. “Why don’t you go inside, Instructor Reid. I need to get a few things, and
then I’ll be in to examine you.”
“You don’t really think we argue that much, do you?” Nora asked with concern as Carter took a seat on the examining table.
“I don’t want that to be what we’re known for.”
“Well, I think it was like that in the beginning, but I feel like we’ve found a nice groove during this last half of the first
week.”
“I agree,” Nora said with a decisive nod as she took a seat in the chair next to him. “People just want something to talk
about, and given our past history, we’re an easy target.”
A few minutes later, the doctor returned and gave Carter a full examination. “The good news is, there isn’t anything you
need to be worried about. The bad news is that you’re going to be sore for about a week. The debris hit you hard enough to
cause a deep bruise along with a small laceration. I’m putting in stitches that will dissolve, so you won’t need to come back
unless the pain gets worse.”
“Can I work?” Carter asked with concern, not wanting to let Nora or their class down.
He nodded. “Yes, as long as you take it easy and don’t over-exert yourself. And I do mean it, Instructor Reid. I know how
you K9 handlers can be, and you aren’t allowed to ignore the pain and push yourself. You’ll only end up hurting yourself
further.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Carter said with relief. “I’ll do everything you tell me.”
“I wish he would say that to me,” Nora grumbled from her seat. “I feel like getting him to agree to almost anything is like
pulling teeth.”
“From what I can see, it goes both ways, Instructor Parker. Remember, it always takes two to tango,” the doctor gently
rebuked her.
After they exited the medical clinic, Carter turned to Nora. “So, now that I got a clean bill of health, you want to go grab a
bite to eat in the cafeteria?”
“You did not get a clean bill of health,” Nora challenged. “He literally just told you to take it easy. The last thing you need
is to have everyone from the class come up to you and bombard you with questions.”
“Okay, so then what do you suggest?”
“Sneak in the back of the cafeteria and get us some food to go. Bring it back to my place. I have to check on the baby,
anyway.”
“That sounds like an excellent plan. I had no idea how sneaky you were, Instructor Parker,” he teased with a wink.
“Just remember, I can be anywhere, any time,” she stated with a mischievous grin.
“Noted.” He reached out and brushed a piece of her hair out of her face. “I know how you hate it when your hair gets in
your eyes.”
“I do hate that,” she murmured as she looked up at him with a sparkle in her eyes.
“We can’t have that then,” he whispered as he tucked it behind her ear. He moved closer to her, enjoying the fact that for the
first time since being around Nora at DCSR, she wasn’t shying away from him when he got close. It felt like old times, or
better yet, like a new season where they could finally let their guards down and just be themselves. She was so close now, if he
just bent down a little further, his lips would graze against hers. It was so tempting; she was so tempting, that without being
able to stop it, his head moved down ready to claim her mouth for his own.
Before it could happen, Nora’s buzzing phone interrupted the intimate moment. She stepped back and looked down at the
screen. “It’s Trina. I have to take this.” She glanced back at Carter and added, “I’ll see you back at my place after you grab us
lunch.”
He wanted to reach out and yank her into his arms, but he knew it wasn’t the right time or place to do something like that.
He refrained, instead saying, “I’ll see you in a little bit.”
Carter made haste toward the cafeteria, knowing that if they were going to get back on track for training, they needed to eat
quickly. He was picking out a couple of sandwiches from the commercial fridge, when he overheard a couple of their trainees
talking while they were picking out food at the dessert table around the corner.
 “I know, for being trained in such a prestigious place as Boston FD, I can’t believe how they let their personal feelings get
in the way of doing their job,” the short male said to the other one.
“I mean, did you see how she ran over to him when he got hurt today? She shut down all of the training because her
boyfriend got knocked around a little bit. She’s got it bad,” the second one stated with disapproval.
“They both do. He watches her all the time when he thinks no one is paying attention,” the other one added with equal
disdain.
“It must be something in the water, because there’s another couple that work together over in the bomb detection area,” the
first one told the other.
“Yes, but at least those two are honest about what’s going on. It’s so obvious to everyone how much our instructors like
each other; I can’t believe that they don’t see it themselves.”
Carter had his fill of the conversation. He finished grabbing the food and then headed to Nora’s. On the walk over, he went
over and over the trainees’ observations. He knew he should be upset that they were talking about his personal life. At the
moment, all he could think about was the possibility that Nora had feelings for him, too. If that was the case, was there a chance
they could have a real relationship if he made a move? He’d cared for her for so long, he wasn’t sure what he would do if he
tried and she rejected him. Plus, there was Hank’s memory to consider. What would people think if he ended up with his best
friend’s widow? If they received flak about it, he could handle it, but he didn’t want any of that to come back on Nora or H.J.
Were the rewards worth the risk?
As he entered the house and headed into the kitchen where Nora was feeding H.J., he had a feeling of what it would be like
to come home to them if they were a real family. It was a wonderful feeling, and he realized he had his answer. He wasn’t sure
how or when, but he was going to find a way to get Nora to consider giving them a chance to be together.
“You’re here,” she said as her eyes met his, smiling as she placed H.J. in his cradle beside her. “What did you get us?”
“Well, they didn’t have your favorite, since I don’t know a single other person who eats peanut butter and banana.”
“If it’s good enough for the king, it’s good enough for me,” she teased with a wink.
“Elvis also got really fat at the end, don’t forget that,” Carter pointed out.
“Carter Reid, tell me you didn’t just fat shame me,” Nora admonished with a hurt look.
“I would never do that to anyone, especially you,” he said, raising his hands in the air in surrender. “Besides, you look
perfect.”
“Even with all this baby weight? I can’t seem to get it off no matter how hard I exercise. It used to never be this difficult to
keep in shape,” she complained with a pout, revealing a vulnerability he hadn’t seen in her since the birth of H.J.
“Like I said, perfect. You can eat all the disgusting peanut butter and banana sandwiches you want, except today. All they
had was PB&J.”
“What type of ‘J’?” she asked as she reached out for the sandwich. She unwrapped it and oohed. “Yes, grape, my favorite.”
“It still never ceases to amaze me how much your food choices line up with a toddler,” Carter teased.
“Oh, is that so. Let me guess, you got turkey on wheat like always,” she stated with a roll of her eyes. As she bit into her
sandwich, Nora made an exaggerated face like it was the best food she ever ate. “You are so predictable and boring when it
comes to food. I might eat like a toddler half the time, but at least the rest of the time I’m adventurous. I can’t even get you to try
sushi.”
“That’s because fish is meant to be cooked,” Carter pointed out with a shudder. “And I’m not boring. I’m steadfast.”
The smile vanished from her face as she slowly nodded. “That is true. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have
you after—” She didn’t need to say it. Carter knew what she meant.
“I know. I think the only thing that got us both through it was having each other.” He reached over and patted her hand.
“Enough about that, though. Let’s talk about the next way we’re going to torture the trainees this afternoon.”
They spent the last few minutes of their lunch going over the details for the rest of the day before they cleaned up and
headed back to the classroom. As he scanned the room and tried to figure out who the two guilty trainees were he overheard
talking about them, he realized that it could be any of them. Apparently, Carter hadn’t done a good job of disguising his feelings
for Nora, and she was equally bad. Did that mean the entire campus knew about the feelings they both had but were afraid to
admit? If that was the case, what was it going to take to get them to both finally fess up?
8

N ora wasn’t sure how it was happening, but she was growing close to Carter again. When she first found out they would be
working together again, she vowed to keep it strictly professional, but he’d managed to find a way back into her heart. She
found herself watching him throughout the day, and finding reasons to be close to him during training exercises. It seemed the
more she tried to fight it, the more she couldn’t keep herself from becoming increasingly infatuated with him.
Right now, he was walking through the aisles of the classroom as their trainees took another pop quiz. Nora was sitting at
the desk with her chin in her hand watching him. She couldn’t help but admire how his muscles rippled under his blue cargo
uniform as he moved. Her eyes focused on his thick, brown hair which swooped effortlessly over his piercing blue eyes. After
inspecting every other part of his face, her eyes landed on his strong, full lips. She wondered what it would be like if she
actually let herself go there and kiss him. Would it be as intense and mind-blowing as she suspected?
“Are you ready to take the team out to the training grounds?” Carter asked her as he stopped in front of the desk and looked
down at her.
His question jolted her out of her fantasy about him, and her chin slipped off her hand. She could feel her cheeks turn red as
she fumbled to get herself under control.
“Are you okay?” he asked her when she didn’t respond. “Did you get enough sleep last night? Do you need me to come
over and help with the baby again tonight?”
There were a couple of chuckles behind Carter, and she realized the students had heard and seen everything. She quickly
shuffled several pages around on the desk, though she didn’t have a need for a single one of them. “Yes, I’m fine. I just need to
make sure everything is settled here before we head out.”
“Okay, so do you want me to take them out first, and you can catch up?”
She nodded. “Sure, whatever you think is best.”
Carter turned around and clapped his hands together to signal that time was up. “All right, trainees. Quiz time is over.
We’re heading out for your next simulation.”
Everyone came up and placed their quizzes on the desk. A couple of the men gave her knowing smiles, and she could have
sworn one winked at her. Did they notice how she was watching Carter? Did they think she had a thing for K9 handlers because
of it? A fresh wave of mortification washed over her, causing her to jump to her feet. “I have to go to the restroom,” she heard
herself telling Carter as she rushed passed him without making eye contact.
She’d barely made it into the stall when her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked down at the screen. It
was Carter checking on her.

Are you okay?

You rushed out of here so fast,
 I thought your feet were going to catch fire.

Nora started to type several times, but kept erasing her message. She wasn’t sure what to tell him, knowing that the truth was
out of the question. Luckily, she was saved by her phone buzzing a second time. There was a new message from DCSR
command.

Four-alarm fire at closed bottling company.

Be advised, major structural damage,
and possible personnel at facility.
All instructors and trainees
report to the central parking lot in twenty minutes.
Bring K9 partners and full search and rescue gear.

Was it the arsonist again? Had he increased his igniting fluid to get a bigger fire? If he didn’t think he was getting enough
attention from her, she wouldn’t put it past him. She clicked over to his series of texts and her fingertips hovered over the keys
as she debated about reaching out to him.

Are you behind the fire at the bottling company?

Instead of hitting send, she erased the message. That was exactly what he wanted. He wanted her to engage with him, and she
wasn’t willing to give him what he wanted. She shoved her phone back in her pocket and then took off to grab her gear from
her townhome. It only took her a few minutes, giving her just enough time to play with H.J. on the rug before taking off. She
leaned over and kissed him on top of his forehead before standing up to leave.
“It’s going to be a late night, Trina, so you can put H.J. down to sleep and use the guest bed until I get back.”
“Thank you, Miss Nora. You stay safe now,” Trina said as she closed the door behind her.
Nora hurried over to the parking lot where the rest of the staff and trainees were loading into the DCSR trucks. Carter was
going over their supplies when she joined him and their class. “Are we ready?” she asked as she glanced around at everything.
“Yes, we have all our gear accounted for,” he told her as he handed over the clipboard with the list.
She didn’t go through it, knowing that Carter was excellent at his job. “Great, let’s go put out a fire.”
“And rescue people,” Carter added as he hopped in beside her. “From the sound of it, some workers might have gotten
caught inside. It was supposed to be closed, but they extended their hours for a special order.”
“Who told you that?” Nora asked with curiosity. “It wasn’t in the mass text.”
“D.C. did. Someone from the bottling company called in and explained the situation,” Carter told her.
“Then it’s a good thing we’re headed out there,” she said with relief, relaxing when she realized it meant it wasn’t her
arsonist behind it. He never set fires where civilians were going to be. He might be a criminal, but he had his own set of rules.
A half-hour later, they arrived at the bottling company just outside Woody. The DCSR teams exited the vehicles and
huddled together to wait for further instruction. The division heads went over to the mobile command to get their assignments.
“All right, Parker and Reid, I’m going to have you take the north end of the facility. They have several storage vats that are
tightly packed together. Your expertise will help get that area under control.”
“What about the civilians that are supposed to be inside?” Carter questioned as he looked at the map.
“According to the person who called it in, they were in the middle of storing the soda when the fire erupted. If there are any
victims, they’ll be in the area I assigned you,” D.C. explained.
Nora wanted to go in there with Carter, but she knew it was her job to stay out and coordinate the search and rescue efforts
outside. She had to trust in his training and remember that he was an expert at his job.
“We won’t let you down, D.C.,” Carter promised their boss. “If anyone is trapped in there, we’ll find them.”
After the urban fire division arrived at their designed area, Nora divided them into teams. Since they were finishing up
their first week now, she knew her trainees well enough to put the stronger teams with the weaker ones to compensate. They’d
already lost two teams that couldn’t hack it, but the rest were showing real promise to be able to finish out the rest of the
month.
“Carter, I want you to work with Wilson. You’re going to take this red zone here,” Nora said, pointing to a specific area on
her map. “You’re the best two teams we have, so I need you where the fire is supposed to be the hottest.”
“You got it, boss,” Carter said with a wink. “See you on the other side of this.”
She knew it wasn’t the most professional of gestures, but she couldn’t help but like how it made her stomach somersault
with pleasure. “Keep your eye out for anything unsafe. Don’t push into an area until you know its structurally sound,” she
warned them as they took off for the storage area with their K9 partners by their sides.
 Nora paced the outside of the structures, looking for any new fires sprouting up or dangerous debris fields. It was her job to
make sure her team was aware of any new threat. She saw a blast out of one of the storage areas and pressed her button to
speak into her radio. “UF1, this is UF Command. I have a blast that’s in the vicinity of your area. Be advised.”
“Copy that, UF Command,” Carter replied over the radio. “We’re not near the blast zone, and are currently searching an
alternate area. Appreciate the heads-up, though.”
“Copy that, UF1. Keep me posted on your progress.” Nora checked in with the rest of the teams, giving them any updates on
their area.
Everything seemed to be going well with containment and search and rescue, when another explosion erupted. This time,
she was almost certain it was near Carter’s location. “UF1, please give me an update of your status,” she ordered over the
radio, trying to keep her voice calm even though inside she felt panic rising up inside her. She had flashes of what happened to
Hank, and all the feelings of helplessness and fear came flooding back.
Nora watched as her husband rushed inside the fire. She knew that he would be able to do his job flawlessly and verify
that no one was trapped inside the fire. On the outside, she did what she was trained to do, continually checking on her
firehouse members for their status updates.
The fire was nearly under control when she heard Hank call out over the radio, “SB Command, the fire has spread to
the east stairwell and is blocking our current path. We’re going to have to double back and go around through the
secondary stairwell.”
“Copy that, SB1,” Nora replied over the radio. “Keep me updated on your progress.”
It felt like it was only a heartbeat before the next moment when her life would change forever. “SB Command, this is
SB2, we need medical to our location,” she heard Carter yell out over the radio. “We have a firefighter down; I repeat we
have a firefighter down.”
“SB2, is SB1 down? I repeat, is it SB1?” When there wasn’t any answer, she broke protocol to use real names. “Carter,
you have to tell me; is it Hank?” Nora cried out over the radio.
“I don’t know what happened. One moment he was there, and the next he was gone. The floor just gave way,” Carter
screamed over the radio.
The words kept echoing around in her head, causing the image of her husband falling through the floor to his fiery
death below to haunt her over and over again.
“That was a close one,” she heard Carter gasp over the radio. “I thought for sure we were going to fall through the floor.”
“But you didn’t, right? You’re safe?” Nora demanded to know over the radio, the thought of it all too awfully familiar.
There was a long pause before Carter finally responded. “Yes, UF Command, we’re fine. I was just checking on my K9
partner to confirm he wasn’t injured.”
“Glad to hear it. Finish up your search and return for debriefing,” she ordered. As soon as she let go of the button to her
radio, she let out a long sigh. She sent up a silent prayer, thanking God for keeping Carter safe. She wasn’t sure what she would
have done if he had died. She’d already lost Hank; she couldn’t lose Carter, too. There was no denying it now; she knew she
was falling for him. She’d been trying to convince herself that it was just a simple infatuation, but she knew better now. She
loved Carter, and she couldn’t run from that fact anymore.
“There was no one in there. We searched the entire place, along with the rest of the team, and there wasn’t a single person
inside the storage area,” Carter told her with frustration as he came over to her side. Wilson joined the rest of the trainees over
by the trucks, leaving them alone.
“That’s really odd,” Nora murmured with confusion. “D.C. said there was someone who called and claimed there were
people inside.”
“Why do you think someone would call and make a false report like that?”
Almost as if on cue, Nora’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked down at the screen.

Your back-up husband

wasn’t supposed to survive that.
You should send him away,
before he ends up
like your first husband.

Nora let out a sharp gasp, shocked that the arsonist had planned all of this to get rid of Carter. She could feel her stomach
tighten with fear as Carter asked, “What is it?” He grabbed her phone and looked at the message.
“He’s bluffing. There’s no way he knew I would be in that section of the storage area.”
“Of course he did,” Nora whimpered with anguish. “He’s been watching and studying me for over a year. He knows exactly
what I’m going to do before I do it.” Then a horrible thought came to mind. She glanced around in fright. “He’s probably
watching us right now. How else would he know you survived?”
 “You’re jumping to conclusions. He’s not as smart as you think he is, or I would be dead right now.”
Nora shook her head as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, but she
couldn’t find the words. Instead, she leaned against his tall frame and let her tears fall down her cheeks. “This can’t be
happening again.”
Carter wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace. She knew she was at work, and it was highly
unprofessional to let him comfort her like this, but she found herself settling into his warm embrace despite her brain screaming
at her to step away. Fuego nuzzled up next to her, giving her an extra dose of comfort.
“We’re going to stop him before he can do any more damage,” Carter promised her.
“You can’t guarantee that,” she mumbled into his chest. “He’s gotten away with all of it so far. We’ll never be able to stop
him.”
“That’s what he wants you to think. He’s going to mess up, and when he does, we’ll be able to catch him.”
Nora looked up at him and could see how much Carter cared for her reflected in his eyes. He took the edge of his thumb
and wiped her tears away. “I hate seeing you cry.” She wanted him to kiss her. She’d never wanted anything so much in all her
life, and now she knew that’s why she ran from it. She couldn’t betray Hank’s memory like that. She quickly stepped back
before she did something she would regret the rest of her life. She might love Carter, but she could never act on it.
“Why don’t I take you home and cook you dinner while you take care of the baby?” Carter offered. “It’s been a long day,
and we could both use something to eat.”
She knew she should say no, but having him with her in her home was too tempting of an offer. “Sure, that sounds great.”
Her phone buzzed again, and Carter shook his head as he held out his hand. “Give it to me. Let me deal with him.”
She did as Carter asked, not wanting to see another chilling text from him anyway. Carter read it and then hit a button.
“There. Deleted.”
“You deleted it? We have to keep the texts as evidence,” Nora said with anger as she reached for her phone and yanked it
away.
“Relax. I screenshotted them and sent them to a google file before I deleted them. They’re perfectly safe there, but you don’t
have them hanging around on your phone anymore.”
On the way back to the DCSR campus, she couldn’t help but worry that things were only going to get worse. The arsonist
thrived on attention, and he wasn’t getting enough. What would he do the next time to try to get her to respond? Silently, she
sent up a prayer asking God to protect them and keep them safe from the arsonist.
As they were pulling the gear from the trucks, Kimiko came over to Nora. “Can I talk with you for a moment privately?”
“Sure,” Nora said as she set her bag down by Carter. “I’ll be right back.” She followed Kimiko over to the side of one of
the buildings. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to let you know, I overheard some of the trainees talking about you and Reid. Is something going on between
the two of you?”
Nora pressed her lips together as she folded her arms over her chest. “Of course not. We’ve just been friends for a long
time, and we’re co-workers.”
“Is that all?” Kimiko asked with an arched eyebrow. “Because it doesn’t matter to me, but if there is something going on,
you have to disclose it to Sarge. Romantic relationships aren’t restricted at the academy, but we do have to be upfront about
them.”
“There’s nothing to disclose,” Nora insisted, though deep down she knew she wasn’t being completely honest with the
other instructor.
“I know you have a complicated past with him, and it would make sense if you guys ended up together.”
“Look, I might care for Carter as more than a friend, but I know I shouldn’t. It would be rotten of me to dishonor my
husband’s memory like that. Carter was Hank’s best friend.”
“Do you really think your husband would want you to be alone? A good man would want his wife to be happy, and if his
best friend could do that when he couldn’t, I bet he would be okay with it,” Kimiko asserted. “You shouldn’t give up on your
chance to be happy because of misplaced guilt.”
Nora thought about Kimiko’s advice all the way back to her townhome. Was she making a mistake keeping Carter in the
friend zone? If she were honest with herself, he hadn’t been just a friend for a very long time. Even when she disappeared, or
right when they started working together at DCSR, she secretly had romantic feelings for Carter the whole time. She just wasn’t
willing to admit it to anyone, including herself.
They spent the rest of the evening eating spaghetti and playing with the baby. He was just learning to smile, though Carter
insisted it was just gas.
“See there, did you just see it? That was definitely a smile,” Nora insisted from her spot on the floor next to the baby.
Carter shook his head. “Nope, I still think it’s gas.”
H.J. lifted his hands in the air and his eyes got wide as he saw his own hands. He waved them back and forth, as if
realizing they were there for the first time. He started to giggle and then a smile spread across his face. “Okay, so that time you
have to admit it was a smile,” Nora gushed with pride.
“Okay, maybe that one was a real smile,” Carter relented as he reached over and gently stroked H.J.’s cheek. “Good job,
little guy.”
Every time she saw Carter interact with her son, she could feel her heart swell with happiness. Even though not having
Hank around to see all of this was hard, Carter made it more bearable.
Despite having a good time, Nora felt herself yawn. “I hate to say this, but I need to go to bed.”
“I know. I’ve stayed far longer than I planned,” he said, pushing up off the floor and grabbing his boots to put them back on.
“At least it’s the weekend, so we get to sleep in.”
“Maybe you, but H.J. wakes me up bright and early, and I gave Trina the day off.”
“That’s too bad. I was hoping you might want to go out to dinner tomorrow night. I hear downtown Wilmont is just like a
Hallmark movie set, and I know how much you love those.”
“I do, and I would love to, but it’s not going to work,” Nora said, feeling disappointment as she walked him to the door.
Even though she was saying ‘no’ because she was still afraid, part of her really did want to go.
“Maybe you’ll give me a rain check for another time,” Carter told her with a warm smile.
“Maybe,” she whispered back as she leaned against the door frame and watched him walk down the sidewalk to his own
place. “See you on Monday, Carter.”
9

T he next evening, several of the DCSRA instructors were headed to Woody to hang out at the local bar. It wasn’t Carter’s
usual scene, but it beat having to sit alone and think about Nora all night long. He put Fuego in the DCSR kennels before
meeting up with the other guys in the DCSR parking lot.
“It’s not the best place I’ve been to, but considering half the nearby counties are dry, it’s better than nothing,” Bilmont told
Carter as they climbed into the other man’s truck.
“Just be prepared, there’s a lot of badge bunnies at the bar,” Sergeant Major Juan Perez, one of the cadaver instructors, said
from the back seat.
Officer Reggie Collins, one of the missing persons instructors added, “And fireflies.” Carter had just sat next to him when
he continued, “Which will be right up your alley, if you’re not too busy fantasizing about Parker.”
“What are you talking about?” Carter asked defensively.
“Come on, it’s safe to tell us if you have something going on with her. I mean she’s totally hot, so I can see why you would,
though the baby thing kind of puts her in the friends with benefits category,” Perez said with a smile.
“Nothing is going on with us,” Carter growled out. “Nora is way too classy to ever be put in the friends with benefits
category.”
Perez raised his hands and shrugged. “Whoa, I didn’t mean anything negative by it.”
As Carter settled back in his seat, he was already regretting his decision to go out with the other guys. That regret turned
into sheer misery when he arrived at the bar. Not an hour later, he was surrounded by three fireflies all determined to score the
first date with the newest DCSR fire instructor. He always forgot how much he hated bars until it was too late.
“I can’t believe you come from Boston. You’ve had to have seen a lot of impressive fires working there,” a curvy brunette
said as she let her finger make a trail down his arm. “It would explain all of the muscles you have.”
“What I’m most impressed with is how he single-handedly put out the fire over at the dairy in Wilmont,” the blonde cooed,
wrapping her arms around his other side. “My friend on the volunteer fire crew said he was a true master with the hose.”
“You think the dairy farm is impressive? I heard he managed to keep the bottling company from exploding and destroying
half of Woody,” a third raven-haired woman interjected as she pushed the blonde out of the way and took her place. “That and
the fact you had the fastest time on the fire simulation at the DCSR training grounds.”
“Ladies, I’m not sure how you came by all this information, but the tales of my heroics have been greatly over-
exaggerated,” Carter told them as he looked around, hoping to find a way to escape.
“Oh, they heard all about it from me,” Perez told him. He came up to him and patted him on the back. He leaned in close so
that only Carter could hear, and added, “You’re going to owe me big after tonight. You’ll be happy with any one of these ladies
you decide to go home with.”
The more he got to know Perez, the more he disliked the other man. He reminded him too much of the players he knew back
in Boston, always floating from woman to woman, looking for his next conquest. Never wanting anything more than a one-night
stand. That wasn’t Carter, and it never would be.
“I think it’s time for me to call it a night,” Carter said as he pushed his Coke away and stood up from the bar.
“Oh no, do you really have to go,” the brunette pouted as she wrapped herself around him even tighter. “I promise if you
stay, I’ll make it worth your while.”
The front door of the bar opened, drawing everyone’s attention to it momentarily. Carter was surprised to see Nora walk in,
and even more shocked when he noticed the gorgeous red dress she was wearing. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. “If
you’ll excuse me,” he mumbled as he extracted himself from the fireflies and walked over to Nora’s side. “What are you doing
here?”
“Kimiko stopped by and mentioned that you were coming out with the guys to the bar,” Nora said in a tone that Carter
would have sworn sounded like jealousy. “I know how much you hate these places, so I thought I would come rescue you.”
“Oh you did, did you? It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that you were worried I might end up burned by some
firefly?”
“No, because in all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never been the sort to be enticed by that.” Nora gestured across the
room at the women wearing far too much makeup and not nearly enough clothes.
“True enough,” Carter said with a nod. “Since you came all the way down here to rescue me, and it turns out I’m fine, why
don’t you stay and hang out, instead?”
“I guess I can do that,” she said with a friendly smile. “I haven’t played a good game of pool in years.”
“Let’s just hope all the balls are still here. From the looks of this place, I don’t think they keep it up very well,” Carter
whispered as he looked around and noticed how it could use a fresh coat of paint and new chairs.
“Either way, it’s just nice to have a break from the baby. Don’t get me wrong, I love H.J. more than anything in this world.
When Trina told me she could come over and watch him so I could go out, I hadn’t felt that happy since before—” her smile
faded and the merriment reflected in her eyes diminished.
Carter instantly knew she was going to say before Hank died. He was like a ghost that managed to always be there, right
between them, and rightfully so. Nora was his wife, which meant Carter shouldn’t be thinking of Nora as anything more than a
friend. He knew that, but it was hard to tell his heart to stop wanting something he couldn’t have.
“Anyway, I’m up for beating you at pool, just like I do with everything else,” Nora teased as she playfully punched him in
the arm.
“Nope, not this time. I’m not taking it easy on you just because you’re a girl,” he teased her.
“You never have before. I wouldn’t expect you to start now,” she joked back as her nose scrunched up with laughter.
As luck would have it, there was a full set of balls. They played three rounds of pool while they ate wings and French fries.
Just as Nora promised, she thrashed him two of the times, but on the third round, he was close to beating her.
“I think I finally figured out how to beat you. You’re horrible at splits,” he told her as he leaned down to take his final shot.
If he made this one, he would finally win against Nora.
“Oh, is that so,” she whispered, pressing her body against his side and leaning close. Her warm, sweet breath tickled the
side of his neck, and before he knew what was happening, he was scratching the white ball and knocking it into the corner
pocket.
“Hey, no fair. I would have won if you hadn’t distracted me,” he cried out in frustration, turning to face her. The movement
caused them to end up pushed against each other, her soft curves molding against his hard frame. He reached out to tuck her hair
behind her ear, and whispered, “You know, you shouldn’t do that to me.”
“Do what?” she questioned as she looked up into his eyes.
“Use how I feel about you to get what you want. I’d give you anything if you’d just ask,” he told her as he leaned down,
ready to finally make his move and kiss her. Slowly, his lips moved toward hers, but just before he could close the final couple
of inches, her phone buzzed, causing her to pull back.
She took it out of the pocket of her dress and looked down at the screen. She screamed as her eyes rounded with terror. The
only other time he ever heard that scream was when she saw Hank’s body being carried out on a gurney after the fire. Carter
didn’t know what the text said, but he knew it was going to change both of their lives forever.
10

N ora couldn’t believe the text she got from the arsonist. She continued to read it over and over as she tried to process the
horrible words.

I have your son.

You shouldn’t have ignored me.
Now you’re going to know what real pain is.

Hoping it was a terrible hoax, she quickly called the nanny. Trina picked up after the third ring. “I’m so sorry, Miss Nora. I
went to the grocery store with the baby to pick up some items and someone attacked me in the parking lot and knocked me out.
When I woke up, the police were there and someone had taken the baby.”
Nora didn’t even realize the phone had dropped out of her hand until she was crumpled on the floor next to it.
“What’s wrong, Nora? What happened?” she heard Carter ask as he knelt beside her and picked up her phone. He quickly
scanned the text, but she was already going numb with shock by the time she heard him making calls to DCSR and the local
police.
“Come on, Nora, I need you to get up. You can’t shut down on me. H.J. needs you," Carter coaxed as he placed his hand
under her arm and pulled her to her feet.
The problem was, she could barely walk. She knew she needed to do everything she could to find her son. All she could
think about, though, was how she couldn’t lose him after already losing his father. The more she thought about that, the less she
was able to do anything else.
Suddenly, she felt herself being scooped up into Carter’s arms. “We’re going to get you some coffee and snap you out of
this,” he ordered as he gestured with his head to one of their fellow instructors who had gathered around her during the chaos.
She was being carted off to a truck and placed in the passenger seat. Bilmont was shoving a paper cup of coffee into her
hands as Carter buckled her seatbelt across her chest. “Where are we going?” she whispered as she glanced around, trying to
make sense of what was happening.
“We’re going to the scene of the crime. Maybe we can figure out something the police missed.”
She wasn’t sure how much time passed before they arrived in the parking lot of the grocery store. Trina was still there with
the police, and she rushed up to Nora’s side, begging her forgiveness. “I’m so sorry, Miss Nora. Please, please forgive me. I
would never let anything happen to the baby.”
“I know, Trina,” she whispered. “This isn’t your fault.”
It’s my fault , she chastised herself with anger. I should have never responded to the arsonist in the first place.
Everything bad that has ever happened to me, occurred because I responded to that first text.
 Carter moved over to talk to the police, but Nora was too busy shifting between blaming herself and worrying about H.J. to
pay attention to what they were talking about. After a couple of minutes, he returned and told her what they had found out so far.
“Several people witnessed the attack, so they have a basic description of the arsonist. One of them was even able to recall the
make and model of the car he was driving.”
“What about a license plate?” Nora asked, finally forcing herself to think about the situation.
“No, he drove off too fast. They’re going to put out a bulletin for the vehicle. Remember, this is a small town, so there’s a
good chance they can track him down before he gets too far away.”
“There are so many back roads, though. He could be anywhere by now,” Nora lamented with fear. “H.J. must be so scared.
And what if he starts crying and the arsonist can’t handle it? Would he hurt H.J.?”
“Don’t think about that,” Carter told her. “Focus on what we can do to get him back.”
“Like what?”
“We could look around and see if the cops missed anything. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes makes all the difference.”
Carter and Nora went around the building, looking for anything that seemed out of place. When they didn’t find anything,
they decided to do the same thing in the parking lot. Toward the back, he noticed a cart with a couple of blankets over it, and a
man sitting on the ground next to it. From his dirty, ill-fitting clothes, to his unkempt beard and hair, it was clear the man was
homeless.
“He might know something,” Carter said as he pointed to the man. He rushed over with Nora trailing behind. “Excuse me,
sir. I was wondering if you might have seen what happened here earlier tonight?”
“What? Are you the cops? I don’t talk to cops,” the homeless man grunted out.
“No, we’re not cops,” Nora told him. “We’re firefighters. The baby that was taken is my son. I’d really appreciate it if you
could tell us anything you might have seen.”
“You mean the guy with the burn marks on his neck and cheek?”
“Is that who took the baby?” Carter asked as he bent down in front of the other man. “Can you tell me anything else about
him? Anything at all that might help us track him down?”
“How about his license plate?” the homeless man questioned as he rattled off a Massachusetts number. “I have a
photographic memory,” he stated proudly.
Carter asked one of the other DCSR instructors to buy the homeless man a meal and help him to a shelter for the night,
while he gave the new information to the cops. The police put out an Amber Alert, and the text came through to all the nearby
phones in the area.
“What do we do now?” Nora asked, hating the feeling of helplessness that came back as soon as she didn’t have anything to
focus on.
“We head back to our office and go over everything we know about the arsonist. At least now we have a name, Lloyd
Flynn, which can help generate more leads. Maybe there’s something in the details that will tell us where he would go with
H.J.”
She knew there wasn’t anything else they could do that would be more productive, so she nodded her head, and let Carter
escort her back to the truck.
11

B ack at DCSR command, everyone was working to help find Nora’s son. The missing persons instructors and their trainees
were out scouring the areas closest to the grocery store. Everyone else was making calls, following up on leads from their team
in the field, and going over copies of the arsonist’s file.
“I just don’t get why he’s obsessed with you, Nora. Not that you aren’t a great person, and all, but why you?” Kimiko asked
with curiosity.
“He never told me why,” Nora said with a perplexed look. “I just always assumed that he saw me working to put out his
first fire, and connected his love for fires with me.”
“That’s not actually how that happens,” Dixon said as he joined the group. “I took a couple of classes on profiling while I
was with the FBI. He actually should hate you because you put out his fires. If he’s fixated on you, it has to be for some other
reason.”
“Is no one going to talk about the elephant in the room?” Bilmont asked as he glanced around. “Nora’s hot. Maybe it’s just
as simple as that. He saw a hot girl that literally has the word fire in her job title, and that was all it took.”
“No, I don’t think it was that. I mean, he commented on my looks every now and then, but I felt like he almost treated me
like his mother,” Nora protested.
“Or older sister,” Carter snapped his fingers as he started looking into the death records of anyone in Massachusetts with
the same last name around the time of the arsonist’s birth. “Do you think he had a sister that either abandoned him or died when
he was a kid?”
“I don’t know, maybe.” Nora went back to the first text she got from the arsonist, wondering if he shared anything in the
beginning that would validate Carter’s theory. It took her several minutes, but there in black and white was a hint that Carter
might be on to something.

You remind me of someone.

She was beautiful like you,
at least until the fire got to her.
That’s why I have to do this.
I have to control it,
so what happened to her,
never happens to you.

“I think you’re right, Carter. I think someone he cared about died in a fire. Look at this text he sent me. It was really early on,
and the only time he ever talked about anything personal.” She showed him the phone. He looked at it and nodded, then turned
his attention back to the computer screen.
“And I think I know who it was,” Carter added after a couple of seconds. “Naomi Parks. She was Lloyd Flynn’s half-sister,
and she died in a house fire. I found an article about it in the local paper in Massachusetts. The fire was accidentally set by his
stepdad, who was smoking. The rest of the family was able to get out. Unfortunately, no one thought to check the basement
where he locked Lloyd’s older sister up when she was bad. When Lloyd realized that she wasn’t outside with everyone else,
he rushed inside and tried to get to her. The firefighters got to him and pulled him out, but they couldn’t save Naomi. He had
severe burns and nearly died himself.” If Lloyd hadn’t killed her husband and kidnapped her son, Nora would actually feel bad
for him. No wonder he was so messed up. “You do look a lot like her.” Carter turned the screen around to show a picture of a
young woman that eerily looked similar to Nora. “He must have looked you up when you put out his first fire, if that was
actually his first fire, though I somehow doubt he waited ten years to start setting them.”
“Even your names are close. That must have sent him right over the edge of sanity,” Dixon noted with a shake of his head.
“Fascinating how the mind works.”
“Can we focus on how this helps us?” Nora reminded everyone with an irritated tone. “I don’t really care why he’s
obsessed with me unless it helps me get my son back.”
“Maybe they had a favorite place they visited when they were kids,” Kimiko suggested.
“Or a school they both went to?” Bilmont offered up.
Carter’s phone buzzed, and he flipped it over to look at the screen. There were only two words.

Alone. Now.

Carter could feel his blood run cold in his veins, knowing that the text was from the arsonist. Whatever he wanted, it couldn’t
be good, “Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom.”
He hurried off and made sure he was alone before he texted back.

I’m alone.
What do you want?

Three bubbles appeared, then a reply.

You’re the reason

I can’t be with her.
So you have to go.

Carter knew that Lloyd was obsessed with Nora, but how did the baby factor into everything?

If I’m the problem,

why did you take the baby?

The bubbles appeared again, followed by his next answer.

To get you to come to me.

If you don’t want the baby hurt,
you have to come to where I tell you,
without telling or bringing anyone else.

A video popped up, and it had H.J. crying in a crib inside a metal building, surrounded by flames that were far enough away
that it wasn’t going to immediately hurt him but posed a clear threat. Carter was fully aware that it was a trap. After all, it was
Lloyd’s signature move. He used fire to get rid of anyone he thought stood in his way of being with Nora. Even so, he had to go
for H.J.’s sake. If he had to sacrifice his own life to keep Nora from losing her son, he would do it in a heartbeat.

Text me the location.

Carter quietly snuck out the back, heading to his townhome to get his gear. He might have to go alone, but that didn’t mean he
had to go unarmed. He said he couldn’t bring anyone else, but he never said anything about Carter’s K9 partner. He retrieved
him from the kennel before heading to his townhome to get supplies. He grabbed an extra layer of protective gear and two
oxygen tanks, figuring he could double everything to give himself a better chance of surviving whatever Lloyd had in store for
him.
It took him about a half-hour to arrive at the destination. As he pulled up to the abandoned house at the edge of Woody, he
knew it was the perfect kindling box to start a raging fire. He parked far enough back that he had time to climb into his gear.
Cautiously, he made his way to the front of the house as he silently sent up a prayer for protection.
“Wah, wah, wah,” he heard the baby cry through the front of the house. His instincts drove him through the door, knowing
that even if it was a trap, he couldn’t ignore H.J. when he was crying.
Once inside, he couldn’t find the baby anywhere. He glanced around and saw a voice recording machine on the table. It
was set to repeat over and over. “Smart, really smart,” Carter mumbled to himself. “I keep forgetting how smart this guy is,
Fuego,” he told his partner. “Come on, we have to make sure H.J. isn’t hidden around here somewhere.”
Carter gave Fuego the command to search, following his partner as he made his way through the building. The closer they
got to finishing the sweep, the more he realized that H.J. wasn’t in the house. He was almost to the back door when Carter
smelled smoke. He turned around to find his exit was now cut off by a fire that was coming his way. He went to the nearest
window, but found that it was nailed shut and boarded up behind the tattered drapes. He checked all of them in the area, as
well as the back door. Lloyd had made sure there was no escape.
“He doesn’t know me as well as he thinks he does,” Carter told Fuego. He pulled off his backpack and pulled out a
collapsible shovel. He used it to punch through the old drywall until he got to the insulation. He yanked it out with his hands,
then finished going through the exterior wall.
Carter grabbed Fuego by the leash and shoved the Dalmatian through the opening, then jumped out behind him. They got out
just in time to see Lloyd’s silver Toyota Camry take off down the dirt road. Carter rushed toward his own truck, hopped into
the driver’s seat, and took off after him. He knew he should call in the fire and ask for backup, but Lloyd had threatened to kill
H.J. if he did that. He couldn’t take the chance that he would actually follow through and do it.
The entire time he chased after the arsonist, Carter was praying, asking God to help him stop Lloyd before it was too late.
He pressed his foot on the pedal, pushing it as far down as it would go. In all his life, he’d never driven as fast, but he knew he
had to catch up to the other car and stop him somehow.
Carter wasn’t sure what happened, but suddenly, Lloyd’s Camry started to swerve all over the road. The other man lost
control of his car and spun out, smacking head-on into a tree.
“Nooo,” Carter cried out in fright, praying that H.J. wasn’t hurt. Fear seized his heart as he parked his truck and jumped out
of it. He rushed over with Fuego by his side, not caring what happened to himself as long as he could get to the baby boy. He
now realized he cared for H.J. as much as if he was his own. It wasn’t just Nora that he loved, they were a package, and he
loved the entire, crazy, dysfunctional, perfectly imperfect family that they made together.
Carter pulled open the driver’s door and found Lloyd passed out over the steering wheel. The even rise and fall of his chest
told him the arsonist was still alive. He knew he was bleeding from the blood trickling down his forehead. Carter figured
Lloyd must have been knocked out by the airbag deploying. Good, that meant he didn’t have to break his fist punching the other
man in the face. Instead, he pulled out some zip-ties from his backpack and secured his wrists behind his back, then gave Fuego
the command to watch him.
Once he was certain Lloyd wasn’t a threat anymore, he made his way around the vehicle and found the baby on the
floorboard of the backseat, cradled in a moving box. As he pulled the baby out and pressed him against his chest, he let out a
sigh of relief. “It’s going to be okay, H.J., I promise.”
He walked back over to his truck and sat down in the passenger’s seat. As soon as they were settled, he made the most
important phone call of his life. “Nora, I have the best news. I rescued your baby.”
12

W hen Nora arrived at the accident scene, she was elated to see her son safe and secure in Carter’s arms. She rushed over to
them, wrapping her arms around both of them as tears of relief streamed down her cheeks. “Thank goodness you’re both okay. I
don’t know what I would have done if anything happened to you.” She leaned back and added, “Either of you.”
“We’re good, Nora, I promise. The E.M.T.s checked H.J., and he’s perfectly healthy. He won’t even remember this
happened.”
“But I will,” she told him. “You don’t know how grateful I am that you saved my son. Hank would be, too, if he were here.”
“I know,” Carter said with a nod. “I think he helped me while I was getting to H.J.—almost like a guardian angel.”
“I’ve never been so scared in all my life, Carter. When I realized you were gone, and someone saw you taking off, I didn’t
know what was going on until you called me.” She punched him in the arm and gave him a dirty look. “And from now on,
you’re not allowed to keep things from me, do you understand? We’re in this together from now on.”
“Do you mean that? Because when you say together, I want to believe that you mean that you want to be more than just
friends. That you love me as much as I love you, and you’re not going to run off on me again. My heart can’t take that. I need to
know—”
Nora raised her hand and placed her finger against Carter’s lips. “Shh, that’s enough of that, I’m done running,” she
whispered as she leaned up and replaced her finger with her mouth.
Carter’s eyes widened, and his mouth was stiff under the kiss, almost as if he couldn’t believe it was happening. Once he
did, he leaned into the kiss and deepened it. The fire that had been smoldering just underneath the surface between them ignited.
Nora wrapped her arms around his neck and let her hands tangle in his thick hair. She sighed against his lips, savoring their
first kiss that had been a long time coming.
“That was better than I ever imagined,” he told her as she pulled back and took H.J. from his arms.
“I know. I can’t believe I put so many obstacles in my own way.”
“Our way. You held out on me so long, I honestly wondered if it was ever going to happen.”
“Well, was it worth the wait?” she teased with a mischievous smile.
“I’m still debating that,” he jested back, causing her to give him a second dirty look. “But, seriously, Nora, I need you to
know, you’re both worth it. I don’t just love you, I love H.J., too, just as if he were my own son.”
“Really?” Nora asked with joy. “I never even hoped for such a thing.”
“It’s true. I want the whole package with you, Nora, and I don’t want H.J. to be an only child. I want him to have lots and
lots of siblings.”
“Says the man who proclaimed he would never settle down,” Nora contested with a quirk of her eyebrow.
“That’s because there was never anyone other than you, Nora. When you married Hank, I was truly happy for you, but it
confirmed me as a bachelor for life. I would have remained that way if you had gotten to live to a ripe old age with Hank. I
swear I would have been content to have both of you as friends, and be the teasing uncle that came around on holidays. Then
things changed. Hank was taken from us, and I wanted to be there for you and the baby. Along the way, my feelings for you
came back and started to take over. I should have told you what was happening, but I was afraid of how you would take it.”
“You were right to be. I knew you were going to kiss me in the nursery back in Boston, and that’s why I took off. I couldn’t
be around you anymore without wanting to be with you. I had it all mixed up in my head that it was a betrayal of Hank if I let it
happen.”
“But it’s not, Nora. He would want us to be happy,” Carter insisted.
“I know that now. I was scared to admit it before, but I’m not anymore. I love you, Carter.”
“Good, because I love you, too, and I’m never going to let you go again.” Carter reached out and pulled her and H.J. into
his arms. He leaned down and placed a passionate kiss on her lips, solidifying their choice to be together. H.J. cooed,
wrapping his fingers around both Carter and Nora’s fingers with each hand. It was as if he was giving his blessing, just as
Fuego barked his own seal of approval.

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in its natural state water and solid matter in the proportion of 90 parts
of the former to 10 parts of the latter, and if, we suppose, these 10
parts of solid matter to be cholenic acid with 5.87 per cent. of
nitrogen, then 100 parts of bile must contain 0.171 of nitrogen in the
form of taurine, which quantity is contained in .06 parts of theine, or,
in other words, 272 grains of theine can give to an ounce of bile the
quantity of nitrogen it contains in the form of taurine. The action of
the compound in ordinary circumstances is not obvious, but that it
unquestionably exists and exerts itself in both tea and coffee is
proven by the fact that both were originally met with among nations
whose diet was chiefly vegetable. These facts clearly show in what
manner tea proves to the poor a substitute for animal food, and why
it is that females, literary persons and others of sedentary habits or
occupation, who take but little exercise, manifest such a partiality for
tea, and also explain why the numerous attempts made to substitute
other articles in its place have so signally failed.

TEA AS A STIMULANT.
“Life without stimulants would be a dreary waste,” remarks some
modern philosopher, which, if true, the moderate use of good tea,
properly prepared and not too strong, will be found less harmful than
the habitual resort to alcoholic liquors. The impression so long
existing that vinous or alcoholic beverages best excite the brain and
cause it to produce more or better work is rapidly being exploded,
healthier and more beneficial stimulants usurping their place. But
while the claims made in favor of the “wine cup” must be admitted, it
cannot for a moment be denied that as excellent literary work has
been accomplished under the influence of tea, in our own times,
particularly when the poet, the essayist, the historian, the statesman
and the journalist no longer work under the baneful influence of
spirituous stimulants. Mantegaza, an Italian physiologist of high
repute, who has given the action of tea and other stimulants careful
study, confirms this claim by placing tea above all other stimulants,
his enthusiasm for it being almost unbounded, crediting it with “the
power of dispelling weariness and lessening the annoyances of life,
classing it as the greatest friend to the man of letters by enabling him
to work without fatigue, and to society as an aid to conversation,
rendering it more easy and pleasant, reviving the drooping
intellectual activity and the best stimulus to exertion, and finally
pronouncing it to be one of the greatest blessings of Providence to
man.”
Tea was Johnson’s only stimulant, he loved it as much as Porson
loved gin, drinking it all times and under all circumstances, in bed
and out, with his friends and alone, more particularly while compiling
his famous dictionary. Boswell drank cup after cup, as if it had been
the “Heliconian spring.” While Hazlitt, like Johnson, was a prodigious
tea-drinker, Shelley’s favorite beverage was water, but at the same
time tea was always grateful to him. Bulwer’s breakfast was
generally composed of dry toast and cold tea, and De Quincy states
that he invariably drank tea from eight o’clock at night until four in the
morning, when engaged in his literary labors, and knew whereof he
spoke when he named tea “the beverage of the intellectual.” Kent
usually had a cup of tea and a pipe of tobacco, on which he worked
eight hours at a stretch, and Motley, the historian tells us that he
“usually rose at seven, and with the aid of a cup of tea only, wrote
until eleven.” And Victor Hugo, as a general rule, used tea freely, but
fortifying it with a little brandy. Turning from literature to politics, we
find that Palmerston resorted to tea during the midnight sessions of
Parliament. Cobden declaring “the more work he had to do the more
tea he drank,” and Gladstone himself confesses to drinking large
quantities of tea between midnight and morning during the prolonged
parliamentary sittings, while Clemenceau, the leader of the French
Radicals, admits himself to be “an intemperate tea-drinker” during
the firey discussions of debate.
In moderation, tea is pre-eminently the beverage of the twilight hour,
when tired humanity seeks repose after a day of wearying labor.
Then the hot infusion with its alluring aroma refreshing and
stimulating, increasing the respiration, elevating the pulse, softening
the temper, producing tranquility in mind and body, and creating a
sense of repose peculiarly grateful to those who have been taxed
and tormented by the rush and routine of business cares and
vexations. What a promoter of sociability, what home comforts does
it not suggest, as, when Cowper, on a winter’s evening, draws a
cheerful picture of the crackling fire, the curtained windows, the
hissing urn and “the cup that cheers?” When, however, tea drinking
ceases to be the amusement of the leisure moment or resorted to in
too large quantities or strong infusions as a means of stimulating the
flagging energies to accomplish the allotted task, whatever it might
be, then distinct danger commences. A breakdown is liable to ensue
in more than one way, as not infrequently the stimulus which tea in
time fails to give is sought in alcoholic or other liquors, and the atonic
dyspepsia which the astringent decoction produced, by overdrawing
induces, helps to drive the victim to seek temporary relief in spirits
chloral or the morphine habit, which is established with extraordinary
rapidity. For it is a truth that as long as a person uses stimulants
simply for their taste he is comparatively safe, but as soon as he
begins to drink them for effect he is running into great danger. This
may be stating the case too forcibly for stimulants, but if this rule was
more closely adhered to we should have fewer cases of educated
people falling into the habit of secret intemperance or morphomania.

TEA AND THE POETS.

The subdued irascibility, the refreshed spirits, and the renewed
energies which the student and the poet so often owed to tea has
been the theme of many an accomplished pen, eminent writers of all
times and all countries considering it no indignity to extol the virtues
of this precious and fascinating beverage. What Bacchanalian and
hunting songs, cavalier and sea songs, rhapsodies and laudations of
other subjects have been to our literature, such was tea to the
writers, poets, artists and musicians of China and Japan, theirs being
confined to the simple subject—Tea. Each plantation was supposed
to possess its own peculiar virtues and excellences, not unlike the
vineyards of the Rhine, the Rhone and the Moselle, each had its
poet to sing its praises in running rhymes. One Chinese bard, who
seemingly was an Anacreon in his way, magnifying the product of
the Woo-e-shan mountains in terms literally translated as follows:—

“One ounce does all disorders cure.

With two your troubles will be fewer,
Three to the bones more vigor give,
With four forever you will live
As young as on your day of birth,
A true immortal on the earth.”

However hyperbolical this testimony may be considered, it at least

serves to show the high estimation in which the plant was held in
China.
The first literary eulogist to espouse the cause of the new drink in
Europe was Edmund Waller, reciting how he became first induced to
taste it. In a poem containing several references to the leaf occurs
the following pregnant allusion to tea:—

“The muses friend doth our fancy aid,

Repress these vapors which the head invade,
Keeping that palace of the soul serene.”

That Queen Anne ranked among its votaries is manifest from Pope’s
celebrated couplet:—

“Though great Anna, whom the realms obey,

Doth sometimes counsel take and—sometimes Tea.”

Johnson did not make verses in its honor, but he has drawn his own
portrait as “a hardened and shameless tea drinker, who for twenty
years diluted his meals with an infusion of this fascinating plant,
whose kettle had scarcely time to cool, who with tea amused the
evening, with tea solaced the night, and with tea welcomed the
morning.” While Brady, in his well-known metrical version of the
psalms, thus illustrates its advantages:—

“Over our tea conversations we employ,

Where with delight instructions we enjoy,
 Quaffing without waste of time or wealth
The soverign drink of pleasure and of health.”

Cooper’s praise of the beverage has been sadly hackneyed,

nevertheless, as the Laureate of the tea table, his lines are worthy of
reproduction here:—

“While the bubbling and loud hissing urn

Throws up a steaming column, and the cup
That cheers, but not inebriates, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in.”

That Coleridge, in his younger days, must have liked tea is inferred
from the following stanza:—

“Though all unknown to Greek and Roman song,

The paler Hyson and the dark Souchong,
Which Kieu-lung, imperial poet praised
So high that cent, per cent. its price was raised.”

Gray eulogizing it:—

“Through all the room

From flowing tea exhales a fragrant fume.”

Byron, in his latter years, became an enthusiast on the use of tea,

averring that he “Must have recourse to black Bohea,” still later
pronouncing Green tea to be the “Chinese nymph of tears.” And in
addition to the praises sung to it by English-speaking poets and
essayists, its virtues have also been sounded by Herricken and
Francius in Greek verse, by Pecklin, in Latin epigraphs, by Pierre
Pettit, in a poem of five hundred lines, as well as by a German
versifier, who celebrated, in a fashion of his own, “The burial and
happy resurrection of tea.” In opposition to the “country parson,” who
calls tea “a nerveless and vaporous liquid,” and Balzac, who
describes it as an “insipid and depressing beverage,” the author of
“Eothen” records his testimony to “the cheering, soothing influence of
the steaming cup that Orientals and Europeans alike enjoy.”
 CHAPTER IX.

WORLD’S PRODUCTION
AND

CONSUMPTION.

The first direct importation of tea into England was in 1669, and
consisted of but “100 pounds of the best tea that could be procured.”
In 1678 this order was increased to 4,713 pounds, which appears to
have “glutted the market;” the following six years the total
importations amounting to only 410 pounds during that entire period.
How little was it possible from these figures to have foreseen that tea
would one day become one of the most important articles of foreign
productions consumed.
Up to 1864 China and Japan were practically the only countries
producing teas for commercial purposes. In that year India first
entered the list as an exporter of tea, being subsequently followed by
Java and Ceylon. In 1864, when India first entered the list of tea-
producing countries, China furnished fully 97 per cent. of the world’s
supply and India only 3, the latter increasing at such a marvelous
rate that it now furnishes 57, China declining to 43 per cent. of the
total.

TABLE 1.
ESTIMATED TEA PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD.
 Countries. Production Exportation
(Pounds). (Pounds).
China, 1,000,000,000 300,000,000
Japan, 100,000,000 50,000,000
India, 100,000,000 95,000,000
Ceylon, 50,000,000 40,000,000
Java, 20,000,000 10,000,000
Singapore, 20,000 10,000
Fiji 30,000 20,000
Islands,
South 50,000 20,000
Africa,
—————— —————
Total, 1,270,100,000 495,050,000
From these estimates it will be noted that China ranks first in tea-
producing countries, followed by Japan, India, Ceylon and Java in
the order of their priority; the total product of the other countries
having little or no effect as yet on the world’s supply.
This most important food auxiliary is now in daily use as a beverage
by probably over one-half the population of the entire world, civilized
as well as savage, the following being the principal countries of
consumption:—

TABLE 2.
ESTIMATED TEA CONSUMPTION OF THE WORLD.

Countries. Consumption Per

(Pounds). capita
(Pounds).
Austria, 1,000,000 0.03
Australia, 18,000,000 4.50
Belgium 130,000 0.03
China, 800,000,000 3.00
Canada, 23,000,000 4.00
Central 13,000,000 ...
Asia,
Denmark, 850,000 0.37
France, 1,250,000 0.03
Germany, 4,000.000 0.09
Holland, 5,000,000 1.20
Italy, 60,000 0.01
India, 5,000,000 ...
Japan, 50,000,000 4.00
Java, 5,009,000 1.00
Norway, 165,000 0.09
New 4,500,000 7.50
Zealand,
Portugal, 600,000 0.12
Russia, 100,000,000 1.70
Spain, 275,000 0.02
Sweden, 150,000 0.03
Switzerland, 150,000 0.08
South 600,000 0.80
Africa,
South 12,000,000 0.03
America,
Straits 1,000,000 ...
Settlements,
United 82,000,000 1.50
States,
United 180,000,000 5.94
Kingdom,
West Indies, 300,000 0.03
—————— ——
Total, 1,308,039,000 1.67
From these estimates it will be observed that England ranks first in
the list of tea-consuming countries, the United States second, and
Russia third, the Australian colonies and Canada coming next in
order, comparatively little tea being used in France, Germany and
the other European countries. It is rarely used in some parts of the
globe, and is practically unknown in a great many other countries. It
is also apparent that 90 per cent. of the world’s supply is chiefly
consumed by English-speaking people, fully 75 per cent. of this
being used by England and her dependencies alone, the United
States being next in importance as a tea-consuming country. And it
may here be noted that while the world’s production of tea has been
very largely increased during the last quarter of a century in greater
ratio than that of any other of the great staples of commerce, the
production of China and Japan having increased at least 50 per cent.
in that period, to which must be added that of India and Ceylon, from
which countries little or none was received until a few years ago. Yet
it cannot be said that the consumption has increased in anything like
the same proportion, which will account for the great decline in price
in later years, and to prevent prices from going still lower it is evident
that new markets must be opened up for its sale in other countries
where it has not yet been introduced.

TABLE 3.
SUMMARY.

World’s 1,377,600,000
Production,
“ 1,307,130,000
Consumption,
—————
Surplus, 70,470,000

or

Quantity 503,100,000
 exported,
Consumption in 432,630,000
non-producing
countries,
—————
Surplus, 70,470,000
In England, particularly, the increase in the consumption of tea in late
years borders on the marvelous, the figures for 1890 reaching
upwards of 195,000,000 pounds, which, at the present rate of
increase, will, in all probability, exceed 200,000,000 in 1892, as in
the quarter of a century between 1865 and 1890 the consumption
rose from 3½ to 5 pounds per capita of the population. But as in the
latter half of that period strong India teas were more freely used,
being increased appreciably by the similar Ceylon product in the
closing years of that time largely displacing the lighter liquored teas
of China, a larger consumption is indicated by the number of gallons
of liquid yielded. This is calculated on the moderate estimate formed
in a report to the Board of Custom to the effect that if one pound of
China leaf produces five gallons of liquor of a certain depth of color
and body, one pound of India tea will yield seven and a half gallons
of a similar beverage. Then by allowing for an apparent arrest of the
advancing consumption when the process of displacement was only
commencing, the increase in the consumption of tea in the British
Islands has not only been steady but rapid; thus, from 17 gallons per
head in 1865 to 24 in 1876, 28 in 1886, reaching 33½ gallons per
head per annum in 1890, the figures of last year almost exactly
doubling that of the first year of the series, so that in consequence of
the introduction of the stronger products of India and Ceylon the
people of Britain have been enabled to double their consumption of
the beverage, although the percentage of increase in the leaf has
been only from 3½ to 5 pounds during the same period. Ceylon tea,
which a decade ago was only beginning to intrude itself as a new
and suspiciously regarded competitor in the English market with
products so well known and established as the teas of China and
India, has recently made such rapid progress that its position in the
British market in 1890, rated by home consumption, occupying third
place on the list. India teas 52 per cent., China 30 per cent., Ceylon
18 per cent.

TABLE 4.

Showing relative positions of kinds of Tea consumed in England, and

increase in pounds of same since 1880:—
Kind. 1880. 1885. 1890.
China, 126,000,000 113,500,000 60,000,000
India, 34,000,000 65,500,000 95,000,000
Ceylon, 3,000,000 24,000,000
In 1868, when the price of tea was reduced in England to an average
of 36 cents per pound, the consumption increased to the heretofore
unprecedented figures of 107,000,000 pounds, while in 1888, when
the average price was again reduced to 20 cents, owing to the
enormous increase in the production of India and Ceylon teas, the
total consumption became augmented to 185,000,000 pounds,
comprised as follows, in round numbers:—
Kinds. Pounds.
China teas, 80,000,000
India and Ceylon 105,000,000
teas,
————
Total, 185,000,000
The latter, for the first time on record, exceeding that of China teas,
being an almost exact inversion of the figures of 1886 in favor of
India and Ceylon teas, by which it will be seen that China is year by
year becoming of less importance as a source of tea supply to
English consumers. And as the demand becomes greater the
importations from India and Ceylon are constantly expanding, prices
being correspondingly reduced to an unprecedentedly low figure,
being now so cheap in the United Kingdom as to be in daily use in
almost every household. The relative positions of China, India and
Ceylon teas in England at the present writing being
Kind. Consumption,
Pounds.
India (estimated), 105,000,000
China “ 50,000,000
Ceylon “ 35,000,000
————
Total, 180,000,000
The proportion of Black tea consumed in England is about as 5 to 1,
the per capita consumption ranging from 5 to 6 pounds for the entire
population.
Ceylon teas continue to grow in public favor to a marvelous extent in
England and beyond anticipating in the natural growth of
consumption, they help fill up the yearly displacement of China teas.
The total production for 1890 was nearly 38,000,000 pounds against
over 30,000,000 pounds for 1889, and 18,500,000 pounds for 1888,
thus showing an increase of 19,500,000 pounds for the two years.
The supply for 1891 is about 40,000,000 pounds, the stock being
increased 3,000,000 pounds, which may be considered very
moderate and quite steady considering the steady all-round demand
there is for Ceylon teas in that country. But there is not the slightest
doubt but that the check which the consumption of China tea
appears to have sustained in England is entirely due to the forced
use of India and Ceylon teas in that country and her dependencies,
there being a positive revulsion of taste in many sections in favor of
the truer, purer and more delicate and richer of China teas. Medical
opinions have been recently given to prove that the excessive
quantity of tannin contained in India and Ceylon teas is very injurious
to health, and a revival of the Chinese tea-trade may be confidently
expected in the future.
So far as the English tea-trade is concerned the market for China
and Japan teas is now but a tame affair to what it was only a few
years ago, little interest being taken there in the tea product of these
countries. Year by year since 1885 China and Japan teas has had
less hold upon the English market, and it is remarkable to note how
continuously the consumption of these varieties have been on the
decline there from that time, notwithstanding their superior merits in
drawing and drinking qualities over both India and Ceylons. In that
year their consumption in the British isles amounted to over
113,000,000 pounds, but fell off to less than 105,000,000 pounds in
1886, to about 90,000,000 in 1887, to 80,000,000 in 1888, to
60,000,000 in 1889. The quantity of China and Japan teas
consumed in the whole United Kingdom declining to about
50,000,000 pounds in 1890, although the prices for them were
exceedingly low during that period. There are two main causes for
this serious reduction which have been in operation simultaneously
and for a length of time. The first was the great competition of India
teas stimulated for the reasons already named, and the second
cause the extraordinary favor that Ceylon teas found with English
consumers in 1888, when the quantity imported for use from that
island amounted to 18,500,000 pounds, or nearly double of what it
was the preceding year, the quantities cleared for 1889 and 1890
being respectively 28,500,000 pounds and 34,500,000 pounds,
showing an astonishing increase within the short space of three
years, and which fully accounts for the decadence of the English
demand for China and Japan teas. The consumption of the latter
varieties has retrograded there, while that for India and Ceylon teas
has increased proportionately, so that, although the market for the
former descriptions has occasionally given signs of revival, they
have been only spasmodic efforts at recovering, the much expected
and promised reaction soon subsiding. And instead of the
phenomenal cheapness of China and Japans being regarded as a
recommendation to consumers it has been used as an argument by
British dealers as an evidence of their unpopularity, and so
completely has the demand been transferred from China and Japan
teas to Indias and Ceylons that it has been no uncommon
occurrence for the latter kinds to be selling at improving rates whilst
the former descriptions have been disposable only at drooping
prices.
The enormous size of the tea estates in India and Ceylon as
compared with the small gardens of China and Japan give the
growers in the former countries several advantages over those in the
latter as they can be worked more systematically and with less
expense in larger areas. The use of machinery in curing and firing
also lessens the cost of preparation for market, together with a
saving in freight and quicker sale consequent to English preferences
giving a speedier return for the money invested. The advantages
which India and Ceylon tea-growers have over those of China are
greater command of capital, as in both India and Ceylon tea estates
are generally owned by companies consisting of shareholders whose
living is not dependent on the product of the plantations. The
companies can consequently afford to carry on the business at a
loss for several years, can purchase extensive tea lands, and can
spend large sums on machinery, labor and experiments as well as
on agents to introduce and distribute them. The India and Ceylon
tea-growers can obtain loans at a lower rate of interest, borrowing
money at from 4 to 5 per cent., while their Chinese competitors have
to pay from 20 to 30 per cent. for the same accommodations, in
addition to a command of better chemical and agricultural
knowledge. But against these admitted advantages of India and
Ceylon, China possesses one great advantage, that is, that the
Chinese grower, working for himself instead of wages, brings greater
care and more industry to the task. Experience with him takes the
place of science, and he is thus enabled to produce a finer flavored
tea than has yet or ever will be produced in either India or Ceylon.
Again the great decline in the consumption of China teas in England
and her dependencies cannot be attributed, as is so loudly
proclaimed by her statisticians, to any falling off in the quality of
China teas or any inherent merit possessed by those of India or
Ceylon, but simply to the narrow and contracted policy of her
merchants of favoring and forcing the product of her colonies to the
prejudice if not positive exclusion of that of the older tea-growing
countries.
In 1865 China exported over 120,000,000 pounds of tea, in 1870
nearly 170,000,000 pounds, in 1880 over 214,000,000 pounds,
reaching the enormous total of 221,000,000 pounds in 1890, thus
China’s export has also been increasing in a proportionate degree.
But although the figures for 1870 and 1890 show that in twenty years
it has nearly doubled, still it is not such a remarkable increase
relatively when compared with that of India, which during the same
period has increased nearly fourteen fold in quantity. In estimating
the probability of a recovery in the position of China teas in the
markets of the world the following considerations are of interest on
the subject: First, it is well known that the heavy Likin (grower’s tax)
Kutang (transit dues) and export duties levied on tea have
contributed in a great measure to the decadence of the tea-trade in
that country and to the development of that of India and Ceylon,
where the article, at least, starts free and unencumbered. The
Chinese laboring under this disadvantage, at the outset, have
endeavored to compete with India and Ceylon by reducing the cost
of production and lowering their standard of quality with a
consequent deterioration in the grade of the leaf. This changed
condition of the tea-trade may be attributed to these specific causes.
Fifty years ago India and Ceylon produced no tea, as it was not until
1840 that the export from the former began with a small venture of
400 pounds, since that year, however, the increase has been both
rapid and striking. Thus, commencing in 1840, the export has
steadily increased year after year until now, when the average
annual production reaches 100,000,000 pounds, of which England
consumes some 97,000,000 pounds, the balance going to Australia
and other of her colonies. It is contended by the Chinese themselves
that if the Likin and export duties were removed entirely or the export
duty alone reduced to an ad valorem charge of 5 per cent. it would
greatly help those engaged in the China tea-trade in their
competition with the growers and shippers of India and Ceylon,
others holding that a simple reduction of the duty will not
permanently benefit the China tea-trade unless it enables China to
lay down teas in Europe and America at a less price than can be
done by either India or Ceylon.
Russia is now regarded as the main hope of Chinese Congous and
sorts, the British islands consuming Indias and Ceylons almost
exclusively, the United States favoring Oolongs and Japans
principally. The trade in China teas with Russia is increasing
annually, while it is decreasing with England. In former years tea was
first shipped to England and thence to Russia, the Russian tea-
dealers now purchasing direct from China. The Russian demand
seems, in fact, to grow as fast as that from England declines,
constituting a total which is hardly suspected by those who are
interested in the trade, so that, although ousted from her monopoly,
China has still a great market for her produce.
Great quantities of tea are consumed in the domains of the Czar and
it is believed that the Russians use as much tea per capita as the
Chinese themselves. The “Samovar” or tea-urn is always steaming
and the natives never cease sipping tea while there is water left to
make it. It is served at all hours of the day, in palace as well as
hovel, being regarded as much a necessary of life there as bread or
tobacco. Shops abound for its sale in the principal cities; bargains
made and business transactions sealed over steaming tumblers of
tea.

TABLE 5.

The earliest official record of the importation of Tea into the United
States is in 1790, the order of increase for its importation, value and
consumption in the country by decades since that year being as
follows:—
Year. Imports, Value. Consumption Average
Pounds. per capita. Import
Price.
1790, 3,022,983 ...... ... ...
1800, 5,119,341 ...... ... ...
1810, 7,708,208 ...... ... ...
1820, ...... ...... ... ...
1830, 8,609,415 $2,425,018 0.53 22.3
1840, 20,006,595 5,427,010 0.99 24.1
1850, 29,872,654 4,719,232 0.87 27.9
 1860, 31,696,657 8,915,327 0.84 26.3
1870, 47,408,481 13,863,273 1.10 29.4
1880, 72,162,936 19,782,631 1.39 27.2
1890, 84,627,870 13,360,685 1.40 20.0
The first duty levied on tea by the United States was in 1789, when a
tax of 15 cents was imposed on all Black teas, 22 cents on Imperial
and Gunpowder, and 55 cents on Young Hyson. But in order to
stimulate American shipping these duties were reduced to 8, 13 and
26 cents respectively, the following year, when imported from Europe
in American vessels, and to 6, 10 and 20 cents when imported direct
from China in the same manner. In 1794, however, the rates were
increased 75 per cent. on direct importations, and 100 per cent. on
all teas shipped from Europe, but again reduced to 12,18 and 32
cents in 1796, the latter rates being doubled during the War of 1812.
In 1828 this tax was again reduced, being entirely removed in 1830,
except when imported in foreign bottoms, when a duty of 10 cents
per pound was collected. The latter rate continued in force up to the
outbreak of the Rebellion in 1861, when a uniform duty of 15 cents
per pound was placed on all teas, which was eventually increased to
20 cents and finally to 25 cents per pound. In January, 1871, this
duty was reduced to 15 cents, being entirely removed in July, 1872,
since which year tea has been uninterruptedly on the free list in the
United States.

TABLE 6.

Showing net imports, value and per capita consumption of tea in the
United States, from 1885 to 1891, inclusive:—
Year. Net Imports, Value. Per
Pounds. Capita,
Pounds.
1880, 69,894,760 $18,983,368 1.39
1881, 79,130,849 20,225,418 1.54
1882, 77,191,060 18,975,045 1.47
 1883, 69,597,945 16,278,894 1.30
1884, 60,061,944 12,313,200 1.09
1885, 65,374,365 13,135,782 1.18
1886, 78,873,151 15,485,265 1.37
1887, 87,481,186 16,365,633 1.49
1888, 83,944,547 13,154,171 1.40
1889, 79,192,253 12,561,812 1.28
1890, 83,494,956 12,219,633 1.33
1891, 82,395,924 13,639,785 1.32

TABLE 7.

Estimated average annual Quantity and Value of tea imported into

the United States:—
Countries. Quantity, Value.
Pounds.
China, 43,000,000 $7,000,000
Japan, 38,000,000 5,500,000
India, 100,000 20,000
Java, 200,000 30,000
Ceylon, 100,000 20,000
England, 3,000,000 650,000
Ireland, 1,000 500
Scotland, 12,000 2,500
Germany, 10,000 2,000
Russia, 200 60
Belgium, 50 25
Canada, 300,000 50,000
———— ————
Total, 85,000,000 $13,000,000
The average annual exports range from 1,000,000 to 5,000,000
pounds.

TABLE 8.

Showing varieties most in demand in the United States:—

Varieties. Kinds. Quantity,
Pounds.
Oolong, (Formosa), 10,000,000
“ (Amoy and 8,000,000
Foochow),
Green (all kinds), 10,000,000
Teas,
Japans, “ 38,000,000
Pekoes (China), 10,000,000
and
Congous,
India, Java and 6,000,000
Ceylon,
————
Total, 82,000,000
During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, there was imported into
the United States, at all ports, 84,627,870 pounds of tea, of which
43,043,651 pounds were received from China and 37,627,560
pounds from Japan, the balance consisting of imports from India,
Java and Ceylon, received via England and Holland. The United
States official reports show that tea represents 27 per cent. of the
total value of imported merchandise into this country. The gross
trade in the article, however, even at retail prices, does not exceed
$35,000,000, the total annual value of all food products being about
$220,000,000, of which tea only represents a value of $13,000,000,
equivalent to about 6 per cent. of the whole.
In round numbers the consumption of tea in the principal importing
countries has increased from 350,000,000 pounds in 1880 to
upwards of 400,000,000 pounds in 1892. To which may be added for
the minor consuming countries another 60,000,000 pounds, in which
case we get a grand total of 460,000,000 pounds. Tea consumption
in India and Ceylon is scarce worth computing, and it is also claimed
that the consumption in China has been greatly exaggerated, for
although the Chinese drink tea constantly much of the liquor is little
different from hot water, so that to credit China and her feudatories
with another 500,000,000 pounds would be an extravagant estimate.
But, admitting it to be near the mark, we may then take in round
numbers 1,000,000,000 pounds of leaf, or say 6,000,000,000
gallons, as the world’s annual consumption of tea. But it is
confidently predicted that if peace be preserved and wealth and
civilization continues to advance that much greater increase during
the closing years of the present century and the whole of the
twentieth century—for large portions of mankind are at length
discovering that alcohol with its “borrowed fire” is a deceiver and a
curse. If the civilization of an age or a community can be tested by
the quantity of sulphuric acid which it uses, much more certainly can
the moral status of a time and a people be judged by a comparison
of the quantities of alcoholic and non-alcoholic stimulants it uses.
All teas have declined one-half in value during the past ten years,
owing to the increased production of India and Ceylon, the position
of the market at the present time is, however, unique and unusual.
Heretofore the rule has been for the supply to exceed the demand,
particularly of China tea, it being the custom to claim that the market
would never run short of the latter, as the production could be
increased to meet any sudden or excessive demand. Now, however,
the position is entirely different, the shortage in China tea the past
year reaching some 21,000,000 pounds, to which must be added the
increase in consumption of 11,500,000 pounds, due in a measure to
the reduction of the duty in England, against which deficit is to be
placed the increase of production in India of 3,000,000 pounds, and
that of Ceylon of 15,000,000 pounds, but still leaving a shortage of
14,000,000 pounds. This position has led to an advance in China
common grades, part of which is undoubtedly due to speculation.