By the time Sally finally made it back to the station kitchen, she found Ross stirring the soup, which bubbled gently on the stove. He was more talented than she had given him credit for.

      “Hey, I’m glad you could join me. I thought I was going to have to take all the glory.” He grinned at her. The kind that caused a flutter in her middle. Why him? Why now? He was a nice guy. The kind she might be able to trust. She shook her head. If it was another time in her life, she might be tempted.

      She smirked. “Like I was going to let that happen.”

      “You were right. Looks like I can brown meat and dump cans of vegetables.” He sounded pleased with himself.

      “Turns out you have more talent than you let on.”

      “Some say that about other areas as well.” His comment sounded offhand but she suspected there might be more to it. Was Ross flirting with her? No, that wasn’t possible. What if it was? She had to stop thinking like that. There was nothing but trouble down that road.

      Suddenly self-conscious, she cleared her throat. “So where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?” She pulled the loaf of bread that was sitting on the counter toward her. “I’ll get the grilled cheeses ready. Everyone must be hungry.” She started buttering bread.

      “What’re you doing there?”

      “Making fast and easy grilled cheese sandwiches. Pull out one of those large sheet pans, please.” Sally kept moving the knife over the bread as she spoke. “Then get the sliced cheese and start putting it on the bread. We’ll slip it into the oven, put it on broil, and we should have grilled cheeses in no time.”

      Ross went to work without question. Soon they had the sandwiches browning. “I’ll get the plates, bowls and things while you go tell everyone soup’s on.”

      “Are you always so bossy?” Ross asked as he exited the kitchen.

      Did he really think she was dictatorial? She never thought of herself as being that way. Yet Wade had complained she was always on his case. Toward the end of their marriage, she guessed she had been. Wade hadn’t ever been at home. More often than not he’d been between jobs; either it wasn’t the right one or he was too smart to work with the people around him, or some other excuse. His parents had raised him to believe he could do no wrong.

      She’d dreamed of being a doctor all through high school but after she and Wade had married he’d not wanted his wife going to school. He’d said school took up too much of her time. Time she could be spending with him. He’d never been a fan of her working as a paramedic, but she’d refused to give up volunteering when she’d been needed so badly by their rural community. That was the only thing she had defied him on. She had wanted their marriage to work.

      Looking back, she could see how selfish Wade really was. That had certainly been brought home when she’d learned he was having an affair. But where she’d really messed up was not seeing through Wade before she’d married him. Her judgment had been off, so caught up in the fantasy rather than the reality. Next time, she’d be more careful about who she opened her heart to.

      Ross returned with the other firefighters on his heels. Over the next hour the company shared a meal, told stories and laughed. When the meal was over, she and Ross cleaned up, each thankful that most of the dishes went into the dishwasher.

      Ross was washing the last of the pots when his phone rang. He shook off his wet hands and pulled the phone out of his pocket. He moved away from the sink and Sally stepped into his spot. She was tired and still had paperwork to take care of. Hopefully they wouldn’t be called out anytime soon.

      As she rinsed off the pan, Ross said with a disappointed note in his voice, “I’ll work something out.” He paused. “No, you can’t help it,” he said, before saying his goodbyes and hanging up the phone.

      Sally hesitated to say anything, afraid it might be wrong, but didn’t want to appear unsympathetic. “Everything all right?”

      “No, not really. The lady I have watching Olivia and Jared while I work? Her mother has had an accident and Marcy has to go help her. That leaves me having to find someone to help me out.”

      “Would swapping shifts help?”

      He was scrolling through the numbers on his phone. “Naw, I’ve got a meeting with the Chief. One I can’t afford to miss.” Ross spoke more to himself than to her.

      “What day are you talking about?” Sally dried her hands on a dishrag.

      “This Friday.” He still wasn’t giving her his attention.

      “I’m not on the rest of the week. I have too much overtime. I’ll watch them. If you don’t mind Lucy joining us.”

      “Hey, if you’d do that it would be great. Jared and Olivia would love to have someone to play with.”

      “There’s only one problem.” She paused until she had his attention. “I don’t think three kids are going to be happy overnight at my place. It’s too small. I guess I could ask Kody if we could go there.”

      “Y’all can come to my place. There’s plenty of room there. A lot of space outside to play. Plus, Jared’s and Olivia’s stuff is already there.”

      “Are you sure?”

      He took the pot from her and put it under the cabinet. “Of course I am. You’re doing me a favor.”

      Sally wasn’t sure that going to Ross’s house was a good idea. It seemed as if they were getting too friendly. Yet her place was so small and Kody’s would be a little tight for three active kids as well. She didn’t see another good choice. “That would probably be best.”

      He studied her a moment. “I’ll owe you big-time for this.”

      “Don’t worry about it. It sounds fun. The kids and I’ll have a good time together.”

      “If you could come out around eleven, that should give me time to show you around then get to town in time to start my shift. I’ll text you my address.” He headed out the door.

      “Hey, don’t you need my number?”

      He looked bashful. Cute, in fact. “I guess that would be helpful.”

      “You don’t arrange childcare often, do you?”

      “Nope.” Ross grinned. “It’s a fine art I’m just now learning.”

      She gave him her number. He punched it into his phone, then he was gone.