wasn’t going without the two of you. That’s when I got mad and stabbed my knife into the table.”
“Right when Mom walked back into the room,” Kal said.
Rafe nodded. “I give her credit for not flipping out. She just pulled up a chair next to you and asked if you were planning to stab one of us, or if there was something else making you mad.”
“Yeah,” Jackson said, his lips curving into a smile. “She was always so calm. It’s one of the things I love most about her. Her feathers are never ruffled.”
“Whose feathers?”
Rafe looked up to see their mother walking into the kitchen. Kal got up and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Hey, Mom. We were just reminiscing about the kitchen table. And Jackson’s knife mark in it.”
“Oh, that.” She laid her stuff on the table by the doorway. “And you think that didn’t upset me?”
“You seemed so calm about it,” Jackson said.
She slid in the chair next to Jackson. “To you, yes. I cried in my room that night, I was so afraid you were going to leave us.”
“Aww, Mom.” Jackson put his arm around her and tugged her against him. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“You’re home early today,” Kal said.
“Yes. We’re closing on the new house this afternoon, so I took half a day off.”
Rafe grinned. “Yeah? That’s exciting. This place should be ready to go within a week.”
“No worries. We actually have someone interested in buying the house already.”
“Really?” Jackson asked. “Who?”
“Glen and Paula English’s son, Tim.”
“I remember Tim from school,” Rafe said. “Didn’t he move to Orlando after college?”
Mom nodded. “But he just got a new position here. Tim’s wife, Stacy, landed a job already as well.”
“That’s great,” Kal said.
“Yes, it is,” their mom said. “They’re looking for a place near Tim’s parents because Paula is going to watch their twins. They know we’ve been fixing our house up to sell, so Paula asked me how soon it would be ready.”
“Not putting it on the market would be ideal,” Jackson said.
“I agree,” Mom said. “Tim and Stacy will be flying in this weekend, so they’re going to come by and look at the house. But it being just around the corner from Paula and Glen’s, if it works out and if they like our house, I’m hoping we can work out a deal.”
“We’ll make sure to have the backyard landscaping finished by then,” Kal said.
Rafe nodded. “Not a problem at all, Mom.”
“You all have been so good at pitching in to help us make this place beautiful again. I’m almost sad to leave.”
Jackson laughed. “No, you’re not. You have that big, beautiful house to move into that has everything you’ve always wanted. The office, the pool, that fancy bathroom.”
“You’re right. I’m excited about the new house. But I’ll still be sad to leave this place.”
Rafe figured she’d be sad to leave until she moved all of her favorite pieces of furniture into the new house and had a chance to decorate. Then she’d forget all about this place.
They finished up the yard work around five. Mom asked them if they wanted to stay for dinner. Kal stayed behind, but Jackson and Rafe went home.
The two of them kicked back for a while and played video games. After their team dominated one of the war games, Jackson laid his controller on the table.
“I need to go take a shower. Becks and I are going to eat and see a movie. Then there’s a club one of her clients told her about that we’re gonna check out tonight.”
He appreciated his brother making plans out of the house tonight. “Sounds fun. Have a great time.”
Kal had already texted that he was probably going to crash at Mom and Dad’s tonight because he and Dad were packing up some things in the garage.
So if Kal had already talked to Jackson about wanting to move out of Station 6, Kal might have a conversation one-on-one with Dad tonight about it. Or maybe he’d wait and go through official channels.
As Kal’s lieutenant, it was Jackson’s job to mention it to their captain when one of their firefighters was interested in transferring. Then Captain Mathias would bring it to the battalion chief—Dad—who would move things up the chain if they felt that particular firefighter was qualified for a new position.
Rafe was curious as hell about Kal’s situation. He wanted his brother to be happy. And if he wasn’t content on Ladder 6, it wasn’t good for the rest of the