Sean's Reckoning - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,50
discipline are essential. I can’t have rogue firefighters making decisions that put their lives or the lives of others at risk. If you two had gotten yourselves killed in that fire, the buck would have stopped with me. I was the highest-ranking officer on the scene.”
Sean knew he was right. Jack Beatty was a career firefighter who’d risen through the ranks, a man who took his responsibilities seriously. He’d made a tough call under extreme pressure. That Sean’s instincts had been right was almost beside the point. He could just as easily have been wrong, and three people could have died inside that burning building.
“I couldn’t let that old man die in there, not when there was a chance I could save him,” Sean said, then held up his hand when the lieutenant seemed about to argue. “However, I see your point. It wasn’t my call to make.”
“And next time you’ll listen to the officer in charge,” the lieutenant coaxed.
“And next time I’ll try to listen to the officer in charge, before doing something on my own,” Sean said.
Jack uttered a resigned sigh. “Close enough. I’ll speak to the mayor. You can have your medals, but he can forget the parade.”
“Was he really talking about a parade?” Hank asked.
Sean frowned at him. “Be grateful we’re not sitting on our butts doing nothing for a month.”
Hank glanced pointedly at the cast on his ankle. “I’m pretty certain I’m going to be sitting on mine, even though Jack, here, has let us off the hook.”
“Yes, but you’ll still have a paycheck,” Sean pointed out. “If you’re smart, you’ll talk Ruby into going to some romantic seaside cottage while you recuperate.”
“You’ve got plenty of vacation time coming,” the lieutenant pointed out to Sean. “You could take a break, too. I know how you hate working with anyone besides Hank, because the other men actually listen to what I tell them to do.”
Sean tried to imagine a week on Cape Cod with Deanna and Kevin. The idea held tremendous appeal, but he doubted he could get her to go for it…unless Hank and Ruby went, as well. Maybe they could convince the women this was a real mission of mercy.
“I’ll think about it,” he told the lieutenant. “And thanks for letting us off the hook this time.”
“Self-preservation,” Jack said. “Can you imagine the outcry if two men who’d saved an old man’s life ended up suspended?” He patted Hank’s shoulder, then shook Sean’s hand. “You two try to stay out of trouble, okay?”
“We always do,” Hank said solemnly.
The lieutenant shook his head. “If only that were true.”
After he’d gone, Sean felt Hank’s gaze studying him. “What?”
“You’ve got something going on in that head of yours. Care to tell me about it?”
“I was thinking about Cape Cod,” he admitted. “The five of us out there for a week. I could call a couple of people, see if there’s a house available. What do you think?”
Hank’s expression grew thoughtful. “I suppose Ruby might go for it, if you guys came along.”
“I was thinking the same about Deanna. She’ll only say yes if you and Ruby agree and we play the pity card, tell ‘em we need to recuperate from our ordeal.”
“It won’t exactly be a romantic getaway with all of us under one roof,” Hank said. “But that’s a good thing, right? Keeps things from getting too serious.”
“Right,” Sean agreed, warming to the idea. “I’m thinking a big house, lots of bedrooms.”
Hank grinned. “And if some of them don’t happen to get used, well, that’s just too bad.”
“Hey, watch it,” Sean chided. “There will be a kid present.”
“I’m injured,” Hank said pitifully. “Let me dream.”
Sean laughed. “Okay, you dream. I’m going to make some calls. Then we can talk to Ruby and Deanna. You should probably go first. If you can sell Ruby on the idea, she’ll help with Deanna.”
“Use the kid,” Hank recommended. “You talk Kevin into a week at the beach, his mother will never say no.”
“That would be sneaky and underhanded,” Sean retorted, then sighed. “I’ll only use it if I have to.”
This trip was going to be perfect. He was going to get a little quality time with Deanna, Kevin was going to get a real vacation at the beach, and Deanna was going to get some much needed R and R. And all of it in the guise of keeping poor, injured Hank company. How noble and selfless was that?
Deanna listened to Sean’s entire pitch with a perfectly straight face. It