My Butterfly

Chapter Ten False Alarm

“Damn it,” I said, under my breath, as I turned the knob that quieted the tones.

My eyes found hers. She was disappointed; I could tell. But she put on a soft smile anyway.

“I’ll get it to go,” she said.

I felt a heavy sigh escape past my lips.

“Thanks, babe,” I said, pushing out my chair and stepping toward her. “Do you mind hangin’ out with Jeff for awhile.”

Still smiling, she shook her head.

I kissed her lips and gestured over to Jeff. Jeff scurried over and planted his feet in front of me.

“Are you getting off soon?” I asked him.

“Yeah, in about ten minutes,” he said, glancing at his watch.

“Good,” I said. “Can you take Julia to wherever she wants to go?”

“Sure,” Jeff said, smiling a wide, toothy grin in Julia’s direction.

“Thanks, buddy,” I said, patting him on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry, baby,” I said to Jules. “I’ll call you when we’re finished.”

“Okay,” she said. “Be careful.”

“I will,” I replied, before turning and hurrying out the door.

Moments later, I was jumping into my truck and reaching into the backseat for my light. It took me a second, but I eventually found it, stuck it to the roof and flipped it on.

The first week she was back in town from school, and I had a call. I let go of another big sigh and then threw the truck into reverse and then first.

The fire station wasn’t even a mile down the road from the tiny bar, and about a minute later, I was already pulling into the little parking lot. It looked as though I was the first one there, except for the captain, who always seemed to be there. I quickly turned off the ignition and jumped out, slamming the door behind me.

Within seconds, I was inside the station and thrusting my hand against the button on the wall that sent the bay doors flying open.

By the time I reached my gear, someone was already behind me. It was Mike. He usually drove the tanker truck if we needed it, but we wouldn’t be needing it today.

I stepped into my pants and boots and threw the suspenders over my shoulders. My jacket was hanging on a hook on the wall. I grabbed it and forced my arms into its holes. Then, I grabbed my hat.

“Nothin’ like gettin’ a call in the middle of an argument with your wife,” Mike said, with a wide grin.

I paused and smiled back at him. He was still wiggling into his pants.

“You kissed her though, right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said, chuckling. “But I’ll still hear about it later, I’m sure.”

I laughed once and flung open the driver’s side door and climbed behind the wheel. Then, I started the engine and flipped a switch, and immediately, red lights bounced off of the walls of the station and back into the cab. My eyes scanned the gauges in the dash. Everything looked okay. My attention then turned to the captain’s door when I saw it fly open. I watched as the captain climbed into the seat next to mine, and seconds later, Mike followed, jumping into the back.

As soon as the doors slammed shut, I let off the brake and stepped on the gas. And when the front tires hit the street, I reached up and flipped another switch. Instantly, loud sirens poured from the top of the truck.

We arrived at the address on the scanner within minutes, almost beating the chief, who had just pulled up in his own vehicle. There was a woman standing outside with two, small children. I recognized the woman’s face. She was new in town — just moved into old-man McConnell’s house. I had met her at the hardware store just last week.

“You got this one, Will?” the captain asked.

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“Okay, we’re just going to go on inside then and check things out,” he said.

“All right,” I replied, as I pulled the truck near the curb on the street.

As soon as the engine stopped, the two guys in the cab with me slid out, and I followed after them.

“Ms. Evans,” I said, greeting the woman with a head nod.

She smiled. I wasn’t sure if she recognized me or not. She looked a little shaken. The two kids in her arms looked as if they couldn’t be any older than seven. One looked scared, maybe on the verge of tears. The other, however, was bright-eyed and seemed to be more fascinated by the fire engine’s lights and the strange men wearing space suits on his lawn than any threat of danger. I smiled at the kids and then looked back up at their mother.

“Did you smell any smoke, ma’am?” I asked her.

I watched as the captain, Mike and the chief opened the door to the house and slipped in. Then, I saw the woman shake her head.

“No,” she said, softly, squeezing her children closer. “The smoke detector went off in my daughter’s room. I couldn’t smell anything, but I just wanted to be sure. It’s an old house, you know. Maybe I shouldn’t have called, but I just wanted to be sure…”

I stopped her.

“I’m glad you called,” I said, gently smiling. “We’ll take a look. We’ll make sure there’s nothing unusual.”

A soft smile started to grow on the woman’s face. Then, she took a deep breath and then forced it out.

“Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome, ma’am,” I said and then made my way toward her front door.

Just inside the heavy storm door, I could already tell the house was in a world better shape than when old-man McConnell had the place. There were curtains now, and the blinds were open. And there weren’t stacks of newspapers sitting in dark corners anymore. I scanned the first level one more time. Then, I headed up the stairs to the second floor and saw the captain and the chief when I reached the top of the steps.

“Anything?” I asked.

They shook their heads.

“She said the smoke detector in the daughter’s room went off,” I said.

“Yeah, there’s no smoke, no smell, nothing burning,” the captain said. “The smoke detector in one of the rooms needed its batteries changed. Was that a girl’s room, Mike?”

“With the detector?” Mike called out from down the hallway.

“Yeah,” the captain hollered back.

“Yeah, I think so,” Mike bellowed. “It looked like it, unless the boy has some obsession with The Powerpuff Girls.”

The chief shot me a puzzled look.

“What the hell is he talking about?” he asked. “How does he know that?”

I laughed and shook my head.

“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s Mike.”

“Anyway,” the captain said. “We put new batteries in the girl’s room. Otherwise, it looks fine. I think we’re clear.”

“All right,” I said, turning back down the stairs.

The chief followed after me, and the captain and Mike followed after him.

“This place looks a lot different from when old-man McConnell lived here,” Mike said, legging behind us.

“You miss the dust and the cobwebs, Mike?” I asked him.

“Yeah, that and the cigar smell,” he said, laughing.

I laughed once and then made my way to the front door and pushed through it.

“Ms. Evans,” I said, nearing her. “Everything looks fine. We changed the batteries in your daughter’s smoke detector. But if it goes off again or if you think anything’s unusual, don’t hesitate to call us again.”

The woman bashfully smiled.

“The hardware store,” she said.

I paused for a moment.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, smiling.

“Will,” she said.

I nodded my head.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said.

I watched her lips rise at their corners.

“Thank you,” she said.

I smiled again, then tipped my hat and made my way back to the engine.

“Hey, baby,” I said, hopping back into my truck. “Where are you?”

She giggled and said something to someone in the background.

“Is that Jeff?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

I could tell that she was smiling on the other end of the phone.

“He misses you,” she said.

Jeff rambled off something else, but I couldn’t understand it.

“I don’t care if he does,” I said.

“Well, I miss you too,” she said.

I smiled into the phone.

“Where are you guys?” I asked.

“Jeff’s,” she said.

“Just you two?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said, laughing at something Jeff had said again.

I paused and waited for Jeff’s mouth to quit running in the background.

“Okay, I’ll be there in five minutes,” I said.

I threw down the phone and forced the truck into gear.

A handful of minutes later I was parked on the street in front of Jeff’s house. His porch light was on, but from the way it looked, every other light in the house was off. I furrowed my brows for a second as I stared into a dark window but then brushed off the foolish thought. Then, I got out, walked to his front door and pushed it open. The darkness on the other side of the door blinded me, until I reached for the switch on the wall and flipped it on.

“Julia,” I called out. “Jeff.”

I listened for a second but didn’t hear anything. Then, I shuffled through the living room and then the kitchen, until I saw the back porch light on and then heard their voices.

“Hey,” I said, stepping out onto the deck.

Julia jumped.

“Will,” she exclaimed, forcing her hand to her heart, “you scared me.”

My eyes went to her first. She was lounging back in a chair. Her feet were propped up on the porch’s railing. Jeff, on the other hand, was on the opposite side of the porch, sitting in a chair with his feet propped up on a cooler.

I took a second. My mind was definitely playing tricks on me. It was either that or it was the thought of all those college guys looking at Jules the way I knew they were looking at her that was making me paranoid. Jeff was my best friend. He might well be an idiot sometimes, but he’d never purposefully hit on Jules — not anymore anyway.

“I called for you guys at the door,” I said, pulling out a chair from the table and scooting it next to Julia’s.

“Sorry about dinner, Jules,” I said, kissing her on the lips.

“Me and your girlfriend were just talking about you,” Jeff interjected.

I turned my attention to Jeff and then forced it back to Julia.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked.

Jeff tossed me a can from the cooler under his feet. I caught it, and little pieces of ice flew every which way.

Julia squealed.

“Jeff, a piece of ice flew into my eye,” she exclaimed, now shielding her face and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Sorry, J,” Jeff said, his eyes planted on Julia.

“You all right?” I asked her.

“She’s all right, but we both think you need a job that’s not so demanding,” Jeff announced. “You know, one that won’t cut into our weekends.”

“Jeff,” Julia scolded.

She was smiling but still rubbing her eye, as she turned toward me.

“Sweetie, I didn’t say that,” she said, at the same time sending Jeff a playful, sarcastic glare. “I used the word dangerous, I think, instead.”

“Dangerous?” I asked.

A playful smile was edging its way across my face.

“You wanna hear how dangerous my job was tonight?” I asked her.

She was trying not to smile but wasn’t being very successful at it.

“How dangerous?” she asked, playfully rolling her eyes.

“Well, tonight, I almost hit a squirrel with the truck — a big, fat one,” I said. “It probably wouldn’t have caused too much physical harm — to the squirrel maybe, but not to us anyway. I mean, it could have busted out a piece of the grille maybe. But the real harm would have been emotional. I’m pretty sure it would have been a real kick in the morale.”

I smiled wider as I went on.

“And then, when I got inside the house, I went to step over a stack of old-man McConnell’s hunting magazines from the 1970s, and I almost tripped because, much to my surprise, they weren’t there,” I said. “Oh, and Mike threw a battery at me when we got back to the station. He hadn’t meant to, of course. He had asked me to throw it away, but I wasn’t paying attention, and it hit my head. Can you see the mark? I think it left a mark on my forehead?”

I pointed at a spot on my head.

She shoved my arm, then tossed her head back and laughed.

“Will, what am I going to do with you?” she asked, through her laughter.

I looked at her with what I liked to call my sex-appeal eyes.

“I can think of several things,” I said to her.

She laughed again and shoved me harder. I dramatically fell back into my chair as I heard Jeff start to cough up a hairball in the background.

“Get a room,” he groaned.

He made another disgusted face and then cleared his throat.

“Anyway, Julia, like I said before, this guy’s job is about as dangerous as mine,” he said.

I cocked my head to the side and sent Jeff a puzzled look.

“Yeah, I burned myself last week,” Jeff said, nodding his head. “It was like a third-degree burn. Those hamburger grills are hot.”

I laughed.

“So, back to MY point,” Jeff continued. “Your job is a real buzzkill for our weekends, not that I mind hangin’ out with your beautiful girlfriend all night — every night.”

He smiled and winked in Julia’s direction. Julia rolled her eyes and smiled back at him.

“I get it,” I said. “Julia, baby, can you forgive me for leaving you with this sorry example of a man? You know I never want to leave you.”

She looked into my eyes. It was dark all around us, but there was a ray from the little porch light that hit her eyes just right and made them sparkle.

“I know,” she said, softly smiling. “I know.”

She took my hand with both of her hands, kissed it and brought it to her lap.

“And Jeff,” I said, “how ‘bout we go fishin’ next week?”

He rolled his eyes.

“All right,” he said, starting to crack a smile. “But you can’t buy me off forever.”

My eyes returned to Julia then, and she sent me a sweet, comforting smile, which instantly melted my heart. She looked so pretty, so perfect. I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life.

I smiled back and then brought my lips to her ear.

“I love you, babe,” I whispered.