One of the Good Ones (Strawberry Inn Book #1)

Chapter 27

HARRISON

Back in Omaha, night shifts always brought out the crazy calls. A lot of small fires happened overnight, especially during the winter when people did dumb things like use propane heaters in their homes or forget to put out their fireplaces before going to bed. Here in Strawberry, my experience working overnights has been a lot of nothing. The one positive is that I’m always able to stay on top of my paperwork. Paperwork, it is pretty much a four-letter word. They don’t tell you with more responsibility comes more paperwork.

Travis Grant is working with me this shift. We’ve been on call for twelve hours and we’re headed into our night shift. In the last twelve hours, we’ve had a grand total of two phone calls. Both of them were for minor injuries and the calls took less than an hour. I spent more time doing the paperwork for both calls than I spent on the actual calls themselves.

I might sound like I’m complaining, but I promise I’m not. Unlike my old house, when we aren’t on calls we make ourselves seen out in the community. Dalton said I’d start to get to know the people in this small town and he was right. Today Travis and I visited the local elementary school and talked to the kids about fire safety. 

With Angela being so busy now that the inn is open and fully booked, I’ve taken advantage of the free time to drop by and see her as well. The least I can do is bring her lunch when she’s been running around like a crazy woman all week. She’s even had to pick up overnight shifts and that means I don’t get the pleasure of her sleeping in my bed either. Who would have thought she was going to be the busier of the two of us?

The movie we were watching just ended when my dispatch phone rang. It wasn’t an emergency, that would have come through as an alarm in the firehouse, but it meant something was up that needed my attention for sure. “Captain Thatcher speaking,” I say as I pick up the phone.

“Good evening, Captain. This is Dispatcher Linda Carlton, we received a call from Mr. Solomon at The Pub downtown, are you familiar with the location?”

“Yes, ma’am. Everybody knows where The Pub is. Is there an emergency going on down there that they need us for?”

She makes a noise that sounds like a giggle, which is mildly confusing considering that she’s a 9-1-1 dispatcher calling on my official phone. “I wouldn’t call it an emergency. Sol called us because there seem to be two young ladies that may have enjoyed their Sunday night a bit too much.”

“Oh geez,” I run my hand through my hair, “Angela and Blair?”

“Yes, sir. Sol was going to call Stan, but being that it is close to midnight, he was hesitant.”

“So he called 9-1-1?”

“Not exactly, he just contacted the dispatch directly. I told him he could have called the fire station, but he said he didn’t have the number handy. If you’re not available to go take care of the..um…situation, I can call Ginny to get them.”

Of course, Linda knows Blair and her parents, everybody knows everybody here. “That’s not necessary, Linda. We’re not doing much here. I will make sure they both get home safe and sound.”

“Thank you, Captain Thatcher.”

“Call me, Harrison, Linda. You call me more than my girlfriend and Mom combined, we’re basically best friends.”

She laughs on the other end of the line, “Fair enough. Have a good evening, Harrison. Hopefully, we do not speak again and I mean that in the best possible way.”

“That’s fair.”

I hang up and tuck my phone into my back pocket and grab my jacket from the back of my chair. “Come on, Travis, we have a rescue mission.”