Bear had noticed. Had understood and ached because Dane couldn’t accept what had to be done to protect them. Emerson was due to retire in two months, but he hadn’t applied for his spot. Instead, he’d mailed applications to fire departments across the state. So far, he’d had no responses.
The day of the Firefighter’s Muster broke sunny and warm. A healthy Bear stood with Blood on his leash and Celeste at his side as friends and family from all the people he loved greeted them and milled around. All the Zanja City fire engines and trucks were parked around the grounds, the crews on duty were in uniform, and their captains had their radios open to the dispatcher. If a call came in, they’d roll from the park.
Bear was off that day, and he and Celeste were dressed more casually in jeans, athl
