Round and Round by Andrew Grey Read Free Book Online

the exit, so I looked for something different.” He flashed a smile and stood up. “I should let you all get back to what you were doing.”
    Kevin left the room, and Angus followed him to the stairs. “It was really nice of you to bring by the desserts. The guys will love them.” Now that the show was over, they were most likely already gathering in the kitchen area.
    “Of course. Mrs. V felt bad getting everyone out because she forgot she had things in the oven. She’s very sweet, and getting old alone is hard on her. Her circle keeps shrinking, and she doesn’t know what to do about it.” He descended the stairs and Angus went with him.
    “Did you drive?”
    Kevin pointed out where he’d parked. “I’m glad I could help.” He began walking to the car, and Angus realized this was the third time they’d parted without him actually making a move.
    “How about Sunday afternoon? My last shift is Saturday, but I’m off Sunday and we could do something.”
    Kevin paused. “That would be nice. Bull is hoping to be able to reopen the club on Friday, and I usually go with the guys. So Sunday would be perfect.”
    “Let’s hope there’s no repeat of last week,” Angus said, and Kevin waved as he took advantage in a lull in traffic to cross the street. “I’ll call soon.” He watched as Kevin got in his car and waited until he pulled away from the curb and had joined the flow of traffic before turning to go back inside.
    He met a number of the guys, baklava in hand, as they came down the stairs heading back to truck-washing duty. Angus had just decided he’d lend a hand when the siren went off. Guys shoved food into their mouths. Angus raced to his gear, stepped into his pants and boots, and grabbed his coat and hat before jumping into the driver’s seat of the hook and ladder. Within seconds his heart was racing, adrenaline pumping, and they were pulling out of the station, lights and sirens blazing. Traffic stopped as they made the turn and raced to the address that flashed on the GPS built into the dash. This was what he lived for: the excitement. It was what they all loved. There was an excitement to being a fireman that was lacking in any other job Angus had held, and this was what he longed to do for the rest of his life.
    He went as fast as he dared, screaming through the city streets. He saw smoke rising in the distance, and it got closer as he followed the directions. This was no oven fire, but an old house converted to apartments that hadn’t been in the best of condition, and it was now getting worse, judging by the flames already shooting out of the upper-floor windows. Angus pulled to a stop, and the men jumped off, already working to secure hoses to hydrants as he lowered the jacks that would support the engine. By the time it was secure, hoses were run from the hydrants and water was gushing at the fire.
     
     
    THAT SEEMED to be the routine for the rest of his shift. Every time anyone got started on a project, a call came in and they were off and running. “It’s fire season,” said Harold, the old-timer and self-proclaimed source of general wisdom of the group. He was semiretired after a lifetime of fighting fires and manned the station when the team went out. “Happens this time every year. It gets dry, and people get careless.”
    Angus wondered what the heat had to do with their last call, a house fire. A man got drunk, lit his cigarette, and went to bed. Burned the place to the ground around him. Fires with a death were bad. He was only grateful there weren’t children involved—those were the worst.
    He looked at the clock and kept quiet, not wanting to jinx anything. He would be off shift in two hours and silently willed it to remain calm until then. He was exhausted. He never slept well at the station with other men around, especially with Roy doing his imitation of a chainsaw.
    “MacTavish,” Captain Justinian called down the stairs to where everyone was hurrying to clean and