Dances with Fire: a Military Firefighter Romance

He’s a military veteran plagued by nightmares. Her dance studio went up in smoke (along with her dreams). Can a fiery dance bring them together?

SEPTEMBER

Spencer Finley gripped the steering wheel of Engine 43. “Come on, come on, get out of the way!” he muttered.
He loved this part of his job: flying down the road in his big-ass fire truck, sirens wailing and traffic parting like the Red Sea…
Except for this guy in the red Ford Fusion, who was either hard of hearing or had his ear buds in.
He honked again—really laid it on this time—and alleluia! The guy pulled over.
Spencer leaned his torso over the wheel as they went into the right-hand turn. In his peripheral vision, he saw his partner, Kade Phillips, grip the oh-shit handle. He’d been driving this rig long enough that he knew exactly how fast he could take a 90-degree turn in any kind of conditions. Hand-over-hand, he brought the big rig around.
The cockpit radio came to life. “Engine 43, park behind Engine 15, clear of the fire hydrant on the north-northeast corner.”
Kade picked up the mic. “That’s affirmative.”
Less than a minute later, the fire location came into view. Black smoke poured from broken windows along the front walkway of one of the older strip malls that populated this part of Reno, Nevada.
In fact, there was so much smoke, Spencer couldn’t make out which shop was involved. Maybe multiple shops…
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” Kade muttered. He and Spencer had only been partners for a month or so—after Kade’s former partner became his girlfriend and moved to another fire house.
Kade pointed to their right. “There’s the hydrant.”
“Got it.” Spencer pulled the rig up behind Engine 15 and well clear of the hydrant as instructed. The transmission chuffed as he put it in park.
He grabbed his helmet and jumped down from the cab. The firefighters from Engine 15 were already laying out hose; Maizy and Oz were gearing up to head inside the structure. He followed Kade to where their captain, Dave Kieffer, stood holding a walkie to his mouth.
“Where do you want us, Cap?” Kade said.
“Crowd patrol,” Dave said.
Kade frowned but didn’t say anything. Spencer didn’t mind the assignment; he’d had The Dream again last night, and though he’d never let it affect his performance on the job, it always made him a little squirrelly.
He stuffed the memories back in their compartment and plunked his helmet on his head. “What’s on the upper floor?” he said.
“I think it’s a dance studio,” Dave said. “It’s not involved—yet.”
“Anyone up there?” Kade said.
Before the captain could reply, a short woman with vivid purple hair ran up to them. “The dance lady!” she gasped. “She’s still inside!”
Dave pivoted toward the woman. “Are you sure?”
The woman nodded vigorously. “We just came from her studio—it’s on the second floor.” She pointed. “We thought she was right behind us, but she’s not!”
“Is there a way to get to the second floor other than the stairwell?” Dave said.
“There’s a metal staircase around back,” the purple-haired woman said. “It seems a little rickety, though.”
A fire escape?
Dave’s gaze bounced from Kade to Spencer. “Go,” he said. “But be careful.”
Spencer’s adrenaline spiked like it always did when he first learned he was headed into an active fire. “Roger that.” He patted his front cargo pocket; his mask was right where it was supposed to be. He probably wouldn’t need it if Cap was right about the upper floor, but the weight of the oxygen tank on his shoulders and back was a familiar comfort.
He and Kade strode toward the eastern corner of the building. Sure enough, an iron stairway was bolted to the rear of the building.
Kade grabbed the iron bars at the base of the stairway and shook them hard.
“What do you think?” Spencer said.
Kade had worked in home construction prior to becoming a firefighter, so he was pretty good at evaluating the integrity of structures. Still, shit happened that was out of their control—like Kade falling through a roof earlier that year.
“The structure itself looks solid.” Kade squinted as he looked up. “Who can say about the bolts, though?”
“There’s always the possibility it’s been inspected regularly.” Even as he said it, Spencer figured the chance was less than fifty/fifty.
“One way to find out.” Kade put a boot on the first step. “Hold here.”
Kade took the steps at a steady pace, tugging on each side of the railing as he went. When he reached the landing at the top of the stairs, he motioned for Spencer to follow.
By the time Spencer joined him on the landing, Kade had popped the metal door open.
“Looks like a small entry area, and then it opens up,” Kade said. “You take right and I’ll go left.”
“Got it!”