Christmas Nights(14)

Chapter 10





Travis kicked the door shut behind him and strode down the hall at the fire station. Winter was setting in swiftly, and it was damn freezing this morning. He headed straight for the break room. “Oh yes, fresh coffee,” he commented to himself when he smelled the strong brew as soon as he stepped into the room.

“Perfect timing,” a voice said.

Travis glanced up to find Darren Thomas, Diamond Creek’s police chief, coming into the break room from the opposite side. The fire station and police station shared administrative support and the break room. “Hey Darren, looks like your timing’s about as good as mine. You go first,” he said, gesturing to the full coffee pot.

Darren flashed a smile, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners. “No argument from me.” He stepped to the coffee pot, snagged a cup and filled it quickly. He passed it to Travis before filling another for himself.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Travis said with a laugh.

Darren shrugged. “It’s a few seconds wait.” He paused and took a long swallow of coffee. “Damn, I needed that.” He looked to Travis. “So what’s up?”

Travis had just taken his own gulp of coffee. He slowly sank down into a chair by the round table in the room. “Not much. You?”

Darren sat down across from him and brushed his brown hair out of his eyes. “The usual. With summer over, things are a little quieter for us.”

Travis nodded. “You know the deal, same for us. How’s Risa doing?” Risa was Darren’s wife, and they were expecting their first child in a few months.

Darren, usually a somewhat somber guy, flashed a wide smile. “She’s great. She keeps complaining that she feels huge, but she looks beautiful.”

Travis grinned. “Well, she is beautiful. Still haven’t figured out what she sees in you, but…” He let his words trail off.

Darren chuckled. “I still haven’t figured out what she sees in me, but I’m not complaining.” He paused to take another sip of coffee and leaned back in his chair just as Sylvia rounded the corner of the door and walked into the room.

Her eyes bounced from Darren to Travis. “Hey boys, how’s it going?”

Travis lifted his cup in a greeting. “Now that I’ve had some of your coffee, my morning’s much better.”

“Ditto,” Darren offered with a grin.

Sylvia stepped to the coffee pot to help herself before joining them at the table. They chatted casually for a few minutes until Ben passed by the door with a quick wave. Sylvia’s gaze swung to Travis, her eyes narrowing. “What’s this I hear about you and Janie Stevens?”

“Huh?” Travis asked, slightly startled at the abrupt shift in topic.

Darren pushed his chair back, the legs scraping on the floor. “Have mercy on him, Sylvia,” he said with a quick grin before he clapped Travis on the shoulder on his way past the table.

Travis felt suddenly uncomfortable and shifted his shoulders before taking a slow sip of coffee. Sylvia looked at him thoughtfully. After several beats, she spoke again. “I was just teasing, you know? Ben seems to think you might have a thing for Janie. He ‘s ready to place bets on how long it’ll be before you admit it.”

Travis groaned and ran a hand through his hair before leaning back in his chair. “Ben’s being ridiculous.”

Sylvia laughed softly. “Ben was the class clown when he was a little boy, and he hasn’t changed much since then.” Her expression sobered. “Based on your reaction, I’m guessing he’s right about Janie.”

Of all the reasons Travis hadn’t gotten serious about dating, he hadn’t considered the benefits of avoiding the rumor mill in Diamond Creek. Yet, even when Sylvia was teasing, she didn’t tend to spread gossip. Oh, she had plenty to share if she chose. People told her just about everything. She was the human switchboard in Diamond Creek, a benevolent switchboard with everyone’s best interests at heart. He took a deep breath and looked over at her.

“Ben might be right,” he finally said with a sheepish shrug.

Sylvia’s smile spread slowly. “Well, it’s about damn time.” She paused and cocked her head to the side. “How did this come about?”

“Me and Janie?”

At her nod, he shrugged, uncertainty rolling through him. His feelings for Janie were unfamiliar and new. “After I fished her out of the bay, she ended up being my assigned tour guide the day I went to the elementary school for the fire safety talks. I asked her out to dinner and…” He shrugged again. “Honestly, not much has happened. I’ve had dinner with her and Stella since then, but that’s about it. I’m not, well, I’m not much for dating, much less a single mother. Any suggestions?”

Sylvia took a sip of coffee. She was quiet long enough, Travis started to wonder. When she spoke, her eyes were serious. “Janie is an amazing woman, but you might want to know something about her. I’m not sure I should say anything, but if you don’t hear it from me, you might hear it from someone else.”

Travis’s gut clenched and he took a gulp of coffee before nodding.

“Janie hasn’t dated much. I kind of figured she might not ever bother with it, which tore me up. Her father died in a fishing accident when she was ten. After that, her mother got involved with Randy Price. There’s no other way to say it, but Randy was a class-A abusive jerk. He knocked her mother around and pretty much isolated her from everyone. If you know much about Janie’s family, that was awful. They’re pretty tight. Everyone was worried, but nothing seemed to nudge her away from Randy. Anyway, one day when Janie talked back, Randy hauled off and hit her. He broke her jaw. That woke Janie’s mom up, and she knocked him out with a pan. Janie ended up being the one to call the police. After that, they were back and forth in court. Randy tried to move back in with Janie’s mom more than once, but she kept him away. He was eventually convicted, but he didn’t spend much time in jail. I check on him every so often. He moved to Fairbanks and he’s been arrested a few more times for assault against his latest girlfriend.”

Sylvia stopped talking and watched him. Travis was wrestling with a mix of emotions—raw fury at a man he’d never even laid eyes on, anguish for what Janie went through watching her mother get beaten, getting assaulted herself, and then slogging through the long legal process of a trial. If he’d wondered if Janie was starting to mean something to him, he knew it with certainty now. All he wanted was to track down Randy Price and beat the living crap out of him.

“I thought maybe you’d want to know that bit of her background. She, uh, well, she’s steered clear of men for the most part, and it’s no wonder. I’m friends with her mother Leslie. She’s never stopped feeling bad about letting Randy into their lives and not being able to push him out until he hurt Janie.”

Travis managed to nod. He’d sensed how guarded Janie was and now he knew where it came from. He took a breath and another gulp of coffee, trying to beat back the fury flooding through him. Randy Price was nowhere near, and it wouldn’t do much good for Travis to stomp around looking for a fight with someone long gone.

Sylvia reached across the table and curled her hand over his, giving it a squeeze. “You can’t change the past, and Randy can’t touch Janie now. But if I was curious about whether she meant anything to you, I’m not now.” Her eyes crinkled with her smile. “Janie’s stronger for what she went through, but she doesn’t make it easy for anyone new to come into her life. You can count yourself lucky in that regard.”

Sylvia stood up and rounded the circular table to lean over and squeeze Travis’s shoulders. “Like I said, you’re a good man. I have a feeling about you and Janie.”

At that moment, Ben entered the break room, a wide grin spreading when he caught Sylvia’s words. “Told ya!”

His teasing snapped the somber moment, which Travis needed. He shifted in his chair to glance over his shoulder. “You just wait ‘til we’re making bets on your love life.”

Ben shrugged. “Go right ahead. I can take it,” he said with a chuckle as he poured himself a cup of coffee. He stepped to Sylvia’s side and dropped a kiss on her weathered cheek. “Thanks for the amazing coffee.”

As Ben turned away, their radios went off simultaneously, announcing a stove fire on the hillside. Travis stood swiftly and followed Ben out. In minutes, they were racing behind the main fire truck up the hillside.



Janie carried a tray into the living room, pausing beside the coffee table to clear a spot for it. Once she set it down, she put her hands on her hips and glanced down at Stella. “Need anything else before I run upstairs to shower?”

Stella looked up from her tablet reader and glanced to the tray. “Chocolate chip pancakes! Yay!” She lifted her eyes to Janie. “Thanks Mom. This broken ankle isn’t turning out so bad,” she said with a grin.

Janie rolled her eyes. “You get breakfast every Saturday. Only difference is now I carry it to you.”

Stella leaned over and transferred the tray from the coffee table to her lap. Pansy wiggled her way between the couch and coffee table, nosing her head onto the edge of Stella’s tray. Stella stroked her head quickly and nudged her away. “Sorry Pansy, no pancakes for you.”