She rubbed at the sore spot on her hand where Petunia had pecked her before stepping onto Frankie’s stiffened fingers.
“Sure did.” Jasper glanced up long enough to point to the clipboard hanging near the file cabinet. “Tested all the oxygen tanks, checked the pressure in the hoses, cleaned the masks, you know.” His smile was quick and distracted. “All the usual. It’s a routine now. Doesn’t take me long.”
And, knowing Jasper, he’d been as meticulous as always. “What’re you doing now?” She stepped into the chief’s office just in time to see Jasper click to another window. His laptop sat on top of the desk. Well, more like a table that her father had made for her and Monty for their tenth birthday. How many hours had she spent doing her homework at that table, the sights and sounds of the firehouse so familiar to her? “Jasper.” She folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the chief’s desk. “What’s going on?”
Growing up, she and Monty had also earned reputations—in fact, Mrs. Hastings would have called the pair of them troublemakers. Although in hindsight, they hadn’t come close to what Simon Saxon and his sidekick Charlie Bradley had accomplished in the last couple of years.
Jasper O’Neill, on the other hand, had scared folks with his penchant for black-as-death clothing and a loner attitude that had made those closest to him worry about him. What he’d been hiding, however, was an intelligence trapped by circumstance and years of bullying and misunderstanding. With a mother who had been ill most of his life, an older sister overwhelmed by responsibility as the main money earner in the house and a younger sister he helped care for, Jasper had been drowning. It had been Paige Bradley and her now husband, Fletcher, who had looked deeper into his situation and lent a helping hand.
Now, at almost eighteen and graduating with honors next spring, Jasper had finally come into his own to become one of Frankie’s most reliable volunteers at the firehouse. Despite being too young to be an official volunteer, he had proven himself by helping stop a rash of increasingly violent vandalisms. Having the local sheriff and other deputies take him under their wings had made a tremendous difference, as had the college extension courses he’d been taking the last year and a half. Now that Jasper had embraced that which made him so unique, there would be no stopping him.
“Jasper, what are you up to?” she asked again when he didn’t respond.
“Nothing, really.” He flinched, and Frankie couldn’t tell if he was feeling guilty or just uncertain. “I was...” He trailed off. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell someone.” He clicked open the other window and sat back. “Here. Go ahead. Look.”
“I will only if you want me to.” Frankie was never one to push someone into talking about something they didn’t want to.
“No, I want you to. It’s kind of your fault, anyway.”
Curious, Frankie moved in and scanned the website on the screen. Even as she struggled to keep her voice calm, her heart surged into her throat. “You’re thinking of becoming a firefighter? Jasper, that’s great!” He wasn’t a hugger, so she settled for patting his shoulder.
“You sure?” Jasper didn’t look convinced. “I’ve been going back and forth between this and the military, looking at different options as far as what will help me get into crime scene investigation. I like fire.”
Frankie choked on a laugh.
“Okay, that sounded weird.” Jasper joined her and offered a quick smile. “I get how it all works, you know? The chemical reactions, the way fire acts. I love the process of puzzling it all together. And I think I’d be really good at it.”
“Jasper, you’ll be great at whatever you choose to do. But fair warning. The training to be a firefighter is seriously hard. You’re going to have to build up some muscle and a lot of stamina if you’re going to even pass the entrance test. The physical qualifications alone—”
“I know.” Jasper looked down at his pipe cleaner–like arms. The kid had always been on the skinny side, and puberty hadn’t helped much other than to add significant height. He was taller than she was. “I’m not worried about the EMT stuff. But the rest? That’s what has me worried.”
“Is that why you’re waffling? You’re afraid you won’t pass?”
Jasper shrugged. “I don’t want to let anyone down.”
“You’d only let us down if you didn’t try for what you want. Tell you what.” She leaned over again, skimmed the small print. “I’ll set you up with a training program. Plus, we always need more volunteers, and you turn eighteen next month. That’ll get you good practical experience.”