“Good morning,” she said, her smile a little too large. She was carrying a tray of coffees. “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Her smile didn’t waver. She tried to pass me a cup, but I didn’t accept it. I wasn’t drinking her bribery coffee. She shrugged and offered it to Asher, who stood behind me. He glared and crossed his arms over his chest.

She sighed. “Okay, it’s like that. Will you at least show me the way in?”

We backtracked to the staff room, where she set the tray of coffees on the table and took one for herself. Igor, the traitor, grabbed one as well. When I narrowed my eyes at him, he shrugged apologetically. Coffee snob. Of course he couldn’t say no to a barista-made cup of power fuel.

Kennedy perched on the sofa, smiling at all of us as though she was thrilled to be here. No one smiled back, but it didn’t seem to deter her.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” she asked.

“No plan,” Igor said, the coffee apparently having softened his mood. “We wait until we’re needed.”

“Okay.” She rested against the sofa, ignoring all the “go away” vibes everyone was sending to her. “I’ll make myself comfortable, then.”

We all shuffled our feet, none of us quite sure what to do. The others seemed to be looking to me for guidance, but damned if I knew what to say.

A siren cut through the tense silence. Thank God. I hoped no one was seriously injured, but the interruption couldn’t have come at a better time.

Parks appeared in the doorway. “Let’s go, boys.”

“You’re with me,” I told Kennedy, thrusting a high-vis vest at her. “Wear this and don’t leave the engine unless one of us tells you to. It’s your main job to stay out of the way.”

“Got it.” She nodded and slipped the vest on.

Chapter Eleven

KENNEDY

Hi Liam,

I’ve been cast in a new romantic comedy as the hero’s foul-mouthed firefighting best friend. I was really excited about the role to begin with because it reminded me of you and also gives me the opportunity to represent a strong woman who takes no shit. Unfortunately, every time I’m told to do something on set, all I can think is that it’s not how you’d do it in real life. I know enough from spending time with you to pick up on when something is wrong, but I’m not earning any friends among the production team when I point out their mistakes. I’m only trying to help, but they don’t seem as interested in accuracy as I’d hoped.

If you ever see this film, it’s going to make you so angry.

Love,

K xx