Free It's a Wonderful Fireman: A Bachelor Firemen Novella (The Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel) by Jennifer Bernard

injured? I could help the triage team. And Stacy is a doctor.”
    He gave a brisk nod and gestured to the north end of the parking lot. “Triage is set up over there. Smoke inhalation and panic attacks, for the most part. But if we need you for anything, keep your cell handy.”
    “Of course.” She didn’t want to think about what “anything” might mean. What if it meant identifying Mulligan’s body?
    “Don’t go there,” Stacy advised, as if she could hear Lizzie’s thoughts. “One step at a time. Let’s go see what we can do.”
    They picked their way across the network of hoses crisscrossing the parking lot. Another ladder truck had positioned its aerial over the Yogurtland, and a lonely figure aimed a hose from the bucket at its tip. Amid the billowing clouds of smoke, that stream of water seemed so insignificant. But maybe with all the other streams of water, and all these firefighters . . . good Lord, there had to be dozens here . . .
    She spotted a familiar face and ran to join the tall, imposing, fierce man just arriving on the scene, while Stacy continued on toward the triage area. “Chief Roman!”
    “Lizzie.” He caught her up in a quick hug. “Couldn’t stay away, huh?”
    “Of course not. I guess you couldn’t either.”
    “Hey, it’s Mulligan. He might be a pugnacious son of a bitch, but he’s one of our own. Helluva guy, too.”
    “Yeah.” Pugnacious. Pretty good word for him. Always fighting. “Maybe it’s a good thing to be pugnacious when you’re trapped inside a building.”
    “If anyone can survive it, Mulligan can.” Chief Roman scanned her closely, his deep midnight eyes seeming to comprehend every bit of what she was feeling. He’d lost his first wife in the collapse of the Twin Towers, so he probably did. “You doing all right?”
    “I suppose. It’s not like we’re married. We just . . .” She faltered, since she didn’t know exactly how to describe their roller-coaster relationship. “Dated for a while.”
    He smiled tenderly at her, as if he knew better.
    She changed the subject quickly. “Where’s Sabina?”
    “She pulled Yogurtland duty. They’re getting a handle on that flank. This fire should be out within a half hour.” His deep, gravelly voice was incredibly reassuring. “Hey, look who’s here.”
    Lizzie swung around. “ Psycho? What are you doing here?” The blue-eyed daredevil had left the station over a year ago to join a hotshot crew in Nevada. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
    “We’re spending Christmas with Vader and Cherie. Heard about Mulligan. We came to see if they need any extra hands.”
    “We?”
    Jogging up behind him came two more faces from the past. Thor, blond as a Viking, who’d always been the strong, silent type, offered her a serious smile. Matt McBride, the cute towheaded fireman with the Scottish brogue, was more ebullient. He swung her around in a wide circle.
    “My oh my, look how pretty you grew up, lass.”
    “Matt! I haven’t seen you in forever.”
    “You still had braces last time I saw you.”
    “Is Bianca here too? What about Maribel?”
    “They’re in town, but they didn’t want to get in the way. They sent you a big hug, and lucky me, I get to deliver it.”
    Matt’s hug should have been patented and sold as a stress-reliever. By the time he released her, she was pink and flustered. “I can’t believe you’re all in San Gabriel. And that you came out here tonight.”
    “It’s Mulligan,” another voice explained. She spun around. Ryan Blake, the handsomest man she’d ever laid eyes on, draped an arm over Psycho’s shoulder. “We owe him. And we love the guy. Crazy bastard that he is.”
    “Glad to see someone followed in my footsteps.” Psycho winked one dazzling blue eye. In the washed-out light of the floodlights, his eyes had a neon brilliance. “Wouldn’t want the station to get too straightedged.”
    “No chance of that with Mulligan around.”
    Everyone chuckled. Lizzie