Firefighter's Christmas Baby. Annie Claydon

      ‘Yes.’

      Thankfully, he didn’t waste any time questioning her decision. Ben used his shortwave radio to check with Eve that their exit was still clear and helped Callie get the woman to her feet. Her legs were jerking unsteadily and it was clear that she couldn’t walk.

      ‘Can you take her?’ She’d be safe in Ben’s strong arms. He nodded, lifting the woman carefully, and Callie scooted out of the way, opening the front door.

      Outside, the fire in the yard was almost out, quantities of black smoke replacing the flames. Ben didn’t slacken his pace until he’d reached the cordon, and as a police officer shepherded them through, a woman ran up to them.

      ‘Mae... Mae, it’s Elaine. Elaine Jacobs...’ The older woman didn’t respond, and the younger one turned to Ben. ‘Bring her to my house. Over there...’

      ‘Thanks.’ Ben shot a glance at Callie and she nodded. There was nowhere else other than the police car to set Mae down and examine her.

      Ben carefully carried his precious burden into the small, neat sitting room, and Mrs Jacobs motioned him towards a long sofa that stretched almost the length of one wall. He put Mae down carefully and turned to Callie.

      ‘Ambulance?’

      ‘Yes, thanks.’

      ‘Okay, I’ll see to it.’ He turned to Mae, giving her a smile, and her gaze followed him out of the room.

      ‘I’m all right.’ Mae seemed to be addressing no one in particular, and Callie guessed that she was trying to reassure herself as much as anyone else. She touched her hand to catch her attention.

      ‘I know you are. Just let me make sure, eh?’

       CHAPTER FOUR

      HOWEVER HARD HE tried to put Callie into a box, she just seemed to spring straight out again. He’d thought her capable of steamrolling over him and his crew if he allowed her to, and then she’d shown herself to be sensitive enough to make a difference to the way Eve saw herself. Ben had tried to limit her to the role of observer, and she’d shown him that she wasn’t just that either.

      Perhaps he had trust issues. It made no difference what Callie did, he couldn’t bring himself to trust the warmth that her mere presence sparked in his chest. Maybe he never would truly trust a woman that he was attracted to ever again.

      When he knocked on Mrs Jacobs’s front door, he meant to stay on the doorstep, but she wouldn’t have any of it, ushering him inside and telling him that he couldn’t possibly compete with the mess that her two teenagers were capable of making. Callie was kneeling beside Mae, chatting to her, and looked up when he entered the sitting room.

      ‘Everything all right?’

      ‘Yes. The fire’s out and we’re making everything safe.’ He trusted his crew. He’d trusted Callie, back at the house, when she’d snapped suddenly into the role of paramedic. Maybe that was what he should remember, rather than the way her smile seemed to plunge his whole world into chaos.

      ‘The ambulance is on its way?’

      ‘Yes.’

      Mae had turned her gaze up toward them, obviously following their conversation. By the simple expediency of cleaning her glasses and making sure that her hearing aids were seated correctly, Callie had wrought an amazing change in the elderly lady. Ben bent down, smiling at Mae.

      ‘How are you feeling now?’

      ‘Callie says I have to go to the hospital...’ Her voice was cracked and hoarse, but it was difficult to tell whether that was the effect of emotion or smoke inhalation. ‘On Christmas Eve...’

      ‘It’s best to be on the safe side. If it were me, I’d take her advice.’

      He heard a sharp intake of breath behind him. Mae’s presence in the room had probably saved him from the humiliation of one of Callie’s put-downs.

      Mae’s questioning gaze focussed somewhere to his left, and he turned. Callie’s smile was almost certainly for Mae’s benefit, but still it made Ben’s heart thump.

      ‘I’ll come to the hospital with you, Mae. We’ll find ourselves a handsome doctor in a Santa hat, eh?’

      ‘Thank you dear. You’re very kind.’ Mae managed a smile. ‘I’ll pick a nice doctor for you.’

      Callie chuckled. ‘Make sure you do. I don’t want just any old one.’

      He couldn’t do anything to help with the journey to the hospital but he could make things a bit better for Mae’s return. ‘I know someone who’ll board up the window for you. I’ll write their number down...’

      Mrs Jacobs rummaged in a drawer and produced a pen and paper. Ben scribbled the number on it and handed it to Callie. ‘Tell them I gave you their details. They’ll liaise with the insurance company and help get things moving.’

      Mae shot him a worried look. ‘How much will it cost?’

      ‘It won’t cost you anything. All part of the service, Mae.’ It wasn’t officially part of the service. The number was for a local charity. It had been Ben’s idea to contact them and set up a task force to help vulnerable people clean up after a fire, and he and a number of the station staff volunteered with them.

      ‘And when you get back from the hospital, you’ll stay here over Christmas.’ Mrs Jacobs sat down on the sofa next to Mae. ‘No arguments, now. Stan and the boys will go over to your place and help sort things out there.’

      ‘But...it’s Christmas.’ Despite her neighbour’s firm tone, Mae argued anyway.

      ‘Exactly. It’ll do them good to go and do something, instead of sitting around watching TV and eating. I’m sure Stan’s put on a couple of pounds already so he can do with the exercise.’

      ‘You’re very kind.’ A tear dribbled down Mae’s cheek. ‘All of you.’

      ‘It’s Christmas. We’ll all pull together, eh?’ Mrs Jacobs put her arm around Mae and the old lady smiled, nodding quietly.

      Ben beckoned to Callie and she frowned. He glared back, beckoning again more forcefully, and she rolled her eyes and followed him into the hallway.

      ‘What? I’m busy.’

      The tight-lipped implication that she was just trying to do her job and that he was getting in the way wasn’t lost on Ben.

      ‘I just wanted to know... How is Mae? Really?’

      Callie’s angry glare softened slightly and she puffed out a breath. ‘I’ve checked her over the best I can, and she doesn’t seem to be having any difficulty with her breathing. But she has a headache and she seemed very confused earlier, and you can hear she’s a bit hoarse. She needs to be seen by a doctor. I’m going to stay with her.’

      The thought that Callie might not come back to the fire station once she had finished here filled Ben with unexpected dismay. He had no one but himself to blame if she made that decision.

      ‘I shouldn’t have said that you were in the way earlier. It won’t happen again.’

      ‘I can take care of myself in these situations. I do it all the time.’

      ‘Got it. I apologise.’ Ben saw her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Was that what she thought of him? He was perfectly capable of saying sorry when the situation warranted it.

      But prolonging the conversation now while she was still angry with him probably wasn’t a good idea. He’d said his piece and he should go.

      ‘I’ll see you later?’ Ben tried not to make a question out of it, but his own doubts leaked through into his words. Callie gave a nod and he turned, making for