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wastebasket. “I can tell you the investigator might be by later today with his findings. But I won’t be able to tell you anything more then, either.”
    “I understand. Sorry to bother you.” Jason stood to go.
    “Hang on a minute.” Steve sobered. “Rumor has it you want to lobby to open a fire station in Rainbow Falls.”
    Jason went still. He’d only told a handful of people about his dream, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for Steve to know about it just yet. “Where’d you hear that?”
    “Some of the boys talking around the station. Is it true?”
    “It’s an idea I’ve been kicking around. Once I become certified.”
    Steve took a sip of his coffee. “What about funding?”
    “I’m hoping there’ll be support for my idea from the city council. Maybe if the town holds a fundraiser, it would feel more like a community project.”
    “I like it. Why don’t you put the proposal in writing, and we’ll see what kind of backing we can get?”
    Jason’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?” He hadn’t dared hope the fire chief would support his idea.
    “Why not? I’ve always felt we could use a few more stations in the outlying towns. Might’ve been able to save that barn last night if we hadn’t been twenty minutes away.”
    Jason nodded, thinking grimly of another fire eight years ago with a much different outcome. One that still haunted him and Maxi to this day.
     
     
     
     

8
     
    Maxi closed the door behind her as she left her mother’s hospital room. Mama’s coloring seemed better today, but the mild sedatives meant she slept a lot. Maxi didn’t have the heart to tell her about having to move in with the Hanleys. Time enough for her to find out later.
    Jason was waiting in her room when she got back. “You ready to get out of here?”
    “Yeah. I’m good to go. The release papers are at the front desk.” She’d already changed out of the hospital gown into the sweats and T-shirt she’d been wearing to bed the night before. They reeked of smoke, but it was the only thing she had.
    “You’re wearing that?”
    His disapproving tone inflamed her irritation. “Sorry if it offends you.” The thought of all her expensive clothes going up in smoke made her cringe. “If it’s OK, I want to stop at the farm before we go to your house. I have a few things in the dryer downstairs which should be salvageable. And I need my purse and cell phone.”
    His brows shot together. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Why don’t I drop you off first? Then I’ll get your things.”
    He was probably trying to protect her, but she didn’t want to be coddled. She needed to see for herself what shape the place was in. “I have to do this, Jason. Please.”
    A battle of emotions crossed his face before his shoulders slumped. “Fine. Let’s go.”
    She stopped at the nurses’ station to leave phone numbers where she could be reached in case her mother’s condition changed. A nurse arrived with a wheelchair. “Here you go, miss. Your friend can take you out in this.”
    Maxi stared at the chair and then back at the woman. They had to be joking. “I don’t need that. I’m perfectly capable of walking.”
    “Hospital policy, miss.”
    Jason stepped forward before she could say another word. “Just get in, Maxi. Do you have to argue about everything?”
    “I was thinking the same thing about you a few seconds ago,” she muttered, glaring at him.
    “I can always carry you out like a sack of potatoes.” He loomed over her, hands on his hips.
    The nurse smothered a grin, which irritated Maxi even more. She frowned, remembering another argument years ago in Peg’s shop when Jason did exactly that. To avoid a repeat of that particular humiliation, she plopped into the chair and let Jason wheel her out.
    Halfway into Rainbow Falls, Maxi’s disposition had not improved. What was the matter with her? She shouldn’t be squabbling with Jason. She should be figuring on a way to straighten out this