The divorce agreement arrived on Erin's desk by early afternoon. Two copies. Printed on heavy legal paper. Forty seven pages covering every detail of asset division, property rights, and the formal dissolution of their five year marriage.Erin flipped through the pages slowly. She signed her name at the bottom of every section that required it. Her handwriting was sharp and steady. Not a single line trembled."Is the car ready?" Erin asked Kitty without looking up from the final page."It is parked downstairs," Kitty confirmed with a careful and obedient voice."Good," Erin replied, placing both copies of the agreement into a stiff leather folder. She stood up from her desk and straightened her blazer. The bruise around her eye was still visible beneath the makeup, but she carried herself as if it did not exist. "I am going to the fire station.""Do you want me to come with you?" Kitty offered with a hesitant and worried expression."No," Erin answered with a cold and precise tone, wa

Fae walked toward Derek with a bright and confident smile. She held the wrapped frame out in front of her with both hands like a student presenting a science project."This is for you," Fae said with a warm and cheerful voice. "Open it."Derek took the frame from her slowly. He pulled the white ribbon loose and peeled back the brown paper. Inside was a polished wooden plaque with a brass plate mounted in the center. The engraving read, presented to Derek Moss of Engine Forty Two in recognition of exceptional bravery and personal sacrifice. Below that, in smaller letters, it said from Fae Gray, Riverside Motor Lodge, with sincere and eternal gratitude."You had a plaque made," Derek said with a flat and disbelieving tone, looking up at her."I had it made at the trophy shop on Fifth Street," Fae confirmed proudly with a satisfied nod. "The man behind the counter said it was the strangest engraving request he had ever received. I told him the full story. He gave me a fifteen percent dis

Derek walked down the corridor toward the empty equipment storage room at the back of the station. Erin followed closely behind him, her heels clicking sharply against the floor. She still held the leather folder pressed tightly against her side like a weapon she had not yet decided to use.Derek pushed open the storage room door and stepped inside. Metal shelves lined the walls, stacked with helmets, hose nozzles, and spare gear. A single fluorescent tube hummed above them. He turned around and faced Erin directly."Close the door," Derek said with a calm and quiet voice.Erin pushed the door shut behind her. The sound echoed briefly in the small room. She crossed her arms and lifted her chin with a hard and expectant expression."Talk," Erin commanded with a clipped tone."Fae Gray is the owner of the motel where I am renting a room," Derek explained with a steady and patient voice. "I saved her life a few nights ago. She came here today to give me a thank you plaque. That is the en

Erin did not leave the station. She walked down the corridor and stopped near the entrance of the main bay area. She stood with her back against the brick wall and pressed the leather folder hard against her chest. Her eyes were burning but completely dry.Derek found her there two minutes later. He had given her the space she needed and then followed because he knew she had not come to the station just to argue about Fae Gray. She had brought something with her. Something inside that leather folder she had been clutching the entire time."What is in the folder, Erin?" Derek asked with a quiet and direct voice, stopping a few feet away from her.Erin looked at him for a long moment. Her expression had changed. The fury and the jealousy were gone. What was left behind was something cold and hollow and entirely resigned.She opened the leather folder and pulled out a thick document. She held it out toward him with a steady hand."This is the divorce agreement," Erin stated with a flat a

Fae stared at the amber liquid in her glass for a long and quiet moment. The soft bar music played behind them. The city lights glowed outside the wide window. When she finally spoke, her voice had dropped to something Derek had never heard from her before. Something small and honest and completely stripped of performance."I was never heartbroken," Fae said with a quiet and steady voice, still looking at her glass.Derek set his own drink down. "What do you mean?""The night you found me at the motel. The fire. The lighter. The window. All of it," Fae explained slowly, running her finger around the rim of the glass. "You assumed I was destroyed over some man who cheated on me. Everybody assumes that when a woman sets things on fire and cries.""You told me it was about a man," Derek pointed out with a careful and neutral tone."I told you I wanted everything that reminded me of him to burn," Fae corrected with a thin and tired smile. "That was true. But I was not heartbroken. I was e