letter from Callie, stating that she’d enclosed a few photographs for review. And underneath that a stack of sealed manila envelopes, each of which carried a name and a Private and Confidential sticker.
‘Where are mine...?’
‘Hold on a minute.’ Ben sorted through the envelopes, handing over the one that bore Eve’s name.
‘You can show them to me...if you want to.’
Eve was the one member of his crew that he wanted most to protect. Ben hadn’t been there when she’d sustained the burns on her shoulder, but he’d been told how much courage she’d shown that day. And he’d seen the pain in her face when he’d visited her at the hospital. Eve had cried, just the once, saying that the burns were so ugly, and when she’d finally returned to work, Ben had noticed that she never wore anything that exposed her upper arms, even on the hottest day.
‘I might...’ Eve sat down on the chair next to his desk, running her finger under the seal of the envelope and taking the A4 photographs out. She flipped through them carefully and Ben saw her cheeks burn red. Then a tear rolled down her cheek.
If Callie had upset Eve in any way, if she’d made her feel anything less than beautiful, she wouldn’t be coming back here. No more photographs, no more talking to his crew to gain their trust.
‘What’s up, Eve?’ He tried to banish the anger from his voice, speaking as gently and quietly as he could. Eve tipped her face up towards him and suddenly smiled.
‘Look at me, boss.’
As she handed the photos over, her hand shook. Ben took them, forcing himself to look.
There was one of Eve running, buttoning up her jacket as she went. Another of her climbing into the cabin of the fire engine. Eve’s frame seemed somehow diminutive next to her crewmates, but she was clearly one of a team and the angle from which the photographs had been shot showed her ahead of the men, not following on behind.
‘These are... Do you like them?’ Maybe Eve saw something in them that he didn’t.
‘Yes, I like them. I really like them.’
‘Me too.’ Ben looked at the next photograph, and saw what had prompted Eve’s tears.
‘Callie took this at your home?’
‘Yes, we made an arrangement for her to come and see me. What...do you think?’ Eve wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve.
She was sitting on the floor with her four-year-old son in her lap. Isaac was clutching a toy fire engine and Eve’s dark hair was styled softly around her face. She was wearing a sleeveless summer dress that showed the scars on her shoulder.
‘I think... It’s a lovely photograph of you and Isaac.’ Ben decided to concentrate on the mother and son aspect, and the love that shone in Eve’s face.
‘It is, isn’t it? I didn’t think...’ Eve shrugged.
‘Didn’t think what?’ Ben was still ready to spring to Eve’s defence, but perhaps he didn’t need to. Maybe she saw what he did, and that was what her tears were all about.
‘I didn’t think I’d ever wear that dress again. Callie and I talked about it for a while, she said that we could stop if I felt uncomfortable and that these photos were just for me, not anyone else.’
‘You should be proud of yourself, Eve.’ Somehow Callie had captured everything in the image. Eve’s love for her son, her strength and her vulnerability. The scars looked like badges of courage and they brought a lump to Ben’s throat.
‘Yes.’ Eve took the photographs back, hugging them to her chest as if they were something precious. ‘I’m going to show the guys.’
Ben put his own envelope to one side, slightly surprised that there was one, and stacked the rest back into the box. ‘Will you take these out with you? Make sure everyone gets just their own envelope.’
‘Yep.’ Eve paused, grinning. ‘So you’re not going to show me yours?’
His could hardly be as moving, or mean so much. He tore at the envelope, taking out the glossy prints.
‘Go on. Take a look.’ He handed them straight over to Eve. He didn’t much want to look himself, and find out how Callie saw him.
‘Nice... Very action hero.’ Eve laid the first photo down on his desk and Ben saw himself caught in the act of loading equipment onto the fire engine. A second showed him climbing into the cabin.
There was one more to go. And Eve was grinning suddenly.
‘Wow, boss. Never knew you were a pin-up.’
‘Neither did I.’ Ben reached for the photograph, snatching it from her.
Oh. He remembered that now. He’d been sitting in the ready room, after returning from the fire they’d been called to that afternoon. Watching as Callie had talked to a couple of the other firefighters. Suddenly she’d turned and pointed the camera at him.
Perhaps it was Ben’s imagination, but he thought he saw the subtle winding-down process after a call where there had been no casualties and the fire had been successfully contained. And there was something else. His eyes looked almost startlingly blue under tousled hair that was still wet from the shower.
‘Do I really look like that?’ For the first time in his life it occurred to Ben that he looked handsome.
‘Yeah, on a good day. Sometimes you look a bit rough...’ Eve laughed at his protests, narrowing her eyes to squint at the photograph. ‘Maybe she’s turned up the blue tones a bit. She explained to me how you do that. She said that she could turn down the red of my scars a bit but when we’d talked about it I decided that she shouldn’t. All or nothing, eh?’
‘Good decision. You can be very proud of your photos, Eve.’ Ben looked at his own photograph again. None of the other blues seemed to be so prominent. Maybe it was a trick of the light...
He decided not to think about it. Gathering up the photographs, he put them back into the envelope and threw it back into the box.
‘Here. If anyone wants to see these, you can show them.’ He led by example. If anyone on the crew wanted to see what Callie had made of him, they could have a good laugh over it.
‘Right, boss. Thanks.’ Eve put her envelope in the box with his and shot him a grin before she left him alone.
What Callie had made of him. It was a thought that wouldn’t go away, because the photograph had hinted at the smouldering heat that invaded his thoughts whenever he looked at her.
He shook the thoughts from his head. Christmas was only a week away and Callie would be back to take the photos for the calendar. He would be sure to thank her for her sensitivity with Eve and then he’d keep his distance. Ben didn’t trust himself to do anything else.
* * *
Callie had stared at Ben’s photograph for a long time before deciding to include it in his envelope. Perhaps it looked a like a come-on, betraying the way she saw him a little too clearly. But it was really
