Her head lifted and her voice was steady, husky. “I didn’t say that, but I think you’re jumping the gun.”
“I’ll have to transfer. It’s the only answer.”
“I think we can deal with this in the future, when we have to, Sean.”
Sean was quiet. “All right. I’ll drop it for now.”
Lana felt a moment of unease and it made her close her eyes. She liked this new side of Sean, but the assertiveness that went with it was annoying, making her question something she believed in all her life.
* * *
Lana sat outside the testing office, watching the people going in and coming out. She had to register if she was going to take the test, but Sean’s words echoed in her head. Was this something that she really wanted? Of course, it was. She’d worked hard and long for it every day of her life up to this very moment.
Yet, she just sat there and stared.
From the time she could remember, she wanted to be a firefighter like her father and not only excel at the job but reach the goal of captain.
The other odd thing about this captain business was that she hadn’t said a word to Sean about this test. She hadn’t told anyone except Sienna and Kate. Next to them, Sean was her best friend, and this morning had been the perfect opportunity to tell him she’d been studying for it. So why hadn’t she?
Finally, she headed toward the office, but it felt as if she were going to her doom.
* * *
Lana plopped herself down in the chair across from Sienna’s desk.
Sienna smiled. “You look good, positively glowing. Sean?”
Lana couldn’t help but grin back. “I’d say he’s positively glowing, too.”
“So, the dare worked for you, too?”
“I guess it did, sort of.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I told Sean about wanting to become captain.”
“And?”
“He questioned whether it was my dream or my father’s.”
“Why would he say that?”
“I saved a woman from falling two days ago.”
“Saw that on the news.”
“I almost dropped her, Sienna.”
“Wow. How have you been handling it?”
“You know how this job is. It’s ninety-nine percent mental. Getting through each call is mind over matter. That’s where the control freak thing comes into play.”
“Right. Good old control.”
“Anyway, I had this dream about dropping my dad. I told Sean. He thinks it’s because I don’t want to fail him. When I told him about the captain’s goal, he thought maybe it’s my dad’s dream and not my own. That’s why I’m dreaming about dropping him.”
“Is it?”