Conservative Nadine Harris may have been, but it was clear that she knew how to throw a party. The music and the food were hot, the beer was cold, and all were plentiful. Dancing, drinking, and eating fed off of each other. Everyone seemed to be having a blast — everyone except Jessie, who moped at the head table, which was the one facing the darkening twilight, and Miller, who was getting quietly drunk amid the increasingly rowdy crowd of firefighters.
Lea was blissfully sweaty, just having surrendered her husbands to their sisters (Kirsten and Danielle) on the dance floor, when Captain Olson appeared before her, chest bedecked in medals, silver-and-black hair just slightly mussed. "Captain!"
"May I have this dance?" he asked, extending his hand.
When the band shifted to a slow ballad,
