Things You Save in a Fire

During their first few weeks on the job, the rookie sees several traumatizing incidents, and the crew pranks him harder to help keep his spirit up. Cassie has a recurring nightmare about suffocating and goes to the kitchen to get water, finding the rookie cooking confidently in the middle of the night. He asks about her nightmares, and she is surprised to find herself revealing details of her private emotional life to him. He makes her an omelet so good that she thinks he could be a professional chef. He also tells her things he has heard about another crew member, DeStasio, whose wife recently left him after his drinking got out of control and led to a car accident that killed their son. Cassie has noticed before that DeStasio never smiles, and she and the rookie think of things they can do to cheer him up. Cassie also reflects on how the rookie is easy to talk to even though she finds conversations with most people difficult. With some difficulty, the rookie admits to Cassie that, of everyone on the crew, he feels like Cassie is the one most in need of a hug and that he wants to put his arms around her every time he sees her. Cassie shuts down the conversation, deflecting even though internally she does think that she desperately needs a hug.

A week later, the crew pranks Cassie by getting her to climb a ladder truck to the roof and abandoning her there. Cassie accepts her fate and begins to doze off until she hears footsteps approaching. She kicks her presumed attacker only to find the rookie, who has come to rescue her from the roof. As the rookie tries to explain, the crew drives the ladder truck away again. Stuck together, the rookie apologizes for her having to “babysit” him and then says he needs to ask a favor of her. His parents’ anniversary party is coming up—an important one because his father recently had a heart attack. He was planning to go with his girlfriend, Amy, whom his family loved and who was his sister’s best friend before she died, but they recently broke up. The rookie would do anything for his family and thinks the only way he can soften the blow of his breakup is by bringing a date to the party. Cassie knows that doing this could jeopardize her career, especially as the rookie comes from a family of Boston firefighters that might know people in Lillian, but against her better judgment, she agrees.

After saying yes to the rookie, Cassie finds herself agreeing to hang out with Diana and Josie at their two-person crochet club, where she winds up telling them about everything with the rookie. They go to Josie’s closet to help Cassie pick out a dress for the party. The one they choose makes her feel vulnerable, but she finds that vulnerability is not a bad feeling, though it’s one she has been trying to avoid for years. The day of the party, Diana does Cassie’s makeup, making her feel like “a different version of” herself (238). When the rookie is a few minutes late picking her up, she becomes nervous and attempts to cancel, but Josie and Diana dissuade her. All of her nerves go away once she sees the rookie looking at her in amazement just as she is looking at him. Though she does not consider this a date, she admits to the rookie that, if it was, it would be her first. Though she feels awkward in her dress and heels, the rookie makes her feel comfortable as they drive to the party.

Around his big family, the usually quiet rookie comes out of his shell. He introduces Cassie to his four sisters, who are all in on their scheme. The plan is to tell his parents, Colleen and Big Robby, that they are just friends, but Big Robby immediately assumes she is his new girlfriend. The rookie takes Cassie to the dance floor before his parents can ask too many questions. He tells her that, if they are going to pretend to be dating, she should call him by his real name. Cassie realizes that she doesn’t actually know his name, which he finally reveals is Owen.

As they are leaving the dance floor, Owen spots Captain Murphy, who had initially said he wasn’t coming to the party. Just the moment before, Cassie tripped and Owen held her head down so Murphy would not see her. They sneak into a coat closet to figure out an escape plan, as Owen is convinced Murphy didn’t recognize her. Cassie starts to think aloud, saying she knew this was a bad idea and everyone is going to think she is sleeping with the rookie when she hasn’t so much as been kissed. She wonders whether this accidental confession will change Owen’s view of her, and Owen says it makes him want to kiss her, but he promises instead to get her out of the party unseen. Cassie kisses him, and for a moment she forgets everything and is not scared. Owen’s sister, Shannon, knocks on the door, letting them know that everyone saw them go into the closet. To get her out of the party, Owen throws Cassie over his shoulder so Murphy can’t see her face as they leave.

The night after the party, Cassie lies in bed thinking about her kiss with Owen and how it changed her entire perspective on romance. For the first time in the novel, she briefly alludes to her assault, asking her audience rhetorical questions about it: “Do I have to describe what Heath Thompson did to me on the night I turned sixteen? Do I have to lay out all those details?” (262). All that happened on her 16th birthday made Cassie think romance wasn’t for her and love didn’t exist, but she begins to question this after kissing the rookie. In one way, this restores a sense of hope in her, but it also terrifies her because she knows she cannot be with Owen. For the first time in years, Cassie cries.