But here was a man who put out fires for a living, pulled mangled children from wrecks, siphoned scalding water from busted hot-water tanks, and he did not see the emergency in Elin’s soul. “Come with me,” she said, and Neal, an only child of older parents long since dead, let slip his steadiness, his need for safety first. A risky adventure seemed to hook his imagination, an alternate, unknown future flashing behind his eyes. “You know you can get a job anywhere,” she said. “That’s not true,” he said. “It’s mostly true,” she said, and watched as his steely, protective curtain returned,
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