My Butterfly

asked.
    “Yes, sir,” I said.
    “Okay, we’re just going to go on inside then and check things out,” he said.
    “All right,” I replied, as I pulled the truck near the curb on the street.
    As soon as the engine stopped, the two guys in the cab with me slid out, and I followed after them.
    “Ms. Evans,” I said, greeting the woman with a head nod.
    She smiled. I wasn’t sure if she recognized me or not. She looked a little shaken. The two kids in her arms looked as if they couldn’t be any older than seven. One looked scared, maybe on the verge of tears. The other, however, was bright-eyed and seemed to be more fascinated by the fire engine’s lights and the strange men wearing space suits on his lawn than any threat of danger. I smiled at the kids and then looked back up at their mother.
    “Did you smell any smoke, ma’am?” I asked her.
    I watched as the captain, Mike and the chief opened the door to the house and slipped in. Then, I saw the woman shake her head.
    “No,” she said, softly, squeezing her children closer. “The smoke detector went off in my daughter’s room. I couldn’t smell anything, but I just wanted to be sure. It’s an old house, you know. Maybe I shouldn’t have called, but I just wanted to be sure…”
    I stopped her.
    “I’m glad you called,” I said, gently smiling. “We’ll take a look. We’ll make sure there’s nothing unusual.”
    A soft smile started to grow on the woman’s face. Then, she took a deep breath and then forced it out.
    “Thank you,” she said.
    “You’re welcome, ma’am,” I said and then made my way toward her front door.
    Just inside the heavy storm door, I could already tell the house was in a world better shape than when old-man McConnell had the place. There were curtains now, and the blinds were open. And there weren’t stacks of newspapers sitting in dark corners anymore. I scanned the first level one more time. Then, I headed up the stairs to the second floor and saw the captain and the chief when I reached the top of the steps.
    “Anything?” I asked.
    They shook their heads.
    “She said the smoke detector in the daughter’s room went off,” I said.
    “Yeah, there’s no smoke, no smell, nothing burning,” the captain said. “The smoke detector in one of the rooms needed its batteries changed. Was that a girl’s room, Mike?”
    “With the detector?” Mike called out from down the hallway.
    “Yeah,” the captain hollered back.
    “Yeah, I think so,” Mike bellowed. “It looked like it, unless the boy has some obsession with The Powerpuff Girls .”
    The chief shot me a puzzled look.
    “What the hell is he talking about?” he asked. “How does he know that?”
    I laughed and shook my head.
    “I don’t know,” I said. “It’s Mike.”
    “Anyway,” the captain said. “We put new batteries in the girl’s room. Otherwise, it looks fine. I think we’re clear.”
    “All right,” I said, turning back down the stairs.
    The chief followed after me, and the captain and Mike followed after him.
    “This place looks a lot different from when old-man McConnell lived here,” Mike said, legging behind us.
    “You miss the dust and the cobwebs, Mike?” I asked him.
    “Yeah, that and the cigar smell,” he said, laughing.
    I laughed once and then made my way to the front door and pushed through it.
    “Ms. Evans,” I said, nearing her. “Everything looks fine. We changed the batteries in your daughter’s smoke detector. But if it goes off again or if you think anything’s unusual, don’t hesitate to call us again.”
    The woman bashfully smiled.
    “The hardware store,” she said.
    I paused for a moment.
    “Yes, ma’am,” I said, smiling.
    “Will,” she said.
    I nodded my head.
    “Yes, ma’am,” I said.
    I watched her lips rise at their corners.
    “Thank you,” she said.
    I smiled again, then tipped my hat and made my way back to the engine.
    ...
    “Hey, baby,” I said, hopping back into my truck. “Where are you?”
    She giggled and said something to someone in the background.
    “Is that Jeff?” I asked.
    “Yeah,” she said.
    I could tell that she was smiling on the other end of the phone.
    “He misses you,” she said.
    Jeff rambled off something else, but I couldn’t understand it.
    “I don’t care if he does,” I said.
    “Well, I miss you too,” she said.
    I smiled into the phone.
    “Where are you guys?” I asked.
    “Jeff’s,” she said.
    “Just you two?” I