Scorch (21 page)

Vin tripped on
a snag and went ass over teakettle down a ravine, landing in a heap of fuel with embers floating down like fireflies.

Swearing, he quickly scraped himself a tiny half-assed safety zone and went through the channels on his radio, but had no luck raising anyone, probably because he was in the bottom of a natural well. Standing on an ankle that streaked with pain, no less.

He took in his position and had to admit, his prospects sucked.

He was in a chute that had been cut by a seasonal creek that was little better than a bathroom faucet right now. It wasn’t enough of a natural line to burn himself a proper safe zone, either.

The far wall of the ravine was already lighting up and smoke was coming from below. It would continue to billow up and collect around him and he couldn’t even go back the way he’d fallen. Fire had chased him off that ridge.

He was fucked. Stuck like Santa in a fucking chimney.

There is no Santa Claus.

No, Jacqui, my love, there wasn’t any tooth fairy or miracles either
. Not for him. Not ever.

He hated like hell that she was going to be shattered all over again. Who was going to pick up the pieces if he wasn’t there to do it?

Damn it, she shouldn’t have to go through this again!

Fuck, fuck, fuckety-fuck. What the hell was he going to do?

Come on, Russ
, he pleaded in desperation.
Do your brother a solid. Tell me which way to go. If you loved her at all, you would help me get back to her. You would want her to know what it was like to be loved the way she was meant to be loved
.

He searched in every direction, knowing it was a futile prayer because guardian angels didn’t exist either.

Despair filled him as he recognized he would have to stay exactly where he was.

You’ve got one ass to risk
, Russ used to say, drawing the 1 and an * on everything from hard hats to pulaskis to shelter tents.
Don’t be a hero. Don’t take stupid risks. Your best tool is under your hardhat. Use it
.

*

Jacqui had only
been to an incident camp a couple of times. Rule one was to stay the hell out of everyone’s way. She knew that much, but she was so anxious for news, she was already planning to go directly to the command tent.

Sam pointed out the luxurious lodge as they circled over it to stay out of the plume of smoke. He told her it had been secured, but why the hell would she care about some rich guy’s getaway when it had sent Vin into this hellhole in the first place?

No, she would not give any notice to that giant log cabin with its wrap-around veranda or the smaller bungalows with their snapping flags and window boxes. She refused to spare any admiration for the long wharf with its Adirondack chairs in bright colors that overlooked enough water to put out this fire a million times, if only the lodge owners had had the sense to prepare with pumps and hoses and water canons.

If she never saw another forested mountainside in her life, she’d be a happy woman.

Florida
. She should have stayed in Florida.

She immediately dismissed the wish. She might be staring down despair, but she wouldn’t let it take hold. What she had had last night with Vin was precious. Her life was enriched for the amount of it he’d already shared with her. She wanted more, dear God, did she want more time with him, but she wouldn’t wish away the time she had had with him.

Hear that, Vin?
Her eyes stung as she looked over the billows of smoke beyond her window.
No regret. I’m not walking away from us because it got hard. Sometimes things
do
work out if you keep trying
.

Resentful as she was of the view—smoldering forests that had drawn Vin out here in the first place—she was drawn to search through the layers of smoke and was the one to spot the hint of blue that broke up a black scar down a crack in the mountainside.

“What’s that?”

Sam leaned across. His expression turned even grimmer. “That’s a shelter.”

He told Miranda to relay the coordinates to the rescue helicopter.

*

Vin was belly
down in damp mud. The trickle of creek was glacier fed, but with fire raging all around, it had warmed to tepid. Fortunately, the small dam he’d thrown together was working. The water wasn’t exactly pooling around him, but it was providing a damp sty to muck into.

Half-smothered under his shelter, he listened to the planes and helicopters, but had no way to signal them. Even if the sun had been out and he had been able to catch a reflection, the smoke was so thick the chances were low it would have been seen. All he could do was wait for the fire to burn out around him.

And think of Jacqui.

He wished they’d started a baby last night. No. Then she would have to raise it alone. But imagine what an incredible mother she’d make. Yeah, he would love to make a baby with her. Why had he hesitated? He’d never really known what kind of father he’d make, but he grew pretty emotional, lying there, imagining Jacqui holding their baby and smiling.

He kept hearing her say,
“I’m trying to give you what you want. You can’t say it’s bad luck if you refuse to accept it.”

He didn’t have a lot of religion, but he was putting big faith in Jacqui right now. He’d dug a trench to pool the creek—exactly the sort of diversion of a waterway that the environmentalists got their shit in a knot over. The creek probably only ran for a month each spring, but it would be habitat to spotted tadpoles or something and his attempt to save his life by damming it and popping a shelter across it would be held responsible for the next ice age.

He didn’t care.

He was doing everything he could to get back to Jacqui.

She’d probably leave him for scaring the hell out of her like this, but he was fighting one last time for a chance at something good.

Please let it happen.

Just this once.
Please
.

*

Jacqui heard the
low rumble of voices rising in attention, then excitement, and finally a shout of triumph.

It had to mean Vin had been found alive, but she still held her breath.

“He’s alive!” Miranda said, ear cocked so she could hear the radio she wore over the shouts from around the camp. “They’re dropping a long line for him.”

The camp was next to the logging road on the bottom of the burn out, pretty much where Vin and his crew had started working this morning. Dusk was starting to gather, but it was still light enough to easily see the speck growing darker against the smoky backdrop of the sky.

Beneath it, a smaller speck began to materialize—Vin, dangling like a spider off a thread suspended from the bottom of the helicopter.

It seemed to take hours from that moment until the helicopter was above them, churning ash and smoke into a dry cloud around them, gently, gently lowering until a couple of men were able to grab Vin and help him unhook.

Finally his feet were on the ground and the helicopter wheeled away. He limped forward as another cheer went up.

He was hardly recognizable, not just sooty, but caked in mud with pine needles and other debris clinging to his wet clothes. His face was just two blinking eyes in a dark mask searching the crowd condensing around him. He was looking for her, she realized, when he froze at finally spotting her.

She ran pell-mell at him and threw her arms around his neck, clinging hard, tasting dirt when he kissed her, but not caring.

“You
jerk
!” she said when she drew back.

A ripple of laughter went through their audience, especially when she tried to find her feet and he kept hold of her, feet dangling, arms like an iron band pinning her to his padded form.

“Hey. I didn’t give up.” He said it like he was admonishing her. “I knew that’d be way more unforgivable in your eyes than getting myself into trouble in the first place.”

She wanted to smile, but her lips were quivering and her eyes stung.

“Also, I love you,” he stated, blue gaze meeting hers with intensity. “Life
is
short and I couldn’t quit before
our
time.”

“Oh, Vin.” She didn’t know how he held onto her when she melted into liquid reverence right there in his arms.

“I should have said that before I left,” he added in a voice growled by emotion. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

She wanted to cry and strangle him and refuse to love him if he kept doing this stupid job, but she only hugged him again, finally touching earth after another passionate kiss.

His arm settled heavily across her shoulders as they made their way to the triage tent. “Good news is, I’ll have a couple of weeks off. My ankle is sprained all to hell.”

“Screw that, Kingston. You can still sew,” Ace said, offering Vin a towel.

Jacqui picked up the end of it and wiped the mud off her own face and hands.

“For what it’s worth,” Dodson said as he brought Vin a bottle of water, taking in both of them with a bounce of his gaze, “I think Russ would approve.”

Jacqui appreciated the sentiment, but she didn’t really
care
what Russ or anyone else might think. Russ had been her first love. Her crush on him had worked her heart hard so it could be big enough and strong enough for
this
love. Adult love. The kind that wasn’t fragile, but withstood tests.

She swallowed, probably reflecting all of that love like a dwarf sun as she gazed up at Vin, but she didn’t care who saw.

Everyone seemed more concerned for Vin anyway, lots of people needing to come shake his hand, check his ankle, bump his fist. Finally, they were told to head back to the base in the next helicopter flying that direction.

“Russ loved you,” Vin said while they were waiting for Miranda to finish her preflight. “I know he did. Maybe not the way
I
love you…”

She bit her lips, tucking her chin. “Do you really mean it? Your love, I mean. That’s the one that’s important to me now.”

He slanted a look down at her, solemn. “I was in a pretty tight spot, Jac. I thought it might be over. All I wanted was to get back to you. I made it happen. What
is
the point of living if you’re not going to fight for what you want? Right?”

“What exactly do you want?” She leaned into his solid frame.

“You,” he said promptly. “In my house.” He grinned, teeth seeming extra white against his still dirty face. His blue eyes twinkled as he added, “With my baby.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.” He cuddled her closer into his side. “What do you want?”

She swiped her hand down the damp, gritty patch that had just smeared the side of her face from the shoulder of his gear. “For you to shower and put on clean clothes.”

He chuckled and leaned down to say, “How about we meet in the middle? Shower together and hold off on the clothes?”

“We
do
have a record to break, don’t we?”

April, the following year

V
in was in
Sam’s office, going over the new batch of rookie applications, when Jacqui headed back to her desk from the ladies’ room. The door was open, so she went in and set her hand on Vin’s shoulder.