Shameless (25 page)

D
EVON, HIS TWO
older brothers, and Leah were taking a break, faces covered with soot, bodies streaked with sweat, clothes singed, gloved hands blistered, muscles protesting sixteen hours straight of extreme physical labor. Leah had gone with Connor to retrieve food and drink for the four of them. Devon had been impressed at her resilience. She'd worked as hard as any of them.

As Devon watched, a batch of fire retardant was dropped from a low-flying plane in the final moments before official nightfall, which was 10:03 p.m. Steam and white smoke rose into the air. A moose clambered up a slope to his left, and a badger waddled along a dirt track where firefighting machinery was parked as though he owned it.

His visit to his biological father seemed like a dream that he still hadn't woken up from. When he'd explained the situation in Wyoming to Shiloh Kidd, his biological father had urged him to go help. Devon had promised to return someday soon to spend more time with him, but he'd seen from the look in Kidd's eyes that he didn't believe him. Devon planned to prove him wrong.

“So the fire is finally under control?” he said to Aiden.

“That's what I was told.”

“How soon can we start searching?”

“I've had helicopters looking all day while we've been working,” Aiden replied, “overflying a search grid in each section of the forest as the fire was controlled, leading out from where the plane went down.”

“Nothing?” Devon already knew the answer to his question, because Aiden would have said something if any sign of his brother and Leah's sister had been reported. But he kept his gaze focused on Aiden, hoping against hope.

“They spotted most of Brian's firefighting gear piled up as though he'd dumped it there in a hurry.”

“But no bodies?” Devon persisted.

“No bodies,” Aiden said in a hoarse voice. “We'll need to get in on the ground to make sure…”

Devon swallowed over the ache in his throat. He could never remember seeing his older brother so choked up. He might only share a mother with his brothers, but he'd grown up loving them, and that hadn't changed. Devon refused to believe that Brian's body was lying burned beneath his gear. He knew Brian had survived. He just couldn't imagine how he'd done it. “What happened to them?” Devon asked. “It's like they disappeared into thin air.”

Aiden focused his gaze on the thousands of acres of blackened, barren landscape—and the two million acres of thick green forest beyond that. “They're out there somewhere.”

“Now what?” Devon asked.

“We eat. We sleep. We search again tomorrow.”

Devon felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Matt looking as filthy and exhausted as he felt himself. “Hi, Matt. You look like shit.”

“You don't look much better. I've been hunting for you half the day.”

Devon felt his stomach clench.
Something's happened to Pippa.
Then he realized that was ridiculous. Matt would be with his daughter if something was wrong, not here fighting a fire. But he could imagine no other reason why Matt would have been looking for him. “What's up?”

“Do you have a minute?”

Devon realized he must want to talk about Pippa after all; otherwise, he would have said whatever he had to say in front of Aiden. “Sure.” He turned to his brother and said, “Don't eat my sandwich. I'll be right back.” Then he walked aside with Matt, nearly getting run down by a panicked coyote with a patch of fur burned off its back that was darting across the road.

“Pippa's at Kingdom Come,” Matt announced.

“What?”

“You heard me. She seems to think you love her.”

“I do love her.” It was easier to say the words to Pippa's father than he'd expected.

“What about the baby?”

Devon shrugged.

Before he could say that he knew the baby came along with Pippa, Matt had grabbed handfuls of his shirt with both fists, and Devon felt Matt's spittle on his face.

“You sonofabitch. How can you say you love Pippa and dismiss her child with a shrug?”

Aiden shouted, “Hey! What the hell's going on over there?”

“Butt out!” Matt snarled.

Devon realized the mistake he'd made, gripped both of Matt's wrists, and said, “I'll love the baby, too—because it's Pippa's.”

It took Matt a moment to realize what Devon had said. He let go and shook his head in disgust. “Why the hell didn't you say so in the first place?”

Devon's lip curved in a chagrined smile. “I forgot I was speaking to my kid's grandfather.”

Matt looked stunned, as though it had just occurred to him that he was going to be a grandpa.

Aiden hurried over to them, and Devon put himself between his brother and his future father-in-law to prevent any further misunderstanding from escalating into violence.

But it wasn't Matt whom Aiden wanted to speak to. He stopped in front of Devon and said, “A new fire's started in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. If they can't put it out, it could threaten your cabin.”

Devon had cut a firebreak around his property, but his cabin was literally surrounded by forest, and a gust of wind carrying flying embers could easily set his home ablaze. “Any idea how close it is to my place?”

Aiden shook his head. “I don't have coordinates yet. They're sending firefighters from this blaze to put out that fire before it can grow. But you'd better get home, so you can move your stock if it becomes necessary.”

Devon turned to Matt and said, “Don't let Pippa leave. I'll be coming to get her.” And then he ran for his truck.

P
IPPA WAS TOO
excited to sit still. She felt useless because her pregnancy kept her from helping to fight the fire. Everyone else at Kingdom Come had something to do or somewhere to be except her.

She'd only ever been at odds with Taylor, but she empathized with her grandfather, whose face had looked bleak during the long hours of futile search for her missing aunt, and with Victoria, who'd been so overwhelmed by the disappearance of her twin that she'd collapsed in tears. Her grandfather had gone to Jackson, where he could help organize—and get the latest updates on—the search for Taylor and Brian. Before Leah had left to help fight the fire and search for her sister in Yellowstone, she'd suggested that Victoria stay with Eve so she wouldn't be alone, and had sent Nathan along with her so he could play with Eve and Connor's two kids.

The Grayhawks had banded together in this time of trouble, but Pippa hadn't been a part of it. She knew they hadn't excluded her on purpose, but it hadn't made her feel any less alone.

There was a place where she belonged. And someone with whom she belonged. She'd felt happy living with Devon. She loved the life they'd led on his ranch. She wanted desperately to see him, to have his strong arms close around her when she told him that she loved him, too. That would all have to wait while he fought the fire that might have claimed his brother's life.

However, she knew the first place Devon would go when all was said and done. He'd head home to check on Beowulf and Sultan and his menagerie of wounded animals. Pippa realized she could see him that much sooner if she borrowed her father's pickup and drove to Devon's cabin.

She was on the outskirts of Devon's ranch when she noticed smoke on the horizon. This smoke was different from the haze that covered most of Jackson as a result of the fire in Yellowstone. This smoke billowed, and she saw an occasional flame. She felt a shiver run down her spine.

Ever since she and her father had narrowly escaped that wildfire in Australia when she was a child, Pippa had harbored a deathly fear of her clothes and hair catching on fire. Her natural instinct was to turn around and go in the opposite direction. But the thought of Wulf or Sultan or any of Devon's menagerie burning to death kept her foot on the accelerator.

Pippa gunned the engine, anxious to get to Devon's home in a hurry. Right now it looked like the wind was driving the fire away from his place, but that could change. As she hit the brakes and skidded to a stop at his front door, she heard Wulf howling inside. She was glad Devon didn't lock his door. She shoved the exuberant wolf away so she could squeeze inside and a moment later was on her knees beside him.

“Everything's all right,” she said, smoothing the ruffled hackles on Wulf's back. He was clearly excited to see her, licking her face and bouncing around. “The fire's a long way from here. We're safe if we stay inside the house.”

Then she realized that the animals in the barn must be equally agitated. “Wait here. I'll be right back.”

Before she left the house, sugar cubes in hand, Pippa thought about calling Devon to tell him a fire was burning in the forest nearby. But he was an hour and a half away. What could he do from there that she couldn't do, since she was right here? Besides, she might be worrying him for nothing. The fire could burn itself out, or the wind could take it in the opposite direction, and she would have made him leave the fire in Yellowstone—and the search for his brother—for nothing.

She watched the direction of the distant smoke as the wind swirled around her. Which way was it blowing now? She saw charred ashes floating in the sky, but no burning embers.

She'd been gone for six weeks, but the instant she spoke, Sultan's head appeared over the stall door. “There you are,” she said, smiling at the sight of his ears tipped forward in welcome. “I have something for you.”

Pippa held out her hand and Sultan lipped the sugar into his mouth, all the while watching her with calm—rather than wary—eyes. Pippa smoothed a hand over his nose, then let her other hand wander up his jaw. She smiled when he lowered his head so she could more easily scratch behind his ears. “You like that, don't you?”

She slid her arm around his neck as she moved his forelock away from his eyes. “You're such a beauty. I hope I won't need to test your trust by trying to lead you out of this stall.”

If the fire came in this direction, Pippa could simply release Sultan, but there was no guarantee he would escape. It would be better if she could load him onto a horse trailer and drive him out of here. But she wasn't sure whether that was feasible, since she'd never even put a halter on him.

Maybe she ought to try that now.

She left Sultan and found a halter, holding it out so he could see it as she returned. He became restless again, turning in circles, but she stood patiently at the stall door, waiting for him to return. At last he stuck his head out and stood, his ears flicking back and forth, his nostrils flared, his dark eyes focused on her.

“I know you must have had a halter on before, so you know this won't hurt a bit.” The halter circled his nose and had straps running up either side of his jaw which connected to a strap that went over his head behind his ears and buckled on the side. A lead rope could be attached to a metal ring under his jaw. “Easy peasy,” she said as she slipped the halter over his nose, then laid the strap over his head, before buckling it on one side of his jaw.

When she was done, Sultan shook his head, testing the halter, but he didn't retreat from the door.

“See? That wasn't so bad. Now if I need to get you out of here in a hurry, we're all set.”

Pippa went to check on the animals in the cages at the other end of the barn. They were all different from the ones that had been there before she left. She was shocked to see a skunk and wondered how Devon had been able to treat it without getting sprayed. He was also helping out a blue jay, a possum with babies, and a fox. The fox surprised her, because it looked exactly like the picture on the “F is for Fox” page in a book her father had read to her as a child. Somehow she hadn't expected the fox to be quite so red, or its face to be framed with such distinct white and black fur.

Pippa had just made a plan for how she could lift and carry each of the cages to her pickup, if and when she might have to evacuate, when she heard a car door slam. She looked out and saw Devon's truck, then caught sight of him entering the house. She left the barn on the run—or as much of a run as she could manage.

She met him coming down the front steps as she was going up. “Have they found Brian and Taylor?”

“What the hell are you doing here? Don't you know there's a fire headed this way? You could have been trapped!”

Pippa was stopped in her tracks by the anger in his voice. A second later he picked her up in a crushing hug and said, “Thank God you're safe!”

She suddenly realized his anger had actually been fear for her safety. She wrapped her arms around him in return, but gasped, “Devon, I can't breathe.”

He loosened his hold on her enough to search her eyes and said, “I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you and the baby all right?”

“We're fine.”

He pulled her close again, laid his cheek against hers, and said, “I can't believe you're here. I was on my way to get you and the baby when I heard about Brian and Taylor.”

“Are they all right?”

He leaned back and said, “The fire is out, but Brian and Taylor have disappeared like the morning mist.”

“How is that possible?”

He released her, but then took her hand and twined their fingers together. “I have no idea. I came home because I heard about the fire here in the Bridger-Teton forest. They've sent a bunch of firefighters from the Yellowstone fire to put it out, but I couldn't tell on the drive in whether it's coming this way or not.”

“The wind keeps shifting,” Pippa said, as she turned and searched the air above the surrounding forest.

“Let me look at you,” Devon said, taking her other hand and turning her to face him, his eyes eating her hungrily. “You look so…” He laughed and said, “Big.”

She made a face.

“And beautiful,” he added. “Very beautiful,” he said in a softer voice.

“I love you, Devon.”

He smiled his lopsided smile, his eyes crinkling as he met her gaze. “I've been waiting a long time to hear you say those words, my friend.”

Pippa laughed.

He took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Then he looked into her eyes and said, “I love you, Pippa.” He put his hand on her swollen belly, leaned down, and whispered, “I love you, too, Sprite.”

Pippa felt her heart swell with gratitude at Devon's gesture. She had all the answers she needed. And a whole lifetime of
friendship
to look forward to.

She was reaching for Devon's hand when he suddenly said, “Wait!”

Pippa froze. Had he changed his mind? Was he having second thoughts?

“Listen. Do you hear it?”

“Hear what?” Pippa listened, but she wasn't sure what it was Devon had heard.

His arms circled her from behind, his hands resting on her burgeoning belly. He kissed her on the neck and murmured, “Rain.”