Katy saw Chief Wolfe say something to the boy, and her heart raced as the kid let Wolfe take the girl. The boy lunged toward Shep when the dog swam past again.
Immediately, they both sank out of sight, and Katy’s heart stopped.
A second later, dog and boy popped up several yards downstream, the boy firmly gripping Shep’s vest. The dog power-stroked straight toward Niall.
She let out a thick sigh of relief as Niall plucked the kid free and swung him up onto his shoulder with a whoop of triumph. The three made their way to shore just as the other two firefighters intercepted their chief, who swam cross-current on his back while holding the listless girl.
Katy rushed to them, grabbing the chief’s arm and guiding him to a grassy spot. “Set her down here,” she instructed, shrugging off the jump bag and dropping to her knees. “No, move away!” she snapped when a woman, dressed in paramedic blues, knelt beside her and reached for the girl.
“Go check the boy,” the woman snapped back as she crowded Katy out of the way and clasped the girl’s neck to check for a pulse. “Welles!” the interloper shouted without looking up. “Go get the damn bus. Somebody find this kid’s parents! We’re leaving in five minutes with or without them!”
The petite, middle-aged woman glanced up and spotted Katy glaring at her. “You waiting for hell to freeze over?” she drawled as she turned back to the girl.
Reminding herself they were part of the same team, Katy tamped down her impulse to shove the woman out of the way. There’d be time for her to explain her behavior later. “I don’t know if the girl speaks English,” she said as she stood and backed in the direction of the older boy. “But I think Chief—”
A loud feminine scream came from the onlookers lining the side lane. People hurried out of the way as a woman and man rushed forward, only to be intercepted by Niall and Chief Wolfe. The little boy Katy had carried across the road bolted toward them and threw himself at the man with a loud sob. Chief Wolfe moved over to the frantic woman, and whatever he said seemed to take the wind out of her hysteria.
“Good to see some people are doing their job,” the aggressive medic muttered as she glowered at Katy.
A sharp response—consisting of many four-letter words—swept into Katy’s mind, but she took a breath and headed for the boy who sat on the ground cuddled inside a police officer’s jacket and hugging Shep as the dog licked his face. Shivering and looking exhausted, but definitely not in distress, the boy darted worried glances between the girl and the two people Katy assumed were his parents. She knelt in front of him and caught Shep’s snout to make the dog stop licking. “A little early in the day for a swim, don’t you think?” she said, warmly. “It’s barely above sixty degrees.”
“He’s Danish,” a man said as he crouched down beside her.
Not about to have another patient stolen, Katy moved to block him, then stopped when she saw he was the police officer who likely belonged to the jacket.
He held up his hands in surrender. He had broad, attractive features, and a hint of a smirk that Katy figured was part of his daily attire. “I swear I didn’t push them in.” He grinned and extended one of his hands. “Jake Sheppard.”
“Katy MacBain.”
Jake’s grin slackened, and his eyes widened. “You’re Niall’s paramedic cousin?”
“Guilty.”
“Yes. Well, if you need to ask Evan anything, I speak passable Danish. That’s his name—Evan. He’s twelve and a strong swimmer, and he hasn’t been coughing, so I don’t think he swallowed any water. He got banged up a bit, though,” Jake went on, slipping the jacket off one of Evan’s shoulders to reveal a long red welt beneath a torn sleeve. “The girl is his little sister, and they’re here on vacation, staying at the inn.”
Katy stared at him, knowing she needed to tend to the boy, but curiosity held her in place. “So, you just happen to know Danish?”
Jake shrugged. “It pays to study abroad.”
She nodded, interest fading as duty called. She reached out but didn’t touch the boy until she asked permission by arching a brow with her smile. He nodded, and she cupped his arm gently. After probing the boy’s shoulder around the welt, she turned to the police officer. “Jake, could you please tell Evan that I wish I had better news for him, but it doesn’t look like he’ll even have a scar to show his buddies when he tells them how he jumped in the stream to save his sister.”
Jake chuckled and relayed the message. Evan scowled down at his shoulder, then leaned sideways to see past Katy before clasping Shep to his chest again. He looked up at her and spoke, and his tone suggested he was asking her a question.
“Evan wants to know if his sister is going to be okay,” Jake said.
Katy pulled the jacket over his shoulder and glanced back to see the now conscious and sobbing girl being strapped onto the gurney as the mother held an oxygen mask over her daughter’s face. Likely, she’d been pressed into service to keep her from renewed hysteria. Not that Katy could blame her.
Evan looked toward the bridge crowded with people, and Katy touched his shoulder again. Smiling at him, she said, “You definitely earned your hero’s medal today, big man. She’s going to be just fine.”
Jake translated. She guessed he added praise of his own as he spoke at some length because Evan’s chin rose proudly.
“MacBain! Bring the boy. He’s going with us,” the other medic called.
Katy look over to see the medic set the jump bag on the gurney, then watched Niall, Chief Wolfe, and a couple of other firefighters muscle it up the sloping bank toward the ambulance parked at the top of the lane. Jake said something to Evan while tugging Shep out of the way, and Katy helped the boy stand. She placed a steadying hand on his uninjured arm for support and walked him toward his mom and sister.
“I’ll drive the father and other boy to the hospital,” Jake told Niall when they reached the ambulance. “I speak enough Danish to translate what the doctor has to say, and I’ll see if I can’t get Evan to tell me how they ended up in the water.”
“We don’t need two medics.” Madam Sunshine helped Evan into the ambulance then moved to block Katy from getting in. The woman smiled tightly. “Maybe if you’re lucky, the tones will go off for a stranded climber before I’m back, and you’ll get to use all your fancy new wilderness training. Meanwhile, do something useful and shut the doors,” she added as she turned to buckle Evan into the jump seat.
Chief Wolfe closed the first door, but Katy stopped in the act of closing the second one. “You in the habit of taking over another medic’s patient in the middle of treatment?” she asked, gesturing at the girl on the gurney.
“I’ve been saving lives longer than you’ve been alive. And when I’m in station, I deal with the critical ones. Welles, drive!”
Chief Wolfe finished closing the door and gave it two heavy thumps with his fist, signaling to Welles that he was clear to go.
“What is her problem?” Katy muttered over the sudden blare of the siren as the ambulance pulled onto the road. She turned to the chief. “She stole my patient.”
He stilled, clearly confused. “There were enough patients to go around.”
“But the girl was mine. I was first on scene and had first contact. And Madam Sunshine over there just waltzed in after the fact and—”
“Gretchen,” he interjected. “Her name is Gretchen Conroy.”
Katy narrowed her eyes, annoyed at his casual tone. “Not even a doctor who shows up on scene will touch a patient unless the attending medic asks for help. It’s an unwritten code of respect.”
Chief Wolfe swiped at some water dripping off his hair, scanned the people still hanging around, then pulled the hem of his T-shirt out of his pants. He started walking up the road toward the station as he lifted the wet material—making her gasp a little at the sight of an amazingly ripped abdomen—and wiped his face, his bo
ots squishing in rhythm with his brisk pace as Katy walked beside him. “Maybe they didn’t have that particular code where Gretchen’s from.” He dropped his shirt and studied her. “You should talk to her about it.”
She felt a flush building, one that probably had more to do with his abs than the situation, and the heat only increased her annoyance. “It’s not my place, especially considering it’s only my first day here. You’re the chief. It’s more appropriate for you to tell her.” She knew bossing her new boss wasn’t going to win her any brownie points, but she didn’t care.
“And, as chief, I’m concerned that stepping in too early might do more harm than good and keep the two of you from developing a good relationship.”
Katy stopped when they reached the sidewalk in front of the station, not thrilled to go inside just yet. “What happened to being the first and only person to hear about it if anyone gives me grief?”
He stopped and turned to her. “In the two weeks I’ve been here, I haven’t seen Gretchen have a problem with anyone else. For now, I’m just asking you to try again. If it doesn’t work, I’ll step in. Fair?”
She shrugged, not quite thrilled but surprisingly soothed. Maybe he was right; a territorial problem with Gretchen was nothing like dealing with an arrogant, aggressive man. She knew that better than anyone.
Watching as he turned back toward the station, she gasped a little when he abruptly walked back and held out his hand. “My phone and wallet?” he said when she frowned in obvious confusion.
Oh, crap. Oh, damn. Oh . . . She’d left them in the ambulance.
Katy turned to face the road in the direction the vehicle had gone. “Um, is your phone password protected?” she asked without looking at him. “It’s not that your stuff is lost or anything . . .”
He said nothing, though she felt the razor-sharp sting of his impatience.
Damn. Silence was worse.
“It’s . . . They’re in the jump bag in the ambulance.” Still, she couldn’t bring herself to look up him. It was quite possible those icy blue eyes of his would freeze her to the spot.
The silence stretched on. Not sure what else to say, Katy watched the onlookers disperse as the three late-arriving firefighters started back with their wet teammate, making her realize poor Welles had been pressed into service driving the ambulance in wet pants.
Hearing a sigh some distance behind her, Katy finally turned in time to see Chief Wolfe walk into the station while pulling his T-shirt off over his head and exposing an equally gorgeous set of muscled shoulders.
Wow. Did she know how to impress a new boss, or what?
Chapter Five
Barely two hours on the job and she’d already complained about a fellow medic stealing her patient and sent the chief’s wallet and cell phone to the hospital. All she’d needed for an encore was to sideswipe their rescue boat on her way out of the parking lot.
She considered going to chase down his personal property. Anything to see those warm crinkles at the corner of his eyes rather than cold blue derision. His quirky, amused grin flashed through her mind, and then those rock-hard abs and rippling bronze shoulders. She bit her lip, more than shocked at her fascination. He was a lot to take in, that was for sure. And that energetic confidence he exuded threatened to overwhelm her.
Settle down, Katy, she told herself. She couldn’t let something as useless as attraction make her act like an idiot. Or like more of an idiot. It had become quite clear that her new job would bring conflict on way too many fronts. She had to stay sharp and strong to prove herself, and more than ever, she wanted to do just that.
Her phone rang out, the bluesy ringer turning the small space around her into an echo chamber. Pulse racing, she pulled it from her pocket, more concerned about quieting the device than who happened to be calling. Until she saw the caller’s name, that is.
Jane. Again.
With a huge gulp, Katy swallowed a hard lump of emotion—guilt, shame, disappointment, panic. This had to be the twentieth time her best friend had called in recent weeks, and her heart ached to think about the effect her silence must be having on Jane, but she just couldn’t answer. Not yet.
Stuffing her phone out of sight, she closed a supply drawer in the truly badass remote access ambulance and straightened enough to peek out the side window as Madam Sunshine backed their other ambulance into the next bay. Even though the tiny control freak—all five-foot-nothing of her, Katy estimated—could barely see over the steering wheel, she clearly wasn’t about to let a mere intern drive back from the hospital. Whatever, Katy told herself. What mattered was that the jump bag was finally back at the station.
“Come on, lady, go get a cup of coffee already,” Katy muttered when they didn’t immediately exit the vehicle. She needed that wallet and cell phone as a peace offering, since she had a favor to ask. She went back to exploring the various compartments, keeping an eye out for an opportunity to retrieve the chief’s possessions.
Finally, two vehicle doors opened and closed, followed by one set of footsteps walking away and the other set—likely poor Welles—running. Not trusting that Gretchen would head straight upstairs, Katy went back to wondering why she couldn’t seem to stay focused around Chief Wolfe. The man was strong and capable and good-looking—so what? Ripped bodies and quick reflexes could be found in every fire station on the planet.
On the other hand, insanely blue eyes shining with silent laughter would make any woman with a pulse forget to breathe. Even her. Even, she was amazed to discover, given what she’d been through.
At least she had confirmation that her hormones hadn’t been permanently traumatized three weeks ago—the downside being they very well might be making her act like a starstruck schoolgirl in front of the first man she’d ever actually wanted to impress.
Which again begged the question of why this man in particular? It’s not like she hadn’t kissed her share of guys. Heck, she’d even slept with a few. Though she had to admit those encounters might have been more exploratory—she wanted to know what was so all-fired exciting about sex—than borne of real passion.
That’s probably why she’d been so disappointed.
Katy stopped fiddling with the defibrillator. Well, heck, maybe that was the problem. Maybe she kept messing up because she felt like a schoolgirl for imagining what it would be like to make love to a drop-dead gorgeous, fully mature man who, she didn’t doubt, probably had bucketloads of experience in the bedroom.
Except that didn’t explain why she’d never so much as skipped a heartbeat over any of the firefighters back in Pine Creek. Or any of the guys at Pete’s Bar & Grill who’d asked her to dance—after, that is, they’d made sure none of her brothers or MacKeage cousins had been lurking in the shadows.
Seriously; she needed to get a grip before she truly embarrassed herself. And anyway, being her boss put him strictly off-limits. Workplace romances ended careers, and she happened to love this particular career. Even fantasizing about— No, wait. He was only interim chief, and in three months, Gunnar Wolfe would be just another coworker. And by then, she should have this healing people thing figured out, and what had happened in Colorado would be ancient history. Intuition poked her then, quick and sharp as a finger prick, but she shook off the sting. She would put Colorado behind her.
It had to mean something, the way her body snapped awake at the mere sound of his voice this morning. And when she’d found herself facing a guy who could have stepped out of any of the firefighter-hero romance novels she and her fellow female medics in Pine Creek used to consume like candy, she’d been so awestruck that she hadn’t even been able to shake his hand. Heck, she actually might have fainted if he’d been wearing his dress uniform.
Yes, the guy definitely wasn’t like any—
Then it hit her. His looks were one thing, but he had this other quality, a shimmer of something ancient and powerful.
&nb
sp; “Ohmigod, that’s it,” she breathed. “You’ve never met a man like him before because he’s one of them.”
Well, to be more accurate, she’d never met one she wasn’t somehow related to, with the exception of Olivia’s husband, Mac Oceanus, and his father, Titus. And of course, Nicholas, another imposing giant who also happened to have gorgeous blue eyes.
Katy sighed in relief for finally figuring out why her hormones were so stirred up. Gunnar Wolfe was from Atlantis. That explained his being able to talk to the children and their parents this morning and his muttering something in another language when he dove in the stream. Atlanteans spoke all languages of the world. It also explained the nasty scar she’d seen on his beautiful back as he’d disappeared into the station, since she knew Nicholas had brought a handful of the island’s legendary warriors with him when he’d decided to settle in this century as Olivia’s director of security for Nova Mare and Inglenook.
Pine Creek might be harboring a small population of time-traveling Highlanders, several modern-day magic-makers, and a couple of powerful drùidhs, but when Maximilian Oceanus had turned Bottomless Lake into an inland sea five years ago, the mighty wizard made Spellbound Falls the new reigning seat of magic.
In fact, rumor had it that Titus—who had built Atlantis—planned to expose the mythical island any day now, since it was no longer needed. That’s why the few dozen Atlantean holdouts who hadn’t felt prepared to venture into the real world had been invited to form a new colony on a small island just three miles offshore of Spellbound Falls.
Katy didn’t think Gunnar was one of them, though, as he seemed more than comfortable with modern society and technology. No, he had to be one of the warriors Nicholas brought with him. As such, he would be able to adapt quickly to any new environment, since the small elite army was known to travel to any and all civilizations throughout time, upholding the Oceanuses’ vow to keep the troublesome mythical gods from interfering in man’s free will.
Call It Magic Page 6