Jumping Feet First

by Melissa Stevens

  Relief battled with joy until she couldn’t contain either. Words wouldn’t form, and instead her overflowing emotions sent silent tears of happiness down her face as she stood at the corral fence staring at the house. It was covered with ash and looked a sight but it still stood.

  “Come here.” Strong arms pulled her against James’ chest and held her there until the wash of emotion had receded enough she could do more than stand and let the tears fall. She took a deep breath and tilted her head back to say something. To thank him for being there for her. The words never came. As soon as she looked up at him, his head dipped. His lips covered hers in a hard kiss that made bells ring in her head. Her fingers curled, gripping the front of his shirt as she opened her mouth. Their tongues battled and Ally’s mind went snowy and blank like the tv did on those old programs on Nick at Nite. The world narrowed until all that mattered was the two of them, his touch, his warmth, his taste.

  Ally lost all track of time as she stood wrapped in James’ arms, hormones and emotions clouding her mind.

  When the kiss broke, she was breathless and just a little lost. In a rush, it all came back to her. The fire, being woke in the night and now, finding that her house, that she was sure was gone, still stood. Her knees went weak with relief. She was grateful for James’ arms around her as she forced herself to pull it together. After a moment she took a deep breath and stepped back out of his arms.

  “You good?” he asked.

  She struggled with the urge to turn away and either nod or ignore him.

  “I will be. Thanks.” She continued checking the ties on the pen.

  He watched her a moment then walked away. She forced herself to finish this job before turning to find him. He was at the truck he’d come in, the door open and one foot on the ground as he sat in the driver’s seat. She tilted her head and watched him a moment before she realized what he was doing. He had a radio in there. He was calling in. He was going to have to go back into town and go back to work.

  For a moment she felt guilty that she’d taken him away from that, but at the same time she was more grateful than she could imagine that she’d not had to go through last night alone.

  With the fence secure, she went back around the barn, inside and opened one of the rolling doors to let the animals out. By the time she’d finished and gone back out the way she came, she found James headed her way, a grim look on his face.

  “You have to go back, don’t you?” She didn’t wait for him to tell her, she knew what was coming.

  “I do. They need me.” He glanced around as if he wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Then you need to go. I’m okay here, especially now that it’s past. I’ll keep the animals penned for a least another day. But I don’t think I’ll have to worry about the fire anymore.”

  “You will if the wind changes. It could still blow embers this way that will catch, so keep an eye on the wind, but you’re in better shape than you were.”

  He walked beside her as she went to the spigot and shut off the sprinklers then headed for the pump house to shut off the water flooding the field.

  “I guess I’ll be going then.” James looked down at his feet.

  “Take care.” She closed the distance between them and this time she initiated the contact, wrapping her arms around his waist as she pressed her face against his chest and took a deep breath, trying to remember his scent. The last twenty-four hours had been terrifying, but without him here it would have been exponentially worse.

  “I’d like to see you again.” His arms came around her and hugged her back.

  “I’d like that.”

  “I’ll try to come out, but I don’t know if I’ll have time.”

  “Let me have your number.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it to him. watching as he programmed his number in. When he handed it back she dialed, intending to give him her number that way, but it went straight to voicemail, his husky voice spoke to her about leaving a message. Rather than hang up, she recited her number then hung up, and sent a text with her name. “There, now you have mine too.” She looked up to find him watching her with an amused half smile.

  “You sure you’ll be okay out here?”

  “I’ll be fine. I think I’ll start moving back into the house and sleep in my bed tonight instead of on the cot.” She rolled her shoulders as she remembered the ache she’d woken with after sleeping on that hay bale with her head in his lap. She closed the distance between then again and stretched up to kiss him. It wasn’t a long or lingering kiss, but she poured every ounce of the nearly overwhelming emotions she felt into it.

  “Something to remember me by,” she said as she broke away. With a half-smile and a lingering glance, she hurried off to shut off the water and when she turned back she found him still standing in the same spot, staring at her as if he didn’t know what to do now. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your truck.”

  James blinked several times then closed the distance between them. Ally extended one hand, uncertain if he’d take it, but willing to take the risk. Happiness and something she couldn’t quite name rushed through her when he took her hand and wove his fingers between hers. They made the short trip to his truck in silence. She didn’t say anything as he opened the door and got in. She was afraid if she said anything she’d be unable to stop herself from begging him to stay and she couldn’t do that. He had work to do and a crew who was depending on him for help. Besides, he said he was coming back. She had to trust that.

  She stepped away from the truck as he started the engine and rolled down his window.

  “Come ‘ere.” He crooked a finger until she stepped up beside the pickup. “I’d stay if I could.”

  Ally couldn’t risk saying anything. Still afraid of what would come tumbling out. Instead she looked down at her feet as her face heated. He lifted her chin until her gaze met his, then he leaned close and dropped a soft, sweet kiss on her lips. “I’ll be back when I can, take care until then.”

  “Will do.” Two words, she could get that much out.

  He released her and she backed away again. This time he backed out of the driveway and turned around. As he disappeared down the driveway she found herself hoping something kept him from leaving again. Whether it was a tree having fallen across the road or something else.

  Once he was gone, she stood staring after him for longer than she should have, but it took her a moment to make herself move. She turned and headed to the end of the meadow to turn off the pump there. With the power out, she had no way to know yet if it had burned up after pumping the well dry, but she’d turn it off just in case and worry about if it needed to be replaced once she had power back.

  As she made her way across the muddy field she shook her head at how needy she’d become overnight. How, in the space of twenty-four hours had she become so reliant on someone else? Not for the work or the help around the farm, but simply for their company? She didn’t understand it and probably never would.

  Ally put the whole thing out of her mind and focused on what needed her attention. The animals needed feed, and the ewes and nannies were over due to be milked. She took a deep breath and started making a mental list. She had enough waiting on her, maybe she could stay busy enough she wouldn’t miss James. She wasn’t counting on it.

  Chapter 16

  James drove carefully, aware the conditions had probably changed on the road. It didn’t take as long as he’d feared to make it out to the highway, surprisingly while there were fallen trees and debris on the road, nothing badly enough he couldn’t get around it. When he reached the highway, he took a deep breath and pushed the truck faster. He was relatively sure they would have cleared the highway first, and wouldn’t have called him back if they knew the road wasn’t clear.

  Nearly an hour after James left Ally’s little ranch, he pulled into the parking lot at the high school.

  “There you are,” his commander said as he came in the door. “Glad to see you survived your captivity.
We could have used you.”

  “Sorry, sir. When I left, there was no sign the wind would change.”

  “I’m not blaming you, just making a statement.”

  “Still, I feel bad I wasn’t there.”

  “Oh, you were there, right in the middle of it. Just not the way we’d like.”

  “It’s one thing I’d never like to repeat.” He took a deep breath to buy a little time before he continued. “It’s a lot different to sit and wait, to have nothing you can do to fight, to stop to perhaps change what’s happening. It’s a lot harder than I’d imagined.”

  “I’ve not had occasion to have to sit somewhere and have to wait out a fire, but I’ve heard similar from others who’ve had to wait one out. It’s easier to manage when you have something to keep you busy, something to think about. Sitting somewhere waiting, especially if you are used to dealing with dangerous situation, not sitting and waiting for them to pass.”

  James gave him a chuckle. “I bet. They said you need me?”

  “How rested are you after your night in the wild?”

  “Not exactly in the wild, we were holed up in a barn it the middle of a meadow, but I’m as rested as after a shift on the cot here.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. It wasn’t a bad night. The fire came in about three a.m. and woke us. That was unnerving, but we made it.”

  “We need to double check all the units and status, I’ll add you to one of the units heading out to relieve them.”

  “Sounds good.” James checked his watch. “Shift change heads out when? About an hour?”

  The commander checked the time. “About then, yes.”

  “Good, I’ve got enough time to grab a shower and something to eat, but I’ll have to hurry.” He headed for the classroom where he’d left his gear to grab clean clothes, then to the locker room where the guys had been showering. In some ways, a high school was a great place for an emergency shelter. It had showers, a cafeteria for feeding everyone and the large space to gather everyone in the gym, even if sometimes the food was served to one side and the gym was used as a cafeteria. That was more common in the rural areas, but still workable. They just set up tables for eating on one side of the room and organized the fighting operations on the other. They’d used other places, when there was no high school in the area, but as far as James was concerned, schools were the best for what they needed.

  James was bone deep weary when he stepped back into the school gym nearly a day later. He hadn’t had a chance to get back, and had barely had time to bolt down a couple snacks here and there to give his body enough fuel to keep going. Now, all he could think about was a hot shower to wash off all the dirt and ash, then eight hours of rack time. Though if he was honest with himself, he knew he’d be lucky to get seven. Hell, even seven sounded like heaven right now.

  He waved to the commander, making sure the boss saw him before he staggered to the locker room for a shower. He was filthy and smelled likes smoke and burnt earth. It was a scent he was used to, still he wanted to be clean before lying down.

  His stomach rumbled as he stepped under the steaming spray, but that was secondary. He needed to get clean first, then he’d see about food.

  Shutting off the water, James realized he’d forgotten to grab clean clothes. Crap. He glanced at where he’d piled his dirty clothes. There was no way he was putting those filthy things on, at least not until they’d been washed. He didn’t even want to pick them up right now. Glancing around the locker room he found just the solution he needed. He wrapped a towel around his waist and tucked in the end before taking a canvas laundry bag from a shelf and stuffing his dirty clothes inside, boots and all. He wished again he’d remembered something to wear, but he’d have to do with the towel that barely went half way to his knees.

  He padded to the classroom where his things were without incident, breathing a breath of relief once he got there. He’d half expected to encounter some woman who would be offended by his lack of clothes or one of the guys who would never let him live down forgetting something to wear. He dressed and dumped out his dirties, wadding his wet towel up in the bag before powering up his phone. The phone he shoved in his pocket as he grabbed the bag and towel. He’d drop these off on his way to get some grub.

  It was between meal times so instead of a hot meal, he grabbed a sack lunch from the cooler, a piece of fruit and a couple bottles of water and took them to an empty table. He finished the sandwich in the bag and started on the banana before he pulled his phone to check messages.

  There was the message Ally had sent him, he typed out a quick message letting her know he’d been out on site and just gotten back in, but was going to catch some shut eye. He answered a couple more message and checked in with his mom, letting her know all was okay and he still had no clue when he’d be home. James finished the last of his water and stuffed all his trash into the sack his lunch had come in. He was about to pocket his phone when it vibrated as a new message came in. He checked it before getting up and found it was from Ally.

  Ok, take care. Rest well.

  “Must be from your girlfriend to get a smile like that.”

  The voice made him look up. Scott, one of the other guys on the crew pulled out a chair and sat.

  “Nah, at least not yet.”

  “But you’d like her to be, right?”

  “Maybe. Not sure if it would work, but it would be fun to try.”

  “Think she wouldn’t understand about all this?” Scott waved one hand around, motioning to the room. “The danger, the glamourous life, the long absences.”

  James thought about that a second. No, those she’d understand, all too well. “Nah. We’re just a long way apart, not just physically, either. There’s more to a relationship than attraction.” James pushed himself to his feet and picked up his bag of trash. “I’m crashing, I’ll catch you later.”

  “Later.”

  James dropped the bag in the trash can as he passed and made his way back to the classroom and his bunk, thinking the entire time how he and Ally might manage a long distance relationship. Could they make it work? Was she really interested in that or was she just glad to have had someone to hold onto, even if just figuratively, through one of the scariest nights James had ever lived through.

  Sitting on the edge of the cot, James kicked off his shoes, and set the alarm on his phone before laying down. With Ally on his mind, he didn’t think he’d sleep for a while. He was wrong. Almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, exhaustion won its battle and sleep pulled him under.

  Chapter 17

  Ally spent the next several days trying to get the farm back in order, at the same time as dealing with animals she couldn’t let loose, not until the area around the meadow had been checked and cleared for hot spots. From what one of the fire crew, not James, had said, in places where the underbrush had been thick or a lot of debris had fallen, it could stay hot for days… Keeping the animals penned was a pain in the butt, but it was better than having one, or more, hurt because she hadn’t waited.

  She had bright spots over the last few days, and as she thought back over them, she realized the best parts where when she got a message from James. There weren’t many, and most of them told her he was headed out to work or headed to get some rest. Still, those few words from him made her smile for hours.

  When the cleanup crew gave their approval, Ally took her chainsaw out and cut the trees that had fallen into the meadow into pieces that would fit in her fire place. They were charred and messy, but there was still a good deal of burn left in them. Why let it go to waste? It was messy work, but by the end of the first day she had a good size wood pile stacked, and by the end of the third, when most of the downed trees had been cleaned up and they cleared her to release the animals, she had about half as much as she figured she’d need to last through the winter, even a cold, wet one.

  It had been funny at first to watch the looks on some of the men’s faces as she took her little trailer
out behind her riding mower and cut a tree, then loaded it into the trailer. She got the feeling that some wanted to offer to help, but they had their own jobs, she could do this just fine on her own.

  Ally was sitting at the kitchen table several days after the night she’d spent in the barn, waiting out the fire with James when her phone chirped. The message was from James, and her heart thundered in her ears while excitement raced through her. Was she going to see him again soon? Ally hoped so. She didn’t know if it was the emotion of the moment or if there was something between them, but she’d like to get a chance to figure it out. She opened his message and her heart sank.

  Bad news, babe. They’re shipping me out. I’d come see you but my truck leaves in 2 hrs. There’s another fire that needs us.

  Ally stared at her phone for several seconds, disappointment a sharp tang on her tongue. After a moment she typed out and sent her reply.

  Sorry to hear about another fire. Get some rest on the trip if you can and text me when you can. Above all, stay safe.