by Sable Hunter
“Thanks. You shouldn’t have.”
He spoke in the midst of the bite, causing Shane to smile. “You’re welcome.” She pushed the platter closer to him, encouraging Brodie to have more. While he was preoccupied, she took advantage of the freedom to just enjoy looking at him. His shoulders were so wide, she knew she’d never be able to reach around them – but, dang, she’d sure love to try. As he chewed and swallowed, she became mesmerized watching the movement of his throat and his chiseled jaw, picturing in her mind how it would be to place her mouth on the smooth tanned skin. There were also a couple of tiny crumbs on his lips that she longed to capture with her tongue, stealing a kiss as she did so. He wore a heavy cross necklace that hung to the middle of his chest. She daydreamed about wrapping that chain around her fist and pulling him down…
“Sit.” Brodie pointed to the chair with one hand while he chose another cookie with his other. She was glad to see he still had some coffee in his cup, he would need to take a sip before long. The sight of him eating so hungrily did her heart good, but it also bothered her to think he’d been doing without something homemade that he enjoyed. When he glanced up to find her studying him, she quickly averted her eyes, suddenly finding the photos on the wall to be of great interest.
As she let her eyes wander over the images, Shane did become intrigued. There were photographs of Brodie standing in a boat, a clear blue lake bordered by limestone cliffs behind him, a stringer full of large fish in his hand. She was enchanted by the big smile on his face. Holy Hell, the man was handsome. Clearly this picture was a glimpse into a happier time for Brodie. “What’s your favorite fishing hole?” Her inquiry was out before she could call it back. Expecting him to snipe at her, she was surprised when he turned to face the wall, surveying the framed photo that prompted her question.
“Canyon Lake, by far. I’ve done a little guiding there.”
“Really? I love to fish.” Shane couldn’t keep the wistfulness from her voice. “My dad and I used to go all the time. I held the record for years for a bass caught by a youth on Toledo Bend.”
“Oh, yea?” He met her gaze, a genuine smile on his face. “You are a tomboy, aren’t you?”
The familiar term didn’t offend her today. “Always have been. It’s a curse.”
Brodie wiped his mouth with his hand. “Doesn’t have to be.”
She was curious by what he meant, but she didn’t get a chance to ask. A tap on Brodie’s door drew their attention.
“Yes, Chief? Can I help you?” Brodie addressed Logan Gray.
“Can I have another cookie?” he asked Shane, who nodded. Brodie curled a protective arm around the platter and Logan laughed. “All right, I see how it is.”
“There’s more in the kitchen, Chief,” Shane informed him, trying to hide the smirk on her face. Her heart felt light at Brodie’s possessive nature, even if it was just for her baked goods.
“Oh, I’m fine. This won’t take long. I wanted to let you all know two things. I have the men’s names who are coming to us from Fredericksburg, Lyndon Reese and Orion Stark. They won’t be able to report permanently until the end of the month, but I’ve gotten clearance for them to cover the two of you for the next few days.”
“Cover us for what?” Brodie asked slowly.
“I need the two of you to attend a certification program down at Camp Prosper in Bastrop.”
Shane was stunned. She and Brodie were going somewhere…together? “When?”
“I need for you to drive over this afternoon and get registered. Classes start bright and early in the morning.” Before anyone could protest, Logan rose. He grabbed a cookie, gave Shane a wink and left.
“Well, hell,” Brodie whispered.
For once, Shane had to agree.
* * *
“So, what’s this training all about?” Shane asked, feeling the need to break the silence. She hadn’t planned on riding with Brodie, but Chief Gray had told them he’d only pay for one mileage bill. If she didn’t know better, Shane would think he was trying to push them together.
Brodie let out a long, ragged breath. He’d rather be heading to the doctor for a prostate exam. With a self-deprecating smirk, he admitted he’d done a lot of wishing he was ‘anywhere but here’ these days. “We’ll be put through the wringer, a whole mixed bag of stuff. Teamwork, trust, even some firefighter drills like going into a smoke-filled building to rescue someone while using an SCBA.”
Shane stared at Brodie. His explanation was the longest speech he’d given to her, but his tone sounded like he’d just been informed he had herpes. “Don’t sound so excited. I’m not going to bite, you know.” She reached into a bag and handed him a soda. “To wash down all those cookies.”
Brodie accepted the drink, albeit begrudgingly. “Why are you being so nice to me?” he asked her suspiciously.
Shane thought about it, then answered. “Because I’m a nice person, deal with it.”
“I don’t like it,” Brodie muttered.
Shrugging at his lament, Shane turned to survey the passing countryside. Hill country rolled into cityscape, then spread out to urban sprawl, before gradually returning to tree covered hills. This terrain, east of Austin, was totally different than the west. Pine trees and cedars had replaced the oaks and pecans. “Where are we going, exactly?”
“Camp Swift. A former army base, it’s now used as a training camp for a number of organizations.” Brodie tried to keep his eyes on the road and ignore the very appealing woman who was sitting next to him. Every time he was tempted to glance at her, he felt a pang of guilt. No use denying it, Brodie resented her. He was angry at her because she was alive and Mary was dead and even more angry at himself for being attracted to her.
And worst of all – he was angry because how what he was feeling made no sense at all.
“Look!” Shane cried out, sitting up straight. “Stop, Brodie!”
Brodie put on his breaks before he was even aware of what Shane was excited about.
“There’s a little boy up there, a toddler. He’s walking down the side of the road!”
Sure enough, Brodie could see a small child toddling way too close to the busy highway. He’d hadn’t even come to a full stop before Shane opened the door and bounded out, sprinting down the right-of-way toward the tiny boy.
Brodie slammed on his breaks, threw the truck into gear and jumped out to follow his employee. The little fella was dancing right down the side, so close to moving cars that his heart was in his throat at the sight. People who were speeding by, didn’t even seem to notice him. He breathed a relieved sigh when Shane scooped him up in her arms.
As soon as the baby was safe and Shane turned to bring him back toward the truck, Brodie began looking around to see if he could spot anyone the child might belong to. Where was his mother?
“Mama!” the little boy screamed, his chubby arms going straight up in the air as he wiggled in Shane’s grasp.
“Easy, sweetie, I’ve got you,” she crooned to him as he protested his predicament loudly.
“Is he okay?” Brodie asked, coming up alongside her as she angled toward the passenger side of the vehicle.
“I think so.” She ran her hand down his legs. “He was barefoot and that asphalt was red hot, I think his feet are blistered.”
“I’ve got some ointment in the first-aid kit,” Brodie said as he went immediately to the back driver’s door of the double cab dually. “How else does he seem to be?”
Shane let her hands rove over the small child’s body. No broken bones. No cuts or laceration. No fever. “He seems fine except for his feet.” She accepted some items from Brodie who came around with his hands full of wipes, bandages, and healing ointment. “Any sign of his mother?”
As Shane worked on doctoring the boy’s feet, Brodie stepped out to gaze down the road in the direction from where the child had come running. “I’ll call it in if we don’t see someone who looks like they’re frantically looking for him.” He knew there had
been several cases lately of little kids being found on busy byways. Sometimes they just slipped away from their parents or homes.
As if on cue, he was relieved to see a woman running with her arms raised, screaming. “Tony! Tony!”
“Are you Tony?” Shane asked the child. His answer was obvious.
“Mama!”
Brodie held up his hand to motion the woman closer. “We’ve got him. He’s safe.” He automatically removed his badge from his back pocket to reassure the mother. “Stonewall First Responder, Brodie Walton.”
Tony’s mother didn’t question anything. She just grabbed her child from Shane’s arms and hugged him tight. “There you are! You scared me to death!” Burying her face in her son’s chest, she cried, “He was in the yard. I was hanging up clothes on the line, I just turned my back for a moment.”
Brodie and Shane exchanged a glance. Both knew that the situation could have easily ended in tragedy. “We’re glad all is well, ma’am,” Brodie murmured. There was no taking the woman to task, her obvious distress was chastisement enough. “Would you like us to drive you two home?”
“No. No.” She shook her head and kissed the tiny boy’s cheek. “We’ll walk, it’s not far.”
Raising an eyebrow, Brodie’s gaze collided with Shane’s. “All right. I’m glad everything turned out okay.”
Shane picked up the medical supplies and Brodie replaced them in the kit. “Wow.” Shane leaned on her seat to catch her breath before climbing back in. Her heart was hammering in her chest. “When I was running to catch that little boy, all I could think about was if he stepped a few feet to the left…” Clutching her hands together, she willed them to stop shaking.
“He didn’t.” Brodie closed the truck door as he got behind the wheel. “Let’s head out. We’re going to be late.”
Shane stepped up and sat down, shutting the door and fastening her seat belt. “What if we hadn’t happened along when we did?”
“Someone else would’ve stopped.” Brodie sounded positive, but he didn’t necessarily feel that way. Sometimes the worst happened. No one had come to Mary’s aid in time. Brodie adjusted the A/C, then rested his hand on the gear shift between them.
“Maybe.” Shane couldn’t help but notice Brodie’s hand was shaking. The episode with the child had affected him more than he let on. “I guess it was just meant to be, us driving up just in time.” Wanting to comfort him, she covered Brodie’s hand with her own.
Looking forward, the warm, electric feeling caught him by surprise. He hadn’t felt a woman’s touch in… “Don’t!” Brodie jerked his hand back to the steering wheel as if her touch had burned him.
His antagonistic response insulted Shane. “Why are you treating me like I have the plague? I’m not coming on to you. I’m trying to treat you with basic human kindness.” She folded her arms, edging as far away from him as possible. “Like you’re supposed to treat me. I’m not your enemy, Brodie Walton.”
“I never said that you were,” Brodie grated the words out of a tightly compressed mouth. “You just remind me…”
Shane waited for him to finish his sentence.
“You remind me of what I don’t have anymore.”
There – he’d said it. He’d admitted it.
“But you could, your life isn’t over, Brodie.”
Nails of guilt and remorse pierced his heart. He wasn’t discussing this matter with his employee. “Let’s get our head into the game, we’re almost there.”
Over the next few minutes, they turned off the main road and made their way toward the old army camp surrounded by a dense pine forest. After checking in, they were shown to their quarters by a young man who seemed embarrassed. “Sorry, your team was a last minute add. This is all we have available.”
“You can’t be serious,” Brodie grumbled.
Shane couldn’t help but smirk when she saw his reason for concern.
They were sharing a cabin.
“Oh well, we’re adults. We can handle it. Right, boss?” She carried her duffle in and threw it on the bed farthest from the door.
There was no way she could miss the growled curse rumbling from his chest.
At that moment, Shane would have loved nothing more than to lob a pillow at him, but she didn’t figure he’d welcome a pillow fight with his roomie. “Don’t worry, Mr. Walton. Your virtue is safe with me.”
Brodie shut his eyes. “Why me?” he whispered.
“Just lucky, I guess,” Shane countered, but seeing the pain on his face – she didn’t feel lucky at all.
* * *
“Trust exercises, I can’t believe this,” Brodie grumbled under his breath.
Shane wasn’t happy about it either. Standing in line, facing Brodie, she waited for the instructor to give them the go-ahead. Her role was to fall back toward her boss and his was to catch her. Honestly, Shane wasn’t sure he would. He might just let her fall on her tush out of meanness.
The drone of the man teaching the class was hypnotic. She’d heard the spiel before, trust in a partnership such as theirs was paramount. Shane agreed, she just didn’t know if their pairing was a good idea. When she’d seen Brodie’s despair over their room arrangements, there had been no denying that he’d rather be anywhere on the planet rather than with her.
“All right, Teammate A, get ready to catch. Teammate B, turn your back, stand on the line, then lean all the way back. Your partner will catch you.”
“I’m counting on you, Mr. Walton. If you’ll catch me, there’ll be more cookies in your future. If you don’t, there’s a voodoo doll at home with your name on it.” Shane let the words fall from her lips as her body fell backward.
Did he just laugh?
The arc of Shane’s descent seemed extraordinarily long, and disappointment filled her as she realized he wasn’t going to put out his arms to catch her. Time flowed like ribbon cane syrup as Shane prepared herself to hit the ground.
“Oh!” she exclaimed as strong arms caught her at the last minute, pulling her aright until her feet were once more steady on the ground. “Well, it took you long enough,” Shane grumbled.
“Seems like to me I was right on time,” Brodie drawled with a smirk.
“Trade places and let’s try it again.” The instructor spoke up.
The smirk on Brodie’s face faded somewhat. This was a little more fun than he’d ever admit, but only when he was the one in control. “You’ll drop me, you’re no bigger than a popcorn poot.”
Taking his place, looking at his massive, powerful body – muscles layering muscles – Shane wasn’t sure she could catch him. “I’ll do my best, but comparing me to noxious gas isn’t the way to insure my full cooperation.”
A ‘humph’ was his only response before he moved into position. Shane steadied herself, bracing, holding out her arms and widening her stance to give the big man maximum support when he fell backward on command. While focusing on him completely, she let her eyes rove over his broad, strong back. The tank top he wore showed off his physique, his tanned skin. She was so close, she could see small freckles, and smell his clean scent. Shane felt her throat tighten, she wanted to place her lips on that warm flesh and taste it with her tongue.
“All right, fall!”
Brodie let go, reeling backwards like a felled redwood.
Shane caught him, then went down right along with him.
“Umph!”
The muffled, feminine gasp of pain caused Brodie to jump up.
“Hey, is she all right?”
Brodie looked up to see Jacob McCoy, breaking formation to come to Shane’s aid. “She’s all right. Aren’t you, Wilder?” He held out his hand, but Jacob beat him to it, stepping between them and lifting her up. Even though he knew McCoy was a happily married man, Brodie felt jealousy rip him like a knife. “She’s fine,” he repeated.
“Yea, I’m good.” Shane gasped, then coughed. “Thank you,” she spoke to her rescuer. “Hey, you look familiar.” She smiled. “Jacob?”
“It’s Shane Wilder now, I took back my maiden name,” she explained, so glad to see a member of her aunt’s adopted family.
“So, you and Rodney…”
“Divorced.” She nodded. “He was unfaithful.” Shane shrugged, a little embarrassed to admit her failure in front of her boss. “It was for the best.”
“I’m sorry, his loss. Fool.”
Jacob’s undeniable faith in her made Shane feel vindicated. “It’s okay. I’ve found a great new job.” Her voice faltered just a tiny bit. “And a great new boss. Mr. Walton, meet Jacob McCoy.”
“We know one another,” Brodie spoke up, holding out his hand. “Good to see you, Jacob.”
“Absolutely. Brodie, how are you?” They shook hands. “Shane is Bess’s niece. Bess worked for us for years, practically raised all us boys. We’ve known Shane since she was knee high to a grasshopper. Bess kept her picture on the mantel right next to Nathan’s.”
Without waiting for Brodie to respond to anything he said, Jacob turned to address Shane. “How is Bess? Have you talked to her lately?”
Brodie crossed his arms. He was getting pretty tired of these pleasantries.
“I talked to her last night,” Shane told Jacob.
Before Shane could tell Jacob more of the latest gossip, Brodie spoke up. “We’re scheduled for another session.”
Another session? She didn’t think so, but she certainly wasn’t going to argue with her boss. “Oh, that’s right.” Shane gave Jacob a hug. “It’s great to see you.”
“I’ll have Jesse call you, we’ll get you to come over for dinner. You already know Libby, and the other girls will feel left out if you don’t come make friends.” He snapped his fingers. “Better yet, I’d like to invite both of you to a gathering we’re having for Founder’s Day next weekend. Ribs, brisket, steaks, shrimp, you name it, we’ll have it. Sound good?”
“Sounds great.” Shane looked at Brodie.
“I don’t know.” Brodie frowned. “I’ll let you know.”
“Well, I look forward to it,” Shane said as Brodie stalked off, leaving her and Jacob alone. “Sorry about that.”