by Lynn James
They were on top of the other crew before she realized it. Amid gestured high fives they turned to their mutual path of escape, the crews joined forces to clear a path. Elaine tried to see through the blackness of the smoke. She did a quick head count—and came up one short. Someone was missing. Driven by instinct alone, she turned and ran back into the fire.
She almost tripped over the missing man. She thought it might be Donovan, but the number and visor was too obscured to be sure. It didn’t matter, he was down and she wasn’t leaving without him.
Despite the protective clothing she wore she could feel the blisters forming on her skin. They had very little time before they would become victims of the fire. If hell did exist, she had no doubt that she was standing in the midst of it.
Wrapping her arms around the fallen man’s chest just under his arms, she began backing out the way she had come in. Her legs burned as she dug her boots into the smoldering earth.
She didn’t have to turn to feel the heat build at her back. There was no doubt in her mind that her men would hold the door open. She felt like the blood was about to boil in her veins, when Dex and Allen appeared to take her burden from her. Through sheer will and determination, she remained on her feet. Their goal now was to hold the clearing they had created open a little while longer.
Where the fuck is that second plane?
The trapped crew had suffered significant burns and smoke inhalation. The oxygen helped but they needed to get medical attention. She knew she had some minor burns and the rest of her crew needed help. They didn’t have hours. They might not even have minutes—
The honking of horns penetrated the roar of the fire. Two trucks were a welcome sight as they picked their way across the uneven terrain toward them. The smoke was so thick Elaine couldn’t be certain of how they had made it in to them. The drivers had hoped to carry one crew out but there were now too many. Elaine ordered the most severely injured and exhausted to the trucks. The rest of them would have to hike out as quickly as possible.
She looked back at the main fire and ordered immediate mobilization. With their heavy gear and no rock climbing equipment, they could only follow the routes the trucks had taken, at a fraction of their speed. If they could make it to the break they had worked on clearing earlier they would have a better chance of making it.
Allen suddenly gestured, catching her attention. There was a break in the granite, a natural alcove. It was their best chance for survival. The winds had picked up and the fire was moving faster now. They were out of options.
Elaine ordered her crew under their fire blankets as she radioed their coordinates. The second drop she had called for had been delayed due to the high winds but was en route and would change course to provide them support.
Everyone scrambled under their blankets, using the granite to their advantage to shield themselves as the fire bore down on them. She lay under her shield feeling the temperature rise as the flames rolled over them seeking fuel on the other side of their hold. She could feel a blister forming under her heavy glove and hoped it was the only one.
It would be so easy to give in to the beast. Elaine closed her eyes against the pain searing through her body. The pain told her to run, to get away, anywhere was better than here. Only her mind kept her where she was. There was no place safe to run to. She closed her eyes and for the first time since leaving the bus let herself think about Devon. She could see herself years from now with Devon by her side. She would endure any pain to get back to the woman she loved. The truth of her words echoed in her mind; a lifetime with Devon wouldn’t be long enough.
The roaring was not as loud now and the temperature had dropped slightly. The rocks had protected them as the fire rolled over the crew. She hadn’t heard the plane that had dropped chemical suppressant intended to extinguish the flames, but when she pulled back her blanket, she was relieved to see everything covered in red.
It was a beautiful sight.
Behind the flames there was a strange calm. They took stock of their injuries, raising their masks so they could talk. Tom’s glove had failed and his hand was damn near blistered to the bone. The best she could offer the distressed man was a quick field dressing. She smiled at him, trying to take his mind off the pain. “Your wife is going to skin me for this.”
Tom grimaced. “Yeah, well you don’t have to live with her.”
Elaine laughed. “I’ll tell her you said that.”
“Oh, come on Cap, why do you have to be that way?”
Elaine smiled. “Because I love you, that’s why.”
“Come on, let’s get you up.” Brad helped Elaine get Tom on his feet. As the shock wore off, the pain would be relentless and he didn’t have time to surrender to it. They had a lot of ground to cover before they could get him the medical attention he so badly needed.
Elaine quickly gathered her team, which now included a couple of the firefighters they had rescued and they once again made their way across the ridge.
The sun was rising when they finally met up with another crew, also waiting for transit out. She found a place to sit, her back to a rock and didn’t remember anything more.
It was noon before she found medical attention and rations for her men and herself. Elaine was exhausted and she just wanted to crawl into the back of a truck and crash for the rest of the day. Sleep invited her, but calling Devon was more important. She had to nurse her battery for all it was worth—recharge stations were a luxury. Just dialing the number took what little energy she had remaining, but she absolutely had to hear Devon’s voice. She needed her comfort.
“Hi.”
“Oh God, Elaine, you sound terrible.”
“I’m fine. I just wanted to hear your voice before I go to sleep again.”
Elaine could hear the tension in Devon’s voice. “You’re okay, right? You’re safe?”
“I’m safe.” It was the truth, even if not the whole truth.
“You need to rest.”
“I miss you, Devon.”
“I think it goes without saying that I miss you too.”
“How are you holding up?”
The line crackled. “Don’t worry about me. Just come back to me in one piece. How long will you be out there?”
“I don’t know. At least a couple of weeks. Now we plan for the runoff when it rains, try to direct the ash where it’ll do the least amount of damage. Lots of digging.”
“Sooner or later someone like me will make sure you did a good job.”
She could tell Devon was trying to cheer her, but she couldn’t hold off sleep any longer. “I’ll be home soon. I love you.”
Devon’s voice was soft. “I love you, too. Sweet dreams.”
Chapter 22
Devon arrived at the station parking lot, frazzled and worried. In the three weeks since Elaine had left she’d become worried that Elaine was hurt and not telling her. It was irrational, but short sporadic phone calls weren’t reassuring, though she was profoundly grateful for them. She needed to see for herself that Elaine was all right. She wouldn’t be able to breathe again until Elaine was in her arms.
Elaine’s truck was there, looking like it had been driven to hell and back.
Devon passed several doors before a nice looking gentleman, who looked like he was in desperate need of sleep, stepped out of his office. “May I help you?”
“I’m looking for Captain Elaine Thomas. The woman at the front desk said that she was over this way somewhere.”
He held out his hand and flashed a warm smile.
“Hi, I’m Brad. If I see the Cap, can I tell her who is looking for her?”
Devon smiled at his welcoming charm and because she recognized him as one of Elaine’s crew members. Elaine thought very highly of her men. That meant she did too. “Devon McKinney.”
Brad’s smile grew as if hearing her name was the best news he had heard all day.
“You might try looking just down the hall. She may be outside.” He pointed to gla
ss doors leading outside. “That’s where the smokers go for a break.”
Devon gave him a puzzled look. Elaine didn’t smoke, but he acted as if he knew what he was talking about so she followed his directions. As she was about to pass through the doors, Devon came to a dead stop.
Elaine stood talking to an attractive woman who was stroking her arm affectionately. At first, all Devon could see was her lover. Exhaustion was etched across her face and she looked like she hadn’t had a decent shower since she’d left. She was thinner and looked as though she was in desperate need of a good meal. Devon almost pushed through the door, but Elaine’s distant expression made Devon take a second look at the other woman. Perhaps they were just colleagues.
But when someone opened the door to come back in, Devon was able to catch part of their conversation. The woman laughed and spoke coyly, “I’m glad you’re back, darling, it felt like you were gone forever.”
Elaine pulled her arm away from the other woman’s touch. Before the doors closed Elaine answered, “Grace, I doubt very much that you even noticed I was gone.”
Grace! This woman who was touching Elaine, this woman hanging on Elaine, this was Grace? She was an extremely attractive woman and flaunted it almost like a weapon.
After everything Elaine had told her about Grace, seeing the viper for real still stunned her. The gall! Devon was torn between marching out there and ripping this woman’s head off for the pain she had put Elaine through and standing right here so she could watch Elaine do it.
She had been gone for weeks and Devon knew she would be tired and sore and a confrontation with Grace was the last thing she needed now.
She knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she doubted any woman in the world could have walked away at that moment. She stood against the wall out of the way of those passing by, but still in plain sight should either of them glance her way and close enough that she was still able to hear what was being said.
Why Grace had insisted they step outside was beyond Elaine. But rather than allowing Grace to make a scene, she had agreed. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to go home to Devon’s waiting arms. She ached to see her lover.
She was too tired to deal with Grace, but it was easier to listen to her now than fight with her later. Grace had been one of the few rangers to stay behind to manage their own state from within the safe confines of the ranger station. It was so like Grace to volunteer for that duty.
She crossed her arms across her chest as Grace prattled about unimportant things, not really wanting to hear anything that Grace had to say.
Elaine wasn’t buying her I-was-worried-about-you-because-I-care act for a moment. “I don’t know what was so important that you had to drag me out here, but I doubt that you have anything to say that I would be interested in hearing unless it’s station business.”
Grace made a motion with her hand as if she were waving Elaine’s words aside. It was a gesture that Elaine knew too well and hated. “Come on, Laney, don’t be that way.”
Grace’s voice was practically a whine and Elaine’s patience was wearing thin. Everything they had once shared had been over a long time ago and was washed away all those weeks ago in the stream.
The thought of that stream brought a slight smile to her lips. That was the day she had met Devon and her life began. She couldn’t wait to get out of here. She had a few days off and she intended to spend them getting reacquainted with the woman she so desperately loved.
Grace’s laughter interrupted her thoughts. “Oh Elaine, I do love you.”
Elaine ignored the people who were finishing their break. It was obvious they were trying to be discreet about leaving the area and the private conversation they couldn’t help but overhear. “I loved you too, Grace. Past tense.” She was grateful when the door closed again. “At least I thought I loved you. Now I don’t know you. You were an important part of my life. But now I can see that we haven’t loved each other in a very long time. I loved the idea of what we could be. But we both know that the fantasy ended long before your affair.”
Grace leaned in to kiss her as though that would change Elaine’s mind. As soon as she realized Grace’s intention, Elaine was overwhelmed by revulsion. These lips had lied to her and cheated on her. These lips weren’t Devon’s.
She pushed her away. “I don’t know what kind of game you are trying to play, but I want no part of it. Don’t you dare touch me again.”
Grace regained her composure quickly and interrupted Elaine. “It’s no game, darling. Don’t you see? I had to be with someone else…for us.”
Her jaw dropped as Grace continued. “I had to sleep with someone else to remind us both of what we had been missing. That’s why I brought you out here, to tell you that I’m ready for us to be together again. Don’t you remember how good we were together?”
Elaine remembered the betrayal. She remembered Grace’s biting words and the cold, calculated way she had learned that Grace was moving in with someone else. She remembered how invisible she felt when she was with Grace. So different from how alive and comfortable and loved and safe she felt with Devon.
With a firm steady voice, so that Grace—and anyone else in earshot—could not misconstrue her words, Elaine said, “I’m sorry, Grace, but I don’t want you back. I don’t love you. I deserve better than you and I always did. I don’t want to live in the past and I don’t want to live with someone I don’t trust. Most importantly, I don’t want to live with someone that I no longer like. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want you to think I harbor any ill will toward you, but I can honestly say that I feel nothing for you and I have no desire to be your leftovers, not now, not ever again. Can I possibly be any clearer? Don’t bring this subject up again and don’t drag me out here in full view of our colleagues like this again. I won’t tolerate it.”
Elaine paused, making sure her words were sinking in. “Your walking out was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I now know what true love is and I have found that with someone else. I’ve moved on, Grace. I certainly hope that you can too.”
Without another word, Elaine spun on her heel. She was done.
Then she saw Devon. Beautiful, strong, tender and nothing but a thin pane of glass separated them. Their eyes locked and it seemed like it had been forever since she had touched her and kissed her. She flung open the door hardly able to contain an intimate embrace.
“I’m so proud of you baby,” Devon whispered with a warm loving smile on her face. It was clear that Devon had heard every word that Elaine had said. Elaine’s eyes swept over the short skirt and tailored blouse. Her mouth went dry as it always did when she saw Devon, no matter what she was or wasn’t wearing.
“It was just the truth—” Before she could finish her sentence, someone seized her shoulder and spun her around.
Grace was seething and Elaine thought irrelevantly that it was really quite unattractive. “Don’t think that I buy for one second that you really found another woman, darling. You were damn lucky to have me and don’t think any lady will be as tolerant of you as I was…always coming home covered in filth.” Grace huffed childishly.
She realized she was just too tired to deal when Devon stepped around her into view.
Grace’s expression instantly changed. She wore a sickening sugary smile as she looked Devon up and down.
Devon’s voice resembled that of someone who was giving a stranger directions but Elaine could see the disdain Devon felt for Grace burning in her eyes. “You must be Grace.”
Grace pulled herself up and offered her hand. “Yes and you would be?”
Devon looked down at the proffered hand with contempt, then locked gazes with Grace. “My name is Doctor Devon McKinney. The lady who is lucky enough to share Elaine’s bed every night and who has eagerly looked forward to her return.”
Devon pulled Elaine to her side and it seemed totally natural to give her a kiss, but the instant their lips met, the kiss stopped being for Grace’s bene
fit and instantly became about them. She felt Devon’s joyful response, forgot about Grace and that they were at the ranger station. All that mattered was that they were in each other’s arms again. Elaine was safe and home and their long separation was over. It wasn’t until Brad discreetly cleared his throat behind them that they parted breathless and several more seconds before they broke eye contact.
“Let’s get out of here,” Elaine managed to say.
Devon got that look in her eye, the same look as when she started a snowball fight. She gave Grace a sideways glance. “I really should thank you. If you hadn’t been foolish enough to give up such a wonderful woman, I might never have known the wonder of loving her and being loved by her.”
As they began to turn away, Devon paused. “Oh and Grace?” She waited for Grace to make eye contact before smiling sweetly at her. “Smart ladies love to have their women come home filthy, because it’s so very enjoyable helping them get all clean.”
Elaine heard snickers from the onlookers, who had all been trying to look as if they weren’t listening in. Grace had asked for it and if Elaine hadn’t already been planning to kiss Devon, she would have just for that.
Elaine couldn’t get the silly grin off her face. She knew she was in for some good-natured ribbing from her guys later, but even that was perfectly okay. “I need something from my office. It’s over here.”
Elaine led them into her office and closed the office door behind them, leaning against it for a moment.
Devon turned and looked at the floor before raising her eyes to Elaine’s. “I’m sorry about that.” She waved her hand in the direction they had just come from.
“You are?” Elaine took a step toward her.
Devon bit her lower lip in the way she did when she was nervous about something. A habit that Elaine found endearing. “Well, not about what I said to Grace.”
“So you aren’t?” Another step.