Winterfall

by Denise A. Agnew

  “Ma’am?” Security dude’s voice pulled her from a stupor. “Ma’am?”

  A wave of nausea hit her. She frantically pulled off her helmet and breathing apparatus, afraid she’d upchuck any minute. The breathing apparatus hung down from the attached tank, and she allowed the helmet to hit the ground.

  “Are you hurt?” the security man asked, his deep voice filled with concern as he cupped her face in both hands.

  His gentle touch surprised her, and when he released her she wished for his touch again. Wished she knew something else to call him besides “Security Man” in her head.

  Fine tremors ran over her body. “I’m…no, I think I’m good.”

  He frowned and tilted her chin up with one finger. His dark eyes, so intense, threatened to pull every truth from her. “Wait here while I get the med kit.”

  “What—” But he was around the back of the vehicle already.

  Feeling dazed, she watched as another crew worked the house, spraying water on the doomed Victorian. Jeeter trotted her way, and he reached Juliet at the same time Security Man returned with a first aid kit.

  Jeeter squeezed her shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She managed an up nod. “How are Ballard and Striker?”

  “Good now.” Jeeter glanced at Security Man, curiosity on his face. “Your friends got to them before we could.”

  Security Man’s face was one hundred percent serious. Juliet shivered as a cold wind blew over the area and thunder rumbled in the distance. Jeeter released her and she glanced around. Security Man’s compatriots were working the scene like pros, keeping the area safe.

  “Sit in the backseat of the SUV and we’ll check you out.” Security Man opened the back door.

  “I’m not hurt. I need to work.”

  “Listen to the man, Juliet. I doubt the captain will let you work until he does,” Jeeter said, his gaze intent.

  Juliet? He rarely called her that. In fact, all the men called her by her last name, and that suited her fine. Something passed through Jeeter’s eyes that she couldn’t identify. She shrugged out of the SCBA tank and lowered it to the floorboard. Easing out of the turnout coat caused a sharp pain to run over her back and she gasped.

  “You hurt?” Security Man asked.

  She wouldn’t allow a little ache and pain to slow her down. “Muscle pull.”

  Security Man’s gaze stayed firm. “Let’s be safe.”

  “Jeeter!” One of the other firefighters waved at Jeeter.

  Jeeter gestured back. “Be right there!”

  “Go on,” she said. “They need you.” She threw Jeeter a smile. “Hovering over me isn’t helping anything.”

  Jeeter’s mouth opened and closed. “Okay, I’ll be back.”

  After he left, Security Man actually grinned. Wow. He’d taken his sunglasses off and his eyes burned into her with curiosity and interest. His gaze had an intensity that could have dropped a less well-defended woman to her knees. Combined with a smile like that, you had devastating, gorgeous and hunky all in one delicious package. This man had it going on. Up close and personal he also had rough written all over him. He didn’t have a pretty boy bone in his body. He looked cut from steel.

  He took her pulse and blood pressure and found them normal, checked her pupils, and prodded her for broken bones. Those big hands smoothed over her impersonally, but the way her body reacted sure as hell wasn’t impersonal.

  “Your friend is really worried about you.” Security Man returned the blood pressure cuff to the kit. “Maybe even has a crush.”

  It was time for her mouth to pop open. “What?”

  “Jeeter.”

  She snorted softly and slid off the seat to her feet. Another wave of vertigo passed over her, and she grabbed at the seat.

  He cupped her shoulders. “Whoa. Easy. Are you dizzy?”

  “A little. It’s nothing.”

  The smile had disappeared. “It isn’t nothing. You’re going to the hospital. I don’t see any sign of concussion, but you can’t be too careful.”

  He let go of her and put the medical kit in the back of the SUV.

  When he returned she lifted one eyebrow. “I’m not going to the hospital. I’m off shift after this anyway.”

  Security Man’s smile returned as he crossed his arms. His biceps bulged in a delicious way she couldn’t ignore and for a second her attention wandered over his physique. When she looked up, his smile had broadened. Great, he’d caught her staring. Her face heated, and not just with embarrassment. Warmth and genuine kindness twinkled in those eyes, and she felt drawn to him against her will.

  “You a full-time firefighter?” he asked.

  “Volunteer.”

  “You’re very dedicated.”

  “Always have been.” She kept her sentences clipped. “And you’ve had medical training.”

  “After I left the army I picked up EMT qualifications.” He put out his hand. “Mark O’Day, Sentry Security.”

  A bit reluctantly she shook hands. “Juliet Van Pelt.”

  His grip was firm but didn’t crush her fingers together, and she appreciated that. When he released her, his gaze darted to her hair, and a sliver of self-consciousness made her reach up and touch it. People had a habit of staring when they saw her hair. Luckily he didn’t ask why her short, spiky hair had streaks of gray running through it.

  Jeeter and Captain Blake Detmer walked toward them. Good deal. She could escape. Captain Detmer’s wrinkled face and bald head made him look older than his fifty years, and everyone thought of him as a grandfather, which he was four times over. Despite his short stature, he could fight fires with the best of them.

  “How’s Van Pelt?” Captain Detmer asked.

  O’Day said, “She’s got a little dizziness. She needs a doctor to take a closer look.”

  The Captain nodded. “We’re taking Ballad and Striker to the hospital. Let’s go, Van Pelt.”

  “I’m great. I’m starting to feel like a damned parrot. Why won’t anyone listen?” she asked.

  The men ignored her and introduced themselves, and her frustration level rose.

  “It’s an order, Van Pelt,” the Captain said.

  She gritted her teeth. She could argue, but knew that disobeying the Captain’s order wouldn’t work. “All right, I’ll go.”

  “I’ll take her—” Both Jeeter and O’Day said at the same time.

  Everyone went silent, staring at each other until she spoke. “We’ll be here a while taking care of hot spots and things like that. I’ll just hang out here until we’re let go from the scene.”

  Captain Detmer ignored her. “O’Day, would you be able to take her? The rest of us need to finish up here.”

  “I’ll check. Be right back.”

  As he walked toward the other security personal, she watched his swagger. No. It wasn’t a swagger so much as a distinctive walk, one that spoke of confidence without arrogance. She’d always liked that in a man, but she hadn’t met any who owned the quality the way Mark O’Day did. The realization made her tingle in places she didn’t want to tingle.

  “Give it up, Van Pelt,” the Captain said over his shoulder as he walked away. “You’ve been overruled.”

  Jeeter’s expression said he didn’t like the outcome of the situation. “You okay with this?”

  “I’m not, but like he said, I’ve been overruled.”

  “That guy is pushy.” Jeeter glared at O’Day.

  She smirked. “I’ll humor everyone and go to the damned hospital.”

  His frown didn’t disappear. She watched O’Day talking with the two other men and the one woman in his security group, and he gestured over to Juliet.

  It didn’t take long before he returned to her side, that same smile on his face. “We’re good to go.”

  Jeeter didn’t hide his distrust. “You take care of her, you hear?”

  O’Day didn’t look fazed or offended. “Absolutely. She’s in good hands.”

&
nbsp; She gave Jeeter her equipment.

  After they climbed in the SUV and took off, she looked out the back window. Jeeter stood there watching them depart.

  “Your boyfriend is jealous,” O’Day said as he drove slowly through the neighborhood.

  At first she didn’t think she’d heard him right. “Boyfriend?”

  “Yeah. Jeeter? He was throwing some serious shit-kicking attitude.”

  She took off her turnout coat. “Everyone at the station house is like that. We’re a big family, and since Long Valley erupted we’ve all pulled together a lot tighter. He’d be that way with anyone. He doesn’t know you, that’s all.”

  O’Day kept his attention on the road. “Uh-huh.”

  “And what business of yours would it be if he was my boyfriend?”

  “It isn’t. Just an observation. He isn’t your boyfriend yet, or he would have fought to take you to the hospital himself. But he wants you for himself.”

  She stared at him, mouth agape, for a few seconds. “Most men don’t talk about stuff like…relationships. What planet are you from?”

  “A few people think I’m from Pluto. I haven’t decided.” He threw her a look and a wink, voice thick with teasing. “The point is that he’s got it bad for you.”

  “Ridiculous. What are you, Dear Abby?”

  “Just a guy who takes the time to notice.”

  She had to give him credit. “What was your specialty in the Army, Mr. O’Day? Psychiatry?”

  He smiled. “Call me Mark. I was a sniper and a Ranger.”

  Being a Ranger wasn’t for wusses. “Sniper explains a lot. That’s where you get the attention to detail.”

  “Oh, I was detail-oriented before I became a sniper. I think it’s in my blood.”

  “Does that mean you’re anal?”

  He chuckled. “Maybe. Sometimes.”

  Silence settled over the SUV as they drove slowly. Getting through neighborhoods these days took longer with checkpoints and the huge upsurge in traffic.

  “Why are you doing this?” She had to know. “Helping me?”

  “You’re a damsel in distress.” He said it with a deadpan expression.

  She laughed, but it was a short, cynical sound. “Um…right.”

  He threw her another one of those smiles that could melt butter. “Okay, was that too sexist?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sorry. I’d have helped anyone who needed it. I remembered you from that fire we worked a long time ago.”

  His teasing attitude had started to influence her, so she rolled with it. “I’m pretty hard to forget.”

  One of his eyebrows quirked. “Yeah.”

  “My hair.” Oh, Lord, why had she mentioned that? Why did she feel the need to explain? She usually didn’t. “It’s pretty distinctive.”

  “It isn’t your hair that makes you memorable, Juliet. It’s something else about you. Yeah, you’re pretty as hell, but it isn’t even just that. Your presence…there’s something about who you are I haven’t been able to forget and can’t put my finger on.”

  Her mouth flopped open again. She’d never heard a man say something that deep on such short acquaintance, and it threw her. “You’re straightforward.”

  “Always have been. It gets me into trouble a lot.”

  “I’ll bet.” She swallowed her surprise. He thought she was pretty? She couldn’t recall any man saying that before. Not one. She didn’t even know what to say. She pushed aside shyness and spoke anyway. “You’re not exactly easy to overlook, yourself, you know.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “I remember you from the other fire,” she said.

  This time his smile was more reserved. “I’m flattered. I figured after all this time you’d forget me.”

  “Not much chance of that.”

  She subsided into the quiet and after they’d passed through the last checkpoint before reaching the hospital, he asked, “About your hair…did you dye it like that?”

  She drew in a deep breath. She’d asked for this by even mentioning it. “No. That’s the way it grew in.”

  She waited for him to ask more, but to her surprise, he didn’t point out how young she was to have so much gray hair.

  As they fought their way through traffic, he handled the SUV without aggression and with an ease she didn’t feel. She wanted that sense of nonchalance so badly she could taste it.

  “Is your calm for real, or are you just good at hiding what you’re thinking?” she asked.

  He grinned. “Both.”

  A useful talent, one she hadn’t mastered yet. “I’d like to bottle some of that.”

  “I can give you tips.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Oh. Well. He couldn’t be serious. Plenty of people had made her promises they couldn’t keep. She didn’t take anything he said that seriously.

  They reached the hospital shortly after, and before long they’d entered the emergency room. She felt well enough and thought everyone’s concern was overblown. To her amazement the emergency room didn’t have as many people as she’d expected. Most of the time the place had severe overflow. He stayed with her the whole time she checked in, and while she appreciated the gesture, she didn’t need him to watch over her like a hawk.

  As they entered the waiting room, the television blaring twenty-four hour news made her twitchy. A woman with two sobbing girls sat in one corner, and the woman looked as devastated as the little girl. Her pale face reflected shock and perhaps resignation. An old man sat alone reading a book, while a middle-aged couple huddled in the opposite corner clearly wanted to ignore everything and maybe everybody. The children's pathetic crying tore at Juliet’s heart.

  “Have a rest.” Mark’s deep voice rumbled softly. “I’ll be right back.”

  Feeling extraordinarily tired all of a sudden, she sank into a nearby hard plastic chair as Mark walked toward the woman and her children. He squatted down in front of the woman and girls, and although she couldn’t hear his voice well, the low sound soothed. The woman’s expression eased and the little girls stopped crying as he talked to them. Before long the woman smiled softly and so did the children.

  Wow.

  O’Day shook hands with the woman and settled in a chair right next to Juliet.

  “What’s wrong with them?” Juliet asked.

  His face held deep seriousness. “Her husband was injured in a car accident. It was touch and go for a while, but they’ve learned he’s going to make it. She has family coming from a town over, so she should be okay.”

  She leaned forward and propped her forearms on her thighs. “It was kind of you to check on her.”

  He shrugged. “Times like these demand we care about each other. It’s too easy for everyone to take an every man for himself attitude.”

  “Something we should have done before all…this. The volcano.”

  “I agree. It’s a horrible disaster, but it’s bringing out a lot of good stuff in people, too.”

  “You’re an optimist.”

  “You’re not.”

  She sat back in her chair. “Am I that transparent?”

  “No.” He leaned a little closer. “But I think there’s a lot of positive in you, too. Makes me want to know you better.”

  His eyes went hot and intense, and her breath caught. Attraction bolted through her.

  Before she could reply, he continued with, “How do you feel now?”

  “Tired.”

  “You’ve been in a fire before, haven’t you?” His voice was low, softer than before.

  For the second time her breath caught, but for a different reason. She chose the easier intent of his question, because surely he couldn’t mean anything else. “Of course. I fight fires.”

  “I mean…before you became a firefighter.”

  All her muscles tightened, or at least it felt like it. Fear rolled up inside her. How could this guy know?

  Before she could speak, a nurse came into the area and called her name.


  She turned to him as she stood up. “Thanks very much.”

  “Anytime.”

  She left him, unwilling to turn back and look. She doubted she’d see him again, and that should have been all right. Instead, something wide and hollow opened inside her.

  * * * *

  When Juliet exited the back area, she was surprised to see Mark sitting in the waiting room chatting with the woman and her two daughters.

  Of course he’s still here. The man has honorable written all over him.

  Juliet hesitated as she watched him in action. She wished she could find something to dislike, because he appeared too damn good to be true. The little girls smiled and so did the woman. Before Juliet came to Mark’s attention, a man and woman rushed into the emergency room and embraced the woman and her two children. After thanking Mark, the woman engaged with her relatives, and he turned toward Juliet. Instead of his ever-ready smile, his expression looked a bit pinched. Either he was worried about the children or some other unknown.

  “Hey.” He touched her elbow. Not a grip but a gentle embrace. “What’s the verdict?”

  “You didn’t have to wait. It’s been three hours.”

  “No problem. I was talking with Rena and her girls. They were waiting for Rena’s brother and sister to get here. I couldn’t leave them alone until then.”

  Juliet made a sound between disbelief and amazement. “I can’t believe you’re real.”

  “What?”

  She shook her head. “You’re Mr. Honorable.”

  He laughed and that sparkle returned to his eyes as he steered her toward the exit. “Yeah, yeah.”

  “Well, you are. And like I said, you didn’t have to wait for me.”

  “I wasn’t leaving you alone, either. Wait.” He stopped as they cleared the exit. He lifted her left hand and his attention narrowed in on her naked fingers. “You’re not expecting a husband or boyfriend to show up here shortly, right?”

  “No husband. No boyfriend.”

  “No friends to call?”

  She swallowed hard, afraid that if she told him one iota of her background she’d burst into tears. For some damned reason, today had chewed up her reserves of tolerance for stress.