“Yes. He is.” Beatrice forced a smile. She didn’t want anyone to know she was worried about her finances. Or a certain someone.
“He was supposed to get that to you last week, I think he said. I’m so sorry. It’s been really busy this summer for him. He got behind on a commercial job and he’s just now getting caught up. I’ll remind him.”
“I would really appreciate it, Sarah. I’ve got a time restriction on this construction. I need to get moving soon.” She hadn’t followed up with Luke because she’d been trying to figure out how to come up with the money to pay him. But the fact was that the clock was ticking. “I look forward to hearing from him.”
Beatrice finished her goodbyes and went to her SUV.
She drove across town to the fire station. Around the redbrick building were planters of red geraniums, blue salvia and white daisies. The grass had been newly cut and edged, and due to its dark green color, she could tell it was generously watered. On both corners of the building were American flags waving in the breeze, and across the front door was a red-and-white-striped swag with a blue jabot with white stars in the center. Though it was past the Fourth of July, the place was an icon for small-town Americana at its patriotic best.
“As it should be,” she said to herself as she took the box of cupcakes from the passenger seat. Closing the door, she was approached by a very young-looking man dressed in regulation ILFD black T-shirt and black slacks.
“Hello. May I help you?” he asked politely.
“Actually, um, yes. I’m a...friend of Rand Nelson’s. I was wondering, er, hoping to find out if any of you had any word on the jumpers up at Copper Country State Forest.”
“I’m not allowed to share department business. Perhaps you should ask his family.”
Beatrice’s hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. “I promised Rand I’d call his mother, and I did, but there was no answer.” She stared at him.
His expression was implacable.
“What is it? Has there been an accident? Is he hurt?”
“I can’t divulge...”
Beatrice was desperate. She had to know why this man was withholding information. They did that when someone was hurt or killed, didn’t they? They had to notify all the living relatives first. Then they got around to friends. Maybe. “Please.” Her hand shot to his bare forearm. She wanted to hold on to him in case her knees gave way.
“Hey,” he said, “Miss...”
“Wilcox. Beatrice Wilcox.”
His eyebrow hitched up. “You’re her?”
“What?”
“The one who drove in here and reamed him out.” His eyes took in her air boot and his face broke into a grin. “I’m new here, but that story was one of the first I heard.” He kept grinning as if he knew something about her she didn’t.
Embarrassment colored her cheeks. “I had a bad day, all right? Now tell me what’s going on with Rand.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “He and a few others from the station are still in Michigan. It’s a monster of a fire. I wish I was there,” he said wistfully as if risking his life was his dream come true.
Maybe it was, she thought. “How long do these things take?”
“Weeks. Months sometimes. Rand will come back after his shift. In a week or so. But he’ll only be home a few days before returning to the fire. They’ll keep rotating in and out until the fire’s contained.”
“I see.”
“You can follow their progress, you know.”
“How?”
“The reports are on a satellite station.” He patted his pockets and withdrew a pen and a small writing pad. He held up the pen. “I’m a rookie, so I’m always taking notes. This comes in very handy.”
“I’ll bet it does.”
“These are the call letters of the satellite feed.” He wrote them down and tore off the sheet of paper. “This way, you’ll get the information you want and I’m not breaking regulations.” He grinned again.
She held out her hand. “Thank you very much, Mr....?”
“Mason Conners. You have a good day, Beatrice Wilcox.”
The satellite-feed call letters swirled on the paper as she looked at them. She’d wanted to know how Rand was doing. She’d wanted information, but this way, would she hear a blow-by-blow description? Would she hear the particulars of the fire, the dangers, a list of injuries? Lives lost?
They were wrong for each other, and he’d clearly made a personal decision that he had no room for her in his life. The fact that she couldn’t get him out of her mind and that she’d begun to care for him was her dilemma.
She started to go and stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot. These cupcakes are made by a friend of mine. Maddie Barzonni. She owns the Cupcakes and Cappuccino Café in town. You should try it sometime.”
“Thanks. The guys will love these. That’s very kind of you.”
“Well, I felt I should do something to apologize to everyone for making a scene a few weeks ago.”
“Aw. It’s okay. Like I said, you’re practically famous around here. A real legend.” He gave her a thumbs-up.
Beatrice got into her SUV and carefully backed out of the drive. “A legend.” Terrific. She could just imagine what the firemen thought of her. First Rand saves her life and to thank him, she bawled him out...in front of another firefighter. “Some legend I am.”
When she got back to camp, she folded the paper and put it away. She decided she’d wait for Rand to call. He’d said he’d try to give her an update at some point. Of course, then he’d also made it clear that he wasn’t right for her, and she wasn’t right for him. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t call, right?
But as the days passed with no word from Rand, her anxiety intensified. Logically, she knew he was in the midst of a battle, just as if he’d gone off to war. He couldn’t communicate with her. No cell coverage. He probably had little time to sleep.
But the hours had slowed to a standstill for her like never before. She was heartsick that something had happened to him.
She hadn’t planned on this overwhelming emotional reaction to the void his leaving had created. It was a void filled with fear and terror like she hadn’t felt since her father was alive.
And whenever she scolded herself for thinking about him and promised herself that she was better off without him, the more she needed to hear from him.
She’d called his mother, as he’d asked, but her call had gone to voice mail. She’d explained she was a friend of Rand’s.
But even as she’d said the word, she knew she wasn’t a friend in that way his other friends were. She was the woman he’d been investigating. The person who blamed him for putting her camp in jeopardy. The woman he’d left behind without a second thought.
She shoved her fingers frustratingly into her hair and slipped a lock behind her ear. Rand.
Finally she decided she had to stop arguing with herself and tune in, as soon as she was alone in her office. She had to know if Rand was safe. She took the paper and placed it in her pocket.
Beatrice left her cabin and found Joshua’s parents had arrived to drive him home. Changeovers were at noon and the new arrivals were due in between three and four o’clock on Fridays. Joshua held Beatrice’s hand as he explained all the fun things he’d learned at camp.
“Next year I want to come back for a whole month!”
Joshua’s father smiled indulgently. “That’s a long time to be away from home. I’d miss you.”
“I’d miss you, too, Daddy, but I’m growing up now and you have to get used to letting me go.”
“Whoa. Where did that come from?”
Beatrice shrugged her shoulders. “Joshua is a bit more forthright than other kids his age. But we would love to have you for a month next summer, Joshua. And don’t forget, you can come back for a weekend in the fall, perhaps. We have bo
tany field trips through the forest and down to Indian Lake. You think about that.”
“Okay,” Joshua said and put his arms around her waist. “I’ll miss you, Miss Beatrice.”
“I’ll miss you, too, Joshua. More than you know.”
He turned to his father. “Okay, Dad. We better go before Miss Beatrice starts to cry.”
“Goodbye.”
Beatrice wasn’t sure how Joshua knew she cried when the kids left. These kids left indelible marks on her heart. She waved at Joshua, who sat in the back seat, waving to her.
Cindy walked up with her ever-present clipboard of departures and arrivals. “You have one hour until the first of the newcomers arrive. Maisie needs you in your office.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Just some budgetary items.”
“She probably wants more board games. And baseball gloves. Thanks,” she said and headed for her office.
Budgetary items. While it was true the kids deserved all kinds of new games, brain teasers and bats, balls and baseball gloves that fit properly, she doubted that was really what Maisie wanted to discuss.
She’d been careful not to dwell on her financial issues in front of the staff. She wanted them all to focus on the kids and making their camp experience fun, educational and memorable. If all the kids could be like Joshua or the Kettering sisters, she’d never have to advertise again. Kids would book the entire summer.
If only...
She walked into her office but Maisie was nowhere in sight. She reached in her jeans pocket and withdrew the piece of paper Mason Conners had given her. One of the few indulgences she’d allowed herself when she first rebuilt the camp was satellite radio and a satellite dish. This far out of town, however, there was poor to nonexistent television coverage.
She tuned the office radio to the call letters Mason had given her.
The feed was a computerized weather and atmospheric service alert system for the Lake Michigan area, covering all the surrounding states. It gave data on the tides, nautical winds and air temperatures. When the report started for Copper Country State Forest, Beatrice sat straight up in her chair and leaned forward, not wanting to miss a word.
“Winds southwest at twenty-three knots. Waves, one to three feet. Small craft advisory. Copper Country National Forest fire is reported to cover one hundred fifty acres. One hundred acres burn. Fire contained north sector. Firefighters on scene.”
Then the report moved on to give temperatures for the Upper Peninsula, daybreak and sunset times.
“That’s it?” She switched off the radio.
Maisie stood in the doorway. “What’s ‘it’?”
Beatrice lifted her eyes. “Nothing.”
Maisie walked in. “Sure, ‘nothing.’ You were hoping to hear about Rand.”
“How do you know that?”
Maisie plunked down in the wooden chair. “Because you told Amanda he was going away to fight some forest fire. The UP, I think. Amanda told Cindy. Cindy told me. I told Bruce.”
“Is no secret safe around here?”
Maisie touched the tips of her fingers to both hands and steepled them. “Oh? Rand is a secret now?”
“Would you stop?” Beatrice purposefully glared at her. “And did you want to see me about something?”
“Amanda says we need more maple syrup. But the pure stuff just went up another twenty bucks. I could cut costs way back if we get those huge jugs from the wholesaler. Clay says—”
Beatrice cut her off. “No high-fructose sugars and it’s fine with me.” Beatrice pulled her cell phone from her back jeans pocket. Still no text from Rand.
She frowned.
Maisie leaned forward. “Beatrice. Are you all right?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course!” She beamed a fake smile.
“Liar. But have it your way.” She rose. “I’ll take care of the syrup and the other cooking supplies.”
Beatrice looked at her cell again. No voice mails, either. Rand was battling a raging fire. He had to be exhausted and surely cell coverage up there was nonexistent. Being honest with herself, she was hoping he thought about her. Deep down, she had to admit that she wanted to mean something to him. And right now, she felt rejected. And lonely. Despite her argument that he was totally wrong for her, she couldn’t stop her growing affection.
“Beatrice?”
“Huh?”
Maisie cocked an eyebrow and pointed out the window. “The kids? You’re greeting the parents. Hyping the camp. Doing promo.”
“Got it. Yes.” Beatrice shoved the phone in her back pocket as she rose from the chair. “I’m on it.”
“Way to go, boss.” Maisie rolled her eyes.
“What?”
“It’s just that since Rand Nelson went away, you’ve been watching your phone like a hawk. You never did that before. Now you’re listening to the satellite radio? Since when?”
“Your point is?” Beatrice knew she sounded defensive.
“My point is that it’s obvious to me that you’re more than interested in him. I’d say you’re invested.”
Beatrice dropped the pretense. “I don’t know if he’s injured. Alive. Dead.” She had to hold her hands to keep them from trembling. She blinked back tears as she looked at Maisie. “I’d be acting just the same if it was any of you going into danger like that. I care about you.”
“I know that. I do. You’ve got the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met.” Her eyes tracked over to the radio. “But I think your heart has drawn Rand in as well.”
Maisie waved and left.
Maisie had a point, but the cruel truth was that these days of worrying about him and his safety had shown her that she did care about him. Probably more than she could ever admit to herself.
He was everything she’d look for in a man—kind, generous, thoughtful, and he was a lifesaving hero as well. But he craved danger. He needed to walk that tightrope between life and death. They weren’t even in a relationship and she was crazy with worry already. A life of this would be her undoing.
And, eventually, fate would grab him, and Beatrice would be left alone and brokenhearted.
There was no place for their relationship to go.
It was best they remain apart.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
BEATRICE MET LUKE BOSWORTH outside the dining hall when he arrived at the camp early the next morning. He was tall and dressed in jeans and a banded-collar white shirt with his construction company logo over the pocket. Offhandedly, Beatrice wondered if all Rand’s friends were as good-looking as he.
“Hi.” Luke smiled and held out his hand. “We haven’t formally been introduced, but you’ve met my wife and kids.” He stood back and studied the camp. “Sarah and my kids can’t stop talking about what you’re doing here. I didn’t grow up in Indian Lake like Sarah did, so I don’t know how it was back then, but you’ve done a wonderful job.” He gestured to the burned forest. “That’s a shame, huh? Rand told me about it.”
Beatrice shielded her eyes from the sun with her palm. “Yes. It was. But it will grow back. The kids and I planted new saplings. And of course, the forest is full of pines that resprout themselves from the cones that spew seeds during a fire.”
“Right. Good lumber, that pine,” Luke said.
“You have my bid for me?”
“Oh!” He smiled and jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “In the truck. I’ll get it.” He withdrew a set of papers from the dashboard. “I took the surveyor’s report that Rand gave me.” He handed the papers to her. “And I’ve come up with a fair bid.”
Beatrice looked at the final figure. “Uh. Um. Is this right?”
He glanced down at the line where she was pointing. “Yes, ma’am.”
“This is more than I’d planned. The city doesn’t charge this much.”
“The city doesn’t include several of the labor costs that I did. That’s another reason I don’t like working with them. I know for a fact that the utilities commissioner has a brother-in-law who has a construction company, and that commissioner is notorious for sliding building contracts to said relative. Then when the construction is going full tilt, the client is hit with increased costs.”
Beatrice dropped her jaw. “That’s illegal. Or should be.”
Luke shrugged his shoulders. “It’s been going on for years. You’d think that guy would be voted out of office.” He smiled confidently. “That’s why Rand wanted me to handle your job.”
“I see. Well...” She heaved a sigh. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you where the new water lines and hydrants are to go.”
They walked around the line of apple trees and forsythia bushes and came up to the trenches Rand had dug.
Luke whistled. “What’s all this?”
“Rand dug them.”
“By himself?”
“Uh-huh.” She didn’t dare tell him that two young campers had lifted a spade or two to help. “He’s the kindest man.”
“I’ll say. That’s a lot of work.” Luke scratched the back of his neck. “Of course, for Rand Nelson, it probably wasn’t so much. In the winters, I go to the gym with him and Trent Davis. He’s a police detective. Rand can outlift both Trent and I together.”
“I believe that.”
“I was in the navy and Trent was a Green Beret. So the three of us understand each other.”
Sarah’s husband had been a military man? A man who risked his life for others? Sarah seemed the essence of peace and calm to Beatrice. How had she managed to come to grips with his need for danger?
Of course, Luke was in construction now. He wasn’t out there fighting flames like Rand was at this very minute.
“Did you hear me?” Luke asked.
“Sorry.” She shook her head. Too many thoughts of Rand weaving gossamer webs in her mind. “What did you say?”
“He saved you a great deal of money.”
“He did?”
“Yeah. Fifteen hundred dollars, I’d say. Maybe more.”
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