“Oh, c’mon. Maybe he’s their security. Or he could totally be part of a secret program. Maybe NORAD. They’re housed in there. Maybe he’s being experimented on. Does he glow at night?”
I nudged him with my elbow and rolled my eyes. “Quit it.” Then I paled, pushing my way around him and through the officials to get a good look at the flat-screen. There was only a reporter in the studio with an old picture in a square hovering over her right shoulder.
“Have they shown the hotshots?”
Lloyd, one of the officials, shook his head. “NORAD is in the mountain. It’s a no-fly zone.”
“Even for helitack?”
“They’re waiting on clearance.”
“What?” I said, looking around for someone else to weigh in. They were all staring intently at the screen. “Is anyone from the…mountain thing helping?”
Lloyd seemed to just notice I was standing there. “They haven’t said.”
Lane brought me a plastic cup of water. I took a sip and thanked her, watching Stavros smile at her like she’d just won the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Feeling better?” Lane asked.
“Yes. The water is helping,” I said, returning to the check-in desk. Stavros and Lane followed, witnessing me drink my water like they were in charge of my intake.
“When is your baby due?” Lane asked.
My mouth fell open, my eyes dancing between her and Stavros. Having no idea she was right, he was offended for me.
“She’s tiny, Lane. What would make you say…?” He noticed my expression. “Darby. Are you?” His voice went up an octave.
I sucked in a breath while I thought of what to say. “I was going to tell you,” I blurted out.
His nose wrinkled. “All the puking, the exhaustion…you’re pregnant?”
I grabbed his arm. “Stavros, I need this job.”
The hurt look on his face intensified, and he glared at Lane. “Could you excuse us, please?”
“Of course,” Lane said, turning on her heels and making a beeline for the bar.
Stavros turned to me. “Do you honestly believe I’m the sort of person who would fire a pregnant woman? Especially knowing your situation…or what I know of it?”
My shoulders sagged. “You’re not. I know that, but I didn’t know at first, and I wanted to prove to you that I was worth keeping through a maternity leave. I was going to tell you. It’s just been so busy and there wasn’t really a good time.”
His expression softened. “I think I’m more pissed that I didn’t already know.” He stood up tall, upset all over again, narrowing his eyes. “And you let me work a pregnant woman half to death with sixteen-hour shifts for weeks. Shame on you.”
I sunk back. “It’s really okay. I needed the money.”
“I’m training Lane. You’re off at eleven.”
“No! I can do it. Please? I really do need the hours.”
Stavros looked down at my stomach, then left me alone for the bar. He bent down, popped up, carried a stool over, and set it down behind my desk. “Use it when you’re not with a guest. No cleaning. No lifting anything. Or I will fire you.”
My mouth fell open for the second time, but I snapped it shut and sat on the stool. “Yessir.”
Stavros returned to the bar, sending Lane over to me. She didn’t look particularly sorry, standing next to me, waiting for me to train her on something.
“You’re starting now?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said with confidence.
“How…how did you know?”
She blinked her long, thick lashes, hiding her warm russet eyes. “My sister is pregnant. She gets dizzy and touches her stomach just like that. But she is super fat, so it’s more noticeable. She’s built like my dad’s mom. I’m built like my mom, and she never gained more than eight pounds. You’re not there yet. Think you’ll get huge? You’re Southern, right? I bet you will.”
Lane was not my best friend.
“I have no idea. I’ve lost weight so far.” I looked over at the crowd around the television, trying to gauge the situation by their expressions.
“You’re not wearing a ring. Who’s the baby daddy?” she asked.
I stared at her for a moment. “To check a customer in,” I said, looking down at the screen, “you make sure you’re on the main screen, then hover the mouse over the check-in button. Click on it, and you’ll see a detailed list of reservations that haven’t arrived yet. Get their ID. If they have a reservation, you just click on their name like so. See the checked boxes? Everything is non-smoking, but make sure things like pets and the bed preference is correct. We have no suites, so that’s not an option. Make sure to put all feeble elderly on the first floor…and…yeah, then click on the box where you input the card, then swipe it. If the card reader isn’t working, it’s probably because you haven’t clicked on the credit card box.”
“Got it,” she said.
Lane watched me, catching on more slowly than I would’ve liked. I helped her check in the next four guests, all hotshots returning from R&R. They all went straight over to the flat-screen TV.
“Excuse me,” I said to Lane after we finished with the last guest. I squeezed through the crowd and bent down to get the remote, pointing it at the screen and turning up the volume.
A female reporter stood next to a wooded area, haze in the background, a RESTRICTED sign behind her with a United States emblem under the fine print. “The Forestry Department has reported that the Alpine crew just narrowly escaped once they diverted the flames from the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, with the help of the Cheyenne Mountain Fire Department and Complex security.”
I exhaled and touched the closest person to me. “Oh, thank God. They’re okay.”
The entrance doors swept open, and a strong stench of smoke preceded the entire Alpine team. They were all covered in soot, and smiling. The hotshots in the lobby burst into applause and cheering, high-fiving the Alpines as they walked to the bar.
“Okay, okay,” Stavros yelled. “Everyone gets a round of drafts on me!”
The entire lobby ignited in cheers, and dozens of hotshots and officials crowded that side of the room, leaving me alone. I stared at the television screen, waiting for any more news. Something didn’t feel right, keeping me from returning to my desk even though I knew Lane was waiting.
The smell of campfire intensified. “Hey,” a deep, hoarse voice said just behind me.
I turned around, looking up at Trex. His face was red and sweaty, all but his eyes dusted with soot.
“Thank God,” I said, hugging him. I gripped his dirty T-shirt in my fists, pulling him as close as I could.
He chuckled. “Did you miss me?”
“You were at that fire, weren’t you?”
Trex hugged me, touching his cheek to the top of my head. “I’m sorry. But I can’t give you an answer and you guessing is dangerous. Oh, shit,” he said, stepping back. His clothes had streaked my white button-down. He took his thumb and wiped my cheek. Then he held out his hand, letting it fall to his side. “I just made it worse.”
“It’s okay,” I said, looking down at the proof he’d been against me. “You’re back early.”
“I happened to be close. I helped out. They, uh…we…we had a…thing.”
I hated to watch him struggle to tell me what he could without lying. It was admirable, and I appreciated it. “A thing, huh? I’m jealous.”
Trex’s mouth pulled to the side in a sweet grin.
“Glad everyone’s okay,” I said.
“I have to hand it to the Aussies. They know their shit. Knew down to the minute how long we had before the fire tur—” Trex looked past me with an expression I’d never seen on his face before.
“Darby,” Lane said, leaning forward. She suddenly had the body language of a little girl, a timidity that wasn’t present earlier. “I’m sorry to interrupt”—she glanced at Trex for less than a second, then licked her lip—“but there’s still a lot I’m not sure on.”
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“Sure, I’ll be there in a sec.”
Lane walked away, a bounce in her step. Trex and I watched her turn to give us one last smile over her shoulder.
Trex returned his attention to me, immediately noticing my expression. He swallowed, suddenly uncomfortable. “What?”
I blinked and shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Don’t tell me she’s the new hire,” he said, the color leaving his face.
I arched an eyebrow. Jealousy was not an emotion I was familiar with. I’d always been attention’s sweet center, and for once, I wanted to be. When the man I’d dreamed about finally arrived, I happened to have someone else’s baby growing inside of me, and that put me at a disadvantage when up against someone like Lane—a woman who was above average in beauty, and already had every hotshot in the room scrambling for a reason to talk to her. But if I was honest, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to be jealous of her before I was pregnant, just a few short months before.
“What’s the problem?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Will she be a distraction?”
“Hell no,” he said, his nose wrinkling. He started to reach out for me but looked at his dirty hands and then crossed his arms. “I want Stavros to get someone hired to help you. I’m just surprised Stavros hired her. She used to sit at the bar before you started here. She’s not here for the job. She wants to land a hotshot. Trust me, she’s not a distraction.” The scowl on his face softened. “I get to see you after I get off work, take you out to dinner, and hold you while we watch a movie until your shift starts. The only thing I’m interested in is that you’ll be getting some free time soon.”
“Ugh,” I said, my cheeks feeling hot. “I’m sorry. Jealousy is not something I’m used to feeling.”
“No, I like it,” he said, unable to stop smiling. “I’ve never seen you jealous before. It’s pretty damn cute. And now I know you like me more than you let on.”
I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile, and he kissed me quick, making my efforts useless.
“I love you,” he said, checking over his shoulder before tilting his head down toward my belly, “and you.”
“Stavros knows,” I said.
“What?” he said, surprised. “Since when?”
I shrugged. “Half an hour ago. The new hire spilled the beans.” I narrowed my eyes at her for the two seconds she wasn’t staring at Trex. “Pretty sure she’s some kind of clairvoyant demon.”
“How in the hell did she know?” he asked. “What did Stavros say? You must still have a job.”
“He was pretty mad at me for not telling him. He put a stool behind the desk. I’m supposed to sit when I’m not helping a guest.” I looked at Stavros, and he pointed at the floor, signaling for me to sit.
“Good,” Trex said, following me to the desk.
“Hi.” My new coworker smiled wide and held out her hand. “Lane.”
“Trex,” he said with a coolness I didn’t experience when we first met. He had always been attracted to me. He’d asked me out in the first five minutes. He couldn’t be less interested in Lane, and it was nearly impossible to hide my satisfaction. I managed until he grabbed her hand and tried to pull away. Just for a millisecond, she held on.
When Trex got his hand back, he understood my earlier suspicion. Realization twinkled in his eyes just before he winked at me and smiled. “Love you, baby. See you at dinner.”
I grabbed his wrist and glanced at his watch. “Just a few hours.”
He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles before releasing me to walk to the elevators.
Both Lane and I watched him walk away with the same expression.
Lane finally sighed and shook her head, looking down at the computer. “He is something.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Does he know about the baby?”
“Of course he does,” I snapped.
She held up her hands. “Just asking. Stavros didn’t know, so I wasn’t sure. Is he happy about it?”
“Must be,” I said, sitting on the stool. “He didn’t run when I told him.”
“That’s going to be one hell of a good-looking baby,” Lane said, gazing toward the empty elevator bay. She returned her attention to me. “Where did you meet him?”
It took everything I had not to claw out her wandering eyeballs, so I changed the subject. “Ready to go over checkout?”
Lane smirked. “Sure.”
Chapter Nineteen
Darby
Nope, this one,” I said, correcting Lane.
“I was getting there,” she said, annoyed.
Lane didn’t learn as fast as I had, but she hated being corrected in front of guests. It was a tricky balance to train her correctly and pacify her so she didn’t throw a small hissy fit at the desk. It was going to be a long shift. Again. I couldn’t wait until Lane was trained, but it had already been twice as long as it had taken for me.
“Thank you,” Lane said with the fake smile I’d grown accustomed to. “Enjoy your stay, Mr. Bringham.”
Lane turned to me, the smile gone. “Could you just give me a few seconds to figure it out? That’s why it’s taking me so long to learn.”
“I can. I’m sorry,” I said, offering a fake smile of my own.
“Right,” she said, turning.
I looked over to the sudden activity happening in the meeting room. Some of the hotshots had noticed and were heading in.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Lane, making my way over to the bar.
“Looks like a problem,” Stavros said, staring at the glass door of the meeting room.
“She sure is,” I said.
Stavros jerked his head to face me, confused for half a second before he realized I was talking about Lane.
“She’s still being a bitch?”
“Those are your words, not mine,” I said.
He returned his attention to the meeting room. “I’m sorry. I thought I’d gotten lucky again. You make beauty, brains, and kindness look easy.”
“Aw,” I said, nudging his upper arm with my shoulder.
“You should be sitting,” he said. I took the closest stool. He frowned at the hotshots as they left the meeting room. “This doesn’t look good at all,” he said. The hotshots were all immediately making phone calls and heading over to the television. Stavros picked up the remote and turned up the volume. “Channel 7 said earlier the wind picked up and burned three hundred acres just this morning. Embers are flying and creating dozens of new fires up to six miles away. They’re evacuating people along the highway, including some of the oldest ranches in the state.”
“The Alpines were called out a few hours ago,” I said, hearing a break in my voice. Goosebumps formed over my entire body.
The bar cleared, and the lobby was suddenly abuzz with movement. Two lines were formed as people went in and out of the meeting room. Phones began to go off, creating a messy symphony, the bass line a constant hum of chatter.
“Hey,” Stavros said, trying to catch the attention of one of the hotshots passing by. “Everyone all right?”
“We’ve got some guys missing.”
“Missing?” I asked, standing. “Which crew?”
“The Alpine crew was split up by the fire. We think the smaller group was separated from the rest when the two fires converged. They only had a few minutes to get clear.”
I covered my mouth. Stavros hooked his arm around mine and patted my wrist.
“When will we know something?” I asked.
“We’re coordinating search and rescue now,” he said, rushing away.
“They’re okay,” Stavros said, feigning confidence.
As the minutes passed, it felt like a lot of talking and not enough action was happening, but I was sure there was a rescue under way at the mountain that we couldn’t see. I returned to the check-in desk to find things to keep me busy, relieved to see Tyler walk in with Ellison. He walked straight into the meeting room with the officials and some
of the other crews. I knew then that his brother was one of the Alpines they were searching for.
Ellie made a beeline for the check-in desk.
“Ellie! I was hoping you’d come.”
She offered a half smile, digging in her bag. “I’m here. Need a room,” she said, handing me her ID and credit card.
“Do me a favor,” Ellison said quietly, leaning closer.
“Sure,” I said with a smile, still going through the checked boxes, trying to check her in as quickly as I could.
“I’m not going anywhere near Stavros while I’m here.”
I looked up to see her expression, trying to decipher what she meant.
“I don’t drink anymore.”
“Oh. Oh. Yeah, last time was…bad.”
She nodded. “And it didn’t get better after that.”
A sparkle caught my eye, and I reached over the desk to grab her hand to get a better look at the ring on her finger. Tyler had done it. He’d asked her, and she’d said yes. “Chicken nuggets, it can’t be too bad! Congratulations!”
“Yeah,” she said with a smile—a real one, something I hadn’t seen from her before.
“Hot damn, that is pretty. And don’t worry, I’ll let Stavros know you’re on the wagon.”
“Thank you,” Ellison said.
I coded two key cards for her and handed them over, and watched as Ellison looked at the envelope I’d placed the cards in and then looked over her shoulder to check on her fiancé. She readjusted the strap of her camera bag and made her way to the elevators.
A few minutes later, the crews filed out of the meeting room, including Tyler. He was tapping on his phone as he walked out with the others. I hugged my middle, knowing he was probably telling Ellison good-bye. He was going to get his brother.
* * *
As the sun set, the lobby doors swept open and Trex walked through, stopping when he saw Ellison standing close to the couch where she’d been watching the news on the flat-screen. They traded words, and then Stavros brought her a soda.
Trex winked at me, then reached over to slide his finger down my hand from wrist to the tip of my pinky. “My people say they have eyes on the rescue crew.” He checked his phone and put it away.
From Here to You Page 22