Her mother tilted her chin up, the pride at the business she was building clear on her face.
“I’ve told her, if she’ll come up with the deposit, we’ll work her in sooner than next year,” Regina said with a roll of her eyes. “She gets the friends and family scheduling advantage, no double agenting required.” She leaned forward. “Who was she going to set you up with?”
Janet wrinkled her nose. “Gotta be the mayor. The two of them are either friends or enemies depending on the day. You and him, her and Sam.”
Regina considered the matchup. “She’s a nice girl.”
Avery waited for her to disqualify Astrid from the running. Instead, Regina nodded slowly. “I could see it. I expected him to be interested in more of an adventurous woman.” She waggled her eyebrows at Avery. “But that isn’t working and a mother is not the best judge of her boy’s love life.”
The urge to argue was hard to squash, but Avery knew nothing good would come from presenting the case that Astrid was all wrong for Sam. Making a case for anyone as acceptable or unacceptable for him was an indication that she’d spent entirely too much time thinking about him and what he needed.
Unexpected kisses could do that.
Not that anyone else knew about the kiss.
Or that Sam would ever get within a lip’s width of her again.
“I can’t imagine a girl like Astrid being happy waiting for Sam to come home.” Avery bit her lip, mad at herself for letting anything loose. And as soon as her mother’s lips curled in a smug half smile, she knew she’d been played. Again.
“Thing is, no woman’s going to be too happy with the waiting.” Regina cleared her throat. “I’m saying, as a mother, I worry about him even if he’s nowhere near a fire. He does crazy things, pushes himself as hard as he can because...” She shrugged. His mother didn’t understand why Sam did what he did. “But I love him. I don’t want to change him. And instead of nagging or worrying so much over him, I’ve got to find my own things.”
She turned to Avery’s mom. “This might not be the best use of your skills, Janet. I mean, we like flipping houses. Where would we come up with enough money to build a restaurant? They fold at the drop of a hat. It’s not a good use of time or money or...our skills.”
Avery cleared her throat. “Well, I was thinking...this is what I’ve been looking for, a new business.”
Her mother frowned, an ugly scowl marring her brow. “A new business? You want to become a decorator?”
No. No, no, no. She had no desire to become a decorator. Following her mother around the hardware store had made her long for being stuck on Yanu Falls again. At some point, she’d decided she’d rather sleep out in the dark woods than choose between this blue paint chip and that blue paint chip.
But she couldn’t go back to thinking life at the library was ever going to be long-term.
“I have to find something to do. When Sam goes...” Avery swallowed hard. Maybe she was the one who would have the hardest time letting him go.
If he’d never kissed her, would she feel the same way?
“You are going to find a way to build the life you want, not follow along in my wake. We’ve done that long enough.” Her mother crossed her arms and rested them on the table. “Besides that, it’s your money.”
“It’s Robert’s money, his retirement, his insurance.” They’d never imagined they would need any insurance on her, but he’d always had enough to cover a year in their house. Selling the house in Chicago had added to a nice nest egg, enough for her to invest in a business if she wanted.
Her mother shook her head slowly. “Nope. We will do this on our own. Regina is good with money. I promise you we’ve got this under control.”
“So you didn’t tell me because you didn’t have to. No, wait... Because you didn’t want to, didn’t want me to be a part of this thing that you love.” Avery nodded. “Got it.” She grabbed her tote, prepared to slide out of the booth so she could stomp off the way teenage Avery had frequently done.
Instead, her mother blocked her escape. “Now, wait a minute.”
When her mother took that tone, Avery had no choice but to listen.
“You were drowning,” her mother snapped before raising a hand to whatever Regina planned to say to calm the waters. “How in the world was I supposed to ramble on about my fun new hobby while you were buried? You didn’t want me to come, so I couldn’t figure out what to do to help.” She sighed. “I called. I listened to you talk about the weather and... I waited.” She cleared her throat. “I’m so sorry if that’s not good enough, but you could help a person out by giving them a hint or two on how to help.”
Then she crossed her arms over her chest, her hurt and irritation written clearly on her face.
Avery was ashamed and angry and amused that they’d struck the same battle poses.
Regina, looking like the deer caught in oncoming traffic, stared from Janet to Avery and back until her face brightened. She waved enthusiastically. “Ethan! Over here!”
Avery held her mother’s stare until a tall guy dressed head to work-boot toe in denim stopped by their booth. “Ladies. I was directed this way by the librarian.” Avery shot a glance up at the movie-star-handsome lumberjack looming over her.
Avery knew her mouth was dangling open, but she wasn’t sure what to say in response.
The guy squinted and stared at them around the table. “Am I interrupting something?”
Regina nodded. “Yes, thank goodness. Ethan, we’re going to have to postpone our plans for this place.”
With the beard, it was hard to guess his emotions, but the guy merely shrugged. “That’s fine. Got enough work to keep us busy through the winter as it is. That’s why I’m here.”
When Avery met his stare, she had to admit that if the father’s eyes were anything like the son’s, they were the bluest blue that ever blued. Then he said, “I need your help.”
Avery nodded slowly and realized she had no idea what she was agreeing to. “With what?” The weird squeak was embarrassing, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“We’re going to be adding at least one guy to the crew, maybe two,” Ethan said, “and since we’ve always been a family business, we need some advice and employment contracts if that’s the best option, to protect everyone involved.”
Avery straightened the edge of the folder that had the document she’d labored over for Odella. She had enjoyed it... “You know I’m not really a lawyer.”
“I’m not really a businessman, but the two of us, we’re awfully close.” Ethan offered her his hand. “If you can give me some help, I’ll be happy to hire you, law degree or no.”
Avery was on the verge of shaking his hand, the realization that the law was going to follow her whether she wanted it to or not settling deep in her bones.
It was becoming clear a return trip to law school was the only solution.
Before she could frame her answer, Regina’s phone rang. She pulled it out and frowned. “What in the world is Ash Kingfisher doing, calling me? Is he hunting Sam?” She answered the call. “Hello?”
Avery stared at her mother because it was clear something wasn’t right. Ash Kingfisher would know the assignments of the Otter Lake rangers and fire team. Sam was supposed to be working.
Goose bumps erupted down her arms, the fear immediate. Was Sam injured?
Ethan tapped his business card on the table and mouthed “call me” before he faded away. Avery absentmindedly picked up the card and clutched it in her hand as she watched Regina.
“Lost communication. Okay. That happens,” she said slowly, one hand covering her heart. “Should I be worried?”
Whatever Ash said was meant to comfort, because Regina said, “Fine. I’ll wait for your call? An hour? Thanks, Ash.” Then she ended the call and squeezed the phone t
ightly with both hands. “Ash wanted to let me know, in case I heard it from someone else in town, that there was a fire burning near the weather station north of the Otter Lake range. He can’t get in contact with Sam’s crew, so he’s headed that direction and he will call with an update.” She swallowed hard. “It’s all routine.”
Avery’s mother wrapped her arm around her best friend’s shoulders. “An hour should give us plenty of time to brainstorm for the new project. Then, when we know Sam is safe, we’ll have dinner to celebrate.”
Regina nodded and Avery scanned the room. Half the diners were watching Regina Blackburn closely. She couldn’t tell if they were locals or tourists because the faces had changed since she’d been away, but she recognized the look.
She’d seen it enough in the hospital to last a lifetime. They were morbidly curious. They were listening intently to pick up every crumb. The people from Sweetwater would do whatever they could to help Regina Blackburn when the time came, but until then, they’d chew over the story, and whoever had the rarest details would be the most popular one in town.
“Let’s wait at home. I’ve been dying for a cooking lesson, Miss Regina. Now would be a good time. Could you teach me to make lasagna?” Avery tried to sound as if she had no other motive but enthusiasm, but the two women across the booth exchanged a look. No one believed her, and for good reason.
Janet Abernathy didn’t cook unless she had no other choice and she’d passed this philosophy down to her daughter.
Right now, they had no choice. Distraction was the name of the game.
As soon as they knew Sam and his crew were safe, the charade would be over. They’d all laugh about it and then head out for pizza.
Until then, they were going to occupy their minds with something else.
Avery had a feeling she was getting a lesson in the best way to cope with loving Sam Blackburn.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“THIS LATE IN OCTOBER, we shouldn’t be seeing conditions like this. The humidity was good, temps falling,” the burn captain muttered as he marched back and forth, checking the equipment he’d set out to test humidity, wind speed and temperature. They hadn’t planned to do any burning on this trip out to the weather station responsible for reporting the northeast quadrant of the park, but two different lightning strikes had started small blazes that afternoon.
Whether they let the fires go in order to clear out old growth or extinguished them because of the deteriorating conditions, Sam was glad to have some real work to do.
He’d already told his crew about his job offer and they’d been doing their best to batter his confidence into submission with enough trash-talking to fell a less secure man. All this waiting for the burn captain to give them a yea or nay left plenty of time to run their mouths, and he was enjoying himself until the first lightning strike on the hillside above the weather station snapped them all to attention. The dropping temperature meant cold blasts of wind. Thanks to the drought, everything was drier than it should be and ready to burn. If fire surrounded the weather station, it might be a loss before they could get in place.
“Extinguish the burn,” the burn captain bellowed as he motioned above his head to wrap it up. “Then we’ll ride out the storm.” He pointed to the old wood plank building that served as a crude shelter. Inside, there was plenty of equipment to track the conditions on this side of the mountain range, but there were few creature comforts.
“Blackburn, take Rodriguez, Sutton and Jackson and come in from the north,” McKesson, the crew chief, yelled. “Gotta make sure the firebreak is holding.”
Sam raised a hand to indicate he’d heard the order and trotted up the path to reach a break in the flame as a hard, shrieking wind barreled up the side of the mountain, the push enough to fan the flames high. He noticed the nearest guy pause as the flames shot up old pines in an instant, racing to the canopy above them.
“Watch the station,” Sam yelled through cupped hands. He and his smaller crew were on the station side, the only people who could move to intercept the fire if it turned. He got waves in response and then all four of them began wetting the area with the retardant they carried in case fires threatened to burn out of control. The trees engulfed in flames swayed with the hard wind. Sam hit the comm clipped to his shoulder. “Chief, come in.”
He got nothing but static back. Since their equipment was intended for the challenges these mountains presented, it was unusual that any breakdown lasted long. They depended on the communication for safety. “Chief, come in. We have a situation, a possible threat to the station itself. We’ve begun spraying, but some response from the east to shut this down would be advised.”
Sam cursed as he motioned the guys closer to the station. If they were going to protect the station, they’d have to do the best they could alone. The rest of the crew was on the other side of the flame. They’d notice the shift and anticipate the move as well as he had.
“Not much to burn,” Sutton said as he motioned at the new growth carpeting the area around the weather station. The spot was remote, but clearing the area of fuel was a priority. Prescribed burns left room for healthy growth by clearing out dead limbs and dry leaves. Protecting the weather station was one of their main duties.
“Yeah, but we gotta watch those,” Sam shouted and pointed up at the trees that were on fire.
Then the rain clouds opened, dousing the fire, the firefighters and the weather station in the rain that east Tennessee had needed since May. Sam drew in a deep breath, relieved to have some help from Mother Nature. The fire could be contained, but the threat to the station was not good. And the park had already lost hundreds of acres to fire over the dry summer and fall.
With rain like that, they were better off taking shelter. Another lightning strike convinced him.
Sam gave his own “wrap it up” motion and watched the other three men trot back down toward the weather station. At some point, they’d all have a chance to come back this way to make sure the fire was either contained or dying. For now, they could get warmer and drier inside.
Sam checked the area one last time to be sure the fire was still acting as they expected.
Then he heard a howl of wind, a loud crack, and had only a split second to see the tall pine with its upper branches still on fire break in two.
Before he could yell for help, the trunk caught him and everything went dark.
Waking up in the middle of a fireman’s carry, his head face down to the damp ground flashing between the yellow boots of... Sam had lost track of who was carrying him, but if he didn’t get to where he was going and soon, whoever his rescuer was would have a pile of vomit at his feet.
“Hold,” Sam said weakly. Then the throbbing pain in his head cleared for a split second and he shouted it again, his throat on fire. “Hold!” Every breath was torture, the pain in his side nearly unbearable.
The bobbing, throbbing torment paused. Firm hands pulled and shifted him until he was right side up, the ground and smoke and fire spinning around him in a kaleidoscope of bright orange, sullen gray and pitch black. At least the ground was solid underneath him. He wasn’t spiraling away.
Sam held up one hand in warning and apology before he leaned over and threw up meals he could no longer remember eating. When he was certain he could do so without choking, Sam collapsed in the ground cover and old pine needles to gasp for clean air. Smoke made the air hazy but he could see three worried faces, and he was almost certain that he would eventually remember all their names.
At this point, his ears were ringing, his head needed to be removed so that he could replace it with a brand-new one, and all he could do was fight to regain his breath through a stabbing stitch in his side.
Before he was completely ready, the guys watching him with worried frowns lifted him again, this time by the shoulders and feet so that he could watch the smo
ke rise to meet the storm clouds as rain washed his face. As rescues went, he’d seen worse, but he’d never been a party to one himself. Ever.
And so far, he was not a fan.
The crew had cleared a break in the flames, and Sam breathed more comfortably when the rest of the engine crew and the crew chief rushed out of the weather station to meet them.
“What happened?” McKesson shouted.
“Tree. Heard a crack. When I made it over to Blackburn, he was on the ground, pinned.” Rodriguez grunted as they reached the narrow doorway and he took the full burden of Sam’s shoulders. “You ever wonder what two hundred pounds of firefighter feels like, Boss?”
The rest of the crew moved out of their way until Rodriguez set him down carefully in the only spot big enough, the cleared plank floor in the center of the room.
Sam held up a hand, determined to show them that he was fine, but he couldn’t quite get his voice to work.
Eventually, he managed to croak, “Two twenty-five, thank you very much.” He watched confusion flitter across Rodriguez’s face and then waited for him to repeat it for the rest of the group.
Immediately, the tension in the small structure lightened.
Losing one of the crew was the worst thing that could happen to any team, so Sam understood why they watched him so closely, but he couldn’t do anything else to reassure them. If he tried too many words, he’d scream as best his aching throat would let him.
McKesson knelt next to Sam. “Get me a lantern.”
Before he could ask twice, every man in the room had thrust a flashlight or lantern or an illuminated cell phone the chief’s way. “That’ll do. Place is lit up like we’re going to land a jet.”
With careful hands, the chief traced Sam’s head. Sam tried for a manly grunt when one gentle probe sent a shard of misery all the way to his toes, but it might have included a whimper at the end.
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