by Sy Walker
"The boys and I were just going out to eat," he told her. "We're setting up encampment this afternoon. The fires are back and bad this year, so you keep your ears on the radio and take care to evacuate if they flag your region. Understood?"
"Of course." It wasn't only her own life at stake anymore; Amber had to put Caden first. "I'll be careful if you be careful, too."
"Haven't died yet," Dominic bragged. Then his expression grew a bit more serious. "I was thinking when the fire's just about under control and we've won the war that I'd find my way back to your place. What do you say?"
Amber's heart said yes, but her mind said no. If Dominic came back he'd find out about Caden, and if that happened... He didn't need that complication in his life. They'd had their fun and she'd made a choice not to have him use protection, and Amber wasn't going to drag him into parenthood unwillingly.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," she muttered, heart not in her words. Dominic's face contorted with confusion and hurt, and Amber couldn't bear to look. She glanced to the pavement, avoiding his gaze.
"Are you serious?" It was his turn to ask. Amber nodded, finding herself mute. Dominic's eyes burned into her, then he turned away.
"You know," he said, words heavy, "that's fine. I shouldn't be shirking my duties anyway. I guess I'll see you around, Amber."
Rejection stung his words and struck at her heart, and Amber wrapped her arms around herself as he walked away to join his unit. It wasn't what she'd wanted to happen, but it was for the best. She couldn't tie him down.
Dominic disappeared around a corner, leaving her on her own again. As much as it hurt to say goodbye, Amber's life had changed since he'd last been to Oakridge. There were groceries to stock up on, and Caden to get back to. Lust, and the deeper feelings she knew bloomed inside of her for him, would have to wait.
But just as he had done two years ago, Dominic haunted her. As she checked items off of her grocery list the touch of his lips lingered on hers and distracted her. As she picked up Caden from the daycare he set his fiery gaze on her through her son. On the way down her gravel driveway, the car rocking and shaking as it passed over the uneven surface, she saw him drive off in the jeep that one night two summers ago. And that night, when a heavy crash woke her from her sleep, Amber heard his voice.
"Don't be afraid of bears," he told her upon the swinging bench. Amber's heart raced as she sat in bed, trying to calm herself. The crash felt like it had come from inside the house, but that was impossible.
Then another crash, the sound of items skittering across the wooden floor, and Caden laughed. Amber had to clasp her hands over her mouth to stop from screaming. The video monitor she'd installed in Caden's room revealed that he wasn't alone at all — a bear stood on all fours by his crib, its snout pressed up against the tall bars of Caden's toddler crib. He had risen to both feet, grasping the bars with his tiny hands. Amber watched in horror as one hand released the bar, and he reached through the slats to place his hand upon the fur above the bear's nose.
"Caden," she gasped, voice dry. But even as she scrambled out of bed to run to his room, the bear grumbled low and affectionately, then turned and left the room. The sound repeated itself, and Amber turned her head to look at the video feed. Caden was intoning exactly as the bear had, with flawless mimicry that even an adult would struggle to match.
At the frame of her bedroom door, Amber watched as the intruding bear wandered down the hall and out through the door that let out onto the mountain. It hung open. She knew she’d locked the door before bed that night, but there was no sign that the bear had broken it down.
When it was gone she rushed forward and closed it again. When the lock was securely fastened she ran to Caden's room and scooped him up. The light of the full moon streamed through his window even though plumes of thick smoke obscured most of the night. He still grunted and growled as a bear might, and Amber broke down crying.
The rest of the night Caden slept in bed beside her as exhaustion from fear dragged her into a deep sleep. As tired as she was, Amber didn't stir when the emergency broadcast advocating evacuation played. The wildfire was racing towards her section of the mountain.
The smell of smoke woke her. Caden was awake at her side, gazing out at the round moon that hung low in the sky. Amber could barely see it through the black ash and smoke that clung close to the window. The night was instead lit up by hellish red. The color was far more intense than anything she'd seen before.
"What's going on?" she mumbled as she woke in full. Black plumes of smoke curled outside the window, and reality began to dawn on her. These were no clouds, no distant patches of darkness as the forest burned. This was something more serious.
"Caden," she said, trying to keep her tone even and without fear. The smell of smoke was near staggering, Amber realized as she sat up. The house was on fire. It had to be on fire, and they had to get out. "Mommy is going to take you for a drive, okay bud?"
He looked at her with his father's eyes, and Amber scooped him into her arms. Once again she was in her tank top and panties, her typical summer sleepwear. Caden was in a lightweight onesie. There was no time to grab anything else.
Amber rose from the bed, Caden in her arms, and crossed the room. The smell of smoke had her dizzy, and a voice in the back of her mind told her she should be crawling. Keeping Caden calm was what mattered right now, though. Keeping him safe. Amber put her hand on the doorknob to open it and found it superheated. With a startled cry she jerked her hand away.
On the other side of the door she could hear crackling. Smoke curled from beneath the door, rising.
The hallway was on fire, and unless she could find a way to break the door down or use the heated doorknob they were stuck.
Caden had started to cry, arms wrapping around her neck as he held himself close. Amber rocked him as she panicked, running scenarios through in her mind. She could try to kick the door down. She would kick the door down.
"I need you to be a good boy and stay really still on the bed," she told Caden as he wailed and clutched at her. Rapid footfalls saw them return to where they'd slept, and she pried him away and set him down. He began to cry harder.
"Caden, baby, it's okay. We're okay. I'm going to get us out of here."
If the house was on fire, the forest was on fire. If the doorknob was too hot to touch, her car would be too hot to touch. Even if they got out, would they be able to find safety? Amber didn't know, but she knew she had to try.
With a running start she slammed her foot into the door. It rattled, but did not collapse. Again and again she slammed the flat of her foot down against it, but each time it held fast.
Maybe the window..?
But as Amber ran for the window to see if there was any way they could climb down, a sickening crack broke through the night from where she'd kicked at the door. Another crack followed, and a piece of the door fell away to reveal a brown bear on the other side. He swung his paws again and again, tearing pieces of the door apart. In seconds nothing was left, and the bear fixed her with his eyes. Russet brown, like the muddy red sky of a burning forest at night. Like Caden's. Like Dominic's.
One moment a bear stood in the doorway, and the next Dominic stood before them, naked. The heat didn't seem to bother him.
"Oh my God," Dominic choked, eyes set on Caden. Flames burned in the hallway, but he'd managed to extinguish a path leading from the upstairs back door to her bedroom. "He was right."
"Dominic!" Amber cried. She scooped Caden up from the bed and held him close, near running to the newly opened door. Dominic kicked down what was left, planted a firm hand on her back, and led her out into the night.
Fire burned all around them, but other men from the unit had gathered. One of them wrapped a thick blanket around her shoulders and guided her away while Dominic shouted instructions and rushed into battle against the flames.
It was a night Amber would never forget, even though she wanted to.
Prologue
>
Caden in her arms, Amber huddled beneath the blanket she'd been given back at the firefighter's encampment. Dominic sat in front of her, expression more serious than she'd seen it before.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, words sharp and almost bitter. Amber rocked Caden back and forth; he was falling asleep.
"I didn't want to hold you back," she muttered, lowering her gaze. "You have a career, a home back in the North, ambitions... I didn't want you to throw all of that away for some girl you slept with once from the middle of nowhere."
Frustration played across his face, but he did not lash out at her. Instead he reached forward and caught her chin as he had so long ago, forcing her to look at him.
"You are not some girl. In your arms sleeps my son. If he means half as much to me as you do, I'd still never stop loving him."
Tears stained her eyes. How could Dominic tell her these things and mean it? Love. He wanted to stay with them.
"I can't think of a better place to raise children with my... Affliction."
"He's a bear too, isn't he?" Amber asked. She'd seen Dominic transform from beast to man right in front of her, and Caden had always acted so strange. The bear noises he'd made earlier that evening made so much sense now.
"He is. Another bear from the area caught his scent and investigated your house. When he found me to tell me, the fire had already spread. If not, we would have had this conversation long ago."
There was still so much to learn. Dominic's touch lingered, keeping her head steady.
"I'm sorry I hid him from you," she whispered at length.
"And I'm sorry I gave up on you so quickly back in the parking lot," Dominic replied. He drew closer, and Amber's eyes closed. When their lips met there was sweet sincerity between them that promised the future.
"I'm going to take care of you," Dominic whispered. "Both of you. I've already talked to the boys on my unit and Oakridge's, and they're going to organize a transfer. I'm going to build my life here with you and give my son the father he deserves."
A future with a gorgeous firefighter and the father of her child. As they sat there in the early morning, the encampment abuzz with activity, the forest burning, Amber knew that no matter what happened, Dominic would care for them.
There were to be no more lonely nights beneath the stars. She'd found more than a home in the Colorado mountains — she'd found a family. Forest fires had brought them together, and forged as they were beneath the flame, not even the hottest fires would ever draw them apart.
THE END
RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS
Between Two Bears
"I work in the morning."
How Anna had both loved and loathed those words at the same time. When Gabriel Kempton had called her back, she'd been floored. After the lackluster reception of her final academic exhibition had stolen her chance at graduate school, she knew the only way into higher education was through completing an apprenticeship to garner real world experience. No opportunity had been beneath her, and Anna had launched her resume off to dozens of apprenticeship positions. That Gabriel Kempton of all people had been the only one to call her back had to be proof that she was meant to succeed. Working beneath his direction would not only look good on her future applications, but it would draw the eyes of the art world in her direction. Even if Gabriel was unsatisfied with her work, the fact that they would be associated would work in her favor.
But he worked in the mornings.
Anna couldn't remember the last time she'd willingly gotten out of bed before noon. Given the choice, she preferred to sleep through the afternoon. Mornings had never been her friend, and anyone who knew her had always planned around that fact accordingly. Anna Nightingale, her mother had sung to her in her teenage years, little lark, despises the light, favors the dark. But now the nightingale stood before the private art studios of Southview University, cup of bitterly black coffee in hand, while the sun rose on the horizon.
"This is your future, Anna," she whispered to herself, the words catching in the thick yarn of her maroon infinity scarf. She slipped her car keys into the small purse slung from her shoulder. "Just a year of early mornings, and then you'll be set for life. Suck it up."
Studio C3 was already lit up on the inside. In the early hour of the day little traffic passed, and the street lights had begun to fade to orange. It seemed like everyone else on the planet slept except for the man she knew lurked beyond the studio walls. And herself, of course. She hesitated before the door, wondering if she should knock or not. Better to be overly polite, she thought, than to be rude. Anna rapped upon the door.
"Come in," a voice called from inside. Although she could tell there was great volume behind it, the words barely bled through the door and she'd almost missed them. Had the morning not been so quiet, Anna was sure she never would have heard the invitation. Without wasting any more time, Anna entered the studio.
Had she to guess, Anna would have said that Gabriel Kempton had already been at work for hours. The largest block of marble she'd ever seen sat in the center of the studio upon a raised platform, its corners and sides already carved off. The pitched pieces lay haphazardly on the floor around the platform. Apart from a few messy tables pressed against the wall and two folding metal chairs tucked into them, the room was empty.
"I need you to start tidying the pieces that have fallen," Gabriel's voice instructed. He was behind the block of marble, out of her field of view. The end of the sentence was punctuated with the bright clang of a mallet striking down upon metal. A new piece of marble knocked loose and toppled to the ground. "Stack them all on one of the tables. We might be able to recycle the scrap for small projects."
No hellos, no good mornings. Had she not been so exhausted, Anna might have bristled at his lack of respect. A hasty sip of coffee silenced any sass. She set the cup down on one of the tables and made her way towards the marble.
"And when you're done that, then you can start to sweep." Gabriel stepped out from behind the marble, and Anna stopped in her tracks. Gabriel Kempton was the talk of the art world and the pride of Southview's Master of Fine Arts program, but every article she'd read about him and his accomplishments had only shown his face, focusing more upon his creations. While his facial features had been handsome, Anna had always assumed he'd look like a scrawny artist in person. The body she'd pictured and the man who stood before her were not one in the same.
Instead of narrow and lanky, Gabriel was cut and svelte. The grey t-shirt he wore stretched across his chest and filled out in the shoulders and arms, and although his muscles were not excessive, there was no question that they were visible. Toned arms, a firm chest, and a body that tapered into his hips, Gabriel looked more like a swimmer than a sculptor. Momentarily Anna wondered if she had nodded off to sleep and was imagining the whole thing. There was no way someone could look as handsome as he did while toiling away in a studio for fourteen hours a day.
The prolonged pause attracted Gabriel's attention, and he looked towards her for the first time. Anna glanced up into his dark eyes and noticed how they stared. Low self-confidence reared inside of her, allowing an uneasy feeling to bloom in the pit of her stomach. Most of the time she ignored the stares, but Gabriel was the only one in the room and he made no effort to hide that he was looking at her. Anna knew that she was curvy, too curvy to be considered conventionally beautiful by men like Gabriel, but she'd always considered herself pretty. Between a great wardrobe and the care she invested to keep her light auburn hair shimmering and styled, Anna had never let her size stop her. Yet here she was, arrested by Gabriel's gaze.
"Anna Nightingale?" Gabriel asked after a long silence. His eyes swept her down and then up, absorbing her every detail. The critical eyes of an artist ripped her apart, and Anna felt both exposed and breathless. There was something silently dominating about Gabriel's presence that let her on edge, uncomfortable and yet intrigued.
"That's me," Anna replied, voice smaller than she would ha
ve liked.
"It's nice to meet you," Gabriel said after a pause. His eyes lingered on her for a moment longer, and then he turned back to his work. "I look forward to working with you this year."
"Yeah," Anna whispered, the word little more than a squeak, "me too."
When his eyes darted away from her and back to the marble, the spell was broken. Pressure lifted from Anna's lungs, and she realized that she'd been holding her breath. She inhaled deeply and shook her head, freeing herself further from his spell, then set to work collecting the fallen pieces of stone.
By the end of the day, all Anna had done was collect discarded marble and sweep. Typically she would have complained, but watching Gabriel work was well worth the menial labor. Every time he struck at the block his biceps tensed and she could see how corded and strong they were. The sweat that lined his brow glistened, and the scent of pine and masculine undertones had leeched slowly through the room. Anna didn't consider herself boy crazy, but something about Gabriel grabbed her attention in a way no other guy had.
From time to time he'd engaged her in conversation. They'd spoken about her plans for school and the kind of media she liked to work with. Gabriel had told her a little bit about the marble sculpture exhibit he was preparing for, and invited her to sculpt some of her own statues from the leftover marble. By the end of the day, blissfully over by noon, Anna exited into the brisk fall air entirely smitten. Gabriel was like the marble he sculpted: smooth, classic, and flawless. Thoughts of him clouded her mind, and it wasn't until a hand clamped down upon her wrist that she realized someone had been trying to get her attention.