by Jenna Payne
Sydney brushed the tangles out of her hair and quickly dressed. She was always so hungry after a rescue. At 5’2” and barely 100 pounds, Sydney was tinier than most flight nurses. Rescue efforts were exhausting for her, both emotionally and physically. She dressed in her street clothes – wrangler jeans and tennis shoes – and headed out the door.
Max sat in the common room of the station, reading a magazine but slyly watching the hallway for Sydney to exit. The girl was quick and left for home before he could catch her. He’d been trying to strike up a conversation outside of the chopper for weeks. This time, she wasn’t going to slip away before he invited her out after work. He was drawn to her as he hadn’t been to a woman in so long. She was feisty, but she was also brave and a hard-worker, which he loved about her. Not to mention the fact that she looked like a fairy; her hair was long and nearly white-blond, her skin was tan and her pert little nose rested below the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. She might be half his age, but Max was certain he’d seen the twinkle of interest in her eyes as they worked together after each rescue. Unless he was way off the mark, Sydney was as interested in him as he was in her.
Sydney finally walked into the hallway and saw him sitting there. She smiled and started to say goodbye when he interrupted her, “Let’s grab a bite to eat. I know you’re famished.”
Sydney stopped. Had she heard him right? She looked behind her to see if he was talking to someone else. Max threw back his head and laughed. All that beauty and the girl had no clue he was interested in her. This was going to be more fun than he’d originally thought.
“Sydney, would you join me for lunch?”
She was unprepared for his offer. She struggled to find a way to say no without coming off wrong. They worked together. If she offended him now by saying no the wrong way, she could get stuck with one of the other pilots back in Jackson. Or worse: Ambulance duty. Sydney blew her bangs out of her eyes and sighed.
“Sure.”
Max smiled. It wasn’t exactly a resounding yes, but it would do for now. She led the way to the parking lot and he followed her in his car to the favorite hangout of first responders, Big Pine Café. He wasn’t surprised; he’d seen her there several times and knew she favored the place. He hurried to park, then met her in front of the restaurant to open the door for her. Sydney walked through the door and straight to her favorite table by the window. Max would have preferred a little privacy, but he wasn’t a fool. This wasn’t a date for Sydney. He wanted to eat, she wanted to eat, so logically, they should eat together. Max smiled to himself. What a charming little imp she was. He was going to enjoy chasing this one.
They ordered their food and fell into easy conversation. Sydney was bright and friendly, a great conversationalist. Max watched her lips are she spoked, the words caressing his skin like the finest silk. She had a beautiful voice and her face lit up when she talked about things she was passionate about. It wasn’t long before she was talking about her horse, Concerto.
“I’ve had him since I was 12. He’s moved all over the country with me. I even took him to college. When I’m not working at CFR, I’m riding him on the trails and in the hills. He’s the best horse ever.”
Max listened intently to everything she had to say. Sydney wasn’t very open at work, and he was determined to learn everything he could about her. Trey had mentioned that he’d tried to talk to her on more than one occasion, but she was oblivious. She did her job and she went home. She was a consummate professional who was always prepared to do her job, but never lingered. Sydney continued to talk and Max hung on to her every word.
Their food came and they dug in with gusto. They spoke here and there, but mostly enjoyed the quiet company and good food. Max realized that he was starving and couldn’t remember if he’d eaten breakfast this morning as he rushed out the door.
Sydney was having a great time with Max. How had she not noticed how interesting he was? Of course she didn’t know anything about him, she didn’t know anything about anyone she worked with. She loved her job and the people she worked with, but she never knew what to talk about. She smiled at Max over her coffee. He was so easy-going and approachable. His salt and pepper gray hair was dark and wavy, neatly trimmed above his collar. Sydney learned that he was 52 and had never been married. She found that odd, but kept that to herself. He said he’d never found the right woman. But he was so handsome, how could he have been alone for so long? Max was strong, self-assured, but immensely kind. Handsome and daring, he was everything most women dreamed of. At 25, Sydney had never met another man like him.
They finished their food and Sydney got up to leave.
“I have to take care of Concerto. He gets grumpy when he doesn’t get his daily brushing. Well, everything makes him grumpy really.” She didn’t wait for him to respond, just headed out the door with a quick wave.
Max smiled. She had such a good heart and took her responsibilities seriously. Going solely on looks he would have pegged her as flighty and unreliable. She surprised him at every turn. He was reluctant to leave, but he had plans for this one. She was worth the wait, and he was a patient man.
***
Sydney sat tall in the saddle as Concerto picked his way over the trail and through the dense trees. Today’s rescue had been hell on her nerves and she needed a little pick-me-up. The early morning rescue after a 36-hour rotation had left her with a free afternoon. There was no way she was going to let this beautiful day get away from her without getting a long ride in.
Concerto continued on without direction from Sydney. He knew these trails well and seemed to enjoy this one the most. He splashed through a shallow creek and then cantered lightly up a short hill. Sydney’s body moved with him easily, but her mind was somewhere else. She kept thinking about the impromptu lunch break with Max. She hadn’t realized until today that she’d never really talked to him before. Sure, they talked about work, the chopper, and, well, work. But, she hadn’t said anything to him outside of that. She felt bad. In truth, she wasn’t the type of person who talked to other people. She always had her nose in a book, or her seat in the saddle. Concerto was her only friend, and suddenly that made her very sad.
She ran her hand down his neck, threading her fingers through his flaxen mane. The silvery-white hair was in stark contrast to his chocolate coat. He was truly her dream horse, and she’d gone through so much to keep him. She might not be a good human friend, but Concerto loved her, and that’s what counted.
Sydney looked around at the widening trail, seeing her surroundings for the first time since she headed out almost an hour before. She’d been so lost in thought that she hadn’t noticed that Concerto had veered onto a longer trail when the road forked about a mile before. This trail was more challenging than the others, and Sydney was up to the task. She urged him into a smooth canter and enjoyed the rush as the ground swelled and dipped gently into a clearing. Concerto lengthened his stride into a hand-gallop on the open trail and stretched his head out to dig his hooves into the soft dirt. Sydney stood in her stirrups and gave him his head. He was content to set his own pace, eating up the distance to the base of a steep hill. He powered up the rise with ease, taking the sharp left turn onto the low mesa as if he were walking a gentle foot-path. He slowed down when the terrain got little tricky, easing into a slow trot then a brisk walk.
Sydney gave him a heavy pat. No matter what the path threw at them, she could trust her horse to carry her through it. She laughed a little. It was practically a metaphor for her life. Through all the twists and turns, only one thing had ever been certain – Concerto was the only steady thing in her life. She didn’t mind that one bit.
Sydney brushed Concerto as he munched on his grain. His freshly washed coat was damp and smelled vaguely of sweet apples. He was in heaven, his legs stretched, the sweat rinsed away, his belly being filled. She put some oil on his hooves and let herself out of his corral. She packed her things away and headed for home. She only had 24 more hours of down-time this
time around before she had to report for duty again at 5 pm tomorrow. Flight nurses were in short supply, and the surrounding wilderness attracted all level of daredevils during tourist season. Most were not as adept at their hobby as they imagined themselves to be. For many people each year, their daring landed them in the hospital after a ride in the Care Flight chopper.
Sydney returned home to a flashing answering machine. No one had ever called her before so it was probably a wrong number. She hopped into the shower and washed the stench of horse sweat, trail dust, and wet animal from herself. Her grandpa always said, if you want a clean horse, prepare to get dirty. Judging by the color of the water rushing down the drain, she imagined Papa was quite right about that.
After her shower, she padded barefoot into the living room, her towel wrapped around her while her wet hair hung loose around her shoulders. She pressed the button on the machine, unprepared for the voice on the recording.
“Hi Sydney, it’s Max. I was wondering if you were free for dinner this weekend. I know a nice little place just outside of town I thought you’d enjoy. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
Sydney was surprised. Max was calling her? And if that wasn’t odd enough, he sounded almost nervous. Max, with the steady hand and the ability to fly choppers in the most treacherous situations, sounded nervous. Sydney couldn’t imagine why, but she was a little giddy. Lunch with Max had been fun and relaxing. She’d enjoyed his company more than she had enjoyed eating alone, and that was saying a lot. He left his number, but Sydney would see him tomorrow and let him know that dinner sounded good. There were times a girl just didn’t need to be alone, and this week, apparently, Sydney was feeling quite social.
***
At 4:15, Sydney rushed into the common room on her way to the lockers. She was driving to work when another call came over the radio. This time, it was a missing child, a call they all dreaded. The little girl was lost in the woods and they were calling in all resources to find her before the sun set. They had four hours, which was a drop in the bucket when searching hundreds of square miles of rough mountain terrain. The temperature dipped once the sun went down, and at just eight years old, it was very unlikely that she would know what to do to save her own life while she waited to be rescued.
Sydney grabbed her gear bag and headed for the chopper. She’d change on the way. Time was slipping away and every moment they wasted could mean be life or death for this little girl.
Max already had the chopper warmed up and ready to go. Trey hurried through a side door, already dressed in his gear. By 4:22 they were secure in the chopper and Max was guiding the bird into the air. Trey sat in the jump seat until they got closer to the last place the young girl had been seen by her family about an hour before. Once they were near the search area, Trey would hook himself so that he could search out the open door with binoculars. While he messed with the onboard screen that displayed the girl’s picture and a description of what she was wearing, Sydney began changing into her flight scrubs.
A large peak rose above the trees and Max lowered the chopper. They were at the boundary of the search area. He slowed and started methodically flying a search grid. Trey clipped himself onto a safety ring and hung out of the door, scanning the ground with his binoculars. Sydney pulled a back-up harness on and took a spot on the opposite side of the door, scanning the area behind Trey and the chopper. A grid search was tedious and frustrating, and Max made several passes over each small section before moving onto the next. They continued like that as rescuers on horseback and on foot searched from the ground.
Hikers went missing often and the local rescue personnel and volunteers were very skilled at this type of search. If the little girl was within the search area, they’d find her. As long as they found her before sunset, her chances were excellent, even if she was injured. Once the sun set, the temperature drop turned a routine lost child search into a race against time. Sydney scanned between the trees, outwardly calm, but inside she was a bundle of nerves. They had to find this little girl.
Trey was making a second pass over a stand of trees when Max’s voice came in over the headsets, “I’ve got her.” He turned the chopper north and both Sydney and Trey caught sight of her at the same moment. She was lying on her side on a large rock in a tiny clearing in the middle of dense brush and trees. She was huddled in a ball, and though they couldn’t see enough to determine if she had injuries from here, she looked ok. And alive.
Max set the chopper to hover over the rock. The little girl didn’t move, just held her knees to her chest and stayed in a ball. Sydney was lowered slowly toward the rocks, trying to keep her mind off the vast open space surrounding her. She landed softly beside the girl. The tiny child gripped herself more tightly, as if she could escape her terror by disappearing into her own body. She appeared uninjured. Sydney unhooked her harness and waved the chopper off. They were only a mile and a half from the campsite and already, Sydney could hear the volunteers calling for the girl in the distance.
***
Back at the station, Sydney and Max sat in the common area, watching television in comfortable silence. Today had been one heck of a rescue, and the ambulance crew had been equally busy. Trey had gone on a run in the back up ambulance with a paramedic named Steve. His regular partner was sick that night, and Trey was only too happy to get out of the station and do something. He wasn’t much of a homebody and the 36 on shifts killed him when it was slow. Sydney had hiked nearly two miles down rugged terrain with a small child on her back. She’d tried to convince the girl to ride behind one of the rescuers on horseback, but the girl refused. After trying several different options to convince the child to come down from the large rock and make the short trek to where her parents waiting, Sydney finally offered a piggy-back ride and the girl jumped on the chance; literally. Sydney’s back was killing her and her legs felt like lead. She was content to spend the rest of the night stretched out in one of the recliners, and Trey could work himself silly if he wanted to.
***
Max watched Sydney shift and twist uncomfortably in the chair, her muscles obviously quite sore. She was strong for her size, but at 5’2”, she wasn’t much bigger than the child she’d lugged on her back over some pretty rough terrain. He could tell she needed a good back rub, and he was just the man to do it. He sat up in his chair and set his feet on the floor. He motioned to Sydney to come over. She looked confused and then realized what he was offering. She hesitated, but only for a moment. Her shoulders and back were killing her, and a good rub-down was just the therapy she needed to work the kinks out.
She sat between his feet and he began to rub his hands on her neck, gently kneading the tightness out of her neck with his fingers. Sydney moaned softly as the pain gave way to pleasure and each tiny section of her neck released the tension she’d been holding all afternoon. He pressed his fingertips to her neck as he used his thumbs to guide her head from side to side and back and forth, expertly working out each tiny knot as he leisurely made his way across her skin. Sydney’s skin tingled as the blood was brought to the surface and her body started to melt.
Max moved down to her shoulders, his hands sure and steady as he continued his work. He smiled to himself as he stroked her through her thin shirt. She was so trusting and naive. He could do this all night, and he certainly intended to draw it out as long as possible. Patiently, he worked section by section to release the stiffness from her overworked muscles. Her shoulders and back were so tight he had to really dig to get the muscles to relax. Sydney tensed and then groaned, his big hands strong and unrelenting on her body as he drew every last ounce of tension out of her.
He stopped short of her lower back. With her seated on the floor there was no way he could reach it. Sydney was nearly asleep when she noticed that he’d stopped. She felt the absence of touch and was disappointed that he was already done. She turned to him, her pretty face soft and heavy with exhaustion.
“Thank you, Max. That’s so much better.” Sh
e looked in his eyes and saw something she’d never seen in his eyes before; heat. As clueless as she was, she could see it smoldering in their depths. She searched his gaze, wondering if she was reading into something that wasn’t there. Suddenly, his fingers were in her hair, pulling her to him for a deep kiss. He was still sitting in the recliner, and the angle forced her to lean into him to keep her balance. He kissed her passionately, his breath catching as he tasted her sweetness. Sydney closed her eyes, and every look, every innocent touch, every moment where it had been clear that he was interested flashed before her eyes. How could I have missed that? she wondered. Max wrapped his strong arms around her and brought her even closer, pulling her off her feet and on top of him.
Sydney sucked in a deep breath, surprised by his behavior. Mere moments ago, she was sitting around, minding her own business, just trying to recover from the day. Just like that, her entire world was turned upside down, and she was swept off her feet – literally. Max pulled her even closer, devouring her in a way Sydney had never encountered before. He had decades more experience than she did, and it showed.
His hand slid under her shirt, resting on her bare skin. His kisses deepened and she found herself gasping for breath. She pulled away and sat up on his lap, gulping for air. Her heart was racing and her chest heaved under her shirt. Her lips were swollen and red, her eyes filled with longing. Max placed his strong hands on her hips, rubbing his thumbs over her flat stomach, his hand resting just above her waistband. He inched upward, watching her face as he explored her smooth, tight skin. She leaned down and captured his mouth in a shy kiss as his hands slid further up and cupped her full breasts through her silky bra. Her taut nipples pushed at the fabric, begging to be released.