by A. L. Cook
And the more she thought about it, the more excited she became to begin again with Cam.
*
After a late breakfast, Cam stole Erin away, both of them dressed as warmly as they could and wearing packs with lunch and drinks packed. They went for a walk along the far side of the island, just picking up shells and avoiding the spray from the rough waves that hurled themselves at the rocks. Erin told Cam about the conversation she’d had with his mother, and he was thrilled.
He had hoped Erin and his mother would get along. They were both so important to him, and he didn’t want to jeopardise his relationship with either of them because they couldn’t- or wouldn’t- get along. So many of the traits he had admired in his mother when he was growing up were present in Erin, and he could see one day, maybe not too far away, admiring the same traits in a child of their own.
Thinking about that kind of future with Erin made Cam yearn for it. When he had returned to Juneau from his work as a Hotshot, he had planned on establishing some permanency in his life, maybe starting to date seriously with the intent to meet someone and settle down. He hadn’t planned on it happening so quickly, but he was excited that it had.
He was nervous, too. He wanted to ask his mom if he could have the engagement ring that Cam’s grandmother had given to his dad to propose to her with. He knew it was soon, that he and Erin hadn’t known each other for very long, but he felt the rightness of their partnership in his bones. He had never experienced such certainty about anything in his life, and didn’t want to spend any more time reinforcing that fact when they could be seriously planning the rest of their lives.
The rest of their lives. He sure liked the sound of that, and planned on making it happen soon. They just had to get through Christmas, and introducing Erin to the rest of the people that mattered to him would be the biggest part of that. He knew she was more nervous than she let on about meeting his family, but if his mother’s reaction to her was any indication, there would be no problems.
His thoughts then flicked to the text message he had gotten that morning. Rufus had let him know that there was a large forest fire burning up in the mountains behind Juneau. It was apparently under control for the moment, but the weather had been forecast to change, with strong winds that threatened to push the fire back towards the city. If that happened, he would more than likely be called in to help out, to keep Juneau from being threatened by the flames. He had avoided telling Erin so he didn’t cast a pall over Christmas, and had been even more reluctant to share after what she’d told him about her husband.
Her reticence to commit to any kind of serious relationship had been understandable, once he had discovered why she felt that way. He trusted that when she had told him she would try and work past those fears she would, but that didn’t mean he was in a hurry to bring all those fears to the forefront for her to face right now, so he waited to tell her about the fire until he knew more.
He watched her where she wandered along the waterline, laughing and high-stepping in her waterproof boots to avoid having them fill with water, and he wondered if he should be afraid that so much of his future and potential happiness was wrapped up in one person. Then she looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun and smiling, and he knew that he- that they- would be just fine.
They picnicked on a rocky outcrop that looked straight out at the Gulf of Alaska. The weather was getting more miserable by the hour, and while they knew they’d have to go back to the house, they wanted to prolong their time alone together just a little longer. So they took their time while they ate, but ended up having to run most of the way back to the house as fat drops of cold rain began to spit from the sky.
Cam noted that the Sunseeker was back, this time moored at the dock, which meant that his sisters had arrived. They entered from the bottom level of the house, leaving their boots and damp coats in the mudroom. They climbed the stairs to first floor, which had four bedrooms, including theirs, hearing voices and children laughing from the floor above. They changed into dry clothes, stealing kisses as they did so, until Cam turned to Erin, smoothing her hair back from her face.
“Are you ready?” he asked her, loving the way her dimples deepened and her beautiful green eyes creased at the corners.
“Of course,” she told him with absolute calm.
He kissed her once more and they headed upstairs. Three kids about five, seven and ten years old, as well as Ana, whom Erin had met at Grill Bill the day she and Cam had met, immediately swarmed Cam. They were all calling his name and tugging at him to get his attention first and he went to a knee, hugging them all as best he could.
Erin turned her attention to the adults sitting on the lounges in the living area as Miranda got to her feet and drew her over. “Erin, I’d like you to meet my daughters, Caroline and Angela, and their husbands, Robert and Beau.”
Erin greeted them all, smiling easily. Caroline had her mother’s eyes and bone structure, but had the same glossy dark hair as Ana, and her husband Robert was similarly dark haired, but with black eyes. Angela was the spitting image of Miranda, with storm-grey eyes and the same honey-blonde hair as Cam. Her husband, Beau, was about the same height as Erin, with kind brown eyes and a very muscular physique.
“It’s so great to finally meet you,” Angela said cheerfully, hugging Erin. “Cam and Mom have told us so much about you!”
“Likewise,” Erin smiled, waving at Beau. “Which kids are yours?”
“The two littlest. Cora is five, and Henry is seven. Michaela is Caroline’s, and she’s eleven, and I think you’ve already met Ana?”
“I sure have,” Erin smiled at the teenager who grinned back.
The adults all settled back onto the couch as Miranda got up to make coffee for everyone. Cam sat with his arm around Erin’s shoulders as they worked through the getting-to-know-you type conversation. Cam watched Erin interact with his sisters, and was pleased that they seemed to like her too. When his mother returned with coffee, tea and Erin’s chocolate, pear and pistachio tart, Caroline asked for the recipe and they exchanged phone numbers with Erin promising to text it to her later.
As the afternoon wore on, the wind increased and the sky darkened. Cam and Beau brought up a stack of firewood and Robert started a fire, while the children decorated the tree with decorations Caroline and Miranda had brought up from the ground floor. Christmas carols played from the sound system and the scents of pine and gingerbread wafted through the living space, completing the Christmas feel.
Erin sat in the midst of it all, absorbing as much of it as she could. Cam kept an eye on her, to make sure she was okay and not feeling too overwhelmed by it all, but she seemed fine. Once the kids had gotten over their original shyness around her, she became their point of focus, demanding she help them decorate, help them make popcorn garlands, and pepper her with questions which she answered thoughtfully and with infinite patience.
Cameron hummed to himself as he made eggnog in the kitchen, smiling at Caroline when she joined him, leaning back against the sink and watching him work.
“You seem so happy,” she said to him. “Never thought I’d see the day you allowed yourself to be tied down, to be honest.”
“I guess I just never found anyone like Erin before,” he told her with a grin. “You know how it is.”
“Hardly,” she snorted. “Robert and I knew each other for four years before we even started dating, let alone brought him home for Christmas.”
“Caroline,” Cam began warningly. They had always had a tempestuous relationship, with Caroline freely bestowing advice that Cameron rarely wanted.
“I’m just saying be careful,” she told him, holding up her hands placatingly. “I just hate the idea of someone hurting you.”
“She won’t,” Cam said, firmly. “And even if she did, that’s the risk you take with relationships.”
“Okay,” Caroline said, smiling at him. “You’re big enough and ugly enough to look after yourself.”
“Y
ou’re one to talk,” he snorted, pouring the eggnog into a pitcher to place in the fridge.
They rejoined the rest of the family and spent the rest of the afternoon talking and entertaining the kids. They had an early dinner of toasted BLTs and chips, with hot chocolate for the kids and eggnog for the adults, and made s’mores in the fireplace while watching a movie before bedtime.
When the kids went to bed, Angela and Beau weren’t far behind them. They had travelled up from Washington to be there, and were tired from the trip. They waited until the kids were well settled in the rec room on the ground floor and brought out presents for the kids, finishing the wrapping and placing them under the tree.
Cam brought up the presents he and Erin had bought for each other, as well as the wine she’d bought for his mother and added them to the pile, laughingly refusing to let her open hers early. They spent another few hours passing the time with conversation, Miranda and Caroline taking great delight in showing Erin photos of Cam as a boy, and sharing embarrassing stories for her amusement.
Watching her as she laughed, the light from the fire highlighting the gold in her hair, Cam felt contentment settle over him like a blanket. He was so pleased she had come with him, and so pleased that she seemed to like his family as much as they liked her.
Then his phone vibrated with a message from Mike. He glanced at it, then read it over again more thoroughly. “Hey Mom, can you turn the tv on to the news please?” He ignored the questioning look Erin gave him, focussed on the television on the wall, and there it was. The forest fire Rufus had warned him about was worsening, and Juneau was on alert for possible evacuation, as it was starting to look like the wind would shift and push the fire towards the coast.
“Are you going to have to go?” Erin asked, her expression serious.
“I might,” Cam told her, studying the images on the screen. “Rufus said he’d call if anything came up. Looks okay for now, but it’s entirely dependent on the wind.”
“Maybe we should go to bed?” Erin suggested quietly. “If you do have to go, the more sleep you’ve had, the better.”
Cam sighed. “Probably. I’m sorry,” he said, addressing her and his mom.
“It’s okay, honey,” Miranda said, smiling as he got to his feet and came to kiss her cheek. “If you do have to go early, make sure you wake me up.”
“I will,” he promised. “’Night, all.” Erin echoed his farewell and they headed off to bed. He had a shower and crawled into bed while Erin had hers, sending a few texts to Mike and Rufus. He put his phone away when he heard the water shut off, waiting for her to come to bed.
“So, I was going to save this to give you until tomorrow night,” she called softly from the bathroom, “but given that you might not be around, you can have this present early.”
Cam sat up against the bed head, eyes trained on the doorway. He chuckled as she slid one leg into view, swinging it from the knee, but that chuckle caught in his throat and his mouth went dry when she stepped into the doorway proper, silhouetted for a moment by the bathroom light before she switched it off.
She was dressed into some tiny, entirely see-through bikini-type set that hid absolutely nothing. The black lace sitting low on her hips and curling beneath her breasts and around her back highlighted the creaminess of her skin, and the fact that he could see the duskiness of her nipples beneath the sheer fabric only added to the erotic picture she was presenting.
“Merry Christmas,” she told him with a saucy smile as she walked to the bed, crawling up it on all fours until she was straddling his lap.
“I’m definitely feeling merry right now,” he told her, the soft, curling ends of her hair brushing against his chest where it was draped over her shoulder. He ran his hands up from her hips to her waist, and smiled into her kiss as he mouth descended over his.
And then his phone rang. He glanced it at where it was vibrating on the bedside table, and glanced apologetically at Erin when he saw it was Rufus’ number. “Yeah,” he answered, sliding his palm over the thick hair covering her left breast, smiling a little as she arched into his touch.
“Sorry Cam, we’re gonna need you,” Rufus’ voice came, loud over a lot of background noise and men shouting. “The weather is turning real ugly, and shit’s about to get hairy. We’re calling in auxiliary services from interstate and we need all hands.”
“I’ll be there asap,” Cam replied as Erin clambered out of his lap. “Are we evacuating yet?” he asked, getting to his feet and grabbing some clothes. He glanced over Erin’s phone started ringing as well.
“Not yet,” Rufus shouted, “but we’ve shut off gas and power to the outer suburbs. It’s still behind the mountain for now, but it’s moving pretty fast.”
“I’ll be leaving in about fifteen minutes,” he promised.
“See you later, then,” Rufus shouted, and ended the call.
As he got dressed, Cam heard Erin promising the same. When she had finished her conversation, she began dressing as well. “That was Maggie,” she told him. “She talked to Victor who owns the deli a few doors down and they’re going in to get a whole heap of meals made for the emergency crews that are working,” she explained, her voice muffled as she pulled her sweater over her head. “She said since you were coming back would I mind coming and giving them a hand.”
“So much for that Merry Christmas,” Cameron snorted.
They finished dressing, choosing to leave their things in the hope of coming back to them before too long, and headed upstairs to tell Miranda that they had to go. She looked worried for a moment, but smiled and gave them each a tight hug, pulling on her coat and walking them down to the dock.
“I’ll call Gordon and have him get everything ready to take you back,” she promised. “Be careful,” she told Cameron. “And you’re welcome to come back anytime, even if Cameron is still working,” she told Erin. “I’m so glad you came, even if it’s been an abbreviated trip.”
“Me too,” Erin told her, hugging her tightly. “Thank you so much for welcoming me. I’ll keep in touch and let you know any news we get,” she added, before taking Cam’s hand and allowing him to help her onto the boat.
Cam started the motor and Erin waved to Miranda as they pulled out into the darkness, wishing they didn’t have to leave. Once they rounded the island and the house was out of sight, she headed into where Cam was driving, sitting next to him and staring out at the inky water. “How long will it take to get back on Gordon’s boat?”
Cam shook his head. “He has a floatplane,” he told her. “So Mom will call him, he’ll file a flight plan, and we’ll be back in Juneau in about forty-five minutes or so, if there are no delays.”
“Do you need to go home first?” she asked.
“No, everything I need is at the station,” he told her, then held out his arm for her to scoot closer. She curled up at his side, pulling her feet beneath herself and resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry we’re not going to have a proper first Christmas together,” he told her.
“First Christmas,” she mused. “I like the sound of that.”
“Me too,” Cam told her, pressing a kiss to her smiling, upturned mouth.
They lapsed into silence and Cam turned his thoughts to the battle ahead as they sailed further into the night.
Twelve
By the morning of the twenty-eighth, Erin still hadn’t seen Cameron. They had exchanged a few tired messages, each checking in and making sure the other was okay, but that was all either of them had had time for. From what Erin had heard, the fire was at the bottom of the back of Mt. Maria, the mountain Juneau was nestled at the base of, and the fire crews were working hard to keep it there, and stop it from creeping uphill.
She and Maggie had been baking in shifts, getting together with Victor Spinelli, who owned the deli on the same block as Sweet Temptations and some of the other local food establishments to make sure the men and women defending the town from the flames were well fed. They left food at the st
ation, as well as sending meals over the hill to the crews on site. On top of that, Maggie had figured that since they were in the bakery they may as well be open for business as usual. Shelley hadn’t hesitated when she’d been asked to work, so the three of them were putting in long hours to make sure they were keeping on top of everything.
The general atmosphere in Juneau was tense, but people weren’t quite at the verge of panic. Erin felt a familiar sense of trepidation, and realised it was the same low-level dread she had felt on some of the big fires Daniel had gone to fight. She did her best to ignore it and get on with her work, as she had before, and it seemed to be going just fine.
Then, in the early hours of the twenty-ninth, Erin’s phone rang. “Hello?” she answered, clearing her throat.
“Erin, it’s Miranda.”
Erin sat bolt upright, her heart suddenly pounding. “Cam?” she asked, trying to stay calm.