Brynna’s chest contracted with fear. This had been the only way in to the camp when they’d arrived, and the fire was behind them as well. They were trapped.
Dev had been flying one of the planes, specially equipped to spray chemicals, when he got the message via his radio that medical workers were trapped in the fire. He froze for a full minute, then assured himself that Brynna was safe at the hospital. “Come back for refueling and new tanks,” the coordinator said. “We need as many sprayers over the access road as possible.”
“Affirmative.” To reassure himself, he grabbed his phone and dialed her number. There was no answer, but she always shut it off when she was on duty and took only pages. No cell phones were allowed in the hospital.
He called the hospital and asked for her.
“Dr. Holmes has been at the encampment since yesterday,” the woman who answered told him, the unmistakable edge of fear in her voice. “We just got news that the medical teams are trapped.”
Dev approached the temporary landing strip where one plane was already heading back out.
“Who is trapped?” he asked the flight coordinator over the headset. “Do you have names?”
“Don’t know. There are four vehicles trapped on the road. Reports say they belong to the medical volunteers who were doing triage.”
For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. Life didn’t matter in the least if anything happened to Brynna. Terror twisted his heart and made his ears pound with the rush of adrenaline. She was trapped on that road, directly in the path of the fire.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dev checked his coordinates and made his second sweep over the area where the access road was supposed to be. He knew it was down there, but he was flying blind through the smoke. The team effort had to be well linked or a midair catastrophe could occur.
For those few seconds that he could see nothing but dense gray smoke, it felt as though he was the only person on earth. He had to overcome the gnawing uncertainty of what was ahead, swallow the panic and trust his gut instinct and the instruments. “This is just like flying through fog,” he told himself aloud.
As the chemicals doused the fire, more smoke curled behind him, and he broke out of the blind area. He had enough in the tanks for one more pass, so he checked with the coordinator before taking another sweep.
This time, the billowing clouds of gray had dispersed on the wind enough to allow him a clear view of a stretch of curving road, the foliage on both sides blackened.
Through the break in the dense cover, he spotted several vehicles; one, a van, had a tree lying across the hood and windshield. Ahead of it were rescue vehicles, red lights flashing. A bleak scene.
All that mattered was getting the road open so those people had a route of escape, and he focused on that purpose, not allowing himself to wonder if Brynna was down there—if she’d been a passenger in that van. If she was, he could best help her by continuing this task.
“I see the vehicles,” he told the coordinator. “There’s a tree on a van.”
“We’re in contact with the rescue team on that road,” the voice replied. “They were transporting one injured passenger, and two more were injured when the tree hit them.”
“I’m coming back for tanks,” Dev reported. “Keep me posted.”
“Ten four.”
It was another hour before the road cleared and Dev reported that the vehicles had a window of opportunity to pass through.
“What’s happening?” he asked the coordinator.
“They had to leave the van and managed to get all the passengers into other cars and trucks and they’re headed for Whitehorn.”
“How many more passes, do you think, until we have that stretch under control?”
“Right now, you can see that better than I. I’ll ride along on your next flight to assess.”
“I think my wife was with that crew.”
“It’s your call,” the disembodied voice told him.
“I’ll keep at it until you think the danger is past.”
Grabbing his phone, he punched in the number for the hospital.
“Sorry, if you’ve heard that our team is out of the danger, you’ve heard more than we have,” the person who answered the phone said. “They haven’t arrived here yet.”
“They’ll be coming, and my understanding is they have three injured,” he replied.
“We’re ready.”
Dev grabbed a paper towel and wiped sweat from his face, barely noting the grime he wiped away with it. Why had he waited? He’d had her in his arms just days ago. Had danced with her, made love to her, slept with her wrapped against him.
At any moment, he could have said “I love you. Please, let’s try again.” He could have told her he couldn’t live without her, could have proposed.
Emotion made his throat tighten.
It wasn’t too late. It couldn’t be.
It was another hour before he got the all clear. The trucks and medical personnel were safely out of the area, and the rest of the camp had been evacuated. Dev landed the plane and ran for his Cessna, doing a cursory preflight before heading for Whitehorn.
It had never taken so long to fly such a short distance. After he landed, he had to borrow a car, because he’d departed from Rumor and that’s where his truck was still parked.
Another pilot took pity on him and loaned him a car, and Dev forced himself to drive the borrowed vehicle safely.
There was no doubt in his mind. He couldn’t live without Brynna. If anything happened to her, he’d always regret the time he’d wasted and the words he’d left unsaid. By the time he reached the hospital, found a place in the mass of confusion in the parking lot and ran inside, his heart was in his throat.
Television cameras and reporters clogged the entrance, and a harried security officer tried to stop Dev from entering.
“I’m Dr. Holmes’s husband, and you’ll let me in or I’ll toss you out there to those reporters.”
“Sorry, Mr. Holmes. It’s been crazy. Go on in.”
Dev ran past him, hurrying down the corridor. Patients lay on gurneys on both sides, and Dev glanced at each one he passed. He recognized a volunteer fireman.
Two nurses were at the desk, one dressed in scrubs with her hair wet. She had a red scratch on her cheek.
“Where’s Dr. Holmes?”
“She’s in one of the curtains back there,” the young woman told him and pointed.
This moment felt worse than the day he’d come running to the hospital after he’d received the call about the baby and found her lying on a bed. What had happened?
Checking behind each curtain and not seeing her, he fought panic for the second time that day.
At last he heard her voice.
“Brynn!” Dev thrust back the last drape.
She stood beside a bed, a chart in her hand, looking down at a man with a cast on his leg. She looked up. “Dev!”
“Oh, God, Brynn, I thought you were hurt!”
She met him at the foot of the bed and they embraced.
“I’m okay,” she said, her voice shaky.
He kissed her beautiful face a dozen times, then her lips. “I was so scared. Brynn, I have been so stupid.”
“Me, too.”
“No, it’s been my fault. And I was too proud to say so.”
“No, you weren’t, you said you were sorry, but I didn’t forgive you. Not really. You forgave me, I’m the one at fault.”
“No,” he argued, kissing her again.
“Oh, for crying out loud, just agree that you were both a couple of idiots and get to the good part.”
Brynna came out of her emotional daze long enough to glance at the speaker. Emma had pulled back the curtain, and half a dozen members of the medical staff as well as the patients in the other beds were watching them.
The man with the cast on his leg grinned. “Kiss the doc again.”
Brynna looked up at Dev. He was almost as dirty as everyone else she’d seen
that day, his face streaked with soot and sweat. But she didn’t care. She’d had a close call that day, and she’d had her own sudden insight into how foolish she’d been. She didn’t intend to waste any more time.
She looked up at him, and hoped the love she held for him shone from her eyes. “You heard the man. Kiss the doc.”
Dev hauled her to him in a crushing embrace, kissing her thoroughly. She blocked out the cat calls and the cheers and returned the kiss, hoping to show him he meant everything to her.
Dev broke the kiss and held her away. “We need to talk.”
She nodded.
The onlookers broke up and went their separate ways, smiling.
“Dev, this is Don Hinkle. He was injured today. We shared an exciting ride back to Whitehorn.”
“Did we ever,” Don said with a rueful grin.
Dev shook hands with the volunteer.
“You’re in good hands here,” Brynna assured her patient.
“Looks like you are, too,” he replied with a grin.
She smiled, but went on. “The staff will take good care of you tonight. We’ll see about releasing you tomorrow.”
She took Mr. Hinkle’s chart to the desk and told the nurse there that she was leaving.
After making a couple of phone calls and arranging to have the borrowed car returned, Dev took her hand and led her through the throng of media at the doors, wrapping his arm around her and sheltering her from their questions and their cameras.
She pointed out her car in the staff parking lot, and he took her keys, settled her inside and got in to drive.
He wanted to talk to her right then and there, but reporters had followed them and were peering in the windows. He started the car, then backed it out and away from the hospital.
They didn’t speak much on the drive to Rumor, just held hands as though they couldn’t bear not to touch. Once at the house, Dev unlocked the door and ushered her in.
“You need a shower,” she told him.
He swiped at her cheek. “So do you.”
“Let’s take one, then.”
She preceded him up the stairs and into the bath room. While Dev adjusted the water, she peeled off her clothing. He did the same, and, leaving the filthy clothes on the tile floor, he joined her under the spray of water.
“Oh, this feels so-o-o good,” she said with a groan, tipping her head back and wetting her hair.
Dev found shampoo and lathered her hair, taking time to leisurely massage her scalp. The almond fragrance surrounded them, filling his senses with scenes of remembered pleasure. She closed her eyes and enjoyed, but then opened them to return the favor and wash his hair.
She chuckled and he opened his eyes. “You have black streaks running down your face,” she said.
She took a washcloth, lathered it and had him scrub his face. She took it away from him then and washed his body. Dev gave her an adoring smile the entire time. He stuck his head under the spray and rinsed.
Having him here, experiencing the closeness and knowing how much he loved her brought a rush of regret and sorrow. Brynna let out a little sob.
Dev moved his face from the water to look at her in surprise. He placed his hand in the middle of her back and drew her close. “What is it?”
“I’m so sorry, Dev. I’m so sorry I couldn’t just let go and forgive you like you forgave me.”
Dev wrapped her in his arms, slick skin against slick skin and held her close. “Don’t cry, sweet thing. We’re not going to blame anyone or figure out whose fault it was. We’re going to put it behind us and start over. Okay?”
She nodded her head against his shoulder. “But we have to talk about it.”
He found her bath sponge, squeezed gel onto it and soaped her body. “Okay. We’ll talk about it.” He rubbed the sponge in circles over her breasts and belly, following the path with his hands. “Go ahead.”
“I was just plain afraid,” she told him. “I blew your remarks out of proportion and used them as an excuse.”
“Afraid of what?”
“I was afraid of needing you. Really needing you. You were the only person who ever loved me just for me—without wanting anything or needing me.”
“I need you.”
“No. When we met, you didn’t need help or money or medical treatment. Up until then, that was all I knew. No one had ever seen me as important just because I was Brynna Shaw. Until you. And that made me vulnerable.”
“I’m glad something made you vulnerable, otherwise I might never have stood a chance with you.” He moved her so the fall of water rinsed the lather from her body, then bent to kiss her neck and shoulders.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “When I started to need you I got scared. I had always been the one to care for others. Is this making sense to you?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he said against her collarbone.
“And you wanted to take care of me.”
He stopped the nibbles to look at her. “I still do.”
“But now I’m not afraid to let you.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I can pay for things?”
“I think so.”
He grinned and hugged her.
Brynna turned and shut off the water. They dried each other off, taking time for kisses and caresses. Brynna dried her hair quickly, with Dev leaning against the counter watching, a smile on his face, the towel around his hips. She knew how he felt—she didn’t want to take her eyes off him or be separated for a moment, either.
Dev took her hand and led her into the bedroom. He couldn’t get close enough and held her tightly to him. She pulled her towel away and then his and raised her face for a kiss.
He was happy to oblige her, tasting her sweet lips, inhaling the scent of her hair that surrounded them, feeling the brush of her moist skin against his from breast to hip.
He wasn’t going to waste another minute.
“Brynna, will you marry me?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“For real this time. Forever,” he said emphatically.
Love and relief and joy rose up in Brynna—so much emotion, she couldn’t contain the feelings. She burst into tears and sobbed against his neck.
“Brynn, Brynn, what is it? What did I say? Don’t you want to marry me?”
She nodded, and he forced her head back to look into her eyes. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll marry you.”
“Don’t scare me like that,” he said, then crushed her to him in a tight embrace.
He kissed her and she returned the kiss with all the passion she’d been holding back, all the love she knew how to express, with all the feelings of admiration and appreciation she had for this man brimming over.
They landed on the bed in a tangle of arms and legs and didn’t take time for a gradual lead-in to the comfort and assurance they both sought. Dev pressed into her and she took him with a primal urgency, their lovemaking as incredible as always, but impatient, demanding.
Afterward, when she lay in his arms exhausted and content, Brynna stroked Dev’s chest and pressed kisses against his shoulder.
“Have I ever told you that you’re the man of nurse dreams?”
“Don’t you mean doctor dreams?”
“That, too.”
“No, you haven’t.”
She told him how the nurses had all been talking about him that first night at Joe’s Bar. “And I was the lucky one you singled out,” she said.
“There was something about you the first time I saw you,” he said. “I just knew I wanted you.”
“I thought you were nuts, asking me to marry you the first night we met.”
He stroked her arm. “I knew I’d found a good thing with you.”
She leaned up, her chin on her wrist, to look at him. “You’ve taught me so much, Dev,” she said.
“I’ve taught you? That’s unlikely.”
“Not at all. You showed me how to have fun. How to enjoy my family and not just ta
ke care of them. I used to feel like I was the only person being responsible and everyone else was just goofing off.”
“You let everyone else goof off,” he said, “by doing everything for them.”
“I see that now, but I didn’t back then. I never let loose and had fun until you showed me it was okay.”
“That’s me—Mr. Fun Guy,” he said drily.
“No.” She touched her finger to his chin. “I was wrong about you not being responsible. You’ve taken care of things I wasn’t even aware of at the time. You took care of Tuck’s college expenses and living arrangements. You tried to take care of me. You’re kind and you’re hardworking, and I was wrong about your flying. It was silly to feel jealous.”
“No, you weren’t. It was an escape for me, a freedom I was holding on to.”
“Maybe it’s a freedom you need and deserve. It’s not freedom from me you seek up there, Dev, not freedom from responsibility. I see that now. Flying is important to you. It rounds you out.”
“There is one less plane I’ll be flying from now on,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“I sold Sky Spirit.”
She sat up on her knees and stared at him. “You what?”
“I had several offers, you knew that.”
“But you scoffed at them.”
“I sold it to prove something. Maybe not just to you, but to myself, as well.”
“To prove what? You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
“That I didn’t need that escape. That I was happy here. That there are plenty of other things that matter more.”
“I already knew that,” she said. “I’m sorry you felt like you had to do that.”
“I didn’t feel like I had to do it. I wanted to.” He twisted to prop the pillows behind his shoulders and leaned against them. “I used the money to buy land and contract for a log home.”
Brynna stared at him in surprise. Had he planned to build a place for himself? “Land where?”
“Between here and the Holmes ranch. Still an easy drive for you to make to the hospital.”
He’d selected the site thinking of her drive to work, thinking of them as a couple. The gesture warmed her all the way through. He was a man full of surprises. “When did you do all this?”
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