Firefighter Under the Mistletoe

by Melissa McClone

  No kidding. Christian faced forward and continued up. Two hours ago he’d been getting off his shift at the fire station. Now he was skinning his way toward the Tilly Jane Cabin with Thomas. There was nowhere else he’d rather be right now. “I want to try them all.”

  A party of three skied down through the charred toothpicks that used to be trees until the Gnarl Ridge fire ravaged the area in 2008. The fire came close to taking out both the cabin and the historic Cloud Cap Inn, but was contained in time.

  Snow flew from the tips of the men’s skis. Some pockets of powder seemed deeper than others. The descent looked a little tricky with narrow passages between trees, lots of turns and steep, uneven trails, but still fun.

  The three men whooped and hollered. Two waved in Christian’s direction. He didn’t recognize them and glanced back at Thomas. “Know them?”

  “Yes.”

  Not enough information. “OMSAR.”

  “No.”

  His mouth twisted in frustration. Most women wanted Christian to ask questions about their lives. Once they started talking, they didn’t stop. Not Thomas.

  Most females found him attractive. A fun time. A catch.

  The fact Thomas acted as if he had an infectious disease intrigued him as much as it annoyed him.

  A dog barked. Around the Pacific Northwest animals frequented the trails right alongside their owners.

  Christian looked toward the burnt trees. A black lab bounded through the snow, practically riding on the tails of his owners’ skis.

  Leanne laughed. “Now that’s a ski dog.”

  “I wonder how he’d do on a lift.”

  “Mount Bachelor’s K-9 Avalanche Dogs ride the lifts with their handlers.” She watched the pair descend and disappear in the trees. “You’d be surprised how well dogs do. Often better than people.”

  Some people had problems with chairlifts. The station had responded to calls at local ski areas. A few situations defied logic. She was probably right about dogs doing better.

  Thomas usually was right. He, along with the rest of the crew, had finally resigned themselves to the fact. But one of these days she’d be wrong about something. Maybe that something would be him. Christian grinned at the thought.

  The Tilly Jane Cabin came into view. Outdoor enthusiasts made the most of the A-frame structure with glass windows, a woodstove and a fireplace. A local group kept the building maintained. Overnight stays were available in the sleeping loft via a reservation system, but anyone could stop in during the day to warm up and use one of the picnic tables inside. Nothing fancy, but a good place to get out of the cold, relax and eat.

  Outside the cabin, he removed his skis. “I brought hot chocolate.”

  “One of my favorite things.” Leanne stepped out of her bindings. “I’ve got blueberry scones.”

  They chatted about climbing and ate quickly.

  Fifteen minutes later with skis on, they set out again. The snowfall from yesterday had covered the previous ski tracks heading up the mountain. That would mean fresh powder runs on the way down, but breaking trail on the way up. They wouldn’t have a path to follow as on their way to the cabin, but would have to make their own. That meant more work.

  “I’ll go first,” Leanne offered.

  Christian let her pass him. “We can switch off.”

  “Sure.”

  She skinned up toward the Stone Hut, another shelter like the cabin built in the 1930s for people using the Timberline Trail. After they reached the hut, they would see what the conditions were like and decide whether to continue on up to Tie-in Rock.

  He followed, not minding one bit about being behind her. He enjoyed this view of her backside almost as much as he had her front.

  Right away Christian knew this wasn’t going to be a leisurely trek up the mountain. Thomas’s skinning was more like sprinting. They gained elevation fast. He felt every vertical foot. Worse, they were still below the tree line.

  A couple days in a snow cave shouldn’t affect him this much. But he struggled to keep up with Thomas as she skinned higher.

  The climb didn’t seem to bother Leanne at all. She chatted about the Civilian Conservation Corps without sounding the slightest bit winded or tired. But as she explained how the CCC had built the Tilly Jane Cabin and several of the stone huts around Mount Hood, Christian’s lungs hurt.

  Was Thomas some kind of mutant? A real-life Amazon? Or a robot?

  No, a robot’s butt wouldn’t look that nice. When she wore tank tops around the station her skin looked really soft, too. Thomas must be human, but he didn’t understand why she hadn’t slowed her pace up the mountain.

  Maybe she wanted to win the cooking dinner bet. Maybe she wanted to show off. Maybe she wanted to show him that he wasn’t as excellent a skier, athlete, insert-another-noun-here as he thought he was. Probably the last one.

  “Is the pace okay?” she yelled back.

  No. But he wasn’t about to admit that. He could hold his own. “Fine.”

  Rays of light sparkled off the foot of fresh powder covering the morning. A pretty setting, but he needed to focus on moving higher.

  Christian forced himself forward. One step. And another.

  He couldn’t breathe. Okay, he could. Or he’d be flat on his back unconscious. He just couldn’t breathe very well.

  Damn. If Thomas saw him like this, she wouldn’t slow down. She’d turn around.

  No way. Christian didn’t want to be the reason they didn’t make it to Tie-in Rock. He sure wasn’t going to concede their bet, either.

  Time to remedy the situation. Or at least hide it.

  He breathed through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. It didn’t help. He tried the other way around. Still nothing.

  His lungs burned like a three-alarm fire.

  The distance between him and Thomas increased. She skinned uphill as if a pack of wolves chased after her. An exhausting pace, one that left him gasping for breath. But she looked like poetry in motion, her skis and her poles in perfect coordination.

  Christian wanted to know her secret.

  She glanced back. “Such a gorgeous day.”

  “Uh-huh.” He couldn’t talk with his breathing so ragged.

  Facing forward, she broke trail as if she were walking across wet sand, not twelve inches of new snow.

  The woman amazed him. Christian thought he was in shape. Not even close when it came to Thomas. She had the lungs of a world-class athlete. The legs, too. She would easily lap him if they decided to do more than one run today.

  Christian winced at his words of challenge from last night. So much for trying to impress her. All he’d done was prove he was an idiot, just as Owen had said. And she’d known it as soon as Christian opened his mouth.

  A few minutes later, Thomas stopped. She removed her sunglasses.

  It took him longer than he liked to catch up. His heart beat like a snare drum roll.

  “Let’s take a break,” she said.

  His ego wanted him to say he didn’t want one, didn’t need one. They had a bet riding on today. Appearing weak wouldn’t get it done. But self-preservation made him nod. A little rest and maybe he’d be good to go.

  Who was he kidding? Christian was still going to lose.

  Thomas shrugged off her backpack. She pulled out a water bottle, thermos and her puffy jacket. She put on her coat and sat on her pack.

  All he wanted to do was sit, but he removed his pack and took out his jacket. He sat on top of his backpack and took off his sunglasses.

  She took a sip of water then passed the bottle to him. “It’s going to get cold fast if we’re not moving.”

  Christian knew that. He put on his jacket.

  “I’ve got tea,” she said.

  He should have added a bottle of oxygen to his first aid kit. “Thanks.”

  “The breeze is stronger up here. The snow will be wind-blown near Tie-in Rock. It might be iffy around the Stone Hut, too. We might not want to go much higher.”<
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  Relief washed over him. They wouldn’t be going all the way up. He hated being a wimp, but right now all he wanted to do was slow down and breathe. He drew in much needed air and willed his heart rate to slow.

  She dug in the snow with her gloved hand. The casualness of the gesture made him wonder if she was even aware of doing it. She fit so well out here.

  Guilt coated the inside of his mouth. She might be disappointed about not skinning all the way to Tie-in Rock. “If you want to go up and check conditions—”

  “Not today.”

  Christian should leave it, but he couldn’t. “Earlier, you sounded excited to go up.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “But—”

  Her gaze met his in unspoken understanding. Not pity, but empathy. The tender expression in her eyes reached all the way to his heart.

  She was giving him a way out without having to admit he was tired, winded and not in as good of shape as her. A way to save face even though they both knew he wasn’t up to it. His respect for her increased exponentially. His admiration, too. But she didn’t need to spare his ego.

  “You don’t have to pretend,” he said.

  She pulled out a plastic baggie full of trail mix. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m man enough to admit when I’m beat.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re conceding?”

  “Only the ascent.” He wanted to take a shot at beating her down. “I’m man enough to let you lead on your own turf.”

  “No one’s ever said that to me.” She sounded surprised, pleased.

  “I’m not just any guy.”

  “You sure aren’t.”

  Her words made Christian sit taller. “Wait until we’re on my turf. Smith Rock. It’ll be a different story then.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.” Her voice held a hint of anticipation. She held up the bag of trail mix. “Hungry?”

  “Yes.” Thomas handed him the bag, and he took some. “Thanks.”

  She leaned back and gazed off into the distance. “I love it out here.”

  Christian followed her line of sight—a beautiful view of the Eliot Glacier. Snow, rock and blue sky greeted him. “Wow.”

  “Wow sums it up perfectly. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world. I wouldn’t want to.”

  He looked back at her. His breath caught in his throat.

  Joy radiated from Thomas.

  Beautiful. Serene. Two adjectives he’d never used with Thomas before fit her now.

  Thomas inhaled deeply. She leaned her head back farther. Her jacket opened. Her thermal shirt tightened across her breasts.

  Hot. Christian’s pulse skyrocketed. If not for every muscle aching and his gasping for breath…

  No, he still couldn’t make a move on her. But he could enjoy the view. Christian shouldn’t, but he sneaked a peek for a few extra—

  “Up here,” she said. “I feel as if I’m that much closer to heaven.”

  Jerk. He was leering at her breasts like a randy teenager while she was opening up to him. Christian wanted to redeem himself. “A good feeling.”

  She glanced his way. Her gaze locked on his.

  His heartbeat stumbled.

  “The best,” she said.

  Thomas removed another plastic baggie from her backpack. She broke off a small piece of a half-eaten scone and held it in the air.

  A gray bird with a white forehead appeared out of nowhere and landed on Thomas’s hand. The small beak picked at the scone. “Gray jays love people food.”

  “I’ve heard about them, but never seen one up close.” He studied the bird. “So tame eating right off your palm like that.”

  “They don’t migrate.” She added more food to her hand. The bird helped itself. “They hoard food so they have enough to last through winter.”

  “Or steal yours.”

  Her gaze softened, making his heart beat in double time. She was attractive, sexy, dangerous. He bet she would want to call the shots when it came to romance. She might even be too much for him to handle. He definitely couldn’t keep up with her out here, but she was still oh-so-tempting.

  “Not stealing,” she said. “I’m giving the food to him.”

  “It could be a her.”

  “They do look alike.” She handed him the baggie. “Try it.”

  “I don’t want to take your little bird away.”

  She smiled. “Gray jays travel in pairs.”

  “Everyone needs a wingman,” he teased.

  “Gray jays are monogamous.”

  He made a face.

  “Let me guess,” she said. “You hate that word as much as you dislike relationship, girlfriend, commitment.”

  “Yeah, but how do you know that?”

  “Jake, Sean and Bill.” She watched the bird eat. “A few other guys in the unit. And the station.”

  “You have a lot of guy friends.”

  “Occupational hazard in my line of work, but I have a few girlfriends.”

  Christian remembered what she’d said at her town house. “Zoe Hughes.”

  Leanne placed a little of the scone on her hand. “Carly Porter and Hannah Willingham, too.”

  Two more gray jays flew down from the trees and landed on his arm. “Monogamous, huh? I’d like to know how the third one gets to come along. Never knew birds could be so kinky.”

  She released a drawn out sigh. “Get you’re mind out of the gutter, Welton. Sometimes a younger bird stays with the parents or an older couple for a while. Nothing kinky.”

  “Sticking around your family is boring.” He put out more of the scone for the birds. “Kinky is lots more fun.”

  “Family is wonderful.”

  “Not when they want you to leave the place you love and move home.”

  Christian’s shoulder muscle stiffened. He’d said more than he intended.

  “Your family doesn’t like you living in Hood Hamlet.”

  It wasn’t a question. But he didn’t want to leave her hanging the way she’d left him. “No, but I love it here. I’m not about to be pressured into moving back to the Willamette Valley, no matter what they offer me.”

  “But they’re family.” The passion in her voice surprised him. Her eyes deepened to that sexy dark chocolate color. She touched his arm. “Family is so important, Welton. You have no idea how lucky you are to have people who love you so much. Find a way to work things out. Compromise.”

  Christian had never seen Thomas act this way. He liked her hand on his, the pressure firm but comfortable. “My grandfather doesn’t know the meaning of the word compromise. He’ll do whatever it takes to force me to do what he wants.”

  Her fingers squeezed his hand. “Force you?”

  “Bribe me is probably a better way to describe it, but I’ve held my ground,” Christian said. “When I was younger I needed to figure out what I wanted out of life. He didn’t want me to leave, even though I needed to figure out what was important to me and what wasn’t.”

  She pulled her hand away. “What did you do?”

  “I packed my car and left home for eighteen months.”

  Her mouth gaped. “A year and a half? What did you do for all that time?”

  “Rock climbed,” he said. “All over the United States. Tuolumne, Eastern Sierras, Tetons, Boulder Canyon, City of Rocks, Devil’s Tower, Vedauwoo. The list goes on. I lived like a dirtbag. Slept in my car or tent. Washed in bathrooms. Avoided private investigators my grandfather sent after me. Had the time of my life.”

  “Why’d you stop?” she asked.

  “Got tired of living like a dirtbag. The investigator caught up with me. I missed my family. I realized they were important to me, after all.”

  But he hadn’t been important to one of them, to his ex-fiancée. Christian didn’t want to think about her and what she’d wanted him to do.

  Thomas’s gaze never left his. “It had to be better when you went home.”

  He nodded. “Until
I became a volunteer firefighter. I was working at the winery, too, but that wasn’t enough for my grandfather. He offered me one hundred thousand dollars. Handed me a check with my name on it. A year’s salary up-front. I just had to quit firefighting and only work at the winery.”

  “That’s a lot of money to turn down.”

  Christian stared off into the distant. “I liked working at the winery, but I loved firefighting. I wanted to do both. I knew I could do both. No way could I accept the money. My dad always took whatever carrot my grandfather dangled. Giving into that pressure cost my dad his marriage to my mother and his life. He died of a heart attack from all the stress when he was in his forties.”

  “I’m so sorry, Christian.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “My dad made his own choices, and I’m making mine. If I choose to do something, it’s going to be on my terms, not someone else’s.”

  “Makes sense,” she agreed. “Have you explained this to your family?”

  “I’ve tried, but…”

  “Maybe it’s time to try again,” she encouraged.

  Christian stared at the three birds—a family. He hadn’t felt like part of his family until the rescue on the mountain. “Maybe I should. The rescue seems to have changed things. My grandfather wants the family Christmas celebration to be in Hood Hamlet even though he’s never visited me before. He’s rented a huge house for all of us.”

  “That sounds wonderful.”

  “We’ll see. Nothing has ever come without strings attached,” he admitted. “We might end up having a very blue Christmas.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be great.” She sounded sincere and a bit wistful. “Families should be together on Christmas.”

  “Is your family around here?” he asked.

  “Not too far away location wise, but in a completely different place.”

  “I know that feeling.”

  Her eyes clouded, but she didn’t say anything.

  The three birds flew away.

  She watched them go then placed her baggie inside her pack. “Ready to ski?”

  “I could skin up a little farther.”

  Leanne eyed him cautiously.

  “If I’m the one breaking trail.” And setting the pace. Otherwise, he’d be doomed.