She wasn’t cutting him any slack. He gave her a smirk. “No, I got it.”
Ten minutes later they were picking up their parachute pack. They each stepped into and zipped up their jump pants. Travis pulled his suspenders over one shoulder and then the other as Dana tugged the heavy matching tan jacket on. She took time to make sure the cone-shaped neck collar stood high. Travis followed her lead.
She gathered her parachute. He took it from her. To his surprise she gave him no argument as he held it for her to slip her arms though the shoulder straps. She did the same for him. They then secured their own leg straps and closed the chest clip.
“Your chest strap is too loose.” Dana stepped close.
Near enough the warm fresh scent of female filled his nose. He remembered Dana’s smell. If he’d been asked if he did he would’ve said no, but he recognized it right away as something special to her.
All business, Dana pulled on the strap end until it fit secure across his chest and quickly moved away.
“I do know how to do this.”
“Maybe so, but you’re my responsibility on this trip and I intend to return you in the same condition as I took you.”
He grinned. “So I’ll have a guardian angel.”
Her eyes rose to meet his. “No. I’m just being a safe smokejumper.”
Travis adjusted all the equipment hanging on him. “I forgot how daunting and cumbersome all this equipment is.”
“Yeah, but you’ll be glad to have it when we’re on the ground.”
“Never doubted it.” Maybe with a little levity she wouldn’t be so uptight. Tension swirled around them. Surely they could coexist for a day.
Travis closed the Velcro of the jumpsuit at his ankles and wrists then clipped on his personal pack to his waist. Picking up his jump helmet, he then followed Dana out the door. They lumbered toward the already running prop airplane waiting on the runway.
“We’re going in a Cessna instead of a Sherpa?”
“Yeah. Since it’s just the two of us we don’t need the larger plane.” She stepped aboard.
The spotter nodded and took the large supply bag from Travis before he took a seat on the bench across from Dana.
They strapped in and were on their way down the runway minutes later.
Dana laid her head back and closed her eyes, effectively shutting him out. Travis studied her a moment. She’d let her straight brown hair grow. It hung around her face and bounced around her shoulders. There were lines around her eyes. Had he been a part of making those appear?
In Leo’s office, he’d appreciated her simple T-shirt, cargo pants and sturdy boots that might’ve looked unflattering on another woman but suited Dana. Her clothes had showed curves that had been girlish years ago but had a developed femininity to them now, especially the black shirt that pulled tight across full breasts. He couldn’t help but notice.
Did she have a significant other? Had she found the happiness that he hadn’t?
The look of devastation in her eyes that day when he’d rejected her had haunted him for a long time. It seemed to have gone deeper than it should have. When he’d told her he had to stop, the life had gone out of her eyes. Sadly a friendship had died, as well.
He’d been so focused on himself back then he’d not recognized Dana’s interest. The excitement of starting medical school and his plan to ask his longtime college sweetheart to marry him had filled his head. He and Dana were good friends, partners in a grueling, demanding and dirty profession who’d gotten carried away in the heat of the moment. It was but a second in time, yet it carried lasting power.
It was the last jump of the season for them and they’d just helped put out a particularly difficult fire. They were celebrating when he pulled her into his arms and she wrapped hers around his neck. The next thing he knew their lips were only inches apart. Dana moved and he’d turned his head before their lips met.
Travis had released her and taken a step back. Dana, I can’t.
Dana’s stricken look ended further words. Oh. I’m sorry. So sorry.
Pain hung around them like mist on the mountains in the morning seconds before she ran. Before he could say more. The next morning he hadn’t been surprised when he couldn’t find her to say goodbye, but he was filled with disappointment she couldn’t face him.
Maybe he should’ve handled it differently. Done a better job of not hurting her feelings. Dana was younger than him. He had college behind him she only had two years under her belt. At the time he thought it was just as well. If she was mad at him she’d get over him faster. In fact, he never thought he’d see her again. Yet he’d thought of her. More than once. She’d been an important part of a summer he’d remember in detail.
His focus shifted to her lips. When she’d attempted to kiss him, he’d initially been surprised but soon felt flattered followed by disappointed it hadn’t happened. Although along with that came the guilt of knowing he shouldn’t have feelings for Dana when he loved and planned to marry another woman.
As close as they once had been, there was more than an aisle in a plane between them now.
Dana’s eyes opened. She looked directly at him. “Why’re you staring at me?”
He grinned. There was that straightforward attitude he remembered well. There was something about it that brought back those secure feelings of so long ago. He shouted over the roar of the wind and the shaking of the plane. “I’d think you’d be used to men staring at you.”
She blinked and her mouth drew into a line. “Men who I work with don’t stare at me.”
Travis shrugged. “I don’t work with you.”
“You do for the next day or so. So stop it.”
The spotter stood and showed all five of his fingers. He mouthed. “Five minutes.”
Travis looked out the small window over his left shoulder. In the distance smoke flumed into the sky. Thankfully the wind blew it away from them. He wanted to get in, get Mr. Gunter out and be gone. The worst-case scenario would be a shift in the wind with nothing but the dry undergrowth and trees as fuel between it and them.
Dana stood and started toward the door the spotter had just opened. Travis followed her. Hooking her parachute line, she rested her feet on the step. He hooked his as well but waited inside the plane. The spotter tapped Dana on the shoulder. She jumped. Travis soon joined her.
He found parachuting exhilarating. More than once he’d wondered if it was better than sex. It began with the chaos of a wildly beating heart, then the furious swish of the wind in his ears as his adrenaline pumped. Then it quickly turned into the sound of silence, the gentle tug of the airstream allowing him to enjoy the freedom and beauty of seeing the earth from above.
He looked down at Dana. Her light-blue-and-white canopy not far from him.
With his weight it didn’t take him long to catch up with her. It’d be his guess she barely met the size limit of one hundred and twenty pounds. Which meant she would carry almost her bulk in equipment when they hiked. She was something else. He had recognized her fortitude years ago but now he’d aged enough to admire it.
He discerned the moment the wind current caught her, pulling her away from him and toward a cluster of trees. Despite the Ram parachute system giving her better control in the burst, the last he saw before he needed to prepare for his own landing was her canopy being grabbed by a limb.
Bringing his knees up so his feet faced the ground, Travis landed on his calves and rolled to his side before coming to his feet. He quickly pulled his parachute down, gathering it in his arms as he went. Moving with knowledge and efficiently, he took off his helmet and unclipped the parachute harness. He dropped that to the ground and loped toward Dana.
She hung about seven feet from the ground. Using her body weight, she swung back and forth trying to grab the tree trunk.
He reached up and could just touch her
ankles. “Unclip and drop down. I’ve got you.”
“Let go. I can handle this.” She ground out as she glared at him.
He met her unwavering look with one of his own. “We don’t have time for you to be stubborn. I’ve got you. Would you accept help from one of your crew?”
With a huff she gathered a length of a parachute line and clipped it to her jump jacket. “Okay.”
Travis went into a stance with one foot ahead of the other. He raised his arms. She stiffened, going as straight as possible before she released the clasp. His hands grasped her waist as she slid through his arms slowing her decent. Dana’s hands quickly rested on his shoulders. He rocked back as he held her weight but steadied.
As soon as her feet hit the ground he stepped back and let her go.
She pulled on the parachute. “I’ve got to get this canopy out of the tree.”
“Can’t we just leave it?”
She gave him a pointed looked that included gathered brows. “You should know better than that. Nothing has changed since we trained. We have to haul out anything we bring into a national forest. Set an example to the visitors. Also no added fuel for a fire. Plus I’ll need it for my next jump after I sew up the tears.” She unclipped the line and started pulling.
He joined in the effort as much as Dana would allow. A couple of times his extra muscle helped pull it free when it was stuck. Finally they had it down. Dana rolled it up.
It wasn’t until then he saw the gash on her cheek. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.” She pulled off her helmet. “We need to get the kicks boxes open and stow away these jumpsuits.”
He’d not even noticed their larger supply bags lying in the middle of the meadow near where he’d landed. The spotter had pushed them out of the plane. Travis caught up with her as she stalked toward them. “No, you’re not. Let me have a look at you.”
When Dana didn’t slow he grabbed her arm. “Let me see.”
She jerked her arm away from him. “Please don’t touch me.” Her eyes grew wide as if upset she’d shown that much emotion. Her voice took an even tone as she said, “We need to get going.”
“Quit fussing and let me clean you up.” He lifted her chin so he could see more clearly. “How did this happen?”
“A stick broke as I was pulling on the canopy and I turned back and it came through the face guard of my helmet. Stupid mistake.”
“It just missed your eye. I’m getting my bag.” He went to his supply bag and found his medical backpack. He returned to where Dana removed equipment from her kick bag. After going into his pack he pulled out a packet of four-by-four gauze pads and sterile water. “I’m going to clean you up and see what we’ve got.”
To his amazement, she stilled and presented her face to him. Stepping closer, he went to work removing the dried blood around the puncture wound. He dug into his bag again for a tube of antiseptic cream and a butterfly bandage. “If we weren’t out here I’d say you need a small stitch or two not to have a scar.”
“That’s no big deal.” Dana shrugged the idea off.
It should be. She was too pretty to be marred. “I’ll try to make the butterfly as tight as possible. Maybe it’ll do the trick.”
“You done yet?” Her voice held a gruff note as she looked away from him.
“Almost.” He secured the tape to her face.
“Good. We should get going.”
CHAPTER TWO
DANA GLANCED BACK at Travis as she wiped the sweat from her brow. The hot, dry August weather wasn’t her favorite. Yet this was right in the middle of fire season and she did love her job. The one she should be doing if it wasn’t for playing tour guide to Travis. He wore a stoic look on his face as they trudged across the meadow toward a stand of trees.
Her stomach squeezed. It was just the two of them. Six thousand feet above sea level in a wilderness. Her life sure had taken a drastic turn. In two days she’d right it. It was only temporary. She’d get Travis back home. After that they might see each other at the grocery store once a year and pass niceties.
She shifted the chain saw sitting across her shoulder. Travis had looked surprised when she’d pulled it out of the bag before stuffing her jumpsuit and parachute into it.
“I was just thinking it was nice not to have to carry a chain saw and then out you come with one. Are we really going to need that?”
“You never know. I believe in being prepared. I also had Art add some firefighting chemicals.” She grinned to herself.
He must’ve seen her look because he said, “I’d forgotten what it was like to carry all this equipment plus water.”
“No complaining, Doctor. You’re the one who asked to come.”
“I did. I’m just making conversation.”
“Conversation isn’t necessary.” Talking meant she might discuss a subject she didn’t want to. She continued walking.
“Why do you mind taking me to Gunter’s place so much? I don’t understand why I’m such an inconvenience to you.”
“I can see why you wouldn’t.” She wasn’t being fair to him and she knew it but couldn’t stop herself. She’d been working to lead her own trail crew and instead of that she had this babysitting job, no matter how noble the reason. To make matters worse, she’d been blindsided by Travis returning to her life. Her nerves were on edge and her mind not thinking right. It was too much in one day. “My crew, my crew, is going up for the first time and I’m not getting to lead them.”
“Hey, I’m sorry. I know you must be disappointed. I remember how ambitious you were. I’m sorry to mess things up.”
It wasn’t the first time. He jumbled her up all those years ago, as well. She’d wanted to find a hole and bury herself in it when she tried to kiss him. In her excitement she found herself in his arms, a place she’d dreamed of being in more than once. In that weak second she’d forgotten about his life’s plans and gotten caught up in the heat of the moment. With the addition of her traitor’s heart, she’d made a mistake. Adding his rejection to that of her parents and she’d closed herself off further from others. Just a few years ago she opened enough to let Ryan in and that had got her a kick in the teeth, as well. Not again. She’d learned to let her job be her love. It wouldn’t disappoint her. Leave her wanting. “It is what it is.”
“I had no idea you were still working out of the Black Butte base.”
“I left for three years and worked in Bend to get some experience elsewhere then came back.”
There was a long pause. Apparently he’d been waiting on her to say more. When she didn’t he asked, “Do you still live with your grandfather?”
“He passed away two years ago.”
“Sorry to hear that. I know you were close.”
Her grandfather had raised her but she wouldn’t have said they were close. He’d done what he had to after her parents had left her with him. They went off to follow their dreams of being musicians. That ended when they died in a bus crash.
Dana walked faster, putting some distance between her and Travis. She had no interest in rehashing her life’s story. Her job was to get him to Gunter’s place, not to rekindle their friendship. Those days were gone. He’d hurt her; as unintentional as it might have been, it had been another rejection. She refused to get to know him well enough to chance it happening again.
Heading up a rise, she turned to check on Travis. He wasn’t far behind. She had to give him credit for that after the pace she’d been setting.
She’d radioed base letting them know their position before they had started walking and gave them the direction she intended to go. Along with that she reported the conditions and asked for a weather report. A front was rolling in quicker than expected. She and Travis needed to keep moving if they didn’t want to sleep in the rain or a lightning storm.
“We’ve a couple of hours walk to Gunther’
s land with another hour to the house, I estimate. We should reach him by this evening. If we continue to push on.”
“Good, that means if we need to get him out we’ll know by tomorrow morning when the weather will be to our favor.”
After locating the hiking trail they started north along it.
Travis asked, “Do I smell smoke?”
“Yeah, but it’s coming from miles away,” she said over her shoulder.
“I like that idea. By the way, where are we?”
She heard him shift his pack. “Fuzztail Butte Trail.”
“When we stop I’ll have a look on my map.”
“Is that a hint you need to rest?” Dana stepped around a boulder and he followed. They were climbing higher.
“I’ll be ready to stop when you are.”
She said nothing more and kept going. So did he need to rest?
“Dana, tell me how you’ve been.”
Was Travis really interested? They had been such good friends for such a short time and then she’d messed that up. “I’ve been fine.”
“I can see that. I want to know how you’ve been the last eight years.”
Since she’d tried to kiss him. Or since he rejected her and she’d run off? “Why don’t we start with you? Are you married with two-point-five kids and a dog?”
“Okay, I’ll start but only if you promise to tell me something about yourself.”
She gave him a noncommittal unladylike grunt. Why did he keep pushing her about her past?
Travis went on as if she hadn’t responded. “Brittney and I did get married. It lasted almost three years. Six months if you really want the truth. Of that I’m not proud. I have no children but still hope for some one day. Now your turn.”
She heard the bitterness intertwined in his words. His marriage had failed. Despite her best effort, her heart went out to him. That had to have been difficult for him. Travis had been looking forward to this big, bright future he had planned. She started down a steep grade toward the sound of rushing water. Speaking loud enough she’d be heard, she said, “I finished forestry school. Worked summers as a firefighter while in college then was hired on full time.”
Reunited with Her Daredevil Doc Page 2