by Carrie Elks
Deenie’s smile melted. “Haven’t you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“Oh dear.” Deenie frowned before she reached out for Ember’s hand. “He got called back into work. There’s a wildfire over in the Santa Maria Forest that’s getting dangerously close to the edges of White City. Lucas has been sent over to help fight.”
“He’s back on duty already?” Ember asked, her chest contracting painfully at the thought. She’d seen enough wildfires on the evening news shows to know how dangerous they were. “When did he go?”
“Some time last night. One of the staff at the station called to tell me.” She reached out for Ember’s hand. “If I’d have known they hadn’t called you…”
“Why would they have?” Ember asked, her voice thick with worry. “I’m not his next of kin.”
“No, you’re not, but I do know he’s very fond of you.” Deenie threaded her fingers between Ember’s. “He would have wanted them to call you, too.”
Ember wasn’t so sure. After everything that had happened maybe he’d decided to call things quits, but the thought of that made her chest tighten even more. “How long will he be out there?”
Deenie shook her head. “I don’t know. When there’s an active fire in the forest they tend to take it in shifts, one group of them camping up while the others fight on. It all depends on how long it takes for the fire to get under control. But he’ll be okay, Ember, I know he will.”
“You seem so calm,” Ember said, marveling at Deenie’s easy composure. “How do you do that? You must be worried sick.”
Deenie gave her a soft smile. “I learned a long time ago that worrying about that boy did nothing except raise my blood pressure, and he doesn’t want me to worry about him. He wants me to be strong, so when he comes home he has somebody to lean on.” She nodded at Ember. “You’ll learn that, too.”
“I will?”
Deenie’s voice was certain. “Yes, you will. Because you love my son and you want to do everything you can to support him.”
“How can you tell?”
“That you love him?” Deenie asked, her hand still holding Ember’s. “I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice. You don’t worry about somebody that much if you’re not in love with them.”
Deenie was right. Ember was in love with Lucas. She could feel it burning inside her, like a flame that refused to be put out. The certainty of it gave her the strength she needed to go on.
“Tell me what to do to make things easier for him when he comes home,” Ember said, knowing in her heart that he would be coming home. Anything else was unthinkable – even when he was faced by the most engulfing of fires.
He’d come home and she’d tell him she loved him; everything after that she’d leave up to fate.
It wasn’t the biggest wildfire he’d fought, but it was tough nonetheless. It had taken them almost twenty-four-hours to clear the fire line in the forest, only for the wind to change direction and for them to have to start on a new line all over again. After a day and a half of fighting the fire, with a six hour sleep beneath the stars to try and recharge their batteries, they’d finally managed to halt the fire’s progress, though the forest was still burning brightly. Every now and then a chopper would come over and empty more tanks of water over the burning flames, in an attempt to dampen the land around it, but it wasn’t enough to tame the blaze.
It was the afternoon on the fourth day when they set the controlled fire to burn what was left of the vegetation in the fire line. Lucas stood back and lifted his visor, wiping the sweat from his skin. Every part of him was thick with grime and ashes, from his hair to his feet. He could probably bathe for a week and still not get it all off.
“Has the chopper come back?” Georgia asked, frowning as she looked up to the sky.
“No, it’s moved over to the other side of the blaze,” Lucas told her.
“But I felt some water.” Georgia frowned, still looking upward. “Shit, don’t tell me it’s bird poop.”
Mark laughed, though it sounded tired. “Isn’t that supposed to be lucky?”
But then Lucas felt it. Just the gentlest of droplets against his exposed cheeks. He lifted his hand to his face, touching it with his fingertips, but all that came away was more grime and sweat.
“That’s not bird poop,” Georgia said, when a thicker droplet fell on her helmet. “That’s rain.”
Sure enough, the drops were coming thicker and faster now, bouncing off their protective clothing and helmets, soaking into the ground. Lucas looked up, bemused, trying to work out where the cloud was coming from, because they sure as hell hadn’t had any rain forecasted for today.
“It’s raining,” Mark shouted, his face splitting into a grin. “Just when we need it most. Isn’t that a beautiful sight?” It rained so rarely in Southern California that watching the water stream down from the sky felt like some kind of miracle.
It was impossible not to laugh as it turned into a deluge, dampening all the land around them. He watched as the other firefighters stopped what they were doing to see where the hell the water was coming from, all looking up to the sky with surprise and delight.
He knew from experience that a storm like this wasn’t likely to put the fire out completely, but it would dampen the trees and vegetation surrounding the blaze enough to stop it encroaching any further, which would allow them to approach it and get the flames under control.
Lucas had never been a religious man, but right now as he watched the Californian skies darken, and felt the coolness of the rain against his skin, he couldn’t help but think he was watching some kind of miracle unfold right in front of his eyes.
Maybe they’d be able to dampen this fire enough so he could go home, get some rest, and find the woman he couldn’t stop dreaming about.
He couldn’t think of anything better than that.
27
The blaze had been going on for days. When she wasn’t teaching Ember had been glued to the Internet and the news channels, watching for some sign that they were getting it under control, hoping against hope that there wouldn’t be any mention of fatalities. She learned more about fighting wildfires than she’d even knew possible; how the crews divided into teams either cutting down vegetation, fighting spot fires, and dousing the flames from the air. Every time there was footage on the television she couldn’t help but scan the firefighters faces to see if Lucas was one of them, but he never was.
By Wednesday afternoon, she was sick of reading updates on her phone, so instead of going home after school, she stopped at the beach. Ally was closing up the café and Ember helped her, stacking up the chairs and mopping the floor – anything to take her mind off all the ‘what ifs’ that were swirling around her brain.
“What a day,” Ally said as she cleaned the tables with a spray and a cloth. “This morning you couldn’t move due to so many tourists. Then, as soon as the rain started it was like a ghost town, never a dull moment here in Angel Sands.” She wrinkled her nose. “I guess it was a good thing. We’d sold out of ice cream by lunchtime.”
“Did you speak to your dad about the inventory?” Ember asked her, knowing how close the café was to closing.
“He transferred some money, enough to pay off the debts at least,” Ally told her, moving over to the counter to clean up the sticky spills there. “But he doesn’t seem to have a plan going forward, and frankly that scares me.” She walked behind the counter, putting the cleaning products away. “I’m thinking about putting my résumé out to other places. I hear rumors that somebody’s going to buy up the Silver Sands Resort.”
“They are? I hadn’t heard that.” Ember frowned. The Silver Sands resort was right around the coast from the town. Built in the 1920s to capitalize on the increased wealth in cities like Los Angeles and San Diego, in its heyday the Art Deco hotel had attracted Hollywood’s rich and famous for week long breaks. Since the 1970s, though, it had been abandoned. Nowadays it was a ghost of its former glorious self
.
“Yeah. Apparently some hotel group wants to rebuild it and make it a luxury hotel. Didn’t you hear?” Ally frowned. “Anyway, they’re gonna need some staff eventually, aren’t they? I think I’d be good at that.”
Ember gave her friend a warm smile. “You’d be great. And if there are lots of vacancies you could probably take the staff from here with you.”
The smile slipped from Ally’s face. “I guess. Though most of them have been working here for years, they’d hate to leave as much as I would.” She sighed. “In my head I know the best thing would be to cut our losses and tell my dad he’s on his own, but I grew up in this place. It’s always been part of my life and it breaks my heart to think of leaving it.”
“That’s so understandable.” Ember frowned, trying to find the right words for her friend.
“Ember Kennedy?” The voice came from behind her. Ember turned to see a small brunette standing at the door to the café. Her hair was tied back and wet from the rain, but Ember would have recognized her anywhere.
Ember frowned. “It’s Norah, isn’t it?”
The brunette gave her the smallest of smiles. “Yes, that’s right. I wondered if we could talk for a moment.”
Ember glanced at Ally. Her friend must have been more sensitive than usual, because she left the counter and headed into the kitchen. “Would you like to sit down?” she asked Norah, remembering she was pregnant.
The two of them took a booth on the far side of the café. Norah shrugged off her wet jacket and laid it carefully beside her. “You must be wondering why I’ve come to talk to you.”
Ember shrugged. “I’m guessing you’re going to tell me.”
The small brunette wrung her hands together. “I wanted to say sorry.” She bit her lip, not quite meeting Ember’s eyes. “For what happened at the party. Richard wasn’t supposed to say anything, not so soon.”
Ember stayed silent, because really what was there to say?
“And I’m sorry, too, for what happened between me and Will.” Finally Norah looked up. “I had no idea he was engaged to somebody else when we met.”
Ember stared at her for a moment. This supposed love-rival she’d once agonized over, the woman she’d thought had ruined her life.
And she felt nothing, apart from a sense of relief that she wasn’t in her shoes right now.
“It’s water under the bridge,” Ember said, her voice low. “I wish you both the best of luck with your family.”
Norah blinked. “You do?”
“Yes.” Ember didn’t add that Norah might need it. What happened between her and Will in the future wasn’t Ember’s problem. She had no interest in them at all.
She just wanted to move on, wanted to see the man who haunted her dreams at night and her thoughts in the day.
The past was over and done with. She wanted her future to begin.
“Well I guess that’s it,” Norah said, standing, though her voice was still unsure. Ember wondered whether she’d expected a fight, and whether she was disappointed she wasn’t getting one.
“Okay.”
“I’ll probably see you around sometime. When Will and I visit, I mean. It’s a small town…”
Ember nodded. “Yes it is.” From the corner of her eye she could see the door to the kitchen was slightly ajar. So much for Ally giving her some space. Not that she could blame her, Ember would have done the same thing, if only to make sure her friend was okay.
And she was. More than okay. “Goodbye, Norah,” she said, watching the woman hurry out of the café and back into the pouring rain. As soon as the door closed, Ember sat back on the bench seat and sighed.
She was facing all her demons this week. God only knew what was going to happen next.
Ember had left the café and was hurrying to her car when her phone rang. She pulled it out of her bag, her frown deepening when she saw Deenie Russell’s name lighting up the display.
“Hello?”
“Ember? It’s Deenie Russell. I just heard from the station that Lucas’ crew is standing down. The rain has reached the higher ground, and it stopped the flames in their tracks.”
“It has?” Ember said, breathing a sigh of relief. “That’s wonderful, I can’t believe it rained today of all days.”
Deenie gave a little chuckle. “I know. It’s unheard of. But the great news is that the local crews can cope with finishing what’s left, and the White City crews are coming home.”
She felt a warmth blooming in her stomach, radiating out to the rest of her body. “When will he be back?”
“Soon. I reckon if you head over to the station now, you might make it there in time to welcome him.” Deenie’s voice was warm. “If that’s what you want, of course.”
“Don’t you want to go?” Ember asked, feeling awkward about butting in where she wasn’t wanted.
“No. I’m pretty sure it’s not me he’ll want to see when he comes back.” Another chuckle. “Tell him to call me when he’s cleaned up and had some rest. Until then, he’s all yours.”
Was he? Ember felt uncertain. The last time she’d seen him she’d been in shock about Will’s announcement. It seemed as if a lifetime had passed since then.
But it didn’t matter how he felt – or how she felt for that matter. The important thing was that he was coming home. She knew from watching the news programs that he’d be exhausted, messy, and desperate for sleep. Whether he felt as strongly for her or not, she could help him with that.
“I will.” She nodded, her voice resolute. “And thank you for calling me.”
“I did it for him as well as you,” Deenie replied, a smile still in her voice. “Have a good evening, Ember.”
Within minutes she was in her car, heading toward the highway that led to White City. In the distance she could see the rain clouds they’d been talking about, looming grey above the inland mountains. Strange how for most people clouds like that felt ominous and foreboding, because right now she’d never seen anything more beautiful in her life.
They were a mess. There wasn’t another word for it. Six of them had piled into the fire truck – Lucas’ crew plus a couple extra who were wanting to get home – and every single one of them looked as though they’d been through the wringer. Even with their protective gear removed their bodies were thick with grime and soot, their hair matted and their faces grey thanks to the debris that was still thick in the air.
But his appearance was nothing compared to how messed up he felt inside, dog-tired didn’t begin to cover it. Every muscle in his body ached from constant tree cutting over the past few days. Even his bones were weary. Now that he was sitting down in the truck he wasn’t sure he’d be able to climb out of it again.
“When I get home, I’m falling asleep in the shower,” Mark was saying, leaning his head against the back of his seat. “And then my wife is gonna give me a full body massage with one hand and feed me pizza with the other.”
“Better hope she doesn’t get the two mixed up,” Georgia said. Even the chuckles that came as a result of her words were muted.
“It’s okay for you,” one of the other firefighters said. “My kids are gonna want to hear everything that’s gone on, they won’t let me sleep until I’ve described it in intricate detail.”
“I’ll be thinking of you while I’m sitting in a bath with my boyfriend.” Georgia raised her eyebrows at him. “There’s a bottle of Sauvignon in my refrigerator with my name all over it.”
“I didn’t know your name was Jacob’s Creek.”
Lucas smiled along with the rest of them, then turned his head to look out of the window. They were on the highway, leaving the wildfire – or what was left of it – behind them, heading for the White City station, where they’d all go their separate ways. What would he do? The same as he always did, he guessed. Drive home, clean off the grime, and get some shuteye.
It was easy, it was simple, but it didn’t feel like enough anymore. He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy at the wa
y the others were going home to their loved ones. His thoughts turned to Ember, again, and he wondered if she was feeling better yet. Had she seen Will again since the party?
Was she still in love with him?
He’d thought about calling her as he rushed to leave to fight the fire, but he’d hesitated. He’d promised to give her space, to let her call him when she was ready, and he’d decided to do just that.
Lucas sighed as the truck pulled off the highway and onto the main road into White City. Their speed slowed as they entered the built-up area, the tall towers of the financial district looming overhead. He waited for the familiar thrill to hit him – the one he always felt when he was in the big city – and the pride he had that he’d made his way out of Angel Sands.
And yet it wasn’t there, instead he felt a yearning he couldn’t quite put a name on. A need for comfort and warmth and ease. He wanted to bury himself in the woman who’d come to mean so much to him, and never dig his way out again.
The truck took a right, followed by a left, and then they were on the road that led to the station. Lucas could see a news truck out there – waiting to film them as they arrived back, no doubt. There were a few cars, too, friends and families maybe.
But not for him, never for him.
He used to like knowing that nobody depended on him or needed him. That he wasn’t letting anybody down by risking his life to save others.
But now the knowledge tasted like dust in his mouth.
The truck pulled into the station, parking in the main garage. As soon as the engine was cut, Mark opened the door and stumbled down the steps. The rest of them did the same. They had no energy to do much more than let gravity do the work for them.
The families were waiting for them outside on the lawn. Lucas watched as his colleagues joined them, one by one. Just as he was about to turn around and head to the back, where his car was in the parking lot, he heard somebody call out.