Flame (Firefighters of Montana Book 5)

by Victoria Purman

  “Really, Hugh. It was nothing. It’s the least I can do. We’re all so grateful for what they do.”

  He let go and held her at arm’s length. There was a twinkle in his wrinkled eyes. “You must have been slaving over a hot oven for weeks.”

  “Oh, it was nothing.” She smiled. “Did you see the red velvet cupcakes? I know they’re your favorite.”

  He laughed. “Damn right they are. I’d better go grab one before they all disappear.”

  There was already a crowd gathered around the food and she could hear groans of delight. That was what made her truly happy. The way food could comfort, could help heal, could gather people together in this way. She saw it in Cady’s Cakes everyday—for happy occasions, for breakups, for sadness, and for joy. Life’s rich pageant was always better with cake.

  “Nice spread.” She stilled at the words. She’d heard his voice in her dreams every night for the past week. A tingling sensation buzzed up her spine and clenched her throat. Dex was next to her, his eyes fixed on the feasting crowd.

  “Hello, Dex.” She managed to say and then turned to him.

  Which was when one of her dreams came back to her in vivid high-definition. Dex had been in it. Naked. Well, not naked at first. Shirtless, standing in the doorway to her bedroom, eyeing her up and down like she was smeared head to toe in chocolate frosting, and then he strode to her, pushed her back down on her bed, and…

  Oh, God, the man looked almost as good in the flesh as he had in her dream. No jeans and T-shirt today, he was dressed in a navy suit, narrowly cut, which emphasised his wide shoulders and his slim hips. A white shirt set off his deep tan and his tie, a deep purple, drew her attention to his chest. He had meant the suit to be a reflection of his respect for Russ Edwards, and it was all that and so much more. It turned him from rugged smokejumper into international spy. Cady suppressed the urge to reach her fingers around his silk tie and frisk him for weapons.

  Dex looked at her with a serious expression, his blue eyes hooded, taking in her outfit. She’d worn one of her special occasion outfits—a green wraparound dress, which smoothed over her curves and swayed when she walked. She’d chosen a delicate silver necklace and matching earrings and a pair of heels, a big concession for someone who lived in chef clogs.

  He cocked his head towards the food. “It’s good, what you’ve done.”

  A compliment from Dex McCoy? Well, well. “It’s my way of saying thanks. To the smokejumpers, I mean.”

  “Your trail bars are a big hit.”

  Cady smiled. She hoped Dex wasn’t moonlighting as a food reviewer. All people would get was “good”. “Thank you. I have a secret ingredient that no one knows about.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “A secret means you don’t tell anyone.” And boy, had she kept her fair share of secrets when it came to this man. “Tell me something, McCoy. You just said that people like my trail bars. Does that include you? Do you like my trail bars?”

  He studied her face. She felt her cheeks warm and almost sizzle under his gaze. And then, oh God, other parts of her were sizzling, too.

  “Yep.”

  She splayed a hand to her chest. His gaze flickered to her breasts, longer than a glance, which was interesting and confusing all at once. “Oh, my. You actually ate something that I made?”

  He smiled, almost reluctantly. “Don’t have much choice. They’re in our ration packs. It’s that or starve.”

  Cady playfully saluted. “Glad to be of service to the men and women of the Glacier Creek service station.”

  Dex stood silently next to her. They watched Sam and Laurel take some of the plates of food and offer them to the people milling in the crowd.

  Dex finally cleared his throat. “Can I get you a drink or something?”

  Memory plays tricks, doesn’t it? For years, you don’t remember anything then wham. She had a horrifying flashback. She glanced around urgently, checking the location of the small dance floor and the jukebox. It had been right here. The bar was behind her. The wall of bottles to the left. Oh, God. They were standing in the exact spot. This was where they’d had the argument that had led to that kiss with Dex four years before. The kiss she should have forgotten all about, but never could. She’d never felt that way with anyone, ever.

  “You want to buy me a drink?” she asked.

  “Sure. I’m on call so I’m not drinking but that doesn’t mean you can’t, right?”

  “Yes. Okay. You can buy me a drink.”

  He looked down at his shoes then up at her. “It’s whiskey, right?”

  “Yes.” She was taken aback. “How do you know that?”

  “I remember.” Dex turned to catch Hugh’s attention and the bartender poured one. Dex handed it to Cady. “Cheers.”

  “Cheers.” She sipped it, waited until the familiar warm inner glow hit her chest, making her feel brave. Or was that reckless?

  “Look, Dex. There’s an elephant in the room right here between us.”

  He raised one eyebrow.

  “Hell, I don’t mean an actual elephant.” Was he making this harder on purpose just to torture her?

  “Listen. You and me? We have to get past the thing that happened.”

  “What thing is that?”

  “Look. We’re older now. I’m a business owner. You’re a smokejumper. We run into each other professionally. We’re not kids in high school anymore.”

  When Dex remained silent, Cady nervously continued talking. “Four years ago, the night before I left for California, you and I were standing right about here talking, well, fighting, and then you dragged me off and we—”

  He quickly raised a hand. “Wait one minute. There was no dragging.”

  “Okay, there was no dragging. I followed you. But after that, back there in the dark, when you and I were alone?” Cady took a deep breath. “I did something really stupid.”

  “I don’t remember,” Dex said, turning to the bar, resting his elbows there before looking sideways at Cady.

  Oh, so now he was trying to be nice. And that made him even more incredibly sexy. The suit. Those eyes. The trying-not-to-smile smile. And what good was any of it? He still wasn’t interested in her one bit. The feeling sat like a rock-hard cupcake in the pit of Cady’s stomach.

  She leaned in, her arm brushing against his. “Look, Dex. You don’t have to play nice to protect my feelings, okay? We both know what happened. We both know that I kissed you. It was stupid and I want to apologize.”

  Dex’s jaw clenched. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

  “Clearly, there is.” Cady continued, careful not to let him know the real truth. “I had this crazy idea that I needed to sleep with someone before I left Montana, okay? I didn’t want to land in California a virgin. I mean, how embarrassing would that have been? Small-town, virginal Montana girl hits sophisticated San Fran. But you turned out to be the wrong guy. Somehow, I offended you, so here I am, apologizing. Can’t we just put it behind us and move on?”

  Dex leaned in to Cady. “That’s an interesting take on what actually happened.”

  “What are you saying? Do you think I’m lying?” she asked, her voice rising.

  He turned to her, moved closer, his face just inches away from hers now. He smelled so damn good that Cady wanted to capture his scent and put it in a cake. His smooth cheeks were begging to be stroked, his hair asking to be ruffled.

  “If you think I was offended by that kiss”—he lowered his voice to almost a whisper—“you have no fucking idea, Cady.”

  Cady tried to breathe but something was squeezing the air from her lungs. It must have been the lack of oxygen that was making her skittish. “The memory of that night must be so terrible. I mean, you cross the street to avoid me now. And you never come into Cady’s Cakes. I’m nice, you know. I have lots of friends and my customers love me.”

  He studied her face so intently, so intimately, she started to throb down low.

  “You actually
don’t remember much about that night, do you?” he said.

  Cady’s knees felt wobbly. Damn her high heels. “I… I was scared witless about leaving Glacier Creek and I may have had a little too much to drink.”

  “Exactly how I remember it.” Dex’s eyes became hard. “So how’d things turn out with Simon Ford?”

  Cady had to think for a minute what Dex was talking about. “Simon? What’s Simon got to do with this?”

  “You left with him, didn’t you?”

  Cady rolled her eyes. “He gave me a lift. He dropped me off in Napa Valley and drove on to Los Angeles. What’s this about? You think he was my boyfriend or something?”

  “Well, wasn’t he?”

  “Hell, no. He’s a sleazeball around women. Always has been, but I knew that. I just really needed a free ride. All the money I had saved up was for my tuition. You think I was defenceless or something? Were you worried about my honor, McCoy?”

  She wouldn’t tell Dex that her honor had been well and truly intact until her second year at the institute, when she’d dated a guy from Florida who made exquisite choux pastry. After six months, Cady had discovered she liked his baking much better than she liked having sex with him, so she broke it off.

  “You telling me Simon didn’t try anything? You were safe?”

  “Of course I was safe. I’ve known him since first grade. He tried to kiss me back then and I punched him in the jaw.”

  Dex dropped his gaze to the wooden bar, spun his empty glass around.

  “I can’t believe you are still thinking about this, Dex. Why are you still thinking about this?”

  He met her gaze, his eyes dark and intense. “Because that night, when you kissed me, Cady Adams, I kissed you right back. You were drunk so I stopped, but I kissed you, Cady. How come you don’t remember that, huh?”

  The bar fell silent. All Cady could hear was a strange buzzing in her ears. All around her, people’s lips were moving but no sound was coming out.

  What?

  “Hey, Cady.” Captain Sam Gaskill’s voice snapped her out of her brain fade. He sidled up next to her. “This piece of mint bar is damn good.”

  “And the mini lemon meringue pies?” Laurel said dreamily, appearing at his side. “Divine, girlfriend.” Laurel held up her palm for a high five and Cady gently slapped hands with her.

  “Thanks.” It was all she could manage to say. Her head was spinning. She grounded herself, tried to appear normal.

  “That was a wonderful speech about Russ, Sam.”

  “What she said.” Dex stepped forward, putting his hand out to Sam.

  “Rookie,” Sam said, nodding.

  The two men shook hands firmly and then Sam stepped back to slip an arm around Laurel. Dex stood apart from Cady.

  “Hey, Dex. Which one of Cady’s cakes is your favorite?”

  Dex stilled. Laurel’s innocent question had Cady’s stomach doing tumble turns. When he didn’t reply right away, Sam and Laurel looked at him curiously. Then they looked at Cady. Then, back at Dex.

  He rubbed a hand over his hair, which left it spiky and unruly, like he’d just got out of bed. Like he’d just fucked someone in the kitchen of Cady’s Cakes. Or on a mountain. Or in his truck. Cady swallowed hard. Her head was still spinning and she felt like she’d scarfed too many cupcakes.

  Dex chuckled politely and when he looked Cady directly in the eyes, she tried to remember to breathe.

  “Who can decide, huh?”

  “Hell, that’s my phone,” Sam started, fishing his cell phone out of his pocket before turning away to talk.

  “No, no,” Laurel said with a laugh. “You don’t have to be diplomatic around us. We all have our favorites. Mine is the mini lemon meringue pie, obviously. Don’t tell anyone, Cady, but I think I ate five of them just now. Sam’s is the mint bar and Hugh over there adores the red velvet cupcakes. I know Jacqui and Vin share a love for the chocolate chip ones, as well as for each other, obviously.” Laurel slapped Dex playfully on the arm. “So, name your poison, McCoy.”

  Sam was back, his expression stern, businesslike. “McCoy, we’ve got to go. Round up everyone from the crew. We’ve got to get airborne.”

  “Yes, captain,” Dex said swiftly and after a quick glance at Cady, and a small nod in her direction, Dex disappeared into the crowd.

  Sam leaned down and kissed Laurel gently. Cady noticed a flash of fear on Laurel’s face, which she bravely tried to smother with a smile and a deep breath.

  “Love you,” Sam whispered.

  “Love you, too,” Laurel whispered as she kissed him. “Now go.”

  Sam hurried out the door, following by everyone in The Drop Zone who was connected with the base. Cady and Laurel watched Jacqui leave, too. She worked at the front desk and was a vital cog in the smooth running of the station, especially when they had smokejumpers out on a mountain.

  Cady linked an arm through Laurel’s. “I don’t know how you do it.”

  “Watch him go, you mean?”

  “Yes.” Cady shivered.

  Dex was one of the crew now. Strapping up with a parachute and jumping into the sky. She shivered again, fear sitting in the pit of her stomach, the image of him leaping out of a plane vivid in her head. She’d been worried when he’d been away in Missoula on training, but this feeling, this nervous electricity she felt in every synapse in her body? Why was she feeling real fear now?

  Because what he’d just told her had changed everything. He’d kissed her back. That was why. He’d wanted her, once.

  And knowing that changed everything.

  “It’s his job. It’s what he loves to do. And he’s a damn good captain to those men and women.” Laurel squeezed Cady’s arm. “Dex will be okay. Sam will have his back. So will everyone else.”

  “I’m not—” Cady bit the words that sat on the tip of her tongue. Worried, she’d been about to say. Like hell, she wasn’t. She knew she wouldn’t sleep a wink until Dex McCoy was safely back on the ground.

  Chapter Six

  Dex and the rest of the crew—Sam, Vin, Ace, Liam, and the other team members—were back at the station. As soon as they’d arrived, they’d had a briefing from Sam in the ready room, before heading into to the locker room to suit up. He’d told them that lightning from an early fall storm had set off a fire in the mountain range above Glacier Creek. Dex had smelled the smoke the minute he’d stepped out of The Drop Zone. All the crew had.

  The crew gathered on the runway and waited for the fixed-wing aircraft to circle back towards them. Dex checked his harness, made sure it was tight.

  “You okay, rookie?” Sam’s question was serious.

  “I’m good, captain. I saw some serious action when I was on exchange in Missoula. I’m ready.”

  “That’s what I want to hear.” Sam turned, waved the crew forward to the plane.

  Dex could see the familiar face of pilot Miranda Ferguson, who was Hugh’s daughter. They were in safe hands. Miranda was a commercial pilot, who flew search and rescue missions and ferried the smokejumpers on rotation with a couple of other pilots from the area. He saluted her with a smile and she did the same back.

  It was only ten minutes flying time to the edge of the fire. On the way there, the crew were silent; the only sound the throb of the plane’s engines. The jumpers spent that time checking their gear. Three or four times. This was the time to contemplate what might be waiting for them below because, even though they had access to satellites and the latest tech, they would never really know for sure until they jumped and landed. What was the terrain like? How steep were the mountain slopes they’d have to navigate? Which direction was the wind blowing and how fiercely?

  Sam crept over to the door of the plane and opened it. “Get to the door and get ready,” he shouted above the noise. They lined up. Vin went first, crouched in front of Dex in the plane’s doorway, in front of Vin, the sky and the mountains and a rushing wind. When he got the tap on his shoulder, Vin jumped. Dex moved forward. Saw Vin’s
parachute pop open and spread out in the sky like a floating red jellyfish.

  Ten seconds later, Dex got the tap. He jumped, tucked his legs up like he was dive bombing into a pool instead of the huge Montana sky, pulled his chute when it was time, and he jerked up, floated. And for a couple of minutes, the world was still and silent and beautiful. He had the best office in the world, he knew that. And fifteen hundred feet down below was the place he loved more than almost anything on earth. Flathead Lake. If he looked east, he might see North Fork and the house and its outbuildings. He looked for Glacier Creek, the vein of Main Street splitting the town in two.

  He turned his concentration below to the clearing, where Vin had already landed in the jump spot and Dex maneuvered himself to the right, landing fifty feet away from Vin on the soft grass. It was a textbook landing. He detached his chute, cleared it away, making room for the next jumpers, and he and Vin waited while the rest of the crew landed, loud thuds in the clearing. One by one. Dex knew the stats, knew how important this job was—there were fifty-thousand wildfires like this one every year across the country, over one hundred and ninety three million acres of forest. Every acre, every building—every person—was worth protecting.

  When everyone was safe and landed, Sam gathered them around for a briefing. “Hotshots. Our job right now, and maybe for the next two days, is to keep this little patch of Montana safe. This fire’s only small at this stage, but it’s getting to close to a couple of cabins up there on the ridge, so we’re gonna hike up there, check it out, report in. Our cargo should be here shortly on the next plane, so in the meantime, here’s what we know about the weather.”

  The crew listened intently, as Sam outlined that high winds were expected in the evening, which could potentially fuel the fire and allow it to take hold. When the cargo arrived—fire boxes with their equipment, tools, water, sleeping bags and food—they set off.

  As they hiked to the ridge, Dex felt the adrenalin pumping through him. This job was like nothing on earth. He was at the end of his first season, and he knew now that he would be doing it as long as his body held out. He was young and fit, and without planning it, he found himself hiking next to his Captain.