A big one, from the looks of all that smoke. And wherever it was, she had no doubt that her Logan was right smack dab in the thick of it.
Cody would know. As sheriff, Logan’s brother would be well aware of any emergency in the county.
By the time Allie reached the sheriff’s office, Cody was just getting into his SUV. With a spray of gravel, she pulled across the driveway, blocking his exit. She jumped from her truck before the engine had even stopped knocking.
“Where’s Logan?” she asked breathlessly as she reached the spot where he waited, engine idling. “He’s at that fire, isn’t he?”
“It’s a big one,” Cody said, confirming her worst fears. “All departments in the county responded after they lost control of it with the winds the first night. The out-of-state guys started arriving this morning and they’re hoping to have the big sky-tankers making drops later today if the wind dies down.”
“Will he be back tonight?” she asked, fearing the answer she’d get.
“I wouldn’t count on it. They’ve set up a forward command at the mouth of the canyon but they’re closing down the highway to keep traffic out just in case. That’s where I’m headed now, to man the roadblock.”
If the fire made it to the highway, there was no telling how long it might take to get it under control.
“Is there anything I can do?”
Cody patted her shoulder. “Go home, Allie. All you can do is wait. Chance should be fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to check the emergency reports every so often. Just in case. And try not to worry. Logan is good at what he does.”
Allie returned to the pickup and backed it out of the driveway to allow Cody to leave, lights flashing as he headed for the highway entrance.
Cody’s reassurance did little to calm her nerves. She’d lived in the mountain community long enough to have witnessed the power of the big forest fires. Over the years those infernos had taken down more than one firefighter who was good at his job.
All she could do now was wait. Wait and pray that Logan wouldn’t be added to that list.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
The noise of a crowded dining room met Allie’s ears before she reached the front door of the Hand.
Good. Lots of people to distract her might be just what she needed.
After talking to Cody, she’d dropped off the borrowed pickup and walked home. She’d done her best to take her mind off her worries, but to no avail. Not even her favorite book could distract her for long. Vivid images of Logan, shrouded in smoke, battling the monster blaze in the canyon, kept invading her thoughts, pushing away any story she hoped to lose herself in.
After a couple of stomach-twisting hours, she gave up even trying. She slipped into her work uniform and headed for the coffee shop, hoping a brisk walk would help rid her of the nagging fear that wouldn’t leave her alone.
It hadn’t.
“Could you use an extra pair of hands?” she asked as she approached the counter.
Dulcie’s grateful look was all the answer she needed.
“They’re all worried,” Dulcie said quietly, placing slices of her latest bakery treat on plates.
“Worried and hyped up on way too much caffeine,” Desi added as she swooped up three of the plates to carry out to customers. “But it’s supergood for business.”
“You okay?” Dulcie asked as Allie stepped behind the counter to stand next to her. “He’s going to be fine, you know. He and Tanner both. They’re professionals.”
“Yeah,” Allie agreed, biting her tongue to keep from blurting out how little respect a fire like this one had for professionals. “I need to stay busy. What can I do to help?”
“I’ve got goodies in the oven I need to tend to,” Dulcie said. “If you’d just man the counter and see that the cups are all kept filled, that would make my life so much easier.”
“You got it, boss. I’m a good coffee-cup filler,” Allie joked, forcing a grin. “Coffee’s one of the few things I actually know how to make in the kitchen.”
Bantering with the locals, racing from one end of the counter to the other to keep on top of refills, was exactly what she’d needed. The worry didn’t disappear, but it did dull. By the time she looked up at the sound of the bell announcing more customers, she was feeling closer to normal than she had for a long time.
“Now there’s a purty waitress if I ever did see one,” Papa Flynn greeted. “You know, Bobcat, they don’t advertise it, but they got the best-lookin’ gals in town at this coffee shop.”
“Only reasons I come here,” Bobcat agreed. “Pretty women and tasty treats.”
Her grandfather and his best friend slid onto the last two seats at the counter, both grinning at their own cleverness.
“House coffee?” Allie asked, knowing her grandfather’s preference. “You want something to eat?”
“Does a bear…” Bobcat paused, winked, and changed what he was going to say. “I’ll take some of whatever that is that Dulcie has baking right now. The smell is making my mouth water something awful.”
Allie hurried to fill two cups for the men before slicing off two healthy servings of the still warm lemon bread her cousin had just brought out of the kitchen.
“… not good at all,” her grandfather was saying as she set the plates in front of them and picked up the coffeepot. “By the looks of that plume, the beast is growing, too.”
Bobcat nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. “Them firefighters up there must be hanging on by the skin of their teeth. I was listening to the scanner while I waited for you to get here. Heard that one of the crews got on the wrong side of the fire line when the flames jumped. Cut them boys off for a time and the fire caught up with them. They were able to get them out, but at least one of them must be pretty bad off. They were calling for a chopper to medivac him out.”
“Someone’s hurt?” Allie asked, her throat so dry she was surprised the words made it out. “I don’t suppose they mentioned any names.”
“No names,” Bobcat confirmed. “From the chatter on the scanner, it sounded like several of them were hurt. Only one critical, though, thank the good Lord. Could have lost them all.”
Only one critical.
“It only takes one,” Allie murmured, her mind racing to torment her with the worst of all possible scenarios.
This couldn’t happen. Not now. Not when she was so close to finding her ever-after happiness. Except, how many times in her life had she thought that before? How many times had she been so sure that the worst couldn’t happen? How many times had she been wrong?
“What did you say, girl?” her grandfather asked, cupping a hand to his ear.
“I have to get to him, Papa Flynn. Right now. You drove here, right? I need your keys.”
“You need my keys?” Her grandfather pulled them out of his pocket even as his brow wrinkled in confusion. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Logan’s in that canyon. He’s on one of those crews. It could be him Bobcat heard them talking about. I can’t stand here knowing it could be him they’re calling the chopper to take out.”
“You won’t be able to get in there, Allie.” Bobcat exchanged a glance with her grandfather. “The road’s closed down. They’re not letting anyone in there.”
Allie deposited the coffeepot on the back counter and held out her hand for the keys. “Just so happens I know the guy running the roadblock. And if I have to, I’ll get down on my knees and beg, but I can’t just wait here, not knowing. I have to try.”
Papa Flynn tossed the keys into her hand and she took off running, not caring in the least what any of the patrons of the coffee shop might think of her actions.
Nothing mattered except getting to Logan… before it was too late.
Counting on both Cody and his deputy manning the roadblock, Allie coaxed as much speed from the old truck as she possibly could. She remembered how after Matt got his first speeding ticket, he’d tried to convince his parents that he’d only been going fast be
cause it was mechanically good for cars to run them hard once in a while. If that was true, her grandfather’s pickup was getting the tune-up of a lifetime.
The flashing red and blue lights reflected against the backdrop of smoke, visible long before she reached the roadblock. This close to the fire, the sky itself seemed to be burning, as an eerie red glow covered the sinking sun.
Any wild thoughts she’d harbored about running the roadblock disappeared as she approached the two sheriff’s department SUVs parked sideways, bumper to bumper, across the road. No way she could blow through that.
She rolled down her window as Cody approached, a clipboard in his hands and a determined scowl on his face.
“What are you doing up here, Allie?”
“Was it Logan?” she asked, going straight to the heart of her fears. “I have to know.”
“Was what Logan?” he returned, his serious scowl giving way to puzzlement.
“The firefighter that was critically injured. The one they had to take out by chopper. Was it Logan?”
Cody’s face blanked, any emotion hidden behind a gruff professional mask. She couldn’t help but recognize how similar he and Logan actually were when he did that.
“We haven’t been informed of anything like that. Are you sure it’s not just some wild rumor? Where’d you hear about it?”
“Bobcat,” she answered. “He heard it on his emergency scanner.”
The momentary change in his expression convinced her that he believed the information coming from the newspaper man. But just as quickly, the emotionless mask was back in place.
“No. It’s too dangerous up there. Besides, you wouldn’t know where to find them even if I was stupid enough to let you in. Nope. No unauthorized vehicles beyond this point. Go home, Allie. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
As Cody turned to walk away, Allie shoved open her door and jumped down from the pickup. Running to catch up with him, she grabbed his sleeve and tugged at his arm.
“But that could be too late. You have to listen to me, Cody. I have to see Logan. I have to talk to him. I have to tell him… I have to tell him I was a fool. I was wrong when I said I never wanted to see him again. I’m in love with your brother, Cody. I’m in love with him and I can’t let him die not knowing that.”
He stared at her for the longest minute of her life before turning his gaze down the road in the direction of the raging fire.
“Goddammit,” he hissed, slapping the clipboard against his thigh. “I ought to have my head checked for even considering this.”
“Please, Cody. Please. Let me go to him.”
“I can’t let you or any other unauthorized vehicles past this point,” he said. “But I guess if you happened to be sitting in my vehicle when I go down there to check in with fire command, that wouldn’t technically be a violation.”
* * *
Logan didn’t know Rodriguez very well. Hell, he didn’t even know the man’s first name. But that didn’t diminish the weight of the emotions he’d felt as his team had pulled the California firefighter and his crew out of that hellish inferno. Rodriguez, like all the other men out here today, was his brother. And all he could do now was pray that they’d gotten this particular brother out in time to save his life.
He was too tired to think anymore, too tired to do anything but find a small patch of earth where he could collapse and try to catch a few minutes of shuteye before he was back on the line. He pulled off his helmet and dropped it to the ground, followed by his shoulder pack, belt and gloves. He had just peeled out of his jacket when Tanner approached.
“Heads up!” his friend called, tossing a bottle of water as he spoke.
Instinctively, Logan reached out to catch the toss and popped open the lid. He hadn’t realized how thirsty he was until he raised the water to his lips and began to drink.
“Bitch of a day,” Tanner muttered, pulling off his helmet before dropping to sit. “I’m so beat, I’m not even hungry.”
“Copy that. You hear anything about Rodriguez yet?”
“No,” Tanner answered, rubbing his hands over his face, leaving long streaks in the soot blanketing his skin. “But after seeing what happened with him, I can guaran-damn-tee that we’re both going to double-check our fire shelters for holes before we head back out on the line.”
“You got that right. First thing after I try to get some sleep.”
Even dead tired, sleep had eluded him for the last two days. Every time he closed his eyes, his brain switched into overdrive, microanalyzing every moment he’d ever spent with Allie, desperately searching for some magical way he could win her back.
“You got to get your head back in the game, man,” Tanner said. “Focus on the priorities. First we kick this fire’s ass, then we work out your woman troubles. You don’t give it one hundred percent up here, you’ll go down the mountain like Rodriguez.”
“I know,” Logan answered. He’d been doing this too long not to recognize the dangers. “Logically, in my brain, I know.”
“But it’s not your brain driving you right now, is it? It’s more like—” Tanner stopped in the middle of his sentence, staring over Logan’s shoulder. “Well, I’ll be damned. There’s something you don’t see out here every day.”
It certainly wasn’t. If Tanner hadn’t said something, Logan might have been tempted to think exhaustion was finally taking its toll by giving him hallucinations.
But it was no hallucination running his direction, dodging weary firefighters and random piles of equipment.
It was Allie.
He stumbled backward when her body hit his, and only by sheer force of will was he able to remain on his feet.
“Logan?” she said breathlessly, her hands cupped on his cheeks as she gazed into his eyes, her words tumbling out, one over the other, as if she had too much to say and not enough time in which to say it. “You’re okay? Thank God you’re okay. I was so afraid it was you. You are okay, aren’t you?”
“I’m okay,” he assured her, relishing the feel of her body pressed up against his even as his mind struggled to catch up with the reality of her in his arms. “You shouldn’t be here.”
She waved away his statement as if it had no importance. “I had to come. When Bobcat told me someone was hurt up here, I was so afraid it was you. I couldn’t let anything happen to you without telling you how I feel.”
If she’d come up here to break it off in person, this might be his only chance to tell her what had really happened. The moment she stopped for a breath, he jumped in.
“I can explain about the phone call. About what you heard when you called. It wasn’t what you thought. I was—”
“I don’t care,” she interrupted, placing her soft fingers over his lips. “I don’t care what happened with Shayla. We can work through this. I know we can. I was a fool to give up so easily. I’m going to fight for what I want.” Her eyes flashed with her determination as she spoke, her voice ragged with emotion. “I love you, Logan. I’ve always loved you. I’m going to fight for you. I’m going to fight to make you see what you really want.”
“You don’t have to fight, Allie,” he said, wrapping his arms around her to pull her close. “I already know what I want. I want you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you, Allie, more than I could ever have imagined possible. If you’re willing to take a chance on me, I’m yours. Heart and soul.”
“Yes,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes as she lifted her lips to meet his. “I’ll take that chance.”
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Odetta Flynn stood near the back wall, surveying the happy crowd milling around in her granddaughters’ coffee shop. The official grand opening for Allie’s bookstore appeared to have drawn almost everyone in town.
Another new business off to a good start. Things were beginning to come together nicely.
“But only just beginning,” she murmured into the cup she lifted to her lips.
Her work was far from c
omplete.
“Looks like it’s going really well.”
“Elizabeth!” Odie shared a hug with the young woman who’d joined her. “I’m so glad you decided to come.”
“Knowing what a big day this is for the girls, I wouldn’t have missed it. I should hire them to organize the grand opening for my art gallery when the time comes.”
“Not a bad idea,” Odie agreed. “Though, truth be told, I doubt they’d let you hire them. I’m sure they’ll want to help when their new neighbor is ready to open the doors to the public. After all, you’re one of our own now.”
A timid, half-smile lifted the corners of the woman’s mouth and Odie resisted the urge to hug her again. Though Liz had only arrived in Chance a couple of weeks before, she and her young son were quickly becoming a part of the Flynn family. Having them living in the old garage apartment had reminded Odie of how much she enjoyed having little ones underfoot.
“I love the workmanship on the new bookshelves,” Liz said, as if needing to change the subject. “They fit in as if they were part of the original decor.”
“They did turn out good, didn’t they?” Between the new stock the girls had ordered and the books brought in by Allie’s newspaper appeal—and a little arm-twisting on Odie’s part—they’d ended up having to build new shelves to hold all the books. “Which reminds me, have you found someone to renovate your building yet?”
Liz’s smile vanished as she shook her head. “None that are going to work. Either their waiting list is as long as my arm or their prices for coming up the mountain are way beyond my budget. I’m beginning to think I might have made a mistake in not hiring the contractor before I finalized the purchase.”
“Nonsense,” Odie murmured, as a new idea began to take shape. “Have you considered hiring a local to do the work?”
Liz looked surprised. “I didn’t know there was anyone local who could do the job.”
“As it so happens, there is,” Odie assured her. “And he’s practically family, too, which makes it even better. Hold on. He was around here somewhere just a few minutes ago. There he is! Ryan!”
TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) Page 22
