Wildfire

by Lynn James

  Elaine, having briefly observed the scene from the doorway, patted Raine on the leg as she dropped a quick kiss on Devon’s cheek. Her sweetheart looked anxious and she didn’t want to get in the way. She hoped she was welcome, but after Devon’s statement that her staying every night was ridiculous, she wasn’t so sure. “Hang in there, Raine. I’ll just wait outside and give you some privacy.”

  “You’ll do no such thing. Get your ass back in here,” Raine commanded breathlessly. “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind holding the video camera and filming because I think Stace is going to pass out.”

  Stacey’s protest was weak enough that Elaine thought Raine might be right. She could barely control the breaking of her voice “Sure. It would be my pleasure.”

  The doctor entered followed by two nurses and began final preparations for the baby’s impending arrival. Stacey maneuvered herself behind Raine, holding her up and making it easier for her to push. Elaine managed the video camera while Devon stood over her sister, gently stroking her forehead.

  “Just a couple more,” the doctor urged in his steady, confident voice.

  Stacey encouraged Raine as she maintained a death grip on Stacey’s arm. Raine was sweating and crying as the baby’s head finally began to crown. One final push and the next thing Devon knew the doctor was cutting the umbilical cord.

  “A perfect baby boy,” the doctor stated. It seemed to take forever for the doctor and nurses to administer the baby’s Apgar score and clean him up. But just minutes later the nurse was laying Raine’s perfectly healthy, tightly wrapped son in her arms.

  It took Devon a moment to feel the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. Raine was radiant and her son was perfect. He was red and wrinkly and had Phillip’s eyes and Raine’s mouth. He had ten fingers, ten toes and he was definitely a McKinney. When he opened his mouth and yawned, Raine looked at Devon, Elaine and Stacey and they all laughed.

  “As if he did all the work,” Raine said, her voice strained with fatigue. He wrapped his little hand around Raine’s pinky and looked up at the women looking lovingly down on him.

  Stacey said, “Let’s get the video chat going.”

  Raine didn’t take her gaze off her son. “Little man, you’re gonna meet your papa.”

  Elaine set the video camera in the tripod making sure it was perfectly positioned on Raine and the baby while Stacey worked some kind of magic on her laptop. There was some delay while Phillip made his way to the space on his base where he could see and respond.

  Once his beaming, anxious face came onto the screen on Stacey’s laptop, Devon said, “Let’s leave them alone. Hard enough he’s on the other side of the world.”

  “He’s so beautiful honey,” Devon heard her say into the camera. “He’s perfect. I wish you could have been here.”

  Phillip might not be here now, but Devon was glad that he would be able to share in the experience later.

  Stacey went to find a beverage and Devon knew she needed a few minutes to collect herself. Stacey absolutely hated getting weepy in front of anyone except maybe Devon.

  Elaine and Devon made their way down the elevator and to the small garden outside the visitor’s lounge. Devon immediately took shelter in Elaine’s arms, shedding tears of joy while Elaine simply held her without saying anything.

  Just a few moments later Devon wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For crying and getting you all wet.” She tried to lighten her mood. “God, I must look terrible.”

  Elaine placed her finger under Devon’s chin and tilted her head up, pushing a stray hair behind her ear. “You are by far the most incredible woman I have ever seen in my life and please don’t ever apologize for showing your emotions.”

  Elaine leaned down to kiss her. The kiss was gentle and sweet and asked nothing of her.

  Once she had calmed they made their way back to Raine’s room. The video chat session was just ending. She could hear good-natured ribbing and congratulations being offered as the connection closed.

  “He’s beautiful, Raine. You and Phillip made a perfect baby.”

  “We agreed on his name for certain,” Raine said. “Adam Paul, this is your Aunt Devon.”

  Devon didn’t even hide the emotion in her voice as Raine introduced the child named after their father. “Hello Adam. Welcome to the world.” Devon bent down and kissed her sister on the forehead. “I love you.”

  Raine’s eyes glittered with tears as she looked at her sister. Her whisper was filled with emotion. “I love you too, Dev.”

  They all stood around Raine adoring her son until the nurse finally chased them out so mother and son could rest. Devon and Stacey both dropped a kiss on Raine’s head and gave her a hug.

  Devon gave Stacey a hug in the parking lot and realized she was still shaking.

  “I’m so glad it’s over,” Stacey said after clearing her throat. “That was amazing and freaky and exhausting, all at once.”

  “Are you hungry? We could get some breakfast,” Elaine suggested.

  “Breakfast? Okay, then after I want to sleep.” Devon gazed at the hint of sunrise. It was a brand-new day.

  Chapter 20

  “Shower, then sleep,” Devon announced as they arrived home.

  “What a good idea.” Elaine wanted a hot shower desperately and knew it would help to soothe and relax them both.

  She joined Devon in the shower and gently washed her, at that moment wanting nothing more than to take care of her. She slowly dried Devon, concerned by the dark circles around her eyes. She looked like she would fall over at any minute. Elaine had spent days awake during fire season. When the adrenaline stopped pumping, she knew how the exhaustion would sap any strength that may have been left.

  Moments later she crawled in bed next to Devon and pulled her into her arms. She thought Devon would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but instead Devon’s hands began slowly rubbing over Elaine’s shoulders and stomach. She couldn’t stifle the gasp of pleasure when Devon took an erect nipple between her teeth.

  She knew she should insist that Devon rest. She wasn’t a selfish lover. But as always with Devon, it only took a touch and her body was on fire. Devon kissed her slowly, deeply as their bodies began to merge. Devon’s hands slid lower pulling Elaine’s hips beneath her as her tongue swept across her lips.

  She pulled Devon close against her. “I intended to just hold you while you slept.”

  Devon quietly said, “I need you.”

  She leaned up to kiss Devon and all at once the urgency was there. As she slowly stroked Devon’s body she could feel her yielding, her body silently begging Elaine to take her. Devon’s body was so soft, warm and inviting. The low moans encouraged her to continue. All of those weeks ago in the mountains Elaine felt like she had shed her old life. Now, in Devon’s arms, she felt like she was reborn.

  Elaine was lost in sleep, slowly awaking from her dreams of erotic memories of their lovemaking. The sound of someone talking in the distance caused her to stir. The bed was much too soft and her body too relaxed for her to be at work. The voice at the edge of her sleep was brief and soft and then the room was quiet again as she drifted back into a deep sleep.

  When Elaine finally awoke she had no idea what time it was. The room was still dark and she listened a moment before she realized that the steady patter of rain was trying to lull her back to sleep again. She felt Devon move against her and she knew that if there truly was a heaven she had found it. It was right here in this moment, in this bed, with this woman.

  “Are you awake?”

  “Don’t want to be,” she answered. “But we need to go back to the hospital. Raine will be discharged today.”

  Now or never, she thought. Retreating to silence wouldn’t get her anywhere. “When you said that my coming over every night was ridiculous—”

  “What?” Devon sat up. “I never said that.”

  “You pointed at my bag and said it was ridicu
lous. I’ve been here every night since we got back. I assumed you meant that it was too much.”

  “No, that is not what I meant…at all.”

  Elaine wiped sleep out of her eyes. “Okay. So, what did you mean?”

  “I meant that it is ridiculous for you to have to stop by your house every day. It is ridiculous because I asked you to bring more of your things over and yet you still live out of that bag. It is ridiculous because I am completely and totally in love with you and I want you and all your things here all the time.” Devon’s eyes were shining in the low light.

  Elaine trembled as she listened to the words she herself had been feeling. “You do know that I’m hopelessly and helplessly in love with you.”

  She leaned down and gently kissed Elaine. “Well?”

  “Yes.”

  Chapter 21

  The fire in northern Oregon was burning out of control. The winter snow for the area hadn’t been enough to dent the decade-long drought conditions that had intensified as summer arrived. High winds and a lack of rain were propelling the blaze. An endless stream of beetle-killed trees were in the path of the fire. The environmentalists hadn’t wanted the trees clear-cut and now they presented a hazard to the hundreds of firefighters risking their lives trying to battle the inferno as it consumed thousands of acres and numerous homes.

  Elaine made what she hoped was one of the last pit stops at her house before heading to the station. She intended to put it on the market, but the last few months had flown by. All she wanted to do every day was get home to Devon.

  It was already early afternoon. They would carpool to the staging area where they would await orders from incident command for mobilization. From there they were sure to work through the night. Her crew was well-trained and would probably be among the frontline firefighters working to create fire breaks. For the first time she thought about how dangerous this part of her job was. She had a family to go home to. She smiled at the sensation that thought brought. For the first time since her relationship with her parents had become estranged, she was part of something so much bigger than herself and it had nothing to do with work.

  “There were multiple start points, all at once—if this isn’t arson I’ll eat my hat,” Donovan said as he tossed his gear into the back of Elaine’s truck.

  If Elaine thought too long about it, she’d be too angry to think. “The National Guard is doing what it can with the aerial assaults. Preliminary reports have us working with other ground crews to create breaks on the northern perimeter.”

  Donovan wore a mischievous smirk. “Let’s hope they don’t drop any of that shit on us this time.” His smirk became a full-on grin. “I thought you’d be a redhead for months.”

  Elaine laughed. She remembered that incident well. They had called for a foam drop and the ferric oxide had coated them all in red. It had taken her weeks to get all of the residue out of her hair. Thankfully satellite imaging and GPS coordination had improved so much in the last few years that those sorts of mishaps were less likely. “Laugh it up. If memory serves, you complained about itching for days. Besides you looked so cute all pink!”

  Donovan shot her a good-natured frown. “Yeah, it stung a little too.”

  She saw Donovan tuck a photo of his wife into his pocket, a standard talisman. Something she’d never felt quite right doing with a picture of Grace. Now she was kicking herself for not having a photo of Devon for herself. She ached to go back for another kiss and gave herself a hard mental shake. If she was going to do her job and get her crew and herself through this alive she was going to have to stay focused. She was going to have to push Devon from her mind. Yeah right!

  At Incident Command, outside of The Dalles, their crew joined hundreds of other personnel from federal departments, queuing up for buses to their work sites. She pushed thoughts of Devon to the back of her mind. She was a ranger, a captain. She had a job to do and people to lead and protect.

  Elaine reported to the command post and received orders to head toward the northeast ridge. The commander pointed out two specific points on the topographical map.

  “The wind is expected to shift and we need that break or the fire goes up this entire ridge. We have bulldozers in the leading path of the fire. Hopefully we can contain it on the eastern edge.”

  “Yes, sir,” Elaine answered. If the wind did shift as expected they would have precious little time to get a break established before the approach of the fire. Ultimately, they would be in the direct path of the blaze. Her crew was going to have to work quickly while the planes and helicopters provided what support they could. The high winds made it dangerous to fly so air support would be limited, but the water trucks would be extremely useful on the ground.

  Most of the men and women that Elaine worked with had families, all of whom she had made promises to—promises that their loved ones would return home safely. She knew that it was not a promise she should make, but it was a promise that she intended to keep.

  The crew would be riding in on a water truck armed with shovels, axes and chainsaws as they headed into the night. The truck dropped them at the end of a fire road close to where they would begin clearing vegetation. If they were lucky there would be some natural breaks that would help ease their burden. The tanker truck would follow them as they created the firebreak and the crew of the truck would work to soak as much area as they could before having to rotate out with another truck to resupply their stores.

  It was twilight as they approached the ridge, the smoke was almost suffocating. The kerchiefs they wore weren’t really much help and the smoke burned their lungs. If the blaze did shift they would have to switch to oxygen tanks, but for now they would conserve their resources.

  The burn in Elaine’s body was familiar and she worked through the heaviness that was pervading her muscles. With chainsaws and shovels they worked to cut trees and remove anything that would fuel the blaze. They had been working for several hours without rest and had managed to clear a wide path. She guessed it was after midnight, though the eerie light from the approaching fire made the light uncertain. The tanker crew stayed with them spraying water on the surrounding area hoping to saturate it, leaving the fire nothing to feed on.

  “Allen, get some water on those trees.” The smoke burned Elaine’s throat, making it difficult to yell. The roar of the fire nearly swallowed her words.

  “Yes, Cap.” His voice was showing the effects of the smoke as well.

  The wind kicked up again and, as predicted, turned in their direction. Embers leapt and jumped, starting smaller fires they quickly used their shovels to smother with dirt.

  “Okay guys, watch your back!”

  For a moment it looked like the break would hold. But as they worked she felt the smoke getting heavier. The fire was gaining in intensity.

  “Come on guys, pick up the pace. Watch the crosswinds.”

  “Cap, you got a hot spot to your left.”

  Elaine quickly smothered the fire. “Thanks, Dex!”

  Her focus abruptly riveted on the radio chatter. A team farther up the ridge was pulling back. The fire had crossed over them and was coming up behind Elaine’s crew even as the other team was in the back burn with a second wave of fire rising. Their clear-cut had been breached and the entire company was encircled. It was a call nobody ever wanted to hear and she knew that her crew was the closest ground unit to assist the trapped firefighters.

  Elaine had the safety of her crew to think about but when it came right down to it, the decision she had to make was easy. She redirected the water truck that was working with them and still over half full, to lay down a clearing to give the trapped firefighters a path out of danger.

  “Those guys are going to need some help getting out of there. We are going to break off this spur and go assist,” she yelled. “But anyone who wants out now should go. You have families to think about.”

  “So do you, Cap.”

  Elaine smiled; it was ironic that those words had never be
en spoken when she was with Grace.

  Elaine looked into the faces of the men and women standing around her waiting for orders. None had even budged, not that she had expected them to. They all knew that if they were in the same situation they would want help to come as quickly as possible. Their eyes held fear but also loyalty and a determination to do whatever was necessary to save lives.

  A helicopter had been dispatched to assist the stranded firefighters, but there was no guarantee that it would be enough. Within minutes, she knew the water drop wouldn’t be enough. They all knew it—she saw it in the faces of her crew.

  The fire was burning too hot for the water to extinguish much of a path. The secondary plane’s payload of chemical retardant still wasn’t guaranteed to alleviate the immediate danger. Elaine checked the coordinates and the direction of the wind. The fire was moving faster than the rangers would be able to. They were about to be just as pinned down as the crew they’d come to rescue.

  They were trapped with a granite ridge they couldn’t climb to their west and encroaching fire on the south and east, both converging on the fresh fuel, drawing the fire right over them to the north.

  Their only escape route was going to be ablaze before they cleared it.

  She radioed the captain of the trapped crew. He had reached the same conclusion and agreed to work their way toward her crew where they would work to establish a back door for extraction.

  The air drop was directed to the leading edge of the fire separating Elaine’s crew from the trapped men. Hopefully it would provide them with more time and room to work.

  When her company arrived at the fire wall that separated her from the trapped unit, the water truck was already working. They were in oxygen tanks and Elaine’s own men quickly donned theirs. They began moving burning and smoldering material out of the way.

  The smoke made it impossible to breathe and despite the flames they had almost no visibility. They were close to the water drop site, had to be, because now steam was making an ash slick of the helmet’s visor. The fire surrounded them but the small area they had cleared to reach the trapped men and women was holding.