“No, I’m not, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t panic, we’re not kidnapping you, this is totally your decision. But know from this day forward we consider you our daughter. We would have whether you were carrying our granddaughter or not. We don’t understand the choices our son has made, but he has much love for you, and therefore we have much love for you. You are part of our clan, our family, and our hearts.” She studied their faces and read the truth in what she said. For the second time Annie started crying.
“Miss Newman, I mean Annie, please don’t cry.”
“Hush Rafe, these are good tears. She knows she finally has a home.” Wanda pulled her into the warmest hug she could remember.
Annie rode in the Natani’s car to Shiprock. When they got to their modest adobe home, the moving truck wasn’t there. Instead an older woman was standing in the doorway, looking very elegant in a long caftan and boots.
“Mom. What are you doing here?” Rafe called out.
“A good question, since my son didn’t see fit to tell me he was bringing home my granddaughter and great-granddaughter.” The woman ignored her son and hugged her daughter-in-law before standing in front of Annie.
“Welcome Annie Newman. My name is Shilah Natani. I am your grandmother.” For the second time Annie was engulfed in a pair of loving female arms. This time Nell kicked out, surprising her and the older woman. Shilah broke away, and rested her hand on Annie’s belly. “And you little one, welcome. What is your name?”
“Her name is Nell.” Annie smiled, loving the fact Shilah treated Nell as an actual person, because in her eyes, Nell was a person, she just hadn’t come out to meet everyone yet.
“Welcome Nell, I am your great-grandmother.” Annie felt her baby kick in obvious excitement. It was like when she ate a piece of chocolate, or the few times she had gotten lost in a daydream about Seth. Nell was extremely sensitive, just like her Daddy. Tears formed for the third time but she willed them away. She was not going to ruin the joy her daughter was feeling at that moment.
“Granddaughter, it is going to be all right. This too shall pass.”
Annie looked into the eyes of a woman who though related to Seth by blood, really seemed to be his grandmother. Maybe there actually was hope.
“There is reason to hope. Trust me.”
Nell kicked again against this woman’s hand, as if she too was telling her to believe. Annie’s tears dried up.
“You are right. I am blessed.”
“You don’t believe it yet, but you will. You are strong my granddaughter. We don’t understand everything, but you need to know my grandson loves you.”
“I can’t Grandmother. I can’t hold onto that, it will break me. But I can believe in all of you. I can believe in Nell, and I can believe in myself.”
“That’s enough for now.” Shilah Natani pulled her towards the house, and they sat down while Wanda made hot chocolate. Again Annie felt Nell’s pleasure.
“I wonder where the moving truck is, I need to call them,” Rafe said as he pulled out his cell phone.
“It’s at my house,” Shilah stated. “The only room here, is Seth’s old room. Annie wouldn’t want to stay in it. It’s best she stays at my house.”
“Mom.”
“Shilah…” Wanda started.
“Annie, what do you think of that idea?” the older lady asked as she covered Annie’s hand with hers. Why was she so drawn to her? She turned her hand over and grasped it, like she would a lifeline.
“I would love to stay with you Mrs. Natani.”
“Please call me Grandmother, or Shilah whatever you are comfortable with.”
Annie thought it over. Her mother had abandoned her when she was six. She had never had a grandmother. Again, looking into this woman’s eyes was like looking into a part of Seth. Even though he had abandoned her as well, it was like a part of him was still with her.
“Grandmother. I want to call you Grandmother.” Nell kicked in agreement, and Annie gave a wan smile, the first smile since reading the awful letter.
“You’ll do Annie Newman.”
Excerpt from
Smokejumpers
by Elle Boon
Chapter One
Keanu walked a few feet from his team letting his instincts control him. He ignored their questions knowing they were missing something. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, never a good sign when you were in the middle of a huge forest fire. “Hey, did you guys hear that?” Keanu asked.
“Shit, man, this Gobbler is a fuck nut,” Brax McKay grumbled.
“Kea, all I can hear is my stomach rumbling.” Hal grinned, his blond hair soaked with sweat.
“I swear something’s not right.” Keanu nodded in the direction of the burned out forest.
He couldn’t squash the feeling of doom as he looked through the smoke. His inner fire leapt to life sending his senses on high alert. A small blaze could easily turn into something much larger with the dry conditions, and in Keanu’s opinion, it was a guarantee. They’d evacuated the surrounding homes, but it wasn’t always a guarantee all the families would get out.
“I’m going to scout around a bit, since we have about thirty minutes before pick-up. You guys head for the zone and wait for my call. If I’m not there when the DC shows I’ll meet you at the next drop.” He tapped the radio attached to his suit.
“Ya right, Boss. I don’t think so, I’m going with you,” Hal snorted, moving to stand by him.
“It’s cool. I’ll go by myself. It’s probably nothing.” Keanu shrugged.
Hal snorted and shook his head. “Let’s go.”
The group of Smokejumpers paused and Keanu nodded to Brax. He knew Hal would follow him regardless. They left the other six members of their team and headed in the direction Keanu sensed the disturbance. The overwhelming feeling persisted. Someone was trapped in the middle of the blaze he could feel it in his bones. The fire was all but burned out, but it was searching for more, and it found a new source. They needed to locate him or her quickly or there wouldn’t be anything left to find.
Ten minutes later they stood on the outskirts of an already evacuated community. Keanu considered calling a stop to their search fearing he was too late. There were towering homes to his right less than a hundred yards away, and blackened earth to his left.
“Kea, if there was someone here they must’ve gotten out.”
He wasn’t sure how Hal knew Keanu was searching for a person, but Keanu had figured out early on Hal was every bit as secretive as Keanu.
Hearing Hal mimic his thoughts about their search made his stomach drop, the other man didn’t have to add or they were dead. Nothing could’ve survived in the middle of the area.
Keanu shook his head not willing to give up, yet. “This way, I know I’m right.” Turning toward the trees, he didn’t need to check to see if his partner followed.
Burnt wood and grass surrounded them, inhaling deeply he caught a scent so distinctive it made most people gag.
“My water tank is almost empty. If there’s a fire, and I’m not saying there is, maybe we should call for back-up.”
“There isn’t time. I smell burnt human hair.”
“Shit,” Hal swore.
Keanu led them into a thick clump of charred trees. With all the blackness surrounding them, he couldn’t see a thing but he sensed a hot spot. A tingling deep inside that wouldn’t let him ignore what he knew was a real threat. He rushed to the area before coming to an abrupt halt. A large section filled with tall dry grass had started to smolder.
“What the fuck? How the hell did we miss this?” Hal pointed. “Look.”
A small boy was nestled in the branches just above the flames.
“Hal, you climb and I’ll take care of the fire,” Keanu ordered, glad to see his partner and best friend didn’t argue for once.
Stepping over the fallen branches and blackened areas, he inhaled the hot air into his lungs. He continued sucking the flame
s into his body, while using the water hose attached to his pack to douse the hot areas.
By the time Hal had the boy on the ground he couldn’t sense any more flames. He coughed and gave Hal two thumbs up.
They made their way back to their teammates with the small boy cradled in Hal’s big arms.
“What the hell?” Brax eyed the child.
Keanu grabbed a bottle of water from his coworker and chugged, while the rest of the group tended to the boy. His inner flame began to cool with the refreshing fluid and he accepted another bottle gratefully.
“Oh man, Kea. You saved the boy’s life.” Barry looked from the boy to Keanu.
Keanu shook his head. “Nah, I just got lucky. Hal got the kid down.”
“Bullshit! Good job, Kea.” Brax punched his arm.
Praise from his team made Keanu cringe. None of them were ordinary men, far from it, but he hated having attention drawn to him. He looked to the sky happy to see their pick-up overhead in time to save him from unwanted approval. They’d radioed ahead alerting them to the addition. The first man took the child. Keanu was the last to leave the clearing. Giving his inner fire free reign one last time, he made sure they hadn’t missed anything else. The next team wouldn’t have any surprises.
Getting into the DC-3 wasn’t nearly as fun as jumping from one, Keanu mused as he was finally lifted up.
* * *
“So, are you looking forward to going home, Boss?” Hal asked.
Keanu smiled at the waitress delivering their beers, rocking his hand back and forth. “Yes and no.”
“We’re going to miss you on the team. Not sure what we’ll do without our very own fireman.” Hal laughed, his booming voice drawing everyone’s attention to their table. The big blond Viking had that effect on people.
“Real funny. I’m still on call in case of emergency situations, and you know Brax can bend things to his will.” Keanu raised his eyebrows. The co-leader of their group had truly amazing and sometimes frightening powers, but Keanu wasn’t going to tell him.
Several beers later, Keanu couldn’t take the excess energy that came with using his abilities without going crazy any longer. He stood and nearly collided with their waitress. With her breasts against his chest he tried to remember her name, but all he could think about was fucking her. Normally, Keanu wouldn’t have a problem giving and taking pleasure, but this felt wrong. The girl looked like the marrying kind making her totally off limits. With a gentle smile, he moved her back with his hands on her arms. The feel of her trembling body almost made him stay, but one look at her young face made him change his mind.
“I’m out, Hal. See ya tomorrow.” Keanu released the girl with a murmur of apology and stepped around her.
“Sure thing,” Hal yelled over the band.
As he looked back, he saw Hal whisper in the young waitress’s ear. Without another glance he walked quickly to the bar’s exit.
* * *
Keanu stood on his deck gazing at the openness for as far as his eyes could see. He loved the smell of the mountains, the clean pine scent. It was very similar to his home with his grandparents. He raised his face to the sun, allowing the rays to warm him from the outside as his internal fire warmed the inside. Letting out a deep breath, he turned toward the fire pit in the corner and blew a puff of air on the logs, making them burn.
Smiling, Keanu stepped into his spacious kitchen and grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge. Closing his eyes in bliss he twisted off the cap, and tipped his head for a much needed drink. A platter of steaks and two potatoes wrapped in foil were on the counter ready to be cooked. He grabbed the platter, stepped outside and placed them on the grill, then with another breath of air the charcoals started to smoke and turn a fiery red.
“Yo, Kea. Where you at?” Hal Brooks yelled from inside.
“I’m on the deck. Grab a beer and come on out.”
Hal ducked his head, avoiding the door jamb and joined Keanu on the deck with two bottles dangling from his fingers. Keanu took a bottle from Hal with a shake of his head.
“Oofta, I so needed this.” Hal tipped his bottle to his mouth.
Keanu laughed and flipped the steaks. “Is ‘oofta’ a real word?”
“Hell yeah, it’s real. You can use it for just about any swear word.”
Keanu stifled a chuckle. “Thanks, but I think I’ll just say ‘fuck’ at least once in every sentence.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Fuck off.” Keanu laughed.
They sat in companionable silence, listening to the birds sing, and the wind whistle through the trees. Keanu loved being outside almost as much as he loved women. He swore watching the trees sway was like watching a woman sashay as she led her man to bed.
“So, what did your grandfather want?”
Leave it to Hal to cut to the chase before Keanu was ready to talk about it. His grandfather lived at the top of the Cascades. It was only fifty miles away, but it could be another country.
Keanu shrugged. “Something is spooking him, and if you knew my grandfather, you’d know it was major. He scares the shit out of me and I’m a grown man.”
“He didn’t give you any hints?”
Keanu looked at the pit and sucked in a breath, making the red coals lose some of their glow, before turning to his best friend. “Nah. He needs my expertise.” Keanu made air quotes, shrugged, and headed to the grill.
Keanu flipped the steaks and checked the potatoes.
“I’m going to miss my own personal barbeque-man.” Hal had a frown on his face.
He flipped Hal off. He’d had the ability to make a fire out of air since he was a small boy. By the time he’d turned twelve, he’d learned to breathe the fire back into his body without much cost to himself, other than the need to burn off the energy one way or another.
After graduating from high school he became a fireman for the local fire department. Known as a fire-breather in the world of elementals, Keanu could create a small flame or a large roaring blaze, and in the next breath suck it back into his body. Of course, the larger the fire the more energy he needed to burn afterwards.
As a child, he’d hike for miles and free-fall off a cliff into the freezing streams surrounding the Cascades. The adult Keanu found other more pleasurable ways to expel the effects, usually between the thighs of a woman.
“You need some help there, Kea?”
Keanu shook off his thoughts of the past. “Could you grab the salad and dressing out of the fridge?”
“No problem.”
Within moments Keanu had the steaks and potatoes on the table. It always amazed him the way the six foot four blond giant waited until everything was set before digging into his food. He’d slice his steak with exact precision into small cube-like bites, and then stab them with his fork, before chewing each piece several times.
Hal always consumed the meat first, then the carbs, followed by whatever was left, claiming he liked to eat the good stuff first. It amused Keanu to watch him. Being a man who loved his sweets, Keanu would skip the meal and eat dessert first when he could.
“Why are you staring at me like I’m some kind of lab experiment?” Hal asked.
Keanu shook his head, raised his fork and pointed it at his friend. “You are the weirdest eater.”
Hal raised his bottle. “I get no complaints from the ladies.”
“Thanks for the visual, dude.”
Ankles crossed, hands resting over his full belly, Keanu leaned his head on the back of his chair and stared at the darkening sky.
Hal kicked Keanu’s feet on the ottoman. With a grunt, Keanu made room for the other man to stretch his long legs too.
“Have you ever had the feeling your world was about to get rocked?” Keanu asked without looking at Hal.
“Yep! Every time I take a lady to bed.” Hal wagged his eyebrows.
“Shut up, dick,” he laughed. “I don’t mean like that. Besides, I don’t get my world rocked when I fuck a wo
man, I rock her world.” Keanu smirked.
“Man, you’re so full of it. I heard Cathy calling you all kinds of names and none of them good.” Hal punched Keanu’s arm.
“Damn, she’s one crazy-ass bitch. Seriously though, have you ever gotten a feeling nothing is gonna be the same again?” Keanu brought the conversation back around avoiding the unwanted reminder of his ex.
Hal bumped his size fourteen feet against Keanu’s before answering. Keanu felt like a pussy for voicing his fears.
“I don’t discount any mysterious crap. For real, my grandmother used to talk about the berserkers in my family, and how they came back every hundred years or some shit. I’m the first blond giant in over ten decades.” He gave Keanu a pointed look. “My Nana’s words, not mine. Sometimes, when I’m in the middle of a fire, I feel like another person is in my body. Ya know what I mean?” Color spread across Hal’s face.
Keanu knew exactly what he meant. Every member of their Smokejumper group had special abilities. Hal’s was clearly a human wrecking ball. He just hadn’t realized Hal wasn’t always in control, or didn’t feel like it at least. “I think we all feel like that to an extent. Have you talked to the captain about it?”
Hal pinned him with a look brooking no argument. “Nothing to talk about.”
They fell silent. Keanu let the quiet of the night soothe his soul. One of the reasons he and Hal were such good friends was because neither man pried into the other’s business.
“I’d better get going. You want me to help clean up?” Hal nodded at the dishes on the table.
“Nah, I got it.”
“Hey, I owe you for cooking, but I haven’t mastered the art of making anything other than Ramen noodles yet.”
Keanu blinked his eyes. “Because you have the poor little boy look down to an art. You bat those baby blues and all the ladies line up to cook for you.”
“Well, you just smile that bright cheesy ass grin and the ladies are lining up to take their panties off for you. I think that trumps my free meals.”
Both men laughed at the familiar argument, since neither man lacked for food or companionship.
Revealed (The Found Book 1) Page 23
