“Go ahead,” I called out, “I’ll catch up.”
Randy hiked his pack up on his back and grinned. “Have Ems tell Connie to wear a pink dress for the wedding,” he said. “And that I couldn’t be happier. It’s about fucking time you made an honest woman out of my only little sister,” he added. “Especially after what I walked in on.” He turned to follow the others, but not until he’d landed a thumping punch to my arm. “Yes, sir…” he mumbled as he took off, “kids with a sitter and the wife all pretty in pink. That’ll get a man home fucking fast…”
I punched the numbers in and listened while it rang. I could tell the connection wasn’t strong, but my heart leapt anyway when I heard her voice…
“You’ve reached the home of the future Mr. and Mrs. Stokes,” I heard her voice say. “Please leave us a message and we’ll get back to you…”
“I love you, Ember,” I said fast, knowing the connection wouldn’t last. “Goddamn, I wish I’d gotten to talk to you instead of having to leave a message. Randy and I are on the ground; you and I are only a mountain range apart. All I want is to get back home and marry you…
“Fall asleep tonight knowing you’re the love of my life, Ember. Randy says for Connie to wear pink… but I want you all in white silk, babygirl…” I said, looking around at the black, broken and smoldering landscape that surrounded me…
“The fresh, pure color of winter snow…”
29
Jason
“I know we still need men here,” I shouted. “But we’ve got to find a way to spare them anyway. The water from that lake could be our ace in the hole…” For a second the wind died down enough I didn’t have to shout. “This is growing by the fucking second and I want the option of using that water, by hand if we have to. Though goddamned pumps would be better.”
“Or a fucking winter storm,” Randy shot back, motioning for the lake crew to go on ahead. “Everything out here should be blanketed in snow right now… saturated at the very least. Inflammable. We’d have a fighting chance if the fucking winds would die down.”
The crew had been working nonstop for two days to flank the fire, struggling to outpace it until the vehicles had finally caught up with us. Then we’d headed farther north, clearing the path that led toward the gorge. If it reached that point, nothing short of a miracle would stop it. Because fire runs through a steep gorge like water, climbing the walls and devouring the heavy brush and trees that line them. The terrain there is impossible to clear, by backburning or even by hand. If it reached the forest above, the winds were capable of whipping the tiniest embers into a firestorm. And the higher the winds, the farther the sparks would fly…
I swung my Pulaski, tearing into roots and frozen ground, feeling the muscles in my shoulders burn in spite of the frigid cold. Randy and I had taken half the crew to the widest part of the gorge, determined to fight as long as the light held. But in winter, the sun sets early, and soon the only light we’d have would be the crimson glow of the approaching flames.
“Drink,” Randy said, thrusting a steaming metal bottle into my hands, “if I can’t fucking convince you to stop and eat something…”
I paused long enough to swallow scalding coffee. “What’s the word on wind vectors?”
“Twenty miles per hour after sunset, still holding due north,” he replied. “We might catch a break as long as the gusts don’t pick up.”
“And as long as they don’t shift eastward,” I replied, wiping grit out of my eyes with the back of one hand. “I can’t help thinking that Ember’s cabin is on the other side of that range, and you know as well as I do… that canyon’s thick with tall, dry pine.”
“And I know you’ve been on duty for forty-eight straight hours and need to sleep,” he said. “So far, it hasn’t shifted, and if it does… well, we should get whatever sleep we can, while we can. Did you talk to her?”
“I left a message,” I replied, as I heaved my axe onto my shoulder and followed him toward base. I could smell hot food and realized how long it had been since I’d eaten last.
“Did you tell her we’re in the hot zone now?”
“I told her that I love her,” I replied. I looked up toward the night sky, a sky that should have been filled with stars but was thick with haze instead. “And that I can’t wait to marry her.”
Somewhere deep underneath, between consciousness and unconsciousness, I knew I was sleeping. And in spite of the heaviness in my chest and a foreboding sense of urgency, I struggled to stay with her a little longer…
“Ember…” I whispered, running my hands over her body. She was dressed in a long silk gown that clung to her curves, so thin that I could see the rosy color of her nipples as they hardened under my palms. The white silk was cold as ice, but her flesh radiated heat and her copper hair licked around her face and shoulders.
“Jason…” she breathed into the hard curve of my neck. Her breath was hot and sweet and I pulled her into my arms. Her body shaped itself to mine, her breasts mounded on my chest. I tore through the delicate fabric that covered her and feasted my eyes on her naked beauty. Her breasts were even heavier than I remembered, mounded against my chest as I slid my hands down to pull her hips to mine. My cock was bare too, thick and hard with impatience and raging out of control. My blood was pumping fast, and the heat building between our bodies was rising. But I felt like I was seeking more than just the heat I craved. My cock was wet, glistening… poised and ready to thrust into her molten core. She wrapped her legs around my hips and I kissed her…
“I have a gift for you,” she said, and I could feel her tongue moving against mine. Her hands moved lower as I plundered her mouth, her neck… I sucked one nipple into my mouth and used my tongue savagely.
“There’s something… I’m supposed to tell you,” I said brokenly, unable to clear the haze that thickened the air around us. Love and lust made it impossible to think, impossible to remember… “I love you, Ember… I want you…” I struggled to find the words I was searching for…
But in one swift movement, she slid down my shaft, swallowing me with her hot pussy. “You need this first,” she said, her voice husky, seductive. “I’ve got everything you need… what you’re hungry for.” She moved on me like she was weightless, stroking and squeezing me, her body hot and wet and so fucking tight. Her skin glowed and her hair swept around her shoulders like flames. She was powerful and passionate, working my cock to a heated frenzy with a dominance that held me spellbound. She licked at me, sucked at my skin and my mouth, teasing me toward a climax that spiraled upwards like a storm. “Let me give you this,” she said, as I captured her in my arms and thrust myself into her clenching heat. “This gift…”
A split second more and I was covering her body with mine, turning the tables and thrusting inside her. I filled her more with every stroke, taking her hips in my hands, and her lips with my mouth. It was my turn to fan the fire and I felt my body bead with sweat as I drove her higher and higher. She was gasping my name and I could feel her body tightening, her pussy molding itself to my hard, thickening shaft. I could sense she was right on the edge, hovering as I was, between intensity and sweet oblivion. I leaned back, hilting myself inside her and watching her response as the first shock rocked her body…
I came, at least in my dream, spilling myself deeply inside her. And I could feel the power of climax drawing me out of the dream… closer to the surface of consciousness. No matter how I struggled to stay, I felt like I was losing her… the picture of her face fading as my body thrashed…
I opened my eyes and felt all the breath leave my body all at once. Crashing footsteps fell all around me and the air was heavy with smoke, thick with the intensity of the voices of the crew. I was on my feet before I was totally awake, running on pure impulse toward the crew hauls and equipment. I threw my pack over one shoulder and ran toward the fire along with the other men.
The moment I saw the flames, I remembered the last, fading image of Ember in my dream. He
r hair brilliant, like a living thing… wild around her beautiful face. And her bare skin, pale… almost translucent…
And at her perfect center, a tiny, golden glow…
30
Ember
Good thing I had nine more months to get used to the idea.
Because the last two days hadn’t even cracked the surface.
“I still can’t believe it,” I said to Connie, as I opened the kitchen door to let Reilly out. She put a platter of bacon and eggs on the table. “And I don’t think it’s going to feel real until I tell Jason.”
“Well, if I know him, he’s trying as hard as you are to get a call through. Are you even sure you want to spill the beans before your wedding day? Imagine what that would be like. To make him a husband and a father on the very same day…”
I smiled at the idea, but shook my head. “Maybe I just need to hear his voice,” I said. “I always thought we’d be taking that test together… that we’d be together, and climb back into bed to celebrate the news together…” I wrapped my hands around my mug to warm them. “I didn’t picture it this way, Conn. That we’d be so far apart that we couldn’t even share the most important thing that ever happened to us.” I paused and looked at her. “We still have so many things we need to say to each other… Is this really how our family begins?”
“Trust me,” she said, “even if he was right here and you were sitting on his lap, you’d still be having a few second thoughts.” She smiled at me reassuringly. “It’s the baby hormones, is all. Welcome to Club Motherhood. Just wait until you start showing. Then it gets very real, very fast. And it seems to have a way of putting things into perspective…” She looked past me to the clock. “We should get headed into town right now if we’re not gonna keep Sarah waiting.”
Reilly scratched at the door, business finished and wanting his own breakfast. “I know you’re right…” I said. “But I just can’t seem to shake this feeling. The only thing that really matters to me now is telling Jason we’re having a baby.”
“There’s still no answer,” I said, putting the phone back in my bag. I’d called from the florist shop… and the first two dress shops. The need to reach him was getting more overwhelming as the day went on. I couldn’t keep the secret much longer, not from Mom. And I’d wanted so much to tell him first...
“So… whadda ya think…?” Connie spun around in a pale pink gown that swept her ankles. “Too light for a winter wedding?”
“I think it’s perfect,” Mom said, reaching to fluff out the skirt. “With your blonde hair and delicate skin… you’d be overwhelmed with anything darker.”
“Not to mention I get the pounding of a lifetime every time I wear this color,” Connie whispered to me with a wink. “I’d choose it for that alone.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, blushing at the same time because this was my brother we were discussing. “I think pink and green are the perfect colors,” I said, changing the subject. “Pale, … hinting that spring is right around the corner. If we’re lucky enough to have snow, it’ll be absolutely beautiful.” I ran my hands over the pristine silk of my own gown and smiled to myself.
“So is this the one?” Mom asked. She took my hand and twirled me a little so the long skirt billowed softly. The dress itself was as light as air; the shimmering velvet cape and hood I would wear over it would make it warm enough for an outdoor wedding. I nodded.
“You’re sure you two don’t want to wait a little longer?” she asked. “You look like a winter princess in that dress, but you could be a springtime goddess in only a few more months. Just imagine the fields full of flowers.”
“But we already picked out the flowers, Mom,” I said. “Yes, this is the dress. And no… we’re not waiting any longer than we already have. I always wanted a winter wedding… with the snow sparkling like diamonds and ice frosting the tops of the trees. I used to dream about it when I was little. And I would pretend the glade was a cathedral when it was covered in snow.”
“So that’s it, then,” Mom said. “We’ve got the place, the dresses… the colors… the flowers are paid for. I say let’s go have lunch and we can talk about the cake and the guest list. I can’t believe it’s all coming together so fast,” she said proudly. “But I think this’s going to be the most beautiful winter wedding anybody’s ever seen.”
While Mom and Connie headed for our table, I slipped away to the ladies room to call one more time. Halfway to the restaurant, it had occurred to me that Jason just might have called the cabin. Sure enough. I tapped in the code to retrieve my messages… I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of his voice, so deep, so close… “I love you, Ember… You’re the love of my life…”
My skin tingled responsively, tightening my nipples into hard buds underneath my sweater. Our news would have to wait a little while longer, but at least I had gotten to hear his voice, and knew that he was safe and well. It wouldn’t be much longer now.
“God, I should have been home…” I muttered, chiding myself. “I love you too, Jason…
“And I think I’m only starting to fully understand just how much…”
31
Jason
“...Son of a… bitch…”
My Pulaski caught, wrenching the already sore muscles in my shoulders. I picked up the chainsaw instead and set to work at the trunk’s base. “Did you get through to her yet?” Randy hollered over the deafening noise, “tell them to stay away?”
“She’s not at the cabin, or at least she wasn’t,” I yelled to Randy as we hacked our way through the rapidly deepening underbrush. “She’s gotta be in town by now to start planning the wedding.”
I shook my head hard, feeling a gut-wrenching jolt of helplessness as the enormous tree started to give way. It fell in slow motion, shrieking as it gave way and shaking the ground under our feet. A dozen men took to it, dismembering it as quickly as possible, burning what they dared. We had a hundred more yards to clear and the fire was moving a helluva lot faster than we were. Half the crew was working to bring in water from the lake… and the rest of us were working our way deeper and deeper into the narrowing neck of the gorge…
“She’ll hear it on the news,” I shouted, leaning in toward his ear. “I’ll keep on calling, as long as it takes, but they’re bound to hear about it somehow. And Ember’ll know not to go back into the valley. She knows the danger better than anyone.”
I looked up toward the canopy above us, veiled in smoke and leaning treacherously to the east. The winds had slowed overnight, but were rapidly increasing as the day wore on. The lake crew had managed to break through the thick layer of surface ice, but as long as the wind continued at these speeds, water drops were still impossible. The fire was moving fast, burning everything in its path and growing in strength despite all our efforts. I gritted my teeth, and listened to the sound of my own blood pounding. I had a decision to make. And there wasn’t any point in delaying any longer. I had to face the truth.
“Call back the lake crew,” I shouted over the roar of the saws. “We have a better chance with all of our men here now.” For the first time, I saw a flicker of fear in Randy’s eyes. “If the wind slows, we can always try again. But the only chance we’ve got right now is to fight by hand. Call the men back, feed as many as you can while we still have time. We need every man on the front line. This’s hand-to-hand combat now, whether we like it or not…
“And we’ve got to stop it before the embers reach that gorge…”
My cell phone was dead.
I took five more minutes for food and water… fuel so that I could keep moving. I looked at the orange glow, brighter and closer than it was an hour ago, and realized that the frigid air that had raked my lungs just this morning was warm now. I swallowed without tasting, knowing that the fire was doing the exact same thing; feeding, strengthening itself for the battle ahead. It wanted the mountain range behind us, and only twenty exhausted men stood in its way…
I climbed to the highest po
int I could with the satellite phone; a burned-off plateau that offered what little view the smoke allowed. I could see movement in the flames now, not just light. This would be my last chance, maybe for days, even weeks… and I knew it in my gut. If I didn’t get through to Ember now, it was possible I wouldn’t be able to reach her in time.
“Jason? Oh my g... Jas… I’ve… een trying… call… for…”
“Ember, thank god. Thank god,” I cut her off. “The connection is bad, baby. Listen to me. Stay out of the valley. Don’t go back home. The cabin’s in the line of fire… Don’t go back home.”
“...eed to... tell…”
“I love you, Em, so fucking much. I’m okay, so is Randy. Stay in the city, sweetheart, and don’t worry. We’re going to be fine. I’ll find you when it’s all over…” I was shouting by the end as hot, dry winds picked up around me, howling with fury.
“...love, Jas…” I heard through the static. “... I… home… … and we… … aby…”
“I can’t hear you, sweetheart… I pray to god you can hear me. I love you, Ember, god how I love you,” I yelled as the connection crackled and died. “Just don’t go back home.”
32
Ember
“Since when have you been an herbal tea person?” Mom said, looking over her mug of hot coffee. I shot a sideways glance at my sister-in-law and she gave me the look… the one that says the gig is up.
I waited until the waitress had cleared our plates away before I sucked up my courage to speak. “Since I found out we’re not just planning a wedding,” I said. “Jason and I are having a baby. I would have told you this morning… but I kept hoping I could get a call through so I could tell him first.”
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