by Oram, Jean
After completing her business, Jen walked to the creek with her camera to watch the fish.
But the creek was empty. Dried right up.
Did the fish manage to swim to safety, or did they slowly cook in the boiling, evaporating water? Jen flipped her sunglasses up off her face and wiped her wet cheeks.
What if she had really done this? This wasn’t just the costs of firefighting, or rebuilding damaged areas, or replanting trees, or having a few more deer, elk, or bears walking through Blueberry Springs than usual. It was everything. Their habitats. Their lives.
How many animals hadn’t escaped?
She should have stayed home. No camping trip was ever this important. And honestly, the odds were that it was her who started this fire. If there had been another camper, they would have used the metal fire pits, and when push came to shove, they were going to contain a fire more reliably than a few stacked rocks.
Flinching at a sound behind her, Jen quickly flipped her sunglasses over her damp eyes. Rob slowed as he moved closer.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” He indicated the burned-out wreckage surrounding them.
She nodded. “I guess I brought my bathing suit for nothing.”
“Your first fire gets you right here.” He touched his chest lightly, his eyes locked on hers. “Doesn’t it? All those little things you don’t think of until you’re faced with it.”
“All the rabbits and fish. Even the spiders. Birds and their nests. All those innocent creatures…” Every emotion she’d felt in the past month burst out of her like a broken dam, and a massive sob broke loose.
“I pulled the pin on that one, didn’t I?” Rob said with a chuckle, drawing her into a tentative one-armed hug. Not intending to, she collapsed into his arms and let out a few hearty sobs before forcing her emotions back under control.
“I’m sorry, Jen. This wreckage is my existence. I forgot how hard it is for people like us the first time.” He gave her a light squeeze and took a look at her. “It gets to you.”
She sniffed, tipped up her chin, hating the way tears were still coursing over it. “It’s just seeing it. Knowing that it’ll take years for the area to reestablish itself. And all the animals.” A fresh bout of tears broke free.
Rob wrapped his arms around her again, holding her safe. Protecting her. She clung to his shirt, struggling for control. But being held simply gave all the hurts and fears she’d kept tucked away the power to wash themselves out. She pushed Rob away. She needed to regain some semblance of control before he questioned her emotional stability.
He magically produced a bright white tissue, and she quietly wiped her eyes and nose. “Thanks. I’m sorry.”
He nodded and after a moment said, “Shall we?”
“You’re done?” Was him being fast a good or bad thing?
“For now. I have the route in my GPS and have taken a preliminary survey of the area and an extensive analysis of the fire pit.” He looked to the sky which still had a slight haze of smoke from still-smoldering trees that she’d been studiously ignoring. “Which is good, because I think we might get rained on.”
Jen looked up, surprised to see rain clouds hovering above them. How did those sneak in? She used to pride herself on her weather prediction, but she’d completely missed these clouds. Maybe because it was just more gray in a black world and despite pretending everything was fine, she was still out of sorts.
Turning, Jen began to lead them out of the forest. She paused and turned, not hearing Rob behind her. “What?”
“It’s this way,” he said gently, tipping his head in the opposite direction as she had been heading. “It’s disorienting, isn’t it?” He placed a hand on the small of her back, just below her backpack, and guided her back onto their path so she could lead them out. She checked her GPS and frowned. Some guide she was. Hopefully, he was paying more attention to what was in that pit than her powers of navigation.
“We should move quickly so we’re out of the burn area before the clouds open up,” he said. “Otherwise it’ll get very messy.”
They hiked steadily and were just cresting the last large, scarred, black hill before they were back in the unaffected area when the cold wind hit Jen’s back. She picked up the pace but, almost immediately, the rain hit. An instant downpour had them soaked.
“Did you bring rain gear?” Rob asked, rain pouring off the brim of his cap.
She shook her head, fitting her backpack’s built-in rain guard over it. “Just this.”
Rob laughed. “I believed the forecast for once.”
She shivered and adjusted her pack. The rain was cold, but mostly it was creepy. It poured down, strangely muted in the soot, giving it a definite eerie feeling. Chills raced through her, one on top of the other. She’d never been in such an ominously quiet downpour.
“Good thing we have these.” Rob held up his own GPS and grinned.
Looking over the side of the last hill, Jen couldn’t see the bottom, the downpour obliterating everything. Black sludge streamed down the hill at a dizzying speed.
Jen checked her GPS’s signal and found the rain was messing with the old gadget. “I’m losing signal.” She tried not to panic. To remind herself that she was close to the parking lot. But with over an hour’s hike left…it would be easy to set off in the wrong direction, especially in this blinding rain.
She pointed to the hill. “You first.”
Rob leaned out, peering over the edge of the hill. “Ladies first?”
Jen grinned. “Not a chance.”
“This could get bad. If we fall, we might not stop until we reach the bottom and there are a few rocks between here and there. I think we’d better hang on to each other.”
“Yes, please.” Catching a glimpse of just how bad the slick path was, she grabbed Rob’s arm tightly with both hands, not caring if she looked like a wussy guide as she took a tentative step forward. Black soot poured around her feet, chilling her toes before oozing down the hill in a disorienting fashion.
Rob pulled at her fingers, loosening her grip.
Sidestepping and clinging to each other’s arms, they slowly began to work their descent.
“This feels like Romancing the Stone.” Jen laughed. Her heart caught, staggering over itself as she realized she was inches from Rob, his wet shirt stuck to his pectorals, highlighting the broad flatness of his chest.
“What?”
“Kathleen Turner plays this romance writer trying to save her sister, and she’s lost, scared, and alone in the Columbian jungle. The bus she’s on has an accident, and she ends up abandoned on the mountainside. Kurt Douglas appears out of nowhere and saves her from this bad guy, but he’s all gruff and scary and she’s all intimidated, right? Then there’s this downpour as they are escaping and…” Jen flicked her gaze from their feet up to Rob’s gray eyes. He was listening intently with a curious expression, his face close to hers in the rain. “Anyway, um, she ends up sliding down a mountainside in a skirt and heels.”
“I think your choice of footwear is significantly more appropriate.”
“Well, I’m not a romance writer.”
Rob let out a loud laugh, changing their balance as a clap of thunder startled her. The earth slipped out from under Jen and she pulled hard on Rob’s arm to steady herself. Surprised by the sudden weight, he toppled onto her as she went down. Scared and still clinging to his arm, they spun, wrapped around each other as they slid and jerked down the rushing hill.
Mud and cold water rushed through her outfit, grit grabbing at her skin as they spun and slid, uncontrolled.
The world raced by dark and indeterminable.
Jen’s foot hit something solid and she dug in, jarring her leg as she slowed them enough that Rob could complete the stop by madly scrambling his legs. Soot coursed abrasively between Jen’s fingers and she let go of Rob’s arm and sat up.
“You all right there, Kathleen Turner?” Rob asked, sprawled on his back.
Jen let out a laug
h. She wiggled her limbs. Everything felt cold, wet, and slightly bruised, but otherwise okay. “Yeah, I’m all right. You?”
He winced and moved experimentally. “So far, so good.” He was soaked, almost every inch of him covered in black grime. His gray shirt was black, his face and hair a mixture of mud and soot.
She laughed. “I’m going to be blowing soot out my nose for days.”
Rob stood and tried to wring the mess out of his shirt.
“So, how shall we finish this hill? What did they do in the movie?”
She laughed and gave him a playful shove, sending him sprawling down the hill again. She gasped and tore after him, snagging his hat as she slid past it.
“You suck,” Rob said when she skidded to a stop slightly below him on the hill.
She cocked a smile. “What are you going to do about it?”
Rob stood, accepting his hat and shoving it onto his head, sending muddy water down his cheeks.
Jen fell over backwards in the muck, laughing. She sat up quickly as cold water ran down the inside her jacket. She gasped. “Shit, that’s cold!”
Rob laughed. “Nature must be on karma’s side.” He leaned forward and tweaked her nose, a glimmer of amusement in his gray eyes.
He continued down what was left of the hill, a swagger in his steps, his wet pants sticking to his well-shaped butt.
For the first time in weeks, Jen couldn’t wait to see what life brought her next.
* * *
As they hit the parking lot, the sun came out from behind the retreating clouds and Jen spied a rainbow above the trees. She pointed it out to Rob, resisting the odd urge to lean against his shoulder to watch the rainbow together. Now that they were out of the burn area, her heart was telling her to listen to Wally and live a little. What was the worst that could happen? She hadn’t had this much fun with someone in…ever. She and Rob would make good friends. Even though her brain was being Miss Bossy Pants and telling her to keep a professional distance.
Rob looked her over from head to toe and she shivered in her cold, wet, dirty clothes. She returned the favor, eyeing Rob, taking in every detail of his soggy, sooty appearance. She wrinkled her nose thinking of all the places that had to be harboring soot and mud.
She walked to his truck. His nice, new truck with plush seats.
“Do you have extra clothes?” he asked, chucking his sopping pack in the back of the truck.
“No. Well, my bathing suit,” she admitted reluctantly.
“Why’d you bring a bathing suit?”
“I didn’t realize the creek would be dried up. I usually go for a dip at the clearing.” She cleared her throat. “Did you bring extra clothes?”
“No.” He shook his head, looking sadly at his shiny truck.
“Well, I could put on my bathing suit and you could wear my towel.” She smiled at the thought and raised her eyebrows in challenge. “You don’t want to stay in those cold, wet clothes and catch your death, do you?”
He paused, biting his lower lip, head tipped back and to the side. Despite the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, she could see he was fighting goosebumps, too. “Soot is difficult to get out of seats, but they are black…” The mischievous twinkle she’d come to adore came to his eyes.
“You don’t want everyone who sits on them for the next ten years to come away with a sooty bottom.” Decision made, Jen start digging through her pack for her bathing suit and towel, her head shaking. What was wrong with her that she’d offer to wear a bathing suit in front of him?
Oh, right. He was going to wear her towel. She bit back a wicked smile. This was going to be a fun ride back to Blueberry Springs.
“I suppose I would lose all those manhood points I earned taking the shortcut if I denied the opportunity to see you decked out in a bikini.”
She tossed her damp towel at Rob with a snort. “Who said anything as impractical as a bikini? I’m a nature guide. I expect to be able to dive into the water with careless abandon and reappear on the surface still wearing something.”
Rob laughed, his cheeks flushing as he held the towel.
“I’ll change at the back of the truck, you change at the front,” she suggested, moving around back. Frantically, she struggled to wiggle out of her clinging wet clothes and into her bathing suit. Half freezing, she walked around the side of the truck catching sight of Rob in nothing but her towel. Hum-m-m-muna. That might be just the thing to stop her teeth from chattering.
With super-human effort, she tried not to stare at his toned abs and pulled her burning eyes away. And caught sight of his pecs. Also very nice. She tried to look elsewhere, but found her eyes drawn like magnets to his arms and shoulders.
Holy hell. She might be drooling.
Rob broke the moment by laughing at her legs.
“I know,” she grumbled, shifting her weight. “Apparently, my breathable hiking pants inhale as well as exhale. It’s not like your legs are any better.” She took in his grubby legs, smiling at his pasty, clean feet. She glanced at her own feet. Black as a night without a moon. Now she knew why Rob wore those big boots.
Jen rubbed her goosebump-covered arms, and her teeth started to chatter. Self-conscious that certain body parts might be revealing just how nipplely the post-rain air was, she crossed her arms tightly over her chest and moved to the passenger side.
Rob started the engine and cranked the heat. As he released the clutch, the towel eased its way down between his legs, the two ends coming apart to reveal the white on his upper thigh that was normally protected from the sun.
“Don’t worry, I have my boxers on.” Rob smiled.
Cheeks flushed, she struggled not to look for more as the towel separated to expose blackened red and blue plaid boxers.
Catching the towel and bringing it around his waist again, Rob blushed.
He was so shy, it was painfully cute.
“Oooooo…plaid. Very sexy,” Jen singsonged, trying to make him blush more. If only she had X-ray vision. Well, then she’d pretty much faint on the spot. That or jump him.
It was going to be a long ride back into town.
* * *
Flirtatious fun flipped Jen’s stomach upside down. Dangerous flirtation. She almost pulled back, but with the protection of their respective roles as fire investigator and possible suspect, she knew it would prevent them from taking things further. Which meant, for once, she could unleash her flirtatious side without worrying about romantic repercussions.
Which meant fun. Lots of fun.
Jen’s stomach rumbled loudly, causing Rob to raise his eyebrows. They hadn’t stopped to eat other than the occasional snack and it was now evening, the sun dipping down to kiss the mountaintops.
Reaching into her pack, Jen’s fingers curled around something she knew Rob would be unable to resist. She peeled off the lid to a stash of Mandy’s whiskey and gumdrop brownies and extended them to Rob, taking advantage of the moment to admire his almost naked physique.
He was like an underwear model only better due to the perfect balance of hardness and softness. His shoulders rounded in just the right way. His physique was tight, but not so hard she’d break a nail squeezing his ass. She liked that. A lot.
“Want some?” She raised an eyebrow as though offering something more than chocolatly goodness.
Rob, eyes on the road, dipped a hand in the container, taking a massive bite of brownie without looking at her. “Mmm…holy shit these are good!” He ogled the half brownie left in his hand.
As long as Mandy kept her supplied, she had this man hooked. Forget taking him to bed such as Amber had suggested. There were simpler ways to get to a man. Less complicated ways.
Although maybe not as satisfying.
Jen offered him another brownie then took one for herself. One brownie left. She finished hers and reached into the container to pick up a few larger crumbs, bumping into Rob’s warm hand as he went to do the same.
“How can your hands be warm?” She was still
freezing despite Rob having cranked the heat. She was having to keep an arm across her chest so her nipples didn’t poke his eyes out.
He shrugged and glanced at the container. He looked at the last brownie with longing. Then at Jen. Then back at the road. Sighing, Jen picked up the last brownie, split it in half and handed him a piece.
“Did you say you’re single?” he asked with a smile.
She paused, the line echoing against something in the back of her mind.
Ken. Her ex.
She sighed. She’d snagged Ken with brownies. They had been the clincher between her and the few other girls who’d been chasing him at the time.
Jen looked at the half brownie in her hand. If she was using Mandy’s prize-winning brownies as bait instead of her own boring recipe…did that mean she had a chance at snagging a guy like Rob? A proportionally better brownie equalled a proportionally better man?
Wait. She scrunched her eyes shut. She wasn’t aiming to snag anyone. And especially not a man who had been hired by the government to find out if she was a guilty-little-forest-fire-starting-nature-guide.
She needed to launch some pretty serious professional boundaries before she got hurt or things got complicated.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Yeah, fine. Single,” she added, trying to catch up to the conversation. “You know I don’t share these brownies with just anyone. Usually people have to do something pretty special.”
“What did I do to deserve some now? So I can get a perspective on what I’m going to have to accomplish in the future.” He shifted, angling himself toward her.
She laughed. “Who said you deserved these? I brought these for myself. I’m just being nice and sharing a few with you so you don’t make me walk back.”
“I would never—”
“I know.”
Rob placed a hand over his heart, his attention on the road. “Thank you for sharing your brownies out of the goodness of your heart. They were devoured with utmost attention to the love and devotion you put into them.”
