Scorch (13 page)

“Um, sure.”
Thanks
. “What exactly happened? Do the buyers need more time or…?”

“Their financing imploded. It definitely won’t finalize. Our real estate agent said she’d go back to the couple who looked at it right before this offer was made, but I’m not holding my breath. We’re back to square one.”

“That’s awful. I’m so sorry,” Jacqui said dumbly.

“Me, too. I’ve already started packing. Sounds like you have, too.”

“Some.” Mostly she’d been sorting Russ’s things. She had planned to make more decisions about household items once she knew what kind of space she’d be living in, but had been dragging her feet on finding something, because, well, it would mean seeing less of Vin.

She sighed at herself.

“Well, that’s why I decided to call you,” Tori said. “I thought you should know, too.”

“Thanks.” Jacqui honestly didn’t care about herself. Vin, however…

*

Vin swiped at
the specks on one of the backpacks to ensure it wasn’t insects or eggs, but it was just detritus from their slog through what should have been a boggy field. Instead, it had been dry grass and twigs that had snapped and crunched easily. Whatever snow had accumulated and melted hadn’t penetrated more than an inch or so into the soil.

Not good. The dust was still clouding around them here in the parking lot from their pulling in, too. Some wildland firefighters called that lack of moisture the smell of money, but Vin saw it as a fast, hot start to a long, hard season. They were going to need every last one of the rookies making it through training. Good thing they were holding up in the speed and stamina department.

He lifted the backpack over the side of the pick up and handed it to whichever pair of hands lifted to grab it.

Liam shouldered it and reached for the next.

Dex McCoy caught the next one. He was local rancher stock, knew the area really well and was their keenest rookie, willing to dig in, take orders, and learn. He would pass with flying colors and Vin had a suspicion he’d take some travel jobs for the work and experience, rather than stay here all season on the bottom of the call board.

“Hey. Here comes that babe from the office,” Marco Linetti said.

He had shown his mettle in training, meeting the physical and mental demands well enough. He had also demonstrated enough smarts in the bush not to be a liability there, but he was still a dumbass kid in some respects.

“Most of us refer to her as the nice lady who makes sure we get paid,” Vin said, letting go of the next pack abruptly so Linetti let out an, “Oof,” as he caught it.

Only then did Vin turn to watch Jacqui approach.

The fatigue that had numbed him through the drive disintegrated. The air smelled sweeter, the day grew brighter, and his weary muscles revitalized, pushing him to stand straight as he watched her approach.

She wore jeans and cowboy boots, typical attire for her when the weather was still cool. Her yellow T-shirt hugged her small torso and dipped in a V that made her breasts look really nice. Not big, they were never going to be heavy, but she was so small, those subtle, perky curves were perfect on her.

It had been easier not to dream about fondling them when he’d been staring at Linetti’s ass end after putting him in charge of their pack out.

“Hi, Jacqui,” Linetti said, shouldering his backpack with a little swagger.

“Hi, Marco.” Her tone acknowledged the flirt with tolerant amusement before she greeted Liam and Dex warmly, knowing both from growing up here. “Vin.” She summed up, sending a too brief cut of her glance up to him in the bed of the pick up.

He had a stellar view down her top. His abdomen tightened.
Don’t think about sex
. He made himself finish handing out the gear. Why had she even come out here like this? To greet
him
?

A clenching twist in his chest caught him by surprise so he almost let the next bag slip from his grasp before it was caught.

“Looks like you all had bunches of fun on your all-inclusive getaway,” Jacqui teased as the guys slouched under their hundred-plus loads.

“I thought it was my birthday, it’s been such a party,” Linetti said.

“Didn’t save me any cake, though, did you? Good thing I made cookies.”

“Did you?” Liam held out one filthy arm. “C’mere and let me hug you for that.”

“Rain check,” she said dryly. “But get in there before Broxson eats them all.”

The men, visibly energized by the promise of cookies, left to break down their gear, clean it, and prep it for next time.

Vin shouldered his pack and leapt to the ground, reaching back for his other two bags before using one hand to slam the tailgate shut. His heart was pounding.

Her color was up.

He scanned the parking lot, noted a couple of the guys were looking back at him. Them.

“What’s up?” he asked.

She crinkled her nose. “Message. It’s not that bad, but I knew you’d want to know right away. Tori called and said the buyers for your house lost their financing.”

And there it went. All the things he hadn’t let himself believe in, but that had unconsciously filled his head like sugar plums dancing almost within reach of his grasp…

Poof
. Gone.

“Fuck.” He shook his head.
So
fucking typical.

“It doesn’t mean you can’t have my house, Vin. Just that it will take longer.”

He was tired. Physically tired from hiking out, mentally tired from trying to resist letting fantasy get the better of him, and emotionally tired of this shit.

It made her kind voice abrade his nerves so his whole body prickled and tensed. She didn’t understand. Couldn’t. This was exactly the way life went for him.

He should have let go—
really
let go—of this idea when she had come back and decided to stay. Instead, he had let himself “wait and see.” It had been a tentative hope that had been exactly as self-delusional as a solid belief that something truly good could happen for him.

Not for him, though. Not ever.

“Forget it.” He dismissed, making himself move on. “I don’t want it anymore. Fuck it.”

“Vin.” She caught at his arm as he turned away.

“Really. I don’t care. Forget the whole thing.”

Forget the big dream of putting down roots and forget the barely acknowledged dream, the one he’d indulged in those moments before he’d fallen asleep beneath the stars. The one where he felt her body beside him and knew she’d be there when he woke up.

“Listen.” She insisted.

“I’m working,” he said in his fire boss voice, basically telling her to get lost.

She folded her arms, smearing the powdery dirt from touching him onto her own upper arm. It added a layer of disgust to her expression as she glanced at it then looked back to him.

“You’re shooting the messenger. I’m actually bringing good news. I’m saying I don’t care how long it takes. You can stay in the house until the deal closes. It’s
yours
.”

“And I’m saying
forget it
. All of it.”

Yes, he conveyed with a dark look, he was including whatever the hell it was that she was offering.

She paled and backed up a step.

He might as well have abandoned her dog on that lonely stretch of highway where he and the crew had been picked up, she looked so hurt and betrayed.

“This is how it goes for me, Jac.” He tried to gentle his voice, but it was rasping with anger at the fates. “There’s no point in trying. Let it go. I have.”

He turned to see Linetti was still staring at them. He strode toward the dumbass and ordered him back to work.

*

The Drop Zone
was filling up and lively by the time Jacqui got there. It was Friday night and sounded like it.

A pang of nostalgia washed over her as she entered the cloud of laughter over country tunes and the aroma of popcorn and beer.

She’d seen Vin’s truck in the parking lot. She knew he was here, but she went to see Hugh first.

She stood at the end of the bar and waited for him to notice her. Hugh had been more than a boss to her. He had a daughter, Miranda, and had treated Jacqui like she was his adopted one—which was to say, he’d been overprotective and sometimes a teensy bit sexist, but always a stalwart support. She adored him.

He was used to adoration, she was sure. He was still handsome and fit, working as a volunteer firefighter despite retiring from smokejumping. His hair was white, but it was thick, his jaw square, his features gently lined by a rich life. She would bet he had been adored most ardently by every female with a pulse twenty or thirty years ago.

He finally glanced her way and froze, giving her a long look that kindled and warmed until he held open his arms.

Jacqui threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her hard for a long time, wordless, but saying everything.

In fact, his first words when he set her on her feet were sweetly and characteristically unsentimental. “They’re pretty fancy on the east coast. What the hell did they do to your head?”

“I wanted to look like you,” she claimed.

“Handsome as hell?” He gave her one more quick squeeze then dropped his arm from around her to pour a beer and push it across to the waitress who was waiting for it. “Good to see you, kid. Heard you were back to work.”

“Yeah, nice mess you left.” She teased.

“Like I was going to touch your files?” He blew out a scoffing noise, adding a second beer and taking a chit that he stabbed onto a pike. “The very
idea
brought you running from two thousand miles away.”

“Maybe.” She grinned. It wasn’t far from the truth. She was pretty obsessive about how the office was run.

“How’s the new guy?” He leaned to ask in a confidential undertone.

“Good,” she said honestly. “From my perspective, anyway.” Sam’s military background meant he was very comfortable with her being so particular about keeping her paperwork organized. “I can’t speak for anyone else.”

He nodded and she had no doubt he was quietly polling every man and woman affected, ensuring the new captain was leading to his satisfaction. He might have relinquished his post at the station, but he still looked out for his crew.

“Busy night. I have to get back to work.” He poured her a beer, saying, “On me. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Thanks, Hugh.” She resisted sipping the foam. She was a lightweight and only drank if she didn’t have to drive.

Which was one of the reasons she had come here. Hugh wasn’t the only one who looked out for the crew—especially when she knew one of them was going through something personal.

Sometimes, because of private information like medical records or even a quiet conversation next to the coffeemaker, she was the only one who knew what some of the men and women were dealing with in their daily lives. Firefighters were a close bunch, but most of them were still men. When it came to talking about a divorce, or confiding anything else that might make a man feel vulnerable and therefore fear he’d be seen as weak by his fellow fighters, they often preferred to talk it through with her.

Moving into the bowels of the bar, Jacqui found most of the crew around the pool tables.

Vin noticed her and subtly stiffened, looking away in a way that warned her he would not appreciate her approaching him.

She skimmed her friendliest smile past him and around the group, but her heart pounded. She took a subtle breath, trying really hard not to be obvious about her fresh crush.

The group greeted her with a light ripple of surprised welcome that fed her own smile.

“’Bout time you showed up here,” Greg Winters said. “I owe you a beer for getting our baby onto the insurance plan last year.”

“I have a beer—for the winner,” she said, lifting the glass then setting it on the edge of the table where Ace and Liam were down to the last few balls.

“Thanks, Jac,” Liam said with sincere appreciation. They’d always been friends, given her closeness to Hugh and his sister, even staying in touch via email while he’d been in Australia. Jacqui bantered easily with all the smokejumpers, but Liam was the one she would make faces at and tease by saying things like,
you lost your seniority so you have to come in early to make the coffee. It’s a rule
.