The line goes dead and Reed slams a palm against the dashboard. “Dammit! I should have listened to him.”
“Woah, it’s okay. We’ll fix this.”
“How, Hailey?”
I wince when I hear him use my first name.
“This is what I do. I screw shit up! Dean, my dad,yourdad. They’re all right about me. I manage to make the easy, wrong choice every time.”
I don’t know what he means by that, but I can’t help tying those words to me—easy,wrong.
I pull out my own phone and dial the number I’ve had memorized my whole life.
He shocks me when he picks up on the first ring.
“If you’re calling to defend your boyfriend, it’s too late, Hayes. Dispatch is already sending out another crew. That’s how this thing works.”
“Dad, please!”
The name sounds foreign on my lips, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
“Please do thisonething for me.”
He lets out a shaky exhale through the speaker. I don’t ask for much from him, but I can’t be the reason Reed loses this job. I’ve seen how hard he’s worked to prove himself here. He deserves a second chance.
“Okay. Let me make a call.”
“Thank you!”
We park on the side of the road and wait. One minute turns into five. One nervous knee turns into two shaking knees. Then the phone rings again—Reed’s. Even with it disconnected from the truck and pressed to his ear this time, the volume’s loud enough I hear myfather’s voice.
“Morgan, make sure my daughter is safe and then meet us at the McCall Smokejumper Base. You’ve got forty-five minutes. This is your last chance; don’t blow it.”
“Thank you,” Reed says.
“I didn’t do it for you,” Jack answers.
Reed looks over and smiles at me when he says, “Yes, sir.”
He ends the call and drops the phone in his lap, pulling back onto the gravel road.
“Wait. What are you doing?”
“He told me to make sure you’re safe, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“At the campground? Reed, please! The crew is spiking out again. Probably for an entire roll this time. You can’t spend two weeks without an EMT. Ben will be staying back to hold down the medic tent. You guys need me.”
“I’m sure dispatch has already thought of that,” he argues.
“Fine,Ineed you. I can’t spend the next two weeks wondering if you’re okay! There could be bears out there! Or a coyote!”
His eyebrow peaks and that damn dimple sinks into his cheek.
“I didn’t realize they taught you bear defense in EMT school.”
I slap him on the arm.
“Wow. I take it back. Maybe they did. You’ve got the arm of a major league pitcher.”
