He dug into the knot and pulled it free.
She flexed her wrists, then managed to get him to his feet and her shoulder under his arm. She started forward, and he limped alongside her, groaning nearly every time his bad ankle hit the ground. She struggled to bear up under his weight, seeming to get heavier and heavier with every step.
He glanced back. “Things are looking worse back there. We have to hurry.”
“I can go faster, but can you?”
“I have to.” He picked up his pace, but stopped his groaning.
They hobbled forward. She refused to look back, but the smoke got heavier, swirling thick and clogging her throat and lungs to elicit deep coughs. She pulled her shirt up over her mouth and nose. She’d always heard most people died of smoke inhalation before flames got them, and she could believe that right now.
“Do you hear that?” Yapp’s excited tone broke free before he erupted in a coughing attack. “Someone’s coming in a vehicle. I hear it. Tell me you do, too.”
She tilted her head and listened. “I do!” Excitement took over her fear. She suspected firefighters were on their way to battle the blaze and they would help.
A black SUV crested the hill and came to a sudden stop. The vehicle rocked as the passenger door blew open. A man, tall and built, shot out and charged their way. The driver was only moments behind him.
She couldn’t see through the haze to make out their identities, but they were both tall and built like Dev.
Oh, please let it be him.
The first guy limped heavily, maybe she didn’t want it to be Dev after all. She didn’t want him to be incapacitated, but Yapp did say he’d shot him with a speargun.
“Kinsley,” the man called out as he neared.
“Dev!” she shouted. She couldn’t contain her joy, even if he was injured and limping.
Please don’t let it be serious.
He burst through the murky air, and she got a good look at his face.
She drank in the sight of him. “It’s you. It’s really you.”
He picked up his speed, blood saturating his khaki pants near his hip.
“Thank God you’re alive,” he cried out.
“And you too.” She wanted him to sweep her into his arms, but she was still holding Yapp up. She should just release him. Let him drop to the ground. He deserved that at the very least, but she wasn’t vindictive.
Dev stopped and eyed Yapp. “What’s going on here?”
“He ran away like a coward, leaving me behind,” she said. “Then he fell and twisted his ankle. He can’t walk.”
“And you’re helping him?” Dev’s tone rose.
“It was the Christian thing to do.” She smiled at the man she loved. Loved. In no uncertain terms, and once they got out of danger she intended to tell him. Because if their close call from the fire told her anything, it told her she loved him.
It still didn’t free her from her promise to Jada, but she hoped they could work that out. All assuming that Dev reciprocated the feelings.
Jada!Oh my gosh, Jada. She’d been tied up. Kinsley had been too self-absorbed to even think to ask about her. “Please tell me Jada’s okay.”
“She’s fine,” Dev said. “We called Reid after we left the cabin and asked him to untie her, then take her and Mom to his place.”
Kinsley let out a long breath of air, finally feeling like this might be over.
Dev peered over her shoulder, his posture tensing. “We should go. Now! The fire seems like it’s advancing fast, and we don’t want to get caught in a blow-up.”
She had no idea what a blow-up was, but it didn’t sound good as related to fire.
