Page 9

My heart gave a painful thud at the mention of marriage. “I didn’t realize you were married.”

He gave me a sardonic look. “Haven’t been for a long time. She left about ten years ago. When this happened.”

He made a motion to the burn on his head.

“How did you do that, exactly?”

One side of his mouth shifted. “We were digging a firebreak and a burning tree came down on me.”

I blinked and I know I gaped a little. The thought of the pain he had to have endured… Then something occurred to me. “Wait, she left when you got burned?” The thought left me speechless, but it shouldn’t have. People could be hard. Callous.

“She did. While I was in the hospital. Said it was too much to deal with.”

“What a bitch,” I breathed.

Jack grinned and nodded, making a face. “In her defense, I was in the hospital for a couple of months. When I got out, she’d packed up her stuff and left. It’s awkward sometimes, seeing her around town when she comes to see her family.”

“Oh, I bet,” I said. “Do you still talk to her family?”

“I do,” he said, lifting one ankle to rest on the opposite knee. “They run the hardware store in town. Kinda hard to avoid them. That’s my trauma. How about you?”

I winced, feeling something shift in my gut. I took a deep breath. “Tit for tat, huh? Well, I moved to Colorado because my ex started sleeping with one of my girlfriends. I teach elementary school, and he taught middle. We were in one building for a long time. We didn’t have a big school district. But once they built the new middle school, he started hanging out with a new group of teachers, and he ‘fell in love’ with a new hire. My friend. The bad part was, everyone knew before I did. My other girlfriends knew, parents knew, but no one told me. I’m bouncing along in my little dreamland, and he’s making out in the parking lot with a woman I’ve known since fifth grade. They got caught, eventually, and it all came out. But they doubled down and said they were in love, and she was pregnant. Rather than cause a fuss, I stepped aside. And moved.”

I shrugged. The pain had eased, and I knew if I looked at it critically, it was more injured pride than hurt that he had left me. We’d had an okay life, but it hadn’t been a storybook romance like I’d dreamed about. It was pedestrian and normal, and I really didn’t miss him.

“I’m sorry about that,” Jack said, his voice rough. “Men can be dicks.”

I laughed. “Women can be dicks, too.”

We grinned at each other, and I felt lighter for having told him.

For another half hour, we talked about inconsequential things, and in the little bubble of darkness, it almost felt like a date. Yes, there was the drone of voices from inside the bay and the hum of danger over the mountain, but there was an intimacy between us that I hadn’t expected to find. It was precious and tentative, and I didn’t want the little bubble to burst.

But, of course, it did. One of his men came out. “Chief, the captain needs to talk to you.”

Jack waved a hand in acknowledgement, then turned to look at me. His eyes were dark in the night, but I could feel the weight of him looking at me. His hand reached for mine, and a tingle shot through me as we clasped palms.

“Thank you for being here. And thank you for listening.”

I smiled at him, though I wasn’t sure he could see me. “That goes both ways.”

With a squeeze, he let go and walked into the light spilling from the bay door.

I sat there, absorbing and churning over what we’d talked about. The man fired something within me. Some spark of want. Hell, it wasn’t a spark, it was a full on blaze, but I could appreciate the fact that he was nice and easy to talk to, as well as sexy as hell.

The sound of boots coming out of the bay drew my attention. A dozen firefighters trooped out in turnout gear, and my stomach bottomed out. I stood, reaching the door just as Jack came out, pulling the suspenders of his turnout gear over his shoulders. His gaze caught and held mine.

“There’s a flare up on the northern side of the ridge. We’ll be back when we can.”

I nodded, folding my arms over my chest. I had the irrational urge to grab him and not let him go, but I couldn’t do that. This was his job. Our lives literally depended upon him and his crew.

“Be safe,” I whispered.

He stared at me for a long moment, and I got the crazy feeling like he wanted to kiss me, then he was heading to his truck. The rest of the crew went to the pumper trucks and loaded up. Sirens wailed as they pulled out of the lot.

I wandered back into the bay. People had settled down onto the cots to rest, but now they were awake and looking around, fearful about what was going on. Several people turned their heads in my direction, looking for reassurance.

“They’re going to help on the northern ridge,” I said, and several people nodded. A few even put their heads back down, apparently unconcerned.