Up in Smoke (Hotshots 4)

Relief. Not happiness and not joy, but relief rushed through him. It was hard to be happy about the situation, and putting Shelby through this had left a caustic taste in his mouth, but his baby was safe. My daughter. That was what mattered. And he was going to do everything in his power to keep her that way.

“We can leave now.” Cameron touched his shoulder as everyone stood.

It was over. He patted Jewel, who had slept through the entire thing. Shane still had the baby gear, but he juggled it so that he too could place a hand on the sling.

“Well. That’s done.” Nodding, Shane followed the rest of them out of the courtroom. But once they were in the hall, Shane’s mouth tightened further. “Be right back.”

He hurried away, and Brandt wasn’t too surprised when Shane caught up to Shelby. But the fierceness of their hug, now that was unexpected, as were the tears in Shane’s eyes. He was whispering something to her, and she nodded as she clung to him.

Maybe Brandt needed to go over there. Say something. Make this hurt less for all of them. But as he turned, Cameron stopped him.

“Let them have their moment,” she said gently. “There’s a lot of big feelings right now, yours included.”

“I hate that it came to this.”

“I know. And you’ll have a chance later to work toward something more amicable. But you did the best thing for Jewel here.”

“Yeah.” His chest still ached though, more so as Shelby continued to cling to Shane. This too was a type of trust, trusting that Shane could handle his sister, that he didn’t need Brandt swooping in to save the day.

“Well, that was fast.” Hartman, looking all spiffy in a dress shirt and tie, separated himself from the rest of the crowd in the hallway.

“You came?” Brandt had to blink. Not only did Hartman look like some sort of software ad, but he’d come to Brandt’s hearing?

“Cameron said you might need a character witness if your motion became contested.” Hartman nodded at Cameron, who was shuffling papers into her briefcase.

“Thanks. You didn’t have to. But thanks.” Brandt lightly cuffed him on the arm.

“Of course I didn’t have to. But I wanted to.” Hartman made a silly face at Jewel, who was awake now. “And I wanted to check on you. Linc and I flipped a coin as to who got to come. He’s worried about you too.”

“Appreciated.” Brandt had any number of acquaintances, but he couldn’t say as he had many others who would show up for a court date. “And I’m okay.”

“Good. As your friend, I’m happy for you that things worked out today.” Clucking Jewel under the chin, Hartman took a moment to make another face for her before straightening. “And as your coworker, I gotta ask when we can expect you back. Miss you, buddy.”

Oh. Brandt should have anticipated this question. He opened his mouth. Closed it.

“Or if we can expect you back.”

“I’m gonna take some time.” Brandt readjusted the sling as Jewel started squirming.

Hartman nodded. “It’s complicated, I get it.”

“My chute didn’t open.” He kept his voice low. Shane was the only person whom he’d told about the fear dogging him, how it was making it hard to concentrate on the job, how it had brought all his priorities into stark focus.

“I know. Scary as fuck.” Hartman fisted his hands. Similarly, Brandt’s neck was tight as rigging done right. Talking frankly like this about the risks of their work was damn hard. “You’ve got to think about your kid first.”

“Yeah, I do. I might be all she’s got.” That wasn’t precisely true. She had Shane and other people who cared about her. But the court had given Brandt custody, and he took that responsibility seriously. He rolled his shoulders. “I need some time to figure out what my next move should be.”

“Makes sense.”

Down the hall, Shane was still talking with Shelby. Brandt truly hoped Shane was able to convince her to get help if that was what she needed to get back on track.

“I might be spending some time in LA.”

“That right?” Hartman followed Brandt’s gaze to Shane. “Well, if you end up there long-term, I’ve got a contact on a helitack crew down there. If you start thinking about other jobs in the fire community, let me know. I’ll hook you up.”

“I’m kind of taken—”

“So’s he.” Hartman gave a dry chuckle. “I just meant any crew, anywhere would be lucky to have you, Wilder. And your kid is lucky too.”

Brandt had to swallow hard. “You’re not mad?”

“Nah. We’ve got a bushel of rookies all eager for airtime and jump reps. We’ll be okay. And God knows you’ve earned the leave. Is this your first time off in ten years?”

“Pretty much.” Brandt’s paystub from the agency listed enough leave to have more than one payroll person call him to verify whether the number was a typo. The job had been everything for him for so long. Leaving it, even temporarily, wasn’t easy. But he wanted to hold tight to what he’d found with Shane and Jewel.