High Heat (Hotshots 2)

“Try to get a few toys too. I don’t want her chewing my couch.”

“You’ve got it.” Rain deftly parked next to a line of pickups at the farm store. He opened the windows before he shut off the SUV. “You sure you don’t want to come in? It’s no problem getting your chair out and we can crack all the windows for Cookie.”

“Nah.” Garrick wasn’t about to explain that simply this amount of exertion had done him in for a while. Damn he missed his stamina. “She needs me to keep her company. You have fun. If you can’t find something, Morty at customer service is a friend of my dad’s. Great guy. He’ll help you track down the chow or whatever.”

And maybe that too was why he was staying put. He didn’t need another round of questioning from well-meaning folks who’d known him his whole life, sympathy a double-edged sword he’d had far too much of the past several months. But it turned out there was no escaping his life as not even five minutes after Rain walked away, he heard a familiar voice.

“Nelson? Been a long time, man.” Jimenez, one of his fellow smoke jumpers, came striding over, pretty blonde in skintight jeans trailing behind him. He was one of the rookies—

Wait. Not a rookie anymore. The new season was about to start. Jimenez would be an old hand by now, working all the fires Garrick had missed after the accident, all the jumps and climbs and everything else he missed with all his soul but couldn’t show. Keep it light, he reminded himself.

“Hey there. Yeah, been a while. How’s it going? Getting lots of jumps in? Heard you did some tourist work in the off-season.”

“You know it. Gotta get my air time.” Slinging an arm around his companion, Jimenez gave him an easy smile that faded into something approaching concern. “We miss you, man. Feels weird gearing up for the season without you. What’s the latest word on when you’ll be back at it?”

Wish I knew. Garrick swallowed hard. “Hopefully not long. I’m working hard at PT. Putting my reps in. Finally back home at my own place. Progress, you know?”

“That’s great.” Jimenez’s voice was just this side of too hearty. “You keep at it. Chin up. I’m sure they’re saving a spot for you. And if you need anything, anything at all, you call me.”

Call me. Everyone said it, but he was never sure how much people meant it. Like he and Jimenez had never hung out off-duty before the accident. Was he supposed to call him for a favor now? Did the guy really want to fetch Garrick some groceries or was he simply being nice? Not knowing made Garrick frustrated with these sorts of offers, but he couldn’t show it, could only nod. “Thanks.”

“Okay, dog stuff obtained!” Rain came striding toward the car, wide smile still in place as he pushed a cart with a big bag of chow and a fluffy pet bed a ridiculous shade of bubblegum pink. Some of his hair had come loose, curls spilling down his face. In the sunlight, the shimmer on his shirt was more evident, making him look ready for clubbing, not a farm store.

And Jimenez, the worst gossip on the crew, went all bug-eyed. “You getting a dog?”

“Meet Cookie. She’s temporary. And this is Rain. My neighbor.” Garrick refused to get flustered over any assumptions Jimenez wanted to make. And it wasn’t like Jimenez, who had a well-earned rep as the worst sort of love-them-and-leave-them player, was in any position to judge who Garrick hung around with.

“Ah. Gotcha.” Jimenez shook Rain’s hand before his companion tugged on his arm, reminding him of their errand for flowers. “We’ll catch up later. And I mean it, Nelson. You call me. Can’t wait to see you back out there.”

“Me too.” Garrick nodded even as he knew the chances of him calling Jimenez were slim. And as for getting back on the crew...well, he was trying. Every damn day. A little further. A little faster. He’d hadn’t come this far to fail.

“Sorry if I cut short your conversation with your friend,” Rain said as he loaded his purchases next to Cookie.

“Nah. It’s okay. I’m sure he needed to get on with his day.”

“Is it...” Rain started to ask something then trailed off as he slid behind the wheel.

“Is what?”

“Nothing. I was going to ask if it was hard, being around other smoke jumpers right now, then realized that was really nosy of me.”

“It’s okay. You can ask me about the accident. I’m not gonna bite your head off for asking questions.” Garrick might be crankier these days, but he was still himself, still happy to talk to almost anyone and wasn’t one to make certain topics taboo, even if he’d rather listen to his dad discuss the minutiae of new horse tack than recount that day of the accident. And as to Rain’s specific question, he had to pause, flip response at the ready. But strangely what came out was closer to the truth. “And sometimes. I mean, I love seeing my buddies. But yeah...sometimes it’s...different.”