High Heat (Hotshots 2)

And the power of that realization had him restless, needing to see for himself that Rain was okay, even as he forced himself to focus on work, taking the latest fire data and working on a plan for which crews to send where and relaying all the information he’d gathered from the multiple hand crews on the line, not only Rain’s.

For the first time since he’d been on a hand crew himself, all those many summers ago, he felt truly helpless. All he could do was handle the flow of information. The final call on who to send where was on Adams and Ryland. The actual fieldwork was up to others, and he had to trust in their abilities to carry out assignments.

But hadn’t that always been the case? He’d felt invincible as a smoke jumper, on top of the world, at the peak of his skills, but really he’d only been as good as his crew, as the support personnel, as the other crews, the interagency coordination, all of it working together. The idea that he’d been in charge of his own destiny was merely an illusion, one that didn’t give enough credit to others.

And that made him think all the more about Rain and their fight and where they were in their relationship and how much he could truly expect to control.

“What’s the status of being able to extract?” he asked Ryland some time later after he returned from a meeting with Adams and other brass. “I’ve been in contact with crews all along the river waiting for news, but so far, everyone accounted for.”

“The wind and smoke are finally cooperating. We’ve got airtankers flying in now, dropping water. Helicopter crews will be next, starting with the highest priority evacuations, and we’ll have other crews walking out where that’s a safe option.” He clapped Garrick on the shoulder. “We’ll get your guy out. Promise. And once we do, I’m sending you for some rest. Even if the worst of the fire is past, cleanup is going to be some time. We need to pace ourselves.”

“Understood.”

He busied himself with staying in contact with the various hand crews waiting, relief coursing through him each time he got to hear Rain’s voice with updates. They were tired and hungry and banged up with the real worry being all the smoke, but they were alive and Garrick was intent on keeping them that way.

Then finally, late in the day, temperatures dipping, word came that the hand crews were starting to return. The food truck geared up for the onslaught of ravenous firefighters, while Garrick braced himself against a tidal wave of emotion. Taking a long overdue break, he rolled out onto the trailer’s small makeshift porch—a narrow platform with a couple of steps. Studying the crowd of returning hot and dusty people, he looked fruitlessly for Rain.

“Garrick!” There he was, hopelessly rumpled, wet boots and dirty face, and the best thing Garrick had ever seen.

“Hey you.” People were everywhere around them—in line for food and medical attention and talking in clumps of threes and fours. All his attention was on Rain, but he was also acutely aware that they were far from alone. “You made it out.” He had to swallow hard, simply thinking again about how close the long day had come to a different ending.

“I did.” Rain regarded him solemnly, their eyes having a deeper conversation than their voices were capable of.

“Ryland’s making noises about people getting rest. I think he’s going to send me home soon, at least for a break before my next shift. Would you want me to see if he’ll let you go too?”

“I’m staying.” Despite him looking dead on his feet, Rain’s voice was firm. “Sorry. There’s nothing I’d like more. But my crew needs me. We’ve already lost our boss, and Bosler’s trying to fill the gap, but word is that they’ll be sending us out on mop-up duty first thing in the morning. I should probably crash in Zeb’s tent again.”

“Yeah.” Garrick would have said the same thing in his shoes. Duty first, even when it sucked. “I’ll catch a ride with someone else heading back. I talked to my dad. Cookie is living the life of luxury at his place. Even went to work with him today.”

“She’ll still be happy to see you.”

“Hope so.” Garrick tried to keep his voice light, but it was hard with his heart hammering like this. “And you? You gonna be happy to see me when this is all over? Gonna come over?”

“It’s probably a terrible idea—”

“Rain.” Garrick wasn’t above begging. “We need to talk.”

“Yeah, we do.” Mercifully, Rain nodded. “I’ve got...so much to say. And you’re going to listen?”

“I will.” He held Rain’s gaze as he promised. “And I get it. You want to see the fire through. I do too, as much as Ryland and Adams will let me. We can wait. And that’s what I should have said sooner. You do what you have to do. I’ll be waiting for you. As long as it takes. I mean that.”