Fighting fire with fire. It was a tactic they often used in situations like these to try and slow the wildfire down. If you took away the fuel it needed to keep going, you could start to contain the flames. But with conditions as bad as this, it would take a lot to have a controllable friendly fire. Lucas rolled his shoulders to loosen his muscles, then called for the crew to join him.
As they made their way into the forest, the impact of the fire overwhelmed his senses. It wasn’t just the bright orange glow of the flames, or the intense heat that came at them with every step they took. There was the sound of the fire mixed in with the noise of the bulldozer and chainsaws as the crews desperately tried to create a barrier between the land and the fire. Then there was the beating of the propellers from the choppers overhead, waiting with huge tanks full of water that they’d send down at the Chief’s direction; added to that, the constant pumping of blood through his veins – fueled by regular bursts of adrenaline – and it felt as though every sense in Lucas’ body was on high alert.
His crew was with him – people he knew inside and out. Rather than being individuals, they were soldiers, part of a serious operation. They were walking into a war zone and they all had to do their part.
“Gray, I need you to spot the fire,” Lucas said, his voice echoing through his breathing equipment. It was one of the most important jobs – Gray would need to keep his eyes on the fire at all times, ready to call it if the flames were coming too close to them. Without him, the rest of them could be engulfed without even knowing it was coming.
“And Mark? You, me, and Georgia will start cutting down the trees. We want to have a gap of around sixty feet between the trees on this side and the rest of the land.”
They both nodded at Lucas and started up the chainsaws. Though the bulldozer would be doing the majority of the work, there were some hard to reach places where Mark and Georgia would have to cut the trees down by hand. And after that they’d need to move the debris away or burn it – depending on the speed and direction of the fire.
For the briefest of moments his thoughts turned to Ember, the image of her was so vivid it shocked him. She was looking up at him with those deep brown eyes, her face a mask of concern as he picked up a chainsaw and joined the others.
Resolutely pushing her out of his mind, he got to work on the task at hand. It was time to do what he was trained to do – everything else would have to wait.
* * *
“Mom?” Ember said groggily as she opened her apartment door. “What are you doing here?” She looked down at the watch her parents had given to her for graduation – still going strong after all these years. “It’s not even eight, couldn’t you sleep?”
“I brought you breakfast,” Laura said, lifting up a brown bag in her hand. “Coffee and pastries, the way you like them.” She smiled at her daughter. “Aren’t you going to let me in?”
She hadn’t answered Ember’s question – not really, but she let her mom in, following her into the kitchen where Laura unpacked the brown bag, laying out two coffees and four pastries on the wooden surface. “You want a plate or should we just use these napkins and save the washing up?” Laura asked.
Ember shrugged. “I don’t mind. Whatever works for you.” She waited, expecting her mom to get the chinaware out – she never had been the type to slum it with paper towels.
And yet she didn’t. Instead, she sat down at the table and lifted her coffee up to her mouth. “Okay then, paper it is.”
It wasn’t until they’d finished their coffees and pastries – deliciously buttery and flaky – that Laura finally began to talk. “I woke up this morning and had the strangest feeling, as if you needed me. I knew if I called you’d tell me you didn’t, but a mother can feel these things.”
Ember still didn’t feel quite awake, her body still drained after last night’s fiasco. Yet there was something about her mom’s words that seemed to strike straight into her heart.
Because she was right. Ember did need her mom, she just hadn’t realized it.
“Will’s having a baby,” Ember told her, even though her mom already knew.
Laura reached out for her hand, squeezing it. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“And I made such a fool out of myself at the Martins’. Everybody must be talking about me.”
“I think you’ll find that they’re talking about Will. How much of a b-tard he is.”
“B-tard?” Ember echoed. “Are you sure you’re allowed to say that?” She tried not to laugh through her tears at her mom’s lame attempt to swear.
“I’m allowed to say it when it comes to Will. I’m so sorry for you, honey, that you had to hear it like that. He should have given you a warning.”
Ember blinked, remembering the previous night, and Will’s request that they talk privately. “I think he tried,” she said. “But I was too busy having fun. I wanted to rub his nose in the fact that I was with another guy.”
“So this other guy…” Her mom trailed off. “Just ignore me, honey. I’m sorry to be so nosy.”
“It’s okay.” Ember’s voice was soft. “You’re allowed to ask me questions.”
“I am? I wasn’t sure, you’ve always wanted to solve everything yourself. I don’t want to butt in where I’m not needed.” Laura took a sip of her coffee. “I just want you to know that you don’t have to face things alone.”
Tears stung at Ember’s eyes. Wasn’t that what she’d been trying to do since Will left? She’d thought strength meant that she had to solve everything by herself, to harness her inner girl power and fight all her demons on her own.
But how would she have coped without her friends last night? Having Brooke and Ally here had made her feel safe again. And Lucas… he’d been so strong, so staunch. Holding her up when she needed him most.
Now there was her mom sitting opposite her. Since her father had died, Ember had seen her mom as somebody to be coddled, taken care of. More of a child than a mother.