Page 88 of Wild Fires

Across the crowd my eyes locked with Ryan's as I held them up. His widened in surprise. It was all the proof either of us needed to attribute this forest fire with our arsonist.

“You coming or staying?” Andrew asked me.

“I'm coming,” I told him.

Why did it hurt me so much to turn and walk away from Ryan? I knew he was waiting for me, but he didn't make a move to approach or try to pull me away. We needed to talk and not just about us, but about this case too.

I expected him to come racing over and begin puzzling out the events with me. Instead, he just stood there like he was torn between something bothering him and watching me with a silly grin on his face. As we drove away, he even waved.

What was going on with him?

We hadn't truly known each other for all that long, but I knew this was uncharacteristic behavior for him.

“So what's really going on with you and Davenport?” Andrew was the first to ask.

I groaned and turned to face him along with four other curious faces. Only Big Dick didn't look my way since he was driving.

“Leave her be,” he warned, as he turned on the siren, urging people out of our way.

I couldn't even believe how many people were standing around. We'd been told there were extra volunteers coming in, but this looked to be half the town, and they were all clapping and cheering as we drove away.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” I asked.

“Nope. And if it weren't for that rainstorm this morning we probably wouldn't be getting quite the same reception. We got lucky,” Dan reminded us.

“It's a bad one,” Rodney agreed. “I'd be dead if not for you, Gracie.”

“Nothing any of you wouldn't do for me.”

“Speaking of Gracie, what the hell is going on with you and Ryan Davenport?” Andrew asked again.

I swear that man had a single-tracked mind.

My initial reaction was to say, “Nothing.” But that was a lie, and they all knew it.

“He's my true mate,” I confessed instead.

These guys were my people. If I couldn’t share this with them, then who could I? Was I truly that completely alone in the world now? It didn't feel that way.

“When?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“When did you find out? How?”

“The night I pulled Guffy from the house fire. He was freaked out seeing me burn for the first time and had shifted to fly away just as my raven was reborn.”

“That was when it happened?” Guffy asked.

“Yup.”

“But you'd seemed off for a few days before that even.”

“They were working together,” Rodney reminded everyone. “Guaranteed they were already hooking up.”

I punched him and scowled.

“Well, am I right?”