Page 39 of Burnin' For You
“Yeah. He’s—”
“I know.” She put her hands on her hips, closed her eyes, her jaw tightening even more. Then she sighed and looked up at him. “I guess I’d better get going.”
“Huh?”
He knew he sounded a little like an oaf, but, “What do you mean?”
“I mean somebody needs to hike out, and since I’m the pilot, that means me.”
“In what world? Listen—yeah, you’re right. Someone needs to hike out. But you’re in no shape—”
“What are you talking about? I’m fine?”
“You’re limping.”
If looks could kill, he’d be a pile of ash in the creek bed floor. “I’m fine. I just banged my knee a little.”
“You’ll never make a hike out. Yaak is thirty miles from here!”
“I can get to the road—it’s probably—”
“About nine miles is my guess. And between here and the road, there’s a river and at least one ridge of mountains, and you’ll never make it on that knee.”
“Watch me!”
He held up his hand. “Stop. Someone needs to stay here and take care of everyone—”
“They have Kate—”
“Kate has her hands full with Jed!”
“How about me?”
The voice jerked him out of the flood of frustration that threatened to drown him. He turned, saw Hannah standing there, nodding.
“I’m fine. I’ll stay. I can monitor CJ and make sure everyone has water—really. I can do this.” She looked at Gilly, back to Reuben. “We’ll be okay until you get back with help.”
Reuben’s mouth tightened. He looked at Gilly. “You sure the radio’s out?”
She gave him a look.
“Okay.” He looked up at the sky, checked his watch. “I’d say we have about eight hours of daylight. If we get moving, we can reach the road in about four or five hours. It’s due east…” He took a second, then pointed. “That way.”
“For crying out loud—how do you know that?”
“The same way I know that I can do this alone. You’re just going to slow me down—”
“I’m going with you, okay? I told everyone I’d get them home safely, and I will.” Then her voice dropped, and she swallowed, her eyes bright. “Especially since it’s my fault.”
“It’s not—”
She held up her hand. Shook her head, her eyes wet.
Her wretched expression silenced him. He knew what it felt like to feel to blame—whether justified or not—and the excruciating need to find a way to fix it.
“Fine. But once we hit the road, I’m headed to the Grover fire lookout, not Yaak. It’s only a few miles from here, and yeah, it’s a climb, but they’ll have radio equipment. If we push hard, we can make it before dark.”
She hesitated only a moment before walking back to the plane. She climbed in, then emerged with one of their equipment packs. He recognized it as his and reached for it, but she slung it around her shoulder.