Page 90 of Burnin' For You

“I’m getting you out of here if I have to carry you, Hot Cake.”

Her eyes burned, probably from the smoke.

No. She couldn’t do this. Tears turned her world hazy.

Reuben leaned toward her. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think God sent me here to protect you. Because you’re right—Heison our side. And we’re getting off this plane, together, and alive.”

She looked at him then, and he held her gaze, he was exactly what she’d always known about him—solid, dependable. Strong.

I love you, Gilly.

The words he’d spoken at the base. Even though she didn’t deserve it.

“Okay,” she said, and reached for the harness.

She tugged it on while he topped off the plane at three thousand feet. What remained of the right wing had started to wobble, shake, and tremor its way free.

Probably they had seconds before they simply fell from the sky.

No autopilot on an AN2, but it didn’t matter. He motioned her to the back, and she tumbled into the body of the plane, nearly in the fetal position.

Reuben climbed back and grabbed the door.

For a moment Gilly thought it wouldn’t budge, mangled by the destruction of the wing. Then Reuben tore it away as if it were made of paste and fabric. Which, really, it was.

Then he climbed behind her, his big legs around hers, tucking her into his embrace. She felt him buckling her in, attaching herself to him, tandem.

The plane had started to lose altitude.

He plunked a helmet on her head and snapped the chin strap. “When we jump, keep your arms around yourself—I’ll do all the work. Just enjoy the ride.”

Enjoy throwing up, maybe.

But with the plane shimmying…

He moved them over to the door, one arm around her waist, the other on the edge of the door. “You tell me when,” he said.

She looked at him. “No—just push us out.”

“No! You have to do this, Gilly. It’s time for you to fly.”

Time to fly.

And with his legs around her, his body against her back, his arm around her waist, yeah, she could.

She glanced at the ground.

Then out at the pure blue sky with only tendrils of the suffocating fire, the vast, green-furred Cabinet Mountains spread out like a blanket.

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

The words slipped through her, ribboned around her heart.

Yes, Lord.

Itwastime to fly. She drew in a shuddering breath, put her hands on the door, and yelled her wits out as she pushed.

The wing separated from the plane. It tore off just as they left the edge, the metal screaming.