Page 36 of The Heat is On
Skye turned, watching the smoke from the cabin above the tree line. It seemed to be dissipating. “It’s going out, which means that someone is fighting it.”Tucker. Please let it be Tucker.
A darkness hovered over the land, the sun now concealed behind the far black mountains.
“You okay?” Rio said, coming up to her. He was a strong presence and she wanted to lean into him. But whatever had sparked between them, maybe doing that wasn’t the smartest thing.
She’d been impulsive. And grateful. And smitten.Waytoo smitten.
But, despite her brain telling her to stay away from the bad boy, her heart had decided to have a mind of its own when it came to Agent Rio Parker.
“Yeah,” she said in answer to his question. She walked over to a boulder, sat on the ground and leaned against it.
She didn’t mind terribly when he joined her. Because the wind had started to kick up from the mountain and he had a warm shoulder.
“Why smokejumping?” he asked.
She frowned. “Really?”
“It’s so…well, dangerous, for one.”
She nodded. “Actually, yeah, it is. I didn’t think about that part when I went to rookie camp. I was just…well, my dad was a smokejumper here in Alaska in the eighties, and…I mentioned that I never said goodbye, right? I guess I joined because I thought it might make me understand him more.” She lifted a shoulder. “But I’m…I’m in over my head. I mean, most of the time, I’m fine. I can do my job, but…” She picked up a rock, rolled it in her hand. “A few days ago, the drip torch I was holding sort of exploded, and I just…I froze. I was holding onto it, trying to turn it off, and starting fires all over the place, and Riley…” She closed her eyes as a terrible fist slammed into her chest. “Riley, one of my teammates, grabbed it and threw it away from me.” She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “I can’t believe I froze. I always thought I was the bravest, toughest girl in the bunch.”
“You are.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m in way over my head, Rio. I live in terror that I’ll get it wrong. I saw my dad do stupid things over and over—we lived in our car for about two weeks when I was five years old because he’d gambled away all our mortgage money. And I vowed I wouldn’t do things that hurt people. But I…I still do. And it shuts me down. I’m afraid I’ll screw up and destroy lives—like my dad.” She blew out a breath. “So I just stand there and look at all my options…and don’t move. I’m terrified that I’m going to get somebody killed.”
Her words rebounded on her and her eyes filled, her voice turning choppy. “Someone like Riley. Or…Tucker.”
And just like that, Rio had his arms around her, pulling her to his chest. “Shh.” His lips touched her forehead and she hated how much she just wanted to stay right here.
She wasn’t tough. Or brave.
She was scared.
“I learned a verse at a church wilderness camp I worked at about four years ago. Heard it again just recently. ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.’”
Rio lips moved against her skin. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.”
She pushed away and looked up at Rio. “You know the Twenty-third Psalm?”
He nodded, those amber eyes warm. “The chaplain made me memorize it. It’s pretty much the only set of verses I know, but…they help, right? Peaceful streams sound pretty good right now.”
She nodded.
He smelled of the forest, and she couldn’t push him away. Not yet.
“Maybe that’s the point of the verse,” he said softly. “That God gives us everything we need…so we’ll have peace. So we won’t panic. He knows the options and picks the right one.”
Rio touched her face with his fingertips, the gentleness warming her entire body. “Maybe that’s what grace is—peaceful streams in the middle of danger. I forget that, too. The heat of the moment sort of takes over and suddenly I find myself doing things…well, I get in over my head. I wish for once Iwouldfreeze and just…think. Let my head take over. Or better, let God take over. But it’s like I can’t stop myself. I see trouble and I turn off my brain. Maybe if I’d stopped to think instead of just feeling my way through life, I wouldn’t have ended up in juvie.”
“And wouldn’t have had the experience to do what you do now. To save people. To be a hero.”
“Oh, Skye. I’m not a hero.” He shook his head, his eyes darkening. “You need to know that.”
“Yes, you are, Rio. What you do is important, even if it’s…yeah. I hate thinking of you in prison, doing the things that you have to in order to stay alive.” Her finger traced the scar on his chin.
“Well, sometimes I break out,” he said and cupped his hand to her face, drawing it toward his.
And she didn’t have the strength or even the good sense to stop him. In fact, she was painfully in over her head.