Page 10 of Some Like It Hot

Whatever. But, “I’m in, Tuck. But you’ll need to babysit the rookies.”

Tucker glanced over his shoulder at the crew. “We did at least five jumps on rams before coming up here.”

“Yep,” Riley said. “At leastfive.” And he might have continued, but right then Larke chose to walk into the room.

He spied her out of the corner of his eye, her blonde hair almost white in the pale light of the morning, pulled back into a cute ponytail. She wore yoga pants and a T-shirt that read Take to the Sky King, and all he could think was…

I could be more.

Breathe. Full stop. Smile, shrug, and walk away. “I gotta pack my PG bag,” he said to Tucker.

Larke was getting coffee as he walked out, and he couldn’t look at her. For her safety as much as his. Because he’d do something stupid like walk up to her, pull her into his arms. Shoot, the way he was feeling right now, he might even lean down and kiss her, right in front of his team and…yeah. He was doing asuperbjob of leaving last night behind.

Riley escaped to his cabin and packed his bag.

By the time he returned, the team was assembling in front of the lodge. Tucker took roll and gave them the rundown on the fire. “It’s about eight miles north of here, about ten acres so far, but growing. There’s a wind coming off Denali that could cause us some trouble, but I’ve mapped out a strategy with the BLM, and we can definitely shut this fire down. One more thing—we’re using squares.”

Riley glanced around, looking for reactions, but even Skye just nodded.

Okay, then.

“Wheels up in ten,” Tucker said and dismissed them to assemble the gear.

Larke had disappeared.

Probably—definitely—a good thing.

Riley walked out to the tarmac and helped load the cargo boxes filled with fuel, water, fusees, chain saws, and the hose line into Kingston’s Otter. He noticed Tucker checking Skye’s gear.

Riley climbed into his jumpsuit, grabbed his helmet, and threw his chute into the belly of the plane. Checked his leg pockets for supplies—hard hat, leather gloves, letdown line.

Barry Kingston finished his walk around the plane, and before Riley could climb aboard, the man addressed the crew. Tucker had come up beside Riley.

He liked Barry Kingston, bush pilot. He wore a fraying red cap, a canvas jacket, and aviators like he might be a retired fighter pilot. Maybe he was—certainly it required the guts and finesse of a warrior to fly through the craggy mountains of Alaska.

“Before you go—I gotta pray for you guys.”

Really? Riley cocked a look at Tucker, but he was staring at the ground.

Ho-kay.

“Listen, guys. You’re headed into danger, and the only thing I have to give you is this.” He looked at Tucker. “‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.’”

His gaze turned and landed on Riley. Riley looked away, a little unnerved by the memory of lying in those green pastures with Larke last night. But he’d behaved himself, thank you.

“‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.’”

Barry finally looked past them, as if into the horizon, the future. “‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’”

Barry made it feel so natural, as if the words were part of him. And for a second, Riley was standing with his father, listening to his quiet voice reciting his creed. “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you…”

“I am that man.”

The response was more instinct than belief, something his father had drilled into him.

Barry was praying. “Lord—You have this team’s back. You go before them to prepare the way and will shelter them as they do the job to which You’ve called them. You are their good shepherd. Protect them. Guide them. And bring them home safely.”

Okay, Riley was thumbs-up with that.