Page 74 of Hotter than Wildfire

It was all so wonderful. The little bite of exercise, the glorious sun growing warmer and warmer, the heat mitigated by the cool gentle breeze off the ocean. Wavelets curling like white lace on the surface of the ocean.

Kids further up the beach were playing an impromptu game of beach volleyball and Ellen smiled as she watched them. Strong young bodies, laughing, leaping, no cares other than having a good time.

She drew in a deep and delighted breath, almost heady with the fresh air. She could feel her blood circulating again, muscles warm and relaxed, the clean air reaching deep into her lungs.

The background noises—the soft plashing of the ocean, children’s laughter, adult conversations heard in snatches, the wind—together formed a sort of soft lullaby. Ellen relaxed a little more with each step.

The men were more relaxed, too, she noted. They were still vigilant but that tense grimness was gone. Their body language was softer, less rigid. Sam was teasing Nicole about the color of her toe polish and Mike and Harry were in a heated argument about some ball game. She didn’t even know which one. They were swapping insults that were funny and inventive, luridly profane and anatomically impossible.

It had turned into what she’d wanted with all of her heart. A little outing with friends.

And these were her friends, she could feel it. Sam and Mike and above all Nicole. They cared for her and she cared for them.

And then of course there was Harry. She loved him. It hadn’t been a bright sudden flash of recognition. It was as if the knowledge had been there all along, even that first day in his office. So big and so still and so golden. Like a god. A benevolent god.

She hadn’t told him yet, but she knew. She’d never felt anything like this before. Of all the terrifying things in her life, this was maybe the scariest, but there was nothing she could do about it. However long their relationship lasted, this was the man for her to the end of time.

They walked on, all of them smiling, even the men. It was a day made for smiling. For smiling and laughing and enjoying your friends. For feeling the hard-packed sand against your feet, cool and textured, for turning your face into the wind, letting it ruffle your hair, for having the warm sunbeams penetrate deep into the muscles with gentle fingers.

Ellen walked along, enjoying the banter of the men, the sun and the breeze and the low murmur of all the people on the beach, soaking up the unusually warm spring day.

The loneliness of the past year—and if she had to be honest, the loneliness she’d felt all her life—was starting to drift away, like dense black smoke dissipated by a clean strong wind. However improbably, it looked like she might actually have found a home here, with these good people. Good, kind, smart, capable people. Her people.

The knowledge wound its way into her heart, warm and gentle. She tucked it away. She’d done that as a child. Tucked away a few good memories amid the chaos and craziness. Then she’d pull the memory out during the bleak, black times.

This memory, too, would be cherished. Except—well, maybe, just maybe there would be more days just like this one, down the line. Harry, Mike, Sam and Nicole—they had stable lives and were stable people. They would be here for a long time.

Maybe she would, too.

Don’t think that. She wanted it so much she instinctively shied away from the thought. You jinxed things if you wanted them too badly.

Live in the day, don’t want too much, be grateful for what you have right this very minute. Her mantra. It was a philosophy that had seen her through a lot of hard times.

Harry’s big hand smoothed down the back of hers, then gently clasped it. His hand was warm and hard, callused, the grip firm but not tight.

She could do this forever. Just walk straight ahead until they ran out of beach then turn around and walk back. Everything felt so damned good.

Mike shifted his gaze from the boats at sea. “Hey guys, how about this evening I fire up that new barbecue I bought a few weeks ago? Gotta try it out some time. I’ve got some inch-thicks steaks in the freezer, throw some jacket potatoes on that sucker and voilà! Dinner.”

“Not so fast, slick,” Nicole said. “We’re missing vegetables and fruit on that menu.”

The men groaned. Sam rolled his eyes. “God, just as long as it’s not that broccoli you made me choke down the other night. I’d rather eat rattlesnake balls.”

“Wuss.” Nicole smiled. “And rattlesnakes don’t have balls. Maybe I could make some fresh cole slaw…”

There were several loud pops and that was the last thing Ellen heard. Half a second later a ton of man fell on her and her face was pushed deep into the sand.

Harry was on top of her, big black weapon out, tracking. Sam was on top of Nicole and his weapon was out, too. Mike had the biggest gun and was down on one knee holding it in two fists, moving in measured beats from sand to sea and back.

Ellen couldn’t breathe, could hardly understand what was going on. Time stopped, stretched.

“Clear!” Mike shouted.

“Clear!” Sam and Harry’s deep voices echoed. Harry lifted up a little and Ellen gasped in a breath, together with sand. He was a big man and he’d jumped her so hard the breath had whooshed out of her lungs. Her ribs hurt and the sand had abraded her knees and elbows.

Harry and Mike and Sam straightened up, guns still out.

She lifted her head and saw people in a circle around them, frozen at the sight of the dangerous-looking men with guns out. Two little girls hid behind their father’s knees. The shock wore off. One of the little girls screamed. She was holding a fistful of balloons. Several had popped. That was the noise they’d heard.