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Chapter Forty-two
Once they were safely beside one of the glowing ambulances, Kurt lowered her and wrapped his shaking arms so tightly around her, she had trouble breathing.
Pushing against his chest, she chuckled with the relief of being safe and used her sudden angst into chiding him like a mom with a bratty kid. “What the hell were you thinking? You shouldn’t have been down there without safety gear.”
He reached for her again, but she slapped his hands away. He growled his defeat and yelled, “I recognized you.”
“So? I was doing my job.”
“You’re pregnant.”
“Yeah, so. I’m not that big, I can’t handle working.”
“Right. No mask, breathing in all that crap, getting burned to death, that’s sure as shit gonna make your kid proud.”
Unaware that he made no sense, she let him rant. Instinct told her he needed to vent. She’d seen it happen over and over when a loved one had been in danger.
“Silly, bloody females thinking they can take on the world with no consequences. Fighting fires like Superwoman on steroids.”
“I’m fine, Kurt.” She touched his arm. “The baby’s fine.”
Suddenly, he reached to reverently touch her stomach as he’d done the night before, and then more gently this time, he pulled her to him and laid his cheek on the top of her head. “You’re going to be a mom. You can’t do this anymore. I can’t take it.”
“I’m fine, baby. Look, I really need to get back to work. I promise to be careful, but the department needs all of us on the job.”
He looked around them, and she saw what he did. Most of the crews were packing up their gear, getting ready to leave the scene. The forest ranger’s firefighters had taken over the mess of scattered flames below and had pretty much quelched it now.
As if he needed that heart connection before he could let her go, he kissed her hard at first and then gentled his lips. His whispered words tickled her ears. “Be safe. Promise me.”
“I promise. It’s all good. I’ll see you later.”
“Okay! I, ahh… have some news.”
“Hopefully it’s good… yeah, it isn’t, is it?” She’d seen his lips tighten as he shifted his green heart-stoppers so she couldn’t look directly into his eyes.
Now what?“It’s about the baby, right?”
“Bingo.”
***
Kurt went back to where he’d parked his truck on the shoulder behind the roadblock the police had set up. As he trudged along, he reviewed the past few minutes and couldn’t remember ever being so scared – not since he’d watched a house burn while knowing his parents were inside.
Agonizing sickness had grown with each second he’d had to accept they weren’t coming out. That the fire had claimed them as victims. While each flame flashed its victory, the agony of knowing he’d been saved while they’d lost their lives had eaten away at his soul. The roaring blaze had whispered a musical refrain of triumph while sparks lit the sky.
He never forgot that sound.
And he’d gone through the same anguish earlier.
Wearing his lanyard, which showed his badge on his chest, he’d had no difficulties entering the secured zone. He’d rushed from one group of firefighters to another looking for Ruby until one of the firefighters near her engine looked up. He’d asked… no begged, “Where’s Ruby Allen?”
“Not sure. Last I saw her, she was down below.”
Kurt had moved like lightning to see the shocking display he’d prayed never to see again. Fires were everywhere, broken up by workers who were fighting to stop them from gaining the upper hand.
He saw a smaller figure with an extinguisher controlling flames near a crashed vehicle, and his heart instantly zeroed in on that body. Instinctively, he knew it was her.
Without a thought to what he was rushing toward, he’d run so fast, he’d lost his footing and slid halfway down the bank. How he’d managed to ignore his deadliest enemy, his most hated adversary, was a total enigma. Thank God for Ruby who’d recognized him freezing at the worst possible time.
