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COOPER
I leaned my back against my backpack propped behind me, taking a long swallow of water before lowering the bottle to the ground beside my hip. I rolled my head to the side, catching Graham’s eyes.
“Long day,” he offered, his tone as dry as tumbleweeds.
“Is there ever a short day when we’re out in the field?” I mused with a chuckle.
“The days when we finish and wait to get picked up,” Rowan chimed in.
Darkness was falling, and we had made camp for the night. Unfortunately, when fighting a wildfire, camp couldn’t involve the requisite crackling campfire. Blessedly, we cleared some lines and controlled the fire today. We’d been out here for a full week. Tomorrow, we would finish up another section.
“Rain’s on the way,” Donovan added.
Two of the Willow Brook hotshot crews were out here with one additional hotshot crew stationed with us, all of us covering the relentlessly busy fire seasons in Alaska’s sprawling landscape. Like most Western states, wildfires had become more frequent, hotter, and more challenging to control in Alaska.
“When’s the rain due?” Chase asked.
“Supposed to rain tonight,” Donovan replied.
Leaning my head back, I arced my gaze about the night sky. Just a glimmer of the sun was left shimmering above the outline of the mountains. Darkness enveloped the sky with a plump, almost full moon rising above. Stars glittered in the crisp air.
I’d always loved the outdoors and had grown up in the mountains of North Carolina. Alaska’s mountains were something else. They towered above the landscape, unlike the mountains of the East, where you felt cradled within the valleys. Here, you could almost feel the more recent emergence of these mountains as they rose in jagged, almost intimidating peaks that boldly reached for the sky.
Nothing compared to the night sky in the wilderness. With no light pollution here, the moon was so bright it lit the landscape with a pearly glow. Even in the darkness, you could see the charred trees standing. The lingering scent of smoke hung in the air, although it was more distant now. A few hours ago, the wind had changed direction, moving the fire toward a river. Between our work of clearing lines to contain the fire and a day or two of rain, we would hopefully be able to fly home soon.
Voices rumbled quietly around me, each of us sipping from water bottles and sharing a practical dinner of protein bars, dried salmon jerky, and other portable snacks.
“Well, you’ve made it through three months,” Rowan said from my side.
It was funny how the web of connections could bring people together in far-flung areas. A chance connection for Remy had brought Rowan here, that and the love of Rowan’s life also being here. Another chance connection had brought Delilah Blake here, whose aviation mechanic husband did most of the work on the planes and helicopters that brought us in and out of the wilderness. Delilah wasn’t a firefighter, but I’d already become friends with her husband as he often handled the mechanical work on the light planes and helicopters that flew us into the wilderness for work.
Although Remy wasn’t on my crew, I saw him all the time. With Rowan on my crew, our friendship from Stolen Hearts Valley got stronger by the day. Remy and Rowan were solid, good men who I’d trust with my life. Those established friendships made it easier to settle into Willow Brook.
“I have,” I replied, casting him a quick grin.
“Do you think you’ll stay?” he prompted. Donovan was deeply in love with his wife, Jasmine. He’d told me more than once that he was here for life after moving here from out of state.
I looked back up at the stars as I replied, “Definitely. I needed the change of scenery, but it’s pretty easy to fall in love with Alaska.”
When my gaze met Donovan’s again, he nodded in agreement. “It was an easy call for me to stay here.”
“You’re also whipped,” Graham Holden, our crew’s superintendent, offered with a chuckle.
“Same goes for you,” Donovan countered with a grin.
I glanced around, mentally noting that many guys here were happily shacked up. Maybe I was falling in love with Alaska, but I didn’t intend to fall in love with a human. Not ever again.
“Won’t take Cooper long,” Rowan offered. “Someone’s due as it is.”
“Won’t take me long to do what?” I prompted.
“It’s a thing,” Rowan said. “Everyone who comes here stays here because they fall in love. I think it’s in the water.”
“Most people in Alaska have well water,” Chase added with a roll of his eyes.
I looked among the group, shaking my head. “I might fall in love with Alaska, but I’mnotfalling in love. I have no intention of ever getting married.”
“What do you have against love?” Beck Steele asked as he approached, dropping his gear bag down and sitting in front of it, using it as a rest for his elbows as he leaned back.
