Alaska Spark, стр. 36
Her gaze pierced him. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
He shook his head. “Don't like talking about it.”
“I’m so sorry, Ryan. I get what you’re feeling.” She stared down at the ground, then back at him.
She took a step forward. “You’re the one who said it was a sign of strength to talk about line of duty deaths. Maybe I do have issues. But my fire safety and my decision-making abilities are not your concern. As of now, you are off the hook with Jim Dolan. Training is over. You no longer have to watch out for poor, damaged Tara.” She turned and walked away.
Stopping, she spun around to face him. “Thanks for Denali. It was wonderful. I’ll never forget it.” She strode toward Mel’s truck, climbed inside, and slammed the door.
Mel twisted around in the driver’s seat and shrugged a ‘what should I do?’ at Ryan.
He stood there, undecided. Should I go after her? He let out a long breath and he motioned Mel to go. The truck’s engine fired up and rambled down the road.
Gunnar exited the crew van. “What was all that about?”
“Tara’s riding back with Mel.” His chest clenched. He should have come right out and asked her to dinner.
“I see that. Loosen up, jump boy. You’re wound up tighter than a skier’s ass on a vertical cliff.” Gunnar winked at him. “She likes you.”
Ryan rubbed his face, his fingertips scraping stubble. “Could have fooled me. She didn’t listen to my safety talks about squirrel caches.”
“We both know why your nose is out of joint and it has nothing to do with squirrel caches, my friend. You like her, and not just a little.” Gunnar grinned. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.” He slapped Ryan on the back and headed to the van.
“I'm not a demi-god for chrissakes,” he muttered, plopping into the front seat. Okay, so Silva’s attention to Tara pissed him off. And what was that bit about marrying a smokejumper? He wondered who; he knew most of them after years of working fire.
Dolan would be pissed for ratting him out, and Ryan had sure messed things up with Tara. The chances of seeing her the rest of the busy fire season were nil. Even so, he couldn’t help thinking what it would have been like to hook up with her.
Chinook Fire Station had requested a crew to be on stand-by for Interior fires and Ryan agreed to send the Aurora Crew.
His training obligation was over. And true to his word, he had kept an eye on Tara for Jim Dolan…and then some. He’ll return to the Jump Shack to do what he did best:
Jumping fire.
Chapter 16
Tara didn’t say much in the crew van to Chinook for Aurora Crew’s first fire assignment. She didn’t sleep much last night. The van cruised the Steese Highway heading to the Chinook Fire Station, ninety miles north of Fairbanks.
Angela sat behind Tara and tapped her shoulder. “Feel like talking about it? You seemed upset last night so didn’t want to bug you.”
Tara faced forward and shook her head.
“Saw you talking to Ryan yesterday. Color me clueless, but it seemed like you two were arguing.”
Liz leaned forward from her seat next to Angela. “Wasn’t he impressed with your pack test?”
Tara turned to face her crewmates. “Nope. And it seems he doesn’t trust my decision-making. I told him I was tired of proving myself and it went downhill from there.” She bit her lower lip and hesitated. “He said when he worked on a hotshot crew in a bad California fire, they couldn’t save a family of five. I didn’t know what to say.”
“Oh, man,” breathed Liz. “That’s intense.”
Angela laid her hand on Tara’s shoulder. “Hon, he understands what you’ve gone through, and my guess is that’s why he advised you to get counseling. His advice came from a well-intentioned place. I don’t think you should come down on him for it.”
Tara turned to face both women. “I wished he would have told me when we talked before.” She’d been so preoccupied with keeping Ryan at arm’s length, she’d wasted precious time to truly get to know him.
Angela pursed her lips. “Next time you see Ryan, mend your fence and set it right.”
“There won’t be a next time. I won’t see him the rest of the season.”
“You don’t know that,” said Liz. “Fire is a small world.”
“Don’t give up on him, hon.” Angela made a ponytail and fastened it with a hair tie.
Liz gave Tara a thoughtful look. “I’ll bet you and Ryan both have fire signs in your horoscopes, by the way you two spark at each other.”
Tara grimaced. “I wouldn’t doubt it. The thing is, I knew better. You’d think I’d get a clue. Especially with smokejumpers.”
The van pulled up to the quaint, log cabin buildings of the Chinook Fire Station, just as the sun danced rays of light and shadow on the mountains. Everyone bailed out and stretched.
As the designated crew boss, Jon Silva checked Aurora Crew in with the Chinook fire management officer. The crew hauled in their gear and settled into their new quarters.
At dinner Silva introduced the Chinook fire boss, Bing Pickel with an offhanded joke. “Never get into a pickle with Pickel.” Of course everyone laughed. Silva always used humor when addressing the crew. They seemed to like it in addition to respecting his fire knowledge and crew boss expertise.
Tara noted how competent and confident Silva was in taking charge, along with his charming disposition; the kind of guy who’d tell you to go to hell and you’d enjoy the trip.
The crew were assigned to three, six-person canvas tents on a pine boardwalk behind the fire station. The women shared a tent with another fire employee, who showed them around. As they walked around the compound to acquaint themselves, Tara noted a row of BLM trucks neatly parked in a spacious parking lot,