Smolder (Firefighters of Montana Book 1) (17 page)

It was better than good. It was spectacular. “Yeah, your mom is very talented.”

Tyson’s lip began to tremble again. “Daddy said she was gonna be an artist but she changed her mind when she had me.”

Bryce Johnson was lucky he was a continent away because Sam was ready to tear him apart with his bare hands.

“Tyson!” Jo Keenan called from the house. “Your bath is almost ready.”

Tyson shoved the drawing into Sam’s hands. “Even though Tabitha is staying, you should keep this. Mama was gonna give it to you anyway. See you later, captain!” He scooted off before Sam could return the drawing.

“D
oes Uncle Liam
jump from that big tower?”

Tyson had his faced pressed to the window, peering out at the smokejumpers going through their afternoon PT workout on the field in front of the forest service station. Laurel pulled her Land Cruiser into the gravel lot and parked next to Miranda’s Sebring convertible.

“I’m sure he does,” Laurel responded absently. She scoured the crowded lawn, looking for Sam.

Tyson unbuckled his booster seatbelt and scrambled down to the floor. “I’ll bet the captain jumps faster and better than Uncle Liam.”

Laurel’s stomach clenched at the thought of Sam jumping out of an airplane, hurtling his body into a fire. Funny, she’d known Liam longer, and she didn’t have the same agonizing nausea when she thought of him doing the same thing. Probably because smokejumping was a part of Liam and Uncle Hugh’s DNA, just as their laughing blue eyes were. It was a part of them that Laurel saw, but was immune to.

She opened the back door and Tyson jumped down. “Can I go find Uncle Liam?”

“We’ll only be here a minute. I just need to find the captain and have a quick word with him.” She took Tyson by the hand and marched over to the big field.

Her mother’s announcement that Laurel would be riding Tabitha at the Quarter Horse Congress later this year had been as unexpected as the positive pregnancy test six years ago. And nearly as devastating. Having Tabitha at the ranch meant Sam still had an excuse to pop into her real life just as he did her dreams every night. It was just too much. He’d been understanding about her reasons for not continuing their relationship. His agreement that Laurel should ride Tabitha made no sense.

“There he is!” Tyson pointed to one side of the field where groups of men were flipping a giant tractor tire from one end to the other. “Wow! The captain is stronger than X-Man.”

The excited reverence in Tyson’s voice was nothing compared to the dance Laurel’s ovaries were doing at the sight of Sam, shirtless with muscles rippling. The crew of smokejumpers cheered as he flipped his tire across the finish line before two of the other men. Tyson whooped along with the rest of them, his exuberant voice catching Sam’s attention.

Sam’s face went from surprised to tense as his gaze wandered from Tyson to Laurel. He picked up his T-shirt from the grass and wiped his hands and face with it as he wandered through the crowd toward them.

“How heavy are those tires?” Tyson asked as he wriggled from Laurel’s grasp. “They look ginormous!”

“Why don’t you go check them out?” Sam gestured toward the tire.

Tyson dashed off before Laurel could snatch him back.

“Relax, those things aren’t going anywhere,” Sam said when Laurel took a step to chase after her son. “McCoy, can you keep an eye on Tyson for a minute?”

Dex McCoy strolled by Laurel and gave her a wink. “Sure thing, Cap.”

“When did you start jumping, Dex?” Laurel was astonished to see her neighbor at the base. Dex was a rancher through and through. He’d always intended to take over his father’s ranch. She’d heard rumors about some sort of rift with Dex’s older brother, but she was surprised at his sudden career change.

“Jumped for the first time today,” he said. Excitement was shining in his eyes as he fist-bumped with Sam. “It was awesome.”

Laurel shook her head. “You’re all crazy,” she mumbled.

Sam crossed his arms over his chest. “What brings you out among the crazies then, Laurel?”

“We need to talk.”

A muscle twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Fine. Let’s go inside.”

Laurel glanced over at Tyson, who was trying with all his might to lift the tractor tire.

Sam sighed. “You don’t need a human shield to talk with me, Laurel. We can go to my office.”

She hated the way he saw right through her. “No,” she said shaking her head.

“Don’t you trust me to keep my hands to myself?”

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” she said begrudgingly.

Sam grinned. His devastating dimple made her stomach do a somersault. “God, I’ve missed you and your honesty.”

His admission made her throat thick.

“So what are we going to talk about?”

“Tabitha.”

His smile froze. “I thought the abscess wasn’t serious?”

Laurel waved a hand in the air. “It isn’t. She’s already walking better on it. It’s not that. It’s the crazy plan of my mother’s. Why on earth did you agree to it?”

“Have you met your mother?” Sam chuckled. “She’s a pretty formidable woman. I can’t imagine what she was like before the wheelchair.”

She nearly laughed. “Trust me, that wheelchair has become my mom’s secret weapon.” Laurel suddenly remembered that she was angry with him. “Did you ever consider asking me what I wanted?”

His dimple was long gone. “I wasn’t exactly given the chance. You’re more than welcome to tell your mother no.”

He was calling her bluff. Sam knew she couldn’t tell her mother no any more than he could.

Sam dropped his defensive posture and brought a hand up to squeeze the back of his neck. “Look, if you really don’t want to do it, I’ll sell her.”

“No!” Laurel wrapped her arms around herself. She hated that she was being an indecisive ninny. She wanted the horse to go, but the thought of Tabitha leaving was as painful as never seeing Sam again. “Never mind. My mom is getting too much out of it to end this whole thing now. I’ll manage the extra work. I just—I just…”

Laurel got lost in his perceptive amber eyes.

“It’s just that you don’t want me around,” he said softly. “I get it. I’ll be gone all summer. You won’t have to worry about seeing me. When I’m in town, I’ll be busy with the base.”

Her throat grew even tighter and her eyes stung just thinking about Sam constantly putting himself in harm’s way.

“Mommy! Look at me!”

Laurel stared over at Tyson. He was lifting the tire with the help of Dex McCoy and Liam on either side of him. “I’m almost as strong as the captain.”

Tyler Dodson laughed. “You keep practicing, Champ, and you might be able to beat him in pull-ups someday.”

The rest of the crew joined in the laughter.

“I should go,” Laurel said. “We’re distracting you all from your work.”

Before she could take a step, Sam reached out and grasped her arm. She looked down at his fingers wrapped around her skin. Sweet warmth pooled in her belly at the contact.

“Before you go, I have something to tell you about Tyson.”

Looking back up at him, she shrugged off his hand. “What about him?” Something in Sam’s gaze told her she wasn’t going to like what she was going to hear.

Sam hesitated, making Laurel more anxious. “Last night he told me that you’d been crying all week.” He looked away for a moment. She watched the muscles in his neck contract as he swallowed roughly. “I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

A hundred denials rose to her lips but she couldn’t seem to form any of them into words.

His eyes seemed to understand what she couldn’t say and he nodded. “You need to know that Tyson thinks you’re upset because Bryce isn’t coming to live with you after the Olympics.” He sighed irritably. “Tyson thinks it’s his fault somehow.”

She regretted shaking his hand away because it was a struggle for Laurel to stay upright. Forcing a few deep breaths in and out of her lungs, she looked over at her son who was laughing while Dex and Liam tossed him back and forth.

“I’ve tried explaining this all to him.”

“He’s young. He’ll be more accepting of things as he matures,” Sam said. His words weren’t as reassuring as he had likely intended.

Laurel nodded jerkily. “I have to go.”

“Laurel, wait.” Sam fell into step beside her. “Please know that I’m here if you ever need something. Anything.”

She stopped in her tracks. Her eyes burned with unshed tears but she managed to get the words out anyway. “The one thing I need, you can’t give me.”

*

The June sky
was growing dark when Sam slipped into Cady’s Cakes for a coffee and a donut. He’d been on the phone with the tactical coordinator most of the day, assessing manpower in anticipation of the storm moving into the area. So far this spring, most of the fires his crews had handled were the result of accidents or human error. The threat of lightning, however, could be a game changer, and Sam needed to be prepared.

“Hey there, Cap,” Molly Rivers called from one of the small bistro tables where she sat with an older woman. “Glad to see you actually eating something. Liam’s been telling everyone around the base that you’re secretly a robot.”

“Molly.” The older woman chastised her. “Is that any way to talk to your boss?”

Rivers laughed. “Mom, the man has been working eighteen-hour days, seven days a week for the past month. He’s putting the rest of us to shame with his superhero work ethic.”

Sam stood at the counter and stirred some creamer into his coffee. Burying himself in his job had always been his catharsis. Work was the one thing in life he was successful at, and he wasn’t going to apologize to Molly Rivers or anyone else for his work ethic. “Just doing what they pay me to do.”

Molly and her mother rose from their table. Mrs. Rivers carried their trash to the can at the other end of the counter while Molly came to stand beside Sam.

“You’re a phenomenal leader, captain,” she said quietly. “I can’t imagine anyone else I’d want managing our crews. Take my word for it; everyone at the base feels the same way. But you’ll be no good to any of us if you burn yourself out the first month of the fire season.”

It wasn’t Sam’s intention to burn himself out. His only goal was to work so hard that when he fell into bed at night he was too exhausted to dream about Laurel Keenan and her bewitching body. It had been four weeks since she’d turned her back on him at Dead Man’s Valley. She’d cut him to the quick with her words. Laurel had practically admitted she loved him, and Sam was still reeling from the aftershocks. He’d risk his body every day, but his heart was a different story. Sam had been down that road before only to fail miserably.

“I’m glad I didn’t see her in here before I had that cheesecake,” Molly’s mother was saying. “There’s no better appetite suppressant than the sight of a gorgeous supermodel.”

Sam followed her gaze across the room to where Tyson sat on a chair, picking at a cupcake. Bryce Johnson sat across from him holding hands with a beautiful woman Sam recognized from the
Sports Illustrated
swimsuit edition.

“The least she could do is nibble on a cookie or something,” Molly said. “Damn. Now I’m going to have to head back to base and work off my scone. See you back there, Cap.”

The two women headed out of the bakery. Sam should have followed them, but something about the way Tyson’s lip was quivering forced his feet in a different direction.

“Hey there, Sport,” Sam said when he’d reached their table. His hand twitched to reassure the boy with a pat on the back. One look at Bryce Johnson’s stony face and Sam resisted the temptation.

Tyson’s face lit up with a hopeful look when he spied Sam before his eyes dimmed again quickly. “Hi, captain.”

“How’s Tabitha doing?” Sam asked. “I hope you’re taking good care of her for me.”

“Yes, sir.” The boy nodded.

“Tyson was just telling us how strong you are, captain.” Bryce leaned back in his chair, a challenging grin on his face. “I’m always looking for ways to improve my workout. Perhaps one day you and I could train together. You know, soldier takes on Olympian. It would be interesting to see which one has more stamina. The media would eat it up.”

Sam wanted to tell the guy Molly Rivers likely had more stamina than Johnson did, but he kept his opinion to himself. He wasn’t sure if Johnson was posturing for his son or his fiancée. Either way, Sam wasn’t going to get pulled into a battle of testosterone with the jock.

“We’re in the middle of fire season right now. There’s not much time for showing off.”

Johnson flinched slightly. “Well, if you’re not up to it.” He shrugged.

It was all Sam could do not to wipe the smug grin off Johnson’s face. “Tyson, you give Tabitha a big hug for me, okay?” He reached over and gave the boy’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, ignoring Johnson’s narrowed eyes when he did so. “I know she’s in good hands with you watching over her.”

With a nod at Johnson and the silent work of art sitting next to him, Sam headed for the door.

“Captain!”

Tyson jumped from his chair and raced over to Sam. Crouching down, Sam glanced into the boy’s moist eyes.

“He’s marrying
her
,” Tyson whispered.