Page 25 of Fireline

“’Cause I know most of them will wash out.”

“Right. But Booth is the least cocky man I’ve ever met, and he’s the one who ruffles your feathers the most.”

“That’s because he’s always questioning my leadership,” Nova said. “Always inserting himself into what I’m doing. Like he has to protect me.” Nova picked at the carpet, remembering last week. “We were out at Wildlands Academy, trying to save those teenagers from the firestorm. We were in a hurry to get the canoes in the water so we could take shelter under them. I was pulling one to the water, and Booth just took it from me and ran to the lake. I didn’t ask him for help. He just took over.”

Aria nodded. “Sounds like he was trying to help. You don’t have to do everything alone, you know. You can ask for help.”

“But I didn’t need help.” Her voice went up an octave. “I mean, when I need help, I’ll ask for it.”

Aria’s hands stopped and she tilted her head. “Yeah. Sure you will. So, besides getting in your way, does he pull his weight out there?” Aria pointed her comb at the window.

Nova thought about today. The way he’d started punching line without being told. Same with the last fire. He never ran ahead of the team. Not the way she did. “He pulls more than his share.”

“So why is it every time you’re around him, you bristle?”

Nova picked at the laces of her boot. “Honestly?” She glanced at Aria, then back to her feet. “I don’t know. It’s like…I can’t really get to know him. The rest of the crew—they are who they are. But Booth…there’s something else there.”

“Something you find…attractive?” Her friend smiled.

Nova tried to suppress a smile but failed. “Okay, maybe a little. I mean, have you looked at the guy?” She pictured him as he’d been earlier, leaning against the garage, singing to her. The crow’s-feet crowding his eyes when he smiled. She shook her head. “The thing is, this job is dangerous enough on its own. I can’t be distracted with romance.”

Aria scooted off the bed and sat on the floor beside Nova. “You’re my best friend, and you know I love you, girl, but sometimes I wonder if you have some sort of death wish like you’d rather die alone.”

Nova straightened and studied her friend. “You’d rather I take someone with me? Or destroy someone’s life because I’m gone?” She’d lost her parents, and it’d torn her apart. “I know how it feels to be that person left behind, and I refuse to do it to anyone else.”

“What you do is dangerous, but it doesn’t mean you can’t fall in love and live a full life outside of this. You can have a husband. A family.”

“So when the worst does happen, I leave nothing but grief in my wake? No thanks. It’s better not to leave behind people who care.”

Aria nudged the side of her boot. “Hey, I care!”

Nova laughed. “You know what I meant. I’d think you of all people would understand the most.”

“It’s normal to not want to let yourself get hurt. No one can fault you for that. But I, for one, wouldn’t give up a single moment—a single memory—of my parents just to spare myself the pain of losing them.” Aria wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “I love you, and you have a whole crew that loves you—in their own way. No one will ever forget you, Nova Burns.”

The image of her dad lifting her onto a horse burst into Nova’s mind. She shook it away.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Nova stared at her friend. “I would give up every single day with them to not have to feel like this. I’d rather not have had them at all if it means it hurts this much.” Get rid of it all. Amputate the whole thing. Numbness would be better than this much raw pain.

“The truth is, there will be suffering.” Aria patted Nova’s hand. “Love, no matter how difficult, is worth the pain it might bring. You’ll see that one day.”

“Thanks. I’ll think about that.” Nova stood and kissed Aria on the head. “Now, I’m off to bed. Get some rest.”

“Wait, what about your shower?”

“First thing tomorrow.” Nova smiled and headed outside.

She lay in her tent, hands laced behind her head, staring at the stars through the skylight. No matter how long she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out why she liked hearing Booth call her Wildfire Girl.

As she drifted off to sleep, the last thing she saw was Booth’s smile and his eyes dancing in the firelight.

And she sorta hated herself for it.

FIVE

Today was a new day, but Booth still had old business to finish.

“C’mon, Crispin, answer!” Booth hung up the phone at the robotic voice that said the caller was unavailable.

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