Page 45 of Some Cowboys Brave the Flames

“Adrenaline is like a drug, you know that, right?” she said.

He chuckled in an attempt to brush off that comment. “Like I said, it’s more than that. When I get called to a fire, it’s up to me to help save lives. I’m the one who stands between people and loss.” It was hard to put into words how it was when he was in the thick of it. There was nothing that compared to it.

Thankfully, Charlie seemed to accept what he’d been trying to say at face value. She nodded. While she didn’t look completely at ease, she did appear to be slightly more relaxed.“I’m not going to say that I’m happy. But I can live with it. You’re right. There’s no evidence that you’re going to be hurt. And even though it terrifies me, I can admit that.”

Ash couldn’t help the sigh of relief that burst from his chest. He studied her, noting she wasn’t done yet. There was still something on her mind.

“I can’t say it’s not going to be hard, though.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“But I guess what I’m trying to say is that I won’t make you choose.”

In that moment, Ash felt all his own concerns fall away. She wasn’t telling him they needed to take a break. She didn’t feel that his job was worth a fight. And that meant more to him than she’d ever know.

Ash took her hands in his and brought them to his lips. “Do you know how much I love you?”

A smile flitted across her face. “How much?”

“More than words.”

She snickered. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Or maybe I’m just in love with the girl of my dreams.”

20

Charlie

Still no rain in the mountains. No rain in the valley. And now there was smoke in the sky from some area up north. No matter how many times Charlie had reminded herself of the conversation she’d had with Carter, and with Ash for that matter, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Ash had done a great job of talking her off a ledge, but he wasn’t present in her dreams. And sleep was still hard to come by. It wasn’t fair to bring it up to him again, so she did her best to hide her worry whenever they were together.

His concern only added to the guilt she felt over her insecurities. He was a literal hero, and she couldn’t scrape together enough courage to support him in his happiness.

“What’s your problem?”

She jumped and looked up from her horse. Mason rested his folded arms on the stall door. His brows were furrowed, and his eyes dipped to her horse. “Nothing,” she ground out. This wasone of the few times he’d spoken to her in the last couple of months, and he didn’t look at all pleased about it. “What are you even doing here?”

He ignored her question. “If you keep brushing her like that, she’s going to go bald.”

Charlie’s hand stilled. She’d just come back from taking her horse on a quick ride. Normally it was soothing to do a brush down while she allowed herself to ignore all her concerns, but this time that hadn’t happened. “I’m fine,” she said.

“No, you’re not.”

“Why do you all keep saying that?” she snapped, tossing her brush into the grooming basket at her feet with more force than was necessary. Thankfully her horse didn’t seem bothered by her mood.

Mason lifted a brow. “You wanna talk about it?”

She snorted. “Not with you.”

Mason rolled his eyes. “Can’t say I didn’t try.” He turned to leave, but she stopped him.

“Try? Is that what you call this? Is that how you would describe the last several weeks? You have either been entirely absent or you’ve ignored me completely. You only come here to hang out with Daniel, and I get the feeling that’s because you two are exactly alike.”

Mason shrugged. “Could be worse.”

She wanted to smack him. His nonchalant behavior grated against her last nerve. “You want to know what’s bothering me? Fine, I’ll tell you. The brush out there…” She flung a hand in the general direction of the fields surrounding their property. “It’s all dried out. The only green you see is the stuff we water from the well.”

---