Page 47 of Some Cowboys Brave the Flames

“Sis, there’s nothing you can do about it short of asking him to find a new career. Is that something you’re willing to do?”

“Of course not,” she snapped, her defenses rising again.

“That’s what I thought. As long as I’ve known Ash, it’s been obvious how much he loves the work he does. And he’s never gotten hurt. I think that’s a pretty good sign that he’ll be fine—both of you will.”

“But I’m literally sick to my stomach whenever he gets put on call—whenever he has to go out for even something small.”

“I know.” Mason nodded. “It’s going to be hard. It probably always will be. But if you care about him like it appears you do… then what other choice do you have?”

That was the million-dollar question right there, and she hated it. She hated that it always came back to her fears of losing him. It was irrational, right? Was it healthy for her to power through it like she was? Fires happened all year long. It was only the summer ones that seemed to have her drowning in her own fears. Only a few months out of the year. Maybe it would get easier over time.

“You gonna be okay?”

Her gaze dragged back to where her brother stood. He was watching her again. The look on his face was reminiscent of the way he used to look at her before Ash had become a variable in their family dynamics. Concern etched his handsome face. Her soft-spoken, sweet bookworm of a brother still loved her—though that was never a question. He didn’t offer her a smile, however.

“You think you might ever forgive him?” She didn’t have to say his name. There was only one person Mason seemed to despise lately. To her, this whole thing was rather silly. Mason was a grown adult. He should be able to let something go when it had nothing to do with the events currently going on.

“I don’t know,” Mason finally answered. “He was my friend, and he betrayed my trust.”

That line of thinking was what really frustrated her. Once again, Mason was making this about him. She couldn’t help but wonder if it would even matter if the man who had kissed her wasn’t his friend at all. Would he have even cared that she’d been kissed by someone who was six years older than she was?

Mason shoved his hands into his pockets and peeked at her. “Have you heard from him today?”

She shook her head.

“Do you know if he got called out to that fire up north?”

Her stomach knotted. She didn’t want to think about it. The effort it had taken to ignore the smoke had practically drainedher. Again, she shook her head. “But he would have told me, right? He would have let me know he got called in.”

By the hardened expression on Mason’s face, she wasn’t so sure she would be able to keep convincing herself of what she’d just said. His worried gaze was enough to make her second-guess everything.

“He would call. Or message. Surely, he wouldn’t just go off and fight that fire without telling me he was heading out that way.”

“I don’t know,” her brother finally said. “Based on how antsy you are, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to shield you from it.”

He was right.

Oh no! There was a big chance that Mason had hit the nail on the head. Ash was the kind of guy who didn’t want to give her any unnecessary worry. He was the kind of man who would jump into that fire and when he came out unscathed, he’d be grinning wide and telling her he was right that she had nothing to worry about.

“Charlie!” Daniel barreled down the aisle of the barn, panting. His eyes landed on Mason, and he careened to a stop. Then glanced to Charlie again. “There’s been a casualty.”

For a moment she couldn’t register what he was talking about. Then, all at once, it hit her, nearly knocking her to her knees.

“Daniel—” Mason warned, but Charlie burst from the stall she’d been in, barely managing to shut the stall door with shaking fingers.

“The fire?”

Daniel nodded.

“What happened? Do we know who it is?”

Daniel glanced to Mason again and moistened his lips. “The news just said that there was an incident on the ground. They’re still getting details, but one smoke jumper has lost his life.”

Her heart exploded with pain. It was all she could do to cling to the stall door so she didn’t crumble. It wasn’t Ash. It couldn’t be. She refused to accept that Ash would let this happen, that he’d do this to her.

“Charlie,” Mason whispered, “it’s probably not him.”

“You don’t know that,” she snapped. “We don’t know anything.”

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