Page 21 of Burning Hearts

Logan said, “I had to walk away from the Ember base camp so I could take a minute and just breathe through his anxiety.”

He’d tried to call Bryce but there was no answer. Then he’d tried his sister. His mom. None of his family had known where to find his brother.

He’d even called the Last Chance County Fire Department chief at Bryce’s firehouse, but Macon hadn’t known where to find him either.

“All I could do for him was pray.”

She kept her attention on the path in front of them, picking her way between the trees. The terrain now angled down and to the left, thankfully not sharply. They would be near the car soon enough.

“I had to let go and let God be in control of what happened to Bryce because even if I’d left Montana, I would never have gotten to Last Chance County in time. Even if it made me feel a little bit like I’d been left out—left behind—again.” He shrugged. “But that’s my issue.”

He had friends, and friends of friends, who had access to helicopters and airplanes. Still, by the time he’d considered making that decision, he’d found out Bryce was okay. Bryce had texted him later that day and said he was all right. Bryce had called later and told him all about the governor’s chief of staff and the case Penny—the woman his brother had been hung up on for a while—had been working.

They’d chatted later that night, and his brother had filled him in on everything. Including that he was in love. Maybe everyone just assumed someone else had called him to tell him his twin brother was safe—that he and Penny were both out of danger. But while no one had updated him after Bryce was found, his brother at least had touched base. Connected.

“So you came up to Alaska? You’re even farther away now,” she said. “Why not just work closer to home? That way you can be nearby in case something happens to your family.”

“Turns out I had a reason to be here.” Logan didn’t know if he was ready to rehash the fact that he’d told her he wanted her back. Given he’d changed his mind because they would never agree on the way she bailed out her family constantly, what was the point?

He strode by her on her left side, where the tree line ended. Below them stretched miles of land as far as he could see. Great mountain peaks and snowcapped Denali. So much green below the wide blue sky spotted with clouds. Only a thin trail of smoke obscured the scenery, since the fire was mostly behind them.

“I would have missed this.”

She didn’t have to know he was also talking about her.

* * *

Considering her brother could be in mortal danger, Jamie was trying not to begrudge Tristan the fact he’d come all the way up to Alaska. Given the fact Logan was also here, maybe it wasn’t such a stretch for someone to decide they wanted to spend time in this remote, isolated part of America.

She might not feel the same need to save Logan if he got into trouble as she did with her little brother, but that didn’t mean she would ever quit caring what happened to him. He was simply far more able to take care of himself.

The only thing she had to distract her from the spiral of being frustrated with everyone and their choices was something Logan had said. That he’d prayed for his brother.

Jamie glanced at him, now walking beside her. “So…you pray now?”

She had been the only believer when they’d dated before. Not a dealbreaker for her, although some people certainly thought it should be. Plenty of older ladies at church had frowned at her. As if falling in love with a good man, a hero in the community, was a bad thing.

Maybe that was part of the reason she hadn’t gone in person for a long time.

Logan nodded, still walking with one hand over the bloodied part of his shirt. He hadn’t said anything about the pain he was surely in. As soon as they got back to the car, she could give him some ibuprofen at least.

He said, “After what happened to Andi a couple of years ago, Bryce and I both started talking about faith. Her husband Jude shared about the Bible with us and explained what it means to be a Christian. It just made sense. We went to a service, and we both prayed at the same time.”

Jamie couldn’t remember the day she had given her life to Christ. Some kind of children’s service decades ago, where she’d been told to ask Jesus into her heart.

“That’s amazing.” Because it was. Even if he’d been a good person before, the fact he lived as a Christian now meant he always had someone to rely on. A place to go for strength, wisdom, and true joy.

When was the last time she had any of those things?

He said, “It definitely hasn’t been easy, and I feel like I’m still learning a lot. But there are a few people with the Midnight Sun Wildland Firefighters who also are believers, so we have a little Bible study going on our days off.”

It sounded like a lot of things had changed since they’d broken up. And not all on his side, given she had realized how far away she felt from God.

If she had listened to God or even asked for His opinion before she’d come up here, things might have gone a lot differently. Logan might not have been grazed by a bullet.

Tristan could be dead now, for all she knew.

Tears gathered in her eyes. Jamie blinked them back, trying not to give in to the sting of realizing she was responsible for a lot of what had happened today. “We should pray for Tristan.”

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