Chapter Fifteen
Fallon strode toward the barracks, her mind going in five directions at once.
First, hoping her crew was ready and that Maris had pulled herself together enough that Fallon could count on her.
Second, that Nora fucking Palmer would decide that being back at Firecamp was too much déjà vu and elect to get her story elsewhere.
Third, if she did come, maybe Tyler would prove to be such a liability that Nora would see her misjudgment in bringing him, and they’d both leave.
Fourth, asking for the millionth time why Reva Upshaw had to fall in love and go off to have a family, which had brought Ranger Dick into her life.
And fifth, hoping against hope that the advance teams had somehow gotten the fire under control, and the first three contemplations wouldn’t be factors.
A strong gust of wind assured her that last one wasn’t the case, which meant all of the rest were still in play.
Shit. At the door of the crew quarters, she looked back. Nora followed, lagging several feet behind, her focus on the ground. Tyler stood outside the office building as if he wasn’t sure any of this was happening. I know the feeling, pal.
Fallon opened the door, relieved to see her crew was ready.
“Great job, everyone. Five minutes. Take one last bathroom break and check your pack load. That novel you think you’re going to read is going to feel like a twenty-pound brick when you’re hauling it up Porter’s Peak.
” She smiled briefly, remembering her own experience.
It had been two books, actually. “This is not a drill, but I know you’re ready. ” She nodded at Maris. “You okay?”
“I’m steady, Falcon.”
“Stick by me. You may have some babysitting duties on this hitch.”
Maris rolled her eyes but gave a quick two-fingered salute. “Whatever you need.”
Fallon surveyed her team once more, pleased at their focus, though she’d expected no less.
She needed to reengage as the crew coordinator and let the distraction of her history with Nora go.
Just think of it as having inconvenient visitors.
Right. Gathering herself, she turned sharply, fixing her mind on simply dealing with a news photographer and her assistant, when she collided with something.
No, someone. The unexpected impact threw the other off-balance, and Fallon automatically reached out to stabilize the floundering body.
Of course it was Nora. No one else would have stood so close behind her.
And just that quickly, touching Nora again made her double-crossing body come alive in ways it hadn’t for almost ten years.
But in her mind, the sound of breaking plastic and shattering glass brought her back to their last moments together, and she recoiled.
“Damn. Is your camera all right?” Fallon asked before she could think better of it.
“I’m sorry. I was—” Nora spoke at the same time. She grabbed the sling strap, ensuring the camera still lay firmly against her body. “Yes, it’s fine, thanks. I’ve learned not to wave it around when I’m not using it.”
For several uncomfortable seconds, they simply looked at each other.
Nora’s mouth opened, but before she could speak, the triangle sounded from across the way, and the room behind them filled with sound and movement.
Fallon’s mind cleared. “We’re heading out soon.
Grab whatever you and Tyler need and toss it into the van. ”
Fallon started away, the clicks from Nora’s camera echoing in her ears.
A few of the young women made pleased sounds, and some would certainly pose for pictures.
The faint smell of smoke, like from a distant campfire, reminded her that none of that mattered.
In a few hours, the air would be as thick as the breath of hell, and they would be working like fiends to keep its hungry mouth from swallowing any more of the forest or the nearby town.
She’d only done mitigation for an active fire once before, but that memory was enough to make her veer in the direction of the equipment hut.
Given Nora’s previous skill with a saw, she and Tyler might be pressed into service in ways none of them had planned.
* * *
Fallon frowned. “Is there anything current from the weather service about the wind? Speed? Possible direction change?”
Ranger Dick scowled, obviously wanting to end the briefing, so he’d probably punish her for asking such obvious questions by giving her crew an undesirable assignment.
At this point, anything near the fire would be hot, smoky work, but she needed these vital pieces of information.
He shuffled the papers he carried, handing one to her.
“You can disseminate the details to the other crew chiefs, Monroe. That is your job, after all.”
In a way, he was right, though he’d made up the position of crew coordinator to give himself less to do.
Reading over the data, she sighed. The report was two hours old, but she got on the radio anyway, stressing the volatile situation and advising everyone to ask for updates as needed. Might as well keep Ranger Dick awake.
While her crew settled in the van, Fallon checked the map again.
The fire burned in a section not yet worked by the SCC, and her crew had been given the task of creating a break by clearing either side of the road approaching the town of Kamberto.
It was a better assignment than she’d expected, undoubtedly because of Nora’s schmoozing of Ranger Dick.
During her past years at camp, Fallon had continued the work that Ranger Reva had started, making sure that any grants or community projects accepted by the SCC fit into a strategic plan.
When given the chance, she’d made sure to assign each crew to areas that would make the best use of their time and skills.
Last year, there had been a terrible fire almost four hundred and fifty miles south and west of them that had burned over 125,000 acres and caused fourteen fatalities.
In the aftermath, several branches of the SCC had come together at a meeting in Denver, and Fallon was called upon to present her model that other AmeriCorps divisions then adopted as a blueprint.
Proud as Fallon was of their work, she’d been even happier to return to the base.
The city was loud, crowded, and much too bright, but it had been even more uncomfortable being in the same room as Vivian Adams, an administrator for AmeriCorps who’d visited one of her worksites six months before the pandemic.
Vivian had asked Fallon to dinner after viewing the project, and they’d hit it off relatively well, but nothing more had come of it.
After COVID shut everything down, Fallon had volunteered to remain at the base alone, freeing everyone else to return to their loved ones.
She’d kept busy during the days, maintaining the equipment and monitoring any fire activity, but the nights were long.
Vivian’s call had come just after the first round of vaccinations, when Fallon’s isolation had become nearly intolerable.
After several nights of phone conversations—and a week of quarantine for Vivian—she’d come for an in-person visit.
Soon, she was staying the night a couple of times a month.
It was a satisfying arrangement, as far as it went, but they’d agreed to go their separate ways once things opened up again.
Fallon was still comparing every woman to Nora, which made disappointment inevitable.
Vivian had continued to call every few months, and repeatedly declining her company was becoming increasingly awkward.
Now, finding herself unexpectedly in Nora’s presence again only served as a painful reminder that all those old feelings were still simmering just below the surface of her consciousness.
For years, she’d pushed down the hurt and the overwhelming sense of loss, and after a few false starts, she’d made the life she wanted.
But the longing was still there, and now that she’d had a moment to catch her breath and acknowledge Nora’s presence—again—the yearning to go back and find a way to mend what had torn them apart was just as strong as it had been ten years ago.
The passage of time hadn’t lessened Nora’s desirability; rather, it had transformed her youthful appeal and girlish swagger into a striking, confident woman.
Fallon had accepted Nora as a vision in her dreams, but she’d never expected to confront those feelings while looking into her eyes.
She could only hope that once Nora left again, she could go back to a reasonable level of denial.
After checking that everyone was accounted for, Fallon concentrated on what was to come as she drove them toward their work zone.
Tyler and Nora’s presence made it more crowded in the van than usual, but Tyler sat on the floor grinning while Nora squeezed onto a seat where she chatted with the rest of the crew.
Fallon had to admit that the two of them seemed to put everyone else at ease since they probably thought Ranger Dick wouldn’t allow the media to join them if there was real danger.
That was the case in theory, but given the windy conditions and the abundance of fuel in the area, anything could happen.
Once they were on the highway and the road noise increased, Maris leaned over to her. “Who is that photographer? Is she someone you know?”
Fallon struggled with her answer. “I used to know her. We didn’t part as friends, but that was years ago.” She could feel Maris’s curious gaze.
“Why not? Everyone likes you.”
Fallon gave a dry chuckle. “We both know that’s not true.”
“Well, all of us do.”
Laughter rose from the rear of the van. Fallon heard Nora’s camera clicking again. “Let’s drop it, okay? Right now, we both need to have our heads in the game.” Despite her words, Fallon’s mind wandered to the past.