Shared Heart (Heart of the Mountain #5)

1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

ANelya

“This is heaven,” I savored the taste of lemon meringue that my sister Carolina made in the diner she now partly owned.

She’d put her savings into this little place in the small town of Grockton, Tennessee, in the shadow of the Smokies. I was here for a visit after finishing my paramedic degree in Knoxville, to check out her diner.

“You must be tired,” I said, watching her smile and chat tirelessly with the people at the bar seats in front of her as she served plates and pies. Other waitstaff who looked like high schoolers helped with nearby booths.

“No, I still have energy for the Lumberjack Days. I’ve been looking forward to this. Everyone said Raymond Jackson is the one to watch.”

“Heard he’s making a whole kitchen set this year,” an elderly man eating a pie flight at the bar said.

I’m getting that next time, I thought, looking at the four mini pie slices he was sampling. That looked like chocolate, maybe coconut, possibly banana, and…

“Anelya? Did you hear that?”

“Hmm?” I realized my sister was talking to me. “Sorry, I was thinking about that pie flight. I want that next time.”

“Sure, I’ll set that up for you tomorrow. We do fruit pies tomorrow. Today was cream pies.”

There are themes? I was starting to understand why this place seemed so popular. My sister always had creative dessert ideas. She came up with amazing desserts for birthdays when we were teens.

“But I want to see the chainsaw competition, where the man is going to make an entire kitchen set.”

I looked at her. “That sounds dangerous.”

“You think everything is an accident waiting to happen. My sister is a paramedic,” she explained to the customers around us.

Many of them smiled at me. I smiled and waved, but it still sounded dangerous.

***

It looked dangerous too, I thought, thirty minutes later, as we watched the first contestant carving some sort of wooden clock with various power tools.

As the timer clicked down from fifteen minutes, I watched the young man who looked like he was still in high school deftly cut and chisel the stumps of wood while the crowd cheered him on.

Several huge stumps and blocks were waiting for the final contestant, the reigning champion.

I eyed his waiting power tools, including a very large chainsaw.

I’d been on a couple runs on ambulances as a student where power saws had gone awry.

One had been a home accident, and the other at a job site.

The second man lost a couple fingers, and the first didn’t lose anything, but both were gory messes.

The patients were in lots of pain and had immediately gone into shock. It was hard to forget that.

I hefted my backpack on my shoulder.

“I can’t believe you brought that,” Carolina teased. “I know the company has medics at the fest.”

“I’ve gotten in the habit of bringing it around with me. Besides, it has my jacket, wallet, and phone.” My shorts did not have large pockets.

The young man finished and the crowd cheered.

His clock was pretty good, and he tapped in delicate hands to the face of the clock with a small mallet.

I would not have minded that in my apartment, if I had one.

My stuff was in storage in Knoxville, where I’d stashed it after I finished my program, waiting to see where I got hired.

I was already applying and signing up for testing at various departments during this visit with my sister.

Hopefully I’d have a line on a job soon.

I know it could take a while to find something permanent.

“Before our final contestant, reigning champ Raymond picks up his saw, I want to remind you all about the demolition derby and pie baking contest tomorrow. There’s still plenty of fun coming up at Lumberjack Days!”

“Who is that?” I asked Carolina, after the deep-voiced man stepped away from a mic on a platform behind where all the carvers stations were set up.

“He’s cute, right?” She winked at me.

He was, but I wouldn’t take her bait. I waited.

“Burris Grockton. He and his stepbrother Greg run the company that pretty much own the town. They sponsor the Lumberjack Days. They come in the diner all the time. I think they are both single, though I’ve heard they date together.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant, and was about to ask, when the crowd cheered again as a very tall, wiry man with a beard, cowboy hat, and a flannel shirt stepped up to the final station. This must be Raymond.

He waved over to the judges and then to the crowd, lifting his hat briefly. Then he picked up one of the smaller tools as the clock started and began making small cuts on one of the pieces of wood.

It was hard to see what he was doing among his quick movements and flying chips, but soon chairs seemed to emerge. He worked his way up to larger tools confidently, and when he paused after picking up the longest saw, people didn’t seem to notice anything.

As I’d never seen anything do this kind of thing before, I did wonder. He let it run for a few seconds without cutting. Then he applied it to what was likely going to be the block for the table, and there was a shower of sparks before I saw the blade separate from the saw and embed into his thigh.

I was moving even as the screams started and got to his side just as the man from the microphone and another man got to him.

I helped him sink to the ground and got a tourniquet going. “Raymond, don’t touch the blade,” I said, but was too late. He pulled it out, and blood sprayed. That was really bad. Then he passed out.

I quickly tightened the tourniquet, as I registered a police officer next to me rattling off instructions into her phone.

“She’s a paramedic,” Carolina was next to the police officer, explaining about me.

The two men were keeping people back as I applied pressure. I put my jacket over him as I noticed signs of shock. He was breathing, but likely had fainted.

I reached into the wound and pressed on what I thought was spraying the blood. I was pulling things out with my free hand to close it up but had a feeling nothing would be strong enough. My fingers would have to do until real paramedics got here. I kept checking his pulse and breathing.

***

Soon paramedics arrived and carefully took over from where I was holding what turned out to be his artery.

“Good job, miss,” the older woman on the team said. “You likely saved him. What department do you work for?”

“I just finished school and am applying for jobs.”

“Apply with us,” her partner said. “Come to the hospital and we can check you for any cuts among all that blood.”

I looked down. I looked like something from a horror movie, as blood had sprayed all over me. “No cuts, but I promise I’ll double check. I don’t want to take your time; but thank you. I will think about applying if you have openings.”

The nodded and waved at me as they hurried off with the patient.

I noticed the two men my sister said were sponsors of the event going with them.

I pointed out the saw to the police officer and told her what I’d noticed about it separating.

She had her team collect the pieces with gloves and gave me her card in case I remembered anything else.

She gave me a silver blanket to cover myself as Carolina helped me pack up what was left of my jacket and gear.

***

“Nice job, miss.”

“Thank you!”

People called out all the way as we walked to Carolina’s car back at the diner.

“That’s my sister!” Carolina kept saying, despite my efforts to shush her.

She called the police while I showered at her place to find out about Raymond. They couldn’t tell us much, but shortly after I came out and was combing my damp hair, Carolina got a text from Raymond’s wife, thanking me. She wanted us to know he had regained consciousness but about to have surgery.

We were exhausted and went to bed in my sister’s cozy apartment. I fell asleep as soon as I stretched out in her guest bedroom.