Chapter 43
43
Ruth took her time relieving herself behind a thick stand of alders. Her heart was still racing from the adrenaline of steering that ATV down a barely-there moose trail to the encampment. Everything that came after was a blur. Gunnar on the ground, Luke’s gun at his head, Luke spinning away as a bullet struck him.
She hauled in deep breaths of pure air in a doomed effort to get a grip on her emotions. Tears trickled down her cheeks as everything that had happened caught up with her. The kids…Sarah…Luke…Naomi…it was all too much.
As sobs racked her body, movement in the alder bushes caught her eye. A tiny bird watched her from the underbrush. A warbler, one of the migrating birds that would soon be flying thousands of miles to its winter home. This one must be one of the last to leave; she could already feel the bite of snow in the autumn air.
Maybe that bird was much like her. The last one, the one holding down the fort, the one making sure everyone else was okay before taking flight. There was nothing wrong with that, was there? She could only be who she was.
A hop, a flicker of wings, and the warbler disappeared behind some branches, then reappeared as a quick dart of movement heading toward the open sky. Her heart felt as if it was cracking open, expanding inside her chest and spilling into the world.
I’m going to be okay. Better than okay.
Feeling calmer, even strong, she made her way back to the ATV, where she found Gunnar and his father just pulling out of an embrace.
And then she saw the blood smeared on Gunnar’s neck, and forgot everything else. She ran the last few steps to him.
“You’re bleeding!” she cried. “Are you okay?”
“It’s mostly Luke’s blood.”
She stopped, stricken. Despite everything, Luke was her father. The thought of Gunnar’s father shooting him dead…
“But he’ll be fine,” Anthony said quickly. “I didn’t hit anything life-threatening.”
“Are you sure? It happened so fast.”
“I’m sure. I hit him in the shoulder. Flesh wound only. I’d hate for something like that to hang over the two of you in the future. Doesn’t seem like a good way to start a life together.”
Ruth felt her face go hot, but Gunnar just grinned and opened his arms to her. She flew into them and buried her face in his shoulder. “I was so scared,” she murmured.
“You were incredible.” He kept whispering in her ear, along with more things, such sweet things that she would have felt embarrassed in front of his father, if Anthony hadn’t climbed out of the ATV just then.
“Gotta check in with the folks in charge,” he said, gesturing with a military-issue sat phone.
When they were alone, Gunnar pulled her all the way onto his lap and peppered her face with kisses. “Goddamn, do I love you. The real thing, the vows and forever after kind.”
“Really?” She felt tears sting her eyes. “Even after my father tried to kill you?”
“Eh, families,” he quipped. “We’ve all got our stories.” She used her sleeve to wipe a streak of blood off his cheek. “But maybe we won’t all spend Thanksgiving or Christmas together,” he added thoughtfully.
Which struck her as so funny that she couldn’t stop laughing until Gunnar’s father returned, wearing a serious expression that sobered her instantly.
“We need to get into town,” he said. “Things are going to be chaos there. With Luke down for the count, Dmitri Turgenev will be in charge. He’s even more unpredictable than Luke. I’ve been ordered to check it out and report back. Do you guys know any shortcuts from up here? I’ll drive.”
Ruth was more than happy to stay on Gunnar’s lap while Anthony Grant took the wheel.
“I think two kids who grew up in the wilderness can find a way,” said Gunnar. “What do you think, Ruth, the Fire Peak Trail, then cut down to Smoky Lake?”
“That’ll work.” As Anthony kicked the ATV into gear, she added, “There’s a creek bed that’s gone dry that we can pick up at Smoky Lake. It feeds right into Snow River about a quarter mile outside of town.”
“Right, where the sandhill cranes nest sometimes.”
“Yes, and there’s a wild sorrel patch I just love.”
Anthony let out a hoot of laughter. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people more perfect for each other. Just to confirm, Gunnar, if I suggested that you leave Firelight Ridge and see the world with me, you’d say no?”
Gunnar’s arms tightened around Ruth. She could imagine what a tempting idea that would be. He’d waited all these years to find out what happened to his father. Now he was next to him in a high-powered ATV, bouncing down a four-wheeler trail after playing the hero to Firelight Ridge. What an amazing moment for him.
“I’d say no to anything that doesn’t include Ruth, put it that way,” Gunnar finally said. “If that’s okay with you, Ruth?”
She wanted to melt against him, but before she did that, she had to make sure of something. “What if I have to stay here and take care of seven little kids and a potentially traumatized sixteen-year-old girl?”
“Then I’ll do the same,” he said promptly. “That’s the deal.”
Now there was no stopping the melting. A watery smile spread across her face. “I may be going through a lot over the next few years. I realized that I have a lot to process.”
“That’s good.” Gunnar dropped a kiss on her head, and another on her ear. “I want you to be happy and work through all the shit you’ve been through, and yeah, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m all about honesty and openness .”
From the driver’s seat, Anthony snorted. “Is that a dig at me?”
“You mean, am I saying I wouldn’t just send a cryptic message, then ask a friend to break into both my kids’ vehicles, then turn up out of the blue in the middle of an international incident? I guess so.”
Anthony appeared to consider that. “Fair,” he decided.
Even though Anthony smiled, Ruth could see that Gunnar’s words had stung a little.
“Gunnar, I’m pretty sure your father saved your life up there. He also saved Sarah’s.”
Gunnar turned to his father. “You did?”
“Before I found Ruth at the cabin, I ran into Sarah and her little band of kidnappers. Dealt with them and put her on an ATV to safety. She’s probably back in town by now. But just for the record, she probably could have rescued herself from those guys. Tough girl.”
Ruth could see the exact moment that Gunnar relented. “You probably saved my life with all that sparring too. It sure came in handy. But it doesn’t mean you’re totally forgiven. You could have brought me into this whole thing much earlier.”
“Got it.” Anthony nodded a few times. “What if I restore order in Firelight Ridge, open the roads back up, and get all those Russian militia members out of town and maybe into handcuffs?”
“Will you get our cell service back? Such as it is?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Then yeah. That’ll definitely help.”
As they all laughed, Ruth snuggled into Gunnar’s lap and rested her head on his broad chest. She knew him well enough to know that in that steady, strong heartbeat under her ear, there was nothing but love for his father. If she could count on anything in this life, she could count on Gunnar’s heart.
And, miracle of miracles, it was all hers. And her heart belonged to him. Just two ordinary kids who’d grown up in Firelight Ridge, reaching across an ocean of differences to find love.
As they reached the Fire Peak Trail, she realized it was their first chance to see the aftermath of what they’d left behind. She turned to look behind them.
The fire had spread across the ridge above Thunder Pass. Two helicopters approached, one carrying a container of water it had probably scooped up from Smoky Lake.
It released the water in a swift drop, then went back for more. The other helicopter hovered over the part of the pass where the Quonset hut was located. She hoped it was taking lots of pictures so everyone would know what was going on.
But what really took her breath away was the play of flames and clouds and light and smoke.
“Look, it really does look like firelight,” she said softly. Anthony paused the ATV in its headlong rush down the Fire Peak Trail. Gunnar and Ruth both jumped out. As they watched the spectacle of color and light, she leaned against him and he wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“Funny that it took a fire to save Firelight Ridge,” Gunnar murmured.
“No. It took people caring about it to save it.”
The sound of thunder rang from the direction of Thunder Pass. But no clouds could be seen other than smoke.
“Explosion?” Ruth murmured.
“My guess is that they’re scrambling to cover their tracks. They don’t want anyone else finding that gold.”
“Mm. Too bad they’re looking in the wrong place.” She turned to face him and slid her arms around him. He looked down at her questioningly. “This. This is gold. You and me. Love.”
A slow grin spread across his face. “We found the pot of gold at the end of the sixty-mile road.”
“Yes, but…” She stood on tiptoe so she could press a kiss onto his lips. They were warm and chapped, and they might have still had a speck of blood nearby, but they tasted wonderful, like firelight in the form of flesh. “One minor point. I’ve always thought of it as the beginning of the road, not the end.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “God, I love you, Ruth. You’re the beginning and the end. You’re it for me. Forever.”
With that, he kissed her until the world spun around her, and she didn’t know what was the end and what was the beginning, and it didn’t matter anyway, because it was all glorious.