“Get that underbrush cleared out of there!”
Joey wiped his forehead with the back of his arm, then took his ax and began to chop away at the bushes that surrounded him. He and the other firefighters on his team had been asked to clear a trench across this section of land in hopes that the fire would die out for lack of fuel. They’d been working hard since they arrived, and the people they were replacing looked worn right out.
This fire was one of the worst that area had seen. Joey had been following it since it first broke out, figuring it was just a matter of time before he’d be asked to help. It had devastated huge swaths of land, misplacing people and animals from their homes, and it didn’t seem to be losing any power. This trench might not do any good at all, but at least they were trying.
Hours ticked by, the roar of distant flames coming closer, the smoke becoming more than anyone could bear. They covered their noses and mouths, but still they worked. Someone had brought in a backhoe and that was making their progress go faster, but there was much to do, so little time.
When Joey finally tumbled into his bedroll, he couldn’t even move to take off his boots, he was so tired. And he had no idea if they’d helped. Only time would tell that story.
***
“No, Dad, wait. I was watching that.” Chelsea craned her neck to see the TV better as her dad flipped it back on. The screen was showing coverage of the Walla Walla fire, with maps indicating how far it had spread. It was startling to see that much devastation.
“There are forest fires all the time. Why are you so interested in this one?” he asked.
“Because that’s where Joey went. I told you the other day, remember? He’s on the S&R team?”
Her parents looked at each other, and then her father sat down next to her. “Chelsea, sweetheart, your mother and I think it’s time we had a talk about this lifeguard friend of yours.”
“His name is Joey Peterson.”
“Yes, Joey. I remember. We’re just concerned that you’re getting a little too caught up in him. You’ve been talking about him quite a lot, and we’re worried that you might not be keeping your options open for other nice young men who might come along.”
“I’m at a resort in the middle of a state where we know no one, and you hired Joey to spend most of his time with me. How am I supposed to meet any of these other nice young men who might be bopping around out there?”
“We just don’t want to see you getting entangled right now.”
Chelsea looked back and forth between her parents. “I’m not getting entangled, but if I were, I’m not sure why you’d have a problem with it.”
“We just have dreams for you, sweetheart,” her mother said. “And a lifeguard can’t help you fulfill those dreams.”
Chelsea took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He works as a lifeguard to earn money for college—he’s actually pre-med, going into sports medicine. A doctor, Mom. Isn’t that impressive?”
“It is, yes, but so much better if he was in a different specialty, don’t you think?”
Chelsea shook her head. “I don’t understand. I thought we were moving past all this.”
“Your mother and I are trying to understand what you want—we really are. But there are some things that we can’t just throw out the window, and we want to see you settled with someone who can provide for you, give you a stable home, and treat you how you should be treated.”
“Haven’t we established that I want a simpler life? I don’t need a ton of money. I can live on less. I want to live on less. And I’m not marrying Joey, so I don’t understand the problem!” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, a little voice inside her head said, Why aren’t you marrying Joey?
She pushed the thought aside. It was too crazy to think about just then. “I’m heading over to the spa for a massage. Please, you two—try to loosen up about this, all right? We’re not better than he is just because we have money. You can’t judge a person’s character by the thickness of their wallet.” She pushed up out of the couch and limped a bit over to the door, glad that she was now able to make it down the cabin’s front steps by herself. It was easier to make a dramatic exit that way.
***
“Chelsea! Wait up!”
Not that she was going very fast, but she slowed down and turned. Nick was trotting toward her, a wide smile on his face.
“Hey, I heard that you’ve been laid up a bit with your knee. I wanted to come over sooner, but the ranch’s website crashed, and I had to do a ton of rebuilding.” He did look tired—dark circles under his eyes, a ghostly pallor, and all the other things stereotypically associated with computer geeks who never emerge from their basements to see the light of day. She smiled at the imagery.
“That’s all right. Some other things came up, and I’ve been kind of busy.”
He nodded. “So, can I take you out to lunch today? Unless you’ve already eaten, in which case, can I take you out to dinner?”
She cringed just a bit. She really didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she had to be honest—if she’d learned a lesson at all since coming to the ranch, it was the importance of the authentic self and speaking the truth always. “Nick, you’re a great guy—”
“But you don’t see this going anywhere.”
She smiled. “I see us being friends and maybe chatting a few more times before I leave, but yeah, that’s what I’m trying to say. I’ve realized this week that I have a lot of work to do on myself before I’ll be ready to be in any sort of healthy relationship. I hope you can understand that.”
He looked into her eyes before smiling. “I can, and thank you for telling me how you feel instead of just brushing me off. I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome.” And it did feel so much better to share what was really going on inside.
Now if Joey could just come back safely . . . deep breaths. She knew he’d be gone another day—she had no call to be impatient.
***
Blisters on both hands, on both feet, on his face. Joey felt as though he’d been standing in an oven, shoveling ashes, hauling hoses, carrying buckets. He was so tired that the flickering flames sometimes looked like dancing devils, mocking him, torturing him. They never spoke, but they pointed at him and laughed, and he had to blink the sweat out of his eyes before they reverted back to their true form.
He was so tired, he could barely put one foot in front of the other. Every bone was made of lead, every muscle made of wood, and his brain had long since stopped working. He couldn’t imagine what the others felt like, those who had been out here since the beginning of the fire. They had a strength and a fortitude that he could only begin to imagine. He still had half a day left and he wanted to curl up in a ball and hide. This was hard—so much harder than anything he’d ever done before.
His own words came back to him, the words he’d spoken to Chelsea. He was doing this to protect others from having to go through the same thing. He was doing it to keep the families safe, the little ones, those who couldn’t do it for themselves. With those thoughts, he pushed forward again, finding the strength to go just a bit farther, do just a bit more.