Blue was sitting behind Nikola when they pulled up to the alley where Lucy’s family lived. Abuelita, Tia Santa, and Chato climbed into a 90s-something Corolla and led out with the Americans following in the rental car. Blue had been hoping they could get the awkward moment with the jersey out of the way quickly, but he’d have to wait until they reached the ruins.

As they drove through the city, Lucy pointed out many of the sites and attractions and told them about the history of Cuzco. It was amazing how much she had picked up in four days, but what was really amazing was how gorgeous her accent was when she told them the names of the places. Plaza de Armas, Cathedral de Santo Domingo, and Cristo Blanco. The absolute best was Barrio de San Blas, and Blue got her to repeat it three times before she picked up on what he was doing and gave him a flirty grin and a soft elbow in the ribs.

Only loud enough for her to hear, he said, “Now I know how Gomez Addams felt when Morticia used to speak French.” The Addams Family had been one of his favorite daytime shows to watch when he would stay home from school as a kid.

Apparently Lucy was a fan too. She said, “Barrio de San Blas,” and held out her arm, like Morticia used to do. Blue didn’t miss the cue, taking her by the hand and planting kisses from her wrist to her shoulder, causing her to squeal in delight.

Stone, who was crammed in the back with them, scowled and said, “I’d tell you two to get a room but you already have one.”

Blue took Lucy’s hand in his. Hopefully she was over the whole Cienciano jersey. He probably should have changed it, just to make life easier for everyone, but since he’d shelled out the money for it the day before, he wanted to wear it in Peru where it actually meant something. If he had to guess, he’d say Abuelita would be a better sport about it than Lucy.

* * *

Boy was Blue wrong.

Abuelita was half-in, half-out of the little car, giving him a glare of death. Blue had stared down opposing linebackers that were less menacing. He’d seen ten-foot flames shooting out of the windows of a burning home with less heat than he felt coming from this shriveled 90-year-old woman.

The jersey had been a very bad idea.

Slowly, Abuelita finished climbing out of the car. Keeping her eyes firmly on Blue, she started muttering a string of words that didn’t sound very kind, and she went on for a while. Tia Santa and Chato took up positions on either side of her. The term evil henchmen came to mind, and Blue pictured himself buried in a shallow Peruvian grave.

When Abuelita finished her rant or curse or whatever it was, Blue turned to Lucy for a translation.

Lucy put her hands up. “I’m too much of a lady to repeat those words.”

Through his ignorance and stubbornness, Blue had gotten himself into a battle. He’d been in battles before in his life and there was always a way out of it. Putting on a relaxed smile, he came forward with one arm out to try to put it around the angry woman.

“Abuelita,” he said in an endearing tone. “Such words.” He gave her his most charming smile.

She stopped him with an even more intense glare and muttered more words.

Lucy interpreted, “She wonders why handsome men have to have heads full of rocks.”

“Let's just agree to disagree,” said Blue.

Lucy interpreted but Abuelita was having none of it. Folding her arms and turning so that she was giving him a very cold shoulder, she let it be known by her body language that she wasn't going anywhere, and muttered more harsh words. Slowly, as if it would help Blue understand the words, she said, “Yo no boy named Gune Lado: essay Mark Rayado.”

"I have no idea what that means, but the rhyme was catchy. We should write a pop song." Nobody laughed. All eyes were on Blue and his jersey.

If it wasn't for Lucy, he would have told them all to forget themselves and gone on to see the ruins by himself. But this was their one day together, and was it really worth keeping his loyalty to a team he had only picked because Stone was rooting for the rival and he liked the red and white colors? There really was no winning in a standoff with the grandmother of a woman he was very interested in.

Then again, his whole reputation with his guys was making a good decision and having the confidence to stick with it. How would that look if he let someone push him around over something so inconsequential at its core? But how would it look if he did hold his ground when it was time to cut his losses? If he was on a fire scene and things were burning down around him this badly he wouldn't hesitate to pull his guys out and save what was really important.

“You win, Abuelita,” said Blue, pulling the jersey off.

The nasty look did not leave Abuelita’s face. She was not appeased, but at least she turned the other direction and moved slowly toward the ruins. Lucy caught up with her and Blue threw his jersey back in the car then caught up with them both. Waving over her shoulder in the general direction of the other guys, Abuelita said something to Lucy.

It was tempting to just ignore it, but Blue was curious how bad it was now that he’d relented so he looked over at Lucy.

“She wants to know why I’m not dating that steel-eyed handsome one who is not a goat-loving brat with muscles for brains.”

“Who, Stone?” Blue glanced over his shoulder and saw Stone holding back a laugh. “Just because he said eeny-meeny-miny-moe and picked a pretty blue shirt?” The idea of Lucy dating someone else stung. She’d never looked so lovely as she did now with her thin, sleeveless native-style blouse and small Peruvian poncho tied off at the front of her neck. With her big dark eyes, she looked like a painting of an exemplary model of South American beauty.

Lucy shrugged. “I tried to warn you.”

Blue was tempted to run back to the car and get his jersey, since taking it off hadn’t accomplished anything. But he knew it was pure stubbornness so he rejected the idea.

“Wow,” said Lucy, looking up.

Without Blue realizing it, the group had arrived at the ruins and stood at the base of a stone wall constructed of stone blocks twice as tall as Blue himself. Pictures he’d seen didn’t do it justice, and even the day trip they’d taken to the more famous Machu Picchu hadn’t taken away any of the thrill of being here.

“Una foto,” said Abuelita, and everyone started lining up. Blue purposefully positioned himself between her and Lucy, but Abuelita muttered something under her breath and went to stand next to Stone.

And of course, living up to his nickname, Stone Cold gave Blue an evil grin as he put an arm around Abuelita’s shoulders. As Chato collected phones and cameras from everyone, Blue put his arm around Lucy. As if it set off some alarm, Abuelita craned her neck toward them and gave him the evil eye. Before he knew what he was doing, Blue had slid his arm back behind Lucy’s waist where it was less visible.

Chato took the pictures and returned the cameras and phones then Abuelita stepped forward in tour guide mode and faced them. “Sacsayhuaman was built for military fortress by the Incas. Repeat after me—Sacsayhuaman.”

Abuelita spoke English? Abuelita spoke English! Of course she did; she’d been a tour guide here for decades. Yeah her accent wasn’t perfect, but it was easy to understand.

Everyone except for Blue repeated what she’d said. None of his guys had spent any time with her so they must not be as surprised as he was.

“You,” said Abuelita, leveling a crooked finger at him. “Say it.”

Blue attempted it but he was afraid it sounded more like Sacagawea than Sacsayhuaman.

“No, horrible,” she told him, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. “You must say Sexy Woman. The rest say Sacsayhuaman.”

They all chuckled, even Blue, and he got the impression that was a joke she’d used as a tour guide. Firemen did the same thing, using a joke over and over with every new tour group that came through. But he also picked up on her enjoying it more than she probably usually did. Well he could have fun back.

“Sexy woman? That’s easy. I’ll just think of Lucy.” He pulled her close to his side and earned a scowl from Abuelita.

Lucy said something to her in Spanish that made him want to wrap her up and kiss those lovely Latin lips. Whatever she said convinced Abuelita to give up on mad-dogging him and go back to tour guide mode. In her slow, heavily accented English, she said, “Sacsayhuaman was completed around the thirteenth century.” She stepped up to the wall, holding a note card out of nowhere in her hand. “They used no mortar, but the walls fit together too tight to fit a piece of paper in.” Sure enough, the note card wouldn’t fit into the crack. The group spread out along the wall, each inspecting the cracks between the huge stones.

Abuelita moved on, talking more about the Inca culture and history as the group meandered slowly after her. These ruins weren’t giant pyramids like some ruins he’d seen online, but multiple walls of patterned stone that would be quite an accomplishment in modern days much less half a millennium ago. Some of the walls had perfectly spaced openings where arrows could be shot from. Abuelita was a wonderful guide, painting vivid pictures of life as an Inca and she had even started to ignore the fact that Lucy and Blue were holding hands. The feeling of stepping back 600 years was amazing—exactly what he’d been hoping he’d feel coming here.

Yet, as Blue, Lucy, and the rest of them wandered through the ruins and across large open fields, the real marvel was the beauty at his side and the depths of his feelings for her. He and his guys had a good thing going as Blue’s Bachelors. Before running into Lucy at Questival, there had been no holes or lack in his life whatsoever. His job was perfect, he was healthy, had awesome friends who were always available to hang out or go on an adventure on their days off.

Then a spotlight from heaven itself had showed him something even better.

All of the good Blue’s Bachelor times were nothing compared to what he felt with Lucy, and this was only their second or third date, depending on how you counted. He couldn’t imagine doing this without her. Going back to his “perfect” life in Park City while she went back to New Mexico just felt … broken. Like something was wrong with that life.

How was that possible when they’d spent so little time together? He’d dated plenty of other women and spent more than a couple days with them and had never been so connected, or had a hard time visualizing his life without them.

What was worse, he wanted to take her aside and tell her all this and make plans about how they could make things work. It was too early in the relationship. Far too early. And she had a job working for the university she loved and he was eight years into his dream career. He could start over anywhere in the state of Utah and keep his pension going, but if he left Utah, it would be starting from scratch; he’d basically lose the eight years he’d put into the retirement system. If starting over with a new department and new crew was the only issue, Blue would do it for her. He’d go through another training camp and back to being the boot and taking everyone’s crap instead of taking charge. But eight years into a pension was a lot harder to walk away from. In just twelve more years he could retire and have freedom to go where he wanted in his early-40s. If he pulled up stakes and resettled in a new state, it would push that number back a lot closer to 50.

Wait, what was he doing? Just a few minutes ago he was telling himself his mind had been moving too fast.

Under his breath, he muttered, “Slow down there, fella.”

Lucy startled, even though he hadn’t spoken loud enough to be heard. Her mind had been somewhere else for a minute there as well. For some reason he thought it might have gone the same place his own mind had gone.

“I wish we could stay right here for another five days,” she said quietly as she looked up into his eyes.

The world came to a complete standstill for just a fraction of a minute. It was as if Blue and Lucy had been standing there looking into each other’s eyes since the day the fortress of Sexy Woman was completed. And as if they could stand there for another half millennium lost in this connection.

He had to kiss her. The impulse was impossible to resist and he started toward her lips.

Abuelita’s voice broke in. “Show him the slide.”

Again, as she had seconds ago, Lucy jolted slightly. She shook off the trance and asked, “Do you know about the rocks behind the ruins? There's a massive slide back there.”

It felt to Blue like it was taking him longer to get back into the world than it had taken her. She still seemed like a vision of the past, and also a promise of the future. “Huh? Slide? Sounds fun, I'm in.”

At a pace similar to old, worn out Yoda, abuelita let them out of the ruins and around the way they hadn't come from. The pace didn’t bother Blue since there was so much to see and he had Lucy’s hand in his. As promised, a giant, slick slab of rock led up towards the top of the ruins from this side of the hill.

Blue didn't know if this was a natural rock formation, or if it had been formed by the Incas as well. It was maybe 50 yards from where he stood to the top of the slick part of the rock. The rock had three grooves in it, as if designed so a trio could slide down side by side.

Lucy dropped his hand, took off running, and shouted, “Race ya!”

She was ten paces ahead of him by the time he started but he pushed hard to catch her. She didn't seem to be giving it everything she had, and Blue started to close ground. When she peeked over her shoulder to check his progress he really closed the gap and was close enough to reach up and touch if he wanted. The desire to pinch her perfect bottom was tempting, but he could feel Abuelita’s eyes on them.

Lucy squealed and shot away from him, turning on her afterburners apparently. Blue’s lungs were already pleading for air. 12,000 feet elevation was a whole different story from the 7000 feet where he lived and worked. Not only did Lucy beat him to the top, she had enough time to turn and do the Rocky celebration that he had seen her do at Questival.

Blue came to a stop right in front of her. A cool breeze at the top of the slide felt wonderful as Blue caught his breath.

“So much for the manly rescue hero,” taunted Lucy.

Blue took a breath and said, “This is where you've been coming every day, isn't it? You just said you’ve been seeing the sights and spending time with family, but really you've been training at 12,000 feet.”

“No way! That's 100% pure training and athleticism. These power legs are good for something.” She pounded both of her flexed thighs with fists. “Maybe you should look into training or working out when you get back to Park City.” Even her smirk was attractive as she played her victory for all it was worth.

“That's what I get for spending all my time bulking up and cutting the muscle for the calendar. Now that the photo shoot’s over I can get some cardio back in.”

“What's up with that, anyway?” asked Lucy. “What's the draw of getting all oiled up and flexing in front of the camera?”

Blue felt himself blush. He'd gone back-and-forth plenty of times on whether the calendar was really about putting himself out there for any interested party to ogle him or if his motives were more pure. He and Lucy had teased each other enough that he felt like he had a good indication that her question was sincere.

“My first captain,” said Blue, “Hollow Leg Harris.” It hadn’t been long since Blue had thought about him, but it had been quite a while since he’d talked about him. “Diagnosed with throat cancer at the end of my probationary year. Spent all of his three months of retirement in surgery and chemo. Couldn’t even talk at the end. A guy who gave me some of the best advice ever was silenced in the end.”

Lucy was listening intently. Blue looked past her at the rock and grass that ran along the side of the slide to gather his thoughts. This wasn’t something he ever really talked about with anyone.

“People think fire is our enemy, that it’s this big monster that we’re constantly trying to conquer, but that’s not true. Not in my case anyway. Fire’s easy, just figure out how to get some water on it. Done. But it plants seeds, insidious little eggs that fester and wait and just when a guy is ready to travel the world, or go be a volunteer, or spend some time with his grandkids teaching them everything he’s learned in his life … he’s dead. Not in some heroic way, but weak and sick. And voiceless.”

Blue turned away from Lucy and looked out over the incline they’d come up at the pristine jungle that surrounded him, and the ruins, and his sexy woman. “Thirty years as a firefighter. Never smoked a single cigarette. No, fire isn’t my enemy. It’s cancer.”

Lucy took his hand and leaned into him, probably wondering what in the world Hollow Leg had to do with the calendar.

“All of the money raised from the calendar goes to the American Cancer Society. In the scheme of things, it’s not much, but if I can help a little and have a great reason to stay in shape, I’ll do it.”

He looked down at her deep, understanding eyes. What had he ever been thinking that hanging out with the guys and living on his own was better than finding someone to share his life with before he ended up like Hollow Leg?

Blue’s guys were more than halfway up the slope, helping Tia Santa as they came. Abuelita had stayed at the bottom.

“Look at me,” he said, turning back to Lucy. “The only alone time we’ve had all day and I’m getting all sappy on you.”

“We’ll have more time later.” That sparkle in her eye was as bright as it ever had been. She’d agreed to spend the last night in Peru with Blue and his guys at the Skylodge—a glass enclosure on the side of a mountain.

Blue didn’t care that the rest of the group was almost to them, and that Abuelita was staring up at them, certainly hoping he’d tumble to his death down the slope. He kissed her—soft and lingering. It was as monumental as the ruins around them.

Lucy said, “Mmm,” and gave his hand a squeeze.

They both backtracked ten yards to meet up with the guys, Chato, and Tia Santa. She was in her 50s and a little overweight. She’d moved slowly up the slope, but wasn’t breathing hard. Living above 10,000 feet elevation had her in pretty good shape.

“Who’s first,” asked Lucy.

“Show us how it’s done,” said Blue. The slope was steep enough but this was rock. How much could she really slide?

Lucy jumped forward and sat on the slick rock. “That’s right, Lobos first.” She whooped and pushed off and took off downhill way faster than Blue had expected, zooming right over the fissure that crossed the slide halfway down.

“Outta my way, boys,” said Blue, taking his spot on the rock slide. It wasn’t rough at all as he’d expected, but smooth like glass. Was this a relic of an ancient civilization or just worn down from centuries of tourists? Either way, he was going. With a simple shove and a holler of his own he took off down the slope. Seconds later he was at the bottom with Lucy and Abuelita.

“How was it?” asked Lucy.

“I caught an inch of air when I hit that crack.”

“I saw,” said Lucy with a smile. “It was amazing.”

Abuelita was looking up the hill where Nikola was sliding down. Dax came next, followed by Stone. Tia Santa lined up next.

“Has she done this before?” Blue asked.

Abuelita rolled her eyes and said, “She did this a thousand times. She going to show off.”

Tia Santa pushed off and as she started down, she flipped over onto her belly. When she reached the fissure, her foot caught in the crack and she was jolted forward and twisted around, then she rolled limply the rest of the way down the slope. She came to a stop at Blue’s feet, face down in the grass. Not moving.

Blue sprang into action.