Immersed in the battle against the fire, Trevor had no chance to find out whether Olivia had arrived safely. The uncertainty was a persistent ache in his gut. She’d been rattled and had driven away with a distinct lack of confidence. As if she’d never pulled a loaded horse trailer before.

He hadn’t stopped to question that decision by Ortega. She owned the horses and a trailer. Logically she’d be able to use it to haul the animals out of harm’s way.

Removing them from the scene had been critical. Despite the efforts of reinforcements from Bozeman and Billings, the fast-moving fire had gobbled the old barn with its dry timbers and loft full of hay. Trevor, Bryce and Jeremy had played in that hayloft.

As helicopters dumped buckets of water on the nearby forest, the ENFD crew turned its attention to saving the house. Trevor climbed to the roof with a backpack water bag and doused any sparks that landed on the shingles.

He lost track of how many times he climbed down to refill the bag and monitor hotspots. The crews on the ground managed to beat back the fire so it no longer threatened the structure, but the wind continued to blow sparks on the vulnerable roof. As a smoky dawn arrived, he started up the ladder again.

Ortega laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. “That’s enough, McGavin. It’s under control.”

Backtracking to the ground, he gazed at the altered landscape. Only a smoldering pile of ashes remained where the barn had once stood. He didn’t look forward to Olivia seeing that.

All vegetation had been cleared within twenty yards of the house, making the property appear abandoned. Anything that hadn’t been chopped back had been mowed down by thick tires and heavy boots. But the house hadn’t burned.

Huge swaths of pines and aspens behind the house were gone, which added to the starkness of the scene. Some tall pines remained, their trunks blackened and only a few tufts of green left at the top.

Ortega let out a sigh. “We were lucky. Next time you see Ryker, tell him thanks for me.”

“Ryker?”

“He was flying in last night and spotted the fire. By hitting it early, we kept it relatively small.”

“I’ll make it a point to see him. And buy him a beer.”

“You do that. Take him and April out for a nice meal. Charge it to the department.” He glanced over as a fire truck lumbered into the front yard. “Fresh crew from Bozeman. Let’s go home.”

The ride back to the station seemed to take forever, but Trevor didn’t want to call his mom until he could find a private corner. The minute they arrived he ducked into a storage area and pulled out his phone.

His mom answered on the first ring. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. Is Olivia okay?”

“She’s okay, son.”

“Thank God. When she drove out with that trailer she looked real shaky.”

“Turns out she’d never done it before.”

He closed his eyes. “Damn.”

“But she made it. And she’s finally asleep or I’d have you talk to her.”

“No worries. I’ll be home soon. She’s gonna hate how the place looks, but we saved the house.”

“Good.”

“The barn’s gone, though.”

“Better that than the house.”

“I know. It’s just that it was a pretty little piece of property and now it looks like a war zone.”

“It’ll grow back. I’ll help her plant new stuff.”

“Good idea.” His spirits lifted, as they usually did when he talked to his mom. Her resilience was her super power. “And guess who spotted the fire and called it in?”

“Ryker. He and April came over. Everyone was here. We kept track of things with that app you installed on my phone.”

“Are they still there?”

“No. When the fresh crew came in from Bozeman, they all decided the show was over. That’s when Olivia finally conked out.”

“Where’s she sleeping?”

“I gave her Cody’s old room.”

“Good choice. By the way, does she know her barn’s gone?”

“I think she gathered that. She also figured out that her house was still standing. That’s probably why she was finally able to sleep.”

“You probably need to sleep, too.”

“I will, right after I feed the animals. Zane, Cody, Faith and Mandy promised to meet me down at the barns in about ten minutes so we can get ‘er done. We should be finished before you get here, so sweet dreams.”

“I’ll be extra quiet coming in. Love you, Mom.”

“Love you, too, son.”

He disconnected the call. The showers were running as the crew washed away the soot. He stripped down and did the same although he didn’t bother shaving. Some of the guys were still on rotation and grabbed food or crashed in their bunks. Others had responded to the emergency call and were free to go home.

He had a bunk assigned but he wasn’t required to sleep in it except for the two nights a week he’d agreed to stay in the firehouse. He toweled off, dressed in the clothes he’d been wearing when he’d left the GG, and drove away from the station bound for Wild Creek Ranch.

He hated that the fire had done so much damage to Olivia’s place, but he was glad to have been there. Normally the ENFD didn’t have volunteers. Back in August, he’d talked Ortega into taking him on.

They’d worked out a schedule that meshed with Trevor’s construction job, which meant night shifts, only. Three nights a week he was on call and two nights a week he spent at the station house.

The schedule changed every week depending on where the chief had gaps. Gradually Trevor was learning all the jobs and the guys seemed to love having a rotating volunteer who eventually would be able to fill in for anybody.

Some of his friends didn’t understand why he’d donate his time and risk his safety. His mom and his brothers got it, though. His passions were building things and enjoying the beauty of his native state. Fire threatened both, so he was learning how to fight it.

Money had never been a driving force in his life. But he’d made more in Texas than he was used to and he’d been inspired to open a savings account at the Eagles Nest National Bank. He hadn’t been clear what he was saving for.

The intense hours he’d spent defending Olivia’s house had sharpened his purpose. He wanted to build his own home. Cody and Faith had constructed a cute little A-frame on a forested section of ranch property, but he wanted more than that—his own land and a house of his design.

He’d probably build a barn, too. After growing up with horses, he’d like a couple. Pulling into the parking space beside the ranch house, he looked at it with new eyes.

His house would be log construction like this one, but he might go up another story. Stairs were cool. And a porch. Had to have a porch. And a stone fireplace. Maybe a back deck with a hot tub.

He walked up the path to the house and climbed the steps carefully, mindful of the third one that squeaked. He’d fix that now that the second barn was done. If his mom would make a list of the nagging little maintenance chores she needed, he’d work his way through them.

But regardless of whether he was framing a house for Paladin Construction or keeping the ranch buildings in good repair, he was still working on a structure that didn’t belong to him. He’d be happy to continue doing those things if he also had something of his own, something he could mold into any shape he wanted.

Until this moment, he hadn’t acknowledged how strong that craving was. Opening the front door, he walked into the living room and turned around to close the door. When he swung back, he froze in place. Olivia stood in the hallway.

Her sudden appearance startled him. He’d expected her to be asleep, but she must have been listening for him to come home. He had info she wanted.

Her jeans and sweater had prompted an adjustment in his thinking, but this outfit required a total overhaul of his assumptions about Olivia Shaw. Her satin robe and nightgown matched the erotic pink of her bedroom walls. If that was accidental, he’d eat his hat.

She wore her glasses, but that was all that was left of her accountant persona. Her dark hair tumbled around her shoulders in glorious abundance. If she took off her robe and nightgown, she could drape her hair over her breasts.

Heaven help him, he ached for her to do that. He wanted her in his arms, her silky hair sliding over his naked body. He shivered. Maybe exhaustion was making him hallucinate, because something in her eyes told him that he wasn’t the only one with that idea.

She drew in a breath. “You saved my house.”

“Not just me. Plenty of firefighters worked to save it.” He took a few steps toward her.

“But you were the one who cared the most.” She closed the gap a little more.

“Well, yeah. You’re a family friend.” Boy, didn’t that sound dumb. He drifted closer.

She smiled. “You mean I’m the nice person who brings homemade cookies when I come to visit? The one who remembers everyone’s birthday with an appropriate card?”

He laughed before he remembered he was supposed to be quiet. “No. I didn’t mean that at all. You’re…” He cleared his throat. “You’re nothing like I thought you were. Let’s leave it at that.”

Her voice was soft and her gaze even softer. “Okay.”

He was within touching distance. In his world, standing this close to a woman in sexy nightwear meant they were about to make love. Not today.

He couldn’t even assume she was trying to be provocative. She’d arrived in this outfit and it was opaque enough to be perfectly decent. Except chances were good she wore nothing underneath.

He swallowed. Time to get the main points of this conversation out of the way so he could go to his room and she could return to Cody’s. “I’m sorry about your barn. It was right in the path and we had to let it go.”

“I heard.”

“Mom can keep your horses until you build a new one.”

“She already told me that and I’m very grateful. I’m sure Bonnie and Clyde will have a blast hanging out with all these horses.”

“Bonnie and Clyde? Aren’t they both geldings?”

“Yes, but Edward and I had decided on those names when we still lived in Chicago. Once we got out here we learned that two geldings made more sense for beginners than a gelding and a mare. But we kept the names, anyway.”

“I see.” It helped cool his jets to hear her talk about Edward with affection. “You were very brave to take the horses out when you’d never pulled a trailer.”

“My horses, my job.” She nudged her glasses more firmly into place and lifted her chin. “The rest of you had work to do. Taking someone away from that because I couldn’t handle my responsibility would have been wrong.”

She had courage. Too bad he was a sucker for gutsy women. “I realized you were scared, though. I even suspected you were hauling horses for the first time, but I—”

“You had to let me do it.” She took a deep breath. “And I did. But before I pull another loaded horse trailer, I intend to get some instruction.”

“I’ll be glad to teach you.”

“That would be great.”

Evidently he was still looking for ways to spend time with her, whether that was wise or not. “You probably know more than you think you do, since you made it over here.”

“I know nothing. I drove the entire way without using my brakes.”

“Whoa. Not at all?”

She shook her head and her dark hair rippled. “I went real slow and there was hardly any traffic.”

“I guess there wouldn’t be much. Most people try to stay off the road when there’s a wildfire anywhere near town.”

“How soon will I be able to go back?”

“I’m not sure. I can find out for you in a few hours, but my guess is they’ll need to monitor the area for hotspots. They won’t want you in there until it’s safe.”

“Today?”

“Maybe. I’m thinking not, though.”

She deflated a little. “I was hoping.”

“Listen, when you do go back.” He hesitated. “Your house is perfectly fine, but the area around it took a hit.”

Her gaze sharpened. “What about the acreage between the main road and the house?”

“The grassland? I don’t think it was affected much.”

“Good.”

“But we had to clear off anything near the house that would burn.”

“My flowers?”

“Had to go.”

“My vegetable garden?”

“Did you have one?”

“Yes, in back. I’d harvested most of it but I still had…” Her voice trailed off. “I’m guessing it’s gone, too.”

“Sorry.”

Her lower lip trembled.

“I’ll help you plant a new one next spring.”

She nodded. “It’s just that Edward and I…” With a quick gulp, she turned away. “I’ll…I’ll see you later, okay?” She walked quickly down the hall and into Cody’s room. The door closed with a soft click.

Sure as the world, she’d planted that garden with Edward. If there was any doubt whether she was still grieving, her reaction to losing the garden confirmed it. He scrubbed a hand over his face. She still loved her late husband. That didn’t leave much room for another man.