Three days after the apartment fire, and Alex found her own house swarming with firemen.

Thankfully, in this instance, the only immediate smoke that filled the air was the cloud pouring off the grill in back. Landon flipped burgers deftly, looking cute as hell in the petite apron he had borrowed from her for the occasion. Across the lawn, members of the Alaskan volunteer contingent tossed a Frisbee, with Blaze running back and forth between them, yipping excitedly.

Blaze was a recent—and likely permanent—addition to the household. Landon had finally managed to catch the stray—a bag of burgers made a great dog-catching tool. He’d introduced Alex to the stray when he’d brought him home, and she had fallen head-over-heels in love with the little mutt after hearing the full backstory. It was Blaze's life Landon had saved, that first day before they’d met at the hospital, and Alex couldn't help feeling she owed the shaggy canine a debt of gratitude. As much as Landon still referred to her as his guardian angel, she couldn't help suspect that Blaze was the one most deserving of the title.

The doorbell rang, and Alex excused herself from a conversation with Chase and Sookie. When she pulled the door open, she was met by a beaming, lovely face framed by golden hair.

"Lana! So glad you could make it!" Alex quickly took the covered pitcher of iced tea from her friend's hands. Lana's smile widened in greeting, and the inside of the house immediately felt ten degrees brighter.

"Sorry I'm late," Lana apologized needlessly. "If I missed dinner—"

"You didn't miss dinner," Alex assured her as she ferried the tea into the kitchen. "Landon was just finishing up grilling the burgers out back. And we have vegetarian options, too, if you're feeling—"

But what Lana was feeling became all too obvious the next instant when the two women rounded the corner and encountered the Alaskan fire chief, Hank, standing in the kitchen with a freshly-opened beer in his hand.

He stared, stricken, as Lana came up behind Alex. Lana, for her part, froze like a deer in headlights, doe eyes adorably enormous in her head.

Alex glanced between them. She fully expected Hank to drop his beer in that moment, but the fire chief kept a valiant hold of it, sparing her from having to break out the mop so early in the evening.

"Lana." The way he said her name, there was no mistaking he had said it countless times before. "Good to see you."

"Hank." Lana dipped her head, her cheeks suddenly colored a bashful rose. "I—I thought I might see you here."

"If I'd known you were bringing your famous iced tea, I would have laid off the beer," Hank said.

Lana nodded. An awkward silence stretched between them. Alex decided to save them all from it by setting the pitcher down on the counter with unnecessary force; Lana jumped a little, and Hank quickly detached from where he had been leaning against the stove, reaching to bring down two glasses from the cupboard. "I'll take a beer, actually," Lana volunteered suddenly. "Whatever you're drinking looks good."

Hank nodded and turned away to fish around in the cooler he had brought. While his expression may have been hidden from Lana, Alex could clearly see the hesitant smile tugging at the corners of her friend’s lips.

I'll leave you two lovebirds to it, she thought, with a mischievous grin that Lana definitely saw. Her friend fixed her with desperate, pleading eyes, but Alex just squeezed her arm before retreating out the back door.

Lana didn't need to be rescued. If anything, she could use the healthy infusion of a little more danger in her lonely, secluded life . . . and there was nothing more dangerous, in Alex's own experience, than a firefighter with that same determined spark in his eye that Hank wore.

"Alex!" Landon hailed her from over by the grill, and Alex practically skipped to him. Her cheeks felt even more pronounced than usual, and she knew the smile hadn't left her face since their first guest had arrived earlier that evening.

Landon gazed down at her, grinning himself, as if her mood was too infectious to vaccinate against. "Having that good a time, huh?"

"I can't believe how full the house is," she replied. She observed from afar as Gabby and Cherise bookended Garret, one of Landon's squad mates, and dragged him over to play horseshoes. "It's like . . . oh, God. I hate to be so cliché, but since it's you . . ."

"Since it's me," Landon agreed.

"It feels like we're all one big, beautiful family. Even if we do have our disputes," she allowed as Raphael came tearing past, Blaze in hot pursuit. "And even if it is a fire that brought us all together."

Here's hoping it won't tear us apart.

She still had trouble silencing the voice of warning in the back of her mind.

But maybe silencing it wasn't the answer, after all. So long as she didn't allow it to rule her, that little beacon of caution could still come in useful from time to time. It would help her prepare for the worst—and make any obstacle infinitely more surmountable, so long as she was ready for it.

"Speaking of a fire bringing us together, I've been meaning to chat with you about something." Landon resumed flipping burgers, and Alex watched him, curious that he should suddenly take an offhand tone. He only ever did that when there was something important he wanted to pose to her.

"Oh?" Alex inquired. "And what was this something you wanted to chat with me about?"

"Kingston?" Landon turned to call over his shoulder. "You mind taking over for a minute?"

"You got it, Brenner." Chase sidled up to take the hamburger turner. He was clearly trying to suppress a grin, and Alex's eyes narrowed. What the heck was going on? And why did it suddenly feel as if everyone at the party was staring at them?

She turned and saw Hank hanging off the back door, Lana standing on the step below him. Her friend’s arms were crossed, her beer in hand; her eyes twinkled.

Wait . . . what the heck was going on?

Alex's heartbeat tripled its pace. She turned back around, to find Landon standing in front of her, wearing her too-small apron . . . and fishing for something secreted in the front pocket.

"Alexandra Appleby . . ." He said her full name reverentially as he dropped to one knee.

Alex's hands flew to her mouth.

"Will you marry me?"

Hot tears sprang into her eyes, and soon her face was overflowing with them. She struggled but couldn't get the words out. As if from a distance, she heard delighted laughter, and many of her friends from the hospital were weeping alongside her as she sank to her knees across from Landon and buried her face in her hands. All she could do was nod her head, forcefully and repeatedly, to be sure that she got her answer across.

A pair of warm arms reeled her in, and she fell against his chest. The word finally sprang free from her sobbing lips. "Yes!" she exclaimed.

An explosive cheer went up all around, and joyous rattling resounded as glasses and beer bottles came together, clink! It was the most beautiful music Alex thought she had ever heard.

She tried in vain to take in the smiling faces around her, but her focus had narrowed to the countenance of the handsome man holding her. There were tears in Landon's eyes, too, and the corners of his cheeks were crinkled with a happiness she knew he couldn't translate into words. Alex knew, because in that moment, she couldn't, either.

Blaze joined in, barking excitedly and leaping into the air. Sookie popped a bottle of champagne and sprayed half the squad with its contents like she was emptying a foam tank. When the deluge reached Lana, she held her forearm up, laughing, as Hank stepped in to shield her from the brunt of it. The setting sun hit the hills just at that moment, and its sudden, stark rays penetrated the haze and gilded the already golden afternoon.

From somewhere far away, Alex felt sure that Henry was smiling down on her. After years of living in the past, she could finally see her future unfolding . . . and she planned to run straight into it with arms open wide.