Dylan rushed from the truck and met the paramedics as they wheeled Trey out of the cabin. She reached for his hand but stopped when she noticed the white bandages wrapped around his arms.

“Hey, gorgeous.” He smiled up at her. His skin was red, his blonde curls singed, but he was the best thing she’d seen in years.

“Hey.” She smiled down at him as tears strolled down her face. She wiped them away quickly.

“Don’t do that.” He looked like he wished he could reach up and touch her, but he was strapped down to the gurney. Even though his face was red, as if sunburned, she could see how pale he was under the burns.

“God, don’t cry, baby. You’re breaking my heart.”

“How is he?” she asked the paramedic. “We’ll know more once they give him a full examination. Right now, we’re treating his immediate burns and dehydration along with hypothermia.”

“Hypothermia?” She glanced down at Trey.

“Only my baby brother could get hypothermia in the middle of a fire,” Tyler said from beside her.

Trey chuckled then winced. “Damn it.” He sighed. “Shut the hell up,”

Tyler laughed, then turned to her. “He won’t be able to live this one down. Why don’t you ride with him? We’ll meet you at the clinic.” Tyler pushed Trent towards their truck.

“How are you feeling?” she asked as they loaded him in the back of the ambulance. She climbed in behind him and settled next to him as the paramedic strapped her in.

“Well, right now, everything is still pretty frozen from my nice lazy float downstream. But, when things start to wake up…” They started bumping down the dirt road towards the highway.

He was talking slower than normal and she could tell it was costing him a great deal of effort, so she decided to talk to him instead of asking him questions.

“Your mom and everyone else went directly to the clinic.” She told him everything that had happened, who had shown up, what food they had brought. By the time she took a break between words, she realized Trey had fallen asleep.

“He’s exhausted, ma’am. Besides, we’ve given him a little something for the pain.” The paramedic assured her, “His vitals are very strong and steady. The burns are only on his arms and neck area. His body temperature is back to normal, so he should make a full recovery. He’s lucky. Real lucky.”

“Yes.” She smiled down at him. “Yes, he is.”

When they reached the clinic, she stood back as they pulled him out of the back and wheeled him inside. Trey’s eyes opened slightly as he was wheeled past his family. Gail began to cry as soon as she saw him.

“I’m okay, really,” he reassured her.

“You don’t look okay,” she said softly. “You look like you’ve run through the gates of hell and back.”

He smiled. “I feel like it, but… I’m here.”

“We’ll have to talk about how you are and what happened when you’re feeling better,” Tony said, standing next to Gail.

Dylan saw Trey’s demeanor change. His eyes turned darker. She followed him into the back room. Several nurses entered, and she stood out of their way as they got to work cleaning Trey up and treating his burns.

She relaxed when she saw that his burns weren’t as bad as she had feared.

Most of the red marks were on his upper body. He must have, at one point, removed his shirt, since there were red marks all over his chest, back, and arms. They covered him with salve, then wrapped what they could in clean bandages. He had a few large cuts as if he’d landed on his knees at one point, as well as a slice just below his left shoulder blade. They gave him a few stitches for the slice and covered the cuts on his knees with more bandages.

She hadn’t realized he’d been watching her until her eyes returned to his.

“So, am I still sexy?” He smiled at her.

She laughed. “You surprise me.” She moved to his side and took his freshly bandaged hand.

“Oh?”

“It’s not as bad as we all feared. How did it happen?” she asked as the last nurse finished up.

Trey’s smile fell away. “There were several small explosions, which caused the main pump and pipe to go.”

“Your uncle?” she asked. Trey sighed and nodded.

“I don’t know who else, at this point. Unless they find proof…” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

“You must be tired.” She stroked his hand with her fingers.

“Don’t leave me, okay?” His eyes opened slightly.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she assured him as he fell back asleep.

She pulled a chair over towards the bed he was resting in. Nurses came and went, some checking his vitals, others wrapping him in fresh warm blankets. His mother and brothers entered the small room and made themselves comfortable as he slept.

When Addy and Kristen came in later, the sky outside the window had grown dark again.

“Any news?” Addy whispered.

“He’s been resting.” She smiled and took the coffee mug Addy handed her, then hugged her friend when she brandished a box of donuts.

“I hope there’s some of that for me.” Trey’s voice caused everyone in the room to jump.

“We didn’t mean to wake you. I was trying to be quiet,” Addy said.

“You didn’t. The smell of coffee and sugar woke me.” He leaned up, then winced.

“Here.” She set her coffee down and hit the button on the side of the bed to sit him up. Then she turned and handed him the cup to sip from.

“Nectar from the heavens.” He sighed after a long sip of the hot fluid. “Did I smell donuts?”

“I don’t know why we even worried about him in the first place,” Tyler joked.

“Stop it,” Gail said, waving at her oldest son as she moved over to Trey’s side and held out the box Kristen had handed her.

“Are you sure you’re cleared to eat that much sugar?” Trent asked.

“Shut up,” Trey said between bites.

“So,” Tyler said when Trey had finished his second donut, “are you going to tell us what happened, or do we have to see it on the news?”

Trey hit the button again and sat further up. “Someone blew the pump. Two quick pops and I had less than two minutes to find shelter before it hit the main pipe.”

Everyone in the room was silent. “I think we’d better ask Tony and Mike to come in.” Tyler stood up and walked out. Within five minutes, he was back. Mike and Tony followed him into the room.

“Go on.” Tyler motioned as Mike pulled out a notepad.

Trey glanced around. “I arrived after receiving a call,”

“Who from?” Mike interrupted.

“I’m not sure at this point. I thought it was someone from NewField. It sounded like a standard call from one of their dispatchers.”

“About?” Mike asked.

“A pump in distress, at least that’s what he said. I drove out, parked, before I took two steps, the first explosion hit. Blew me back a few steps.” Trey sighed heavily and reached for Dylan’s hand. “Things went to hell after that.”

“Did you see anyone nearby?” Mike asked.

“No,” Trey answered.

“What happened next?” Tyler asked.

“I knew the big one was coming, so I ran towards the water ditch, the one that runs down to the other side of the property. I floated, then ran, then floated until I ended up at Jensen’s place.”

“You mean to tell us you spent your time floating down the river like a lazy river ride?” Trent asked.

“It beat running in the burning woods.” Trey smiled. “Of course, the water was freezing cold.”

“I’d take hypothermia any day over burning,” Tyler said softly.

“Smart,” Mike added.

“Not too smart. Something blocked the flow of water, and I spent half the night outrunning the fire in mud and cow dung.”

“Do they know who they found yet?” Tyler asked, turning to Mike.

“No, I’m heading over to the coroners next to see if we have an ID.”

“You found someone?” Trey broke in.

“Less than a mile from the blast site. On the side road, heading up to the Meier’s house.”

“It was empty, right?” Dylan asked.

“The Meier’s moved to Florida just before Christmas. The place was empty until they found renters,” Mike answered. “No one should have been up that way.”

“Do you think it’s him?” Tyler asked, glancing over to his brothers.

“Do I think it was Carl who lured me out there and tried to blow me up?” Trey was silent for a while. “Hell, every part of me is screaming, yes. But, I just don’t know. Something about it doesn’t sit right. Why tell me he’s dying? Why the whole sob story?”

“To throw us off?” Tyler suggested.

“Instead of sitting around speculating, why don’t we get a healthy meal into Trey and let him rest?” Gail stood up.

“We’ll head down and get something for him in the cafe.” Tyler took Kristen’s hand.

“I’ll go with them.” Gail turned and gave everyone else in the room a look, and they all followed her out the door with their own excuses.

Dylan found herself alone with Trey as the door to the room shut behind the last visitor.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, suddenly nervous.

“Come here.” He motioned to the spot next to him on the bed.

When she walked over to the side of the bed, he reached up and gently tugged her until she crawled in bed next to him.

“Now I’m better.” He sighed as he settled his arm around her carefully.

“You might hurt yourself,” she warned.

“It’ll be worth it.”

She rested her head gently on his shoulder. “I thought I’d lost you,” she said softly. She’d cried all her tears, or so she’d thought.

“Hey now.” He nudged her chin up with his bandaged hand. “If you do that, then I’m going to have to explain to my family why I spent this time alone with you wiping your tears away.”

She smiled. “Yes.” She searched his eyes and waited until recognition of the unasked question hit the blueness of them. She was slightly surprised by the humor she saw behind them.

“I haven’t officially asked, yet.” He wiped a tear away with his fingers and it soaked into the cotton bandage.

“You don’t have to ask.” She took his face in her hands. “You never did.” Leaning slightly, she touched her lips to his chapped ones. “I can’t imagine my life without you, I don’t want to.”

This time it was her turn to wipe the wetness from his face.

“I’ve been looking for the words to tell you how you make me feel.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When they opened again, they were focused. “The truth is, there are no words. You’re more to me than anyone or anything has ever been in my life. If you were by my side for two lifetimes, I doubt I’d have the right words to express just how you make me feel.”

She placed a finger over his lips. “Thurston Noah McGowan the third, ask me.” He smiled at his name on her lips.

“Dylan…”

“Grace.” She supplied her middle name with a smile.

“Dylan Grace McCaw, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” she said before gently placing her lips over his.

“Finally,” someone said from the doorway, “now we can eat.” Tyler barged in, followed by the rest of his family.

* * *

Trey was glade to be back at home. Dopey was curled up at his feet on the sofa, while he watched the news about the ongoing fight against the fire that was now almost ninety percent contained. Dylan and his mother were in the kitchen making dinner.

He’d gotten a somewhat clean bill of health, along with a bottle of pain pills and a request to return to the doctor in a week to check his progress.

His brothers had updated him on the news that it hadn’t been their uncle in the charred car. The age was all wrong. The remains had been a male, age range from late forties to early fifties.

The town was currently trying to figure out who was missing. Still, more than a hundred homes had been evacuated on the far side of town. Half a dozen people were camped out at his mother’s place. The rest of them were crammed into the local community center, town hall, and even the school’s gym.

Television stations from all over the state and nation were now parked outside the mayor’s office. For her part, Martha Brown had done more television interviews than he was sure she ever thought she would when she became mayor of the sleepy old town.

McGowan Enterprises had, of course, been associated with the fire, but it was being made clear by both the mayor and the police that the fire was not due to any employee’s negligence, and that sabotage was suspected.

The news stations spun their own webs about the suspect being the forty to fifty-year-old male they had found burned in the car, which had been parked less than a mile away from the initial explosion.

When a knock sounded on the front door, he was pushed back into place by his mother who rushed to answer it.

He wasn’t surprised to see Mike and Tony walk in.

“What’s the news?” Dylan asked, walking in from the kitchen wiping her hands on a dishrag.

Mike spoke first. “We’ve got an ID on the person who rented the car. Dennis Rodgers. We haven’t positively ID the body yet, but the description fits. We did find other explosives in the trunk of the car. For the past week, he’d been staying at a hotel in Helena, since he had been kicked out of his apartment in town. You know that Crystal had filed for divorce. She ended up getting everything—full custody of the kids, the house, you name it.”

“Yeah,” Trey said, “she deserved it all.”

“She hasn’t seen him since the explosion, but we’re checking just in case.”

“Do you question it’s him?” Gail asked.

“Until we have a positive ID, we can’t afford to assume, but…” He shook his head.

“Do you think he worked alone?” Trey asked the question he’d been wondering.

Mike ran his hand over the back of his neck. “We can’t officially say anything further,” His eyes moved to Tony’s. Then he groaned. “Go ahead, hell, we both know Trey had nothing to do with it. Besides, it’ll be on here in a few minutes.” He nodded to the television

Tony nodded. “The official ruling on the death was murder.”

Trey heard both Dylan and his mother gasp.

“Can you give us any more details?” Gail stepped forward. “Have you found Carl?”

“No, we’re still out looking, but with the fire and all the press, we’re shorthanded at the moment.”

“I understand, thank you.” She walked over and hugged Tony. “Be safe out there,” she said softly to the man who’d helped her get over the death of a man she described as the only love of her life. Losing his father had been hard but seeing his mother lonely had been even harder. He and his brothers hadn’t liked the idea of their mother dating at first, but seeing her with Tony had changed their minds.

Tony was one of the best kind of men. He and his brothers had always looked up to the man, who had lost his first wife long before Trey could remember. He’d been a widower without any kids and had put his career helping the town of Haven before anything else.

As the men left, Trey turned up the volume of the TV as Martha stepped into focus in front of the Town Hall.

They listened to her latest update, informing the population that the police believed that the body found was the culprit behind the explosions. She didn’t name names, since his family members hadn’t been informed yet. But she did state that investigators had confirmed that McGowan Enterprises has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Then, to his surprise, she added a small statement about the Thurston McGowan Flathead Drilling Training Center plans.

“Nice plug.” Dylan smiled down at him.

“Yeah.” He hated that all the destruction Dennis had caused would probably end up being good for his family’s business.

“Do you think Carl helped Dennis, then killed him?” Gail turned to him.

He shrugged, then instantly regretted the move and winced.

“Rest.” His mother laid a hand gently on his arm. “Dinner’s almost ready. Everyone will be here before we know it.”

“Everyone’s coming over?” He hated that it came out as a groan, but he had planned to cuddle with Dylan and Dopey on the sofa for the night.

“Family meeting,” Gail added. “Sorry. We’ll be quick so you can get your rest.”

He watched the newscast with little interest. The overhead shots of the fire were heartbreaking, especially the image of the shell of his burned-out truck. Still, he could see that the fire was under control now.

Close to five thousand acres and half a dozen buildings, including the Meier’s home, barn, and garage, were all destroyed. The land would slowly make a comeback, and homes would be rebuilt, but the lives of those who’d survived would always be changed, including his.

He doubted he could hear a loud noise without wincing or enjoy a swim in a cool lake without remembering the time he’d spent wondering if he’d survive.

He glanced over at Dylan and smiled, knowing she was going to be by his side for the rest of his life.

By the time his brothers and their wives arrived, he was starved and tired. He couldn’t determine which he wanted more, sleep or food.

Instead of having him join everyone at the table, a plate was delivered to him on the sofa. Still, he could hear the conversation in the other room perfectly. There was talk of Dennis Rodgers and Carl and how the two of them were tied together.

“I don’t know if this might explain the relationship between Dennis and Carl, but, well, I was going to show this to Trey when I had a chance…” Dylan shocked them all with the piece of paper she pulled from her purse.