Chapter 23

 

 

“No,” Kate breathed. “Really?”

He grinned as he carried the cooler to the car. When he opened the trunk he unrolled a package containing two tags, each bearing the lettering, Official Pyro Team of Boulder. She frowned and looked up at him.

“Are we sneaking in to help with the fireworks?” she asked, and then raised an eyebrow. “Is this going to get me arrested?”

His smile widened and he shook his head. “A friend of a friend is a manager on the crew. He said we could help light the fireworks.”

“A friend of a friend?” she asked, glancing at Melissa.

“A father of a girl I dated,” he replied. “To be honest, I think he liked me more than she did. She wasn’t into the creative dating thing. When I said we weren’t going to a bar she lost interest.”

“No wonder her dad liked you,” Kate said.

They finished loading everything into the car and donned the tags. Then they climbed into the car and drove away. Kate noticed Melissa waving as they departed, and she reluctantly returned the gesture. The girl seemed nice enough and was clearly happy, but Kate didn’t like the impact her appearance had had on Reed. Although conversation during the next part of the date had returned him to his previous demeanor, a shadow still tinged his eyes.

“Have you ever done this with another girl?” she asked.

“Never,” he replied, and feigned hurt. “And if you’ll recall, I promised I wouldn’t do a repeat date with you.”

“True,” she said.

She smiled but his attention was on the road, which had narrowed considerably. They pulled onto the road and wound their way through the hundreds of cars and barbeques going on in the park. Families talked and laughed while children scampered about, chasing each other until parents called their names.

Dusk settled on the park, the darkness broken by twinkling stars. Lanterns glowed to life, illuminating families sitting around tables. Flashlights bobbed as people walked along paths between the trees.

Reed followed the road to the end and turned down a side road. Bordered by tall trees, the road led to a group of sheds placed out of view from the park. A group of shadowy figures were loading a pair of trailers with final supplies, and one truck pulled away as they entered the lot.

Reed parked next to the other vehicles and they got out. Reed fished a flashlight from his pocket and handed it to her and then clicked his own, allowing them to follow the path to the remaining truck.

“Reed?” a man asked.

“I’m here,” Reed said.

The man rubbed his hand across his bald head. Then he smiled at Reed and offered his hand to Kate, a grip that nearly crushed her fingers. His kind eyes seemed to bore into her until he nodded.

“I hope you’re ready,” he said. “We got twice as many fireworks as last year.”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Kate said, a thread of excitement warming her gut.

“Then let’s go,” he said. “Hop in and I’ll take you there.”

He stabbed a finger at the trailer, where two other men were already seated, the cab of the truck having already been filled. Kate exchanged a look with Reed, who seemed amused at the prospect of riding on the trailer, and then they climbed on, gripping the side supports for stability.

The trailer smelled of cut grass and was littered with dry clippings, repurposed from a lawn maintenance crew. Large boxes of fireworks filled the trailer and the truck, and showed dozens of glaring warnings.

Only to be operated by trained professionals.

Kate gestured to it. “Is that us?”

“It is tonight,” Reed said with a grin.

“Don’t mind that none.” A young man, who couldn’t have been over fifteen, waved dismissively. “We ain’t got training and none of us been burned.”

The truck revved to life and the trailer jostled forward. Kate reflexively grabbed one of the posts on the side of the trailer for support, but her body bounced into Reed. He reached out and caught her, holding her fast.

“I got you,” he said, and then smiled.

She made no move to escape. “You think?”

“I do,” he replied.

She smiled up at him, wondering if the shadow from earlier was just her imagination. In the red of the brake lights she couldn’t see enough to be sure, but it seemed he’d moved past whatever had affected him from Melissa’s visit.

The truck wound its way through a small, gravel road, the wheels bouncing over ruts, forcing her to cling to Reed for support. She wrapped her arm around his waist and held on, suddenly grateful for whoever had invented the trailer.

Not five minutes after leaving the sheds the truck exited the trees and pulled onto a wide grassy area behind a stage. Filled with equipment and speakers, the stage looked to be set up for a show, but only one person stood in front of a computer.

The truck came to a stop next to another and they got out, beginning to unload. Jim directed them to place the mortars a short distance apart, traffic cones indicating where they should go. With seven men and women already there, they finished setting up in just twenty minutes. Then Jim gathered them all to the trucks.

“Be safe,” he said, “and don’t be stupid. I’m talking to you, Ricky.”

“I’m not going to do what I did last year,” the youth from their truck protested.

Jim grunted in disbelief and then turned to Kate and Reed. “You two will stick together. Just light them throughout the music, but save six for the finale.” He handed them each a long handled lighter. “And if it goes off on the ground, don’t be near it.”

“Are we lighting them in time with the music?” Kate asked, eliciting laughter and smirks.

“We aren’t Denver,” Ricky said, flicking his lighter on. “We don’t need no electronics to light fireworks.”

“We’re here because we like to blow things up,” another man said with a laugh.

Reed and Kate stood at their appointed spot and she looked up at the slope beyond the stage. Thousands of people gathered in a sea of color, all awaiting the coming spectacle. Sparklers ignited the scene as the music began to play, and a woman’s voice sang America the Beautiful. Then Jim lit the first fuse.

Boom.

The mortar streaked into the sky and detonated in a blast of red and white, eliciting cries of delight from the crowd. Another mortar went off, and then another, the sky turning into a tapestry of sparks and light.

“Shall we?” Reed asked, raising his lighter.

“We shall,” Kate said.

She stooped and lit her lighter. Then she touched the flame to the fuse and they hastily retreated. The mortar burst from the tube and flew into the sky, joining the cacophony of fireworks already exploding in the heavens.

“Your turn,” she said, a wild grin on her face.

He stooped and lit another, and then she took her turn. Then they did two at once, laughing as they exploded in unison. Like excited kids, they worked together, lighting more and more, trying to keep up with Ricky, who was lighting fireworks nonstop, filling the grass with smoke and the scent of burned sulfur.

Smoke curled around them in a dense cloud, changing color as the lights blossomed in the sky, first green, then white, then blue and gold. The designated pyro crew were like wraiths in the smoke, their faces briefly illuminated by their lighters.

The music built, the crescendo rising to compel them to hurry, the lights providing a counterpoint to the music. Jim called for the finale and they rushed about, igniting every fuse. Then Reed and Kate stepped back as mortars blasted into the night.

The grass and trees filled with smoke and light, the heavens a brilliant display, crackling with sound and light. With the music reaching the pinnacle, Kate drifted closer to Reed, and when she looked at him his eyes were on her.

His fingers reached out and touched her wrist, the contact like lightning up her arm. It was warm but she shivered and drifted closer, watching the fireworks reflected in his eyes. His smile, always so easy and light, now betrayed a soft vulnerability that drew her in.

Her heart thumping in her chest, she slowly reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, the motion tentative, worried. He tensed, doubt appearing on his gaze. He opened his mouth but she shook her head, a rare courage gripping her. Or maybe it was desire.

“I think it’s time to stop pretending,” she said, her voice husky.

In the midst of the fireworks and smoke, the music rising to the high note, she swallowed her fear and brushed her lips against his, sending electricity to her toes. She shivered and leaned in, yearning for more.

But he retreated.