Never Too Hot

It was the same tree that had dropped the widow maker on them. But now, he gave thanks for it.

Gauging the distance between the gutter and the tree, he pushed aside any voices or thoughts that wouldn't get him where he needed to go and jumped.

As he landed, the bark bit into his palms, the skin on his bare knees, hard enough that he could feel the warm trickle of blood down his shin. Holding focus, he climbed up one limb and then over to the next, again and again, until he was as close to Ginger as he could get.

“Time to get off the roof now, sweetheart.”

Leaping from the limb he was on, he landed on the roof again, only this time, he could feel the heat of the tiles beneath the soles of his shoes.

She ran to him, threw her arms around him. “I knew you'd come.”

That her faith in him could be so unwavering when he'd failed so many times before moved him more than anything ever had. She started coughing again and it took every last bit of control to keep his voice easy.

“And I knew you'd be up here with a hose,” he said, pushing the teasing words past the lump in his throat in the hopes of keeping her calm. “I'm going to need you to hold on to me and not let go.”

“Okay,” she scratched out, coughing even as she climbed onto his back, her arms and legs tight around his neck and waist.

Her soft warmth against his back made him feel invincible, as if there wasn't anything he couldn't do.

How, he wondered even as he ran across the roof, had he not seen it before? Firefighting. Not firefighting. Who cared? It was all just details.

Because as long as Ginger was beside him, he could do anything.

Reaching for the tree, he jumped. But once they were in midair, he realized he'd misjudged their combined weight and that they were falling faster than he'd planned. Fortunately, Ginger was one step ahead of him and he felt her let go an instant before he could stop her. Together, they grabbed the only branch left to save them from the final fifteen feet to the ground.

Just as his hands went around the tree, he heard the air knock from Ginger's body as she slammed into the limb.

Tightening his right grip on the tree, he reached out with his left to grab her.

He wanted to tell her a thousand times over how much he loved her but hanging from a tree while a fire raged all around them wasn't exactly great timing. Especially since two dozen people were rushing under the tree, all talking at once, throwing a ladder against the trunk, reaching for them. He'd have to be happy with once.

“I love you,” he said as he helped her climb down the ladder.

Her lips opened, but all that came out was more ragged coughs, and then the paramedics were taking her from him.

Everything in him wanted to hold on to her, but he couldn't deny years of disaster experience. The medics needed to check her out ASAP, needed to do something to calm her coughing, to make sure the baby stayed with her through the shock.

One of the local volunteer firefighters was telling everyone to clear the area. Bystanders went back to their boats that were pulled up on shore, but his father remained at his side as the volunteer firefighters crew ran onto the beach in their turnouts and began the work of keeping the fire from spreading.

Connor didn't let Ginger out of his sight, not for one second, even as the fire chief approached Connor and Andrew on the sand.

“This is your house?”

Even as Andrew said yes, Connor knew what the chief was going to say.

“We've got to put our focus on putting the current fire out, so that it doesn't spread to the other houses down the lake. My gut is that your cabin is already too far gone, but if we've got the manpower to work on it later…”

Connor knew that if he stayed to help, with just one more set of hands and legs, he might be able to tip the balance in favor of keeping the house. But he had to take care of the woman he loved.

The paramedics had made her lie down on a stretcher and as they lifted her into the ambulance, her eyes were locked on his.

“I have to go,” he told his father. “I need to stay with Ginger.”

He expected to hear anguish from his father as their family camp burned before them. Instead, Andrew told him,

“Ginger needs you far more than a bunch of smoking old logs do.”

Connor pushed through the back of the ambulance just as they were shutting the doors.

“Hey, you can't-” one of the paramedics started to say, but Ginger's soft voice cut through his protests.

“I need him,” she managed before she lost her breath again and one of the paramedics covered her mouth and nose with an oxygen mask.

“I'm here, sweetheart,” he said as he slid into the seat beside her.

He held her hand, stroked her hair. They were putting an IV in and her eyes were already closing as the oxygen, the hydration, made their way into her depleted system.

“She's pregnant,” he warned the paramedics. “Be very careful with her.”

She was asleep by the time they got to the local care center. The paramedics quickly took her away to be examined by a doctor and even though he knew he couldn't be there, it killed him to have to be separated from her at all. He wanted to be beside her when she opened her eyes. Wanted to keep her safe in his arms and never let her go.

Connor was pacing the small waiting room when Isabel, Josh, and Andrew rushed inside. Isabel threw her arms around him. “You saved her.”

She wasn't crying as she said it, but it was clear that she'd only just stopped. “Are you all right?”

“No, I'm not. Not until I know Ginger's okay.”

“And the baby.”

All he could do was nod.

“Ginger is a tough cookie,” Isabel said as she squeezed his hand. “She'll be all right. They both will.”

Just then, Josh tugged on his mother's sleeve. His face was white, his eyes wide, his fists clenched.

“Mom. I need to tell you something.”

Chapter Twenty-seven

“I STARTED the fire,” Josh said.

It was just about the only thing that could have snapped Connor out of his anxiety about how Ginger was doing.

“What happened?”

The kid scrunched up his eyes, a couple of tears squeezing out. “I went out back, to the woodpile behind our houses. To smoke.”

Isabel's mouth was pinched, her face pale with horror. With fear. Andrew moved behind her, put a hand on her back, and Connor had a feeling his father's support was the only reason she was able to stay upright.