Page 36 of Falling for the Hotshot

I looked down the stairs, but the smoke had me socked in. No changes to that yet. But knowing Blaze was here, that God had ensured his safety thus far, and my own, made the descent feel easier. I got down another flight by the time I heard his voice again.

“Autumn?” My head never stopped looking down. I was focused on the man at the bottom of the staircase with the intensity of a laser. And finally, I saw a shape through a momentary clearing in the smoke. A figure appeared. He was here, just steps away from me. Then, we were on the same flight of stairs, Blaze at the bottom and me at the top.

“Blaze!” I called out, seeing his face. Seeing the glow of his skin, even through the ashes. His body looked covered in soot. Tears came to my eyes again. The gravity of the moment took hold, and I started crying uncontrollably. Blaze hobbled up the stairs, gripping the handrail with intensity as he moved stiffly, and then we were face to face.

His hands traced my face, his fingers moving over the freckles that crossed the bridge of my nose, and I couldn’t drop his gaze. The perfect, strong line of his chin. The subtle stubble that gave a different texture to his otherwise perfectly smooth skin. He looked at me like I was being discovered for the first time.

“It’s you,” he said, his smile shaking. “The girl from the grocery store,” Blaze said, his hands reaching out from my face to examine my hair. I could feel that ash was on it by the texture of his hand. His eyes looked like they were on fire, and his skin was still bronzed from the sun, despite working inside all season. Blaze, the handsome firefighter I saw several months ago at Fairy Falls Grocery. Blaze, the man, whom I stood before now, was here to save me. My emotions were out of control. The moment was charged with a force I’d never experienced before. I took him by the collar of his shirt, and in the midst of the smoke plume that was swirling around us, I pulled him close and leaned my head into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me like he could carry me through this entire world and never set me down. In that second, I felt that I had found my soulmate.

“We better go,” I said, and he hesitantly let me go before taking my hand, and we started making our way down the stairs as quickly as possible.

“Your leg,” I said, full of concern, as he ambled down the steps.

“It hasn’t felt this good since before the accident. I’ll be okay. I promise.” He squeezed my hand in his, and finally, we reached the end of the tower staircase before he hollered out in anguish.

“What happened?” I bent down where he was clutching his leg, sweat rolling from his brow.

“It’s buckled somehow.” He was gasping for air. “I just need… I just need to wait a moment.” He tilted his head back as he tried to bend it, and eventually, it started to move very slowly.

“Is it... the brace?” I asked, seeing that one of the gears was not giving way as much as I expected it to.

“Maybe? Your guess is as good as mine. This hasn’t happened before.” More sweat rolled from his hairline.

“Can we remove the brace? This side hinge isn’t moving,” I asked, feeling highly unqualified to be making decisions of this nature.

“Yes,” he said, nodding, eager to agree. As we removed the buckles that secured it to his leg, he leaned the rest of his weight onto a bolder that was next to the tower. “Wow, that feels better already.” He stretched his leg and slightly bent it at the knee, nodding. “I’m ready, I think.” I put his arm around me, trying to help distribute some of the weight, but in doing so, we were face to face for a moment. Covered in soot. In a high-stakes double rescue mission, and we still had a distance to go. Blaze and I were locked into a stare. I wanted to kiss him with every fiber of my being. I wanted him to kiss me more than I wanted anything in my entire life. As he moved closer, a tree popped in the distance, scaring me straight. The forest was on fire. It was time to go.

At the top of the hill, I saw the lights from his truck intermittently through the smoke. Blaze leaned less on me during the descent on the uneven terrain than I had hoped, but with all of my strength, I held onto him and him onto me like a promise that neither of us would ever let go of each other. Just touching him, I felt an electric current run through my body.

We made it to the bottom. At the truck, he opened the passenger door, and I jumped in before he hobbled to the driver’s side while leaning on the truck for assistance. I winced, knowing he was in pain. He quickly climbed in the driver’s seat, kicked the truck into drive, and within moments, we were on the road.

The fire had reached the forest just outside of my tower, moving impossibly fast. I was still shaking from the experience. From the shock. Blaze had one hand on the wheel, and the other hand was gripping mine. I could only take my eyes off of the flames to peek over at the gorgeous man that I’d been falling in love with over the last few weeks. Having Blaze here with me now and the sense of calm sent from the Holy Spirit, I felt complete. Like my life had turned upside down in order to shake off all of the things God didn’t want for me, like when you get sand out of a pair of shoes after wearing them to the beach. Now, I had Blaze. I had reconnected with God, and I was stronger for it. I was safe.

Chapter 29

End of Shift

Blaze

Autumn and I had rescued each other from the tower. From the climb. Now, as I drove, navigating the roads and watching for fallen brush or anything else that might come out at us, my right hand was clenched into hers. I never wanted to let go.

For the first handful of miles, the drive was really intense. The tinder box of trees was lighting handfuls at a time. This was a normal fire… If the month started with a ‘J’. The Chinook winds blowing through our landscape only made matters worse. As we drove around a bend, it took all of my willpower to not look over at Autumn out of the corner of my eye. I had to keep them straight on the road, as any of these trees could have toppled, and then we’d really be stuck.

By the grace of God, we made it out of that treacherous stretch. Finally, the fire was in the rear view. I slowed down the truck, wanting to check us each for injuries in the first pull-off I could find. I wanted to stare at her some more. I wanted to look at the woman that I’d fallen for over the radio.

As I pulled over, Autumn unbuckled her seatbelt, thinking the same as me. We both got out of the truck and brushed off the soot that covered us. I handed her some tissues to blow her nose, and we each chugged a bottle of water.

“Is the fire going to come this way?” she asked with wide eyes, looking back. I shrugged.

“It could, but the wind is favoring the east. I think we are safe here, at least for right now.”

“Darn,” she said, and I looked at her with confusion, before she smiled.

“Do you want it to come this way?” She shook her head.

“No, of course not. But maybe I’m still scared, so maybe you need to hold my hand again.” I let out a laugh, taking her by the hand. As I did, a sudden, loud roar of thunder was heard overhead. We both ducked, as if something was about to fall on us.

“Is that…” I trailed off. “Oh, oh my word…” I looked at the sky in disbelief.