Page 153 of Smoke and Fire
“Let’s hope they don’t do anything stupid,” I muttered.
Sione sent me a questioning look that I ignored. He was used to my habit of talking to myself.
“Everyone in town is talking about the fire when they come in for coffee.” I hoped to intentionally turn the topic enough to avoid further questioning. “Lots of speculation. Some old people said there hasn’t been a fire around here in decades.”
“That’s not good. More to burn.”
“Will it be safe here?”
I motioned outside the RV. Mountains butted up to the back of the RV park where I lived. A cascading flow of trees led down the slope of the mountain in front of me, like I’d parked in a river of pines. Fire in the mountains behind it would quickly flow here.
What if it came in the middle of the night? Were there emergency notifications for that kind of thing? I had a California number, not a local one. Would that make a difference? I frowned at the flood of concerns that followed the topic. Maybe I should have asked Bastian these things before he left.
“Think the fire will get much worse?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not used to fire, just water. Hope not.”
Truth. Our people were water people, not mountain people. But I couldn’t deny the novelty, majesty, or safety of a place like Pineville. As if he sensed the shift in my thoughts, Sione nudged me with a foot. He made a hissing sound through his teeth to get my attention, the same one that Dad made when we were growing up.
My gaze lifted to his.
“Yes?”
“You good? You’re distracted today.”
His words went deeper than general convention, and I immediately nodded.
“Yeah. Good.”
He hesitated, then held up both hands in a concession not to ask anymore. Sione had always known when to back down. Dad, not so much. To change the subject, and do a little exploring of my own, I nodded to the laptop.
“Got a temporary job.”
“You need more work?” He threw up his hands. “Dahlia. Why didn’t you say it? Come work at Adventura! We need counselors. Thesepalangisare afraid of the water. You need to show them how a real woman swims.”
“Too far. I can’t afford the gas and Adventura doesn’t have RV hook ups.”
“Not yet.” Sione held up a finger. “Mark is getting an RV park put in down the road, so next summer it will be ready for you. Gas doesn’t matter. I’ll figure it out. Family should be together, and since we’re the only ones here, we need to stick it out.”
“My mom said she’d come for Christmas if I’m still here. Will that count?”
“I’ll be gone!”
I laughed. “I probably will be too.”
“Tell me about your new job, then.”
I flipped the laptop open, pulled up a picture of Jess’s books online, and spun it around for him to see. I’d have to be careful. I’d promised Bastian not to reveal his secret but I desperately wanted someone to know my new job. Sione never cared about details. He wouldn’t probe too far into it and I was excited to tell him about the emails.
“I’m working for this author! Her name is Jess. She writes romance novels and needs help with a new book launch. Cool, huh?”
He glanced at the cover, then to me with a dubious expression. “Jess? That’s it? One name?”
“Yeah.” I bristled, vaguely aware that I’d once been dubious of such a thing. Now, it seemed fitting. I just didn’t understand why.
“Why one name?”
“Not sure,” I drawled, and mentally added that to the growing list of questions to mention to Bastian on the video tonight. Sione studied the vague silhouette.
