Page 233 of Her Reluctant Hero
Gabe didn’t see Peyton come into the rustic bar and grill. He searched for her as the other firefighters dragged tables together and sat noisily around them. The exposed redwood beams, the rusty metal signs advertising products no longer manufactured, the peanut shells on the floor made the bar appear to be carved from the mountain itself. They were the only customers. A young waitress, the only one on duty at this mid-afternoon hour, greeted them with an armful of menus and a cheery smile.
“You must’ve just got on,” Gabe remarked as he took a menu.
“I get off in two hours.” He almost missed her wink as Peyton walked into the dining room. She’d shed her yellow shirt and was wearing a cheap ill-fitting tourist T-shirt. The shoulders of her T-shirt were dotted with water and droplets fell from the end of her ponytail. He grinned. She’d gone and finished washing her hair in the restaurant bathroom.
Now she sat shivering at the other end of the table as the waitress took their drink orders.
“I’ll take a longneck.” Gabe’s order was echoed around the table.
“Coffee,” Peyton said through chattering teeth.
“Coffee’ll just keep you awake,” Gabe warned as the waitress walked away.
“As if anything could,” she muttered.
“Hey, Gabe, you going to tell us what happened out there?” Kim shouted from across the table when the waitress returned with their drinks, all but the coffee.
He knew this was coming, the price he had to pay for his reputation. He’d downplay this, not wanting to add to his legend. The only one to dispute him was Peyton, and she didn’t appear to have the energy. He squared his shoulders and lowered his eyes to the beer label. “It got pretty hairy for a while there.”
“Tell us what happened,” Mike urged.
“God, it must have been something.” Howard’s voice held a touch of longing, like he’d missed out on something.
Gabe glided his beer across the puddle of condensation on the scarred table, from one hand to the other. He felt an odd reluctance to share his latest adventure, a reluctance beyond having his ass pulled out of the fire by Doug. Telling the others what had happened on the mountain was like revealing something that needed to stay private.
Peyton watched him, her eyes hollow with fatigue, dark with an emotion he couldn’t identify. What would she remember as he told their story?
So he told about their run from the camp, their stay in the cave, their separation from the helo. He skimmed over their time on the mountain, their night in the tent, though, damn, those were the things that stuck in his memory the strongest. Peyton’s bravery, her determination. The feel of her in his arms. He moved on to the blowup, holding her gaze as he spoke of the run for their lives, the impact of the slurry. He skipped the kiss, but saw the memory of it in her eyes. He wanted to skip over the bit about Doug, but they’d all seen him escort them to camp. And a few had been with him long enough to know their relationship.
“The smokejumpers showed to escort us home, late as usual.” Gabe wasn’t ready to give Doug any credit, and his crew made sounds of agreement.
“I wish I’d been there,” Kim said, awe in her voice, toasting him with her beer. “I knew you’d be the hero of the day.”
Damn, he hated that word. “This week,” he muttered, reaching for his beer.
Peyton hadn’t thought she’d be cold again after working up on the fire line, so she wouldn’t complain in the air-conditioned restaurant. The place was probably quite comfortable when crowded, but miserable for someone in a damp T-shirt and wet hair.
She warmed her hands around her coffee cup and wanted to dive in. Her tremors were almost uncontrollable, her sandwich falling apart before reaching her mouth. Part of her problem was fatigue. All she could think of was how good a bed would feel.
She watched Cooper with his crew, saw he was almost humble before them. When Dan had gotten with his SWAT buddies, there had been a lot of chest beating, a lot of testosterone. Gabe, on the other hand, sat with his arms folded on the table, his concentration mostly on his beer, and he listened more than he talked. When he had told the story, he’d almost seemed embarrassed. That was so at odds with what she knew of him, and it only made her want to know more.
To distract herself, Peyton turned her attention to the man sitting beside her. Howard, the sawyer who’d worked with Gabe cutting down the trees the day before yesterday. A good-looking kid with buzzed blond hair and twinkling blue eyes.
“You had quite an adventure on your first fire assignment,” he remarked, saluting her with his beer, like he envied her.
Of course. That was probably why he was here too. For the thrill of running for his life. And she’d gotten it instead of him. She’d almost exchange the experience with him.
Almost.
“I don’t think I’d care to relive it,” she said.
He laughed. “Don’t kid yourself. You’ll be telling your great-grandkids how you escaped the dragon.”
“If I live long enough to have any.”
He laughed again, more heartily, a big, booming laugh.
She shifted to face him, intrigued by his friendly attitude all of a sudden, after the rock incident. Had the mountain been some kind of initiation? And if she had passed, did that mean she was part of the group, though she didn’t plan to stick around?
