Page 54 of Through the Fire
The robot dog—or cat—whirred to life, scooting across the floor toward the top of the stairs. Wes had a moment when he was tempted to give the video record command, but he stopped himself. If Leila believed that Kit would find it creepy, then it was almost certainly true. It wasn’t worth the risk, even if he would’ve loved to get Leila’s impression of Kit. He decided to ask her if he could at least take a picture to send to his sister.
Only seconds later, Kit poked her head out of the stairwell. “Wes, hi. I hope it’s okay to just show up. You don’t have cell reception, so I couldn’t call, and I didn’t want to anger any more dispatchers. They can hold a grudge like no one’s business.”
He stared for a moment, struck as always by her beauty. It didn’t seem to matter how often he saw her; each time she was even more attractive than he remembered.
Her smile slowly faded, and a small crease formed between her eyebrows, reminding him that he needed to respond. “I’m glad you’re here,” he blurted.
Her expression brightened again, so it must have been the right thing to say. Wes felt rather triumphant. Climbing up the last few stairs, she moved out of the way of the other three. The robot moved with her, and Kit reached down to pat its smooth, shiny head. “Hello, Robo-Cat.”
A cat it is, then.
While he’d been focused on Kit, all three boys had spilled into the room, and one of the twins stared out the glass wall. “Whoa! You can see everything. The town looks tiny from up here.” Following the curved wall of windows, he looked out at what Wes tended to forget was a truly awe-inspiring sight. “Can I go out on the deck?”
Wes started to give him permission, but Kit interrupted. “Better not. If I don’t return you three to Jules alive and in the condition in which I borrowed you, I don’t think she’s going to let you help with training anymore.”
“Okay.” He seemed to accept that easily. “How do you get out there, anyway?”
“Window four, open,” Wes said clearly, figuring it was easier to show him than to explain. The glass pane rotated out, creating a floor-to-ceiling opening onto the deck. A cold wind immediately blasted into the room, making Kit cross her arms over her chest to protect herself from the chill.
“That’s pretty amazing,” she said.
Despite the chill, Wes felt warm from the compliment. “Thanks. Window four, close.”
As the pane rotated back into place, making a solid glass wall again, Wes glanced at Kit, who was shivering.
“Fire, light,” he said, and the woodstove ignited. The twins both made an ohh sound, and even the oldest kid looked impressed.
“That’s a wood fire,” the twin who hadn’t spoken yet said as he crouched next to the stove and peered inside. “If it was gas, I’d understand how you did that, but how do you have voice control over a wood fire?”
“It’s a—”
“Wait!” the boy interrupted, opening the cast-iron and glass door and peering into the firebox. “Don’t tell me. Let me try to figure it out first.”
“Okay.” He liked the kid already. Wes always enjoyed trying to figure out how things worked. Only when he was absolutely stumped did he ask for an explanation.
Turning back to Kit, he was pleased to see that she was watching him with a soft, warmly amused expression. “Since you said you borrowed these three, I take it they’re not yours?”
“They’re Jules’s brothers. Ty”—she pointed at the twin still looking out the windows—“Tio”—she indicated the other twin who was closely examining the fire—“and Sam.”
Wes nodded at the oldest boy, who eyed him warily. He seemed to be the most reserved, judging by the fact that he hadn’t spoken since they’d arrived. There was a short pause, and Wes realized that he was a host…with guests. His visitors rarely stayed long. Normally, anyone who stopped by just said what they needed to and left. Now, Wes needed to remember what the rules for hosting were.
He doubted that he ever knew what the rules were.
“You live here?” Ty asked, interrupting his growing panic, and Wes turned toward him in relief.
“No.” Wes pointed at where the roof of his cabin was barely visible through the trees. “That’s my home. I just spend the days up here.” He didn’t mention that he’d spent many nights in the tower when he couldn’t get his brain quiet enough to sleep. There was something about looking at the vividly bright stars and the dimmer lights from the tiny town that soothed his mind.
“Your job is to watch for forest fires?” Tio asked, looking up from his examination of the stove. When Wes gave a nod, Ty and Tio’s gazes met for a few seconds of silent communication before they looked back at Wes.
“This is going on the list,” Ty said.
Wes glanced at Kit, but she looked as confused as he felt. “What’s going on what list?”
“Fire lookout.” Ty looked out the windows again. “We have a list of future careers that sound like they’d be fun.”
“We don’t believe that we’d do well in a typical office environment,” Tio said as he moved to crouch by the robo-cat, having apparently figured out the stove’s firing mechanism. Smart kid. “Jules agrees.”
“What about being a K9 cop?” Kit asked. “That’s a fun job. Well, not exactly fun, most of the time, but rewarding. Interesting, too.”
