Her father’s head snapped up. “He knew Dan?”
“I guess Dan flew him and his men on some of their missions. He said he thinks Dan saved his life a time or two.”
Ellie’s mother reached over, gave Ellie’s arm a squeeze. “What a small and interconnected world it is.”
* * *
“The kid scaredthe bejesus out of himself.” Matt stood across from Jesse and Kevin, arms crossed over his chest, Boomer at his feet, everyone else gone for the day. “He doesn’t want to be on explosives, and I don’t see how we can ask him to keep doing that. It’s a huge liability issue if anything happens as a result.”
Jesse had no argument there. “If he wants out, he should be out. We can’t have someone handling live charges if they’re spooked. His head would have to be in the game, and it’s not.”
“So, he’s off explosives,” Kevin said. “Do any of our patrollers want the job?”
“Amanda.” Matt looked from Jesse to Kevin. “Amanda told me she wants to learn the skill. She has zero experience with avalanche work. I don’t know how the two of you feel about that.”
“What—you mean because she’s a woman?” Kevin shrugged. “Who cares?”
A sense of uneasiness stirred in Jesse’s chest, the idea of a woman working with explosives troubling for reasons he couldn’t explain. It’s not as if having a vagina or boobs made it harder to light a fuse or throw a charge accurately. He fought back his initial response. “It’s fine with me. I can start training her right away, give her an overview, show her what not to do.”
With that matter settled, Jesse changed out of his gear and headed down to the parking lot. Travis was there with a couple of young women, drinking beer out of a cooler stashed in the back of his pickup.
“I took a call about the guy with a broken nose.” Travis waved to Jesse. “Man, I have never seen so much blood. It was gushing. I thought he was going to choke. The blood froze on the snow.”
The women seemed impressed by this.
“Who’s your friend?” one of the women asked, looking at Jesse.
“Hey, Jesse, come hang. I’ve got very attractive company—and beer.”
“Nah. Thanks. I need to get home.” Jesse had heard of patrollers taking advantage of the job to get laid but he hadn’t thought much about it until now.
The woman who’d asked about him let out a disappointed moan.
“And, hey, Travis, if you’re going to drink, don’t drive.” Jesse climbed into his Jeep and made the drive back to Scarlet, his mind taking the familiar path to the only woman who interested him—Ellie.
She wanted to see him tonight, and he didn’t think it was to tell him to get lost. She’d had that chance already. She’d actually stood outside his door in a T-shirt and jeans in freezing weather to give him her key. No, she didn’t want to end things.
But where was this relationship headed?
Hell, he had no idea.
He had fallen for her. He’d fallen hard. There was really no point in bullshitting himself any longer. He cared about her the way he’d cared about no other woman. He cared about Daisy and Daniel, too. If he was capable of feeling love, then he loved them—all three of them.
Who could have seen this coming?
Not Jesse. That’s for damned sure.
The only way to find out where this would go was to keep moving forward. It was like climbing. You kept going up and up, not knowing where your next handhold would be until you got there, your ass hanging a thousand feet above the ground. The unknown excited him when it came to climbing. But when it came to relationships, it scared the shit out of him.
Well, that’s just how it was. He’d never quit on a climbing route, and he wasn’t about to quit on Ellie.
* * *
Ellie lefta note on the back door telling Jesse just to let himself in. It’s not that she didn’t want to get the door. She wanted him to know he was still welcome. To pass the time, she curled up with a book on the sofa. She didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until warm lips pressed a kiss against her forehead. She opened her eyes, saw Jesse looking down at her, his blue eyes soft. He’d showered and shaved and was wearing a black cable knit sweater over faded blue jeans.
She sat up. “What time is it?”
“Nine-fifteen.”