That was the truth.
She pressed her palm against his heartbeat, the feel of it precious. “I’ve known from the beginning that I might have to finish this journey without you.”
He started to speak, but she pressed a finger to his lips to stop him.
“I know you would never risk your life for kicks the way you used to do, but I live with the tension of being proud of the man you are and what you can do, and, at the same time, feeling afraid that your courage and abilities are going to get you killed.”
His gaze went soft. “I know that scares you, but try not to worry. You and I are going to grow old as the hills together. You’ll look like your Grandma Alice, with no teeth and wrinkly like an old apple.”
Kat laughed at that image—and came up with one of her own. “You’ll look like that old white-haired guy who used to live next door—stooped over with trousers that go all the way up to your chest.”
The two of them laughed together, the feel of it sweet after so much worry.
Gabe kissed her, stroked her hair. “One day, many years from now, when we’re gone, our kids will stand together and say, ‘Our parents loved each other well.’”
Kat rested her cheek against his chest. “I like that.”
She closed her eyes, snuggling against him as he drew up the sheet around them. Soon, they were both asleep.
Chapter 22
Marc satat a long table on the Wests’ deck at the Cimarron, trading stories about his day with the others while the children played on the lawn below, Sophie holding Marc’s hand, the breeze cool, the sky full of stars.
Marc took a swig of his beer. “Then we look up, and there they are, just hanging out, having a good time in a cave.”
Julian, who’d been treated in the ER before leaving Scarlet Springs, picked up the story. “Rossiter had free soloed a hundred feet up the cliff wall, fixed a pulley in the rock with a piton, and pulled the others to safety.”
Heads shook, and people laughed.
Zach shifted his sleeping boy from one arm to the other. “Why am I not surprised?”
Nate looked amazed. “You have to be in complete control of your body’s adrenaline response to do what he did with a hundred-foot wall of flame coming at you.”
Jack picked up his whiskey. “That man has an unnatural relationship with gravity.”
“Bless his heart,” said Natalie, Zach’s wife, glass of wine in her hand. “Are we sure he’s actually human?”
Janet didn’t seem to find anything funny in this. “Think what would have happened if he had fallen or hadn’t been there. All of those people…”
Jack took his wife’s hand. “Life is hard enough without dwelling on the ‘what ifs.’”
The conversation drifted after that.
Jack’s and Nate’s experience rescuing stranded horses and being a Noah’s Ark for everything from Australian cattle dogs to fawns and eagles. Zach calling Reece, who’d won the day for Scarlet Springs with the 747 Supertanker. Natalie watching all of this unfold on the television and through text messages from Zach.
“I felt so helpless.”
Then Sophie and Tessa shared their visit with Joaquin and Mia.
“I looked at his photos when Tom went through them,” Tessa said. “They were incredible. There was one shot of the fire chief, covered in sweat and soot, standing in front of the fire as if he were daring it to come and get his town. It gave me chills.”
Nate shared what he’d heard about Hawke’s condition. “He has a long road ahead of him, but he’ll get through it.”
Megan put her hand over his. “You know better than anyone what that’s like.”
Nate twined his fingers with Megan’s. “I’ve already told Vicki that if she needs anything, she can count on us.”
Jack tossed back the last of his whiskey. “A lot of people are going to need help getting back on their feet. I’ll call Joe, and we’ll put something together.”