Fighting the Flames(4)

 

"Gimme a second to roll up my chute and I'm right behind," Lincoln said.

 

Maddox hoisted his gear more securely on his back and took off walking, drawn as if by an invisible rope.

 

»»•««

 

Sydney crouched and checked the wet towel she'd rolled and crammed into the space under the front door. Still plenty wet. It wouldn't keep out a fire, but it would stop more smoke from filling the space.

 

In her head, she chanted over and over. Please find me. Please check the cabin. Please find me.

 

And for leaving her, may that asshole realtor drive right into the belly of the fire. If given another minute to think about her options, she would have run to the car. And what kind of man left a woman stranded without a vehicle in the middle of a wildfire, anyway?

 

She clutched the photograph of her and Rob tightly to her chest and stared out the window. The wall of smoke was coming. How long before the whole cabin would become a smoker and she'd lose oxygen?

 

The jumpers were on the ground by now-she knew the crew. They were already cutting trees to stop fueling the fire. Making a firebreak that would trap the flames.

 

But they were nowhere near the cabin. She'd hear the saws if they were.

 

"Please," she whispered, bouncing on her toes. Her phone still worked, and she'd called out for help. She held her breath, waiting to see a man fall out of the sky to rescue her, but she might stop breathing before that happened.

 

The smoke wall approached at an alarming rate. She didn't even have a garden hose up here anymore. All she had was a photograph and some of the towels she'd used to block the openings.

 

And my wits. I can find a way out. I have to.

 

She went to the small kitchen and started rifling the drawers looking for anything she could use as a firefighting tool. Hell, even a spatula that Rob had used to turn the burgers on the grill when the guys came over was better than nothing.  

 

But the place was empty.

 

She hardly remembered clearing it out so well, and when she'd gotten back to town, she'd stuffed all the boxes into a storage shed and forgot about them.

 

She returned to the window. Panic made her heart squeeze so hard that she cried out. She was going to die here.

 

And she wasn't ready.

 

She wanted to live again-that was her point in coming here with the realtor. She wanted to move on with her life. Maybe find love and start a family. The thought of never having those things made her ache all the more for them.

 

"Please. Someone come help me," she whispered. Maybe it was a prayer or maybe she was begging Rob for help. Either way, something had to happen-fast.

 

Smoke was billowing toward the windows now, but she couldn't yet see the flames. She knew what to do to survive for a little while, but eventually she'd succumb to smoke inhalation.

 

Tears spilled over the rims of her eyes, and she could barely see the trees that would be engulfed.

 

A thump sounded.

 

Trees falling?

 

She ran to the door just as it burst inward. A huge man filled the doorway, his face hidden by the helmet and mask he wore. But she knew that man.

 

"Maddox!"

 

He stepped inside and slammed the door behind him, enclosing him in the cabin with her.

 

∙•∙

 

"Jesus Christ, Sydney, why are you here?" He took a step in her direction, his chest tight at the view of her tear-tracked face and the raw fear in her eyes. "We've gotta get you out."

 

"We need to save the cabin first. Who's with you? Get your saw!" She skirted him to leave.

 

"Fucking hell. You can't fight this. Stay here." He glanced down at his feet and the sopping towel there. "Put that back under the door and don't come out until you hear the saws stop."

 

Her eyes were wide, bluer than blue, and made his gut clench. She raked her fingers through her long hair, swooping it back off her pale, oval face. Golden brown hair, like caramel. At Rob's funeral, she'd worn it in a twist on the back of her neck, and Maddox had ached just looking at her and knowing her pain.

 

"Hurry, Maddox!"

 

He speared her in his gaze and gave a nod. "Use that towel like I told you." Then he disappeared outside.

 

So much for act first and think after. Saving people from wildfires was his job, but he wasn't only thinking of getting Sydney out of there alive. No, he was thinking of wrapping her against his chest and protecting her. Of smelling her hair and seeing those big blue eyes blurred with pleasure.

 

"Fuck!"

 

Lincoln and two others were on the ridge, slicing through trees like butter. Mowing them down to create a bigger fire safety zone around the cabin. Rob had been smart about it in the first place and cleared much of the lot, but they still had their work cut out for them.