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The bag hit him in the chest, but he caught it. “Yeah. That’s right.”
“Thanks for the info, Booth.” Nova strode across the room to the opposite door, talking to the couple over her shoulder.
He watched, struck by how a woman like Nova could cause his mind to wander to areas he’d rather not explore. Areas that included telling her how sometimes, when he closed his eyes at night, he didn’t see the fireball that he’d thought had killed his partner. Instead, he saw Nova’s fire-red ponytail bouncing as she worked the fire line by his side.
The last person he should be thinking about was a woman who couldn’t stand him. She’d been so cold to him, but he had a whole new level of respect for her. If she hadn’t thought to leave the crew and go check on the homesteads, that couple would’ve faced a far different ending.
She cast one last look at him as she disappeared through the doorway. “And that concludes our tour…” Her speech faded out of earshot.
“What are you doing? Keep your head in the game, man,” he muttered to himself.
He scratched his ear where dry skin covered a fresh burn. When had that happened? This job. Sheesh. So many mysterious cuts and bruises.
May as well take care of the new reserve chute bags before he headed out. He gathered them into his arms and carried them to the loft upstairs to be packed by someone with way more experience than he had.
Back downstairs, he cut through the ready room, where the open bay door helped air out the lockers and all their smoke-drenched gear waiting for deployment.
He paused when he saw Finn loading the helicopter. His black hair clung to his head in slick strands, glistening with wetness from either his fresh shower or exertion.
Great. While Booth slept, Finn and Nova had been working. “I’m such a jerk,” he muttered.
“You didn’t hear it from me,” Nova said, stopping to stand beside him. A slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
“Funny.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t mean to sleep so long and leave you guys with all the work.”
“It’s fine. I can handle things.” She nodded to the old couple holding hands, walking to a fifth wheel. “Next time you get to do the tour.”
“Me? You’re the veteran smokie. If you stuck them with me, I’d probably end up asking them how they manage that gooseneck at their age.”
“Seriously? You’re a smokejumper and all you can think about is how well they drive their rig?”
No, he’d been thinking about how his cover had been blown by Crispin showing up in Ember. How it might not matter now, because the man who’d died in the fire at Wildlands Academy had been Earl Blackwell. A man willing to kill to get his hands on the missing nuke.
Booth glanced at Nova. He couldn’t tell her any of that. She wouldn’t believe him if he did. Not after all the Crazy Henry stories he’d been telling around the campfire. “I was thinking how sometimes people aren’t what they seem.”
There.
He’d left it open to her interpretation.
Nova folded her arms and squared her stance to match his. “Deep. Anyone in particular?”
He cocked his head. “You, for starters. One look at you and some might assume you were too delicate to withstand the types of firestorms we’ve been through. But they’d be wrong. You’re so not fragile. I’ve seen the real fire blaze in your eyes working the fire line, shoulder to shoulder with men twice your size.”
Nova removed her long-sleeved Nomex shirt and tied it around her waist. The worn blue undershirt had a faded Jude County Smokejumpers logo on it. “What can I say? This job is in my blood.”
He watched Myron open the passenger door for Jan. Before she got in, she stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed her husband.
Real life.
Booth looked at his dirty boots. Rubbed the toe in the gravel. Someone else’s real life—not his.
“So, what about you?” Nova asked. “Where’d you come from?”
“That’s…a story for another time.” He lifted his chin to Jan, headed right for them. “Forget to buy your Jude County Smokejumpers sweatshirt in the gift shop?”
The old woman smiled. “No, honey. Thought I better use the ladies’ room before we get back on the road.”
“Let me show you. I know a shortcut.” Nova waved for Jan to follow, then paused. “Booth, could you grab a few first aid kits and run them to Finn?”