Page 13 of Between Hello and Goodbye

“Okay, time to get you out,” my firefighter said.

“How?”

He pointed a finger upward.

I shook my head. “Oh no, no, no. That’s not necessary.”

“We have to evacuate you from the area, ma’am.”

“I’m not ama’am,and a helicopter? That’s a tad dramatic, don’t you think?”

Just the sort of drama I was trying to erase from my life.

Silas will never let me hear the end of this.

“It’s necessary for your safety and to prevent further injury,” said a second, huge guy with a bald head and muscles for days. He turned to my new friend. “Ash, you ready?”

“Ready, Cap.”

So theHottest Firefighter in the Worldis named Ash,I thought. Made sense. He probably set panties on fire.

Stop it.

“Your name is Ash?”

“Asher. Only the guys call me Ash.”

“What do the girls call you?”

He smirked, a crack in his stony demeanor. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, as Asher and the captain moved to either side of me to lift me up. “Can’t you just piggyback me out?”

Asher’s brows furrowed. “Fortwomiles? On whose back?”

My graze slid over his uniform shirt that clung to his chest and highlighted the muscles in his arms. “You appear capable.”

He snorted, but his smirk deepened into a hint of a smile. “As fun as that sounds, we’re using the chopper.”

“How are you going to land a helicopter on a waterfall?”

“We’re not.”

I didn’t have time to ponder the meaning of his words as Asher and his captain hooked my arms around their brawny shoulders and lifted me around the waist. I bit back a small whimper as they carefully sloshed their way into shallow water and found an outcropping to sit me on.

In the exact center of the pool.

Mortified, I waited while the EMTs talked into walkie talkies. Hikers loitered nearby, taking photos of me and the casket-shaped metal basket that was slowly making its way down a cord from the chopper. A guy in an orange uniform and white helmet came down with it.

“You’re going to put me inthat?”

“Don’t worry,” Asher said, crouching beside me again. “Roy is the best in the business.”

My glance darted to the basket, the cables, and the dinky-looking helicopter hovering hundreds of yards in the air above us. I looked back to see Asher’s granite expression had softened a little.

“Is there someone I can call?” he asked.

“Question of the hour,” I said, willing the tears back. “No. There isn’t.”