Flame (Firefighters of Montana Book 5) (18 page)

“That’s what families do, right?” Cady breathed, trying to stop fresh tears. “And it’s especially what parents and uncles and aunts and grandmothers do for their kids.” She’d been so lucky to have that in her life as she’d been growing up.

Sarah looked out to the yard through the kitchen window. “Funny thing is… she doesn’t really need protecting at all. She’s got my intelligence.” Sarah winked at Cady. “And the McCoy spirit.” Sarah shook her head in disbelief. “You know what she told me this morning? That she wants to jump out of a plane like her Uncle Dex.”

“Oh, no.” Cady smiled but the idea sent a cold shiver through her. Surely Mitch and Sarah would never let her do anything so dangerous. Couldn’t she be hurt—or worse?

Sarah opened the boxes Cady had brought and the scent of chocolate and cinnamon wafted around the room. “Oh, these look amazing.”

“Thank you. You should come into my shop sometime for a coffee and a cupcake. It would be my treat.”

“You know, I might just do that.”

“Everyone in town would love to see you, you know that, Sarah. It’s been too long. You should have seen Lila yesterday. She looked like a queen on her throne right there in the window seat.”

Sarah teared up. “Did she?”

“And the way she handled Moira Masterson? Superb.”

“You mean Mrs. Masterson from school?”

Cady laughed. “Yes! The toughest English teacher we ever had turns out to be one of my best customers. She’s in every Saturday with a bunch of her friends for book club. I think they quite like being away from their husbands, to be honest.”

Sarah laughed. “Speak of the devil.”

Mitch walked into the house, carrying Lila upside down. Her feet waggled in the air by his ears and her plait dangled. She was giggling uncontrollably.

“Hey, Cady. Good to see you.”

“Hi, Mitch.”

Dex walked in behind his big brother. His eyes found Cady’s right away and she felt the breath disappear from her lungs in a sudden, urgent whoosh. And then he was on his way to her, that slow stride of his creating a rhythm on the wooden floor that was one tenth the speed of her pulse.

“Cady, he said softly, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. It was slow, intimate, his breath on her skin, his hands on her shoulders, his body in her personal space, his scent of pine and fresh air and man making her dizzy.

“Hi, Dex.” She gave him a little smile, aware they were being watched by Mitch, Sarah, and especially Lila.

Dex rubbed his hand across his hair, a gesture she’d missed so much.

“We’ve got the ice,” Mitch said. “It’s outside cooling some beers already. Now, who’s ready for barbecue?”

“Me, me!” Lila cried.

Mitch righted his daughter and when her feet hit the floor, she steadied herself, grabbed for father’s hand, and they headed outside.

Dex spoke slowly, just to Cady. “We set up the grill around the other side of the house, out of the wind. There’s a big old tree there, a table and some chairs.”

“That sounds lovely,” she replied.

Sarah opened and closed drawers in the kitchen, but Dex and Cady were oblivious to the clatter of cutlery and crockery. Her fingers itched to touch him, her arms ached to hold him. Instead, she clasped them behind her back and rocked on her heels.

Dex took a step closer and was about to say something when Sarah sighed dramatically.

“Dex,” Sarah said, “Why don’t you guys head outside? I’m sure Cady would love a little tour. I’ll bring out the plates and salads and bread. I’ve got everything under control.”

Dex raised an eyebrow in invitation. Cady nodded. When he reached for her hand, she held his right back.

*

They stood together
in the centre of the front lawn, taking in the sky and the mountains and the fresh air and the silence. Cady stood close to Dex, close enough her shoulder brushed against his arm, close enough that if she swayed slightly to the right, she could bump him with her hip. This was so precious, being here with him on the ranch where he’d grown up. For eighteen years, he’d walked this earth, breathed this air, looked at that same view.

“You know something?” she finally said. “For my whole life, my mom, my grandmother, and I lived right in the middle of Glacier Creek. Two blocks off Main Street, about a ten minute walk from where I live now. I don’t think anyone in this part of Montana would describe themselves as a city slicker, but we didn’t have this. Not up close and uninterrupted, not so close that you feel like, if you reached out just a little further, you could actually touch it.”

Dex covered her hand with both of his. “I took all that for granted back when I was a kid. And after I left, after mom died, I didn’t want to think about North Fork too much. It was easier to keep moving than to stay still long enough to think about what I was missing.”

“Is that why you left? Because of your mom?”

Dex nodded. “I was the youngest son. Her death was hardest on me.”

“I know what it’s like to lose your mom, Dex. I wasn’t eighteen, I know, but I still miss her every day. Sometimes, even now, I forget and I go to call her. It’s stupid, I know.”

“Not stupid. Sometimes… ” Dex paused. “Sometimes, I think I see her over there to the west, in that far paddock. She had this crazy old horse that bucked when anyone else got on it, but not mom. She used to ride off and not come back for hours. Her way of getting some me time.” He chuckled at the memory.

“I wish I’d met your mom.”

“She would have kicked my butt about you years ago if she was still alive.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know exactly what she would have said. ‘Why the hell haven’t you asked that Cady Adams out on a date yet, Dex’?”

“What would you have told her?”

“That you were working your butt off to get out of Glacier Creek and go to California, and I was running in the other direction. That there would have been no meeting in the middle for us.”

“You’re right,” Cady said. “I wouldn’t have stayed even if you’d asked me to.”

“And I wouldn’t have asked you to stay.” Dex squeezed her hand. “Cady, I know this scares you. I understand. But do something for me? Look up at that sky. You know what I see when I look up? I don’t see disaster or pain. I see forever.”

“Dex…”

“I came back for good when Lila had her accident. Montana’s home for me, Cady. You’re my home.”

Dex lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss there. Cady slipped in close, her body touching his. She wanted to do so much more and knew she would, later.

“There are no certainties in life. I’m not going to bullshit you. Lila fell off a gate. Russ Edwards died on the job. Hell, people die in car wrecks every day on their way to the office. My mom died too young.”

Dex stopped. Took a deep breath.

“And mine of a heart attack,” Cady murmured. And in that moment, she understood what Dex was saying. “I’ve been trying to insulate myself from feeling that heartbreak ever again, Dex. I’ve put a wall up around me, just like Mitch and Sarah have done for Lila. But I’ve seen what that little girl is like. They won’t be able to hold her back. All my wall has done is make me lonely and alone. You can’t have big dreams when you’re in a little bubble.”

Dex turned to her, looked into her eyes. He brought his hands to her shoulders, held her. “I only ever had one dream, Cady. And that was being with you. And I want to start living that dream right now. You, me. Cady’s Cakes. Smokejumping. Glacier Creek. Let’s wrap them all up together and make one big, messy life together.” He kissed her, quick and hard and chaste then rested his forehead on hers. “You’ve always been my dream, Cady Adams.” His smile became a dirty grin. “And my fantasy, too. And I plan on doing something about that fantasy when we don’t have people looking.”

“You think they’re looking?” Cady glanced around.

“You bet your sweet ass they’re looking. I bet Mitch and Sarah are wondering what I did to deserve a woman like you.”

“Sarah told me what you’ve done for them. For Lila. I should be wondering what I’ve done to deserve a man like you.”

Dex sighed. “She shouldn’t have told you.”

“But she did. I loved you before, so much it hurt, but knowing how you’ve helped them? That kind of makes me adore you.”

“I’m here to stay,” Dex said, his voice rough. “You think I could leave your damn cupcakes?”

“I thought you didn’t do cakes,” Cady teased.

“You made me see the light,” Dex joked.

Then his expression changed. He leaned forward slowly, gently kissed her. Cady slipped her arms around his waist, laid her cheek against his chest.

“Shall we go tell them?” he said quietly.

“Tell them what? That we’re together?”

“Nope. That you’re going to marry me.”

Cady jerked back. The expression on Dex’s face revealed he wasn’t joking.

“Wait a minute, McCoy. When did that happen?”

“It hasn’t yet, but it will in about ten seconds if you say yes.”

Cady clutched a hand to her wildly beating heart. “You’re asking me to marry you?”

“Yep.”

“You got a ring?”

“Nope. Didn’t know how this was going to go. So what’s your answer?”

Cady didn’t feel weak at the knees. She didn’t feel frightened or anxious. She felt grounded. Settled. Happy. Deliriously happy. And when she looked to the mountains in the distance they became giant cupcakes and the snow was icing and the clouds marshmallows. Her dreams were back.

Surely that was a sign, right? “Yes, McCoy. I can’t wait to marry you. But don’t we have to talk about where we’ll live? About whether we want kids and all that?”

He kissed her again. She imagined that nothing could wipe the smile from his face or extinguish that look of love in his eyes. “We’ve got plenty of time for all of that. You hungry? I can smell Mitch’s famous barbecue.”

“I am. And Dex? I love you.”

He lifted her and her feet were off the ground. “I love you, too. Now can we eat?”

L
ater that night,
after they’d made love, they lay in Cady’s bed, quiet, and at peace.

“I can’t get over how excited Mitch and Sarah were when we told them.” Cady laughed.

“Mitch slapped me so hard on the back I think he might have dislocated my shoulder.”

Cady kissed it, just in case. “Sarah cried like a baby.”

“And she cried even more when you asked Lila to be the flower girl. You know she’s going to want to wear a blue dress like that character in the movie. What’s her name again?”

“Elise? Elana? I don’t remember.” Cady yawned. “But yes to the dress.”

“The kid will be thrilled.”

“They’re a beautiful family.”

“I reckon we’re going to make our own beautiful family one day.” Dex nudged her with his thigh.

“So, are you saying you want kids, Dex?”

“Yeah. You?”

“I do. But not for a few years. Not until Cady’s Cakes is doing better and I can employ more staff to help out when I get pregnant.” She gasped. “I can’t believe I said that. Twelve hours ago we were broken up and now we’re talking about me being pregnant.”

“Great, isn’t it?”

Cady moved, slid on top of Dex, pressed herself against his lovely naked body. She propped her chin in her hands on his chest and studied his face. “I think you had something to do with the success of Cady’s Cakes, you know.”

“Me?” He slipped his warm hands over her butt. “I’ve never even bought a cupcake. How can I be responsible?”

Cady laughed. “The first morning I was at the culinary institute in San Francisco, I woke up in my dorm room and saw something scrawled on the back of my hand. It was two words—Cady’s Cakes. It was in permanent marker so it took days of scrubbing and industrial strength cleaning products to get it off. It must have been something you said that night. I only wish I could remember what it was. But anyway, the name stuck. From the day I started studying, I already had the name of my shop in my head. Like a dream waiting to come true.”

Cady had never seen Dex smile quite so wide or proud.

“You always were the dreamer, Cady,” he murmured. “And maybe you’ve helped this drifter believe in dreams, too.”

They kissed. Held each other. The future was theirs to reach out and take, to imagine, to create for themselves.

Finally.

The End

Book 1: Smolder
by Tracy Solheim

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Book 2: Scorch
by Dani Collins

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Book 3: Ignite
by Nicole Helm

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Book 4: Heat
by Karen Foley

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Book 5: Flame
by Victoria Purman

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