The ladder truck had already started back to town. Cole climbed in the tender truck and they took off. His body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
Wyatt flashed him a side glance. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know. Ask me in the morning.”
“It already is morning.”
So it was.
“Do you want to stop for coffee and doughnuts at Hilda’s?”
No, but he knew Wyatt wanted to. “Sure. I could use both. Does this mean you don’t have a wife at home who will fix your breakfast when you get there?”
“What woman would that be?”
Cole actually chuckled. “Amen to that. You’ve just described my life, Wyatt. A half hour ago I was warned that if I approached the woman I was looking for, I had to do it at my own peril. That turned out to be true, unfortunately.”
“You’re talking about Tamsin. I remember back in high school when you two were so close during our senior year, I couldn’t imagine that changing.”
“At the time, I couldn’t, either. Now we live in separate universes.”
“So that’s why you came back to the truck looking like one of the walking dead.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey—have you taken a good look at me? We could be brothers. Welcome to the club. We’re great at wrangling steers, herding sheep or fighting fires. Give us any task, but get us around a woman and we just don’t know how to do it right.”
“You said a mouthful.”
“I don’t mean you, specifically, Cole. I’ve been a mess for a long time and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. There are more guys like us in the department. Take Porter Ewing, who’s a recent transfer with the forest service from New York. He swings in when needed. The dude’s convinced there’s no woman alive who would want him.”
Cole laughed out loud despite the pain of seeing Tamsin in that other guy’s arms. He’d always liked Wyatt. His sense of humor was a welcome balm to the horrific experience he’d just lived through. Only one thing saved him from oblivion. She wasn’t married yet.
Welcome home, Cole.
While some of the hands stayed with the horses in the paddock, Dean walked Tamsin back to the house with his arm around her shoulders. “Thank God none of you were hurt. When Lyle phoned me, I was terrified that the ranch house might have caught fire, too.”
“But it didn’t, and I’m fine.” She appreciated his trying to comfort her over the loss of the barn. Naturally she was thankful they’d gotten the horses out in time. But he had no clue what a traumatic night this had turned out to be when she saw all six foot two of Cole Hawkins walk toward her.
He was a firefighter? She was incredulous.
Was he out of his mind after the horrific fire in the Winds nine years ago?
Her best friend Mandy had lost her father in that fire. Tamsin had loved her dad. She and Cole had gone to his funeral. Everyone was grief-stricken over the loss. Eleven other firefighters from their county alone had been trapped and killed in the blaze that had brought other firefighters from around the country to fight it.
Maybe she’d been hallucinating.
But no... When she’d opened her eyes again, there he’d been. In cowboy hat and boots or firefighter gear, no man could touch his dark blond masculine beauty. He was an outstanding athlete with a rock-hard body that made him a breed apart. Over the years that he’d been gone and all the dates with other guys, his image had always gotten in the way. Damn, damn him.
For him to have stood there now with a quiet authority while he offered his barn for their horses—the first words she’d heard him speak in years, as if there’d been no separation or pain—she’d surprised herself that she could respond to him at all. When Dean came running up to her, she’d clung to him because she’d thought she was going to faint. Thank Heaven he’d attributed her state of mind to the fire while she watched Cole walk away on his powerful legs.
Of course it had been frightening to see flames shooting up from the barn, but they’d soon gotten the horses out and the firefighters had come. The shudders she was experiencing now had their roots in coming face-to-face with Cole, knowing he made his living by walking into danger.
The teenage guy she’d fallen crazy in love with existed no more. In nine years he’d turned into a breathtaking man who’d come home a firefighter. She couldn’t comprehend this new image of him. It meant his life could be snuffed out at any moment.
When she and Dean walked in the kitchen, they heard Lyle on the phone making final arrangements for the horses. He’d fixed coffee for them, but one look at Sally’s drawn pale face while she drank some bottled water worried Tamsin. Duke stood guard.
“Excuse me for a minute, Dean.” She eased herself away from him and put a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Come on, Sally. You need to get back to bed. There’s been too much excitement and I’m sure it has raised your blood pressure.”
“Okay.”
At Sally’s six-month checkup, the doctor had said he wanted her to lie down part of every day until she delivered. At that point, their mom had asked her and Lyle to stay at the ranch until the baby was born, where she could be waited on while Lyle was at work. So Sally and Lyle had given up their apartment in town, with plans to move into another one after the baby was born.
Tamsin walked Sally to their bedroom and Duke followed. She waited for her to emerge from the bathroom in her nightgown. Once she got in bed, Tamsin sat down next to her. Duke plopped down at her feet.
“How are you feeling? I have half a mind to call Dr. Ward.”
“No, don’t do that. I’m fine now. Duke woke us all up in time. He’s a hero.”
Tamsin smiled down at the dog. “He sure is. I almost had a heart attack when I looked out the window and saw the flames. It sounds like Roy next door will be letting us board our horses at his place until we get the barn rebuilt. We’re so lucky.”
Her sister stared at her with unswerving intensity. “I agree, but I’m afraid you’re the one I’m worried about now. You’re so pale.”
She couldn’t pretend with Sally. “I admit I’ve been a mess since I heard the news Cole was back. But seeing him tonight in firefighter gear gave me another shock.”
“Don’t you mean seeing him in the flesh? That expression took on new meaning for me tonight, too. He’s really something. Did I ever tell you I used to have a crush on him?”
Tamsin smiled without mirth. “You and everyone else. What helps me is knowing that he’s either married or getting close to marrying that singer I read about in the Sublette Gazette a few months ago.”
“I saw him talk to you. What did he say?”
She sucked in her breath. “As calm as a hot summer day, he said he’d be happy to board our horses. He even offered to bring his rig over and load them.”
Sally gripped her hand. “What did you say back?”
“Don’t worry, sister dear. I learned my lesson a long time ago. As Dean was coming toward me, I told Cole that arrangements had already been made. You have no idea the joy I felt to shove the offer in that good-looking face of his before he walked away.”
Her sister took another drink of water. “I don’t get it. I thought he rode the circuit to make money because he was the hotshot bull rider and wanted the fame.