child related to Ryan?
Jessie coughed hard enough to launch an entire country from her throat.
Not a time to think about Ryan, Mia needed to get Jessie out of there fast. “If you’ll let me, I’ll carry you to the window.”
Jessie nodded and flung her arms around Mia’s neck. The pungent smell of smoke clung to her soft blond hair, and her little body trembled. Mia draped her jacket over their heads and turned to the window. The roof over the truck collapsed sending a blazing support beam into the path between the fort and their escape. Sparks shot toward the rafters. The flaming wood ignited dry hay.
Jessie’s mouth opened in a scream, but only a deep wracking cough surged out. She clutched Mia tighter. Mia frantically looked for a way out. The window was no longer an option, and the back door sported huge chains. Panic surged. Her hands shook.
Where could they go?
She scanned the only wall not engulfed in flames. There! In the door. Uncle Wally installed a pet door when he got Rufus. The opening wasn’t big enough for her, but Jessie could easily fit through.
Mia jumped from the bales and rushed to the back door. Lungs seared from smoke and exertion reduced her oxygen levels, and her eyesight wavered. She dug deep for strength and ripped off the pet door’s pliable flap. “Okay, Jessie. Climb through.”
Jessie planted her feet and crossed her arms.
“Sweetie, please.” An instinctive coo rose to Mia’s lips. “I’d come with you but I can’t fit through the opening. Once you get outside, you can go to the lodge to wait for help. I called the fire department and they’ll be here soon.” Though frightened that the all-volunteer crew might not arrive in a timely manner, Mia smiled to ease Jessie’s concern.
“My Uncle Ryan’s a fireman.” A tentative smile crept across her lips, and her stance relaxed.
Mia ignored the knifelike pain Ryan’s name rekindled in her stomach and forced calm into her voice. “Good. He’s probably on his way here to help us.”
She gave Jessie a quick hug then helped her climb to safety.
Turning sideways, Mia wedged her body into the opening. Through cracked lips, she gulped outside air. Although tainted, it was less dense—easier to breathe.
Jessie stood beside the door as if concrete encased her feet.
“Jessie,” Mia tugged on the girl’s ankle, “go to the porch and wait until your uncle comes for you.”
She nodded, but didn’t move.
“Go, now!” Mia shouted, though it pained her to yell at this physically and emotionally exhausted child.
Jessie snapped from her daze. “I’ll bring Uncle Ryan to help when he gets here.”
Mia nodded her approval and watched until the plodding little feet moved out of sight. The last thing Mia needed was for Ryan to come to her rescue and be indebted to him. She’d have to try harder to get herself out of this mess.
She pulled her head back inside and looked around. Thirty feet to the wall of flames. Thirty feet of hay and dry timber waiting for fire to consume and destroy.
She searched again for another way out. Sizzling flames obliterated the path to the window and the front door. A miracle or the doggie door were her only ways out.
Please, I can’t handle this right now. Coming back here is all I can manage. This is too much.
Why was she calling out to God? He’d never helped before. No—she was on her own again the way God seemed to like it. Well, she wouldn’t just lie down and die.
Drawing her legs up, she crammed her upper body back through the opening. The frame tore at the gash on her side. She bit her lip to control the pain as she squirmed and twisted.
Right, left, up, down, she pushed. Nothing.
“Face it, Mia, you’re stuck.” She relaxed to conserve her energy for another try and the irony of her situation struck her as funny. She laughed in tiny giggles that foretold a meltdown.
She’d summoned up all her courage to return to Logan Lake and face the people who’d hurt her the most, only to die in a fire.
TWO
Ryan’s two-way pager continued to emit details of the fire from the holder on his hip. No need to listen. He had all the information he needed. He tuned out the chatter and focused on Jessie’s terrified eyes begging him to stay.
“I have to help Mia,” he said, giving the sweet eight-year-old a comforting smile. He pulled her close for a brief hug. “Dupree will stay with you until I get back.”
He hated to leave this little squirt with the EMT, but he had no choice. The rest of his crew hadn’t arrived, and Mia might die before they did. He gave Jessie one last lingering look then rushed toward the barn.
Surging flames consumed half the building cracking and spitting out glowing embers. Life-sucking flames.
Man. This was bad. Really bad. Hopefully he wasn’t too late. Not like that horrible day three years ago.
No. Don’t think about that now. Today you’re on time. You will save her life.
Clumsy in his boots and turnouts, he charged at the radiating heat. He lowered his face shield and dodged raining debris like an Olympic hurdler.
Thankfully, Russ hadn’t been in the office, or Ryan would’ve been sitting there when his pager went off. The drive would have taken fifteen minutes. No one would be here to rescue Mia from the flames steadily licking forward in search of fresh fuel. He’d have another tragedy on his hands. He had to hurry.
He careened around the corner.
Whoa! There she was. Mia. His Mia. Crumpled and protruding from a pet door. But she was breathing. Alive. He should be able to pry her free before the flames reached her, but smoke inhalation could still claim her life.
His steps faltered. Uncertainty settled over him like the thick smoke billowing from the barn. This was too close for comfort.
God, don’t let this end as it did with Cara.
Ryan felt God’s strength surrounding him and urging him forward.
“Are you all right?” he called to Mia.
She craned her neck up at him, and her eyes fluttered open. Large green emeralds glistened likely from smoke-induced tears. “Did you find Jessie? Is she okay?”
Yeah, this was his Mia all right. Always concerned for others in distress. “Jess is fine. She’s with the EMTs.”
“Good, I wanted to—” A harsh cough tore away her words. The spasm intensified, racking her body.
This wasn’t good. With the way he ended things between them, a stubborn Mia would rather die in the fire than let him come to her rescue. She couldn’t know his identity.
He
