Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

Today was the day. The day they'd find out who'd be the new crew chief.

Nova shifted on the supply crate, trying to find a comfortable position for her leg encased in plaster. The crutches beside her kept slipping on the concrete floor no matter how many times she repositioned them.

The rest of the team lounged around, their usual banter muted today.

Logan and Vince sipped mugs of coffee while JoJo and Eric tapped on their phones. Booth leaned on the wall beside her.

She exhaled, blowing an errant curl off her forehead, and winced at the stab of pain in her ribs. Concern creased Booth's face, and she offered a smile despite the throbbing.

How was she supposed to lead her team when she could barely hobble across the hangar for this meeting?

At least the others had been kind, even if they couldn't stop talking about how it'd happened. They'd asked her to recount every moment in detail. She couldn't exactly tell them about Henry, but she did tell them the truth. About the midair collision, the mountain lion defending her cub, and falling down an abandoned mineshaft and breaking her ankle trying to escape a wildlife attack.

"All right, quiet down." Nova clapped her hands. "I'm back from the hospital with an update. Doctors wouldn't let me see Finn because they're worried about infection. The burns on his back and legs are severe, so they'll be keeping him in a medically induced coma a few weeks."

"Any life-threatening concerns?" Eric asked.

"It's touch and go. We'll know more in a few days, but the doc seemed optimistic," she said.

Booth squeezed her shoulder. "We'll keep praying. Won't we guys?"

Mumbles of affirmation rippled through the crew.

"How's Rico?" asked JoJo.

Nova smiled. "He's great. Charming all the nurses."

"Wouldn't expect anything else," Vince said, chuckling.

"It'll be a long recovery, but he's got a pretty good shot at coming back next season." Nova's crutch slipped again, and she grabbed for it. Missed. It clattered to the floor.

Booth picked it up. "I got you."

"Thanks." She smiled. "Can you help me out? Lean both against the wall until I need them?"

"Absolutely." Booth brushed his fingers across her hand as he collected her other crutch.

Footsteps echoed outside, followed by the appearance of Crew Boss, Tucker Newman, sporting his own pair of crutches. Tucker's pant leg was slit to make room for the bulky cast immobilizing his knee.

"Welcome to the club," Tucker said with a wave of his crutch.

"Thanks," Nova said with a soft laugh. "If they gave frequent flyer miles for injuries, we'd have free vacations for life."

Tucker lowered himself onto a crate with a grunt. "I came to give you all an update. The wildfire has grown overnight. It's still spreading and no closer to containment. Snowhaven is in danger."

The team shared solemn glances.

"Have they evacuated the town?" asked Vince.

Tucker shook his head. "We're staying ahead of it. Struggling, but we're managing for now. But listen. The real problem is we've had some miscommunications. Too many injuries. We need some real leadership. Unfortunately, with this bum leg, I can't be out there coordinating teams—I can barely walk. We need someone calling the shots from the front lines."

He flicked a glance at Nova, then crossed his arms and looked away. "That's why Miles and I have decided on a new crew chief."

Nova stole a look at the crew. Each face seemed to be smiling at her. Coldness spread throughout her chest. This was it, wasn't it? Everything she'd worked for. Everything she'd wanted.

Tucker continued, "The new chief is someone with a lifetime of firefighting experience under her belt. She knows wildland fires and has proven herself as a real leader."

Nova sat straighter, jostling the crate. Her? Run point on a raging forest fire? Memories of orange flames and billowing smoke flashed through her mind. But also the faces of helpless residents fleeing for their lives. Her parents, trapped at their homestead. This was her chance to stop that happening again.

Her brain whirred with all the responsibilities of planning crew assignments and mapping priorities. This was the moment she'd trained for, what she'd sacrificed and bled for. A chance to channel the fire that had taken so much from her into saving others instead.

A chance to finally make her peace with the flames.

But…she didn't want it.

All she wanted was…Booth. The man who'd shown her that love conquered all. That there was more to life than hiding her heart and praying she'd never get hurt. Because when the pain came, God would always be there to give her the peace she'd so desperately sought all these years.

"Tucker, wait—" Her voice hitched.

Tucker cocked his head, eyebrows raised. The others stared.

Nova swallowed, nerves and epiphany battling as she met Tucker's gaze. "I appreciate the opportunity. It's no surprise to anyone that it's been my goal, my dream. But I think someone else should be crew chief. I…I don't want the job."

Tucker blinked. Cleared his throat. "Nova, I…um…I wasn't going to name you." He rubbed his neck, avoiding her gaze now. "I, uh, I actually already appointed someone else crew chief earlier."

"Oh." Nova couldn't restrain a nervous laugh. "Wait, you said she was experienced."

Everyone swiveled to look at JoJo, whose eyes were giant round question marks. "Uh-uh. Not me."

Nova looked at Tucker. "You mean there's another female candidate besides us?"

At that moment, the hangar door swung open, and a tall woman with a single dark-blonde braid down her back strode in, looking cool and collected in her incident command uniform. Her serious brown eyes scanned the room.

"Everyone," Tucker said, "meet Jade Ransom, your new crew chief."

Booth leaned against the corrugated metal of the temporary fire center, watching the sunset bathe Nova in golden light. The lingering rays danced across her red curls, setting them alight like glowing embers. All around them, cicadas trilled to life.

After the chaos of recent days, this peaceful stillness felt fragile. A momentary respite before the winds shifted again.

Nova adjusted her stance and settled the crutch pads under her arms. "So…that didn't go how I expected."

"Tell me about it." He kept his tone casual, giving her an easy out from whatever shadowed her features. "Everything okay?"

For a long moment, Nova simply studied him. Behind those deep green pools, something weighed on her. "You know, I was serious when I told Tucker I didn't want the job."

Booth blinked. "Words I never thought you'd utter. I thought this was your dream. To rise up the ranks."

"Was. It was my dream." The wind blew her hair across her face. She gathered it and tucked it behind her ear. "Something shifted in there. All at once I realized it's not what I want."

"So, no hard feelings about…what's her name?"

"Jade. And no. She's a fantastic smokejumper and an excellent leader. There's no one, man or woman, better suited for that role right now. I meant what I said. I'm not seeking advancement."

His eyebrows rose. All this time he'd assumed her drive to lead mirrored his own former ambitions. That familiar fire burning inside, demanding they scorch every obstacle to reach the summit of their careers.

"Well, if you're happy, then I'm happy." He couldn't help needling her a bit though. "What made the mighty Wildfire Girl change her mind about leading the charge?"

Nova's shoulders squared and she straightened on her crutches. He rubbed the back of his neck, hoping he hadn't overstepped some invisible line with her. He'd trod so carefully around the firm boundaries laid since their first meeting, and he didn't want to trigger anything that would make her erect those forbidding walls again.

"I realized there's more to life than just fighting wildland fire." Color bloomed in her cheeks. "I want to make a life…with you. That is…if your life has room for me in it."

Booth looked up, meeting Nova's steady gaze and slight smile. The sight sent his pulse hammering as her meaning crystallized.

The words, so simple yet hugely loaded, reverberated through his chest like gunfire. Heat rushed his face, and his jaw went slack.

Then Nova looked down. "Forget it, that was stupid?—"

Booth crossed to her in two strides and captured her mouth with his.

She fisted one hand in his shirt. His hand cupped her cheek and traced the soft line of her jaw with his thumb. The touch sent a jolt through him.

He poured his heart into the kiss. His fear. His hope. His newfound acceptance of the past he no longer had to hide and the future he couldn't resist.

When they broke apart, Nova rested her cheek against his chest. Booth willed his heart to stop pounding so he could speak.

"Nova…" He traced her cheekbone, thumbing away a rogue tear he hoped sprang from joy, not regret. "I thought I needed to regain my old identity to find my place in this world. To be whole again."

Her eyes flickered up, pools of emerald searching his.

"I learned that my identity isn't about who I was. My true identity comes from God." He brushed back a rogue curl. "But I was so focused on what I'd been that I failed to see what I could become."

She nodded, gripped his wrist, and pressed his palm flush against her cheek.

"You were right," Booth whispered, watching her eyes drift shut again. "There is more to life than chasing flames. And I want that too. With you."

"Yeah?" A grin claimed Nova's mouth. "I dunno, you're pretty rough around the edges, Wildfire Man. Think you can keep up?"

"Count on it, Wildfire Girl." He grinned back. "Although, if you're gonna start talking sappy like that, I reserve the right to demand more kissing to shut you up."

Nova burst into laughter, scrunching her nose before hauling him back into a lingering kiss.

Far too soon, Nova drew a fortifying breath and eased back a fraction. "So…what about Crispin? How does your old partner play into this?"

Booth wished he could extinguish the hint of worry banked in her question. He feathered fingers through her tangled curls. "Crispin's still playing stubborn inmate for now. He's stayed put in the hospital with a guard protecting him while he heals up proper. Once he's mobile again…well, I guess all bets are off."

Nova didn't miss the hitch beneath his breezy tone. "But…"

Booth sighed and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. "I know Crispin. He's getting anxious to slip those leashes again," he said against her crown. "And I'm sure as Montana wildfire he'll leave me behind to go all lone wolf and chase Floyd by himself, just like every other fool notion he's had over the years."

"If he's really that determined, how do you stop someone like that? Or is this where I get ready for your disappearing act too?"

The fear laced through her wry joke hinted at the kind of pain he never wanted to inflict upon her again.

He drew back and looked down at her. "There won't be any more vanishing acts from me, Nova."

"Just like that? You're giving up your old life?"

"Not exactly." Booth sighed. "I can't promise I won't help catch bad guys. It's in my bones the way firefighting is in yours. But I can promise, no more running off and leaving you in the dark. No more secrets."

"We can have some secrets." Nova grinned. "Birthdays, holidays. Special surprise things like that."

"Have I told you how much I hate surprises," he murmured, pulling Nova close.

She huffed a laugh. After a long moment she asked, "What's next?"

Booth faced her fully. In her eyes he could see his future. Him on one knee with a solitaire diamond and a question. Nova in white, kissing him for the first time as his wife in front of their friends. Booth holding their first child in his arms, and Nova with sweaty red curls plastered to her face, never having looked more beautiful.

"You, Wildfire Girl. You're my future. Every sunrise and sunset from now on. You're all the future I need." One thumb brushed fiery curls from her cheek. "If you'll have me."

Nova looked up at him. Her eyes shone with understanding as her head bobbed. "Yes. A thousand times, yes."

He kissed her again, sealing their new beginning.

Booth turned them to face the sliver of sun disappearing behind the mountains.

A shiver ran down his spine.

Out there lay uncertainty. Crispin's impulsive pursuits. Floyd's unfinished agenda. Henry's hidden nuke. Even the unknown assassins still hunting the remnants of Booth's former identity.

The fight was far from over.

A fierce protectiveness surged through him, and he pulled Nova tighter. This newfound peace was too precious, too fragile.

Booth had just discovered his true identity and wasn't about to let anyone, or anything, take it away.

Thank you for reading Fireline !