Wildfire Wedding (9 page)

He couldn’t believe his words. He’d just added eleven men, one woman, and their spouses or significant others to the guest list. Their list has been trimmed and cut repeatedly. The fellow volunteers firefighters from other communities he rarely saw during the rest of the year had been axed from the too-long list at some point during the Guest List Massacre, as Krista called it.

Sometime around two that morning, they conquered their section of the blaze. Luke and his crew clapped backs and shook hands.

They piled back into the pair of brush trucks and headed for the makeshift command center.

#

Krista nodded and found her voice. “Luke called his morning. He sounded tired. He hoped he might get a break tonight, but it didn’t look too good. He said he’d call by two if he could make it.” Krista looked at her watch. It was now four-thirty. A wave of disappointment rolled over her.

“Chin up.” Sami gave her a hug, and Krista fought back tears.

“I am. Did you know, some people are evacuating just as a precautionary measure?” Krista had been up early for a change and had caught the morning fire report. “As long as this wind holds the fire back, the crews can beat the fire, too.”

Sami’s forehead wrinkled. “Should—should we leave?”

Krista shrugged. “I think we’ll be okay. Dad and Al are the long-timers here. If they hear a report that we should go, we will. The community notification service will kick in—it sends out texts and makes phone calls.”

Krista looked up at Jeff crunching across the gravel parking lot toward them. She hadn’t seen him since the rehearsal last night.

“Hi, you’re here early.”

Jeff looked sheepish. “I—I thought I’d see if they need any help in there. Plus, Luke wanted me to drop off the cake knife and the server.”

“Oh, thanks.” Krista could scarcely believe it—Jeff, doing something to help? “Have you heard from him?”

“Not since this morning when he called to see if I could bring these by this afternoon.” Jeff held up two slim white rectangular boxes.

Sami reached for them. “I’ll take these to the cake table.” She disappeared inside the door to the hall before Krista could grab the cake server set and escape.

Silence hung between them for a moment before Krista spoke. “This is why I love Luke so much. He’s risking his life, but he still remembered a silly cake knife.”

Jeff swallowed hard and shifted from one foot to the other. “I really owe you an apology. I messed up your week; I was a bad influence on Luke years ago. I—”

Krista held up her hand. “Wait, it’s my turn. I need to apologize to you. You were right.” How could she explain? “I call myself a Christian, and I should behave better than I have.”

“But you didn’t treat me any worse than anyone else would have. Besides, we’re only human.”

“I know. I get reminded of that every day. But as a Christian, if I’m supposed to treat people like Jesus would, then I’ve really messed up.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Don’t worry about it.” Jeff waved off her words. She couldn’t gauge his expression.

“Well, thanks. Please forgive me?” She extended her hand.

“Sure, why not?” They shook hands. Jeff glanced toward the side door to the lodge. “So, do you need any help?”

Krista shrugged. “I have no earthly idea. I'm in a bit of a fog.”

“Just to let you know, I got the tuxes from the shop. I saw Luke's receipt on the fridge. I forgot shoes, so your aunt Vangie set me up.” Jeff cracked his knuckles and shifted on his feet again.

“That’s great.” Krista smiled. Once she let herself see Jeff as he was—a needy, fallible man—it was easier to quit holding tightly to her feelings. “I should have talked to you about these wedding details earlier.” Another thought struck her. “The rings! What did Luke do with them?”

“Got it covered.”

Krista racked her brain. “I should have brought my list.”

“Relax.” Jeff patted her arm awkwardly. Was he afraid she’d bite and have him draw back a bloody stump? She didn’t blame him earlier for being wary of her. “I think that’s what Luke would say.”

“You’re right, he would.” Krista looked to the smoke rising miles away in the southwest. “I am glad you reminded me, but I wish he was here right now.”

Jeff patted her arm again. “If he said he'd be here, he'll be here.”

#

A night and a morning into the fight, and they weren’t winning. Luke sat down at the portable table and placed his hard hat on the ground between his feet. Without a word he grabbed a plate and dug into the food set out for them. Someone in town had sent up meals for the entire crew. He inhaled the scent of burgers and thick steak fries. The tossed salad even looked good.

“Oh yeah, come to Papa.” Bud piled two burgers on one bun.

“I’m so hungry I could devour that salad, too.” Luke squirted mustard onto his burger.

“My back is killing me.” Bud flexed, and Luke thought he heard a crack.

“Mine, too.”

Bud pressed the top bun into the top of his stacked burgers. “Aw, c’mon, you’re a young pup. I got twenty years on you at least.”

Luke grinned. “This pup played too much when he was younger.”

One of the guys asked to say the blessing just then, so once that was done, they tore into the food. Luke wanted to find a quiet spot and take a nap and dream of his Krista. Better yet, to nap with her in his arms. He kept quiet about his shoulder and the ankle that now complained him.

He looked down at his clothes. The normally screaming yellow fire shirt was now a shade of dark mustard, covered with dust and soot. His green fire pants hadn’t fared much better. He didn’t want to see his face. In twenty-four hours, he was supposed to watch Krista walk down the aisle toward him. Smoke choked the air, and the light orange sky made it hard to guess where the sun lay beyond the haze. Wedding white seemed light years from the command center, not far away. Media trucks waited nearby, as close as the fire crew would let the personnel get to the fire.

“Missing your bride, huh?” D.J. interrupted his thoughts.

“I am, but she wants me to be here.”

“You’re getting yanked all over the place, aren’t ya?”

Luke took a swallow of his burger. “Yeah. I know usually weddings are all about the bride, but it’s important to this groom, too. We went through a lot to get to this day. It almost didn’t happen at all.” His gut tightened, and it wasn’t from the burger and fries he'd just consumed.

“I know. We’ve all got lives we put on hold for a few days.”

Yet what a time for him to put his life on hold. He found his phone in his pack and tried to call Krista’s cell.

“Hi, this is Krista. I’m not available right now, so leave a message.” His pulse pounded at the sound of her voice.

“It’s me. I’m taking a breather. I wanted to tell you I love you, and I miss you. I’ll let you know as soon as I am free, by three or four, the latest—”

“Listen up!” D.J. put his fingers to his lips and whistled.

“Gotta go. I’ll call again when I can.” Luke turned off his phone and looked in D.J.’s direction.

“Okay, we need to make a final push here.” D.J. gestured to another worker, who set up an easel and propped up a large display board.

The map on the board showed the topography of the area southwest of Settler Lake. Luke’s throat tightened when he saw the border for the town on the map. His throat nearly closed when he saw how much closer the fire had burned.

“This is what we’ve got.” D.J. used a pointer to indicate several lines of fire burning downhill, toward the lake and the town. “Instead of in a nice, even wave of fire, we’ve got fingers of flame reaching out.” Luke looked at the shaded-in areas, which stretched toward Settler Lake.

“Normally we’d try to contain each area, but with these winds”—a gust whipped Greer’s words away from him—“with these winds, it’ll take too long and the fire moves too fast. What we’re going to do is set up three teams—us, and Turnersville and Pancake, and fight in one big line. Topsey's crew will be here within the next hour or two.”

Luke frowned. They’d have to clear more land that way by fighting in a big line, and more would burn. But he didn’t like the alternative: the southwest of Settler Lake in flames.

“So chow down, step it up.” D.J. motioned again. “We’ve got a big pile of energy bars and more water if any of you need to reload.”

Luke grabbed his burger and started eating, but his appetite had left him. He tossed the rest of it away.

After loading his pack and checking his gear, he joined the crew on the line. Again, the grunt work of hacking down to soil to create a line continued. Another long day stretched ahead of them.

Thunder echoed within the gathering.
No lightning, please.
They didn’t need anything else to keep this fire going.

“Snag!” D.J. ran to the edge of the line where half-burned tree crumpled to the ground. “Get back—get back!”

Chunks of burning wood flew up into the air and sprayed the crew. Was anyone hurt? Luke shrugged off the pelting embers and ran for D.J.

“Help us here.” They beat back the glowing wood. “Any fires start on this line are gonna be backfires, and we’re not ready for that. Not yet.”

Luke intensified the chopping. With the fire flaring up at this hot spot, their work just became a lot harder. A flash of lightning illuminated the dusk. Rain. What they really needed was rain. His shoulders felt as if he’d been ramming it with flaming sticks. He shrugged and rotated it.  Being sent home would not be a bad thing, but he didn’t want to let the group down.

Luke paused, grabbed a few ibuprofen from his pack, gulped the tablets down, and kept working.

The fire burned and they inched along the line to the south.

Krista, I’m doing this for you. For all of us.

EIGHT

Krista left the lodge just as a flash of lightning lit up the parking lot. A boom of thunder echoed in response. Sami and Jana, both of them giggling, followed her. Krista had enjoyed the impromptu lunch while preparing the chapel, spending time with her family, and having her friends around her. But Luke absent from her side? She never pictured that. Jeff paused in the parking lot on the way to Barry's car.

“He’s going to be okay.”

“I know. I’m just missing him. Thanks.” She offered him a smile.

Her father chose that moment to make an announcement to the group milling outside the lodge. “Listen up, y'all. We’re grateful for all your help. It’s been great seeing you again. I didn’t realize how much we missed Settler Lake after moving Elfi’s corporate offices to Austin. All that aside, we’ve decided to have a wedding later this afternoon, on two conditions.  First, if we can get the groom away in time. Second, if we don’t have to evacuate. I trust you’ll use good judgment and do just that if you don’t feel safe. Krista's made the decision to postpone the ceremony if she doesn't hear from Luke by three. Maggie and I have our bags packed and in our car at the Lakeside Inn, and we’re ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”

That was Dad, the take-charge and reassuring man. In some ways Luke reminded her of him.

Lord, please take care of Luke, wherever he is.
He'd left a message on her phone that morning, telling her his intention to leave as soon as he possibly could. But it didn't sit well with her, for him to leave the fire. Even for their ceremony.

Her phone had one bar left. As soon as she and Nana got home, she'd plug it in, then head into wedding prep.

“We'll see you in a bit,” Sami told her as they went to their vehicles. “We have a surprise for you, but we need to pick it up first.”

“Great,” Krista said. “Nana and I will be back at the house.”

“And we'll be making sure the caterer takes care of things,” Momma chimed in, nodding at her sister, Vangie. “You sure you don't need me at the house?”

“When I'm ready to get dressed, we can all ride to the chapel together.”

Momma placed her hand on Krista's arm. “Honey, you can postpone. It's all right.”

“If I don't hear from him again by three, I will.”

#

The first two hours past noon crept along, and Luke wanted nothing more than to sleep. Well, besides leave the fire line and marry Krista. When he moved his right shoulder, it burst into flames of pain inside the joint. He tried to pick up his pack, but his arm was useless as a spaghetti noodle.

“You’re done for now.” D.J. spoke up. “Go on, take a break.”

“You mean?”

“Get outta here, go get married.”

He knew better than to argue with the man. Luke turned his cell phone on. He had a voice mail from Krista. Then one from Nana, who'd called not five minutes ago.

“It’s me—Nana. Krista’s at the house, but she’s not answering her phone. I'm worried.”

Luke punched Krista's speed dial number.

#

Krista smiled at the wedding gown on the dress form, and yawned. She'd had a cat nap, as had Nana. Jana and Sami should be here at any minute to help with her hair. Krista left her bedroom and closed the door behind her, the house eerily quiet.