Only Her Smokejumper Firefighter - Cami Checketts Page 0,39
air inside as he could. He tucked the corners close to his body, trying to cocoon himself. Men died in these shelters, doing nothing to fight death, simply lying there and letting it come. Ren pushed that horror away. He was a fighter. He prayed the Lord would let him and his men live to fight another day, prayed he could hold and kiss Mavyn again, as the fire roared over him.
Chapter Nine
Mavyn was in abject misery. She wished she could enjoy this Christmas Day with Ren’s family and Cora, but it wasn’t to be. There was a huge hole where Ren should be. She felt closer to her Father above than she ever had but farther from Ren. The ache of the lies she’d told him and the fear of how he’d react seemed to be drowning her in her own vomit.
It was late afternoon. They’d just finished a huge turkey dinner for lunch complete with pie and ice cream, that Mavyn could only nibble at, and everybody else was sleepy and content. They were all splayed around Grams’s living area watching A Christmas Story.
All of a sudden, Mavyn felt like somebody had punched her in the chest.
She sat straight up and gasped for air. Hope looked over at her and whispered, “You okay?”
Mavyn nodded quickly, not wanting to concern anyone, but she wondered if she was having a heart attack. She snuck around sleeping family members on the floor and up to the room Grams had given her to stay in, grateful she had this spot of privacy. Massaging her chest and taking deep breaths, she tried to fight the edge of blackness in her vision. Was she having a panic attack? She was worried about Ren’s safety and their tenuous relationship, but this had come on really quick.
She knelt down next to the bed and took long, slow breaths, and said a prayer for Ren to be safe and for her to calm down. She felt a sense of peace as if God was helping her. He had his arms outstretched and was simply waiting for her to walk into them. She loved that image and wanted to walk.
Please help my unbelief, she begged.
A rightness and joy filled her. She savored the feeling for a few seconds, but the pressure inside didn’t subside. She knew, as deeply as any impression she’d ever had, that she needed to be where Ren was, or at least close by until he was done fighting the fire. Something was wrong and he was going to need her.
No! She couldn’t leave Mystical Lake. She’d promised Ren she wouldn’t leave and she was going to stand by that. Not to mention the fact Kris Bellissima was here, within Mavyn’s reach. Somehow during this Christmas season, the season that was supposed to be focused on forgiveness and love, and when she herself was begging for forgiveness, she was going to take that woman out. She knew it was twisted, but she’d promised herself and Cora that justice would be served.
She darted to her feet, refusing to listen to any more answers. She immediately got so dizzy she sank back onto the pillows. What was going on?
Justice is mine. Leave her alone.
Mavyn gasped as if she’d been punched again. The Lord expected her to leave Kris alone? That wasn’t fair; that wasn’t right. She had to have imagined that.
But throughout her life she’d had similar thoughts, instincts that she, and even Cora, had always trusted. The instinct to tell Cora to wait to tell Quill about her alter ego Pepper. The instinct to not get in James’s truck yesterday morning. Even though the man had still picked her up and carried her, her pausing and not rushing for that heated truck cab like she’d initially wanted to had given Ren time to see her in trouble and save her rather than passing them on the road and possibly missing them.
As she was stewing about these impressions and not wanting to listen to the one about Kris, she felt the pressure build inside of her.
She had to break her promise to Ren. She had to go find him.
She hurried toward the door just as a rap came and Cora poked her head in. “You okay?”
“Cora!” Mavyn grabbed her arm. “Don’t say anything to anybody, but I need to get to Ren. I don’t know why, but I need to go now. Can you quietly find out from Aster exactly what airport his pilot took him to?