Mike's tanned face flushed. "Um…I didn't mean to?"
"And what did I tell you about breaking your teammates?" asked his mate Kara. She turned to poke him in the ribs. "Or about being overly competitive? Now Steve's going to be off the jump list until the end of the month at least, if he doesn't need surgery."
Not only did Mike have his arm around her waist, but the two of them were wearing their matching wedding rings engraved with a pattern of pawprints. His had a pattern of coyote tracks, and hers had bearpaws.
It was so cute, it made Steve want to gag, with a faint tinge of envy for their happiness.
"Actually," said Steve, grinning like an idiot because it was nice—and kind of hot— that Maggie was springing to his defense like that. "It's not broken. I tore my Achilles tendon."
"Just a nice friendly game of basketball against these two beasts," Kara said dryly.
"Hey, I'm pretty beastly myself," Steve protested. He added, "And it wasn't Mike's fault, it's just been that kind of week."
After his abuelita's frantic call, Steve had gotten a referral to an attorney specializing in conservatorships for elders. But he’d managed to fuck up his leg before the initial consultation.
More worrying, he'd made repeated unsuccessful attempts to contact his grandmother again. And Tina hadn't answered her phone or responded to the multiple voicemail messages he'd left for her. Steve was getting more and more concerned.
At the moment, he was stuck working at the smokejumper base located at the Rocky Mountain Airport in Denver's suburbs, tasked with packing cargo boxes; helping with maintenance tasks like sharpening the tools used for cutting brush and digging line; and inspecting and repairing the team's gear, including their all-important parachutes.
Luckily, shifters healed more quickly than Ordinaries, or he might have been looking forward to a full six weeks in the cast. Even luckier, the team's doctor, Betty Chang, was a snow leopard shifter and was experienced in treating shifter injuries.
"Achilles tendon, huh?" Maggie sounded sympathetic. "I’m not sure that's better than a broken bone." She glanced over at the old lady, who had her arms crossed now. "Um, my Abuela Inez wants to meet you."
She suddenly looked nervous. Steve reached to take her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. Gotta make this look good, right?
"Sure," he said. "Why don't you introduce me?"
Still holding her hand, he let her lead the way to her abuela and her parents.
"Abuela Inez, this is Steve Lopez," Maggie said, clutching his hand with bruising force. He felt her heart pounding and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"Inez Ornelas, of El Clan Ornelas in Bearpaw Ridge," the old lady said, extending her hand as if she expected him to kiss it.
"Pleased to meet you," he said, reluctantly releasing Maggie's hand to take her grandmother's. He gave a brisk shake. "I've heard a lot about the Bearpaw Ridge Ornelas clan."
It was true. Of course, there hadn't been many jaguar clans who'd survived the various ethnic cleansings against the Maya people in Central America. And if a clan was as successful as the Bearpaw Ridge folks had been with their big resort, then word tended to spread through the shifter grapevine.
"I'm glad to hear it." Her face creased in a smile. Then she looked him up and down, as if assessing a prime cut of beef. "So you're one of those firefighters who jumps out of planes? Like the Swanson boy?"
"I am," Steve answered. "I've been working with Thor for several fire seasons now. He's a good guy."
"I see. And how's your Spanish?" Maggie's abuela was clearly a tough customer, like his own Abuelita Delfina.
"Not as good as it should be," Steve admitted. "But I understand a lot."
"Hm." Inez Ornelas lips tightened. "That's a shame."
And now she sounds just like my abuelita, too, he thought.
"Hi, I'm Maggie's mother, Carmina," said the other woman. She extended her hand, and Steve noticed that she had Maggie's warm smile.
They shook hands, then Maggie said, "And this is my father, Martín."
"How did you meet my daughter?" asked Martín as they traded handshakes.
Uh-oh. Not sure what Maggie had already told her parents, he shot her an inquiring look. She replied with a minute shake of her head, which he interpreted to mean that she hadn't said anything so far.
"Did you hear about that big fire over in Routt National Forest last weekend?" Steve asked.
Carmina's eyes widened. "You've only known each other a week? And you're already engaged?" Her gaze flew to Maggie, and Steve