An Honorable Mission by Laura Scott

Author:Laura Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-04-26T11:57:27+00:00

TWO

The force of the explosion knocked Ryder Malone from his feet. He went down hard, his thigh cramping, his pulse racing, a thousand memories trying to drag him into the past. He ignored them, jumping to his feet and running across the grass that separated him from Shelby Simons. Pretty, amusing, uncomplicated Shelby Simons. Owner of the only bakery in town that knew how to make a doughnut right.

Owner of the sweetest smile he’d seen in years.

She intrigued him. Her quiet joy, her easy humor, the comfortable way she interacted with the people who entered her bakery, all those qualities set to a backdrop of quiet beauty and stunning blue eyes.

Now, she lay facedown on the ground, bits of shingle and wood falling around her like glowing confetti. They coated her back and her thick dark hair, covered the ground around her prone figure. Flames shot from broken windows on either side of the thick wood door she’d been standing in front of. A few inches to the left or right, and she’d have been sliced to bits.

He brushed an ember from silky curls, felt the pulse point in her neck. It beat slow and steady.

Alive.

No time to check for injuries. Not with the fire raging out of control and the house groaning beneath the onslaught of flames.

He scooped her up, racing back across the yard as another explosion rocked the house. It threw him to his knees, but he kept his arms tight around Shelby’s soft, limp body.

Neighbors spilled from their homes, frantic cries mixing with the roar of the blaze that consumed the beautiful Victorian, the sounds background noise to Ryder’s racing thoughts. He’d seen explosions, felt them, lived through them. He hadn’t expected one in Spokane. Not on a sleepy spring morning.

“Shelby?” He brushed thick hair from her cheek, and she shifted, her eyes slowly opening.

“What happened?” She gasped, coughing on the acrid fumes that poured from the burning shell of the old house.

“Some kind of explosion.”

“Explosion? Maureen!” She shoved away, jumped to her feet and ran straight back toward the inferno.

He snagged the bow of her apron, pulling her to a stop, and she swung around, her eyes wide with horror. “Maureen is in there.”

“There’s nothing we can do for her now,” he said truthfully, and she yanked from his hold, spun away, running toward the house again.

He followed, heat searing his cheeks as flames whooshed through the roof and windows, consuming wood and melting wiring, the scent suffocating.

“Shelby! She’s dead. There’s nothing we can do to help her,” he shouted, grabbing her apron again.

“She’s my friend. I have to try.”

“And kill yourself in the process? I can’t let you do that.” He wouldn’t let her do that, but she turned, tears trekking down her cheeks, leaving white trails in her soot-stained face. A large knot peeked out from beneath silky curls near her temple, the swollen flesh surrounding a deep cut that oozed blood. She didn’t seem to feel the pain of it. Didn’t seem to know she was hurt.

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