Controlled Burn by Delilah Devlin

Author:Delilah Devlin [Devlin, Delilah]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction
Goodreads: 26067860
Published: 2015-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

Carly pulled off her gloves, dropping them to the ground, and then pressed the button on the spigot of the water cooler strapped to the back of Jeremiah’s mule. She poured water into a Styrofoam cup, drank down half the contents, then poured some into her palm, and splashed it at her face.

Dehydration wasn’t why she’d passed out. The air wasn’t hot enough to cause any problems like that. She’d fainted because, as she’d flapped the wet sack at the ground, she’d forgotten to breathe. She’d been caught in a memory of the last time she’d tried to smother a fire.

The last time had been seven years ago, and Carly had flapped at a fire she’d caused with the blanket she’d slept wrapped inside during an overnight class trip to the canyon. The camping trip had been long anticipated by all of her classmates, and she’d been just as eager. But the event had turned into one long hazing, thanks to Tater’s constant teasing.

“Carly, where’d you get those shoes? I think my mama gave them to Good Will.”

“Give Carly the butt end of the chicken, she won’t be too picky what she eats.”

All she’d wanted was to pay him back for making that trip and her entire high school experience a misery. Yes, she’d known a burn ban was posted inside the park, but what harm could a string of firecrackers do?

She’d lit them, tossed them into his tent, and then listened, smothering giggles as they exploded and he’d screamed and rushed out into the clearing in his underwear.

But her glee had turned to horror as first his tent, and then the dry grass around it, caught fire. She’d grabbed her blanket and attempted to smother it, but she’d been too vigorous flapping it at the flames, and the cheap acrylic material wasn’t fire retardant—the blanket went up in flames.

Sparks had flown to nearby pine trees, which had gone up like Roman candles. Before too long, every teen in the campsite was running for their vehicles or the river, and the fire had spread toward the canyon rim. The fact no one had been injured was a miracle, something the judge said as he’d pointed his finger toward her when he rendered his judgment.

Carly poured the rest of the water into the dirt and reached down to swipe up the gloves. She hated showing weakness. Hated that fear had overcome her. Hated even more that Tater, but especially Jeremiah, had been witness to her moment of weakness.

But she had to get through the next couple of days. Not only to make sure her record would be expunged, but to prove to everyone in Caldera, she wasn’t that same reckless, stupid girl.

She picked up the wet sack, held it beneath the spigot, soaking it again, and then returned to the fire line, giving Jeremiah a smile and hoping he’d let the whole issue drop. She didn’t want to talk about what had happened. Didn’t want to continue to relive it. After

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