On the Burning Edge by Kyle Dickman

Author:Kyle Dickman [Dickman, Kyle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Natural Disasters, Nonfiction, Retail, Science
ISBN: 9780553392128
Google: _D-1oQEACAAJ
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2015-05-12T04:00:00+00:00

But for many hours, the hotshots droned through the flat, windswept high desert that lies between Jemez Springs and Prescott. The crew didn’t pull into the base until after seven and weren’t done cleaning the buggies and preparing the trucks for the next fire until an hour after that. Grant left the station the moment Steed released the crew. Bunch, though, lingered, taking a moment to look around the place that had been at the center of his life for the past four years. There was no doubt he was going to miss the station. Small things suddenly felt sentimental—Clayton’s antique chainsaws and ever-growing piles of thrift-store kitsch, a broken hand tool with TURBY TOUCHED THIS written on it, the locker his old squad had painted Granite Mountain’s logo across.

Clayton was also slow to leave. He’d been Bunch’s squad boss for two of his four years, and Clayton and his wife had been the only two guests at Bunch and Janae’s wedding. Before that fire season started, Bunch had mentioned to Clayton that he and Janae were eloping.

Even though it wasn’t technically an invitation, Clayton took it as one. Just moments before the ceremony started, he and his wife, Kristi, ran into the courthouse. “No way I was letting you get married alone,” he told his buddy.

Saying goodbye was as hard for Clayton as it was for Bunch. When he saw Bunch head out to his black Toyota pickup, he whistled to him across the parking lot and jogged up.

“Hey…” he called. “I’m proud of you for leaving the crew for your family.” Then Clayton gave Bunch a hug. Bunch, shorter than Clayton by a head, gave him a half smile and turned his head into Clayton’s shoulder to hide welling tears. The goodbye had a formality to it that made Bunch’s departure uncomfortably real. He pounded Clayton’s back hard several times and quickly left the station.

While Grant and his crewmates finished up their duties, Leah had rushed out to get a manicure and pedicure and was a few blocks from home when Grant pulled up behind her in his Dodge Neon. Her heart fluttered. He was leaning entirely out of the window, waving with his left hand and driving with his right. Fifteen days was the longest they’d been apart.

For the couple, Grant’s two days off were bliss. They slept late and ate real food, heading to dinner at a local restaurant where Grant, now old enough to buy alcohol, splurged on microbrewed beers and ate the better part of two meals for dinner. At home, Grant nested. He built a fire pit in the backyard and spent the afternoon stacking wood in a pleasant rhythmic delirium. When he was done, he put on the Forever Lazy onesie—blue adult pajamas complete with booties, which Grant’s grandma had given Leah for Christmas. Leah didn’t like wearing them. But being swaddled in fleece helped Grant relax. He tried to forget the stress of the past couple of weeks and tried hard not to think about the fact that he’d be back at work on Tuesday.

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