Firebreak (Josie Gray Mysteries #4)(35)
Josie glanced at her watch and considered Pete’s offer to watch the smoke jumpers train at Big Bend. It would be nice to spend the evening with him and watch the jumpers in action. She sent him a text and said she’d be there by five. She had brought jeans and boots to work with her that morning, just in case she was able to make it, and she changed in the office.
She thought about checking in with Dell, but figured he was entertaining his new girlfriend. He’d not called and left a message for her like she thought he would. Call her stubborn, but she’d be damned if she’d go down to his house again before he filled her in on his new arrangements. He’d always kept tabs on her relationships, offering unsolicited advice through the years that she occasionally appreciated but usually ignored. But Dell had never so much as mentioned a woman in all the years she’d known him. So what had changed?
Josie arrived at the airport and found the guys loading into the van that would take them to Big Bend. She pulled her jeep in next to where Pete was standing and rolled down her window.
“You sure you don’t need to ride with the guys?” she asked.
“Hell no! I got this all worked out.” He climbed into the passenger side of her jeep. “So, you know the area? Big Bend National Park?”
“I know it well. Dillon and I camped there a lot. It’s a beautiful place.”
“You’re the guide then. The van can follow you. We’re working out of Boquillas Canyon with the Mexicans. They have their own hotshot crew training with us. Your gear’s already loaded on the plane.”
“What gear?”
“You didn’t think I was going to drag you down there and make you watch me, did you?”
“That’s exactly what I thought.”
Pete stuck his arm out the window and gave the “OK” sign to the driver of the van, who waved back. “Head out. They’re ready.”
Josie, still reeling from his comment, backed the jeep up and said, “You’re talking about me parachuting?”
Pete laughed. “I already got this cleared with my crew boss. He owes me a favor. He’s got the gear. He said he’ll let you tandem jump with me today.”
“It’ll be dark by the time we get there!”
“Sunset’s at nine. We’ll be there by eight. No excuses.”
“I’ve never parachuted! I don’t have any idea how to jump.”
“This isn’t something you’d normally do,” he said.
She laughed. “Obviously! I’ve never even had a lesson!”
“I got this figured out. I call it jump therapy. Someday I’ll patent my idea and make a million. My old shrinks will be furious.
“Here’s the trick. You go live a little. You do something that gets you completely out of your head. You break free of whatever nightmare you’re living. Even if it’s only for ten minutes, it’s a start. And, suddenly, you want ten more minutes. And ten more minutes after that. And one day you realize you’ve moved on from whatever hell you’ve been living.”
Josie laughed. “I don’t think it’s quite so easy as that.”
“How’s that shrink working out for you?”
“She’s not a shrink. And she’s trying to get me to see the situation from a different perspective. To change my thinking.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing for you. Except I’m free. And I’m a hell of a lot more fun.”
*
After a three-hour drive along FM-170, and a nonstop stream of Pete’s observations about life and love, they approached the far east side of Big Bend National Park.
“You get into this?” Pete asked, pointing out at the miles of sunbaked hills and mountains.
“Get into what?”
“All this desert and rocks and sun? We’ve driven over two hours on a marked road and not passed one car. Not one. That doesn’t happen anywhere. And I live in the boondocks.”
“That’s the beauty of it. You want to get lost? Come to West Texas.”
Pete was quiet for a time, taking in the canyons and the vast sky and the lack of people. “I guess I can see you here. In a quiet place. You were always the quiet one.”
She smiled at his reference to their high school years. “You made enough noise for all of us.”
“Don’t you miss that old pickup truck?” he asked.
“All four of us crammed into the front seat. I’m not sure how I’d have survived high school without you guys,” she said.
“It’s a wonder we all made it out alive.”
“You and Dave got us into some crazy situations.”
Pete propped his feet up on the dashboard and pointed at her. “You were no angel. Me and Dave would come up with some dumbass idea, Lisa would try and talk us down, and then you’d convince Lisa to do it. You were the one who convinced Lisa to swim in the town water tower.”
Josie grinned and looked over at Pete. “That was fun. You have to admit.”
“Even if it was stupid-crazy, if you said we’d be okay, we all believed you.”
They drove for thirty minutes through Big Bend, reminiscing about high school, before they reached the turnoff for the border crossing to Boquillas, Mexico.
Pete pointed to the sign. “You got a border crossing in a park?”