Second Chance Pass (Virgin River #5)(118)

“The air here isn’t the best for these kids. I have someone I can call to help. You should get the little ones out of here.”

“Well…Let me ask her.”

Brie took the general’s suggestion to Mel and she thought about it for less than a minute, then nodded. “The kids will be safer there. Can you, Paige and Nikki load them up?”

“Sure. But I hate to take them away from you.”

“They should go, he’s right. You can set up a nursery there, with Vanni. We’ll be fine here with Walt’s help.”

Mel watched from the first-aid station while the women carried the children to Preacher’s and Jack’s trucks with Walt’s help, moving car seats around and tucking them in. Into the back went a playpen, port-a-crib, infant seats and baby swing, diaper bags and paraphernalia. Little Davie and Emma, Christopher and Dana Marie. Then they pulled slowly out of town.

Mel hoped it would occur to Paige or Vanni to nurse little Emma; Emma needed the breast. She was young and vulnerable and Mel wouldn’t hesitate to nurse a friend’s baby at a time like this. Mel felt a tear run down her cheek as they went. She wiped at it impatiently. This was an emergency; they’d have to make do. Vanni, Brie, Nikki and Paige would keep the babies and Christopher all safe. That was the most important thing.

Then Jack will be home and we’ll go get them, she told herself.

The morning flew by with trucks full of firefighters passing through, stopping for first aid or food and water. They’d be driven out and another crew would pass through. Sometimes the firefighters were new and wearing clean gear, sometimes they were dirty, exhausted, parched and hungry men. Most of them were inmates, felons trained in firefighting with plenty of law enforcement on hand, backing up Cal Fire. Mel had often wondered how many of them tried to run away while on this duty. But then, this program would likely come to an end if many did.

She took a break to walk into the bar. To her surprise, behind the bar she found the general and Muriel. The woman gave her a bright smile.

“Hey, girl,” Walt said. “What can I get you?”

“Ice water, thanks, if you still have ice. I’m so dry. I think it’s the smoke in the air. It’s not exactly thick, but it works on the nose and throat.”

“How are you, Mel?” Muriel asked.

“A little tense today. Thanks for coming to help.”

“It’s nothing,” she said with a shrug. “I’m glad to. You have quite the circus out there.”

Mel gratefully drank down half her water. “We do, at that,” she said.

“I’m going back to the kitchen. I’ve been making sandwiches, the only cooking I’m capable of. I just about have a big tray ready to bring out. Cal Fire has rations, but they’re running low and we can pitch in. How about if we set up on the porch, along with water?”

“Perfect,” Mel said. “Hang on to the bottled water till the well runs low—we might need it later. I’m going to call the ranch, see how the kids are doing.”

She went to the phone. While Vanni assured her everyone was fine, she could hear Emma crying in the background. Amazing, she thought, how you knew your baby’s cry. It almost made her cry. Worse than that, it made her milk let down and she had to make a dash for the bathroom, open her shirt and lean over the sink. Women’s bodies, she found herself thinking. It was a miracle, the way they worked. Come back, Jack, she thought. We have to get back to our children!

“Mel,” Muriel was calling, tapping at the door. “Are you all right?”

“Fine,” she answered. “I’ll be right out.” When she opened the door, she found the older woman standing there, waiting, a concerned frown on her face.

“I saw you run for the bathroom, and I thought maybe you were sick. All this smoke in the air…”

Mel chuckled. “I called Walt’s house to check on the kids and heard Emma crying. It’s been too long since I nursed her. In seconds, I was dripping,” she said, pulling aside the white coat to show a large round wet spot on her breast. “I hope they get this fire under control before I explode.”

Muriel smiled. “I didn’t have children. And I guess you need to get back to yours.”

“I’m sure it won’t be much longer. Really, this has to be resolved soon. Don’t you think?” Mel asked.

“I don’t know, Mel,” she said, shaking her head. “There’s a lot of wood out there. It’s scary.”

“Yeah,” Mel said weakly. “Yeah it sure is.”

Walt was making sandwiches with Muriel. “You know, I’ve been hanging around your place, riding with you, throwing the stick for your dogs, and I never asked you about the husbands. Like, how many? And why you think it didn’t work out?”

“What makes you think I feel like telling you?” she asked.

“Aw, you’ll tell me,” he said. “You’re just that kinda gal. And I told you about my wife.”

“Okay,” she said, still slapping sandwiches together. “The synopsis. The first one was fifteen years older than me, my agent. He’s still my agent—he married the talent, not the person I was. He was very ambitious for me, for us both. He still thinks I divorced him because of his age, but I divorced him because all he cared about was my career. I don’t think he could tell you my favorite color…”