Alaska Home: Falling for Him / Ending in Marriage / Midnight Sons and Daughters. Debbie Macomber

burning cabin. Five or six men moved with impressive agility to free the hose. Their figures blurred as they worked together.

      Mariah recognized Sawyer and Mitch Harris and Marvin Gold, who were all members of the volunteer fire department. She wanted to tell them to hurry, but even as the words worked their way up her throat, she knew it was too late. All was lost—her home and everything inside it. No hope remained.

      With his arm wrapped protectively around her, Christian drew her away from her cabin, which was by now fully engulfed in flames. A chill came over her as she stood by and silently watched the fire swallow up everything she owned, every possession, save the armful of clothes she’d managed to snatch.

      A breathless Dotty Livengood arrived, having raced over from her home. “Is Mariah all right?” She directed the question at Christian.

      “I don’t know.”

      “Let me check her.”

      “Mariah.” Before Dotty reached her, Christian placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Were you burned?”

      Mariah saw his lips move and heard the words, but it was as though he was standing on the other side of a glass wall. Nothing seemed to touch her, to penetrate her confusion and loss. The question took several minutes to register. Was she hurt? Had she been burned? She felt no pain, not physical at least. Only loss, deep and personal loss.

      “Her hands.” This comment came from Christian, and it seemed to her, even from this emotional distance, that he was angry, frustrated. “It looks like she blistered her fingers.”

      “She must have tried to put out the fire herself.” Dotty’s gentle voice soothed her.

      “I can’t believe what she just did,” Christian muttered. “I had to drag her out of the house. She was after her purse and some silly figurine I gave her. She risked her life for a forty-dollar piece of jade.” His anger spilled out of him like water hissing against a hot burner.

      “Christian.” It was Dotty again, her voice forceful. “Calm down.”

      “I can’t!” he shouted. “Do you realize she could have died in there? If I hadn’t arrived when I did, no one would’ve been able to save her. We barely got out in time.”

      “Take several deep breaths,” Dotty said. “You’ve both had a fright, but you’re safe now. Everything’s going to be fine.”

      “Her purse and a figurine! She was willing to die trying to save them!” The rage in Christian seemed to intensify as the other men dealt with the fire. He began to pace, his steps awkward and abrupt as he attempted to manage his anger.

      Mariah was only now beginning to comprehend what had happened. She wasn’t sure how the fire had started; all she knew was that she’d lit her stove, trying to chase away the chill. It’d been weeks since she’d lit the thing, and there must have been something in the chimney, because a few minutes later the pipe started to glow. The dry cabin wall behind it caught fire and then, in almost no time, the curtains. The flames roared across the room so quickly, they’d been impossible to stop.

      “Take her over to the clinic,” Dotty instructed Christian. “I’ll tend to those burns.”

      Others were arriving now, children and adults alike. Their eyes filled with sympathy and fear.

      “Go,” Dotty told Christian.

      He guided Mariah away from the gathering crowd. She looked back only once at what had been her home.

      Dotty got there a little later. “They weren’t able to save anything,” she said sadly.

      Christian nodded. He couldn’t seem to stand still. And Mariah could barely move; she didn’t have the strength. It felt as though someone had sucked the very life from her. It was an effort just to keep her head up.

      “Mariah,” Dotty said in a gentle voice, “you’ve had quite a shock.”

      Christian paced the clinic. “She was on the floor when I found her,” he said. “If I’d arrived a minute later I might never have reached her. She came so close to dying in the fire.”

      “Christian, you’ve had a scare, too.”

      “The woman hasn’t got a brain in her head. Just how important can a purse be?” With rough, angry movements, he rubbed the back of his neck. “She shouldn’t even have been living in that cabin. The place is a firetrap! But she was so damn stubborn, insisting this was where she had to stay—”

      “Christian!”

      “She should go back to Seattle!” he exploded. “I’ll personally pay for her ticket. At least there she won’t be dealing with fires and a bunch of women-hungry men.”

      She should be back in Seattle. The words penetrated the haze in Mariah’s mind, and a sob erupted from deep in her throat. Christian had never made a secret of how he felt about her, but the fact that he could be so cruel now, when she’d lost everything, was more than she could bear.

      “Christian O’Halloran, what a rotten thing to say!” Dotty snapped. “I think it would be best if you left. The last thing Mariah needs now is you haranguing her.”

      Mariah watched Christian stomp out of the health clinic.

      Leaning her head against the wall, she sighed and closed her eyes. Tears were close to the surface, but she held them at bay, concentrating, instead, on the pain in her hands. They’d started to throb, and she was grateful when Dotty returned.

      Soon Dotty had taken care of her burns and bandaged her hands. Shortly after that, Abbey and Lanni O’Halloran came by with Karen Caldwell and Bethany Harris to check on her.

      “Are you okay?” Abbey asked, sitting next to Mariah and placing an arm around her shoulders.

      “I’m fine,” Mariah assured her friends. But she wasn’t. The sense of devastation hit her again, bringing fresh tears. Everything she’d worked for in the past year was lost. The man she secretly loved was furious with her. Now her hands were burned and bandaged and she was unable to work. She had no home, no place to live.

      “If I was smart, I’d do what Christian said,” she mumbled, forcing herself to smile.

      “What did Christian say?” Bethany asked, glancing at Dotty.

      “He suggested she return to Seattle,” the nurse answered, her lips pinched disapprovingly. “Someone needs to have a talk with that young man.”

      “He said what?” Lanni demanded, outraged.

      “How dare he!” This came from Karen.

      The atmosphere in the room crackled with indignation.

      “Just a moment,” Abbey said, stroking Mariah’s back. “Let’s not be so quick to condemn him. I had a chance to talk to him just now, and you know what? I’ve never seen Christian so upset.”

      With me, Mariah added silently.

      “He’s had the scare of a lifetime. Think about it. Christian almost lost Mariah, and he couldn’t handle that.”

      “Then why would he say something so terrible to her, especially now?” Lanni asked, her eyes flashing at the insult.

      “In my experience, a man will express what he fears most, rather than let it sneak up on him. Women do the same thing, but not as often.”

      “You’re making excuses for him,” Bethany said.

      “No,” Abbey insisted. “I think he’ll be back to apologize to Mariah the minute he realizes what he said. Christian no more wants Mariah to move back to Seattle than he wants to live there himself.”

      “And if he doesn’t apologize, then I know a number of women who’ll be more than happy to assist him in seeing his mistake,” Karen said meaningfully.

      Dotty chuckled.