And it felt like her heart was beating a thousand times a minute, she was so terrified, but she had Caleb’s chest for a pillow and his arms to hold her safe and she hung onto him for dear life.
The noise intensified, like a jet flying directly overhead, the temperature in the tiny room soared, and she buried her face in his chest and swore that if she ever got out of here alive, she was never going to send this man away again. From somewhere outside came the sound of smashing glass and she jerked in his arms. He squeezed her tighter, but that wasn’t what forced the tears from her eyes as the noise retreated, the roar abating.
“You came for me,” she said, trembling in his arms, clinging to him, as the enormity of all that had happened in the space of just a few minutes set in. “You risked your life for me.”
“I had to,” he said gruffly, still panting from his exertions.
“I love you,” she said.
He stilled. “What did you say?”
“I said, I love you.”
“Jeezus, Ava, you sure pick your moments,” he said, but there was a chuckle underlying his words. He lifted her hand in his glove and kissed the back of it. “I love you too. Now come on, we’ve got work to do.”
The fire front had passed, but not the danger, and together they worked for two hours in the blackened exterior, putting out spot fires and watching for flare ups. Her car was a burnt out mess, and she shivered when she thought about how close she’d come to getting in and driving away. But the house had survived, the sudden drenching protecting it from the fire, the only damage to the house was the glass wall of her studio and the contents lying scorched and broken on the floor.
She looked at what was left of the picture of her lying on the bed, nothing more now than a charred canvas painted by fire, and she was glad.
Caleb put his hand on her shoulder as she stared down at it. “We could have saved it.”
She shook her head. “That frightened girl is gone,” she said. “She turned one prison into another, locking herself away. I’m never going to allow myself to be frightened again.”
She turned to him and took his hands in hers. “I’m sorry it took me so long to see what was right there all the time. I fell in love with you, Caleb, without even realising it. I’m sorry I sent you away. I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“And here was me, thinking I must have imagined you saying those words while we were stuck in there.”
She shook her head. “No, you didn’t imagine it. I worked it out yesterday.” And she told him of the note from her mother, written long ago, and that she could never ask for forgiveness, but wishing Ava freedom and happiness and love. She told him of the scattered fragments of memories, of kindnesses she’d buried so not to disrupt the perfection of her dark past.
He listened to it all, and he pressed his lips to her forehead, smelling of smoke and ash, his face grimy, “I love you,” he said.
“I thought nobody would, if they knew the truth. And I was too afraid to believe it could be true.”
“Believe it,” he said, a finger under her chin, angling her for his kiss. “It’s true.”
“I love you, Caleb.”
And he pressed his lips to hers and he tasted of ash and fire and the flames of love he had stoked in her heart.
They were outside, Caleb taking an axe to some burnt saplings, when the truck pulled into the driveway.
“Bloody hell,” Richo said, climbing down from the cab to slap his mate on the back. “Are you a sight for sore eyes?”
“What were you worried about?” he lied. “I had heaps of time.”
The relief on his crew’s faces was palpable, and it was a very celebratory reunion as Richo radioed in to tell base they’d found Caleb safe and well.
“So what’s the latest with the fire?” he asked, nodding in the direction of the smoke cloud that seemed to be growing smaller by the minute. “Did it get anywhere near Reynolds Ridge?”
Richo took off his helmet and wiped his grimy forehead with the sleeve of his jacket, leaving another smear of grime in its place. “Nah, not even close. It’s caught up with the February fire ground and run out of fuel way short. Lucky, eh? A bit like you.”
And Caleb sighed with relief. This day could not get any better, unless...
He pulled Ava against him and kissed her brow, before he took her hand in his and ducked down on bended knee. “Ava, I love you. Will you marry me?”
“What?” Richo said, looking on. “Get out of here.”
“Shut up,” Tina said, with an elbow to Richo’s ribs.
Ava blinked down at Caleb. “You’re not serious?”
“Marry me, and let me love you forever.”
“Marry him, and put him out of his misery,” urged Richo.
“Shush,” said Tina.
Ava laughed. “You really mean it.”
“Of course, I mean it.”
“Then, yes, I will marry you.”
And Caleb pulled her into his arms and spun her around. “We’re getting married,” he said, “and you’re all invited.”
And there were whoops of joy all round.
Epilogue
June
The wedding was timed for the weekend following the annual National Firefighters’ Conference being held in Adelaide this year, which gave them an entire week to celebrate not only the upcoming nuptials, but all of the romantic developments that had happened in the Knight family since they’d last been together.
Ava was feeling slightly overwhelmed. Together, with Caleb, they’d shown everyone around the hotel function rooms of the Stamford Grand Hotel at the Adelaide beachside suburb of Glenelg where the wedding and reception were to be held the following weekend, before they’d headed to
