"But you're so big." Lorenda couldn't help but chew her lip.

"You sure do know how to compliment a guy, Sparky," he teased.

She was glad the tent was dark to hide the heat that crept into her cheeks. "I'm serious. There's not enough room for both of us."

"Then I'll give you mine." He started to get up.

"No." She put a hand on his chest to stop him. She couldn't let him go all night in the cold. She scooted into his bag until they were front to fantastic front, pressing against each other from head to toe.

The zipper whizzed as Mitchell closed them into the thermal cocoon. "Comfy?" His warm breath caressed over her cheeks.

"Yes." Heck yes. And that was the problem, wasn't it? What was she doing with a man whose future was as unsure and unstable as his turbulent past? A man who could upend her life before moving on to another state. Or to Leavenworth. Because if the authorities were able to find one shred of evidence to implicate Mitchell in the rec-center fire, she'd be visiting him in jail.

At least she wouldn't be the one to seal his fate with damning testimony if he was ever arrested. She'd never forgive herself, and she certainly wouldn't want to have to explain it to her boys because of how much they loved their uncle.

So she'd married him without a real promise of forever.

Her breath hitched. She'd spent most of her adult life building a structured and secure life for herself and the kids, only to toss it away on a whim. Because Mitchell wasn't a sure thing. He was far from it, even with a license that said he was legally required to stick around.

Hadn't she learned that a marriage license didn't mean much to Lawson men if they got the itch for something different?

Mitchell threaded a hand around her waist and pulled her into him. She meant to push him away, because her boys were asleep just two feet over. Instead, her palms smoothed up his chest.

Delta her wandering hands.

She swallowed. "This probably isn't a good idea," she whispered. "The boys are right here. What will they think if they wake up?"

"We're married, Sparky. They'd probably think it was weird if we didn't sleep close together." He caressed the small of her back through the thick fabric of her thermal shirt. "We've got clothes on, and we're just sleeping. That's all."

Okay. Good. As long as they were on the same page.

"For tonight," he clarified like he couldn't make that promise stretch any further into the future.

Her girly parts went nuclear.

"So about that prize I owe you." His voice turned to a tease again. "Can I give it to you another time?"

"Um, sure."

"When we're alone." Sleepiness murmured through his words.

A hum of electricity zinged through her and settled between her thighs. "Well, um, what is it?" Did she really want to know? Her brain said no, but her tingling girl parts said, give it to me, baby!

"I'll think of something . . ." The last word trailed off, and his breathing grew thick and heavy as sleep overtook him.

And wasn't that just great? The deep rumble of his voice, the closeness of his hard body, and the promise in his words made her feel more alive, more like a woman than she'd felt in her entire life. Caused her core to heat to a rolling boil, turned her insides to liquid fire, and then he drifted off to sleep while she laid awake all night trying to put out the flames.

Something wet and slobbery drenched Mitchell's cheek and his dream of being a real member of Lorenda's happy family faded like mist. He woke to the smell of a campfire and beads of sweat trickling down his back. Malarkey whined at his ear. Mitchell's eyes popped open and he lay still, listening in the darkness.

Something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

The campfire outside flared and cast a glow across the tent.

A shot of adrenaline exploded in his chest and shot to the tips of all four limbs.

"Sparky." He shook her awake. "Something's on fire."

She bolted upright, but he put a firm, comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't panic." Panic caused mistakes. "Put your shoes on to protect your feet. Make sure the kids get their shoes on too." He grabbed his hiking boots and was on his feet and moving toward the door.

Malarkey barked a warning, his dog senses obviously aware of danger, but Mitchell stepped outside anyway. The heat from the woods burning down the hill made his head snap back. He choked on the dense smoke, his throat stinging.

He did a three-sixty, looking for a way out. Opposite the fire was a mountain ridge that couldn't be scaled without rock climbing gear. The lake boxed them in on one side, so that left only one escape route.

He jerked aside the flap, which hung in front of the tent's door. "Come on!"

Lorenda and the boys stumbled out of the tent, and tears streamed down Trevor's little face. Mitchell bent and took him by the shoulders. "Being brave doesn't mean you're not scared."

Trevor sniffed.

"I need you to help me get your mom and Malarkey out of here. Can you do that for me?"

Trevor nodded.

Mitchell turned to Lorenda. "As fast as you can, go that way toward the stream we fished in today." Mitchell pointed. "I'll go last to make sure we don't lose anyone in the dark."

When they got to the stream, Mitchell had everyone hold up. Smoke thickened the air, and the heat from the fire had turned the cool night as hot as a desert. He swiped the sweat from his brow with the front of his shirt. Lorenda's chest heaved from the fast pace. Mitchell took off his underwater watch.

"Give me your arm, Lorenda."

Still panting, she held out her wrist. He strapped the watch on and pushed a button on one side. "Here's the light. And there's the compass." He pointed to the red arrow on the face. "Go west until you hit the highway. You'll have to double back along the road to find the truck where we parked it at the base of the mountain, or flag down the first vehicle that passes-"

"Mitchell, no." She grabbed his arm. "We're not leaving you here."

"Sparky, listen to me." This time he took both of her arms in his hands. "I wanted to make sure you and the kids got out safe. If you do what I say, you will. There are two dozen Wilderness Scouts camping on the other side of the lake. The fire is spreading fast, and I can't just leave them."

"Mitchell." Lorenda's voice was desperate. "You can't leave us! What if you don't-" She stifled a sob with her hand.

He framed her face between his hands. At that moment, all he wanted in his sorry excuse for a life was to be there for his family. To become the husband and father Lorenda and the boys needed. In his selfish need to goad his father, he'd talked himself into believing it was okay to take responsibility for Cameron's mistakes. That had been the first domino, and they were still falling all these years later, ruining the lives of people he cared about. Most of all ruining Lorenda's life. That was hard enough to live with, but if he didn't help the scouts, he wouldn't be able to live with himself at all.

"Sweetheart, you know I have to."

Moonlight shimmered against the wetness in her eyes. She nodded, inhaling on another sob. "I've lost one husband. I-"

He smothered her fearful words with a kiss. Then he pulled back and brushed her nose with his. "I'm coming back. I promise. Just get yourself and the boys out of here and get word to my dad. He'll know what to do."

He pulled her into another urgent kiss, then set her away from him.

"Boys, stick with your mother and make sure she's safe, okay?"

"Yes sir," they echoed.

As soon as they turned to walk down the hill, Mitchell took off toward the lake in a dead run. When he broke through the woods into the clearing around the lake, the fire had gotten much closer. It was almost to the scouts' campsite, so he quickly ticked off his options. He could go around, which would take longer, or he could go across.

He broke into a run toward the pier.

They don't call 'em frogmen for nothin'.

He didn't slow when he got to the end, but dove headfirst into the water and swam toward the other side. He splashed onto the bank, ready to bark orders to the scout leaders and piggyback as many kids out of there as he could carry. Fiery heat licked over him as he turned full circle looking for any sign of life.

Every tent was gone, and the campsite was empty.

Mitchell walked around the site. Called out in case anyone was left behind.

It took time to get that much equipment torn down and packed up. They'd been gone for a while. Strange, since they'd just gotten there that day.

He walked past the fire pit and the blaze glinted off something metal. He bent, picked it from the ashes, and wiped it off.

That feeling, the one that told him something was terribly off, dialed up so high that blood pounded through his veins.

How did his dog tags get across the lake and into the Wilderness Scouts camp?

By the time Mitchell made his way to the highway, the Forest Service had arrived, along with the Red River Fire Department and what must've been every volunteer firefighter in the county. Everyone except the two people he needed to find the most-Lorenda and his dad.

He ran through the crowd of scrambling first responders and their vehicles looking for Cam's old truck and the sheriff's car.

"Whoa, buddy." Langston came out of nowhere and blocked Mitchell with an arm. He yelled to one of the firefighters that Mitchell was accounted for and told them to call it in to the chief. "A search team is looking for you up there." He pointed up the mountain, which burned bright and lit up the night sky that had been so peaceful just a few hours ago.

"I need to find Lorenda and the kids." Mitchell tried to push out of Langston's hold, but his buddy wouldn't let go.

"She's home safe and sound."

Mitchell's eyes slid shut for a beat, and the knot in his chest loosened.

"She drove straight to the fire department and then wanted to come back here after dropping the kids and that ugly dog of hers off at my parents." Langston led him to an ambulance. "I told her it wasn't safe." He was clearly annoyed. "But do you think she listened?"

Hell no, and Mitchell wanted to give her a lecture about putting herself in danger since she had two kids to think about. Had him to think about too, because he didn't want to lose her. Not after it had taken him so long to find her.

The thought knocked the wind from his lungs.

After he finished lecturing her, he wanted to kiss the daylights out of her. The only other people who had cared enough about him to try to save him were his SEAL Team. And Cameron, who'd followed Mitchell into the military, even if he couldn't own up to the fire.

Langston kept complaining about his sister. "The guys manning the roadblock called me on the radio and said she was trying to slip through. She was blubbering about how she had to get back here to find your sorry ass." He shoved Mitchell down, and he landed on the bumper with a thunk. Langston didn't seem to notice and slapped an oxygen mask over Mitchell's face.

"Nice bedside manner." Mitchell moved the mask aside. "Bet your patients love you."

Langston shoved the mask back into place. "They do, actually. I only treat assholes like this." He strapped a blood-pressure cuff on Mitchell's arm.

Mitchell moved the mask again. "I already told you, that's Mr. Asshole to you. And why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be working on a helo helping to rescue people or some such bullshit?"

"My next shift doesn't start for a few days, and the Red River Fire Department still calls me in when they need extra help." Langston folded Mitchell's arm across his chest and pressed a button on the cuff. It started to expand. "Obviously, they needed me to save someone named Mr. Asshole."

Mitchell used his free hand to squeeze Langston's shoulder. His buddy, who used to play football with him in high school, and now happened to be his brother-in-law, stilled and dropped the pissy look for a second. "Thanks, Lang. I owe you, buddy."

Langston pounded him on the back, then went back to his sibling rant. "Damn straight you owe me. That wife of yours was causing such a ruckus at the roadblock, I had to call your dad."

Oh wow. Mitchell would've paid money to see that fireworks display.

"And would she listen to him?" Langston's voice turned to disgust.

Mitchell smiled and felt it spread through his entire body.

Langston read the numbers on the cuff and stripped it away. "Hell no, she gave him shit too. He had to threaten to arrest her before she finally left. And then he still had to follow her home and take her keys away to keep her from coming back and barreling through the roadblock."

No one in this town could get away with talking to his old man like that except his mom and Lorenda. If anyone else had tried to stand up to him, he'd likely have them brought up on charges of treason and shipped them off to Gitmo.

Or the military.

Langston shined a light in Mitchell's eyes. "Okay, you're fine. But I still have to offer you a ride to the hospital."

Mitchell flipped the mask off and tossed it inside the ambulance. "Hospitals are for pussies."

"Right." Langston rolled his eyes, put the equipment away, and pulled a phone from his pocket. "Here." He shoved it into Mitchell's chest. "I figured you'd be asking to use it. Lorenda said you made everyone leave their phones at home, so go call your wife."

Mitchell walked away for some privacy and dialed Lorenda's number. She answered on the first ring, and he let out the breath he was holding. The sound of her voice sent a wave of relief flooding through him.

"Sparky."

"Mitchell!" Her voice shook. "Are you okay? Did all the scouts get out okay?"

"I'm fine, but the scouts were already gone. You and the kids are good?"

"We're great thanks to you. Just terrified." She hesitated. "Until now."

Mitchell wanted to reach through the phone and kiss her. "Thanks to Malarkey. He saved us. I might not have woken up in time if not for him."

"Mitchell." Her voice was almost a whisper. "Come home. The kids and Malarkey are with my parents."

There was a promise in those words. One that he hoped would start with a hot shower for two, include several shouts of his name, a shout or two of hers, and end with enough empty metallic squares to build a fort.

"I'll be there soon. I just need to talk to Dad first." He looked around the bustling crowd. "If I can find him."

"I told him it couldn't have been you."

Mitchell's stomach tightened. Cameron was already dead because of the lie they'd kept from his parents. If it came out now and made his father's heart condition worse, it would be the last straw of guilt on top of an already staggering load of regret that would break Mitchell in every way possible.

"Sparky, you didn't-"

"I only talked to him about tonight. I told him there wasn't a minute where either me or the kids weren't with you." She let a beat go by. "You should know that he was relieved. I mean, he was really, really relieved, Mitchell." She hesitated.