Dakota Heat (Book 3 - Dakota Hearts) by Lisa Mondello Page A

even in South Dakota?”
    Kevin’s voice was sobering. “Safety.”
    * * *
    “You’re an accident waiting to happen, Sam McKinnon!” Kate McKinnon grabbed the knife out of her son’s hand and scowled.
    “What am I doing wrong?” Sam asked, chuckling.
    Kate grunted with exaggeration. “There are too many things for me to list. Sit down and let me make you a meal, will you? You’ve been gone for over a year. Can I at least enjoy having you home for five minutes before you blow up my kitchen again?”
    “Hey, I told you that was an accident. What did Logan tell you?” Sam said, stepping back against the wall while his mom moved into his spot by the counter.
    She waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, never mind. It wasn’t always Logan and Ethan creating all the trouble around here. You and your cousin, Ian, were always an unpredictable pair, too.” Despite her irritation, Kate chuckled quietly, clearly thrilled to have Sam home after so long.
    “I don’t have time for one of your famous breakfasts, Ma. I have to meet the new fire crew in an hour.”
    “You’ll be out the door in twenty minutes. Geesh, I wish you’d been this eager to go to school when you were younger.”
    Kate busied herself whisking scrambled eggs in a cast iron fry pan with one hand while pulling a toasted bagel out of the toaster and dropping it on a clean white plate. She glanced up at Sam with that look she always gave him when she wanted to ask something but wasn’t sure if she should.
    “What?”
    “Speaking of Ian, have you talked to him yet?”
    His stomach dropped. His cousin, a wounded military hero, had talked about becoming a Hotshot fireman once he was done with his military service. But a mortar blast in Afghanistan had left him without a leg and struggling to find his way again back home.
    “I just got home last night. Haven’t had a chance.”
    Kate smiled weakly. “He’ll be happy to see you. Just don’t avoid him because you think it’s too painful for him. He’d hate that.”
    Sam leaned back in his chair. His brother Ethan had told him as much. Ethan, a former Navy Seal, understood what Ian was going through more than any of them.
    “I’ll make sure I stop by on my way home today.”
    Smiling, Kate placed a full plate of food in front of Sam along with a full glass of orange juice.
    “If you keep feeding me like this, Ma, I’ll be so fat I won’t be able to get any of my fire gear on by the end of the week.”
    There was a twinkle of happiness in her eyes as his mother smiled down at him. “If that’s what it takes to keep my boy home in Rudolph, I’m game. If I can manage to find you a girl, even better.”
    * * *
    The girl was new. Sam walked around the Interagency Fire Crew basecamp with familiarity. He saw faces he recognized from working in different locations over the past few years. But the girl… Yeah, she was new. He doubted he would forget the soft blond color of her hair or the slight tilt of her head as she read through paperwork, pretending she didn’t notice the people around her.
    He grabbed two water bottles from the bucket full of ice in the back of the Quonset hut and walked toward her. She didn’t look up until he held the water bottle in front of her.
    Blue eyes met his with a mixture of irritation and surprise.
    “You’re dropping ice pieces on my paperwork,” she said.
    He noticed the smooth as silk sound of her voice before the water splatter on the top page of her paperwork. He immediately pulled the water bottle back a few inches.
    “Sorry. I thought you might like something to drink.”
    Her face softened as quickly as it had shown irritation. She reached her hand out and took the water bottle, and then placed it on the bench next to her before shaking her hand of the residual moisture the bottle left behind. “Thank you.”
    “You’re new here,” he said as he sat down next to her.
    Not looking up, she said, “So are you.”
    She smelled like soap and lavender. After