Chapter 11

Well, I'm posting another chapter... can you believe it?! So close together and it makes it look even closer with Blogger being down for the past 2 days!! Enjoy!!

Soundtrack: Jimmy Eat World - Gotta Be Somebody's Blues

Ch. 11

“Ryan!” the named echoed through the woods from the mouths of the volunteers and paid personnel of the squad. 

“Jack, I think we should check out the rocky ravine,” Liz called to me over the radio.  She was right, the campsite wasn’t that far away and it was always a good place for curious kids to check out.

“I really hate anyone repelling down that thing at night time.” I grumbled, answering her.

“I know, but we’ve combed everywhere else and you know how interesting that place is,” she came back, like she took the words from my brain.  That is why Liz and I worked well together, we thought alike and were always on the same page when it came to field work.  Too bad we couldn’t be on the same page about this whole relationship thing…

I took a deep breath before cueing up the mic of my radio.  “Get your gear on, kiddo.”

“Alrighty,” she came back, sounding happy as usual.  If there was one thing that Liz enjoyed the most, it was climbing and repelling, especially at night time because it was most dangerous.  However, she knew the ravine like the back of her hand and was the most skilled on the ropes.  I couldn’t help but shake my head and smile at the thought of her eyes probably lighting up at the moment and the fact that she was probably doing some sort of little jig.

15 minutes later we were standing by the ravine with the volunteers lined up along the top of it so that if they could see or hear anything, they would be able to relay it to Liz so that she could check things out.  Somehow I got stuck with Jarret right next to me.

“Isn’t this a little dangerous for her to be climbing around down there at night?” he asked, sounding as if he was being the worried boyfriend.  “This was not so nice in the daytime, so I can’t believe it’s going to be any nicer at night.” I wanted to punch him, but in reality, he seemed to be a nice guy who proved to have no problem crawling around out in the wilderness.  I knew hockey players were tough, but I guess I figured since he played in LA, he was probably too much of a pretty boy to be doing things like this.

“She knows what she’s doing,” I said in a short tone.

“I realize this,” he mumbled.

I turned and looked at him.  “Jarret, this is her life.  She lives for this.”

“I’m beginning to see that,” he said thoughtfully.  “That’s why I wanted to come along.  I wanted to see her in her environment.”

“Is this an experiment to you?”

“Excuse me?”

“You know, this whole relationship thing with you and her?  Is it an experiment to you?  Are you trying to see how far you can go before it doesn’t work and then you leave her broken?”

“I really like her if that is what you are getting at…”

“Anyone can like someone who is good in bed,” I bit back.

I could tell I was beginning to get under his feathers because his brow lines were becoming more and more defined.  “Look Jack, I’m sorry that you’ve never had the balls to make a move on her, but that isn’t my problem and I’m not stepping back.”

I felt myself clench my fist and I was about to take a step forward towards him when Liz called over to me.

“You ready Jack-a-roo?” I cooed while walking over towards Jack and Jarret as I finished latching my repelling harness.

He took me by the shoulders, turned me around and began his check of my rigging.  We had done this enough times over the years that it had become second nature.  My body twisted slightly as he pulled tight on my belts, making sure everything was okay.  “You be careful,” he said quietly as I turned back around to face him.  He said it every time and my response was the same every time, “I always am.”  He bent down and picked up my helmet, checking the flashlight that was on it.  Once it was deemed my equipment was good, he handed the helmet over to me and I gave him my baseball cap.

He looked like he was going to say something else but Jarret walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder.  I turned to look at him, surprising me when he swiftly leaned in to kiss me on the cheek.  “Be careful beautiful,” he whispered into my ear, causing a shiver to go through my body.

“This is my favorite part,” I shot back with a big grin, stepping away from him and giving myself some air from the tension I felt had already built with his and Jack’s egos being so close together. 

Soon I was bouncing down the rocks into the ravine, feeling the temperature automatically change and the dampness chilling me to the bone.  The probability of finding the little boy unharmed was quickly becoming smaller by the minute.  Once I was at the bottom of the ravine, I unhooked my harness and slowly began making my way down the uneven ground, looking for any sign of him.  I was about 100 yards away from my drop point when I caught a glimpse of white cloth about 6 feet away from me.

“Ryan?” I called out.

A small voice called back, “help me.”

I moved as quickly as possible over to him and found him lying on the ground.  There was blood oozing from his head and nose and his color was very pale.  I radioed up to Jack.

“I have him.  I’m going to need the stokes basket, spinal immobilization stuff, and my bag.  It looks like he fell down here and hit a few things on the way down.  He’s conscious, but barely.  Put the helicopter on standby.”

“Copy that, Liz.  Taylor is gearing up now to come down to you.”

While I was waiting for Taylor to get down the ravine with the supplies, I began doing a head-to-toe assessment on the little boy, finding he had a broken arm and possibly a few broken ribs and definitely a broken ankle.  I found some small tree branches and began making make-shift splints and just kept talking to the little boy.  Not having any bandages with me, I took off my t-shirt and wrapped it around the top of his head to help control some of the bleeding.  It was a little cold to be in just a sports bra, but I didn’t really care at the moment because I was more worried about my young patient.

“Lizzard, I’m down here, I need your help to carry over the supplies,” Taylor yelled.

I scrambled over to him and assisted him.  “Jesus, what happened to your shirt?  The bats get it?” Taylor chirped.

“He’s bleeding bad,” I informed him.

“Damn, I wish I would have thought of that to get you out of your shirt.”

“I’m so glad you’re so professional,” I chirped back, laughing as I shook my head.

“I call ‘em as I see ‘em and I still don’t understand how Jack hasn’t tied you up yet,” Taylor commented unabashedly.  “Because I know I would have done that the first day we were on the job together.”

“Gee, thanks for that lovely thought.  Okay, he’s right over here.”

As much as Taylor was a jokester, he was even that more serious when it came to doing his job.  We made quick work in starting a line, finishing the splinting and bandaging and packaging Ryan up so that we could get him up the ravine.

“We’re ready to hook him up to the ropes,” I radioed up to Jack.

“Everyone is ready up here.  You and Taylor get yourselves hooked in and then call me so we know when to start pulling up.”

“Okay.”

5 minutes later, Taylor and I were on the tag lines that were attached to the basket, making sure the basket with our patient didn’t bang against the rocks as the people above pulled him up.  Once Ryan was safely to the top it was our turn to head back up to even ground.

“I hate climbing up these things in the dark, I’m always afraid I’m going to grab onto something that is going to bite me,” Taylor whined as we worked our way back up.  We could have waited for people to help pull us up, but I needed to get out of the ravine before I put myself in hypothermia, the adrenaline from the rescue was quickly wearing off and I was starting to mind the cold on my sweat soaked skin.

“You are such a pussy, Taylor,” I laughed, trying to keep my mind off of the same concern.  I actually enjoyed climbing in the dark for the challenges it presented, but he was right, you never knew what might be lurking on the ledges.

“And if it wouldn’t be for the fact that I know your boobs are real, I’d be questioning your sex.”

I was just about ready to pull myself up onto another spot when I felt a tug on my rope.  “Pullin’ you up, Liz!” Jack called down.

“Pull away,” I yelled back up, my voice echoing in the ravine as I allowed him to do all the work.  I was glad because my muscles were getting a little tired from all the work they had already done.

“Where the hell is your shirt?!” I grumbled when I pulled Liz up and onto safe ground.  She was shivering like a leaf only wearing a sports bra from the waist up.

“It’s on Ryan’s head,” she said simply through chattering teeth.

“I don’t have extra blankets for your ass,” I informed her.

She just shrugged as she tugged open the strap of her helmet.

“Here, take my shirt,” Jarret quickly came over, already pulling off a long-sleeved shirt.  He only had a sleeveless under-shirt on underneath and I think I heard a couple of the women volunteers leave out some sighs and moans.

Oh good grief.

Liz looked over at him and I’m fairly sure she also left out a sigh.  “Jarret, I’m fine, keep your shirt…”

Instead of listening to her, he just pulled the shirt down over her head, effectively muffling her words and waited for her to lift her arms up so that he could finish putting it on her.  She was grinning broadly at him and giggling as her head popped out from the collar of the shirt.  They were both laughing by the time she had it completely on and she was swinging the long sleeves around in circles, reiterating the fact that she was literally swimming in the shirt.  I’m fairly sure I almost gagged when I watched Jarret get down on his knees to roll up her sleeves like one would do for a child.

“Well, now that Liz is clothed, I think it’s time to get the hell out of here,” I growled as I passed by them, hoping they were pulled from their “little moment.”  “Maybe you can carry some stuff, Jarret?”

“Sure,” Jarret said pleasantly, taking the heavy rope bag and first aid bag off the ground.  I was left walking after the two happily chatting about things. 

I’m fairly sure Jack wanted to punch me.  I’m also fairly sure I would have punched back.  So maybe it was a dick move to kiss her in front of him, but he pissed me off.  Suddenly he was staking a claim on her despite the fact that he had known her for the last 7-8 years and had all the time in the world to make his move.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay over with you and get you all warmed up?” I breathed into Beth’s unruly, red hair while standing in her living room after Jack reluctantly dropped us off.

“I’m exhausted.  It’s been a long day and I have to work tomorrow day-shift,” she said, her voice muffled in my chest as she hugged me.  “Thank you so much for going along to help tonight; you didn’t have to do that.”

“It was no problem.  It’s not like I had anything better to do.”

“Still, I appreciate it,” she smiled, looking up at me.

I pushed some hair behind her ear and ran my finger lightly down the side of her cheek.  “Dinner tomorrow night?”

She took a breath and then broke eye contact with me before mumbling, “I already promised Jack that I’d have dinner with him to say thank you for fixing up my house today.”

I felt the jealousy instantly rush in when she said the words, but I kept it in check while nodded my head.  “Okay, well if you get done early, give me a call; maybe we can do a late movie night or something.”

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind,” she said quietly, making eye contact with me once more, along with a small smile.

“Good night, Beth.”

“Night Jay,” she said before my lips met hers.

“I guess I’ll go home and get a shower before I come over for dinner.  I’d like to get changed anyway…” I informed Jack while grabbing my gear bag to throw it in the back of my truck.

“Yes please, I see you enough in your work uniform, I’d appreciate it if you put in some extra effort to come to my house for dinner,” he winked.

“Hell if I were you Jack, I’d tell her to just come over naked,” Taylor chirped while standing in the parking lot, smoking a cigarette.

“Of course you’d say that…” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

“On second thought, Taylor has a good idea…” Jack started in, but stopped when I spun around in an attempt to punch him in the gut.  He caught my hand before I connected, pulled me towards him, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.  I was kicking and squealing as he carried me over to the driver’s side door of my truck and opened it.  He set me down behind the wheel and grinned broadly at me.  “Go get changed, Lizzie.  I’ll see you in an hour. Clothed.”

I stuck my tongue out at him and started up the truck.  I’m fairly sure I heard him call out, “Don’t start what you can’t finish!” while I drove out of the parking lot.

This wasn’t the first time she ate over at my place, but this was the first time since I told her my feelings and made love to her.  Surprisingly today’s shift was not awkward and things were as they should be between us at work, but as I stood in front of my closet debating on what to wear, I found the nerves balling up in my stomach.  I didn’t want to go overboard and look like I was trying to impress, but I did want to make it look like I was putting forth an effort.  Besides, it was probably going to be the last night I spent with her.  Jason had called me during work and said to be in Saskatoon on Monday for my orientation shift.  I still wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do, but I didn’t really have a choice now.  I just didn’t know how I was going to break the news to Liz.

I was already outback grilling the steaks I had marinating the whole day while we were working when she arrived.

“That smells amazing!  I hope you have the whole cow grilling on there because I’m starved!” she exclaimed, peeking her head out the back door.  I was going to come back with some sort of comment about her having an appetite of a Hippo, but the words stayed in the back of my throat, making it difficult to swallow as I took in her looks.  She was in a light purple cotton sundress that came to her knees along with a soft looking, white cardigan and white flip-flops.  She had allowed her hair to air-dry, so it was a curly, unruly mess that laid on her shoulders, framing her face perfectly.  Before I could get my brain back from the vacation it suddenly took, she spoke shyly, “I hope you don’t mind that I decided to put on one of the dresses I bought in Vancouver.  I don’t have many places to wear stuff like this and I was in the mood to dress nice tonight.”

I shook my head and finally stuttered out, “N-no, p-p-please don’t apologize.  You look beautiful, Elizabeth.”

She looked up with shy blue eyes and smiled softly.  “Thanks.  You look good yourself.”

I looked down and shrugged off the compliment, cursing myself for just wearing a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a red buttoned-down cotton shirt.

“I always like when you wear red,” she continued.  “It make softens your brown eyes, almost making them look like honey.”

There was something in the way she spoke the words, something that told me she wanted me.  I smiled back at her and took the steaks off the grill, afraid that they would end up burning if my test proved correct.  As soon as they were on the plate, I moved over to her and pulled her against me.

“Jack,” was all I allowed her to whisper before my lips came crashing down onto hers.  She curled around me as we drank from one another.  My hands slid down her back and came to rest on her ass, pulling her intimately closer to me.  She moaned into my mouth and wound her arms around my necks, threading her fingers through my hair, causing me to shiver.

Soon we were inside of my house, in my bedroom.  I gently tugged on the zipper of her dress while she easily worked at undoing the buttons of my shirt.  “You smell so good,” I whispered when I leaned down and kissed her shoulder after I pushed down one of the straps of her dress.  Her skin smell like honeysuckle and it was as soft as the cashmere of her cardigan.  She lightly giggled at my observation but stopped as I allowed her dress to fall to the floor, leaving her standing vulnerably in front of me.  She stood stock still as I lightly traced some of the lines of her body with just my fingertips, memorizing her and praying to God she couldn’t see my future plans.  It was such a raw moment that I felt if I looked into her eyes, she would be able to see everything I never told her and know the truth about how much I loved her.

“Why are you leaving, Jack?” she asked quietly.

Guess I don’t even need to make eye contact with her.  Damn, she’s good.

“How did you know?” I asked hoarsely, finally looking up at her and lightly running my fingers through her hair, absently untangling it.

“I’m not stupid.  You didn’t just suddenly decide to fix up my house and I heard you on the phone today…”

“You were eavesdropping?” I raised an eyebrow at her, trying my hardest to keep the mood light.

“I was on my way out to get the hose so that I could rinse off some of the equipment we used from last night and I overheard you.  Please, don’t leave.”

“I can’t keep hide from the truth anymore Liz.  I’m in love with you and I want you to be with me.  You know as well as I do that we can’t do that here…”

“Seems to me like you are running away,” she said evenly, moving away from me and walking towards the back window of my bedroom, sneaking a look outside.  In doing so, the late evening sun shined through, creating a silhouette of her beautiful body that was now only covered with a delicate lace bra and a white laced thong.

“I can’t standby and watch you with him.  I already told you that, so until you make up your mind, I’m leaving.”

“What are my choices?” she asked, still looking out the window.

“Me or him.”

“He wants me to go to LA with him this weekend…”

“I’ll be gone when you get back.”

“I still don’t understand how it would work out between you and me, especially since you are moving 2 hours away from here.”

“We’d figured out something, I’m sure,” I said quietly as I walked up behind her, placing my warm hand on the cool skin at the small of her back.  “Look Liz, I know he can offer you the world with all the money he makes, but I would offer you my love and life and you know that means I would give you everything you ever needed.”

She leaned backwards against me, rested her head on my chest and sighed, “I know.  I’m sorry that I’m being stupid and seemingly unable to make a decision.  I know what I want, I’ve known for a long time, but here I am still second guessing everything.  I guess it doesn’t help that ever since I’ve known you, you’ve jumped around from one woman to another…” she admitted.  “I just don’t understand what makes me different.”

“The difference is that I’m in love with you Liz.”

She turned around and looked up at me with sad blue eyes, “But are you just saying that because of Jarret being in the picture?”

“Come on Liz, you know I never say things I don’t mean,” I cupped her face with my hand.  “I’ve only ever loved one other woman…”

“Gina?”

“No one you knew…”

“What happened?”

I took a deep breath and looked at a spot on the window sill.  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

She left out a huff and went to move away from me.

“Liz, please, where are you going?” I exclaimed as she began picking her dress up off the floor.

She stopped, put her hand on her hip.  “You know what Jack?  This is exactly why I can’t make up my mind.  You know everything about me, yet I still don’t know everything about you.  I know you have a past that no one knows, but that’s what bother’s me.  I’m asking you this one question and you can’t even answer me.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.  It’s in the past and I just don’t talk about it,” I stupidly snapped back.

“Just like you couldn’t tell me after all these years that you have feelings for me?!”

“It’s not like you were 100% truthful to me about that either…”

“You are not going to pin this on me, Jack.  You couldn’t even fucking tell me you were moving away…” she cried.

I was just running my fingers through my hair, trying to figure out how not to fuck up the situation even more when my cell phone began blaring.  It was Elsie’s ring-tone, so there was no way I could ignore it.

“Hello?” I answered, trying not to sound annoyed.

“Jack?”

“What do you want Jarret?” I growled into the phone, now not caring if I sounded overly annoyed.  Liz looked over at me with a confused look on her face.

“Taylor and Paul just came and picked up Grandma.  She passed out and was still unconscious when they left for the hospital…I can’t get a hold of Beth, but I knew you two would want to know…I’m going to head to the hospital now.”

“Just stay put, we’ll pick you up,” I said quickly and hung up.

Chapter 10

...this seems to be cranking out slower than I had hoped. Thanks for sticking with me anyway!  Glad to hear I'm filling up people's IPod's with some new music... hehe. I like to be a good influence.

Today's soundtrack is a beautiful tune off of John Mayer's latest album, it's called Edge of Desire.


"...there I just said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me."

Ch. 10

A day of golf was never my idea of a fun day, but I decided to give it a chance for Jarret’s sake.  He really seemed to be into it and I was okay with the plan as long as he was involved in it.  What did it hurt to try and like it?  However my thoughts weren’t totally assured as I stood in the golf shop looking around at some of the other people milling around in expensive looking golf clothing, totally looking the part.  I looked down at my ripped jean shorts, patterned tank-top and ratty old sneakers. I felt like I hadn’t gotten the dress code memo.  Even the lady at the front desk gave me a little disdained look as Jarret paid our fee for the day.

“Would have been nice to tell me that white capri pants and a bright polo shirt was the accepted golfing attire,” I grumbled while we stepped out of the store and into the bright sunlight.

“What are you talking about?” Jarret laughed while throwing my rental golf clubs on his shoulder and dragging his own set with his other free hand.

“Well after seeing what the other people were wearing, I’m afraid I don’t really look the part and I’m fairly sure the lady at the desk thought I was your caddy…”

“There is no dress code here and besides, I think you look totally hot in what you are wearing,” he smiled with a wink, allowing his to graze down to my subtle cleavage.

I smiled back and laughed, but inside the little voice in my head that yelled at me last night when Jay and I were doing the deed, came back again, a little louder this time.  You two are too different and this will never work.

The day turned into a beautiful one and even though I found myself very frustrated at times by having to constantly search for my ball, I did have a nice time laughing and spending time with Jay.  We really did have a connection and it was nice to be with someone that I didn’t feel I had to spend time with because we worked together, even though there were still times I felt as though he was still the unobtainable knight in shining armor. 

“Just relax your whole body,” he whispered, sending shivers down my spine as he stood behind me, wrapped around me as we stood at the 9^th- hole.  I was becoming very flustered and it was beginning to show, so Jarret decided to go ahead and give me the old golfing instruction gig.

“This is totally cliché,” I laughed, bending over and totally pushing my butt into his crotch without thinking about it until I felt him instantly get hard.  “And it’s totally turning you on,” I continued laughing while I gave my butt a little wiggle before standing upright once again.

“I was trying to be serious,” he laughed.

“I really don’t have the patience for this,” I sighed, leaning my head back onto his chest, his face casting the perfect shadow over my face from the sun.  “Mini-golf is definitely more up my alley…”

“So are you saying you’re done?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s alright,” he said, sounding a little sad, but when I looked up at him his grey eyes were still smiling.

I knew she wasn’t enjoying it much; it was obvious she was annoyed that she sucked at it.  Just like anything else in life, when you become frustrated with something you aren’t good at, it’s just hard to find any pleasure in it.  I was becoming slightly annoyed with it too because frankly I couldn’t enjoy playing like I normally do.  So I figured it was time to call it a day on the golf course.

We ended up doing a little shopping because there were a few things that Beth wanted that she was unable to purchase in Kamsack.  After we secured everything in my SUV, we went for lunch at a quaint café that frankly was a surprise in the prairie town.

I think one of the reasons I enjoyed Beth’s company was because she seemed to be so naïve about the world.  Every time we talked about my life or LA, her eyes were always big with surprise and wonder.  I knew I had to get her to LA before it was time for me to return there for the season.  She deserved to see it and I hoped that by taking her there, it would be easier to persuade her to move there with me at some point.

Alright, so we aren’t even officially in a relationship, but I have never been known to move slowly into situations.  I knew Beth and I had a connection and I was all for making it known to her.

 “I can’t imagine walking down the red carpet for a movie premier!” I exclaimed as we sat at a small café right next to the golf course, eating lunch.

“It’s not as glamorous as you may think,” he laughed easily.  “People wear a lot of fake smiles and I constantly feel like I need to wear one when I’m around them.  It gets old.”

“Oh,” I said a little sad that the picture I had painted in my head while reading all the People magazines over the years was skewed.

“But we can go to one when you come to LA,” he continued.

“Me, go to LA?” I asked, suddenly looking up from my plate to stare at him skeptically.

“Sure, why not?”

“I would never fit in there.”

“You would fit in anywhere.”

I just shook my head back and forth and took a bite of my sandwich. 

“Well, why don’t we find out?” Jarret mused as he sat back in his chair and flashed me that smile that made me melt every time.

“What do you mean?”

“Come with me to LA next weekend.  I have some things to take care of, so you can check out my place and we can do some of the touristy things.”

I bit my lip as my eyes grew large.  “Um, I don’t know.  I really don’t have money for a plane ticket and I’d have to find a switch for work…”

He instantly began shaking his head and holding up his hand to tell me to stop speaking.  “I will be paying for the ticket and I’m sure you could sweet talk someone into switching with you,” he chuckled.

“I could never let you pay for my ticket, I mean we aren’t even officially together,” I protested.

He reached across the table at this point and took my hands into his and gave me a look that I could have sworn Jack gave me the other morning when I woke up in his arms.  “I want this to be more than a fling, Beth.”

I laughed nervously and shook my head.  “Jay, you are out of your mind.”

“How so?”

“You are going back to your real life in a little over a month and I will still be here in my life,” I stated plainly.  Of course I felt my heart flutter a bit when he said the words, but I was a realist and no matter how good in bed we were together, I knew it wouldn’t go father than that.  I did surprise myself a bit when I heard the words come from my mouth, but it was obvious I had thought about the subject more than once.

“You could always move to LA with me,” he said calmly.

My eyes probably grew to be the size of grapefruits as I choked on the beer I was drinking.  After I was done with my coughing spell I looked over at him and stuttered, “A-are your crazy?!”

He flashed his laid back smile and shrugged his shoulders.  “No, I don’t think so.”

“Oh, I think you are.”

“Come on Beth, you can’t tell me you haven’t dreamed about getting out of here and moving on…”

“Well sure, what person hasn’t?  But honestly, I’m not quite sure you realize how important my job is to me.”

“I know you love it, but I’m sure you could get a job as a medic in LA or even a job at the hospital if you feel you have to have a job,” he spoke like it was no big deal.  “Just come with me to LA for the weekend, seriously Beth, it’s not like you need to make a decision this minute.  I was just throwing ideas out there for you,” he chuckled.

I didn’t really see much humor in it at all, instead I found myself becoming slightly annoyed.  Don’t get me wrong, I really liked Jarret, but it bothered me how he seemed to be moving rather quickly and just assuming things.  Never mind the fact that I am probably one of the most independent women on the planet and feeling like a caged animal was not at all something I enjoyed.

“Are you ready to head back?” he asked quietly, pulling me from my thoughts.  I looked over to find him with a furrowed brow and seemingly worried.  Before I could answer he spoke.  “Beth, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to sound pushy or seem like I’m just assuming things.”  He paused and sighed.  “I just wanted you to know that I am serious about making this more than a fling with you and that I’m really serious about you.”

The tone of his voice and words instantly soothed my mind, leaving me no other choice but to genuinely smile back at him and nod my head to accept his apology.  I too wanted this to work even though at the moment, I had no clue how.

“Jack, you and Liz gotta get in here!  We have a little girl lost out in the woods...” Doug yelled excitedly into the phone.  “I think we need Bruno too.”

“Alright, I’ll call Liz,” I grumbled into the phone, just getting out of the shower.  Too bad I didn’t even know where Liz was.  I had actually spent the whole day over at her house, fixing her roof.  I had list of things I wanted to finish up before leaving for Saskatoon and fixing up Liz’s house was one of them.  Liz never asked me to do it, but I felt she would never get it done if I didn’t do it.  When I stopped by to drop off something with Elsie, she said that Lizzie and Jarret were down in Yorkton, golfing.

“Liz?! Golfing?! You’ve got to be kidding me!” I snorted as I loaded some of the left-over shingles Elsie had sitting in her garage from when I put a new roof on her house.

“I told you her and Jarret were the perfect match,” the old woman announced with a big grin.

I laughed ironically, “Perfect together when she has to act like a different woman around him?  Yeah, totally sounds perfect.”

“I heard your sarcasm, don’t mock an old woman.”

“Don’t be blind, Elsie.  Come one.  Since when have you known Liz to play dress up or go play golf?  She only started doing those things when Jarret came to town.  If she has to be a different person for him to love her, then he doesn’t deserve her,” I grunted as I dropped another load of shingles in the back of my truck.

“Well, I don’t see you fighting for her,” Elsie snapped back as she stood on her porch with her hands on her hips.

“I told her how I felt,” I growled.

“And just because she can’t make an instant decision, you give up and move away.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I turned away, cursing Rick for letting the cat out of the bag.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.  Why else would you be over here getting shingles to repair her house?!  You’re planning on running away.  You hit adversity and instead of fighting for her, you run away.  You did it when you lost your fiancé and now you’re doing it with Liz.”

Elsie was lucky she was a frail old woman, because I really just wanted to punch her.  She was the only one in this town that knew about Sarah, my late fiancé who fell in a climbing accident.  She was the reason I left Saskatoon and moved to Kamsack.  Elsie of course was the only one who knew this fact, not even Liz knew.  “I’m not running away,” I gritted through my teeth.

“Bullshit.”

“What do you care, Elsie?! Don’t you see this as a victory in your book?!  I’m fairly sure you said on the way home from Saskatoon that you wanted Liz and Jarret to be together.”

“I do want them together, but I also want the best for Lizzie and I was hoping you’d finally step up to the plate and show that you are just that.  Come on Jack, if you don’t know by now how I like to ruffle feathers, then you aren’t that smart,” Elsie said, shaking her head.

Her words were still echoing through my head as I hit send on my phone to call Liz.

“Hey Jack-a-roo,” she crooned happily into the phone, sounding slightly breathless.

“Where are you?” I asked, sounding a little more rough than I wanted to, but we had a job to do and I was already in that emergency mode.  “Are you home yet?”

“I’m back in Kamsack if that is what you are inquiring.  What’s wrong Jack?” she asked, instantly catching my drift that something was up.

“We have a missing kid at the park.  Doug is gathering the volunteers as we speak.”

“Okay, I’m out for a walk right now, but I’ll be back at my house in 5 minutes,” she said quickly and I could tell she had already begun jogging.

“Alright, I’ll be over in 10 to pick you up,” I said, hitting the end button before even saying goodbye.

Despite not being surprised to find him there, I was still slightly annoyed to find him pacing around in the front yard in his designer white shorts and black polo shirt.

“Hey Jack!” he said, jutting out his hand for me to shake.  I nodded politely and shook it before walking past him and towards the front door of Liz’s house.  “I’m going to be coming along to help with the search,” he called out to me.

I instantly stopped and turned around, raising an eyebrow.  “You might ruin your white shorts,” I growled.

He looked down at his clothing, like he forgot what he was wearing and then shrugged as he looked back up at me.  “Wouldn’t be the first pair that got ruined; I want to help.”

“Whatever.”  I had my hand on the door knob of Liz’s brand new screen-door that I had installed just a few hours prior when I felt Jarret’s hand on my shoulder.  I turned and look at him.  “What?”

“I know you don’t like me and I’m fairly sure why, but I just wanted to say that I would never hurt her and I promise to take good care of her.”

I almost laughed at him, but the sincerity in his tone of voice and face stopped me.  It wasn’t like I was afraid he’d punch me.  Sure, he was a big-shot hockey player, but we were both built and I knew I could hold my own against him.  Besides, what self respecting man wears white shorts?!  So instead I just said, “You’ll never love her the way I do.”  Before he was able to say anything I turned back around and opened the door, almost bowling over Liz over in the process.

She had a mixture of a frown and smile on her face, so I knew she had heard our conversation.  “Are we ready to play nice boys?” she chirped as she pushed past both of us.  “We have a job to do.”

Jarret and me both tossed a glare back and forth at each other and nodded silently.

As soon as she told me why she had suddenly begun jogging back towards her house, I instantly informed her that I would go along to help.  For starters I didn’t have anything better to do and second, I was anxious to see Beth in her own environment.  I had been intrigued by her career choice since day one, and what better way to understand her passion for it than to see her in action.

I knew instantly when seeing Jack’s sour face that he was more than annoyed to have me tag along, but it just gave me more of a reason to go along.  I didn’t have anything against the guy, but his attitude pissed me off and it annoyed me how he seemed to toy with Beth’s emotions.  She hung on his every word and I knew how upset he made her the week or two after I arrived here.  I guess being her partner, he had learned to become very protective of her, but I wanted to prove to him that he was not the only one who had come to feel like her protector.

I shouldn’t have been surprised by his comment of loving her better than me, but it did kind of throw me off course.  Does she know how he feels about her?  Is this why she was so mum about the camping trip?  Who the fuck does this guy think he is?  Part of me was happy to find Beth standing on the other side of the door, but after seeing her face I felt like she was scolding both of us.  Never mind the fact that we are two grown men acting like two love-struck bratty teenagers.  Either way, Jack claimed his territory and declared war with his words.

As much as I wanted to think about it, there was a bigger problem on our hands at the moment.  Somewhere out in the darkening wood was a little lost boy that we had to find.  When we arrived at the park entrance, we were briefed along with the volunteers that had showed up.  I was surprised to find that almost half the town was there to help, but then again it was the small town mentality that everyone helps everyone. 

After a debriefing, we quickly set out, combing the area.  The little boy’s name was Ryan and he was last seen a few hours ago, wandering around his family’s campsite.  His mother went inside for a moment and when she came back out from the tent, he was nowhere to be found.  After the family searched on their own for a bit, they called for help.

Beth explained that families should call immediately, because it makes our job that much harder.  Families become upset which tends to get them confused on the possible travel direction of the lost child and sometimes even they end up getting lost, making an even bigger problem for the rescuers.

“Do you want me to carry that pack?” I asked as Beth slung a heavy looking back-pack over her shoulder.

She looked up at me and gave me a look that said, “Are you kidding me?”

I laughed and apologized.  “Sorry, I’m not used to a tough chick.”

She smiled and nodded.  “Just don’t forget again,” she joked before giving me a wink and walked away to meet up with Jack and the rest of the guys from the squad.

“So how is that I come home and find my roof fixed and new screen doors attached to my house?” I asked, amused as I walked over to Jack to fell into step with him.

He looked down at me with the wicked, adoring smile I had come to love over the years while he shrugged his shoulders.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Thank you.”

“No need.”

“I owe you.”

“You owe me nothing.  You’re my friend and you needed it done, I had free-time so I figured why not,” he said, looking straight ahead.

“Whatever Jack.  I still owe you.”

“Fine, then come over to my house and have dinner with me tomorrow evening,” he looked over at me with soft eyes.

“How is that paying you back?” I asked nervously, feeling the butterflies beginning to build from the combination of the look in his eyes and the thought of being alone with him in his house.  It wasn’t like I spent enough times over there, but after what happened on the camping trip and the little declaration he made on my front porch tonight, I found myself in a state of spinning confusion.

Before he answered me, Rick pulled us back to the task at hand by barking out orders and soon the search began.

Chapter 9

FINALLY!!! I've gotten numerous questions and requests over the past week to update, but unfortunately I couldn't because I honestly couldn't get this chapter written. I'm sorry to leave you all hanging for so long, I'm not usually like this when posting a story, but honestly I felt like I hit a brick wall with it. Thank you all for your patience and encouraging words in the comments!! Chapter 10 is already in the works and will be posted within the next day or two as long as things go well here at work (I'm on ambulance duty all weekend) and I have lots of time to write!
I appologize now if it doesn't flow like it should... I still wasn't 100% sure with it when I finished, but I'm not one to go back and re-write it if this is what came out in the first place...

Soundtrack: Kate Nash - The Nicest Thing (yes, it's depressing and for good reason)

Ch. 9

“How does a pretty woman like you, have an ugly dog like that?!” Jarret yelled out from his SUV as he passed me and Bruno.  It was a warm Monday evening and Bruno had been bouncing off the walls since we returned from the camping trip, so I needed to get him out for a walk.

“Are you insulting Bruno’s looks?” I yelled back while I stopped and put my arms up on my hips, shooting him a nasty, but playful glare.  “I find him quite handsome.”  I honestly had made no effort to contact Jay when we got back from camping late Sunday evening because I was really confused on how to handle the situation I was in.  I just had sex with 2 different men in 4 days.  Granted, I wasn’t technically in a romantic relationship with either of them, but with the way things were going with Jarret before I left, it was certainly heading in that direction.  Jack and I were obviously in the same limbo we were in before, except for the fact that we now knew how good it could be in bed together.  What have you gotten yourself into Liz?!  Looking at Jay as he smiled broadly out the window of his vehicle, made my heart beat just a little faster.

“Um, I think you should be focusing on the first part of that sentence that was a compliment for you,” he laughed easily as he put the SUV in park next to the curb, allowing me to lean in the passenger side window.

“Bruno has big ears and perfect hearing you know,” I frowned.  “To insult him is the same as insulting me.”

Jay bit his lip like he was trying to figure of something witty and looked up at me with sparkling grey eyes.  “Fine, I’m sure he was an adorable puppy.”

I just shook my head and laugh.  “The most adorable, let me assure you.”

“So is his adorable owner available for the rest of the evening?” Jarret asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What do you have in mind?” I asked, unable to hide the smile that I was feeling throughout my body.

“Popcorn and a movie at your place?”

“I think I have both…”

“Good, see you in 20 minutes?  I just want to hop in the shower and then I’ll be over, I just got done working out.”

“Yes please do.  I don’t you stinking up my house,” I giggled, pulling myself back from the window and holding my nose like he stank terribly.

“See you in a bit, Beth.”

“Bye Jay.”

It was a good weekend away with the guys, but I actually looked forward to coming back to my small-town summer home.  I was slightly surprised when she didn’t stop in after she got home Sunday night, but then I shouldn’t have been because in reality, we weren’t a couple.  We were still just “seeing each other” here and there and just because we had some of the most amazing sex the other afternoon, did not mean we were officially anything.  I was still unsure where this was all going and I definitely didn’t want to be the one to push the issue of wanting a relationship label.  Honestly, I liked how things were laid back between the two of us and I definitely didn’t want to ruin it.

“Bruno! Back the fuck up!” I heard Beth yelling once again as I knocked on the door to her house.  Bruno was barking loudly but I heard her call out, “Jay, just open the door yourself!”  When I did, I found her holding on for dear life to Bruno’s collar as he lunged happily at me, pulling her helplessly along.  Luckily I was braced for it; otherwise I would have been on my ass. 

“I thought he was trained,” I laughed as the big hound put his big paws on my chest, attempting to lick me.

“He is, but I think he’s paying you back for your comments,” Beth laughed, finally just giving up on trying to hold back the big hound dog.

Once I was able to push the dog down, I took a step towards her and pulled her against me.  She easily wrapped her arms around me and nuzzled her face into my chest.  “I missed you this weekend,” I said quietly into her hair, breathing in her now familiar scent.

“Suck-up,” she giggled as she looked up at me.

“Whatever gets me a kiss off those lips,” I smiled as I leaned in and kissed her softly.  She seemed a little hesitant at first, but soon she melted as she wrapped her arms around me.  I liked how she was beginning to feel familiar to me and how a little voice in my head was whispering that I could get used to this feeling.

When the kiss finally ended she looked up at me with a shy smile.

“Did you have fun camping?”  I asked as I pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear.  She shrugged and took a step away from me, heading towards the kitchen as she mumbled, “Yeah, we had nice weather and got some good rock climbing in.”

“Everything better between you and Jack?”

“Yup.”

“Well, that’s good,” I said happily as I followed her into the kitchen, slightly surprised by the fact that she suddenly seemed distant with just a few spoken words. 

“How was your weekend?” she asked, sounding a little more like herself.

“Well, I got some good golfing time in with the boys…” I mused as I stretched out my arms above my head.  “That is the one thing I wish this town had,” I said longingly.

“Can’t say that golfing is something I enjoy,” she mumbled as she placed the bag of popcorn in the microwave.

“Is it maybe because you aren’t proficient at it?” I asked with a smile as I leaned up against the counter.

“Maybe…I guess I’ve always looked at it as a rich man’s sport,” she said honestly as she looked over at me.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” I suddenly asked as an idea popped into my head.

“Golfing?” she smiled, instantly catching onto my idea.

“You are a mind reader!” I exclaimed as I reached out and wrapped my arms around her tiny waist, pulling her over towards me.  “We can go out early in the morning before it gets overly hot and then we can hang out in Yorkton for a bit if you are interested…make a day of it.”

“I think that sounds like a good idea.  I need to get out of town for a bit,” she said in relieved tone.

“Already?!  You just got back from camping,” I said into her hair as she nuzzled her face into my chest.

She left out a small, yet easy laugh as she looked up at me and smiled shyly.  “Yeah, I guess it does seem silly.”

“Well, I’m glad I can be of assistance.  I always find a day out on the golf course is the perfect way to clear your head,” I smiled back at her while removing a piece of hair from her face.

“Funny you say that because I’m fairly sure you cloud up my mind when I’m with you.”

“Well hopefully that’s a good thing,” I chuckled.

I was going to stop in and talk to her about things.  Things were left pretty open-ended when I dropped her off on Sunday evening, especially since we barely said more than 5 sentences on the way home and of course none of them had to do with the past evening’s physical activities.  After 24 hours of mulling over everything, sense began creeping back into my head and I began to understand her reaction.  Hell, it was the same reaction I had been having since day 1 of meeting her.  Somewhere in the back of my head I always knew she’d be the death of my career or I’d be the death of her’s, but after having her in my arms I felt like it would be an easy decision to give up everything to be together.  Unfortunately she didn’t seem as sure and now I was left with some questions that I hoped she could answer.  One of the questions was answered as soon as I drove by and saw his ritzy SUV sitting in her driveway; it was like the big fat elephant sitting in the room, so I just kept driving.

Watching movies and eating popcorn was an innocent enough idea, right?  Too bad the childlike touching and kissing ended up becoming something very hot and not so innocent in a short amount of time.

What had started out as errant touching as we cuddled underneath the blankets on her couch, quickly became a passionate game which really got started when she became trapped underneath me.  The heat rapidly built underneath the blankets as I pressed my body down onto hers.  She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer to her, coaxing me on.  Part of me felt it would noble to just sleep with her in my arms tonight, but she was making the noble part say, fuck it, by wrapping a leg high around my waist and moving herself against my obvious erection.

I was intoxicated by the smell of her clean, soap scented skin as I began laying kissing down her neck, burying my face in the collar of her sweatshirt and breathing her in.  I smiled when I felt her fingers run through my hair as she whispered, “make me feel like you did the other night.”

I brought my lips within centimeters of her ear so that I could whisper back, “I plan on making you feel better than that, Elizabeth.” Her name rolled off my tongue like it was created just to say her full name in a lustful whisper.  Again I smiled when she moaned out in response.  “That’s what I though you’d say,” I mused as I sat up, pulling her up with me and then removing the cumbersome sweatshirt that was creating an annoying barrier between us.  After throwing it on the floor, I wrapped an arm around her back, cupped one of her breasts in my hand and took her nipple into my mouth.  She arched back and whined as she threaded her fingers into my hair again, coaxing me on while I twirled my tongue around her areola before flicking it over her now fully erected nipple.  After a moment I switched to the other, making sure both received equal attention.  Her breasts were the perfect size for my hands to hold.  She collapsed back onto the pillows with a loud sigh and a perfectly formed smile.

“Why the smile, Beautiful?”

“Why not?” she giggled, pulling me back down to her so that she could kiss me.  Our lips molded together and our tongues battled playfully back and forth as I slid a hand down her soft skin and began pushing her shorts down.  She easily lifted up her hips to help in the effort and kicked them the rest of the way off when I couldn’t reach any further.  I pulled back from our kiss and just looked deep into her sparkling blue eyes as I drug an open palm back up her thigh and stopped at the cleft between her legs, dipping a finger between her warm, wet, folds.  She took in a sharp breath and her eyes fluttered shut.

“I thought about being with you again all weekend,” I murmured.

“Mmm,” was all she said as I diddled my fingers around, lubricating them with her moistness.  She then left out a small mewing sound that I had remembered from the last time we were together, however this time I enjoyed the sound instead of just worry about how long it was going to be until I could get off.  My goal this time was to make her create more sounds like that, to pleasure her until she was sound asleep in my arms with a permanent smile.  That was the difference between one-night flings and making love, the little things that made it all worth it.  I watched her face when I pushed two fingers gently up inside, her muscles sucking me in as I began pumping them into her.  I kept finger fucking her, a little reluctant to move my mouth down to her breasts once more because I was enjoying her facial expressions as she came closer to the edge.  “Yeessss,” she cried out as I began sucking on her now sensitive breasts.  Soon she was humping my hand and crying out, “Fuck, yes Jarret!  I’m almost there!” At that I pushed on her g-spot, forcing her to tumble over the edge while she screamed out my name and dug her fingers into my shoulders.

I could have sworn I just saw the end of the world as I came hard on his fingers.  “Jesus, fuck Jarret,” I panted.  “How do you do it?”

This just made him chuckle as he laid kisses between my breasts and worked his way back up to my face, the slight stubble on his face causing me to shiver as is brushed against my now sensitive skin.  “You make it easy, Beth.  It’s not hard to figure out what to do and when as your yelling out the obscenities.”

“Oh,” I said, slightly embarrassed by potty mouth.

“I think it’s fucking hot,” he breathed hotly into my ear, making me shiver again.

He had me in such a disheveled state that I didn’t realize he was already out of his boxers until he laid fully on top of me, kissing me back into a full oblivion.  The heat from his body, warmed me to the core and when he entered me, I instantly saw stars, feeling every inch of him slowly wind into me.

“I’m not sure how it’s possible, but I think you feel even better than you did in Vancouver,” he murmured as I threaded my arms up underneath his and grabbed onto his shoulder for some leverage.

“I think it’s because we weren’t really focusing on each other that night,” I whispered, unable to speak much louder at that point because he took my breath away by bottoming himself out inside of me.

“Mmm, and what a shame because what if I wouldn’t have gotten this second chance?” he growled, pulling himself almost out before plunging in deep once more.  “I wouldn’t have realized I already had Heaven in bed with me…” he grunted plunging in and out again.

No more words were spoken because we got too distracted by the feeling of moving together as one.  I wrapped my legs around him, to raise my hips so that he hit my g-spot with every punishing hit.  Sweat beads were pooling up on his forehead as he bit his lip, concentrating on fucking me and I couldn’t help but kiss a few of them away.  He was beautiful above me yet I still couldn’t shake the little demon in the back of my head that kept telling me I was heading in the wrong direction.  After a couple more hits and meeting him in the middle as I thrusted against his pelvis I was brought over the edge, effectively shushing the demonic voice.  A few seconds later I felt him fill me with his seed as he growled out loudly, “Fuck yeah, Elizabeth.”

I was still holding tightly to him as he collapsed down onto me.  “Amazing,” I whispered.

“Absolutely amazing,” he echoed.

“So what, are they cutting jobs up there in Duck Mountain?” my buddy Jason asked over the phone when I called him Tuesday morning to see about getting a job in Saskatoon with the hospital based medic unit.

I grimaced as I spoke, “No, I’m just in the need for a change of scenery.”

“Trading the great outdoors for the city, eh?  Well, of course I have a position for you.  I told you before that if you wanted to come back, there would be a gig here for you,” Jason said happily.  “I just figured since it’s been several years, you were up there for good.”

“Yeah, I don’t know, things have changed I guess,” I said, attempting to sound happier about it than I felt. 

I needed to get out of here.  I was not going to standby and watch Liz and Jarret be together the rest of the summer.  I tried.  I told her how I felt and she came back with the same excuse that had stopped me from telling her how I felt so many years ago.  The only person I would tell that I was leaving would be Rick, everyone else would have to find out through him when I didn’t show up for my shift.  The plan was to be out of here within the next couple days.  I hated to put Rick in a situation where he would have to cover the shifts himself until they could come up with a new schedule, but I couldn’t stick around any longer.

“When do you want to start?” Jason asked.

“When’s your next open shift?”