Rescue Me (Butler Island)

  Rescue Me

  Nikki Rittenberry

  NJR

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2012 by Nikki Rittenberry

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be stored, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written permission by the author. www.nikkirittenberry.com.

  Book cover image www.bigstockphoto.com contributed by Yuri Arcurs.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  “Love is the ultimate expression of the will to live.”

  —Tom Wolfe

  Rescue Me

  Prologue

  MEMORIAL DAY

  Randall Burns sat on his back porch with the remote to his stereo in one hand, a frosty bottle of Miller Lite in the other. It was ferociously hot today; the kind of heat that could fry an egg—or a person’s flesh—in two minutes flat.

  The thick humid air nearly smothered his lungs as he inhaled a deep breath, but that was the least of his worries. Kendall Porter, one of his best friends—and the woman he was in love with—was set to arrive in a few minutes. She called earlier and asked if she could stop by this afternoon, hinting that she had something important to talk to him about.

  He had a pretty good idea that the “important topic” had to do with her return to full-time status at Porter Pharmacy. Rumor was she’d resigned from her position in Jacksonville last week at a large-chain pharmacy to return to the small drugstore her father opened nearly thirty years ago.

  Question was: why?

  It’d always been her plan to live in a big city, to blend with the crowd. And yet she was back…

  Don’t get him wrong—he wasn’t complaining. The thought of her living four hours away in the state’s biggest city had been a tough pill to swallow. And unfortunately his gut told him her reason for remaining in Butler Island was going to be an even bigger one.

  The sultry breeze carried a hint of salt from the nearby Gulf as Jimmy Buffet sang Cheeseburger in Paradise. The song reminded him of Kendall; the girl loved bacon cheeseburgers (and onion rings, of course). His thumb hovered over the SKIP button just as Kendall appeared along the side of the yard.

  “Figured I’d find you out here”, she uttered as she moved toward the covered patio.

  Randall stood from his cushioned patio chair and wrapped his arms around the woman he loved. He held her a few seconds longer than he probably should have, taking the opportunity to breathe her in. And when she pulled away, the look in her amber eyes confirmed what he’d feared most.

  She was in love with another man.

  “You want a beer?” he finally asked, suddenly uncomfortable with the awkward silence.

  Kendall shook her head. “I…I can’t stay long. Um… I’m sure you’ve heard by now: I’m staying in Butler Island to run Porter Pharmacy.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, surprised the hell out of me. Leaving this place was all you used to talk about.”

  Kendall stared at her flip-flops as if the right words were scrawled along the jeweled straps. “Things change. People change”, she uttered softly. She lifted her watery gaze, her eyes settling on his. “There’s something you need to know, Rand. And I wanted to make sure you heard it directly from me… I…”

  God, here it comes…

  “I’m moving in with Ty.”

  Randall scrubbed his palm down his face, praying the action would temporarily disguise the agony that’d colonized just below the surface. He drew in a deep breath—difficult on a humid day like today—prepared to tell the biggest lie he’d ever told. “I’m happy for y—”

  “There’s more”, she interjected. “I’m… well, I’m pregnant. The baby’s due mid-November.”

  Wow. He hadn’t seen that one coming. “You don’t have to move in with the guy, Babe. We can make this”—he gestured between them—“work.”

  Shaking her head, she blurted, “We’re in love with each other, Rand… We’re sort of engaged.”

  He was rendered speechless. Kendall was pregnant with Ty’s baby, and they were… in love. A bitter ache unlike anything he’d ever experienced before speared his already fragile heart, making his chest feel heavy. Wounded.

  “Rand?”

  Briefly he closed his eyes, allowing the grief to pummel through him. Why was this happening? Why couldn’t she love him?

  “Rand, say something, please. You have me on pins and needles, here.”

  “I don’t really know what to say”, he managed as his eyes settled back on hers. “A small part of me is naturally happy for you. But the biggest part is…is… shit, Kendall!”

  “Please, don’t be angry with me. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you.”

  Pacing back and forth, he intertwined his fingers behind his head, desperately trying to keep his cool. “I’m not mad at you—I’m mad at the situation.” Halting in front of the small table that housed his stereo, his temper flared. Randall swiped his hand, and in one swift motion, shoved the audio equipment over the edge.

  Kendall cringed as it tumbled to the ground, pieces shattering, scattering at their feet.

  He stood with his back turned, his hands low on his hips, trying to figure out how he was supposed to move on with his life. How he was supposed to watch the woman he loved start a family with someone else. “Why, Kendall?” he uttered softly. “Why couldn’t you love me?”

  “I wanted to, Rand. So very much, I wanted to. I’d do anything for you—you’re one of my best friends! I don’t want to lose you!”

  Randall chuckled softly, although he didn’t find the conversation to be the least bit humorous. “You’d do anything for me except give us a chance… Things could’ve been different, Babe. But you never gave us a real chance.”

  They’d been down this road a hundred times—a road that led to nowhere. It was utterly pointless contemplating what might’ve been. Randall loved her, and she’d lain awake many nights wishing she could reciprocate those feelings. “It wouldn’t have worked between us, Rand.”

  “And you know this because…?”

  “Because I found the person I was meant to be with.”

  “Ty”, he stated flatly.

  “Yes.” Kendall slowly walked toward Randall, his back still turned. “There’s someone out there for you, too, Rand; someone far better than me.”

  “Forgive me if I don’t share your optimism.”

  Kendall’s forehead thumped against his back. “Rand, please—I’m so sorry”, she whispered. “Please don’t—”

  The on-call phone beeped twice, indicating the presence of an emergency. Randall couldn’t have been more thankful for the sudden interruption. He walked several paces to his left and reached for the device he’d haphazardly tossed onto the patio cushion earlier and pressed the SPEAKER button.

  Static filled the small patio for several moments before the dispatcher’s voice came over the line.

  “Deputy District Ranger Rodgers from the Apalachicola National Forest has just confirmed the presence of a brush fire located approximately twelve miles Northwest of State Road Sixty-five in Tate’s Hell. The fire is currently burning forty acres and with breezy conditions expected over the next several days, he’s estimating the fire will continue to spread. At this time, he’s requesting assistance from neighboring fire departments to contain the brush fire.”

  Randall reached into his front pocket for his keys and then turned to face Kendall. “I’ve gotta take this.”

  “I’m so s-sorry, Rand”, she murmured as a single t
ear slid down her cheek.

  As much as he wanted to be angry, he couldn’t—not when she was visibly upset. That tear did him in. “Come here”, he said as he opened his arms. Without hesitation she stepped forward, allowing him the opportunity to hold her, comfort her, like he’d done so many times before.

  Randall kissed the top of her head, stroking her hair as her body shook with grief. “You’ll never lose me, Ken. I’ll always be here for you—no matter what. I just… I just need some time, all right? Time to digest this.”

  Kendall pulled back, gazing into his steel-colored eyes, assessing the sincerity of his affirmation. “Okay.”

  With a final nod, Randall withdrew from the embrace, knowing if he didn’t get away from her at that moment, he’d likely find himself on his knees, begging for another chance.

  Love could make a man do crazy things.

  “Please be careful out there”, she pleaded as he slid the patio door open.

  “I’m always careful, Babe”, he called over his shoulder. “Take care of yourself…and that baby.”

  How appropriate, he thought as he climbed into his black Ford F-150. Today was Memorial Day. A day when the country celebrated and honored fallen soldiers. A day renowned for recognizing the deaths of thousands of men and women who’d died before their time.

  And a day when any chance of a happy future with the woman Randall loved died, too.

  Chapter 1

  “Okay, guys, here’s what we know”, Chief Handler began as he leaned his large derriere against the small brush fire truck. “The fire is believed to have been set unintentionally by a cigarette tossed from a car traveling along one of the small access roads that run through the forest.

  “As you know, we’re in the midst of a drought and conditions out here are brutally dry. That, coupled with fifteen mile per hour winds, is causing this brush fire to spread faster than a fleeing cockroach looking for a hiding spot under a bright light! The Deputy District Ranger in charge is Ben Rodgers. He’s asked us to border the Southwest portion of the fire. The goal is simple: hold our ground and prevent the blaze from moving toward the town of Apalachicola. Any questions?”

  “Has the area been evacuated?” Jimmy Phillips asked.

  “According to Rodgers: yes. But Tate’s Hell encompasses over two-hundred thousand acres—kind of makes it difficult to say for certain. So, be on the lookout for potential hikers and tourists.”

  The smell of burning brush filled Randall’s lungs as he listened to Chief Handler call out instructions. Visibility wasn’t bad. Yet. But he knew that a sudden wind-shift could change conditions in a flash.

  Per Chief’s orders, they were to pair-off and head North by foot about a half-mile into the brush until they reached the blaze.

  Sounded easy enough.

  Randall grabbed his tools from the small truck and ventured into the pine forest with the man he thought of as the brother he never had.

  “Think we’ll end up like the legendary Tate?” Jimmy asked as they ventured into the woodland.

  In the late eighteen-hundreds, a local farmer by the name of Cebe Tate, journeyed into the swamp-laden forest with nothing more than a shotgun and a small pack of hunting dogs. His mission: kill the Black Panther that’d been feasting on his livestock. Lost in the swampland for seven days and seven nights, he was separated from his dogs, snake bitten, and forced to survive by drinking the murky swamp water. When he finally came to a clearing near the town of Carrabelle, he lived long enough to utter one last sentence: ‘My name is Cebe Tate, and I just came from Hell.’ Since then the area became known as Tate’s Hell: the Legendary and Forbidden Swamp.

  “Nah, it’s just a legend.” At least he hoped that’s all it was…

  Trekking underneath rows of towering Longleaf and Slash Pines, Randall listened to the crackle of bone-dry pine needles under his feet, the snapping sound no match for the conversation replaying in his head.

  I’m moving in with Ty… I’m pregnant… We’re in love with each other… We’re sort of engaged.

  “You all right?” Jimmy asked as they moved deeper into the forest. “You’re unusually quiet.”

  “You trying to hint that I talk too much?” Randall teased.

  “No hints—you do talk a lot. You can pretty much strike up a conversation with anybody. I’m tellin’ ya—I think you’re Chatty Debbie’s long lost son!”

  “Fuck you, Phillips! That’s taking it a bit too far, don’t you think?” Chief Handler’s wife, Debbie—Chatty Debbie, as she was often referred as—could strike up a conversation with a complete stranger (not that there were many of those around these parts). It wasn’t so much that she liked to talk, but rather the odd subject matter she chose to talk about.

  Jimmy shrugged as he stepped around a patch of Palmettos. “Probably… But I did get you talkin’ again.”

  Roughly fifteen minutes later they arrived at their destination, ready to begin the tiring process of establishing a defense line. Over the crackle and roar of the flames, chainsaws revved and buffeting helicopter blades bellowed above.

  It’d been nearly three months since the area had received any significant rainfall, and the typical sponge-like ground was uncharacteristically parched. Randall and Jimmy had devoted time and muscle digging a firebreak along a narrow dirt road while another group cleared the firebreak of flammable dead brush. It wasn’t a foolproof plan: the flames were still capable of leaping through the canopies of the eighty-five foot pine trees towering overhead. But cutting the two-hundred-year old pines was a last resort.

  “This is not how I expected to be celebrating this holiday”, Jimmy uttered as he shoveled sand, dirt, and crisp pine needles from the trench. “I should be at home with a pair of tongs in one hand and an ice-cold beer in the other, manning the barbeque grill.”

  “Afraid of a little hard labor?” Randall questioned with a tinge of amusement.

  Jimmy stuck the tip of the shovel in the ground and leaned one of his forearms against the butt of the wooden handle. “You mean, you’re actually enjoying this?”

  “Not particularly.” Pretty bad when the muggy heat and back-breaking labor weren’t enough to distract his mind away from Kendall. Nope, it was safe to say he wasn’t enjoying a damn thing about today thus far.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Jimmy picked up his shovel and resumed digging. “Hope Lana won’t be upset about me not wanting to dig-up the flower beds this week; after today I think I might retire my shovel for the rest of the year!”

  “How ’bout I help you? We’d get done in half the time and then we could head to The Saloon for a pitcher of beer.”

  “I like the way you think, Brother!”

  The sun was minutes away from sinking beneath the tree line, causing the exhaustion from the debilitating workday to nearly cripple their tired bodies. In the distance, Grant and Tommy were dragging the last bit of flammable brush across the trench, looking equally drained.

  Randall reached for his radio and informed Chief Handler that the fire break was in place and all ignitable debris had been moved to its new location within the trench border.

  “How’re the conditions lookin’ in your neck of the woods?” Chief asked.

  Randall scanned the area and then spoke into the radio. “Relatively calm at the moment.”

  “Well, let’s hope it stays that way. Ranger Rodgers just informed me there’s a wind-shift expected as nightfall settles in. That means there’s a pretty good chance the blaze will be headed in your direction. Helicopter’s gonna be dousing your location in about twenty minutes, so gather everyone and head back.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Randall fastened the radio back onto his belt just as Grant and Tommy approached. “They’re expecting a wind-shift soon; helicopter’s on its way to drench this area as a preventative measure. We need to head back.”

  With tools in tow, the group retraced their steps toward the access road approximately one half mile south of their current locat
ion. Radiance faded as the day transformed into night. They walked in silence; the crunching of boots colliding against dry pine needles lulling their tired bodies, their pace noticeably slower than it had been hours earlier.

  Randall’s body shook with exhaustion, but his mind was restless. It’d been ten months since he’d made love to his best friend—ten months, eight days, to be exact. And he’d spent every day since optimistic about a repeat encounter.

  Sure, she’d been seeing Ty for a while, but truthfully Randall hadn’t expected the newly single guy to fall head-over-heels in love with her. But then again, Kendall Porter was incredibly easy to love. And now she and Ty were moving in together, sort of engaged, and expecting a baby by year’s end.

  How the hell had this happened? Okay, so he knew how it’d happened, just didn’t really understand why.

  The group had been hiking for roughly ten minutes when the first wave of dark smoke wafted by, announcing the arrival of the impending wind-shift. Buffeting helicopter blades echoed above them in the distance, in route to the destination the guys had just abandoned. The wind speed had increased as well, causing the pine canopies to sway, bend.

  Randall’s motions were automatic, placing one foot in front of the other, his thoughts solely focused on the catastrophic state of his personal life, instead of his environment. He barely heard the loud snap above him.

  The next five seconds played out in slow motion. There was a steady drum of footsteps behind him as Jimmy hollered in warning. Two hands forcibly shoved Randall from behind, causing him to launch forward. His hands instinctively stretched outward in an attempt to cushion the fall. And as he collided against the parched earth, there was a loud cry behind him—a howl Randall felt deep in his bones—followed by a thunderous crash. The impact vibrated the ground beneath him. And as Randall turned he realized his day had gone from bad to worse.