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egotistical, Sam, but if I could survive the last year of my life in one piece, I can survive anything.” Her voice grew husky. “I had a husband who wanted to break me because I didn’t fit his idea of what a woman should be. Gage Wallace was trying to oust my ex-husband from their partnership. And on top of that, my father died a week ago.” Her lips thinned as she looked beyond him, fighting back tears. “Don’t worry about me surviving in the wilderness. That will be a piece of cake compared to everything else that has happened.”
    He pulled a white handkerchief from his back pocket and placed it between them. “You know what I like about you?”
    Kelly took the handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. “No. According to Todd, no man in his right mind would like anything about me. I’m too assertive. Too headstrong. Too—”
    “I happen to applaud all those attributes,” he interrupted, catching the wariness in her eyes. “You’re a Texan. That says it all as far as I’m concerned. Your ex couldn’t have been born here.”
    She returned the damp handkerchief. “No, he came from a very rich steel family in Pennsylvania.”
    “Any children?”
    Kelly shook her head. “No.”
    “Every want a family?”
    She managed a wry grimace. “Yes, if I can ever find a man who will be happy with me as I am.”
    Sam allowed a hint of a smile. She was a woman who knew herself and had been unwilling to accept other people’s assessments of her abilities and talents. Now, she was wary of any male. “Don’t give up on all of us just yet,” he coaxed.
    The waitress brought their lunch, interrupting their conversation. Sam was pleased with Kelly’s reaction to the Monk fish.
    “It tastes like lobster!” she exclaimed.
    “They call it ‘poor man’s lobster.’”
    Kelly laughed. “You can’t be exactly poor working for Boots and Coots.”
    “No, I’m not. But then, I don’t count happiness in terms of money, either.”
    She was pleased with his answer. After barely eating during the last seven days, she was suddenly famished. Sam was right, she acknowledged, she was terribly underweight. Later they lingered over a light wine. Finally Kelly roused herself.
    “How are you feeling?”
    “The burns? Fine. Another five days and I can get rid of this damn sling.”
    “I feel awful about—”
    “You’ve apologized already,” he admonished.
    Her brows knitted. “I wish it hadn’t happened. Getting burned scares me worse than anything.”
    Sam allowed a dry smile. “That’s why you’re not a firefighter and I am.”
    “Fire scares me for a lot of reasons,” she admitted.
    Sam heard a touch of fear in her voice. “Something happened?”
    Kelly nodded. “When I was twelve our house burned, Sam. I can remember waking up in the middle of the night coughing and choking. I could see the red glow outside my bedroom door and I panicked. I remember two firefighters in oxygen masks climbing through a window and finding me hiding in the closet. I was hysterical.”
    He drew in a deep breath. “You’re damn lucky you didn’t die of smoke inhalation. That was a close call.”
    “Too close,” she agreed. Why was she admitting all her worst fears to him? They talked as if they had been friends for a million years. Who was this man who sat across from her? she wondered. “Tell me about yourself, Sam. Were you born in Texas?”
    “Yes, ma’am. Little place in West Texas called Del Rio.”
    “And your family?”
    “My mother’s still alive. I have two younger sisters.”
    “No one else?” Why should she care whether he was married or not? But she did. Unconsciously, Kelly held her breath, waiting for him to answer.
    “There used to be,” he admitted with a sigh. He made a grimace. “Unfortunately, Fay couldn’t deal with my life as a firefighter.”
    Kelly felt guilty for prying that information out of him. Sam Tyler’s personal life was no business of hers. She shouldn’t have forced him to look back on