Bound by Fire — Elizabeth Sinclair

Jesse Kingston doesn't want to go home to Bristol, New York, but his boss has ordered him to do so. Jesse loves his job as a New York State forest ranger, and the Adirondack Mountains forests have been his only home for a long time. His job is the one thing he's been able to commit himself to wholeheartedly with the total assurance that he won't be hurt. And now, even that has turned on him. His boss has given him an ultimatum -- go home and get his head on straight, or hand in his resignation. But what does Jesse have at "home?" A family that he's never felt close to and a house with his name on the deed. Not much, but he admits that this kind of emotional detachment may be just what he needs to get his life back into perspective. At least in Bristol he won't have constant reminders that, three months ago, his best friend, Paul Jackson, died in a firestorm. But he's obsessed with finding out how that could happen. Maybe back in Bristol Jesse can break free of the constant guilt for not stopping Paul and find the answers to the questions that haunts him. Karen Ellis is four months pregnant with Paul Jackson's baby. She knows her baby's father is dead, but that's all she knows. When he failed to show for a date or call with an explanation, she contacted the office at the ranger station where he worked and was told he had perished in a wildfire. But because she was not a relative, they wouldn't give her more details. Karen has suspicions about Paul's death. He trained rangers. He'd won numerous awards for safety and was considered by his fellow rangers to be a top notch at his job. That he would risk his life by intentionally walking into a situation that had all the earmarks of becoming a deadly firestorm just didn't make sense. She has a baby coming who needs a family and, for her own peace of mind, she needs an explanation to settle the questions she has about how Paul died. She turns to Jesse Kingston for help, but will their investigation only get them killed before the love they've found with each other has time to grow?