Wick shifted in his seat, and then looked at his watch. “Have you eaten? It’s almost lunchtime.”

“Uh … no?”

“I’ll order pizza. Think about what I said.”

“Okay,” I said, giving him a thumbs up. “Good talk.”

He winked at me, and I closed the door, shaking my head. If that was an example of Wick’s parenting skills, it made sense that Jojo was a walking carrot-colored Barbie doll who held grudges against any man who’d told her no.

The phone rang the moment I sat down, and I held the receiver to my ear. Just as I opened my mouth to greet the person on the line, Jojo spoke.

“It’s me. I’m here.”

“Oh. Have you seen my boys?”

She laughed once. “Your boys? No, I haven’t. I’ve secured a room—which wasn’t easy, by the way. Literally, every room was booked except for a guy who suffered some burns today. He’s out for a while, so they’re sending him home. I’m going to hang out in the lobby to see if I can catch the Alpines when they get in.”

“They might be out there all night. I’m not really sure what their schedule is going to be. They’ve never stayed in a hotel before—at least, not this season.”

“I’ll figure it out. The damn news stations are everywhere. We have an in, though, if you didn’t…”

“If I didn’t screw it up. I know.”

“Sorry,” she said.

“Just be careful, Jojo. Do exactly what they tell you, when they tell you, and dress warm. It gets cold up there at night.”

“Thanks, Ellie.”

I hung up, wishing there was a polite way for me to ask her not to fuck my not-really-boyfriend.

I finished my report and emailed it to Jojo. I was surprised to see some shots she’d taken of the firefighters loitering around the hotel lobby. She was gifted, no doubt.

As the sun set behind the peaks, Wick rifled around in his drawers, and then his coat skidded along the sleeves of his sweater.

“Only two smoke breaks and no news from Jojo. Today was mighty fucking boring,” Wick yelled from his office.

“Speak for yourself,” I said.

He stepped out, straightening his scarf and pulling on his gloves. “Not all of us are spry enough to follow hotshots up mountains for a living. Are you back at your parents’?”

I cleared my throat. “No. I’m actually staying at Tyler’s apartment. I haven’t found a place yet.”

Wick frowned. “Did a story on the affordable housing here. You might find something in the spring if you time it right.”

“Yeah,” I said, feeling even more hopeless than I had ten seconds before.

“Don’t call your man. I’ll take you.”

“Really?” I said, more surprised that he thought I was still using José than at his offer.