by Leigh Bale
She stood and pulled open a drawer filled with a variety of junk. Tape, string, paper clips. A catchall drawer where she stashed odds and ends. She snatched out a small package she’d put there last summer and handed him a washer.
He flashed a satisfied grin. “I’ll have it fixed in a jiffy.”
“See? I told you so. Jared can fix anything,” Caleb crowed with victory.
June didn’t say a word. Just sat there with a frown tugging at her brow. Megan figured the girl was feeling territorial because a strange man was in her house. A man that wasn’t her daddy.
Megan and the kids followed Jared into the laundry room, craning their necks to watch him work.
“Can you show me how to fix it? Then I’ll know what to do the next time this happens,” Megan said.
“Sure. Come here.” Jared waved her over.
The children stood beside the dryer while Megan squeezed in against the wall and Jared placed the washer inside the hose opening. Standing this close to the man, she caught his clean, spicy scent and gulped in a shaky breath.
He screwed the connection onto the faucet and tightened it down. As he worked, his arm brushed against hers, sending currents of warmth and energy zinging up her arm.
She stepped away quickly, her face heating up. “You think that’s it?”
“We’ll know in a moment,” he said.
Wrapping a towel around the connection, in case it sprayed the room again, he turned the water back on with several quick twists of his wrist. The hose pulsed twice as it filled with water, then held strong. Jared tossed the towel aside, then moved the washing machine back into its position beside the wall.
“That’s it. You’re all set,” he said.
“Wow! You made it look so easy.” Megan gazed at the washing machine with awe.
“Yeah, I think you got the hard part of cleaning up the mess.”
She chuckled. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate this.”
“Yay! Jared did it.” Caleb jumped up and down.
But June just scowled.
Jared reached out and ruffled Caleb’s thatch of unruly hair. He smiled wide at the two children. “It was my pleasure.”
A liquid feeling of warmth washed over Megan. Her children were starved for a man’s affection. Even June. And Jared was so likable. Her kids needed their daddy, but fate had been cruel to them all. They still grieved for Blaine, but with this handsome stranger standing in her home, Megan couldn’t help thinking about the possibilities. She missed having a man around the house. The deep laughter as he played with her children. The brute strength to fix a broken pipe. The soft hugs and assurance when she was feeling lonely or sad.
“Now we have to celebrate and say thank-you to Jared with some ice cream and cookies,” Caleb announced.
Megan released a shuddering breath. “Yes, of course.” She didn’t want to serve ice cream to the FMO and, in spite of him fixing her washing machine, she wished he hadn’t come to her home. But how could she say no? Her children didn’t understand her aversion to firefighters and that she didn’t want Jared to linger. They only knew their daddy was a hotshot. And that Jared was a nice man that had helped them out twice.
“Actually, I’ve got to get back to the office,” Jared said.
“But you gotta stay for cookies. They’re homemade. You just gotta,” Caleb howled.
“My mother makes the best cookies in town,” June said, folding her arms and lifting her chin higher in the air. It was almost a challenge. As if Jared would offend them if he didn’t eat one of their cookies.
Megan refused to meet Jared’s eyes. A conflict as old as time waged a war inside her mind. The desperation to protect her family fought against her desire to be near this amazing man. She couldn’t tell him to leave, but neither could she ask him to stay. The choice was his alone.
“Okay, I’ll try at least one,” Jared said.
“Yippee,” Caleb whooped.
The boy tugged on Jared’s hand, pulling him into the kitchen. Megan followed, letting her daughter help her as she got out a tub of vanilla ice cream, four bowls and a plastic scoop. Jared sat in a chair to wait while Caleb placed the cookie jar in the middle of the table. Within minutes, they were all munching on fresh cookies and spooning ice cream into their mouths.
Megan nibbled her treat in silence. One thought pounded her brain. She’d already signed the catering contract. It was too late to take it back. Her copy sat on the table. Jared had folded his copy and slid it into his back pocket. And now more than ever, she questioned her judgment in agreeing to cater meals to the firefighters. It would only serve as a constant reminder of her lost love. But honestly, she didn’t have the courage to ask for the contract back.
* * *
Jared wished he hadn’t come here. He should have waited until tomorrow when he could have returned to the restaurant to give Megan the catering contract to sign. Because now he’d caught a tiny glimpse of what it felt like to have a family of his own. A wife and children that needed him as much as he needed them. All the years he’d been married to Sharon, she’d put off having children. And out of respect for her feelings, he hadn’t pushed her. But not having kids was one of his biggest regrets.
Now he needed to get out of here. Before he remembered how lonely he was. But Megan must be lonely, too. He’d seen the pictures in her living room, hanging on the walls and standing on the top of the piano. Pictures of Megan with her kids and a man. Her husband. If the wide smiles were any indicator of happiness, he figured she’d loved the guy more than anything else. And Jared couldn’t help wishing there was just one person in this world that loved him like that. That there was one woman who missed him when he was gone and couldn’t wait to see him again.
He ate his ice cream too fast and immediately regretted it. Pressing his fingers against his forehead, he clenched his eyes tightly shut as pain throbbed through the top of his head.
“What’s the matter, Jared?” Caleb asked.
“Brain freeze,” he spoke low and tight.
At least the pain took his mind off how wonderful it was to sit at this table and enjoy the laughter of two sweet kids and their overly quiet mother.
“You ate your ice cream too fast,” June said.
“Mom says to eat slowly, so your food will digest properly,” Caleb said.
Jared almost laughed, thinking what a proper, wonderful mother Megan was to her two children. The kind of woman he wished he’d met and married back when he’d first started his career with the Forest Service. She hadn’t known how to handle her broken-down washing machine, but she’d tried. She worked hard at the restaurant, seeming to pull her load without complaint. She did what had to be done. And he respected her for that. But he knew it couldn’t be easy on her.
“I’ll remember that the next time.” He gritted out the words in a strangled voice.
When the pain in his head eased, he stood and placed his bowl and spoon in the sink. “Well, I better get going.”
He looked at Megan, noticing her pale face and wounded eyes.
“Hey! Maybe Jared can fix our broken swing, too,” Caleb said.
June looked up, her mouth pursed with annoyance. Jared tensed, getting the impression she didn’t like him horning in on the chores her father used to do.
Jared met Megan’s eyes. He wanted to help out, but he also felt uncertain about his role in this family’s life right now. He wasn’t really a friend, and yet he wanted to be.
“No, Jared’s got to get back to work, kids.” Megan chewed her bottom lip, looking worried and stressed.
“Ah,” Caleb grumbled. “I haven’t been able to swing for the longest time. Can’t he take a look, Mom? Please?”
Interesting how the boy asked his mother’s permission, as though naturally assuming Jared would be willing to
do the task. And once more, he realized how much this family was missing their dad. It didn’t help that Caleb was looking at him with such deep desperation that it tweaked his heart. Jared couldn’t say no. But little June had misgivings. He could tell from the way she sat quietly looking at him. As though she couldn’t make up her mind whether she liked him or not. And that softened his heart, because she was so young and innocent. Because she missed her dad.
“I can take a quick look,” Jared said.
Okay, not smart. Hadn’t he just been itching to get out of there? He needed to go before this little family squeezed its way any further into his heart.
Before it was too late.
“Well, if you’ve got the time. The swing’s out back. The toolbox is in the garage. The kids will show you the way,” Megan said.
“Sure! Come on. I’ll take you there.” Caleb hopped off his chair and headed for the back door.
June followed behind, seeming hesitant to accept Jared’s help. “When it works, it’s the best swing ever. My dad made it for us out of an old tire, but it needs a new rope.”
“Yeah, you’re gonna love it,” Caleb chimed in.
Jared nodded his head and followed the two kids outside. Before he knew what was happening, Caleb had slid his hand into his, talking nonstop.
“My dad put in this grass for us last summer. He wanted us to have a nice place to play. He threw the baseball to me and showed me how to wrestle,” the boy said.
Jared listened without saying much. Along the way, they passed a semitruck and the mobile kitchen, both parked beside the garage. The portable kitchen was a white structure with window cutouts for serving food. Without a word, Jared sized it up, thinking it should work out fine for the catering job. When Megan was ready, he’d return to inspect her other equipment, just to make sure she had what she needed to do the job. But so far, he wasn’t overly concerned.
“Someday I’m gonna get me a dog. I just got to convince Mom,” Caleb continued in a happy voice.
“You do, huh?” Jared didn’t know what else to say.
“Yep. My dad was gonna get me one, but then he died. Now Mom says we’re too busy for a dog. She says it’d have to stay home all the time while we’re at the restaurant working.”
“It’d poop all over the place anyway,” June said.
“But I’d clean up after it. Besides, it’d be good to have a watchdog to protect us in case some bad guys try to get into our house,” Caleb said.
Jared’s heart constricted with compassion. He thought about how difficult it must have been for these two children to lose the father they loved. And he was glad to do something to help them out.
“Bad guys aren’t gonna break into our house,” June said, but she didn’t sound convinced.
“Well, they might,” Caleb argued.
June just shook her head.
“Daddy bought a new rope for our swing, but he got killed before he could put it up,” the girl informed Jared in a matter-of-fact voice.
She showed him where the yellow rope lay coiled on the workbench in the garage. After inspecting the black rubber tire, Jared quickly set up a ladder and a sawhorse to hold the weight of the tire as he hoisted it over the sturdy tree branch. He then shimmied up the ladder and tied a knot in the rope to hold it tight. A gust of warm air blasted him in the face, and he thought about the dry winter they’d had and the coming fire season. He had no doubt he’d be seeing more of Megan over the coming months, and that caused a flutter to fill his chest.
Caleb was the first to try out the swing. As Jared pushed the little boy through the air, his laughter was infectious. Even June smiled. Jared never knew that making two kids happy could bring him so much joy, as well.
Glancing up, he caught Megan watching him from the kitchen window. Heat flushed the tips of his ears. Her face looked quiet and pale. As if she didn’t approve of him being here. He knew this had been her husband’s job. He should still be here, pushing Caleb and June on the swing. Not him. Not a stranger. These weren’t his children. This wasn’t his wife and family. Tension knotted the muscles at the base of Jared’s neck. It was best not to get too attached to these youngsters or their beautiful mother.
As he continued to look at Megan, he saw a slight frown tugging her delicate brow, and her eyes filled with misgivings. Tim Wixler had told Jared what a happy couple Megan and her husband had been. Now she was cautious and guarded.
A flurry of emotion overwhelmed him. He really needed to go. He said his goodbyes and suffered through a heartwarming hug of gratitude from Caleb. Even June thanked him. But Jared didn’t go inside the house to tell Megan farewell. And as he got into his Forest Service truck and drove away, he reminded himself that he didn’t want another woman in his life. His ex-wife had left him for another man. She’d found happiness with someone else. Someone that wasn’t him. Jared had no desire to put his heart at risk a second time.
Megan was a contractor for catering meals to the firefighters and nothing more. He had put out a fire at her restaurant, fixed her washing machine and the tire swing. That was enough.
At least, that’s what he had to keep telling himself to make sure his heart stayed safe.
Chapter Four
Megan walked up the front steps of Connie and Tim Wixler’s tan stucco house. Lifting her head, she caught the tangy aroma of barbecue in the air. The afternoon breeze fluttered over her, teasing wisps of hair around her face. Although it was unseasonably warm, the air held a slight chill and she was glad she’d worn a sweater.
Connie had arranged for a babysitter for Caleb and June. A teenage girl from down the street had come over to stay with the two kids. Megan thought it was kind of nice to have a night away from her children. She couldn’t remember the last time. On the one hand, she felt guilty for not spending more time with them. After all, they were her main priority now that Blain was gone. But on the other hand, she longed to feel carefree and happy again. And she wondered if that was even possible anymore.
She knocked on the door but didn’t wait for someone to answer. Having been here dozens of times over the past ten years, she turned the knob and stepped inside.
“Hello! Anyone here?” she called to the empty living room.
Voices and laughter came from out in the backyard. The house smelled of boiled eggs and potatoes, and she figured Connie must have made her delicious potato salad.
She walked into the kitchen, noticing the clutter of dishes, plastic wrap and food items spread across the countertops. No doubt Connie had been cooking up a storm. But why make so much food for just three people?
Through the screen door, Megan caught sight of Tim standing in front of the propane barbecue. Brian Dandrige, the superintendent of the Minoa Hotshot crew, and his girlfriend, Gayle, stood beside the table. Sean Nash, the crew boss of the hotshots, and his fiancé, Tessa, were chatting with Connie over a bowl of chips, dip and finger foods. Old friends, every one. Other than seeing them at the restaurant now and then, Megan hadn’t mingled with them much since Blaine’s death. Not because they hadn’t called or come by to visit her. She just hadn’t wanted to socialize much with other people.
Megan felt suddenly edgy and anxious. She hadn’t realized dinner at Connie’s house would include some of Blaine’s old coworkers. She thought it would be a quiet evening, just the three of them.
Taking a deep breath, Megan tried to settle her nerves. Blaine had been gone almost a year, and it was time for her to get out and be around others. But it wasn’t easy. In a way, she felt disloyal to Blaine for moving on and living while he had died.
Stepping over to the screen door, she pushed it open and went outside.
“Hi, Megan! It’s so good to see you,” Gayle called.
“Hi there!” Megan smiled and waved, doing her best impression of pretending she wanted to be here.
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br /> “Howdy, Megan. How do you take your steak?” Tim asked.
“Medium well. Where do you want me to put this?” She lifted the bowl of pasta salad she’d brought with her, hoping she had enough for this large crowd.
“Over there.” Tim pointed his tongs at the picnic table, set up beneath the shade of a tall wisteria tree in full bloom. The afternoon breeze wafted the sweet aroma of flowers to her.
Breathing deeply, Megan turned and froze. Across the expanse of green grass, Jared Marshall stood beside the table holding a can of soda pop in one hand. The afternoon sun gleamed against his dark blond hair. He was dressed casually in a pair of navy blue slacks and a white polo shirt that fit his muscular arms and chest to perfection.
Her gaze locked with his for several pounding moments. His dazzling blue eyes crinkled at the corners, and she realized he was just as confused as she was. Maybe Tim had thought this a good way for Jared to get to know the crew leadership in an informal setting. Brian and Sean were year-round employees. The rest of the hotshot crew was seasonal, working during the summer months and into the early autumn.
But in a rush, Megan realized what was going on. This gathering wasn’t just for the hotshots to get to know their new FMO. Her mind quickly did the math. Eight people were here. Four couples. Each of them were romantically involved, except for her and Jared. This was a setup, pure and simple. Connie and Tim had been pushing her for months to let them fix her up on a blind date, but Megan had refused. Obviously, Connie had decided to ignore her and had paired her with the handsome fire management officer. A pseudo blind date. Under false pretenses. Because Connie knew Megan would never have agreed to come otherwise.
“Megan, I’m so glad you’re here. You can help me with the baked beans.” Connie engulfed her in a warm hug.
“You’ve been very devious,” Megan whispered.
“Yes, but you’ll forgive me. You always do. And since you’re here, try to have a teensy bit of fun.” Connie spoke low, for her ears alone. Then the woman drew back and smiled as she whisked the bowl of pasta salad out of Megan’s hands. “I’ll take this for you. It looks delicious.”
