by Leigh Bale
Sean arched his brows. “Is that so?”
“Yes, but no thanks.”
“Well, I’ve got a warning for you. If you don’t have someone lined up, the guys are talking about setting you up on another blind date.”
The guys. That meant the hotshot crew. And Jared didn’t dare consider what they might do and who they might fix him up with without his knowledge. He knew how tenacious they could be. If he wasn’t careful, he could find himself out with a less-than-desirable partner and have a miserable evening. He had to do something fast to stop it.
“Tell the guys I’ll have someone with me, so they shouldn’t do something crazy.”
Sean chuckled. “Smart guy. All right, I’ll tell them. But you know, Megan has been to these things before, when her husband was alive. She knows the lay of the land and how to navigate these types of parties. You want me to ask her for you?”
Horror ignited inside of Jared’s mind. The last thing he wanted was for Sean to ask Megan on a date for him. This wasn’t high school, after all. So why did he feel like an awkward teenager? But if Jared didn’t bring a date, he wouldn’t get off so easily the next time. He knew how it worked. The members of the hotshot crew would never let him live it down. They’d be setting him up left and right, no matter what he said.
“Of course not. I’m set,” Jared insisted.
“So, who are you bringing then?”
“You’ll have to wait and see. But rest assured that I’ve got plans.”
Or at least, he would have before this day was through. No way was he going on another blind date. The thought made his stomach churn. His instincts told him that he couldn’t do better than Megan. In fact, he couldn’t seem to get her off his mind, no matter how hard he tried. But he’d never hear the end of it if he didn’t show up to the retirement party with a date.
Maybe he should invite Megan to go with him to the retirement party. They’d had fun at the barbecue, playing charades. She was laid-back and easy to talk to. She smiled readily. And when he walked into the retirement party with her on his arm, he could avoid any unwelcome entanglements. Of course, it could backfire on him, too. Everyone would think he and Megan were an item. But he could simply explain that they were just friends. Friends was good, wasn’t it?
“Do you and your date want to ride into Reno with Tessa and me?” Sean asked, rubbing his bristly chin.
“Nah. I’ll take my own vehicle. But thanks for the offer.” Jared tried to sound casual.
He tried to play it cool but wondered how to ask Megan. After all, she wasn’t interested in dating, either, if he was reading her vibes correctly.
And what if she said no? Then, who would he invite? He couldn’t show up to the party alone. Not if he hoped to never be faced with another blind date he hadn’t counted on.
Sean smiled and braced himself off the doorjamb. “Well, I better get going. Talk to you later.”
The man turned and walked out, and Jared breathed a sigh of relief. He knew by this time tomorrow, Sean would have told everyone in the office and on the hotshot crew that he had a date for the party. And everyone would be speculating who that was. And right then, Jared wished he wasn’t an only child. If only he had a sister or other family member, he’d call and beg them to accompany him. But he didn’t have a sister, or a mom or even a cousin. In fact, the only woman friend he could think of was Megan.
Jared shook his head. He’d put this off long enough. The party was less than two weeks away. If he didn’t want to have egg on his face and make the matter even worse, he’d better come up with someone to accompany him. And fast.
* * *
Megan stood in the back of the restaurant, filling the industrial-strength dishwasher with drinking glasses. She added the detergent, closed the door, flipped the locking lever and pressed the start button. A low whoosh of water filled the air as the machine started its wash cycle.
Stepping back, she leaned against the counter for several moments, catching her breath. The wildfire was out, and her catering crew had returned to town late last night, exhausted and filthy. Megan had spent most of the day cleaning the mobile kitchen and all of the equipment. With Catherine’s help, she’d restocked their supplies. It’d been a big job, but they needed to be ready at a moment’s notice, in case they got called out on another fire.
Picking up a rack of clean coffee cups and saucers, she headed out into the restaurant to put them away. Cindy, one of the new waitresses she’d been training over the past week, stood leaning against the front counter. She lifted a hand, laughing in a carefree manner.
Megan rounded the corner and caught sight of who Cindy was talking to.
Jared!
The moment she saw the handsome fire management officer, Megan’s senses went on high alert. She hadn’t expected to see him again so soon, but it wouldn’t have mattered if she did. Every time he walked into the room, it was the same. She felt all mushy inside, and her knees became weak and wobbly.
He sat on one of the bar stools and leaned his elbows on the front counter while Cindy took his order. At nineteen years of age, the girl was a bit young for Jared. But that didn’t stop her from giggling at something funny he’d said.
Megan cleared her throat loudly. Simultaneously, Cindy and Jared whirled toward her. In a rather furtive gesture, Cindy ducked her head. Megan had made a point of telling the girl to be polite but not overly chatty with their customers. Cindy had work to do and needed to focus on her chores. Since they knew most of their diners, it was easy to spend too much time visiting.
“Okay, I’ve got it.” Cindy jotted a few more notes on her pad of paper before turning to snap Jared’s order up for Martha, their new morning cook.
The waitress scurried over to take the orders of two men who had just walked in and sat waiting in a booth.
“Hi there.” Megan sauntered over to the counter, where she began stacking the cups near the coffeepot.
“Hi, Megan,” Jared said.
“She’s a bit young for you, don’t you think?” She glanced over her shoulder, trying to keep her voice light and teasing, but she feared she sounded rather jealous instead.
Jared lifted one brow. “Who? Cindy?”
Megan just laughed, trying to ignore the green jealousy coursing through her veins. After all, it wasn’t her business who Jared was interested in. She certainly didn’t care. Right?
“Yeah, she’s way too young for me,” he agreed with a chuckle. “I’m just friends with her dad. He’s a local rancher we recently contracted for the use of his bulldozer when we have a wildfire in the area.”
So Jared wasn’t interested in Cindy. He was just being nice because of who the girl’s father was. Though she fought it, Megan was pleased enormously by that news.
She turned and wiped down the already-clean countertops. “What are you having today?”
“My usual.”
“Would you like a glass of orange juice?” she asked.
“Yes, please.”
Again with the nice manners.
“I’ll get it,” she said.
He reached out and touched her hand. She jerked and went very still, meeting his eyes.
“Actually, before you do that, I was hoping to ask you something,” he said.
She drew back and waited, her fingers choking the damp cloth. Every time this man asked her something, she ended up agreeing to things she didn’t want. She just couldn’t seem to tell him no.
“Okay, shoot,” she said, trying to be brave.
“In a couple of weeks, there’s a special Forest Service dinner in Reno I’m planning to attend. It’s a retirement party for the forest supervisor. We’re all expected to be there. A fancy dinner. Kind of a dressy affair.”
“That sounds nice.” Oh, she didn’t like the sound of this. She could feel
it coming and knew she wouldn’t like the outcome.
“And I was wondering if you’d accompany me,” he said.
Her brain screeched to a halt, and she stared at him, dumbfounded. Blinking. Her mind vacant. Here it was. And now what?
He hurried on, as if he feared she might say no. “Everyone will be there from the Forest Service. The entire hotshot crew, everyone. You probably already know most of them. It’s just that I hate going to this kind of stuff alone.”
Oh, this didn’t sound good. She couldn’t go with him. Absolutely not. She’d attended a number of these events with Blaine, but she had no intention of going as Jared’s date. Seeing old acquaintances she’d known back when her husband had still been alive. Chatting as though nothing bad had ever happened. And now, she was going with the new FMO? That was bound to cause some gossip. No, she just couldn’t.
“It’d be a huge favor to me,” he said. “I’m still learning who everyone is and settling into my new job. Since you already know so many people, I thought it’d make things easier if you accompanied me. Besides, Sean and Connie and everyone else from my office are determined to hook me up, and I’m not really interested in dating right now.”
Neither was she. After all, she could never replace Blaine. Not in a zillion years. But she did owe Jared for his kindness. He’d done so much for her family already.
“It’d be a huge favor, if you’d say yes,” he said.
A favor for a friend.
“So this isn’t really a date, but rather you’re just trying to scare off the vultures, right?” she said.
He laughed. “Right. That’s one way of looking at it. No date. Just friends. Will you go with me? Please. I don’t want any entanglements I might regret later on.”
Hmm. It sounded as if he felt almost the same about dating as she did. And she did owe him. Big-time. For fixing her washing machine and swing, not to mention lending her his truck and saving June’s life. Maybe this was a way she could repay his generosity.
His blue eyes met hers, and she could see the intense beseeching written on his face. He looked desperate and earnest, silently begging her to say yes.
“Well, if it’ll help keep you from getting stuck on a blind date, I guess it would be okay just this once.”
He released a whoosh of air, as though he’d been holding his breath. “Really? You mean it? You’ll accompany me?”
Oh, she was going to regret this. She just knew it. But she plunged ahead anyway. “Sure. I think I can make some arrangements for the kids. Which night is it?”
He exhaled a giant sigh, as though he were mightily relieved. Within a few moments, he’d given her the particulars and set up the time for him to pick her up.
“We’ll have to leave an hour early, so we have time to drive into Reno. And I’ll get you home quite late. You know how these Forest Service parties go. Will that be okay?” he asked.
“Sure. The hazard pay we made on the last fire allowed me to hire a new waitress and a cook to work part-time. The cook is very reliable. I’ll ask her to close the restaurant that evening for me. We should be covered,” she said.
He flashed a smile so bright that she had to blink. And suddenly, she was excited by this opportunity. More and more, she seemed to be arranging for other people to cover the restaurant for her. To have some time to breathe. This would be a fun treat. Getting away for a while. Chatting with old friends she hadn’t seen since Blaine’s death. Maybe it was time for her to get out more.
“Thanks, Meg. I’ll owe you big-time for this one.”
Meg. The last person to call her that name had been her husband. Hearing it again made her feel all warm and bubbly inside. And she reminded herself that this was not a date. It was simply a business function. It meant nothing. Just a regular night out. She was helping Jared meet his obligations without becoming entangled in a relationship neither of them wanted. It couldn’t do either of them any harm. Could it?
Chapter Nine
Megan stood in front of the mirror, putting on her dangly earrings. The ones that matched her blue beaded evening gown. She ran her hands over the long, silky skirt, happy that she could still fit in this dress. It’d been a long time since she’d put it on, and she barely recognized herself. She seemed like another person, her dress so different from the blue jeans, shirts and tennis shoes she normally wore every day.
She’d applied an extra bit of mascara and eye shadow, a pinch of color to her cheeks, and topped her makeup off with a hint of glossy color on her lips. She’d pinned her hair up on one side, leaving the reddish-blond curls to pour over her left shoulder. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d dressed up for a fancy date.
Correction. Not a date. A favor. She was just helping out a friend. Saving Jared from all the matchmakers who would be milling around the forest supervisor’s retirement party. She kept reminding herself of that fact.
So why did it feel like a date?
“You look nice, Mommy.” June sat on the edge of the bed in Megan’s room.
“Thanks, honey.” Megan spritzed a bit of perfume on her neck. Not too much but just enough. Although this wasn’t a real date, she still felt pretty and feminine. Which was refreshing, since she usually felt harried and dowdy.
“Are you gonna dance at the party?” June asked, adjusting her position so that she lay on her stomach, her elbows bent so she could rest her chin in her hands.
“Possibly.”
“With Jared?”
Megan froze. Turning, she looked at her daughter. A troubled frown tugged at the girl’s high forehead. Megan realized she hadn’t thought this through. Nor had she fully considered how it might impact her children.
“I probably won’t dance,” she said as she sat on one corner of the bed and rubbed June’s back.
“You should,” June said. “Jared likes you, Mom.”
Megan took a settling breath. “That’s because we’re friends.”
“Is he gonna be my new daddy?” June asked.
Whoa! How had she gone from doing a favor to marrying the guy? Megan was stunned that her daughter would even suggest it. But it was an indicator of why June had held such animosity toward Jared. She felt threatened and thought he was trying to take her father’s place.
“No, honey. We’re just friends. And even if I do eventually remarry, no one will ever take your father’s place. Your daddy will always be ours, until the end of time.”
“Yeah, that’s what Jared said, too.”
Megan inclined her head, surprised by this news. “He did? When?”
“A while back when he had dinner at the restaurant with Caleb and me.”
A warm feeling blanketed Megan, yet she didn’t want to discuss the topic. She knew Jared must mean well. That he was trying to be considerate of their feelings. But it surprised her that he’d discussed her husband with her kids. “We’re friends and nothing more.”
“So you don’t want to marry Jared?” June asked.
Megan shook her head. “No, I don’t. Not at all.”
June sat up. “Why not?”
Here it was. She had to voice her feelings out loud, because there was no getting around the truth.
“Because he’s a firefighter, and I think that’s a dangerous profession.”
“Oh.” June’s forehead knitted in deep thought. She looked so grown-up for all her young years. “You’re afraid he might get killed like Daddy?”
Megan nodded helplessly. Of all the people she should confide her deepest fear to, she’d never expected it to be her eight-year-old daughter.
June leaned forward and hugged her. “Don’t worry, Mommy. God will take care of us. Everything will work out for the best.”
Tears burned Megan’s eyes and she blinked. Her daughter’s faith astounded her. Megan had spoken
these words to her children on numerous occasions, yet she had said them more as a comfort thing. Now she had to search her heart and ask if she really believed it.
“Jared’s a nice man,” June said. “I don’t mind if you go out with him.”
Megan smiled. Ever since Jared had rescued June from the fallen tent, the girl had changed toward the man. “How did you get to be so smart?”
June shrugged. “I read a lot.”
Megan laughed, then kissed the top of June’s head. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you, too,” June said.
Megan stood and slipped on her high heels, but a nagging suspicion nibbled at the back of her mind. She knew all too well that friendship between a man and a woman could soon blossom into something deeper. In fact, her mother had advised her years ago that she should marry her best friend. In college, that’s what Blaine had been. Her best friend. And that’s what frightened Megan the most. Friends was okay, but her relationship with Jared couldn’t go further than that. It just couldn’t.
“Wow, Mommy. You sure look pretty.” Caleb stood in the doorway to her bedroom, his eyes round and glowing.
Megan hugged her son. “Thank you, darling.”
“Can’t I come with you?” Caleb asked.
“No, silly.” June nudged his shoulder. “Mom’s going on a date with Jared.”
The boy screwed his nose up in disgust. “So? Why can’t I come, too?”
“Because it’s a date. They might want to hug and smooch and stuff like that,” June insisted.
Caleb looked at his mother. “You want to hug and smooch Jared?”
Megan bit back a gasp of surprise. “No, honey. It’s not a real date. Jared and I are just friends. We’re just going to this retirement party together.”
Caleb tilted his head in confusion, but the doorbell rang, shutting off any more explanations.
“I’ll get it.” The little boy ran toward the living room with June hot on his heels.
Megan picked up her clutch purse and followed, walking slow on her skyscraper heels.
