CHAPTER 1
DELANEY
Big Wood,Tennessee. Population 649.
I drove past the sign welcoming me to town. Looked like I was going to be number 650, at least for the summer. Spending three months in Big Wood, Tennessee, had never been on my bucket list. I thought I’d be working closer to home at a state park in upstate New York. But, thanks to a last-minute call, I’d been offered an assignment to take over for the park ranger in charge of a small summer camp in Nowhereville, Tennessee, who’d broken her ankle on a hike a few days ago.
My hatchback groaned as I pulled into the gravel lot outside the Big Wood Visitor Center. I shifted into park, rolled down the window, and let the early summer air pour in. It smelled like damp trees, hot asphalt, and panic.
The panic was all me. I was four days early for a job I wasn’t supposed to have, in a town I’d never been to, taking over a program I’d seen exactly zero documentation for. If I messed this up, I wouldn’t just lose the job, I’d lose the shot I’d been chasing since my first field trip to a nature preserve. So yeah. No pressure.
Cutting the engine, I grabbed the manila folder from the passenger seat containing a few pages of scribbled notes, halfa dozen emails, and the emergency contract I’d signed and scanned just forty-eight hours ago.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” I muttered to myself. “Totally fine.”
It wasn’t where I was supposed to be. I’d lined up a summer assistantship at the Hudson Valley Nature Center in upstate New York, where I’d interned. I knew the drill and would have spent my days herding field trip kids from exhibit to exhibit, answering the same questions about turtles over and over again, and basking in the predictability of it all.
Instead, I got a call from the Tennessee Division of Forestry. Big Wood’s long-standing seasonal educator, Ranger Rhonda, had taken a tumble on a slick trail and shattered her ankle. They needed someone immediately. I’d interned for the state two summers ago and apparently left just enough of an impression to land me on their radar.
Now here I was with one graduate degree, a hatchback full of supplies, and no clue about what I was walking into. I didn’t have the degrees my siblings racked up like trophies, but I knew how to connect with people. That had to count for something.
If I did well, I could skip a few rungs on the ladder to my dream job and secure a coveted permanent position somewhere closer to home in the fall. But rumor had it the district ranger in Big Wood was a real piece of work. “A stubborn, mule-headed jackass” according to a guy in my program who’d interned under him last summer. Still, a shot was a shot, and I’d invested years of hard work to get me ready to take mine.
The visitor center sat in a clearing surrounded by tall pines with the mountains looming in the background. Dappled sunlight filtered through the trees, and I took in a deep breath as I made my way toward the front porch. Even with the humidity in the air, it felt good to stretch my legs after my long drive.
The building itself had seen better days and looked like it hadn’t changed since the ‘60s. A row of rocking chairs sat on the wide porch and a hand-painted wooden sign hung next to the door. I turned the knob and stepped into a rush of cooler air and a musty scent like the place hadn’t been aired out in decades.
A woman in a yellow volunteer vest sat behind the front desk, flipping through a magazine.
"You here for the brochures or the bathrooms?" she asked without looking up.
I smiled. "Neither, actually. I'm Delaney Hart. I’m here to run the summer program. Ranger Rhonda’s replacement."
That got her attention. She straightened in her chair and blinked at me through thick glasses. “You’re early.”
“I wanted to get settled over the weekend. Is Ranger Ramsey around? I was told he oversees this site.”
She huffed a little as she got up from her chair. “It’s District Ranger Ramsey and you’re lucky he’s on site today. Give me just a minute and I’ll see if he’s available. Don’t touch anything.”
“Thank you.” I waited until she disappeared through a doorway behind the desk. Her warning didn’t mean a thing. I absolutely planned to touch everything as soon as I got the chance, especially the thick layer of dust coating almost every surface.
While she rustled up the ranger, I wandered around the room. Faded posters lined the walls featuring black bears, poison ivy, and salamander migration charts. A glass case displayed a raccoon skull, a pinecone the size of a baby’s head, and what looked like a preserved snakeskin that had seen better years.
So, the place needed a little updating. Nothing I couldn’t work with.
Heavy footsteps sounded on the floorboards behind me. I whirled around and stopped in my tracks.
The man standing by the front desk was at least six foot six and looked like he wrestled trees for fun. He wore a khaki ranger shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, cargo pants, and a don’t-mess-with-me look on his movie-star-attractive face that should have sent me running for the safety of my car.
Unfortunately, I’d never been good at running from trouble. It always seemed to find me one way or another.
“Delaney Hart?” he asked, his voice deep and rough. The gravel in his tone sent a zing of attraction straight through me.
“That’s me.” I moved closer while I regained my self control and stuck out my hand. “Nice to meet you, District Ranger Ramsey.”
He glanced at my hand for a second before deciding whether it was worth shaking. When he finally did, he had a firm grip but didn’t offer up a smile.
“We didn’t expect you until Monday.” Too soon, he let go.
