Why does he look so… familiar?
“It’s Reed, actually,” I correct him.
When he pulls the cup away from his face, I study his gray hair and the long, lean lines that slope his jaw.
“We stick to last names around here.”
He rounds the barstools until he stops right in front of me, where I can get a good look at him. With weathered boots and a full mustache, I’d say he’s been here… a lot longer than just a couple of summers. Then it hits me.
“Jack.”
“Hart,” he adds, acting completely unfazed by my unhinged jaw. “Superintendent of Iron Summit.”
My new boss isJack Hart. My father’s friend. The man who witnessed one of the worst weekends of my life.
Of the hundreds of fire crews on the west coast, I never considered getting placed here, with him. I should have thought about this being a possibility, but I never saw Jack again after that day in the campground. I certainly never spoke about him with my dad. And in my twelve-year-old eyes, for all I knew, Jack Hart would be retired by now.
“You missed pre-season onboarding.” He takes another sip. “Something that takes two weeks. You’ll need to catch up in two days. Think you can handle that?”
Is he testing me?
“I think I can handle bypassing the training altogether and just get to the good stuff,” I tell him.
My course training wasn’t all that many months ago, and there wasn’t anything I struggled with.
He lifts an eyebrow. “Guess I should hand over my job to you then?”
A new guy clomps into the kitchen, bearing the weight of a large duffel bag.
Jack stops him with a hand covering the strap. “McCafferty, this is Reed Morgan, the new recruit. I need you to train him today. I’d do it myself, but I’ve got… something”—he pauses like he’s thinking on it—“to take care of.”
“But it’s?—”
“I know, and I’ll make it up to you,” Jack promises.
In his disappointment, the guy hurtles his bag onto the counter. It snags on his shoulder-length hair.
Sothisis my new roommate.Great. I can see why Murphy wished me good luck. I’m five minutes in and already disappointing him. Off to a fantastic start.
McCafferty grunts and starts to stalk away. I take it as my unfriendly cue to follow him. Just before I clear the opening, I hear Superintendent Hart speak to someone else.
“I thought I said you didn’t need to come.”
When I glance behind me to see who he’s talking to, it’s Hailey’s eyes that I meet.
CHAPTER TEN
HAILEY
14 years old
Ireach for my phone on the nightstand and dial his number. I keep telling myself he’s busy, that I’m the only lonely one on a Friday night, when he picks up on the final ring.
“Hey, Hayes. What’s up?”
I sit up a little taller, hoping it elevates my mood. “Hey! Karen’s picking up Grenaldough’s. Want to come over for dinner?”
A voice I don’t recognize lets out a whiney “Stoooop” in the background.
