Page 22 of Love in the Time of Wildfires

Logan kind of wished Jefferson was a squirrel. It’s not that he didn’t want her to have friends—it was only . . . Well, who wouldn’t want to be her friend? She was warm and friendly and beauti—Well, she was somewhat pleasant to be around. It was only a matter of time before she’d charmed the whole region. He didn’t like her expressing loneliness, especially knowing there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it since he was never around. Logan should be happy for her.

At the same time, seeing the name Jefferson had his chest squeezing in on itself. Logan didn’t like the idea that there might be some other guy out there making her giggle uncontrollably. Regardless of his thoughts and the worry she might tell him she had found a new, better friend, he wasn’t about to let her know.

Glad you found someone to have lunch with.

River

Today we were looking at an Australian firefighter calendar!!

Look, I don’t want to say that they might give you guys a run for your money, but they actually posed with cute animals. Have you thought about doing that???

I would have if your fox showed up, but it didn’t. That’s not my fault.

River

LOL! Okay, but what about Goldie?

What?

River

She’s very photogenic. I made you an example in order to convince you. Seee!!!

Soon came the image he’d taken in the forest only for a squirrel to be sloppily photoshopped on top of the log he had on his shoulder. Proportion-wise Goldie didn’t match, appearing almost as big as his head. It was comical enough, though, and he couldn’t help but smile at River’s attempt.

You’re right. That does improve the picture.

River

Right???? Maybe your buddies will be encouraged to take pictures with cute animals—like we have at the museum. We have a cute marmot named Mickey! I bet if you talked to them, your crew would totally do it because they respect you so much as a good leader.

Yeah, that didn’t feel obvious at all, wildlife behaviorist.

River

But you’ll think about it, right?

I’ll think about it.

Their conversation ended soon after and, though Logan needed sleep, he lay there surprised at how much he had needed her conversation. It was different than what he was used to and in a world filled with smoke it was a breath of fresh air. It had been so long since he’d had a genuine connection beyond the fire that he’d forgotten what it was like.

The next evening, there was already a message from her by the time he sat down to dinner. He didn’t participate much in the squad’s conversation as he focused on the chore of eating so he could read in private.

“Everything okay, boss?” Marcus asked him.

“Yeah. I’m gonna go check in with the boss and see what the game plan is for tomorrow. I’ll see you guys later.” Logan picked up his trash to dispose of it before leaving the seating area. He’d already checked in for tomorrow, so he instead found a quiet place to sit in the field behind the laundry facility trailer. It was out of the way—the sun was still out, providing an orange glow in the smoky skies. Fires blazed a path of destruction, but sometimes, there was beauty in it as well. Maybe it was strange to notice, but Logan was a wildland firefighter. He felt cut off from normal all the time. River didn’t seem normal to him either . . . or maybe he preferred her brand of it.

He clicked on her message. It was another photo of him and Goldie in the forest—only with a marmot added to the foreground.

River

I made another improvement.

Is that Mickey?

River

Yup. I took the pic today because I realized that you’d be dying to know what he looks like. You’d been thinking about it all day, right?