LITMIR.BIZ

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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.

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