The Callaways had called a meeting in Nashville on Friday. The board of directors wanted Ash there. He’d have maps to distribute and the bullet points of his suggestion for the new site of the lodge on the Reserve.
The view from The Aerie would have been spectacular. He hoped his new location could wow.
“Nicole, have we got any empty boxes?” Ash called through the open doorway. Her footsteps were immediate and fast, and she appeared holding a cardboard box.
“Like this, Ranger?” She held it out like a sacrifice.
“That’s perfect.” Ash did his best to gently take it from her, but neither of them had a handle on it and the box tumbled to the floor. Ash forced himself to stop and let her scurry to pick it up. “The chair is fine, Nicole. You can put it right there. Thank you.”
She was smiling and nodding as she left, so Ash did the same. “All right. My last day and we’re really starting to gel here.”
He made a slow circle between the desk and the table behind it, ready to grab all his personal items and put them in the box. Most of the souvenirs he’d picked up were about Smoky Valley Nature Reserve. Programs they’d planned. Trophies presented to the Reserve for participation in restoration projects. He pulled some photos down off the ragged bulletin board. He’d show them to Sam and they could reminisce about old times. The fish mug Macy had given him on the first birthday he’d celebrated at the ranger station went in the box and he picked up his phone to text her.
Then he realized he wasn’t sure what his reception would be.
Transferring her without her okay had been a dumb move. A man should apologize for that level of stupidity in person. He turned the phone over and over in his hand before shoving it in his pocket.
The rumble in his stomach reminded him that it was lunchtime.
For the first time in so long, he didn’t want to sit there at his desk. Frozen dinners for lunch were terrible, and there was no reason to sacrifice his time today. It would be his last. Whatever didn’t get done would still be there when...
Ash didn’t want to picture another ranger behind the desk, being slowly buried under paperwork. That was how he’d imagined he’d die, a fateful flow of recycling and monthly reports meeting on his desk, covering his head, suffocating him.
Without Macy to drag him out, it would no doubt be fatal.
“Nicole, I’m going to head down to the diner for lunch.” He stuck his head out of his office to check on her. “You okay for an hour with the phones?”
She had the phone to one ear as she stared up at the map of the Reserve. On his way past, she held up her thumb and returned to giving directions over the phone. Her laugh was smooth. She still sounded more like a junior high kid than a veteran of the Reserve, but she was good with directions over the phone and her answer about a good trail for kids was spot-on. She held up a binder and turned the page and Ash realized Macy had done everything she could to make sure whoever sat behind the desk of the visitor center could represent the Reserve professionally. She’d set Nicole up for success without ever knowing this day was coming.
That was who she was. Organized. Prepared. The kind of person who made everyone around her look better, feel better.
Add to that Macy’s outlook on every day, her inability to back down, the mischief in her eyes and the excitement she sparked whenever she stepped into a room, and Ash was filled with regret.
Going on without her, even if he managed to salvage his position, would hurt.
He’d sent her in to make Leland Hall look good.
Dumb, dumb move.
The rumble in his stomach churned again, and Ash realized there was little he could do to go back. He’d finish this day and then...
He paused by the SUV the Reserve had provided. He hadn’t owned a personal car in years.
Ash shook his head and slid into the driver’s seat.
“This isn’t the end, Kingfisher. Not yet. Don’t run out and sign up for car payments until you reach the final decision.” Ash started the engine and backed out of the spot. “Since there’s nothing else you can do about the job, get the rest of your life in order. Move the mountain one rock at a time.”
He studied the parking lots as he drove to the campground. They didn’t have a lot of traffic like they had in the spring, but the numbers looked good for a sunny December day. Had his speech to the boys in the barbershop changed some minds?
Or Sam Blackburn had flashed a smile or two and used his charm on the ladies in town.
Either way, the Reserve marina had some traffic and the parking lot of the diner showed business was steady, not crazy busy, but holding. That was good. The upturn in numbers in revenue could be evidence for the board of directors that Sweetwater believed Ash.
Would that be enough to sway any of them to vote to keep him instead of pleasing members of one of the wealthiest families in the state?
“Can’t hurt.” Ash pulled into a spot near the door of the diner. “Three good things, Kingfisher. Let’s keep the positivity flowing.” He relaxed in his seat. “No frozen lasagna for lunch. Whatever the special is will beat that microwave meal to bits.” He reached over to grab the ranger hat on the seat beside him and then smiled. “If this is really it, no more hats.” He wished he could text Macy. She might be the only person he knew who’d get the humor. Then he realized that he’d done the one thing he had to do to feel perfectly ready to find out if Macy wanted to try something more than friendship. She’d owe him nothing now.
“If I can get around her irritation and rage, I can talk her into a date.” Ash wasn’t sure that counted as a third good thing, but the way his spirit responded to the open door suggested it was.
“Get some lunch. Hunger is making you stupid.” Ash slid out of the SUV, determined to act like he knew what he was doing.
Then he opened the door to the diner and stepped inside, and every head swiveled his direction while conversation died. Ash paused in front of the cash register, ready to pretend he’d come in to order something to go. He’d pick the quickest thing, something like coffee, and beat a hasty retreat.
“Kingfisher, I saved yer spot.” Woody Butler called from the line of seats at the counter. “They’s serving meat loaf sandwiches today. If you won’t tell my wife I do like meat loaf, just not hers, I’ll ask Chrissy to make you up a plate.”
Since no one in the diner had looked away, Ash had no real options. He dipped his head and then said, “Good call, Woody. It’s been years since I had a good meat loaf sandwich.” He did his best to walk slowly over to the stool, meeting stares as he went. When Janet Abernathy and Regina Blackburn waved hands from a booth in the back corner, Ash relaxed a bit. He had friends in the room. No matter what happened, he could enjoy his lunch still.
“What’ll you have to drink, Ranger?” Christina asked from behind the counter. “Tea?”
Ash nodded. “Please.”
Christina slid a glass in front of him. “Monroe’ll have your sandwich right up.” Then she leaned against the counter and watched him.
Ash darted a glance up at her and then over at Woody. With both of them staring, it was impossible to pretend he wasn’t the subject of everyone’s curiosity. “Looks like the head ranger position will be open for a bit.” He sipped his tea. “The chief ranger tells me today’s my last day.” Ash cleared his throat and then said a little more loudly. “But we’ll go before the board of directors to make the final decision. They owe me that much.”
Woody clapped a hand on his back. “Sure thing they do, them Callaways.”
Christina delivered his lunch plate to him, the smell of the warm meat loaf reminding him he was starving, no matter how many people were cataloging the details of his visit.
“Mayo?” Christina asked and then slid some packets toward him.
Ash slathered the bread, took a bite and washed it all down with half a glass of
tea.
And he felt better.
“As far as I know, Brett’s okay.” He met Christina’s stare. “Leland didn’t mention him, so I’m hoping that he won’t be foolish enough to try to get rid of an experienced officer with a spotless record.”
Christina shrugged. “Other than you, you mean.” Her eyes were serious as she watched him. “You know no matter what happens, Brett would stand with you. No sense in worrying yourself over it.”
“Macy would have, too,” Janet said from his right side. Ash didn’t sigh loudly but he wanted to. He’d managed five minutes without worrying over Macy’s transfer.
“Now, now, Ash, I didn’t come to lecture.” She smiled brightly. “I came to remind you of your promise to have your daddy at the open house.” She clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You haven’t forgotten, have you? I’m going to have a little flyer of my own to hand out there for my art show. Macy dropped one of them baskets by this morning, and I want him. In my show. You hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ash’s meek tone surprised him, but Janet accepted it as her due.
She turned to address the room. “Those Kingfishers. If you’ve been in this town long enough, you know that’s a family with roots deep in Sweetwater. I’m not sure how I feel about the Reserve going on without a Kingfisher in charge of Otter Lake.” Janet tapped a hot pink nail against her cheek. “What do y’all think of that?”
Ash finished his sandwich and then drank another half a glass of tea that had been mysteriously refilled.
“Them Callaways,” Woody muttered, and it was enough of an answer that several people in the room nodded along with him, their frowns an indication that they also disapproved.
“I hope you’ll come out to the open house on Saturday.” Ash faced the crowd, aware that he had to say something. Letting everyone else do the heavy lifting to sway the town of Sweetwater was not his method of doing things. “Macy Gentry has planned a full display of information about the winter programs at the Reserve. There will be something fun for all ages and anyone who wants to follow a ranger out to check on the otter habitat will get the chance.” Ash propped his hands on his hips. “I’m looking forward to enjoying the evening as a spectator myself. I might even get to see the otters instead of signing reports about them.”
He’d thought it was a pretty good line. The fact that it got no response was a downer.
Then he realized everyone was looking over his shoulder, so he turned, half-expecting to see either Leland Hall or Whit Callaway behind him.
Macy was paused at the end of the counter, her arms tangled in a tight knot over her chest and her narrow glare locked on him.
If Ash had ever wondered whether Macy got madder than he’d seen her at the ranger station, he had his answer.
“Um, hi.” The long whistle behind him confirmed Ash’s immediate certainty that he had no idea what to say and nothing that came out would be right.
“Glad you’re looking forward to the open house that I nagged for weeks to get you to approve.” She took a step closer. “If only there was some way you could communicate that to me, a sort of device that has buttons on it. You could push one and it would connect to mine and one of us could speak into it while the other listened. Hmm...what would you call that? Never mind. You wouldn’t use it. You didn’t use it to tell me you were firing me.”
Ash opened his mouth to protest and to suggest they step outside to hash this out.
Then he remembered Janet saying Sweetwater didn’t know him. They hadn’t heard much from him since the accident and why should they? He hadn’t done much except keep his head down and work.
Now he was caught in a spectacle that would spread like fire on dry ground cover.
And Macy deserved to say everything bubbling up. He wanted to clear the air. Here was his chance.
“I wouldn’t even know that you had been fired if I hadn’t stopped in to the ranger station to tell you exactly what I thought of this high-handed—” she motioned wildly “—firing of me!” She clapped both hands to her chest. “Can you even imagine?”
Ash grimaced, determined to stay quiet.
She was on a roll, a beautiful, strong, beautiful, fiery roll.
“Well, guess what, Ash?” She marched a step closer and squared off with him. “I don’t work for you anymore.” She tipped her head up. “That weasel in Knoxville? I don’t work for him, either.”
Ash would die before he grinned at her in that second mainly because her wrath would make death the better option, but he was relieved. She could do wonders in the district office, but he wanted her closer.
“Phil McKesson. He’s agreed to give me a job.” She stared hard into his eyes. “I work for the fire chief now, Head Ranger. You aren’t my boss anymore.”
The urge to wrap his arms around her and...
What was he going to do? Celebrate. He could congratulate her. She’d made a good decision.
When she blinked slowly, he understood that he was running out of time.
Her voice was softer when she said, “I know you did it to help me, Ash, and I appreciate it. I never once thought you were anything other than a hero, even when I wanted to kill you with my mind.” She was fighting a smile. That was a good thing, wasn’t it? “I don’t work for you anymore,” she repeated.
His smile was impossible to stop, and he said, “That means, when I offer you my hand, you’re going to hold it. Oh, wait, you did that already.” Her lips curved before she returned to a narrow glare. “I can ask you out to dinner and no one’s gonna suggest I’m a bad guy, abusing my power.” He ran his hand down the silky smooth skin of her forearm. “We can drink rosehip tea and dance in my parents’ kitchen even when the world is not falling apart.”
Macy seemed to remember that they had an audience as she glanced over her shoulder.
Ash admired her gumption so much in that instant. Neither one of them played to crowds, but she’d transformed a bad thing, something that could have hurt them both if she’d let it, into another brick in the foundation he needed in Sweetwater.
“Fine. You don’t need me for anything. We both knew that all along, Macy Gentry.” Ash shrugged. “Where does that leave us?”
Macy held both hands up. “That leaves us right here.” She put her hand on his chest, the warmth a sweet reminder of their dark drive down the mountain to his parents’ house. “You can either kiss me right here, Ash Kingfisher, or you can get out of my face.”
Ash tipped his head back to study the ceiling, the laughter caught in his chest happy and crazy and so weird and new and awesome that he wanted to remember it always.
Then he slipped his hand over her cheek to cup her nape, determined that this first kiss would satisfy both Macy and their audience. When he bent closer, the sparkle in her eyes captured him and everyone else fell away. He brushed his lips to hers, caught her sigh and then repeated the motion until she rested lightly against his chest.
He would have stayed right here, Macy in his arms, her lips pressed against his, while magnolias floated around them except...
Woody Butler cleared his throat. “Reckon they’re dating?”
The silence of the diner was broken when Christina Braswell muttered, “Oh, Woody, you’ve got the romantic sensitivity of a groundhog.”
Chuckles spread throughout the diner and eventually Macy eased back from him.
“I’m going to miss seeing you at the visitor center,” Ash said while he clasped her hand in his, “but I sure am glad we can do that now.”
“We could have done it before and easier,” Macy said, “but this is going to work out fine. Everybody, make sure you tell someone else by the end of the day. Ash Kingfisher is goofy in love. Macy Gentry said the chief ranger is a weasel. And the ranger station open house is the place to be this Saturday.” Macy nodded and then turned to Ash. “Now what?”
He broug
ht their entwined hands to his lips and kissed. “Want to help me clean out my desk? Then let’s go climb The Aerie. I’ve got some free time. Maybe we could find a camera. I need some shots of the road to the old weather station.”
Macy frowned as she considered that. “I know someone with a fancy camera.” Then she shrugged. “She hasn’t taken a class to learn to use it yet, but how hard could it be? Let’s get climbing.”
Before he could ask what that was about, Christina was waving his bill. “On the house, lovebirds. Hit the trail already.” Her grin was contagious.
Once they were outside, he was reminded of his depleted prospects thanks to the Reserve’s SUV. “A man with no job, no place to live, no car to drive...” Somehow he’d become a worse bet than he’d been as her boss.
Macy squeezed his hand. “Forget that. Today, we’re climbing. Tomorrow, we’ll get back to saving the Reserve.”
Ash studied her face. “Quite a change of heart from Gran’s ‘all work and no play’ philosophy.”
Macy nodded. “Yeah. And it’s working out for me.”
Ash knew he was grinning because it felt weird, and yet, right. “It’s working for me, too.”
Macy marched around to the passenger side and he wrestled the handle out of her hand to swing the door open. Her bemused smile was nice. Ash had a feeling that everything was going to work out. No matter what happened with his job or the lodge or Winter’s engagement, finding three good things would never be difficult with Macy in his arms.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
IF ANYONE HAD told him making a presentation in front of his sister, the Callaway family and the Reserve’s board of directors would mean the difference in having a job and hitting the unemployment line, Ash might have considered taking his chances with the latter.
“Last time I saw you look like that, you were getting ready to hold a press conference.” Winter poked him in the chest with his hat. “Are you going to put this on?”
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