Her Firefighter Hero. Leigh Bale

inspect the hoses connecting the machine to the faucet.

      Megan took her kids into the kitchen, where they all sat at the table and she pored over the contract. There were two copies, and she assumed one was for her. She’d just signed on the bottom line when Jared came in wiping his damp hands on a towel.

      Caleb popped out of his seat and stood wriggling with anticipation. June folded her arms and scowled at the man.

      “You don’t happen to have any hose washers, by chance?” Jared asked.

      Megan cocked her head to one side. “What do you mean?”

      He held out his hand. On his calloused palm rested a little black washer that was split in two. “This kind of washer. It seals the connection between the faucet and the hose. This one is split, which is what I believe caused your leak.”

      She crinkled her nose in a grimace. “It was more like a geyser. And yes, I use those kinds of washers on my garden hoses.”

      He nodded. “Yes, that’s right. Do you have any extras lying around?”

      She stood and pulled open a drawer filled with a variety of junk. Tape, string, paper clips. A catchall drawer where she stashed odds and ends. She snatched out a small package she’d put there last summer and handed him a washer.

      He flashed a satisfied grin. “I’ll have it fixed in a jiffy.”

      “See? I told you so. Jared can fix anything,” Caleb crowed with victory.

      June didn’t say a word. Just sat there with a frown tugging at her brow. Megan figured the girl was feeling territorial because a strange man was in her house. A man that wasn’t her daddy.

      Megan and the kids followed Jared into the laundry room, craning their necks to watch him work.

      “Can you show me how to fix it? Then I’ll know what to do the next time this happens,” Megan said.

      “Sure. Come here.” Jared waved her over.

      The children stood beside the dryer while Megan squeezed in against the wall and Jared placed the washer inside the hose opening. Standing this close to the man, she caught his clean, spicy scent and gulped in a shaky breath.

      He screwed the connection onto the faucet and tightened it down. As he worked, his arm brushed against hers, sending currents of warmth and energy zinging up her arm.

      She stepped away quickly, her face heating up. “You think that’s it?”

      “We’ll know in a moment,” he said.

      Wrapping a towel around the connection, in case it sprayed the room again, he turned the water back on with several quick twists of his wrist. The hose pulsed twice as it filled with water, then held strong. Jared tossed the towel aside, then moved the washing machine back into its position beside the wall.

      “That’s it. You’re all set,” he said.

      “Wow! You made it look so easy.” Megan gazed at the washing machine with awe.

      “Yeah, I think you got the hard part of cleaning up the mess.”

      She chuckled. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate this.”

      “Yay! Jared did it.” Caleb jumped up and down.

      But June just scowled.

      Jared reached out and ruffled Caleb’s thatch of unruly hair. He smiled wide at the two children. “It was my pleasure.”

      A liquid feeling of warmth washed over Megan. Her children were starved for a man’s affection. Even June. And Jared was so likable. Her kids needed their daddy, but fate had been cruel to them all. They still grieved for Blaine, but with this handsome stranger standing in her home, Megan couldn’t help thinking about the possibilities. She missed having a man around the house. The deep laughter as he played with her children. The brute strength to fix a broken pipe. The soft hugs and assurance when she was feeling lonely or sad.

      “Now we have to celebrate and say thank-you to Jared with some ice cream and cookies,” Caleb announced.

      Megan released a shuddering breath. “Yes, of course.” She didn’t want to serve ice cream to the FMO and, in spite of him fixing her washing machine, she wished he hadn’t come to her home. But how could she say no? Her children didn’t understand her aversion to firefighters and that she didn’t want Jared to linger. They only knew their daddy was a hotshot. And that Jared was a nice man that had helped them out twice.

      “Actually, I’ve got to get back to the office,” Jared said.

      “But you gotta stay for cookies. They’re homemade. You just gotta,” Caleb howled.

      “My mother makes the best cookies in town,” June said, folding her arms and lifting her chin higher in the air. It was almost a challenge. As if Jared would offend them if he didn’t eat one of their cookies.

      Megan refused to meet Jared’s eyes. A conflict as old as time waged a war inside her mind. The desperation to protect her family fought against her desire to be near this amazing man. She couldn’t tell him to leave, but neither could she ask him to stay. The choice was his alone.

      “Okay, I’ll try at least one,” Jared said.

      “Yippee,” Caleb whooped.

      The boy tugged on Jared’s hand, pulling him into the kitchen. Megan followed, letting her daughter help her as she got out a tub of vanilla ice cream, four bowls and a plastic scoop. Jared sat in a chair to wait while Caleb placed the cookie jar in the middle of the table. Within minutes, they were all munching on fresh cookies and spooning ice cream into their mouths.

      Megan nibbled her treat in silence. One thought pounded her brain. She’d already signed the catering contract. It was too late to take it back. Her copy sat on the table. Jared had folded his copy and slid it into his back pocket. And now more than ever, she questioned her judgment in agreeing to cater meals to the firefighters. It would only serve as a constant reminder of her lost love. But honestly, she didn’t have the courage to ask for the contract back.

      * * *

      Jared wished he hadn’t come here. He should have waited until tomorrow when he could have returned to the restaurant to give Megan the catering contract to sign. Because now he’d caught a tiny glimpse of what it felt like to have a family of his own. A wife and children that needed him as much as he needed them. All the years he’d been married to Sharon, she’d put off having children. And out of respect for her feelings, he hadn’t pushed her. But not having kids was one of his biggest regrets.

      Now he needed to get out of here. Before he remembered how lonely he was. But Megan must be lonely, too. He’d seen the pictures in her living room, hanging on the walls and standing on the top of the piano. Pictures of Megan with her kids and a man. Her husband. If the wide smiles were any indicator of happiness, he figured she’d loved the guy more than anything else. And Jared couldn’t help wishing there was just one person in this world that loved him like that. That there was one woman who missed him when he was gone and couldn’t wait to see him again.

      He ate 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