Page 2 of Shelter for Morgan

They were almost under the frame of the ceiling high opening when she turned to look at him. "Do you know that when squirrels land, they actually look like superheroes?"

He looked at her with a curious expression on his face. "What? Really?"

She nodded. "I've watched this whole set of videos about a guy who makes obstacle course for squirrels in his backyard. It's awesome entertainment and those furry little guys are so adorable and smart. If you want, I'll find the name of the channel and give it to you. They show them landing from a leap or a fall and they have this way of looking down at the ground and then they lock their focus and land like superheroes. It's a lot of fun."

He pushed open an inner door and waved her through. "It sounds like it. I'd love the name of the channel."

"Absolutely," she grinned. "I'll find it on my phone before I leave."

The florescent lighting was almost a welcome change from the super bright Texas sun.

And the air conditioning? AWESOME.

"Would you like some water?"

"That would be lovely! Thank you." She reached into her purse for her wallet, but Squirrel looked at her with a strange expression on his face. "Are you looking for your phone?"

She pointed at the table beside her where she'd already put her phone down. "No, it's right there."

He closed the refrigerator door and nodded. "Yeah. I was just wondering why you were digging in your bag."

Morgan took out her wallet and held it up. "I just didn't know how much the water was."

Squirrel shook his head. "You can have it. No need to pay us."

She hesitated. "Everything costs money. I don't want to be a bad guest."

"Ah," he nodded and set the water bottle down on the table. "Here at Station Seven, if you're thirsty, we have water. If you're hungry-"

One of the other firefighters in the room looked up from the newspaper and smiled at her. "You might have to fight to the death."

Squirrel rolled his eyes. "Ha ha. Funny, Taco."

"What's this I hear about fighting to the death?"

Morgan turned her head and saw the man she thought was the Fire Chief outside the station. He looked at the man that Squirrel called Taco and then at Squirrel before he turned back to look at her.

"Don't worry. It only happens on every other Saturday, when I'm not at the fire house. Hello," he stretched out his hand to shake hers. "I'm Ethan Blaise, Fire Chief of Station Seven. And that means I've become pretty adept at putting up with these guys, but you're new, so I apologize."

She smiled and waved off his apology. "They're great. I'm the one who should apologize. I came to the fire house looking for Palmer, but Squirrel said he's not on this shift. I've been driving for a few days, and I think I might have lost track of what day I'm on."

Taco folded his newspaper and set it down on the table. "Where did you drive from?"

"I came from Center City. I took a bit of a scenic drive and stopped along the way at a few historical sites on the way down." She saw the curious expression on Taco's face. "I'm here to fill in as a history teacher at Shilling High School."

The Chief nodded. "That's just a few miles from here. When do you start?"

She grinned, but her smile felt a little tight. "I'm starting on Monday, so I don't think I know how many days that is from now if Palmer's not on this shift."

"Three days," Squirrel provided as he sat down on the arm of a nearby sofa. "You have a few days to relax."

"Oh, no relaxing now that I'm here in town. I need to get my lesson plans ready and do an orientation at the school early on Monday morning. The school year waits for no one."

"Except snow."

Morgan looked at Taco and nodded.

The Chief looked at them both. "It only snows here in San Antonio about every ten years or so, so you shouldn't have to worry about that for another two or three years."

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