Page 7 of Single Mom for the Firemen

“Yeah, in that cabin just across from yours,” I reply, gesturing back in the direction of the place we call home.

“I don’t get it,” she mutters. “You live here? Is it, like, a fire station or something…?”

“No, we just do volunteer work through the summer,” I laugh. “We live there the rest of the year and keep an eye on the place, ever since the forest fires a few years ago.”

“A few years ago?” She frowns. “I thought those happened…God, when I was in high school, at least.”

“You’re probably right,” I agree. “Time doesn’t work the same way when you get to my age.”

“Your age?”

“I’m nearly forty.”

Her lips part in surprise.

“No way!” she exclaims. “I never would have guessed?—”

“Hey, much as I appreciate the flattery,” I laugh, “you don’t have to throw that at me.”

“No, it’s not flattery, I just…” She trails off, her gaze sweeping up and down my body. “Wouldn’t have put you at that age. Didn’t think guys your age could manage life in the middle of the woods, anyway.”

“You think we’re that decrepit?” I shoot back, raising my eyebrows. “We’d have saved your ass from that fire if it had gotten any worse?—”

She rolls her eyes skyward. “It wasn’t a fire!” she protests. “It was just a burned pie. And I don’t think it could have gotten much worse than that—it was charred by the time I got it out of the oven.”

“Yeah, well, point still stands,” I reply. She lets out a sigh and pushes a hand through her hair.

“I am sorry about all of that,” she admits, finally. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I just had a long journey out here the day before, and I was exhausted. I didn’t think I was going to fall asleep in that bath…”

“Hey, everything turned out alright in the end,” I assure her. She glances at me out of the corner of her eye.

“You’re a lot nicer than the one who talked to me.”

“Jake? Yeah, my brother can be kind of an asshole.”

“Your brother?” She sounds surprised.

“Yeah, they both are. Jake and Mason. And I’m Killian, by the way.”

She leaves the shallow water she was standing in to come shake my hand, saying, “I’m Vanessa, and my daughter’s name is Callie.”

I grin at her. “Great to meet you, Vanessa.

“You too, Killian.” She smiles back. “Damn, so you live with both your brothers—it’s a whole family thing, huh?”

I chuckle. “I guess you could say that, yeah.”

“How do you get into that? Your dad was a firefighter or something?”

“Nah,” I reply, shaking my head. “We were all SEALs.”

“Like, the Navy?”

“Well, not like the marine animal.”

She laughs. I like her laugh—it’s full and sweet and bright, a pleasant change from the encounter we had with her the other day.

“So you’re putting those skills to good use?”

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