Her Firefighter Hero by Leigh Bale Page A

Bulldozers, pumper trucks and water tenders. You name it. They were all here, lined up in tidy rows and ready for action.
    Clusters of men wearing a variety of yellow Nomex fireproof shirts, windbreakers, spruce-green pants and heavy Vibram-soled boots were moving around the camp in a melee of organized chaos. To the north, the office district had been set up where the operations of the camp took place. Long mobile offices with the words Finance and Check-in stood off to the side near the entrance. Moving nice and slow, Megan pulled into the camp, wondering where Jared wanted them to set up.
    â€œThis is it,” she said to her kids.
    Caleb and June sat beside her, their eyes wide as they craned their necks to see everything.
    Megan gazed toward the south, where dozens of little tents dotted the landscape. Undoubtedly, this was the residential area, where hundreds of men and women slept, ate and got their orders before going out on the fire line each day. A miniature city. From the looks of things, Megan’s catering crew would be up here serving meals for a couple of weeks. Maybe more.
    She parked the truck near the check-in. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
    Sitting in a booster seat beside his sister, Caleb snapped off his seat belt and leaned against the dashboard. “But I wanna go with you, Mom. I wanna see Jared.”
    Megan inwardly groaned. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought her kids with her. But she wanted to spend more time with them. She’d brought them along, thinking they wouldn’t be here long.
    â€œRemember we talked about this? We’re just dropping off supplies, setting up the kitchen, and then we’re going back down the mountain into town. I don’t want you to get into any trouble,” she said.
    â€œI just want to see Jared,” Caleb grumbled.
    â€œHe’s working. You know that, son.”
    â€œWhere is Jared?” June asked as she gazed out the windshield.
    Megan opened her door. “I’m sure he’s here somewhere. I’ll be right back.”
    She got out and went to tell Catherine and Frank what she was doing. No sense in everyone getting out of their vehicles right now if they were in the wrong place.
    As she approached, Frank rolled down the window of the semi and rested his beefy arm against the outside of the door.
    â€œI’m going to find out where we should set up. Would you mind keeping an eye on the kids for a few minutes?” She pointed to where the kids still remained safely inside her truck, craning their heads this way and that as they looked out the windows.
    He waved a hand. “Sure will. I’ll wait right here until you tell me where I should go.”
    It wasn’t long before Megan had checked in and received instructions on where to unload their food supplies. As she returned to her truck, she caught herself staring at each man she passed. Some wore yellow or red hard hats, others wore baseball caps, and it dawned on her that she too was looking for Jared. She couldn’t help wondering why that was. She was a mature woman and knew what she was doing. So why was she eager to see him again?
    Back in the truck, she turned on the vehicle and drove toward the east side of the command center. The semi groaned as Frank put it in gear and followed behind, with Catherine and the high school kids in pursuit. They all parked near a wide, empty area on the west side of the camp, then hopped out and gathered around for instructions.
    â€œLet’s put up the tent right here with the kitchen over there. I think that will give us the best advantage of sunlight throughout the day.” Megan pointed to indicate where everything should go.
    The crew went to work, opening up the trailer and unloading boxes.
    â€œThere’s Jared!” Caleb pointed and would have run toward the man, but Megan latched onto his arm.
    â€œStay here. He’ll come to us.” She didn’t want her boy running