Page 26 of Love in the Time of Wildfires

His gaze met hers and held it. “Yeah.”

“Does that mean you’re excited to go hang out at Lucky Duck?”

He genuinely chuckled and it warmed his face even more. She could have fallen off the bench in shock. “No,” he replied. “I’d rather go anywhere else.”

“Like . . . hiking to find a fox?”

“Do you want to go back to the same place?”

She folded her legs on the bench as she turned to face him. “Okay, so Jefferson’s partner works for the El Dorado forest department, and apparently there was a sighting of three young foxes around Lake Aloha. Do you know where that is?”

“It’s above Echo Lake. That’s definitely not a small hike though.”

“I moved across the state for this fox. You think I’m going to skip out because of a hike? I’m feeling really good about this tip. If we go early in the morning, maybe we’ll get lucky. I’ll bring lunch.”

“I mean when you say lunch . . . is this what you’re talking about?”

“Shut up. You like it. I can bring a sandwich if you really want one though.”

“These nuts are good.”

“Right? I picked them up at the farmer’s market last weekend.” As she said this, Goldie appeared, crawling to the top of the bench arm on Logan’s side, giving a squeak.

“Oh no. Does Jefferson know you’re feeding a squirrel?”

“Shhh.” She leaned forward to cover his mouth with her hand. “Do you want to get me into trouble? There are secrets now between us.” It was all in good fun until realizing she had her hand pressed to his lips as she tried to ignore the coarse prickles of his facial hair. She should stop—move away like he was a flame that could burn her, but she didn’t. Instead, River marveled at the tingle sweeping through her veins.

“Sorry.” She retreated to her side of the bench, heat spreading along her cheeks. A quietness descended upon them, except for when Goldie squeaked louder, reminding them she was present and hungry. The ground squirrel stared at Logan, standing on hind legs. One of her front paws motioned in a way that read “Gimme.”

Logan sighed, shaking his head, breaking off a piece of a cracker, and holding it out to the squirrel, who bravely took it between her paws and urgently filled her cheeks. Goldie had no qualms in showing her neediness. River hoped she didn’t look the same.

“Excuse me. Are you feeding a squirrel? For shame.” Some of her awkwardness melted away.

Logan looked her straight in the eyes and replied, “What can I say? Sometimes it’s hard to resist the cute ones.”

She blushed again, glancing away before she embarrassed herself with giggles. River had no idea what it was about him that turned her into someone who was like this, someone who lost control and became giddy. Or had she been this the whole time?

The best part was that they agreed to go to Lake Aloha the day after tomorrow because it would be her day off. When they parted after lunch, she felt a lightness, an excitement, and looked forward to their hike.

Except the following day, her body was overtaken by a sore throat and constant sneezing. On the way home from work, she stopped by the store, getting several boxes of tea, bags of cough drops, and vitamin C tablets. She was determined not to get sick, doing everything necessary to fight it off.

When she woke the next morning, River couldn’t deny having a full-blown cold. She was sick, achy, and miserable. As much as she hated doing it, she’d have to text Logan. River leaned against the bathroom wall, her head pounding and nose stuffed, and typed, Sorry. Woke up sick. Can’t go hiking.

She then grabbed her insulated tumbler to make some tea for herself before deciding she’d rather crawl under the covers of her bed. She was headed to her room when a knock came at the door.

River looked down at her rumpled banana-print pajamas and knew the rest of her wasn’t doing much better. There was no way she’d greet anyone this way even if she wasn’t horribly contagious.

“River?” came the gruff voice on the other side of the door.

She for sure didn’t want Logan to see her in this state. Ugh. Honestly, she just wanted to go back to bed and be miserable. But she worried he hadn’t seen her message yet and hoped she hadn’t gotten him sick too.

River peeked through the peephole. The man continued to be the picture of health and handsomeness. Lucky guy.

“River.” He knocked on the door again.

“I’m really sick and can’t go hiking. I’m sorry,” she said through the door as loud as her sore throat would allow.

“Is it bad?”