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CHAPTER 1

DELANEY

Big Wood, Tennessee. Population 649.

I drove past the sign welcoming me to town. Looked like I was going to be number 650, at least for the summer. Spending three months in Big Wood, Tennessee, had never been on my bucket list. I thought I’d be working closer to home at a state park in upstate New York. But, thanks to a last-minute call, I’d been offered an assignment to take over for the park ranger in charge of a small summer camp in Nowhereville, Tennessee, who’d broken her ankle on a hike a few days ago.

My hatchback groaned as I pulled into the gravel lot outside the Big Wood Visitor Center. I shifted into park, rolled down the window, and let the early summer air pour in. It smelled like damp trees, hot asphalt, and panic.

The panic was all me. I was four days early for a job I wasn’t supposed to have, in a town I’d never been to, taking over a program I’d seen exactly zero documentation for. If I messed this up, I wouldn’t just lose the job, I’d lose the shot I’d been chasing since my first field trip to a nature preserve. So yeah. No pressure.

Cutting the engine, I grabbed the manila folder from the passenger seat containing a few pages of scribbled notes, half a dozen emails, and the emergency contract I’d signed and scanned just forty-eight hours ago.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” I muttered to myself. “Totally fine.”

It wasn’t where I was supposed to be. I’d lined up a summer assistantship at the Hudson Valley Nature Center in upstate New York, where I’d interned. I knew the drill and would have spent my days herding field trip kids from exhibit to exhibit, answering the same questions about turtles over and over again, and basking in the predictability of it all.

Instead, I got a call from the Tennessee Division of Forestry. Big Wood’s long-standing seasonal educator, Ranger Rhonda, had taken a tumble on a slick trail and shattered her ankle. They needed someone immediately. I’d interned for the state two summers ago and apparently left just enough of an impression to land me on their radar.

Now here I was with one graduate degree, a hatchback full of supplies, and no clue about what I was walking into. I didn’t have the degrees my siblings racked up like trophies, but I knew how to connect with people. That had to count for something.

If I did well, I could skip a few rungs on the ladder to my dream job and secure a coveted permanent position somewhere closer to home in the fall. But rumor had it the district ranger in Big Wood was a real piece of work. “A stubborn, mule-headed jackass” according to a guy in my program who’d interned under him last summer. Still, a shot was a shot, and I’d invested years of hard work to get me ready to take mine.

The visitor center sat in a clearing surrounded by tall pines with the mountains looming in the background. Dappled sunlight filtered through the trees, and I took in a deep breath as I made my way toward the front porch. Even with the humidity in the air, it felt good to stretch my legs after my long drive.

The building itself had seen better days and looked like it hadn’t changed since the ‘60s. A row of rocking chairs sat on the wide porch and a hand-painted wooden sign hung next to the door. I turned the knob and stepped into a rush of cooler air and a musty scent like the place hadn’t been aired out in decades.

A woman in a yellow volunteer vest sat behind the front desk, flipping through a magazine.

"You here for the brochures or the bathrooms?" she asked without looking up.

I smiled. "Neither, actually. I'm Delaney Hart. I’m here to run the summer program. Ranger Rhonda’s replacement."

That got her attention. She straightened in her chair and blinked at me through thick glasses. “You’re early.”

“I wanted to get settled over the weekend. Is Ranger Ramsey around? I was told he oversees this site.”

She huffed a little as she got up from her chair. “It’s District Ranger Ramsey and you’re lucky he’s on site today. Give me just a minute and I’ll see if he’s available. Don’t touch anything.”

“Thank you.” I waited until she disappeared through a doorway behind the desk. Her warning didn’t mean a thing. I absolutely planned to touch everything as soon as I got the chance, especially the thick layer of dust coating almost every surface.

While she rustled up the ranger, I wandered around the room. Faded posters lined the walls featuring black bears, poison ivy, and salamander migration charts. A glass case displayed a raccoon skull, a pinecone the size of a baby’s head, and what looked like a preserved snakeskin that had seen better years.

So, the place needed a little updating. Nothing I couldn’t work with.

Heavy footsteps sounded on the floorboards behind me. I whirled around and stopped in my tracks.

The man standing by the front desk was at least six foot six and looked like he wrestled trees for fun. He wore a khaki ranger shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, cargo pants, and a don’t-mess-with-me look on his movie-star-attractive face that should have sent me running for the safety of my car.

Unfortunately, I’d never been good at running from trouble. It always seemed to find me one way or another.

“Delaney Hart?” he asked, his voice deep and rough. The gravel in his tone sent a zing of attraction straight through me.

“That’s me.” I moved closer while I regained my self control and stuck out my hand. “Nice to meet you, District Ranger Ramsey.”

He glanced at my hand for a second before deciding whether it was worth shaking. When he finally did, he had a firm grip but didn’t offer up a smile.

“We didn’t expect you until Monday.” Too soon, he let go.

“I know. I thought I’d get a head start on organizing supplies and planning the first few days.” And maybe pulling myself together so I didn’t make a fool of myself around him and freshening things up a bit based on what I’d seen.

His brow twitched. Just barely. “Rhonda runs a tight program. You won’t have to stray from the curriculum she’s already prepared. The kids know what to expect and what’s expected of them.”

He made it sound like a program for juvenile delinquents instead of a summer camp that was supposed to be fun and get kids excited about nature. Before I had a chance to ask for clarification, he turned and walked down a side hallway. “Come on. I’ll show you the storage closet. Try not to move too much around until you see how things work around here.”

I followed, biting my tongue. My best chance of survival was to smile, be agreeable, and don’t rock the boat. Filling in for Ranger Rhonda should be easy peasy. The work was already done, I just had to see it through. Oh, and not piss off Grumpy Ranger Ramsey. Make that hot-as-hell, Grumpy District Ranger Ramsey.

The supply room was bigger than I expected, packed to the gills with bins, posters, first aid kits, animal track molds, and what looked like a hundred rolls of caution tape.

“This is all yours,” he said as he handed me a set of keys. “There’s a key on here for the closet, the park office, and the cabin we reserved for you for the summer. It’s down the trail about a quarter of a mile. Just lock up when you leave. I have to go pick up my kids.”

“You have kids?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Despite his lack of warmth and uptight personality, it shouldn’t come as a shock that someone would be physically attracted to him enough to want to reproduce with the man. With a muscular build, thick dark hair, and eyes the same dark green as the pine needles on the tall trees right outside, he wasn’t exactly hard to look at. The dangerous combination had my heart pounding and thighs clenching and we’d just met.

“Wren and Eli. They’re ten-year-old twins and have been participating in the summer program for years.” His expression didn’t change. I bet he was a real barrel of laughs at parties.

“Twins, huh? Double the fun, right?” Like he’d never heard that before. Inside, I cringed.

“My number’s in your paperwork if you need to reach me over the weekend. I’ll be working at another site, but we’ll have volunteers staffing the office that can answer any questions you might have. You’ve already met Janice. She’ll be here tomorrow too.”

“Great. I’ll get settled, then start going over the info Ranger Rhonda left to see if I need to make any changes.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he tilted his head. “Ranger Rhonda’s been running the summer program around here for the past thirty years. I doubt there are any changes that need to be made.”

“Right.” The last thing I needed was to start off on the wrong foot with my new boss. So, I back pedaled as quickly and gracefully as I could. “I just meant I’ll look it over so I can get comfortable with the material.”

He nodded, apparently appeased for the moment. Then he turned and left, his heavy boots echoing on the worn wooden floorboards.

Close call. I’d almost messed up before I even started. Exhaling slowly, I turned my attention back toward the overflowing supply closet and stared at the stacked bins and dusty trail maps.

This wasn’t what I’d planned. It wasn’t the job I’d trained for. But for the first time in months, I felt a flicker of excitement.

Instead of spending my summer as a grunt at the whim of someone with a higher pay grade, I had the chance to take what Rhonda had started and put my own stamp on it. I just needed to stay out of Jace Ramsey’s way. Fumbling to keep myself in check around my hot new boss wouldn’t get me any closer to my goals.

“Okay, Big Wood,” I whispered to the empty closet. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”