mail. She sure had enough to tell her.
Darkness surged, a rush of cold sadness like dirty floodwater, but she jumped to her feet and shook off the chill. Pulling up some memories didn’t have to mean all of them. Biting her lip, she fought to distract herself.
Maybe it would be worth taking a gander at her own list to see how Mr. Gunnar Wolfe measured up to her teenage ideal of a perfect husband. The thought made her blush and shake her head. Heaven help them both if the man didn’t even meet her criteria for boyfriend.
Chapter Nine
Not wanting to miss Katy’s reaction when she came out to SFF&R’s second community campfire, Gunnar sat on a stump next to the stump holding her canvas bag, keeping an eye on the open bay doors while also conversing with guests stopping by to welcome him as their new fire chief.
His vigilance finally paid off when Katy came rushing out of the station and actually stumbled to a halt at the sight of what had to be thirty people sitting and standing in small groups around the blazing campfire. They talked and laughed and drank what Gunnar hoped to God were nonalcoholic beverages. Noticing Katy’s wide-eyed gaze slide to her left, he looked over to see another dozen people walking up the driveway, most all of them carrying folding chairs, bags of food, and small coolers. He looked back just as she finished taking a long guzzle from her metal water bottle, then watched her take a deep breath, smooth down her shirt, plaster her signature smile firmly in place, and casually saunter toward the monster she’d created. Gunnar turned when he heard a snort to see Jake—decked out in his crisp blue uniform and weighted down with various police toys—drop the stump he carried on the other side of the one holding the canvas bag and then sit down.
“Looks like we might have to start calling ahead for reservations,” Jake said.
“Unless you’ve got a mouse in your pocket, there is no we.”
“You ask permission yet, or you waiting to grow a bigger pair first?”
“I’m waiting to see what kind of response I get from the ads I took out all over Europe.”
Jake stood with a grin broad enough to be seen from space and plucked the canvas bag off the stump. And then the bastard moved in front of it and gestured for Katy to take his stump. “I’ve been saving a seat for you.”
She hesitated a couple of heartbeats, then stepped around him and sat down where her bag had been. “Thank you, but I believe it’s better if I sit between you two.”
It was all Gunnar could do not to laugh as the thwarted bastard sat on his old stump.
“Feeling pretty proud of yourself this evening, I suppose,” Gunnar drawled to Katy.
She looked at him in surprise. Or maybe that was horror. “I never dreamed all these people would show up,” she said—in yup, definitely horror—as she gestured at the crowd. “Ten or twelve people were the most we ever had at one time in Pine Creek.”
“I imagine it will settle down here once the newness wears off. But I was actually talking about your little victory this afternoon.”
A big, bright smile replaced her horror. “I will cherish the look on everyone’s faces all the way to my grave.”
“So, when did you realize you were being filmed?”
That smile turned smug. “When I realized where our safety lines were tied off and found myself wondering why they’d parked the rescue truck at such an odd angle.” She chuckled. “Someone forgot to put a piece of black tape over the little red light on the dashcam.”
Gunnar leaned closer. “If I promise not to tell, will you tell me how you got down?”
She glanced over at Russo and his wife and two sons sitting across the fire, then flashed a mysterious look. “By magic.” She laughed when he scowled at her. “Okay,” she said, leaning his way. “We went up.”
Gunnar straightened with a snort. “Hell, you should be proud of yourself,” he said, knowing it would have required far more upper-body strength than anyone on the squad thought the new rookie possessed. Damn, he wished she hadn’t erased that video.
Katy took the canvas bag from Jake when she noticed him rummaging through it, then pulled out a plastic tub and set it on her lap as she looked around at all the people again, her gaze occasionally stopping on a group before moving