Stars Over Alaska (Wild River #4) - Jennifer Snow Page 0,5

corner of the office. Other than that, there was no one in the back of their minds when they threw themselves out of a plane and dropped into the middle of a raging wildfire. The job may not be a year-round gig, but during the on season, hours were long and unpredictable. Usually men moved on to more stable, regular firefighting positions once they settled down and started families. The demands of the job were a little too much for most at that stage in their lives.

Tyler’s expression when he talked about his fiancée told Levi that there would definitely be someone to distract Tyler, and his crew’s safety depended on no distractions. “I’m sorry, Tyler, but I just don’t think this is the right fit...for either of us.”

Tyler looked determined as he reached forward and pointed to the impressive skill list on his résumé. “Come on, man. I even have additional certifications the job doesn’t call for.”

Levi spotted an exposed tattoo on his forearm—a watercolor of the aurora borealis. He took a chance. “What’s your girlfriend’s name?”

Tyler frowned as he said, “Aurora.”

Bingo.

Levi hated to turn down an amazingly qualified candidate, but he’d try to explain things to Tyler as best he could. “Okay, let me give you a ‘what if.’”

Tyler nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“What if we get a call about raging fires in Swan Lake and at the same time, you get a call that your wife is in labor. What do you do?”

Tyler’s eyes widened. “Dude, I haven’t even proposed yet.”

“Right, but you plan to and engagements lead to marriage and I suspect kids at some point?”

Tyler cleared his throat and tugged at his tie. “I guess so... I mean...yeah, I think. We haven’t really planned that far ahead.”

“To you, that timeline might seem far away, but when I’m recruiting, I have to look at least five years into a candidate’s future. A lot of training and time and effort goes into new recruits and I need my crew to be focused at all times. We run a skeleton crew because not many recruits have what it takes to succeed in this career.”

“I do,” Tyler said.

“Yeah, you do...which makes it tough for me to say this, but I can’t offer you a place on the team.”

Tyler looked annoyed. “So, you’re telling me none of the other guys on the crew have relationships?”

“Not serious ones, no.”

Tyler seemed to struggle with his next point of argument. “But...they have other family members. Aren’t those distractions?”

“Okay let me rephrase my question: What if we get a call to a fire and at the same time your sister went into labor. What do you do?”

“Obviously take care of the fire.”

Levi smiled. He rested his case.

Tyler sighed. “I’m pretty sure you can’t turn down my application because I’m in love.”

“You’re in your right to file a complaint, but I’m sticking to my decision.”

Tyler looked ready to argue but common sense obviously prevailed. Getting a hot head wasn’t the way to go and he had to give the guy even more credit for having the sense to know it.

Damn, this guy would have been a good one.

Tyler extended a hand to Levi and he accepted it.

“This isn’t the last you’ll see of me,” he said before leaving the office.

Part of Levi hoped the guy was right, the other part hoped his girlfriend said yes to his proposal.

Chad entered the office as the station door slammed shut. “You know you have to stop turning candidates away because they have a personal life. We’re going to get sued for discrimination.” Chad was the longest-standing member on the team and his ten years of experience made him the perfect spotter. It was only the two of them who worked the station year-round, the only full-time employees, and Chad was happy to defer to Levi for most decisions, but recruiting was one issue they argued about.

“There were other reasons,” Levi said.

“Sure. Like what?” Chad folded his arms, the new addition to his sleeve tattoo still wrapped in a bandage.

“He’s from Wild River.”

“So are you.”

“I’m not really from anywhere. I lived in Wild River as a kid, but I’ve lived all over Alaska.” And all over the world on different military bases. “Tyler’s never been anywhere but the ski resort town, which is about as far from real Alaska as you can get.”

Chad leaned against the door frame. “Real Alaska?”

“You know what I mean. Rugged, outback wilderness Alaska. Besides, he’s in Fairbanks because he’s chasing a woman. I give him six