she parked. “You must be Meredith MacCarthy,” he said as he came down the steps. “Let me help you with your gear. I’m Jake Geller. I’ll be doing the orientation today, and I’m your supervisor for the summer. The other volunteers are already inside.”
“Thanks.” Meredith studied him as he lifted her duffle bag out of the Jeep. The ranger appeared to be in his early to mid-forties. His almost black, short-cropped hair showed a touch of silver at the temples, and his brown eyes had laugh-lines at the corners. She grabbed the bags of groceries, her purse, and followed him into the cabin.
“You’ll find a landline phone in the kitchen. Cell service is iffy here in the mountains. If there’s an emergency, or if you have any questions, all the numbers you’ll need are mounted on the wall next to the phone, and no. Nobody delivers takeout or anything else to Garretsville.”
The cabin’s kitchen and living room were pretty much one large room with exposed log walls. Three closed doors on the west facing wall were probably bedrooms and a bathroom. A narrow staircase led to a small loft, and a fieldstone wood-burning fireplace flanked by narrow windows faced the North. An older couple sat together on one of the two couches, and a lanky young man, maybe nineteen or twenty, slouched in one the chairs. He had a mop of dark hair, and he wore purposefully torn jeans.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m Meredith MacCarthy.”
“The history professor.” The older man nodded. “I’m John Schulte, and this is my wife Judy. This is our eleventh year volunteering in Garretsville.” He pointed to one of the three closed doors along the western wall. “You’ll bunk in the room at that end. The bathroom and laundry facilities are between the two bedrooms.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
The younger guy tore his gaze away from his phone to give her a slight wave. “I’m Oliver Webb, and this is my first year volunteering. I took the loft.”
“It’s nice to meet all of you. It’s my first time volunteering at any national park.” Her palms sweaty, she placed her groceries on a maple, fifties-style kitchen table that had lathe-turned legs and matching chairs. “I just need to put a few things in the fridge.”
Jake set her duffle on the floor and glanced at his watch. “We’ll start orientation as soon as you’re ready.”
“Help yourself to coffee if you’d like. I just made a pot,” Judy added. “Mugs are in the cabinet to the right of the sink.”
“I will, thanks. I also brought coffee to add to our supplies.” Meredith opened the fridge door. The top two shelves were already full, which left her the bottom shelf. As quickly as she could, she put her perishables away and shoved her meat and bags of frozen veggies into the already packed freezer. Her duffle could wait. After fixing herself a cup of coffee, she joined the others and took a seat.
“Great. Let’s get started.” Jake picked up a pile of folders from the coffee table. “Inside these folders you’ll find everything you need to know about the history of Garretsville and mining in the Garnet Mountains. You have a few days to learn enough to lead tours. We open for business on Tuesday, June second. Each of you will rotate through tour guiding, grounds and building maintenance, and manning the gift shop,” the ranger said as he passed out the folders.
“You’ll all work five days per week, and the schedule for the entire summer is already set. The town is closed to visitors on Mondays, and everyone is on duty over the weekends, which are the busiest days. Copies of the schedule and a map of Garretsville are included in your information packets.”
The ranger nodded toward the older couple. “John and Judy have dealt with just about every situation that can arise, and you can count on them for help should you need it,” Jake added, flashing the couple a grateful smile.
The couple nodded happily.
“Right.” Jake placed his hands on his hips and peered at each of them in turn. “I’ll take you on a tour of the buildings that are open to tourists. Usually we end with the gift shop, but for orientation, that’s where we’ll begin. I’ll show you how to use the register, and each of you will have a chance to practice. It’s era specific, mechanical, not difficult to learn at all. We also keep a couple calculators handy. Sales tax is already figured into the price, so