Operation Fireworks

Not all secrets can be kept.

Jake McGill wants to spend his vacation time in the mountains. As a bonus, he gets to take kids on hikes, teach them to shoot, and run the fireworks show for the Fourth of July at camp. But the instant attraction he feels for the camp director wasn’t something he’d anticipated.

Single mom Deb Magarry has always put her son first. When she agrees to stand in as director for the summer camp they attend together every year, romance is the farthest thing from her mind. Especially not with Jake and all the ghosts he resurrects from her past.

How will Jake convince Deb to give him a chance when she’s determined to keep her heart, and her secrets, under lock and key?

Operation Fireworks is the third book in the Operation Romance series. Read this charming contemporary Christian romance to bring back fond memories of campfires and summer love today.

Jake McGill grabbed the canvas duffel from the back
of his truck and slung it over his shoulder. Three weeks off.
Intelligence Associates would be fine without him. Honestly,
they’d probably be fine without him if he took six weeks off.

But what would he do with himself for that long? As it was,
he was spending his vacation in the mountainous southern tip of Virginia working at a camp. He shook his head. He’d given Gabe such a hard time about using his vacation to run the Christmas light fundraiser for Operation Mistletoe. And he’d teased Rick about going in to the office when he was back in the States at the start of the year on vacation. and here he
was, doing effectively the same thing. None of them knew how to relax.

At least Gabe and Rick had each managed to snare a
woman in the process. That wasn’t likely to happen here. The camp was primarily staffed by married couples or college students. The camp director had been suspicious when Jake applied for the trail guide and riflery instructor position.

Thankfully, his references had checked out and she’d come
around. The need for a counselor must’ve outweighed the desire for that person to be married. That and the fact that he was qualified to do the Fourth of July fireworks.

Maybe that’s what pushed her over the edge to take him on. There couldn’t be that many people willing to come for just room and board.

Jake shrugged and trudged up the path from the parking area to the main lodge to check in. It wasn’t as if he’d be sleeping in the same cabin with a group of kids. No. Corralling the campers who wanted to hike and learn survival skills or how to shoot a BB gun was one thing. But to herd them from place to place, eat with them, do nightly devotions? That was not his scene. He’d get to spend time in the mountains, teach the kids a few things, and send them back to their cabins at night, leaving him with plenty of time to read and relax.

Jake pulled open the screen door, wincing as the hinges screamed in protest, and stepped into the sprawling,
high-ceilinged room. Three ping pong tables were arranged down one long wall on the far side, couches that had seen better days were clustered in groupings around low tables in the rest of the room. If this was what they had to offer for recreation on rainy days, he’d keep his fingers crossed that the weather stayed clear. He dropped his duffel and tucked his hands in his pockets as he looked around.

Aha. A door tucked in the corner had peeling letters
that labeled it the office. He crossed the space and rapped on it.

“Come in.”

His eyebrows lifted. The voice was younger than he’d
anticipated. The woman he’d dealt with as he set up his time
here had come across as older. And mean. Jake pushed open
the door and froze. It definitely wasn’t the mannish retired
gym teacher he’d constructed in his head. The woman behind
the desk was striking. She was probably about his age, though
her luminous skin would make younger women envious. Jake
cleared his throat. “Morning. Jake McGill, checking in.”

“Mr. McGill. Have a seat and I’ll be right with you.”

She didn’t look up, but continued tapping away at the laptop on her desk.

All right. At least the view was nice. Jake lowered himself into the metal folding chair that sat opposite the desk and propped an ankle on his knee. What was her name? The nameplate on the desk simply said CAMP DIRECTOR. Did they go through so many that it wasn’t cost effective to personalize?

Her strawberry blonde ponytail swung slightly as she hammered the keys. He didn’t envy whoever was on the
receiving end of her electronic diatribe.

Finally, she looked up, her blue eyes piercing. “Mr. McGill, I’m Deborah Magarry. Mrs. Beech, the usual camp director, was taken ill last week and her doctors have advised her to take the rest of the summer off. I’ll be filling in until they can find a permanent replacement.”

That explained it, then. He grinned. “Pleasure to meet
you.”

“We’ll see. I’ve been going over all the paperwork for counselors prior to the campers arriving tomorrow morning. It turns out that there were anomalies in several of the applications that should have resulted in a firm, but polite, refusal. Thus, we’re all going to have to pitch in and pick up the extra work as needed.” Deborah offered a tight smile.

“You’ll be in cabin seven. Here’s the folder with information
on your charges. You’ll be responsible for ensuring that they keep the room tidy, as much as seven and eight year old boys are capable of doing so. You’ll also need to have an evening devotional each night before lights out. I’ve put a list of suggestions for topics in the folder as well. Your schedule is
the very top sheet. See that each group gets to their activities on time, without losing any of the kids along the way. And be back to pick them up at the end of the session. The other counselors know you’re doing double duty, so they’ll wait with their campers until you arrive at the hiking trail head or the shooting range. Any questions?”

Only about a thousand. Jake shook his head. “I’m not...a cabin of kids? That’s not what I signed up for.”

Her lips thinned. “I’m aware of that. I also believe I mentioned that this is necessary. Unless, of course, you’d like to call those eight families and explain why they shouldn’t
come drop their kids off tomorrow?”

It was tempting. He liked kids well enough. But mostly when you had a concrete plan to acquire them, teach them something, and get them back to their parents. That’s how the youth group had roped him into helping Gabe and it
was going all right. Jake mostly brought snacks and hung out
with the guys. But those were high school kids. Not—what
grade were eight year olds anyway? “No. That won’t be
necessary. Cabin seven, you said?”

For the briefest moment, Deborah’s smile reached
her eyes. “There’s a map on the back of your schedule. You’ve got tonight to get settled. Dinner is at five in the dining hall and then we have leader devotions and a team building exercise followed by a campfire.”

“When am I supposed to settle in again?”

Deborah glanced at the slim gold watch on her wrist. “You have nearly seven hours before dinner. Surely that’s plenty? Though you’ll probably want to check the supplies for the shooting range. Let me get you the key.”