Expired Hope by Lisa Phillips

“Peter, you are not at war. Look for Joey in your backseat. Do you see him?” Natalie Atkinson gripped the steering wheel of her Volkswagen Beetle and put on her hazards. If only counselors had emergency lights.

“Stand down.” She spoke loud and clear over the phone connection. “There’s no enemy.”

Not one they could see.

She battled every fire she ever faced.He’s risking everything for the chance to belong.
Veteran and therapist Natalie Atkinson watched her Army career explode in her face. All she ever wanted was to help people carry their burdens. Seeking a new future in Last Chance County doesn’t start so well when she’s the one being rescued from a client’s burning house. To make matters worse, now she’s stuck evaluating the truck and rescue squads for the fire department. When the chief overhears why she left her last job, she’s determined to prove to him and her boss that she’s still the right therapist to assess his crew.

No matter if success takes everything she’s got.

Fire Chief Macon James is the right man for the job. He doesn’t need a therapist interfering with the running of his crew or putting his position in jeopardy when a counselor is what tore his family apart. He’s got to get his firefighters to be a team, and he can do it without Natalie’s help. After an explosion destroys her car, it quickly becomes clear she might need him as much as everyone thinks he needs her. If these two stubborn hearts will surrender, they could have everything they want.
Or it could all go down in flames.