Julie was always going to stay on her crew, and that was absolutely fine with him. Jim would never make her do something she didn’t want to do.
But he’d made up his mind: he was going to retire.
Of course, things hadn’t gone exactly as he planned. McCready had listened to his advice and decided to take on a more supervisory role, leaving an open void for Chief of the Forest.
In a vote of seven to one, the rest of the men had voted Jim to be the next Chief. Jim had initially refused – he had voted for Carver, in the end – but after talking to Julie about it, he realized that he didn’t want to retire.
He loved what he did, even if it was dangerous. He could make a difference. He could save lives. And if he could save even one man out there who could go home and curl up next to his fiancé
