The Forest Ranger's Return

“No, it’s okay. Most people pretend they don’t notice my missing leg. I lost it in Afghanistan.” But her candor still surprised him. A lot. And very few people surprised him these days.

“You’re in the military?” She sat forward again, looking interested.

“Not anymore. I’m a marine.” He tightened his mouth, not wanting to disclose too much about himself. To anyone. Especially a girl he’d loved when he was fifteen years old and too young to know anything about the world.

“Ah, well, thank you for your service to our country. And I’m so sorry for your loss.”

He caught the tone of sincerity in her soft voice. No pity, just gratitude.

She braced herself to stand, and he reached out an arm. “Here, let me help you.”

She eyed him, looking skeptical. Then, without a word, she accepted his offer, sliding her fingers against his.

Trusting him.

The warmth of her soft skin zinged through his arm. He tightened his grip and pulled her up, then let her go and stepped back.

“You think you can walk? Or should I call someone for you? A husband, maybe...?”

“No, I’ve never been married,” she said.

Alone, just like him.

Surely he imagined the subtle throb of regret in her voice. And yet, a single man of his age was probably more sensitive to other people in the same predicament. But he was still amazed that she didn’t seem to remember him.

“I’ll get my truck and drive you home,” he offered.

She glanced at his amputated leg again, as though assessing his abilities. He knew what she was thinking. They were out in the middle of nowhere. How could he get his truck and drive her home with only one leg?

He jabbed a thumb toward the vicinity of Sunrise Ranch, which was now shrouded behind an edge of mountains. “I don’t live far from here. You’d only have to wait a few minutes.”

His gaze skimmed past the white stripe along her blue runner’s shorts to her scratched knees. A streak of dirt marred the edge of her chin, and he longed to brush it away. To touch her and make sure she was real. He hated being perceived as weak, especially by a girl from his past.

Correction. Woman. She wasn’t a child anymore. And neither was he.

“Um, no. I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I can walk home.”

She applied slight pressure to her ankle, testing to see if it could bear her weight. As she took a few limping steps, her face immediately contorted with pain. He knew she couldn’t walk home. Not like this.

“It’s three miles into town. You’re gonna have to let me help you. Don’t worry, it’s what I do.” He forced a smile.

Her beautiful eyes locked with his, filled with doubt. “What do you do?”

“I help people. I always have.” But he hadn’t been able to help her twenty years ago. In so many words, he’d asked her to trust him. Again. And yet, he’d failed her once. He’d been too young to stop her from being taken away. To protect her from being hurt by people she didn’t even know. But now he was a grown man. Things were different. Being a protector was in his blood. It was what had driven him to become a U.S. Marine. What had driven him to save Cade Baldwin’s life in Afghanistan. And what drove him now to train horses and work with amputee kids.

Because they needed him. And it felt good to be needed.

“Okay, thank you.” And then she smiled. A stunning reminder of who she was. The expression lit up her entire face, curved her generous lips and crinkled the slim bridge of her nose. If he’d had any doubts before, he lost them now. This was Julie Granger.

His first love.

He took a deep breath, then thrust his hand out in greeting. “I’m Dallin Savatch. Most people call me Dal.”

He watched her face carefully, waiting for recognition to fill her eyes. Nothing. Not even a glimmer.

Instead, she dragged her gaze down to his fingers. As though hesitant to touch him. He waited for her shiver of disgust. He’d seen it before, time and time again, with other people who couldn’t get past his missing leg. But that shiver didn’t come. Not this time.

She clasped his fingers tight and shook his hand. “My name is Julie Granger. I’m sorry to inconvenience you like this, but I really appreciate it.”

So. She didn’t know him. And he couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. How could she forget him so easily? Was her memory lapse selective or real?

He decided to let it pass. To pretend he hadn’t been hurt when she’d stopped answering his letters and returning his phone calls. He’d tried to tell himself she’d been nothing more than a high school crush, but that never stuck. He’d loved her deeply, but she no longer felt the same.

“No problem.” He let go a bit too fast. Trying to put some distance between them. Trying not to feel angry by her presence. He wished she weren’t so lovely. A woman who obviously liked running as much as he did. If that were possible.

“Why don’t you sit over here while I hurry home and get my truck? Then I can drive you into town to Cade’s office.” He pointed at a soft grassy knoll at the side of the road beneath the spreading limbs of a tall cottonwood.

“Cade?” Her knees visibly wobbled as she took a step toward the inviting spot. He reached for her arm, and she didn’t refuse.

“Cade Baldwin. My partner. He’s the doctor in town.”

“A doctor won’t be necessary,” she said. “Are you a doctor, too?”

“No, no. Cade’s the doctor. We were in the Marine Corps together. Now we’re partners out at Sunrise Ranch. We pooled our resources and work together there. I mostly just handle the horses.”

He’d always been a horseman, even when they were kids and his widowed mom had worked as a cook on a ranch in Oklahoma.

He expected Julie’s doubtful stare directed toward his prosthesis, but she didn’t even flinch. Most amputees didn’t train horses, much less wild mustangs. But he did. And he was good at it, too. He refused to let his missing limb get in the way of his work. The horses didn’t judge him. They didn’t care if he only had one leg. And when he was with them, he could forget the disability he’d worked so hard to overcome.

The way Julie had forgotten him.

One of her brows arched upward in recognition. “Ah! You’re from the horse camp for amputee kids I’ve been hearing about. I believe the previous forest ranger married the owner.”

He nodded, surprised that she knew so much about them. “That’s right. In fact, the horse camp was the ranger’s idea. Cade’s in charge of physical therapy and special programs for the kids. His wife, Lyn, pays the bills, coordinates the meals, takes care of her two children and everything else. Of course, we have other staff who work at the place, too.”

“It sounds amazing,” she agreed. “I’ve heard a lot about Lyn Baldwin since I got into town. I’m not surprised she retired as the forest ranger once she had her second child. No doubt she has plenty to keep her busy out at your ranch.”

“She is amazing, but why have you heard about her?”

“I’m the new forest ranger.”

Dawning flooded Dal’s dazed brain. Lyn had told him a new ranger was coming in last week, but he’d expected a man, not Julie. Not a girl he’d never forgotten in all these long, painful years.

“I just moved here last week,” she continued. “I’m hoping to visit Lyn soon, to see if she can bring me up to speed on several issues I’ll be dealing with.”

He nodded and released her hand as she sat down. Currents of energy zigzagged up his arm, reaching clear to his shoulder blade. He rubbed his biceps, hoping the feeling would ease soon.

It didn’t.