Healing the Forest Ranger. Leigh Bale
the breeze. For just a moment, she imagined herself sitting there in the evening with a glass of lemonade in her hand. She envisioned Kristen running across the green lawn and laughing. No limp. No holes in their hearts. A happy family once more.
Lyn studied the upper floor where three wide windows and shutters trimmed with blue paint gazed down at her. A cheery place she longed to explore. “How many bedrooms do you have?”
Cade opened the corral gate and led Flash toward the horse trailer. “Three downstairs and five up. There’s also three baths, a large kitchen, mudroom and living room with a rock fireplace. The guesthouse out back has three more bedrooms and another full bath. Are you in the market?”
She blinked. “No, I was just curious.”
“Good, because I’d never sell this place. I just finished renovating the downstairs bathroom, complete with a walk-in shower and jetted tub. The work is good therapy.”
“Therapy for what?”
He frowned as though he’d confided too much. “I just like to stay busy.”
Hmm. She could read a lot in what he didn’t say. Rob had fought in the Gulf War. He’d liked to stay busy, too. It helped him forget a lot of trauma, and Lyn wondered if it was the same for Cade. Though she’d never been to war, she understood the feeling. “What’s the guesthouse for?”
“Years ago, it used to be a bunkhouse filled with wranglers who helped work the ranch. Now it just sits empty.”
“And you live here all alone?”
“Yep.”
She hurried to open the door and lower the ramp to the trailer. “Where’s your family?”
He hesitated, a hint of sadness in his expressive voice. “I have a cousin living back east, but the rest are all gone now. My grandfather died last spring and willed me what’s left of the ranch. Over the years, he’d sold off pieces of it here and there.”
No wonder Cade would never sell. The ranch must have a lot of sentimental value for him. “I’m sorry to hear of your loss.”
Her Appaloosa mare stood inside the trailer, and Flash neighed a low greeting and waved his head. The other horse nickered in return, and Flash walked right up the ramp without any urging. Cade closed the metal door behind him.
Lyn glanced at Gus, who hadn’t left her side. “Your dog seems pretty calm. Would he like to go with us?”
Cade nodded. “That’s thoughtful of you. He takes my commands and does well up on the mountain. He won’t chase any wildlife, unless I ask him to.”
That was good enough for Lyn. Without a word, she opened the door and gave a shrill whistle. “Come, Gus!”
The dog’s ears pricked forward, and he stared at the woman for several moments as though assessing her. She wasn’t his master, after all, but she’d worked with cow dogs when she’d been a kid on her parents’ ranch. The dog decided she was okay and raced to the door, hopping up inside.
Pulling his cowboy hat off his head, Cade wiped his brow. “Looks like he minds you better than he does me.”
Lyn chuckled as she got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. She waited for Cade to join her and snap on his seat belt. With Gus sitting between them, panting, Lyn put the truck in gear and pulled out of the yard.
They didn’t speak as she took the dirt road leading up to the McClellan Mountains. The desert rolled out before them, beautiful with its austere sage and golden-brown hues. She pointed at a rocky outcropping bedecked by blue lupine and mountain sunflowers. “Isn’t that pretty? Spring is finally here.”
Cade blinked in confusion, then nodded. “I’ve been up this road zillions of times, but never noticed any flowers before.”
She kept her gaze in front of her, navigating the twisty turns with ease. “I suppose war and medical school are a big distraction. It’s hard to stop our busy lives long enough to notice the beautiful world we live in.”
He didn’t comment. As they climbed in elevation, the vegetation became more scrubby. A trail of PJ’s hugged the dirt road leading into the canyon. Silver-colored rocks and gravel littered the vast hills with clear views of the mountains flowing beyond the horizon. Desolate or not, Lyn loved this place already. When she went up into the mountains like this, she could almost forget her troubles for a short time.
“Isn’t the desert beautiful?” she asked, not necessarily looking for an answer.
“I think so,” he said, then clamped his mouth shut as though he regretted speaking.
At the mouth of Barton’s Canyon, Lyn pulled the truck over to a flat area and killed the motor. “We’ll ride the rest of the way from here on horseback.”
“Whatever you say.”
They unloaded their horses. A quiet camaraderie settled between them as they worked. Without her asking, the doctor lifted her blanket and saddle onto the back of her horse. Lyn could easily do the chore, but Cade’s thoughtfulness impressed her and she thanked him. Gus lazed patiently beneath the wide spread of a cottonwood, not at all bothered by the waiting.
“This is Applejack.” Lyn patted the neck of her white Appaloosa mare.
“Is that a Forest Service horse or your own?” Cade eyed the government brand on the horse’s rump.
“Forest Service. I don’t own a horse anymore, although Kristen keeps begging me to buy her one.” Lyn drew in a deep breath and let it go. “Most kids want a puppy, but not my Kristen. She wants a horse—as if she could ever ride.”
“Why can’t she ride?”
She waited for Apple to exhale before tightening the cinch on her saddle. “I think you know the answer to that. Kristen can barely walk, let alone ride horses. I think she wants one because her dad loved them so much. She wants to play soccer and girls’ basketball, too.”
He pulled the reins up over the gelding’s head and stepped up onto his horse. “So let her. There’s no reason she can’t do all those activities.”
Everything within Lyn rebelled, and she looked at him as if he’d gone daft. “No, I don’t want her falling off a horse or getting knocked down by an angry teammate. She doesn’t move very fast, and she’s been hurt enough.”
They both had. If only they could start to heal now. But it seemed an impossible goal, always out of reach. Everything was so difficult. The hospital and doctor visits, the continuous pile of medical bills, shuttling Kristen back and forth from school, the girl’s constant sullen attitude. Everything had become an exhausting task. And if losing Rob wasn’t bad enough, it now seemed there was a wide gulf of anger between mother and daughter. And Lyn didn’t know how to breach the void.
“Don’t you think Kristen should decide what’s too difficult for her to do?” Cade asked. “Maybe she figures getting hurt is worth it to try and succeed at new things. Kids need to try different activities to help build their confidence.”
Lyn’s mouth hardened. This man didn’t know her or her daughter. Not really. One doctor’s visit didn’t give him the right to tell her how to raise her own child. “I’m her mother. I know what’s best for her.”
She ignored his deep frown and turned her back on him as she adjusted the halter over Apple’s muzzle. As she climbed into the saddle, she hoped Cade would let the subject drop.
“What if I help Kristen?” he persisted. “I’m pretty good with horses and could give her riding lessons. It’d strengthen her legs and back, which would help her walk better, too. As her doctor, I highly recommend she try anything she likes. Let her live her life, Lyn.”
Hearing him say her first name caused her face to heat up like road flares. A feeling of panic made her arms tremble, and she shook her head. “I...I can’t take that chance. Kristen’s