A Marriage In Wyoming. Lynnette Kent

       Chapter Three

      Garrett found himself whistling while he drove home. He recognized the tune as a love song by one of his favorite artists and grinned.

      Not that he had fallen in love. Not yet. But all day long, even through the worry and distress over Lena, he had been aware of an effervescence in the air, a sense of excitement and anticipation he could only relate to Rachel Vale. Even when she gave him those cute frowns of hers, he wanted to smile. He appreciated her caring approach to Lena’s very real fears and her calm expertise in the face of a crisis. Her direct refusal to consider their dinner a date appealed to his sense of fairness. At least he knew where he stood with her.

      He had to agree that their relationship would be complicated. His faith was the foundation of his life, and Rachel’s skepticism presented a serious obstacle. Garrett suspected the reason for her resistance had something to do with her mother’s death. He hoped she would confide in him about that reason and let him help her deal with her grief.

      He would have to earn her trust to make that happen, a task he looked forward to with pleasure. Setting up in a new town, Rachel would no doubt feel isolated, maybe even lonely. Bringing her into the community, into his circle of friends and family, would be his primary goal.

      As he turned onto the county road that would take him to the ranch, Garrett blinked hard at the sudden vision in his mind’s eye—Rachel and him as a couple, serving Christmas day dinner to the guests at the shelter in Casper, alongside a couple of red-haired kids. Their kids.

      The image stopped his heart for a second. That kind of family—mom, dad and kids—had disappeared from his life when he was twelve years old. His memories from before that time were few, but he could recall an afternoon at the county fair. He had ridden the roller coaster with his dad and Wyatt and Ford while his mother held baby Dylan. He’d eaten cotton candy, visited the animal barns and the craft exhibits, ending the day with a ride on the Ferris wheel. Without a doubt, the day had been one of the best of his life.

      Something about Rachel Vale had dredged up that sense of joy. Maybe it was her gentleness with Lena, or a certain sweetness in her smile. Beautiful, intelligent, dependable and devoted to her patients—now that he considered the matter, the lovely lady doctor struck him as the perfect woman with whom to build the kind of family he’d been missing for more than twenty years.

      Garrett shook his head. “Slow down, man,” he said aloud, driving under the sign for the ranch. “You don’t even have the horse and the cart in the same county, let alone one in front of the other.”

      First, Rachel would have to relax her guard, accept him as a person she could rely on. Not to mention resolving the small matter of her resistance to the fundamentals of his job description.

      Then...if she shared this powerful attraction he’d experienced all day...then they could investigate this falling-in-love business. Together.

      When he parked the truck near the ranch house, he realized that tonight had been designated a homemade ice cream event. All the teenagers—except for Lena—were gathered on the front porch with bowls in their hands. Caroline and Ford sat in rocking chairs with their own servings.

      Caroline got to her feet as he came up the steps. “Perfect timing. Let me get you some ice cream.”

      He put up hand. “No thanks. Not tonight.” After a day spent worrying about Lena’s blood-sugar levels, the thought of a sweet dessert didn’t hold much appeal.

      She stared at him with a worried frown, since he always enjoyed their ice-cream concoctions. “Are you okay?”

      â€œSure. How’s everybody here?” He noticed Justino sitting on the corner of the porch, focused on his phone. “Did he get dinner?”

      â€œHe didn’t really want anything, but I convinced him to finish half a burger and some salad. And he did eat his dessert.” She sighed. “He’s been texting constantly since he got here. I didn’t have the heart to cut him off. Lena must be so scared.”

      â€œThe nurses are taking care of her. She ate some dinner and was feeling much better when we left.”

      Ford stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m guessing you had a pretty hard day.”

      â€œI just stood around. Lena’s the one with the illness.” Garrett opened the screen door and led the way into the living room, for a less exposed conversation. “Did you reassure the rest of the kids?”

      â€œWe explained that she was getting better but didn’t define the exact problem.” Ford gave a slight shrug. “We weren’t really sure how to deal with that.”

      Garrett shook his head. “Me, neither. Teenagers hate being different. And Lena’s pretty image conscious. I’ll have to talk with her about what she wants everybody to know. Though, really, I don’t believe we can keep it quiet. We all live pretty close together here.”

      â€œThe whole situation is going to be complicated,” Ford said. “Just making ice cream will challenge Lena’s new lifestyle. But the others will be disappointed if we don’t continue the events.” He paused for a moment. “I’m wondering if the best thing wouldn’t be for Lena to be at home as she learns to adapt—fewer distractions and temptations in an environment she can control.”

      â€œNot at all.” He hadn’t discussed his conversation with Mr. Smith over the telephone, but he described it to Ford and Caroline now. “He basically abandoned Lena to my care. So, ready or not, I’m her support system. We are her support system. We’ll have to figure out how to help her adjust.”

      â€œMr. Garrett?” Becky Rush and Lizzie Hanson, the other two girls in the camp, stood at the front door. “Can we come in?”

      â€œSure. How are you tonight? Did you have a good afternoon?”

      Becky, a redhead with freckles, nodded. “We went for a long trail ride to part of the ranch we hadn’t seen before.”

      â€œWe came to a pond,” Lizzie added. “Deep Pond, is that right?” She looked at Caroline, who smiled. “There was a whole herd of deer grazing in the grass. They stared at us for a long time and then bolted into the trees. They were beautiful.”

      â€œThey had fawns with them,” Becky said. “Pretty big ones, but they still had white spots.”

      â€œWe wanted to ask about Lena.” Lizzie played with the ends of her blond hair, not meeting Garrett’s gaze. “When can she come back?”

      â€œIt’ll be a couple of days,” he said. “She has to learn how to take some medicine when she leaves the hospital, so they’ll be helping her with that new routine. But soon enough we’ll have her here again.”

      Becky swallowed hard. “It was scary when she fell. I was afraid she hurt herself.”

      â€œWe all were,” Caroline said. “But this was a problem that had been getting worse for her over a period of days or weeks, not something that suddenly happened.”

      â€œAnd nobody else will get sick?” Lizzie asked, cheeks flushing bright red under her makeup.

      â€œNobody else can get sick,” Garrett assured her. “Don’t worry.”

      â€œI want her to get well.”

      â€œWe all do.”

      Having asked their main question, the girls returned to