Ranger's Legacy

by Vella Munn

  “Not just my job.” Werner scrubbed his eyes. “My wife, too. Twenty years of marriage thrown away.”

  Her family was financially secure as were those she’d met while in college and at work. She knew people whose marriages had fallen apart, and one of her high school classmates had lost her house in a fire, but bad things hadn’t personally happened to people she loved. She could only try to imagine what Werner was going through.

  “I’m sorry.” The words were inadequate, but they were the best she had to give him. “No wonder you’re upset.”

  “Upset?” Werner reached out as if looking for something to support him. “It’s all gone.”

  “No, it isn’t,” Garret said. “This is when you pick yourself up.”

  Wishing Garret had shown Werner more sympathy, she studied each man. Even though he was Garret’s height, Werner didn’t stand a chance against him. Garret was strong and confident, combative while Werner looked as if he was on the brink of collapse. She didn’t want Garret making things any worse than they were for Werner. She also wasn’t about to hide behind Garret while he played protector.

  No, not hide behind him. Garret had ordered her to leave.

  “Please go home,” she told Werner. “Call me later. We’ll talk then.”

  Chapter Twelve

  He didn’t know her, or maybe the truth was he didn’t know himself. Watching Werner stumble away should make it possible for him to relax, shouldn’t it?

  Instead an old but unshakable tension continued to grip Garret. He could hardly breathe.

  “What are you doing here?” Amber asked when Werner was out of earshot. “You weren’t at the meeting.”

  “No, I wasn’t.”

  “Don’t make me have to pull it out of you. I need to know how and why you got involved.”

  “Isn’t that obvious? He was going to hurt you.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “You’re deluding yourself if you think you could have defused things on your own.”

  “Defused? What you did and said was hardly that.”

  He had no idea why they were arguing. Surely she understood how much danger she’d been in and what might have happened if he hadn’t intervened. The thought of Werner taking his frustration out on her made him sick to his stomach, which only added to his tension. He hated feeling this way, nearly out of control and scared.

  Scared? Because she meant so much to him?

  “Garret, I know you’re waiting for me to thank you for coming to my rescue, but I’m not a little girl in need of a white knight. I won’t deny that his actions upset me. I didn’t understand why he was so angry. Saying what you did about his job clarified some things. Not to mention him admitting his wife had left him. He’s under incredible stress.”

  She was concerned about Werner? Didn’t she understand how dangerous the situation had been?

  “Don’t let him fool you. He was trying to get your sympathy.”

  “I can’t believe you said that.” She wrapped her arms around her middle as if protecting herself from him. “You honestly don’t care anything about him?”

  I don’t know. “You’re what matters.”

  The way she shook her head put him in mind of a fighter who has just taken a particularly vicious blow.

  “Getting you out of danger was the most important thing to me, the only thing.”

  “What I heard was a man ordering a little girl to run from what he perceives to be a dangerous situation, but I’m not a child.”

  No, she wasn’t. She was a beautiful and confusing woman. He didn’t know what to do with her or his emotions where she was concerned. Hell, there was a great deal about his emotions he didn’t understand.

  “You asked what I’m doing here.” Maybe changing what they were talking about a little would give him time to figure himself out. “Henry Walters got in touch with me. He’s concerned about his friend.”

  “Oh.” He thought she might relax, even embrace him. Instead, she leaned away from him. “So what? You decided to keep an eye on me in case you needed to rescue me?”

  “No.”

  “What do you mean, no. That’s exactly what you did.”

  He wasn’t going to agree with her, couldn’t. “If I hadn’t been here he might have hurt you.”

  “Werner isn’t a wild animal. Garret, I relied on you to keep me safe when we were in grizzly country, but this isn’t the same thing. I’d never interfere with your job. I need and expect you to do the same.”

  “You’re ordering me to leave you alone?” It nearly killed him to ask the question.

  She unlocked her car and opened the door. “Yes, I am.”

  Much as she wanted to take the day off, the next morning Amber forced herself to get dressed and drive to Bigfork. Garret was already in the office when she arrived, but he left a few minutes later. They didn’t speak.

  Feeling worse than she had after she’d pulled an all-nighter in college, she struggled to focus on her agenda. Setting on a time to meet with a number of cabin owners should have given her a sense of accomplishment. Instead, she felt empty.

  She hadn’t cried last night. She hadn’t slept, either, but that was another matter, something makeup couldn’t camouflage. Jake and Hunter came in and out several times, studying her like she was some creature they’d never seen and didn’t know what to do with. Liz hugged her.

  “Man problems?” the office manager asked.

  “Life problems.”

  “Same thing.”

  A little before four, her mom called to say the family was on their way to the hospital to await the birth of Randy and his wife’s daughter. She also let Amber know her presence was missed. After ending the call, she tried to reach her brother but had to leave a message. For the first time since striking out on her own, she truly missed her family. Booking a flight so she could join the others didn’t erase her depression.

  She accepted some responsibility for how things had gone last night and intended to explain why she’d reacted like she had but that had to wait. She wondered if he felt the same way. Neither of them had left much unsaid while they stood toe-to-toe on that otherwise deserted street. There hadn’t been many words but every one of them had flown true and landed hard. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—apologize for her reaction to his interference, and if he couldn’t change, it was over between them.

  What do you mean, if? You know what the end feels like.

  That’s what had happened when she’d given Barnes back his ring. She couldn’t be the kind of woman Barnes needed in his life. His plans and goals weren’t the same as hers. It had been time to grant him his freedom even if he hadn’t seen it that way.

  Last night she’d done the same with Garret, only the wound was raw and cut much deeper. She’d destroyed whatever he’d felt for her, said she didn’t need or want him fighting her battles.

  Her parents would be proud of her. She’d stood on her own two feet, held her ground.

  Not listened to him.

  No, that couldn’t be right. She’d spent the night replaying his every word, and hers. She might have gotten some of the timing wrong, but his words still wounded her.

  It was her fault, not the stance she’d taken, but for allowing him to mean so much so soon. She hadn’t fallen in love with him. That took weeks, months, sometimes years to fully develop, right? She’d been infatuated, swayed by that ridiculously sexy body and rugged competence. Garret Houle was a keeper of the wilderness, grizzly protector, mountain climber, and lover.

  Lover. Sex partner. Giver of mind-blowing climaxes.

  There, that was the problem. Sexual attraction had gotten between her and her brain. For a while she’d shrugged off his domineering attitude because the sex was so damn good.

  Had been good.

  Her head pounded, and her eyes were on fire. A bottle of wine sounded wonderful, going in search of a spirit helper even better.

  That’s what she’d do after she returned from California
. She’d put on her boots and the pack Garret had said she could keep followed by driving to the entrance to one of the wilderness areas and putting one foot after another. She’d walk until she had blisters and spend the night in a sleeping bag. She’d study the stars and open her mind and heart to the forest’s spirits. Maybe by the end of that journey she’d be at peace and thoughts of Garret would... What?

  Her phone pinged. Thinking it might be notification that she was an aunt, she accessed messages.

  Garret had texted, “I put a dead bolt on your back door. I don’t trust Werner.”

  She placed her hands over her face and closed her eyes. Even with things dead and gone between them, he was still making decisions for her. Damn it, she hated what he’d done.

  “You look as bad as she does,” Jake told Garret. “Worse.”

  “He’s right,” Hunter agreed. “It wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t so ugly.”

  Garret hadn’t wanted to have a drink with his friends. He’d wanted to spend the evening at his place reinforcing the railing on the outside stairs because he wasn’t ready to see his mother and grandmother. He’d tried to blow off Jake and Hunter until Hunter asked what he was afraid of.

  “Nothing,” he’d retorted but could tell they weren’t buying it. That’s why he was in the bar, trying to get them to believe the lie.

  “We didn’t talk to her in case you’re wondering.” Jake took a swallow of beer. “And she didn’t say anything to us.”

  “Then what makes you think there’s a problem?”

  Hunter punched his shoulder. “Because you look like road kill when a few days ago I wouldn’t have been surprised if you took flight.”

  “We don’t want you to get hurt,” Jake said after an awkward silence. “I know how much that sucks.”

  Jake had made a vital point. Things had blown apart between Amber and him, but they were both still alive. He wouldn’t have to bury her like Jake had had to do.

  “It was bound to happen.” He looked around but couldn’t say how many others were in the bar. “A slowing down.”

  “This is no slowing down. Judging by how the two of you are acting, it’s over and out,” Hunter said.

  Like what Hunter had experienced when Tala ended their engagement. “I’ll survive.”

  “The important question is, will you learn from the experience?”

  “I’m sure I will.” He wasn’t certain what Hunter was getting at. “Give me a little time. I’ll get over it.”

  “Not if the problem between the two of you is tied in with what happened to your sisters.”

  “That was a long time ago.”

  “That makes no difference. It was a defining moment in your life.”

  He couldn’t argue the point. What he could do was try to steer the conversation in another direction. Unfortunately, no options occurred to him. He wanted to tell his friends what had blown up between Amber and him, but they might not agree with why he’d done what he had. He wasn’t anyone’s caregiver they told him when they were on a search and he refused to take a break no matter how tired he got. More than once, despite his insistence, they’d refused to push themselves beyond what they considered a sane pace. He’d tried to listen to their cautions, understood he wasn’t doing himself or who he was searching for any good by getting exhausted, but he was who he was.

  Jake and Hunter were staring at him as if challenging him. His only alternative was to turn his back on vital friendships, which he’d never do, so he filled them in on what Henry Walters had told him about Werner Morrisey’s mental state.

  “I don’t know Werner that well,” he said. “I’ve always seen him as a follower. He complains when the people around him do, which is why the way he acted around Amber last night surprised me.”

  Hunter held up a hand. “Where did this take place? We need some context.”

  He told them as much as he believed was necessary, leaving out what Amber and he’d said to each other.

  “You got in Werner’s face,” Jake said. “Insisted he was acting like an idiot.”

  “Are you saying I shouldn’t have? The way he was confronting Amber—”

  “How was she handling it?”

  He frowned. “She was upset.”

  “Was she?”

  “What are you talking about? You think she enjoyed hearing Werner go off?”

  “No,” Hunter said, “that’s not what we’re getting at. I can’t speak for Jake, but it sounds to me as if you were so intent on giving Werner a piece of your mind and playing the big protector that you didn’t pay attention to how she took it.”

  Hunter was wrong, darn it. Of course he’d keyed into her reaction. Hadn’t he? He must have, since her reaction had everything to do with why they’d gone their separate ways.

  “Thanks to me she didn’t get hurt. I forced Werner to calm down.” Forced.

  “Why didn’t you give them a chance to work things out on their own?”

  Amber unbuttoned the top button on her blouse so she could hold her infant niece against her skin. She closed her eyes and leaned back in the birthing room chair. Her parents, brother, and several friends of the new parents were in the room, but she wasn’t interested in any of them. Sharee Kale Baum was seventeen hours old, a precious bundle with the world’s bluest eyes and fine blond hair. Amber had never held a newborn, hadn’t known she’d feel such overwhelming love.

  “You’re perfect,” she whispered. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, any danger I wouldn’t face to protect you.”

  If Sharee Kale intended to hold her aunt to that promise, she gave no indication. It didn’t matter. Her niece trusted her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so relaxed, right?

  “I love you. I don’t think I’ve ever loved any living thing more. How did you do that? What spell have you cast over me?”

  Sharee Kale squeaked. After a few precious minutes, Amber reluctantly handed the newborn to her brother.

  “I’m so glad you made it,” Randy said. “We weren’t sure you’d be able to get away.”

  “Being here for this is worth the crazy amount I had to pay for a last-minute plane ticket. So how does fatherhood feel?”

  Randy tucked his tiny daughter in the crook of his arm. He looked at Sharee Kale as if he’d never seen anything so amazing. Randy was a doctor, but his specialty was geriatrics.

  “I’m still wrapping my mind around the reality of her,” he said. “My life changed the moment I felt her move the first time. My heart—I didn’t know it was possible to feel this way.”

  Amber started to stand so Randy, who’d been up all night, could sit, but he shook his head.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said. “It isn’t the same without you here to boss around.”

  “Are you admitting you’re bossy?”

  “You’re my baby sister.”

  “I’m an adult.”

  “I know.” He yawned and studied his newborn daughter, his expression softer than Amber had ever seen. “With your own life, job, and bills. The whole family’s still trying to wrap our minds around that but we’re getting there.”

  “Mom and Dad still think I need a keeper.”

  He smiled. “Just like they’re convinced they have to look over my shoulder to make sure I don’t mess up this parenting business. In some respects I envy you being where they can’t follow you around.”

  “Do you really?”

  “To some extent. Darn, I wish Cindy’s girlfriends would leave. She needs to rest.”

  “What if I make a big deal out of giving you guys some peace and quiet? Maybe they’ll get the hint.”

  “Only briefly, okay?” Randy kissed the top of Sharee Kale’s nearly bald head. “I trust I can count on you to spoil your niece.”

  “Absolutely I’m feeling pretty maternal.”

  “You can do something about that. Technically all you need is a sperm donor, but I think it’s better if two people ready and willing to be parents work together on the projec
t. Besides, it’s fun. Any chance you’ve found a potential candidate?”

  No. I thought I had though. “I didn’t fly all the way here so the family can grill me. So, how do you think Mom and Dad are reacting to becoming grandparents?”

  “Hold that question. We’ll discuss it in private.”

  Fighting emotions she’d hoped she’d left behind, she watched her brother carry his daughter to his wife. Love radiated between the couple. Before she’d learned that the birth was eminent, she hadn’t given much consideration to being there for it. Not only was she glad she’d been able to grab a flight, if she’d spent the weekend in Sweetheart, the blowup with Garret would have haunted her every moment.

  The flight had been rough, her thoughts going back and forth between anticipation for what lay ahead and heartache. She needed time and distance from Garret so why was getting it so hard? It wasn’t as if she loved him. He was a hard-headed man who believed he had a right and responsibility to manage her life. She was better off without him.

  “There’s a waiting room down the hall,” Randy said. “How about we sneak off for a few minutes?”

  “Don’t you want to stay here?”

  “I get jealous if I’m not the one holding her, but I’ll have countless chances to do that once we’re home and she wakes up every couple of hours. Come on. I want to catch up with my sister.”

  She stepped into the hall with her brother. Garret was a loving son, grandson, and brother. He’d make a wonderful father, but it might be better if he had sons, rough and tumble types who’d force their would-be helicopter parent to give them some space.

  Darn it, why did her heart want to be there as he held his babies?

  Randy pointed. They were passing the elevator door when it opened and Mike stepped out. Delighted, she threw herself at her other brother. Mike had kept her informed about was happening as she waited to board the airplane. Later he’d texted her a picture of a red-faced newborn, but this was the first they’d seen each other.

  “What’s going on?” Mike asked when they broke apart. “Don’t tell me Mom and Dad have you two running for the hills already.”