The Ranger's Secret

by Rebecca Winters

  He’d wanted to get in touch with her and would have. She was beginning to understand. Deep in thought, she almost ran into him in the hall outside his office.

  With or without his ranger outfit, his striking physique and features caused her to stare at him the way she’d once done. He was such an attractive male, she’d been caught off guard and didn’t realize Roberta was already waiting inside.

  “Hi,” he said in his deep, husky voice. His questing gaze wandered over her figure clothed in pleated tan pants and cotton sweater in a tan-and-white print. Roberta had been the one to tie her hair at the nape with a white scarf.

  She took a steadying breath. “I’m sorry if we disturbed you while you were on duty.”

  He put his hands on his hips in a purely male stance. “Let’s get something straight. Roberta’s our daughter and is a permanent part of my life any time of the day or night.”

  Averting her eyes, she walked into his office ahead of him and found her daughter sitting on a chair playing with a silver baton. Annie sat down on another chair next to her. “What’s that, darling?”

  “It’s a wizard’s wand Daddy’s friends brought him from England.”

  Annie examined it and saw the engraving Uncle Chase. “This is beautiful.”

  “I wish we could go to the Harry Potter shop, too. Nicky was so lucky.”

  Robert closed the door and sat on the corner of his desk, bringing him much too close to Annie. “Do you love those books?”

  Roberta nodded. “I’ve read all of them.”

  “Nicky loves them as well. I think his mother has read every one of them to him. Did you know he met the real Hedwig while they were on their trip?”

  Her eyes rounded. “How did he do that?”

  “The next time you see him, you’ll have to ask him about it.”

  “Speaking of next time,” Annie broke in. Her heart was racing. “I phoned my boss at the CDF and told him that after consideration I’ve decided to take the park job after all.”

  There was a palpable silence before he said, “That’s great news for the park. I’ll inform Superintendent Telford.” His silvery eyes swerved to Roberta. Their luminescent color revealed his satisfaction. “For me personally, I’m thrilled to know you’ll be living so close.”

  “Me too, Daddy. Now we can be together all the time.”

  Annie cleared her throat. “Would it be possible to see the house Roberta and I will be living in before we drive back to Santa Rosa?”

  “We’ll do it in a minute, but first we have to decide how to proceed. From here on out my name is Chase Jarvis. For reasons of safety, the name Robert Myers no longer exists.”

  “We know, don’t we, honey?”

  Roberta nodded.

  “Good. When we walk out of this room,” he continued, “I’ll be introducing Roberta as my daughter and you, her mother. Among the park personnel Vance will spread the news that following an accident, I had amnesia and was confused about my past until the helicopter crash.”

  Annie had so much energy to expend she recrossed her legs. “In case someone asks, we need to agree on where your accident took place.”

  “At Newport Beach in Southern California,” he said without missing a heartbeat. “We met there on vacation from college. When I got run over by a speedboat way offshore, my body was never found and authorities theorized sharks might have been responsible.”

  “Dad!” Roberta cried in reaction.

  Annie shuddered. The scenario he’d just painted was ghastly, but nothing could compare to the unspeakable horror of what had literally happened that day in Kabul.

  “Any other questions?”

  When Annie realized he’d been staring at her and had seen more in her eyes than she wanted him, she said no and looked at Roberta. “What about you? Is there anything else you want to ask your father?”

  “No. I just want to go see our house.”

  “We’ll do it right now.” He stood up. “Come down the hall with me while I get the key, then we’ll leave through the rear door and walk over there.”

  “I didn’t know the houses were so close to your work.”

  “Years ago the planners built everything that way on purpose. The rangers have to be ready at a moment’s notice.”

  Roberta followed him out the door. “You’re like a fireman.”

  “That’s right.”

  Their conversation floated back as Annie put the wand in the box and hurried after them. Robert appeared to be in high spirits. So far everything was going according to his wishes. Annie had to pretend she didn’t mind the way things were turning out because she had her own life to lead. However, that was easier said and done in theory.

  She had to admit it hurt to see how quickly Roberta had bonded with him. He held her hand as they stepped outside, as if they’d been doing it for years. Of course Annie wanted them to bond, but that insidious emotion called jealousy had squeezed in there to add to her turmoil.

  Someone else in her daughter’s world now had a claim on her heart. A legitimate claim. Annie had to learn to share her daughter. Correction. Their daughter. Somehow she hadn’t expected to be pierced by this new form of pain.

  It took only a few minutes walking through the pines to reach the cluster of houses used by the rangers. The forties ranch style was typical of the many tracts of housing built throughout California seventy years earlier.

  Robert—Chase, she corrected herself mentally—led them to the end of a street where three houses stood. He walked up the steps of the middle one-story house and unlocked the front door.

  Once inside, Roberta darted through the rooms making excited noises while Annie surveyed the living and dining room. She wandered through the rest of the house. Most of the rooms were carpeted. The maple furnishings were fine…homey, but the orange and brown decor was something she would change in a hurry.

  Chase followed her around. They ended up in the postage-stamp-size kitchen. It meant their meals would have to be eaten in the dining room, but she couldn’t concentrate on much of anything because of his close proximity.

  “What do you think?”

  She pinned on a smile and turned to him. “I think Jack Frost lives here.”

  His dark brown head reared back and he laughed that deep laugh she hadn’t heard in years. Just then he sounded younger. It brought back too many memories, wounding her all over again.

  Roberta came running to find them. “What’s so funny?”

  He threw an arm around her shoulder. “Have you ever heard of Jack Frost?”

  She shook her head.

  “Jack’s a little elf who paints all the leaves in fall colors. Your mom thinks this is his house.”

  Annie could hear her mind digesting everything. “When we bring our things, it won’t look so bad, Mom.”

  Chase burst into more laughter. Annie had to fight not to break down, too.

  “Can I have the room next to the bathroom? There’s a cute little squirrel running up and down the tree outside the window. Come and look!”

  Relieved to put distance between herself and Chase, Annie followed Roberta down the hall past the bathroom to the bedroom she’d chosen. They moved beyond the queen-size bed to the screened window. Roberta’s pink and white quilt would do wonders for the room.

  “See!”

  “There’s a family living up there,” Chase informed her. “You’ll have to invite Nicky over. He has a pair of powerful binoculars. The two of you can watch them for hours.”

  “He’s funny. How come he doesn’t look like his daddy?” Annie had wondered the same thing.

  A shadow darkened Chase’s eyes, drawing her attention. “His real parents flew out here from Florida a year ago last spring. I was on duty when a freak winter-type storm was forecast. We warned everyone off the mountains and formations, but the Darrows didn’t obey it. They were caught in a blizzard on top of El Capitan and died of hypothermia.”

  “That’s awful,” Roberta whispered, echoing Annie
’s thoughts.

  “It was terrible for a lot of reasons. Vance went up in a helicopter to rescue them, but it was too late. We all knew they had a five year-old boy at home. Last June Nicky’s aunt Rachel brought him to the park so he could see where the tragedy had happened. It was hard for him to understand that his parents had died. He’d been having nightmares and never wanted to go to school or play.”

  Roberta’s lower lip trembled. “I don’t blame him.”

  “But then a miracle happened. Vance became Nicky’s hero and the three of them fell in love with each other. In time they decided to become a family and get married. Now they’ve adopted Nicky as their son. To make it fun for him, they took him to England on their honeymoon and just barely got back.”

  Annie lost the battle of tears. “What a touching story,” she whispered, wiping her eyes with the back of her free hand.

  Chase’s solemn gaze switched from her to Roberta. “Nicky needs good friends. I know you’re older, but you were very accepting of him today. I can tell he likes you already. Thank you for being my wonderful girl.”

  She hugged him before looking at Annie. “How soon are we going to move in?”

  “Sometime next week. Your grandfather is arranging for a moving truck to bring the things we want here. The rest we’ll put in storage.”

  “I wish it were tomorrow.”

  “Do you know what?” Chase intervened. “You’ll probably need a few days to decide what you want to keep with you. If there are some things you want moved out of here to make room for your furnishings, I’ll take care of it. This is going to be your new home. You need to feel comfortable.”

  Chase was behaving exactly like the accommodating, sensible man she’d once loved. In fact he was being so reasonable and understanding without trying to take over, Annie wanted to scream.

  She checked her watch. To her shock, the time had flown. “You know what? It’s ten after three right now. Your grandparents will be waiting for us.”

  “But I want to see Daddy’s house first.”

  “We don’t have time today.”

  “Your mother’s right, sweetheart. After you move in, we’ll have the rest of our lives to do everything.”

  Roberta wiped her eyes with the end of her sleeve. “Okay. I’ll call you when we’re coming. I’ve memorized your number.”

  “I was hoping you would. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

  Annie started for the front door ahead of them. When he’d locked it behind them and they’d walked down the front porch steps, he turned to her and handed her the key. “The place is yours.”

  As their hands brushed, she felt the contact like a hot current of electricity. The same thing had happened when she’d first met him. “Thank you for making this so easy for us. I appreciate it.”

  His eyes gleamed silver. “You’re welcome.”

  Roberta hung on to his arm. “What are you going to do now?”

  “Run home, have a shower and go to bed. I’ve been up close to twenty-four hours and need sleep.”

  “Where’s your house?”

  He pointed to his left. “Right around the corner.”

  That brought a smile to her face.

  “Come on,” Annie urged.

  “Okay. See ya, Dad.”

  While they hugged, Annie began walking in the direction of the visitor’s center. His charm was lethal. In that regard nothing had changed in ten years.

  ON THURSDAY MORNING Chase was in his office dealing with the latest faxed reports when Vance came through the door. They eyed each other for a brief moment. “Isn’t this the big day or did I get it wrong?”

  “You know it is.”

  “It’s after ten now. What are you still doing here?”

  “I’ve got to be careful, Vance. Roberta phoned to let me know the day and time, but Annie was coaching her because there was no invitation for me to be a part of things. Let’s face it. I had nightmares at the thought of working out visitation, never dreaming Annie would take the job.

  “We might be living around the corner from each other now, but if she thinks I’m trying to manage her in any way she’ll shut me out so completely I’ll never get to first base.”

  Vance smiled out of one corner of his mouth. “I’d say you’ve already done that.”

  “Not because of me,” Chase muttered in a morose tone. “She wants this job no matter what. To be frank, I’m terrified of doing something wrong.”

  “I hear you, so this is what we’re going to do. My wife’s making food for them.”

  He sat back in the chair. “She’s incredible.”

  “I agree. Rachel can’t wait to meet her. We’ve arranged for Nicky to come home from school at noon. He wants to help. We thought we’d go over there around twelve-thirty. I’ll give her an official greeting. If you’re with us, Annie can’t object.”

  “You mean even if she wants to.” Chase let out a sigh of relief. “You’ve just solved my immediate dilemma. While we’re there, I’ll take care of anything that needs doing.”

  “Good. See you later. For the moment I’ve got a camper accident to investigate.

  He got up from the desk. “I’m headed into a meeting in the conference room.”

  “The new housing project controversy?”

  “I’m afraid so. As you know, the arguments never end. I’ll put the report in your basket.” Chase followed him out of the office, grateful to Vance for helping him make it through the last few endless days of waiting. It was a miracle he and Rachel put up with him.

  Chase still had a hard time believing this day had come. Once the news got out that his daughter and ex-lover were living in the park, the three of them would be an item of speculation and gossip.

  He’d give anything to spare them, but nothing short of marriage could stem the tide of curiosity. That was the bad side of living in a closed community. But there was an upside. One way or another he’d be seeing both of them on a daily basis. For now he’d take whatever he could get.

  Two hours later he left headquarters and sprinted through the trees to the housing complex. When he rounded the corner, he saw a small moving truck in her driveway. The front door of the house was open. He noticed her blue Nissan parked in front. He’d seen it in her parking stall at the condo. There was no sign of Vance yet.

  As Chase approached the entry he slowed his pace, unwilling for Annie to detect the degree of his need for her. Nothing would turn her off faster.

  A couple of men came out the door with a dolly. They nodded when they saw him.

  “How’s it going?”

  “We just finished.” They slid the plank into the truck and shut the back. As Annie came down the steps wearing a pair of jeans and a yellow top, one of them reached inside the cab and pulled out a clipboard. “Someone needs to sign. Are you Mr. Bower?”

  “No, I’m not. You need to get Ms. Bower’s signature.” Chase remained in place while she walked toward the man and signed the release form with her free hand. “Thank you.” Her crisp remark of irritation was wasted on them.

  To his chagrin Chase was afraid he’d be silently blamed for showing up at the wrong moment. He was damned either way.

  “Daddy!” Roberta came flying out of the house into his arms. She saved the day.

  “How are you, sweetheart?” He swung her around and kissed her. In the excitement, Vance showed up. He waited for the truck to back out and drive away before he pulled into the driveway. After shutting off the engine, everyone got out of the car carrying sacks.

  Nicky made a beeline for Roberta. “Hi! We brought your lunch. Where do you want me to put the bread sticks?”

  Rachel must have just taken them out of the oven. Chase could smell the aroma and started salivating.

  “Mom? Where should they put the food?”

  It was clear the arrival of company had caught Annie off guard. “Well, how about the dining room? There’s no room in the kitchen until we get things put away.”

  “I’ll
show you,” Roberta told Nicky. The two of them walked up the porch steps into the house.

  Chase stepped forward. “Annie Bower, I’d like you to meet my closest friends, Rachel and Vance Rossiter.”

  “Hello,” she said, shaking both their hands. Her hair swished like a glossy dark pelt against her cheek. “You’ve already done enough with the gorgeous flowers you sent. I can’t believe you’ve come over with food, too.”

  “It’s our pleasure,” Rachel assured her. “Another neighbor is really welcome around here.”

  “Thank you. I feel the same way. Roberta’s already charmed by Nicky. For one thing, they have Harry Potter in common.”

  “Don’t forget root beer,” Vance interjected with a warm smile. “I wanted to see our newest resident archaeologist in person. Let’s hope that fractured arm and the attendant memories will be the only unpleasant moment you experience here.”

  “I’m hoping for that as well.”

  “Vance and I knew you’d get hungry at some point. If you don’t feel like eating right now, that’s fine. I’m aware how busy you are today and thought you’d like something to munch on.”

  “To be honest, I’m starving. We had breakfast with my parents before leaving Santa Rosa at six. They’re taking charge of putting the rest of my things in storage and won’t be visiting until tomorrow. Please, come in and eat with us.”

  Even with the invitation extended, Annie hadn’t looked at Chase yet. He needed to get used to being invisible if he was going to survive.

  Vance turned toward the car. “I’ll get the casserole out of the back.”

  “Let me do it,” Chase insisted.

  Their eyes met in quiet understanding. In the next instant Vance escorted the women into the house while Chase walked across the street and opened the rear door of the car. The large covered casserole had handles, making it easy for him to carry the delicious smelling lasagna. Rachel had gone all out.

  No sooner had he entered the house than Nicky came darting toward the front door with Roberta behind him. “Where are you two going? We’ll be eating in a minute,” Chase said.

  “Roberta’s running home with me so I can get my binoculars! We’ll be right back!”