The Forest Ranger's Promise

by Bale, Leigh

“Yes, you do. You stink like the Forest Service. Smelly Shelley!”

  “That’s enough, Bart! Don’t call names,” Melanie said.

  The damage was done. The other children burst into laughter, pointing and yelling. “Smelly Shelley! Smelly Shelley!”

  Shelley burst into tears, hiding her eyes behind her hands. This distressed Anne, who rarely held back what she was thinking. The girl whirled around and faced Bart.

  “Knock it off, Bart. No one smells worse than you,” Anne said. “I’ve never seen you walk through a corral yet without stepping in a cow pie, even if there’s only one cow pie for a mile around. You always seem to find it.”

  “I do not,” Bart snapped back.

  “Do, too!”

  “That’s enough!” Melanie demanded as she grasped Bart by the arm and gently pulled him down into a sitting position. “You will all sit still and not say one more word, or I will send you out to join your parents. Understood?”

  That shut up Bart and the other kids. Nina Donaldson hated the forest ranger, but she claimed she was a religious woman and Melanie doubted she’d take kindly to her son getting booted out of Sunday school class for calling names. Of course, if Nina knew it was because Bart had teased the ranger’s daughter, the woman might make an exception. Melanie wasn’t sure what to think at this point. She did know that she would not accept such behavior in her class.

  Melanie wrapped her arm around Shelley and pulled her close. “I need a helper today. Will you hold up the pictures for me, sweetheart?”

  Shelley sniffled, rubbed her wet eyes and sat between Melanie and Anne.

  Melanie had prepared a lesson about faith, but figured these kids needed something else today. Instead, she said a silent prayer asking the Lord for help, then launched into a sweet message about the Good Samaritan and accepting others. Luckily, she had a picture of the Good Samaritan in her lesson box to give Shelley to hold up.

  Bart glared the entire time, his arms folded across his wide chest, his bottom lip curled with repugnance. At least he didn’t trouble Shelley anymore, but Melanie was careful to keep the girl beside her and Anne until after class ended. Then she gathered up her lesson materials and walked with the girls outside to find Shelley’s dad. Bart wasn’t above getting into a fistfight at church, and Melanie planned to deliver Shelley safely to her father before leaving her alone.

  Shelley gazed up at her as their heels tapped against the cement walk path. “Melanie, why don’t the other kids like me?”

  “They don’t know you. Sometimes people are scared of people they don’t know.”

  “You mean like the Good Samaritan?” she asked.

  “Exactly. That’s why some people refused to help the man from Jerusalem. They were afraid, but it was more than that. Samaritans believed it was unclean for them to touch a man from Jerusalem.” When Shelley furrowed her brow in confusion, Melanie tried her best to explain. “You see, most people of Samaria hated people from Jerusalem. But the Good Samaritan helped his neighbor, knowing he could be ostracized by his own people for doing so.”

  “What’s ostrich sized?”

  Melanie laughed. “Ostracized. The people of Samaria could have sent the Good Samaritan away for helping a man from Jerusalem. He normally wouldn’t have had anything to do with a man from Jerusalem. The Samaritan and his family might have ended up starving to death for what he did. So he took a big chance by helping out.”

  “But why’d he do it?” Shelley probed.

  “Because he was obeying a greater law. The law of Christ, which says everyone is our neighbor and we are each our brother’s keeper.”

  “Even if we don’t like them?” Anne interjected.

  “Absolutely.”

  “So we should give our enemy food if the general store refuses to sell them groceries?” Shelley said.

  “Yes, honey. If that’s what it takes. The Lord requires us to forgive all men and to love our enemies.” Tears pricked the backs of Melanie’s eyes as she recounted the deep meaning of the story. She’d never considered herself a Good Samaritan, but she realized Scott and Shelley were her neighbors, too. She believed God expected her to care for them all she could, in spite of their being natural enemies.

  A testament to God’s love for all mankind burned deep within her heart. She didn’t consider Scott her enemy; helping him was the right thing to do, even though she could be ostracized by others within her community.

  “Bart’s a twit. Don’t you let him worry you one bit,” Anne said with disgust.

  “Anne, remember I spoke to you about name calling?” Melanie reminded him.

  “But I didn’t think that included twits like Bart.”

  “It includes everyone,” she said.

  As they walked to the parking lot, Melanie listened to the swish of Shelley’s taffeta dress and took a deep, settling breath. What a workout! She felt as though she had just wrestled a bear, physically and emotionally. When she came to church today, she never expected to learn such an important lesson. But she needed to set an example for her class. She felt in awe of Christ’s teachings. Who would have thought a Sunday school class of ten-and eleven-year-olds would teach her so much?

  “Why’d you let Bart push you around like that?” Anne directed her question at Shelley.

  “I…I don’t—” Confusion crossed Shelley’s delicate features.

  Anne leaned closer, as if sharing some special information. “My dad always said you have to stand up to bullies. Don’t let Bart push you around or he’ll figure he’s allowed to do it and make your life miserable.”

  Melanie smiled, grateful that some things Aaron had said to their daughter were valuable life lessons. How odd that Aaron had been so intimidating, yet he’d taught their daughter to stand up for herself. Melanie couldn’t help wondering how long before Anne would have become cowardly and shy if her father had started slapping her around.

  Shelley was a gentle soul and Melanie hated that the girl was learning some difficult lessons, but decided not to reprimand Anne for pointing these things out. Life was hard and it would do Shelley some good to learn to toughen up a bit, especially since her father was in a difficult line of work that might continue to bring censure from others.

  “Do you see your dad?” she asked.

  Both Shelley and Anne craned their heads, searching the parking lot for some sign of Scott.

  “There he is.” Anne pointed.

  Scott had been talking with one of the men. When he saw them, Melanie’s throat constricted. The sight of him sauntering toward them in his pristine suit stole her breath.

  “Hello, ladies,” he greeted them all with a wide smile, his blue eyes sparkling. “You’re looking beautiful this Sabbath morning, Mrs. McAllister.”

  The rich timbre of his voice sent waves of warmth up Melanie’s spine. His gaze moved over her flower-print dress and open-toed high heels. She’d painted her toenails light pink and he stared at them for several heartbeats. Melanie shivered.

  Anne hung back, but at least the hatred had left her eyes. Maybe today’s lesson had sunk in. Maybe she was getting used to Scott and learning to trust him.

  Melanie forgot to breathe. She was still woman enough to know when a man found her attractive and she couldn’t help feeling pleased by his greeting. “Did you enjoy your church meetings?”

  “They were okay. How are you, hon?” He rested his hand on Shelley’s shoulder and met her eyes.

  Melanie’s heart sank. Now that he had finally come to church, she had hoped to see more enthusiasm in him.

  “Daddy, they said I stink and called me Smelly Shelley,” the girl said.

  Scott frowned down at her. “Who did?”

  Melanie explained, making sure he knew she hadn’t approved and had put an immediate stop to the teasing. “I’m sorry, Shelley. Don’t you listen to such nonsense. You’re always welcome in my class.” She tilted her head to look up at Scott. “In fact, Shelley was my big helper today. She held up the pictures and got out th
e pencils and paper for the other kids.”

  Melanie purposefully neglected to tell Scott that most of the kids refused to use the pencils because they might be “contaminated” by the Forest Service since Shelley had touched them first.

  “I helped a little,” Anne chimed in.

  Melanie wrapped her arm around her daughter. “Yes, you did. I was lucky to have such good helpers today.”

  Both girls beamed at the praise, then moved off together, chasing after a butterfly.

  Scott took a step nearer to Melanie. “Thanks for that. I appreciate your looking out for Shelley.”

  “It was my pleasure.” And she meant it. “I can’t help being surprised that you came to church today. It was great to see you and Shelley walk through the door. You must have had a change of heart.”

  Okay, hopeful thinking. She awaited his response, not sure why it meant so much to her that he give up his grudge against God.

  “I did it for Shelley.” His voice sounded flat. “She needs to make friends and I thought maybe the kids would go easier on her here at church.”

  “Then you didn’t come because—”

  He shook his head. “I don’t need God in my life, Melanie. But I do need Shelley. She’s all I have left and I want her to be happy.”

  A lump formed in Melanie’s throat. She didn’t like the way this conversation was going, but she should have known his motives couldn’t be simple. “But I already offered to pick Shelley up and bring her to church with Anne and me. Why did you bring her if you don’t want to be here?”

  He brushed a hand against his face and looked away, his eyes filled with a bit of guilt. “I figured some of the ranchers might change their view of me if they saw me in church. It couldn’t hurt.”

  Something cold gripped Melanie’s heart. “So you’re using God to get in good with the ranchers?”

  He met her gaze without flinching, the guilt gone, his beautiful blue eyes chilling her to the core. “That’s right. I don’t need God for anything else. If it softens my relationship with the local ranchers, I’ll take all the help I can get.”

  Melanie frowned. “Scott, that just seems so…”

  “What?”

  “Dishonest,” she said.

  “Dishonest to use God?”

  “Yes.” A sick feeling settled in her stomach. She didn’t know why she bothered discussing this topic with him. His well-being and relationship with God weren’t her business. And yet she couldn’t let it go. Caring for him felt like water running through her fingers. She couldn’t get a grip on it. Why did she like this man so much?

  He flashed a smile. “I also figure if God’s looking for me, this is a good place to be.”

  That sounded promising. “I’ve found that God’s always there for us. It’s we who stop looking for Him, not the other way around. But I also think the Lord pulls back and waits for us to realize that we need Him, just as any loving parent waits for his child to learn lessons and figure things out on his own.”

  Scott took a deep breath before letting it go. “There was a time when I sought out God, but He turned His back on me.”

  At least Scott hadn’t said he didn’t believe in God. They could work with that. She was certain Scott just needed time to heal and forgive himself and his former wife for divorcing him. In time, Scott would come to realize that the Lord hadn’t abandoned him. “Are you sure the Lord turned his back on you, or just didn’t give you the answer you wanted to hear?”

  He didn’t respond, but his gaze darkened.

  “The Lord gives us free agency to choose our own actions. He won’t interfere if we make up our minds, and He won’t take away our free agency to choose.” She smiled gently at Scott. “God allows us to learn from our own mistakes, but He’s still there to help soften the blows.”

  Scott’s brow furrowed and he shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Would you rather I was a hypocrite and said I wanted God in my life when I really don’t?”

  That stopped her. Wasn’t everyone a hypocrite to some extent? Including her. “I think we all need repentance. No one is perfect, Scott. We all make mistakes. But it isn’t our place to judge others. We each have trials and obstacles we are fighting to overcome. Our progression of faith is personal, between us and God. I just hate to see you like this. You’re a good man and yet you could be so much more if you’d let the Lord help you.”

  A flash of pain filled his eyes, then was gone, but not before she realized that she’d hurt him with her words. He drew away, looking for Shelley.

  Melanie had been the bully this time. That water had run through her fingers and splattered on her toes. While she meant to share her own heartfelt love of the Lord with Scott, and open his heart as well, she never wanted to make him feel unworthy or inadequate. She couldn’t forget Scott’s gentleness with animals and his attempts at kindness to Anne, but she liked being single. Liked being free of contention in her home. To make her own choices without fear of reprisal from a domineering man. Scott was a strong, determined man. She could never have a permanent relationship with him. Her heart couldn’t take it when he finally left Snyderville.

  “Nice talking to you, Mrs. McAllister. Shelley, let’s go,” he called before glancing back at Melanie. “I won’t be dropping Shelley off at your place tomorrow. I’m going up on the mountain and thought I’d take her with me.”

  What did he mean? “Scott, please don’t take offense. I never meant to—”

  “It’s just for a day or two. I’ll bring her over on Wednesday, okay?”

  “Okay.” Relief flooded her and all she could do was nod. She’d really stepped in it this time, hurting him when she wanted nothing more than to encourage him to accept God in his life. So much for missionary work. She’d made a complete mess of her efforts.

  “See you Wednesday,” she called and waved as he sauntered toward his truck.

  Wednesday was only three days away, and yet it felt like a century. She’d gotten used to having Shelley and Scott around her place. It seemed natural, working together, fetching cold refreshments for him and the girls. The thought of not seeing him anymore left her feeling empty inside. Like her world had tilted and might never be right again.

  She told herself it wasn’t because she was attracted to Scott. She just felt accountable for damaging his relationship with the Lord. And Anne was so happy playing with Shelley. Even if they were two complete opposites, the girls needed each other.

  As Melanie walked across the lush church lawn with Anne, she realized that she had to do something about this awkward situation. Before Scott decided she wasn’t fit to watch Shelley anymore. And she had to do it fast.

  Chapter Nine

  The next morning, Scott took Shelley and drove up to the Snyder Mountains with Jim Tippet, his range assistant. Together, they unloaded their three horses from the trailer, then headed across the Three Creek allotment. They rode slow, conscious of Shelley. She’d become a good rider, but she could easily be thrown off if her horse stumbled or got spooked for some reason.

  It’d been a challenge to coordinate the equipment and manpower for this project. Scott thought that was probably one reason Ben Stimpson had resisted pursuing the job.

  Sitting astride his horse, Scott paused to watch the D7 work. The roar of the engine filled the air, along with dust and the buzz of chain saws as several men cleared bigger trees out of the way. He chuckled when he saw Shelley covering her ears to block out the loud racket.

  The wide tracks of the D7 distributed the weight and gave the machine better traction as the driver lowered the angling blade and pushed brush and earth out of the way.

  “You’ve done a good job coordinating this project, Jim. We’re right on schedule,” Scott yelled above the noise and smiled at his assistant.

  Jim nudged Scott and pointed to the hillside as he called back. “Looks like we’ve got company.”

  Shielding his eyes from the bright sun, Scott saw the unmistakable figure of Frank Donaldson standing o
n a hilltop with his two eldest sons and another man he thought was Marty Taylor. The men had several pairs of binoculars, looking down to survey the work. Knowing he was being watched, Scott smiled and waved. He reined in his horse and headed toward the hill to ride up, but the men turned and got in their truck. Being on horseback, Scott couldn’t catch them. He stopped and watched as dust from their passing vehicle sifted across the road.

  “Now they know I mean business,” he spoke beneath his breath.

  “What?” Jim spoke above the roar of engines.

  “Nothing. Let’s take a ride over to the driveway.” He spoke loud, turning to smile at Shelley. “You doing okay, pumpkin?”

  She heard him even with her hands crushed over her ears. “Yes, but it’s too noisy here.”

  “Let’s go.” They rode away, speaking again once they could hear themselves think.

  “I’ll come up again tomorrow, just to see how the work progresses,” Jim promised.

  “Good. If possible, I’d like to stay right on schedule.”

  He figured Marty and the Donaldsons were just aching for him to fail. Which made him even more determined to succeed. Scott wasn’t here to make friends, but he did intend to do his job. And to do it right.

  When they arrived at the driveway, they stopped and ate their sack lunches. Allowing their horses to graze a short distance away, they sat on the ground and leaned their backs against the trunk of a fallen juniper. They enjoyed the spectacular, panoramic view. Caleb Hinkle’s sheep filled the meadow below, on their way up to the mountain. The main driveway to the Snyder Mountains was a grassy area leading up to the various grazing allotments. Almost all the ranchers used the through-way. Lingering here with herds of sheep or cattle only made the grazing problem worse. When Scott had told the ranchers that the Forest Service would be patrolling the area to ensure the herds kept moving, he meant it.

  “Hey! There’s Anne and Melanie.” Shelley pointed as Melanie parked her truck on the side of the dirt road.

  An unexpected feeling of euphoria pulsed through Scott’s veins. After yesterday, he thought perhaps he should put some distance between himself and the lovely widow. She loved God and he wanted nothing to do with religion. She wanted something from him that he couldn’t give her.