The Chief Ranger

by Rebecca Winters

  Neither could Vance. “Nothing’s going to happen. What we need to do is decide what you’re going to say to him when we do find him. Obviously, a vacation to the park next spring won’t be soon enough for him. To

  be honest, it’s not soon enough for me, either. I love that boy with all my heart.”

  Rachel buried her face in her hands. “That makes two of us.”

  She was shivering. Afraid she was going into shock, Vance hurried over to his closet to get a blanket off the shelf. He’d make her put her feet up on the chair, and wrap her up in it.

  That’s when he saw a telltale open root beer can on the floor next to his rubber boots.

  His breath caught as he moved the long yellow mackintosh hanging above them. Crouched behind it was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. Two hazel eyes gazed up at him, clearly anxious, as if their owner was wondering how Vance would respond.

  He hunkered down. “Hi, sport.”

  Vance heard Rachel’s gasp, and felt her come up behind him.

  “Hi.” Nicky looked up at Rachel. “Are you guys mad at me?” he asked in a quiet little voice.

  “No,” Vance answered. “Do you want to tell us why you’ve been hiding?”

  He nodded. “Because Rachel said we have to go home day after tomorrow. I don’t want to go. I want to live here.”

  “Mind telling me how you got into my office without anyone seeing you, sport?”

  “I waited out in back until one of the rangers opened the door to go in. He didn’t know I sneaked in behind him.”

  “That was very resourceful. You’re sounding like a ranger already.”

  “I want to be one! When nobody was looking, I ran to your office and hid in here. Is it okay if I took a root beer out of the fridge? I was thirsty.”

  Vance laughed for joy. Thank heaven for root beer! Without it, who knew how long Nicky would have stayed in there until he couldn’t stand it any longer. “I bought it for you. Anything in my fridge is yours. Come here, son.”

  The boy climbed into his arms. While they hugged, Vance stood up and turned to Rachel, whose color was returning. Nicky reached to hug her. All three of them had their arms around each other when Beth walked in on them.

  Her eyes rounded. “Where did our junior ranger come from?”

  Nicky turned to her. “I hid in the closet.”

  “You mean you were in there all the time while everyone was worrying about you?”

  “Yup.”

  “Well, all’s well that ends well.”

  “Exactly,” Vance concurred. “Beth, will you please phone Chase and tell him to call off the search?”

  She beamed. “That’s one order I’ll gladly obey.”

  “You mean you haven’t been glad about all the orders I issue around here?”

  “I’ll never tell.”

  He laughed again before focusing his attention on the two most important people in his life. “You know what, sport? I haven’t had dinner yet. Let’s all go home. I could eat a horse.”

  “How about an elephant?”

  Vance started down the hall, still carrying him. “I could eat a gorilla.”

  “What about a bear?”

  Rachel beat them to the rear door and opened it for them. “I’m sorry, guys, but the only thing we’re serving this evening is corn dogs.”

  “I had two for dinner already, Mommy,” Nicky said sleepily. He began to doze against Vance’s shoulder.

  “C’mon, sport. It’s time to go home!”

  An hour later, after Nicky had fallen asleep in the guest bedroom, Vance walked Rachel out to the living room. “Does he call you Mommy often?”

  “Never until tonight. It thrilled me.”

  “Of course it would.”

  “I’m sorry Nicky’s disappearance interfered with the rangers’ work.”

  “A ranger’s duty is to do whatever needs doing within the park boundaries. For a few hours tonight, their job was to find one little six-year-old boy.”

  Her eyes filled. “You were the one who found him.”

  “Only by chance. I was afraid you were going into shock. That’s why I went to the closet for a blanket. You’ll never know the joy I felt when I saw that empty can on the floor.”

  “You could never imagine my euphoria when I heard you say, ‘Hi, sport.’“ She sat down on the couch. “Vance? We’re both exhausted. Go to bed and we’ll talk in the morning.” She couldn’t handle any more togetherness right now.

  “I’m going. We’re going to need our sleep for the hike I have planned tomorrow.”

  As she pulled the light blanket over her, her eyes met his. “Thank you for finding him.”

  He brushed his hand against her cheek. “He’d have made his presence known eventually.”

  “I’m thankful it was sooner. That was your doing. Good night.”

  “Good night.”

  He left the living room experiencing a contentment

  he hadn’t felt in years creep through him. Everyone he cherished was beneath his roof tonight. His only fear now was that Rachel might not want the permanent position he hadn’t discussed with her yet.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rachel couldn’t hold back her feelings for the beauty of her surroundings. Standing at the edge of the forest, she saw undulating carpets of wildflowers, containing every hue from white, yellow, pink, red, blue and lavender, as far as the eye could see.

  After flying to the Tuolomne Meadows Campground, Vance had taken them hiking to one of his favorite sections of high alpine terrain.

  They had left their fishing gear along the bank of the nearby stream, and walked out to the meadow.

  “This can’t be real!” Rachel cried, so entranced she ran forward, laughing for pure joy. Nicky followed her and started rolling around. She followed suit and grabbed for him. Together they lay on their backs, out of breath, and looked up at an impossibly blue sky sparsely dotted with cotton white clouds.

  “Nicky, darling? Have you ever in your life seen a more beautiful spot?”

  “Nope.” He pointed to the clouds. “They look like pillows!”

  “Big fat ones!”

  “Yeah.”

  While they studied their shapes, Vance stretched out his hard-muscled length beside her, his right hand propping up his head. With his left he held a yellow, cup-shaped flower under her nose, seducing her with its sweet fragrance. It looked tiny in his strong, bronzed hand.

  His ring finger stood out because of the band of white skin exposed there. He wasn’t wearing his wedding ring. Taken totally by surprise, Rachel was slow to compute what it meant. When the significance caught up to her, she turned her head in his direction.

  What she saw in those blue eyes trained on her was a look of such unbridled desire it deprived her of breath. She lay there in disbelief as he lowered his head and covered her mouth with his own. It happened so naturally, she welcomed him the way she did the sun warming their bodies.

  He didn’t have to coax a response from her. With an eagerness born of her profound love for him, she opened her mouth to the urgent pressure of his. Lying among the wildflowers, she was conscious only of her thundering heart and the whirr of insect wings as their kiss deepened and took on a life of its own. Rapture such as she’d never known spread through her being. If this soaring feeling could go on forever …

  “Vance? How come you’re kissing Rachel?”

  Delirious from the passion he’d aroused, she was much slower to respond than the man who’d set her on fire. He lifted his head with seeming reluctance, leaving her bereft.

  “Because I felt like it.” His voice held a smoky tinge, betraying the extent of his involvement.

  “Oh.” Nicky stood looking down at them. “When are we going to go fishing?”

  “In a few minutes. Why don’t you see if you can find a butterfly? We don’t have many in the park lately. See how many you can count. It’s very important.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

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nbsp; “There’s no hurry. We’ve got all afternoon.”

  Rachel was afraid to move or say anything for fear she was having a dream and might wake up.

  “Now where were we?” Vance murmured. Once again his mouth found hers. Without an audience, neither one of them could contain their eagerness to be in each other’s arms. He rolled over on his back, pulling her on top of him, crushing her against him while he gave in to the needs he’d been holding back since they’d first met.

  She was with him all the way. While his hands roved over her back, she kissed every portion of his face, then returned to his mouth. Her hunger matched his, practically giving him a heart attack in the process.

  Knowing Nicky would be back any minute, he moved her so they lay side by side. His desire for her was escalating out of control. Kissing her lovely features, he cried, “I’m in love with you, Rachel. Do you hear me? You’re the most beautiful thing in my life. The only reason I didn’t say something sooner was because of Steven. I had to be sure you were really over him.”

  Her eyes burned a flaming hot green. “I was afraid that was why. I’ve been dying for you to give me a clue. Oh, Vance, you’ve become my whole world, my life! I love you so much, you can’t imagine …”

  “Yes, I can, because I’m in the same state.” He cupped her face in his hands and drank deeply from her mouth. When he finally relinquished her lips, he said,

  “I need you in my life. When you left the park before, I didn’t know how I was going to make it.”

  She ran kisses along his jaw. “As you can see, I came right back, because I couldn’t stay away.”

  He rolled her on her back to kiss her again, but no kiss was long enough or deep enough. Now that the floodgates were open, life was pouring in again, the part that had been missing for so many years.

  “Hey, Vance? I can’t find any butterflies!”

  Rachel kissed his throat. “Don’t tell him the truth.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Since you confessed that you love me, all the butterflies have been flying around inside of me.”

  He gave her one more urgent kiss, but nothing could assuage his deep hunger for her.

  Nicky ran up to them. “How come you’re still kissing her?”

  “Because I love it!”

  “Oh.” Nicky stood looking down at them.

  Vance sat up and smiled at the boy who’d climbed into his heart and was permanently lodged there. “Didn’t you see even one butterfly?”

  “Not any.”

  A disheveled Rachel got to her knees, looking like a woman who’d been kissed senseless.

  “When are we going to go fishing?”

  “Right now, sport.” Vance sprang to his feet. Rachel grabbed the hand he extended to help her stand up, but her whole body was trembling, and he knew it.

  THANK GOODNESS SHE COULD blame her glowing cheeks on the sun’s rays, Rachel thought. Flushed and aroused, she headed for the pines.

  Nicky ran to catch up with her. “Do you like it when he kisses you?” he asked.

  She chuckled. Up to now Nicky hadn’t thought outside the box where his relationship with Vance was concerned. The kissing he’d observed had opened the lid, never mind that it had shaken her to the foundations and changed her entire universe.

  “I love it, just the way I love it when you decide to give me one.”

  Having easily caught up to them, Vance winked at her before grasping Nicky’s shoulder. As they walked ahead, she followed at a short distance, watching them interact. A boy with his hero, both wearing T-shirts and jeans.

  Rachel hadn’t thought anything could improve on nature, but she had to concede there wasn’t anything as perfect as two beautiful males discussing the merits of a rainbow trout over a brown.

  Deep in the forested area, the undergrowth of purple lupine was so lush it almost hid the stream in spots. Vance pointed out wonderful round rocks big enough to stand or sit on for the best fly-fishing angle.

  “Hey!” Nicky cried out. “Where’s our fishing stuff?”

  His question jerked Rachel from her intimate thoughts, and she looked around. Sure enough, their rods, plus a tackle box holding a few drinks and treats, were nowhere to be found. Her gaze flew to Vance, whose black brows met above the piercing blue of his eyes as he frowned.

  “It looks like we had unwanted company.” He whipped out his cell phone.

  A chill ran down her spine to think someone had been spying on them, waiting for the right moment to disappear with their equipment.

  Her eyes probed his. “Do you think it was someone from the campground?”

  “Probably,” he murmured, but she had a feeling he was entertaining another possibility. Vance wasn’t the chief for nothing. He knew everything that went on in the park.

  “No matter what, they couldn’t be far away yet, since they’d have to be on foot,” she theorized.

  “You’re right.”

  She heard him start talking to security as he walked a little ways off. Whatever was on his mind, he didn’t want to alarm them.

  Nicky stayed by Rachel’s side with a troubled look in his eyes. He’d been so looking forward to going fishing. One of those poles had been a gift from Vance’s grandfather. None of it was fair. Not on this glorious day.

  Vance soon pocketed his phone and came back to them. “Tell you what, Nicky. I have more gear at the house. Tomorrow morning we’ll go fishing up in the Hetch Hetchy Valley, where Chief Sam used to take me, and catch ourselves some big ones.”

  The boy’s lower lip quivered. “Do we have to go home now?”

  “I’m afraid so. Some park business has come up I have to take care of personally. But after you freshen up at the lodge, we can do anything you want. There’s a stargazing show at Glacier Point, or we can drive to Wawona and visit the pioneer village.”

  “Can we go back to your house and eat dinner?”

  “Of course.” Vance flicked his gaze to Rachel for approval. The longing in his eyes told her that was his choice, too. Her heart raced as she nodded.

  The three of them started to retrace their steps. Nicky

  took hold of Vance’s hand and they headed down to the lower meadow.

  “Whoever took our stuff was mean. They stole your flies.”

  “Yup, but they’re not going to get away with it, because I want my present back,” Vance vowed with ferocity. Again Rachel got the impression he knew a lot more than he was telling.

  “When you catch them, I think you should put them in jail!”

  “They’ll go to jail all right. Then the federal judge will sentence them to prison.”

  A shudder ran through Rachel. Vance did know something.

  THE SECOND VANCE WALKED into the holding cell cabin, Chase made a beeline for him.

  “Sorry to ruin your outing with Rachel, but Mark and I want you to take a look at the four guys we caught with your gear.”

  “Did you recover all of it?”

  He nodded.

  “Did they ruin it?”

  “No.”

  “That’s good. I intend to give Nicky the pole my grandfather gave me. Where did you pick them up?”

  “Above that area where you found the first plantings of marijuana. We discovered they’ve been spotted around the campground on and off for a couple of months. When I asked to see their fishing licenses, they couldn’t produce them. I examined their gear and recognized your tackle box.”

  “This means four more culprits we’ve put away.

  We’re wiping out that bunch. You do great work, Chase. You were on them before they could destroy my property. I owe you more than you know.”

  His friend looked at Vance’s ringless finger and grinned. “Yeah?”

  “I’ll tell you about that later.”

  “I’m holding you to it. Now for unpleasant issues. Before the feds get here, go in and see if you can identify any of these guys. If you do, we’ll be able to add more prison time to their final sentencing.”
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  Vance was perplexed. “You think I’ve seen them before?”

  “I don’t know. While we cuffed them one muttered something to his cohort about being glad the chief ranger wasn’t around to recognize him.”

  “That’s interesting. I’ll take a look.”

  Ranger Baird unlocked the door so Vance could walk down the hall to the holding area.

  Four miscreants were held in two cells. The one he’d caught in a hammerlock in the pool stood out. He glared at Vance in hatred. Earlier, Vance had assumed they were college students doing too much drinking. But these no-accounts were working for a sophisticated outfit growing marijuana. It was dangerous business. He was thankful they were behind bars. The thought of any of them hurting Rachel or Nicky put him in a rage.

  He walked back out to join Chase. “Bingo.”

  “Yeah?”

  Vance proceeded to tell him about the incident at the pool before he signed his statement. “Call in the lifeguard from the lodge for a statement. He’ll make a positive identification, too.”

  “Excellent.” Chase walked outside with the fishing

  gear he’d recovered, and put it in the back of Vance’s car. Then he looked Vance in the eye. “You seem different.”

  “This afternoon I told her I was in love with her.”

  His friend smiled ear to ear. “And?”

  He took a deep breath. “She’s in love with me, too.”

  “There was never any question. With the ring gone I figured you’d get to first base in a hurry. As Beth whispered to me this morning, the whole park’s going to breathe easier once the news is out. She’s known Rachel was nuts about you from the beginning.”

  Vance clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks. You know what I mean.”

  “I couldn’t be happier. You three were meant to be together.”

  “One day it’s going to happen to you.”

  “Let’s take it one bachelor at a time, shall we? I live in hope that once Nicky is legally yours, he might end up liking his uncle Chase. Now go on home to your family. See ya later, alligator.”