Love Inspired February 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: The Cowboy's Reunited FamilyThe Forest Ranger's ReturnMommy Wanted

by Brenda Minton

  “I think I can figure it out,” Denny said, content with the setup. He’d been living in motels and sharing rooms with his workers the past couple of years. He missed having a home. “When can I move in?”

  “Today if you want.”

  “Sounds good. So my next question is when can I go out to the ranch to check it out?”

  “We may as well get that out of the way. How about tomorrow morning?”

  “Sunday?”

  “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

  “Well, I was hoping to find a church. To worship on Sunday morning.”

  She gave him an odd look that he wasn’t sure how to interpret. Did she have a problem with him going to church?

  “There’s one across from Canadian Tire. It’s a good church.”

  “Do you go?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “I thought your dad said you did?” he blurted. Denny was surprised. Andy had often talked about Evangeline’s strong faith.

  “Not the only thing my dad seems to have wrong,” she returned.

  Better to leave that comment alone. “What time does church start?” he asked, changing the subject to a safer topic.

  “Ten.”

  “Okay, how about I meet you at the ranch after that, say one? Unless the preacher likes to go long.”

  “I’ll see you then.”

  “Okay.” He dragged in a long breath as one thing after another fell into place.

  This was really happening. Sure, it wasn’t a commitment, but it was a step in the right direction. And if leasing the ranch worked out for him, who knew...

  He caught himself.

  Don’t plan ahead. One day at a time.

  He’d learned that lesson the hard way.

  “I’m guessing there’s another way out of the apartment that doesn’t take me through the bookstore. One that I could use to move my stuff in?”

  “The hallway makes a turn and goes along the store and leads to the street,” Evangeline said. “And there’s another door that leads to the back parking lot. You can use that to move in.”

  “That’s perfect. Just perfect.” He glanced her way, surprised to see her looking at him.

  For a moment their gazes held and once again Denny caught a flicker of sadness. Something that he suspected had to do with Andy. He still felt bad that he had been the one to deliver a message that bothered her so much. He felt a need to make it right. “And I’m sorry about...your dad, I guess. That he’s not coming.”

  He added a quick smile and then, to his dismay, saw her lip quiver.

  Oops.

  She held her hand up as if to keep him at arm’s length. “It’s fine. I should have known better.”

  Known better about what?

  But he didn’t have the chance to ask.

  “If you don’t need anything else, I should get back to my store.” Evangeline gave him the key then strode out the door, her skirt swaying and her long hair bouncing with every movement.

  And that was Evangeline.

  He just hoped he wouldn’t have to do much business with her. She seemed emotional and complicated.

  He had enough of that in his life.

  Denny walked down the hallway, out the door and into the afternoon sunshine, stopping on the sidewalk to look at the mountains cradling the town.

  For a moment he imagined what it would be like to live here. To have a home again. Build up a cow herd again.

  Did he dare? Twice in his life he had lost everything. Could he risk it again?

  His phone buzzed in his pocket. He was tempted to ignore it. Carlos, one of his drivers, was finishing up a haul in Prince George with one of Denny’s trucks and had been calling him all morning, wondering when to bring the truck down to Hartley Creek. Denny had left a message and sent him a text. Surely that should be enough?

  But habit and the reality of running his own business made him look at the phone.

  And his heart thudded heavily against his ribs.

  It was a text message. From Deb, his ex-wife’s sister. Since his divorce from Lila two years ago, he’d never heard from her or any of Lila’s family. Now Deb was texting?

  Need to C U, her message said. Important. U in P G?

  Why did she want to know?

  Not Prince George anymore, he sent back. Hartley Creek right now. Staying awhile.

  He waited a moment, then his phone tinged again.

  Where living in H C? was her immediate reply.

  Behind Shelf Indulgence bookstore on Main Street, he typed, wondering why she wanted to know.

  He paused before sending the message, but then shrugged. Maybe Lila had something she needed to pass on just the way Andy had needed to pass something on to Evangeline.

  So he shrugged, hit Send then waited. The message was delivered, but a couple of minutes later she still hadn’t replied.

  So what was that about?

  He knew Deb had never liked him much when he and Lila were together.

  Denny had been living a wild life when he’d met Lila. Every weekend, after taking care of cows and horses and family, he’d head to town to blow off steam. He’d partied too hard, met up with Lila and they’d hung out together.

  One day Lila had given him the news that she was pregnant. So Denny had done the right thing and married her. Only, once that happened, Denny had found out there was no baby. Lila had figured she’d read the test wrong. She hadn’t been pregnant, after all.

  Denny had tried to stay true to the promises he’d made. He’d cleaned up his act. Settled down. Hung on, determined to do right by Lila.

  Then, five years after they were married, Lila had decided she didn’t want to hang on anymore. To satisfy the terms of the divorce, Denny had had to sell the family ranch where his sisters and foster brother still lived.

  The family scattered after the ranch was sold. Denny had taken what little he’d had left after helping out his sisters and Nate, and started trucking. It was a good business. He’d taken some risks that had paid off well. Now he had a decent fleet of trucks. Of course that came with debt, but with his five-year plan he could pay that off and afford a down payment on a new place. A new life.

  A place he would be by himself. Alone.

  Just the way life worked best for him.

  Copyright © 2014 by Carolyne Aarsen

  ISBN-13: 9781460326084

  THE COWBOY’S REUNITED FAMILY

  Copyright © 2014 by Brenda Minton

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

  www.Harlequin.com

  The Soldier’s Second Chance

  After being injured in Afghanistan, former soldier Dal Savatch thought he’d lost everything. But working on a horse ranch for disabled children teaches him to appreci
ate the life he still has. When the new forest ranger in town turns out to be Dal’s first love, his tranquil world is turned upside down. For years, Julie Granger’s been carrying a painful secret that’s prevented her from having what she wants most: a family. Reuniting with Dal has her suddenly believing in dreams she thought were long buried. Can two wounded souls find healing and happiness in a future together?

  “Don’t you think it’s time we both stop pretending we don’t remember each other?” Dal said.

  “I’m sorry, Dal. I…I didn’t know what to say. I just didn’t think it mattered anymore.”

  “Well, it does. And I’ve still got some questions you may not want to answer.”

  Julie’s mind raced as those old feelings of dread and fear seeped through every pore in her body. “Like what?”

  “Like why you stopped writing me. And why you wouldn’t return my phone calls. What happened, Julie? You just disappeared off the face of the earth. Why did you abandon me?”

  Her gaze locked with his. In his eyes, she saw all the anguish she’d caused him. All the pain she herself felt inside. “I never meant to hurt you, Dal. Please believe I didn’t have a choice. Not really.”

  “No choice?” His voice escalated, betraying his anger. “You stopped all communication with me. Without any justification at all. Why?”

  “I had my reasons. That’s all I can say.”

  How could she tell him the truth?

  Books by Leigh Bale

  Love Inspired

  The Healing Place

  The Forever Family

  The Road to Forgiveness

  The Forest Ranger’s Promise

  The Forest Ranger’s Husband

  The Forest Ranger’s Child

  Falling for the Forest Ranger

  Healing the Forest Ranger

  The Forest Ranger’s Return

  LEIGH BALE

  is an award-winning, multi-published novelist who won the prestigious RWA Golden Heart in 2006. More recently, she was a finalist for the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. She is the daughter of a retired U.S. forest ranger, holds a B.A. in History with honors and loves grandkids, spending time with family, weeding the garden with her dog Sophie, and watching the little sagebrush lizards that live in her rock flowerbeds.

  Married in 1981 to the love of her life, Leigh and her professor husband now have two wonderful children and two grandchildren. But life has not always been rosy. In 1996, Leigh’s seven-year-old daughter was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. In the dark years that followed, God never abandoned them. After six surgeries, two hundred and eighty-four stitches, a year of chemo and a myriad of other difficulties, Leigh’s daughter is now a grown woman and considered one of the less-than-one-percent survivorship in the world for her type of tumor. Life is good!

  Truly the Lord has blessed Leigh’s family. She now transfers the love and faith she’s known into the characters of her stories. Readers who have their own trials can find respite within the uplifting message of Leigh’s books. You can reach Leigh at P.O. Box 61381, Reno, Nevada 89506, or visit her website at www.leighbale.com.

  THE FOREST RANGER’S RETURN

  Leigh Bale

  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.

  —Luke 9:56

  This book is dedicated to my Aunt Joan.

  Boy, do I ever love you, babe!

  And thanks again to Sara Goldberg,

  a prosthetist with Hanger Clinic.

  This is the second book where your knowledge

  and expertise has helped me immensely.

  Also, many thanks to Barbara Chastain

  (Center for Adaptive Riding, Reno, Nevada),

  Carrie Davis (Empowering Amputees), Alyssa Gale (Camp Riley), Edward Hicks (Adventure Camp), Chris Platt, and Beverly Skaggs (Hanger Clinic). Each of these wonderful people provided me

  with details big and small on how to run a camp

  for amputee kids and how to deal with a prosthesis. The world is a much better place because

  we have folks like you.

  I apologize profusely for any errors in this book. They are mine alone.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Epilogue

  Dear Reader

  Questions for Discussion

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  Dallin Savatch breathed deep of the cool morning air. Stepping off the wraparound porch at Sunrise Ranch, he glanced at the damp dirt road surrounded by fields of newly sprouting alfalfa. Dark shadows clung to the jagged peaks of the McClellan Mountains, a hint of sunlight brightening the eastern sky. All was quiet; no one else was up yet. A whispering breeze carried the tangy scent of sage, horses and rain. Though the May weather had been unseasonably warm, a spring storm had struck in the middle of the night, awakening Dal with a clap of thunder. His left leg ached and he wasn’t able to get back to sleep.

  Phantom pain, his doctor called it.

  That didn’t prevent him from taking his morning run. Even at age thirty-six, nothing kept him from exercising his legs. He feared the wheelchair and losing his independence too much. Feared becoming less of a man than he already was.

  He walked across the graveled driveway, then leaned against the hitching rail next to the barn. Wrapping his fingers around the coarse wood, he stretched his body for several minutes. The exercise warmed up his stiff muscles and relaxed the tight tendons.

  Magpie, a gentle gray mare who didn’t mind little kids tugging on her mane, stood inside the corral. She lifted her head over the rail fence and snuffled at him.

  “Sorry, girl. No sugar cubes this early in the morning.” Dal rubbed her between the ears. Then he turned and jogged toward the main road, picking up speed as he headed toward town, five miles away. He settled into an easy rhythm, his body moving well. Arms pumping. Blood pounding against his temples. Inhaling oxygen into his lungs.

  He got his second wind just as he passed the turnoff to Secret Valley. His first-mile marker, where the graveled road turned into asphalt. His breathing came in even exhales. He was moving strong. Feeling invincible. But he knew from experience that was an illusion. Life was fragile, the human body easily broken.

  He reached the main road, the sole of his running shoe pounding against the pavement. Another two miles and he’d turn back toward home. A rivulet of sweat tickled between his shoulder blades. He liked this quiet time when he jogged six miles before most people even started their day. He liked being alone to think about the work he had ahead of him back at the ranch. Horses to feed, stalls to muck out, bridles to repair, wild mustangs to train. Running not only cleared his head but also kept him in excellent condition. Something he valued more than anything else, except his relationship with God.

  His gaze skimmed the fertile fields. A thin creek wound its lazy path through the valley and widened as it ran parallel to the road. Not once had he regretted his decision to move to Stokely, Nevada, the small ranching town where Cade Baldwin, his best friend, had settled and started a family of his own. Though Dal frequently felt like an intruder, the Baldwins were the closest thing to a family he would ever have, and he loved them dearly.

  He focused on the terrain in front of him. Through the thi
ck cluster of cattails, he caught a glimpse of Black Angus cattle nestled among the green pasture, chewing their cud. Soon they’d be up foraging for grass.

  And then he spied a woman. Running toward him through the field on the opposite side of the stream. Through the tall willows, he could just make out the top half of her white jogging shirt and blue shorts. She pumped her bare arms hard as she ran. Sunlight gleamed against her long chestnut ponytail. Even from this distance, Dal caught the unwavering glint in her eyes. The lock-jawed determination to push herself hard.

  Obviously a morning runner like him.

  She glanced his way and waved. He lifted his hand in a halfhearted acknowledgment. Ever since he’d returned from the war in Afghanistan, he’d avoided women. His fiancée had broken off their engagement, and he couldn’t really blame her. He no longer had much to offer a woman.

  “Oww!” The stranger crumpled to the ground, disappearing from view.

  Dal’s mouth dropped open in surprise. She’d gone down! Maybe needed his help.

  Leaving the road, he stepped down the graveled incline. He found a narrow spot in the creek where he could cross without wading through the muddy water. Gripping branches of willows, he pulled himself up the embankment. As he trotted toward the spot where he’d seen her fall, he called out, “You okay, ma’am?”

  A thin wail came from the tall meadow grass. He found her lying on her side as she clutched her right ankle tight against her chest. She clenched her eyes closed and bit her bottom lip, fighting off a spasm of pain.

  “Hey, you all right?” He stooped over her, giving her time to catch her breath. Hoping it wasn’t serious.

  She jerked her head around and gasped in surprise. “You... You’re...”

  She didn’t finish her sentence, her gaze lowering to his legs. She sucked in a harsh breath, no doubt caught off guard by his prosthesis and the absence of his left leg. He got this a lot, though he never got used to it. It was an automatic response for people to stare at his legs, but he hated it with every fiber of his being.