The Forest Ranger's Promise. Leigh Bale

body hanging limp against her seat belt. Thick darkness covered the road, the headlights glinting off damp pavement as Melanie pulled onto the freeway.

      Scott would have called his range assistant to come get him, but he figured by the time Jim got to Evanston, they could already be home. Instead, he’d woken up Karen again to let her know he’d be home by five in the morning. Until Scott could find another child care provider, Karen had agreed to take Shelley when he needed to work on the mountain. Something would need to change soon. Shelley was bored to tears, sitting all day in the office with a woman old enough to be her grandmother. No friends to play with. No mother to love her.

      No wife to love him.

      A sad melancholy settled over him. How he wished he could go back in time and change things. Shelley was the most important thing in his life and she was hurting. He’d have to find a better sitter on his next day off. That would go a long way toward mending Shelley’s broken heart.

      He doubted his own heart could ever be fixed.

      “The doctor said you need to stay awake for a few more hours. Do you have family at home to watch you, to make sure you’re okay?” Melanie asked.

      No, but he didn’t want to tell Melanie that. He could tell that she didn’t want to be near him, but he knew she’d offer to stay with him if he needed her. He could hear the weariness in her voice and wouldn’t ask that from her. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

      “Did you call your wife and tell her what happened?”

      Her voice had a low, growly quality he liked. Not a girly, simpering voice like so many other women he knew. Her assumption that he was married amused him. “My daughter will take care of me.”

      She flicked a glance of curiosity at him. “Is she old enough to watch you?”

      He shrugged. “Probably not.”

      “That’s just the point. You could be unconscious and unable to call for help. Who’s at home? Is your wife out of town?”

      He liked the note of concern in her voice. It’d been a long time since anyone cared about him. But her reminder that he had no one except his daughter made him feel a tad grouchy and he didn’t understand why. “I’m divorced.”

      Now why did he tell her that? It wasn’t her business. Must be the medication loosening his tongue.

      “Oh. I didn’t mean to pry.”

      He moved his left hand, careful not to jar the broken finger and bulky splint the nurse had put on for him. Melanie’s apology softened him as nothing else could. Over the past few years, it seemed he’d done all the apologizing. Now, he wanted to get on with life and forget his sadness. He’d resigned himself to raising Shelley and being alone. A ranger living in remote towns with few single women had little chance of developing much of a social life.

      “It’s okay. I guess you could say I chose my career over the needs of my wife. Not many women like living in podunk towns without a decent grocery store and shopping.”

      Once again, his tongue seemed to blurt out words before he could engage his brain. Melanie McAllister was much too easy to talk to.

      Allison should be here now with him and Shelley. He’d begged his wife not to leave them. He’d even offered to change the career he dearly loved, although he had no idea what he’d do if he wasn’t a ranger. This life was all he knew.

      No amount of pleading had changed Allison’s mind. She’d married a wealthy businessman less than four weeks after the divorce. All her trips to New York to visit her sister finally made sense. She’d been having an affair. When she’d claimed she’d never loved him, Scott wasn’t surprised. Even now, the pain of betrayal hurt so much he thought there must be blood on the floor.

      When she’d demanded that he keep Shelley, Scott had been glad, but his heart ached for his little girl. She didn’t understand why Mom didn’t want her anymore. He’d clumsily tried to explain without hurting her feelings, but Shelley was too smart. Kids had an uncanny way of guessing the truth. She knew her mother didn’t want her. Had never really wanted either of them. And that’s what hurt most of all.

      “I suppose you’re right,” Melanie conceded. “It can be a challenge living in an isolated town, but we’ve got the most beautiful sunsets you ever saw. And when I’m up on the mountain after a rainstorm, the wind whispers through the trees and everything is so green and smells so fragrant. It’s like heaven on earth.”

      Warmth and pride infused her voice. She spoke on a sigh, her soft words sounding poetic. He couldn’t help wondering how different life might have been if his ex-wife had loved the great outdoors the way he did. They’d met and married fresh out of college, before he realized she hated country living. “It’s funny how things change.”

      “Yes,” Melanie said. “And it’s funny how they stay the same, too.”

      How true. Right now, he wished he could just find some normalcy for himself and Shelley, if only for a while. They’d both had far too much upheaval lately.

      “If your daughter’s young, who’s watching her while you’re gone?” Melanie asked.

      He explained about Karen. “Shelley’s a great kid, but she’s lonely. She misses her mom and her friends.”

      “Don’t worry. There’re several women in town who run summer child care out of their homes to make extra money.”

      “Yeah, for everyone except the new forest ranger.” He couldn’t keep the cynicism from his voice.

      “I take it you’ve already asked them?”

      “Yep, and each one said no.”

      “Really?” Disbelief filled her voice.

      He snorted. “Don’t look so surprised. One woman was polite, but I saw the anxiousness in her eyes when she found out who I was. The other two women bluntly told me they would never watch the forest ranger’s brat.”

      She glanced at him, her eyes round with shock. “They actually said that?”

      “Quote, unquote.” And where did that leave him and Shelley? He’d never leave her with people who might treat her badly. His child care predicament bordered on desperate.

      “I’m sorry. That’s not very Christian-like.” Melanie’s mouth tensed as she gripped the steering wheel.

      “Don’t worry about it. Even you’d rather be anywhere but here helping me.”

      Her cheeks flamed with guilt. “Is it that obvious?”

      “Like a fist punch to the nose.”

      “I don’t mean to be rude,” she admitted.

      “I know. It’s just that Shelley misses her mom and still doesn’t understand why she has to live with me.” His voice softened. “She’s a lot like her mother. Prefers dresses to tromping around the mountains on a horse. But I love her so much. She’s all I have left.”

      He heaved a deep sigh, then clamped his mouth closed. He must remember that this woman was a rancher and didn’t trust him. Yet.

      “I’m sorry for your trouble.”

      “Thanks. I just want to do a good job here,” he said. “My dad died when I was a senior in high school and Mom couldn’t keep the ranch going even with my help. We sold off our land and that’s when I decided to get a college education, so I could become a forest ranger and help other ranchers. I’m really not an ogre.”

      She blinked, seeming to think this over.

      “Can you recommend a child care provider until school starts up in the fall who won’t care what I do for a living?” he asked.

      She hesitated, then shook her head, her long auburn hair falling softly around her shoulders. “Just the women you’ve already tried. I pretty much keep to myself out at Opal Ranch