The Forest Ranger's Husband. Leigh Bale

with disapproval. “I hope so.”

      Realizing Matt was watching her, Andie blinked and began picking up toys around the living room. She’d overheard Davie’s conversation with Matt and didn’t like it one bit. How she wished Davie could get to know his father without becoming emotionally attached. But Davie loving Matt was inevitable. The boy wanted his father. So much. For that reason alone, Andie had let Matt into her house.

      Against her better judgment.

      “You put him into baseball?” Matt asked.

      She shrugged. “He started last year. It’s what he chose.”

      “I guess it’s in his blood.”

      She straightened, a roller skate dangling from her fingers. “Actually, he saw a picture of you playing baseball in college and refused to consider any other sport.”

      He glanced around the room. “I don’t see any pictures of me. Not a single one.”

      She looked away. “He went snooping and found the photo albums I had put away in the bottom of my cedar chest. He’s a bit like you. Intelligent and precocious.” She didn’t mean it as a compliment. “Once Davie realized you’d played baseball, that was it. He insisted he would, too.”

      And she didn’t have the heart to hide the pictures from Davie. At first, she’d left photos of Matt out, hoping he’d return. After a year, the photographs became a constant reminder of what she’d lost, and she’d finally put them away.

      “Smart kid,” Matt said.

      “Yes, he is.”

      “I can understand why you didn’t want to show him pictures of me.”

      She turned, her gaze locking with his. All the years of waiting and hoping, fighting off the loneliness and hurt, came boiling up inside her fast and hard. “I didn’t want him to hurt as much as I did.”

      “I’m sorry for hurting you, Andie.”

      “Yeah, right.” She pursed her lips tight.

      “I didn’t know he existed until a few days ago. And he didn’t know me.”

      She hardened her jaw. “And whose fault is that? You left me, remember?”

      “If you’d just called and told me I had a son—”

      Davie stood in the doorway, looking between them. He wore his Redhawks uniform, the leather baseball glove firmly on his left hand. His little face crinkled with worry. “Are you guys having a fight?”

      Matt flashed a smile and gestured to his son. Davie walked closer and Matt squeezed his arm. “No, we’re just having a grown-up discussion, that’s all. Hey! This uniform looks great on you. Maybe we can play catch sometime.”

      Davie’s eyes brightened. “How about now?”

      “It’s dark outside and getting late. You haven’t had your dinner yet.” Andie turned and folded the burgundy afghan before draping it over the back of the couch.

      “How about tomorrow evening after I get off work?” Matt stood and tugged on the brim of Davie’s baseball cap.

      “Yeah! But aren’t you staying for supper?”

      Matt shook his head. “Sorry, hotshot. I can’t. Maybe another time.”

      “Ah!” Davie walked him to the door. “Don’t be late tomorrow, or it’ll be supper time and Mom won’t let me go out cause she thinks it’s too dark and cold.”

      “You got it.”

      Matt looked over the boy’s head at Andie. She stood in the middle of the room, feeling harsh and unforgiving. She didn’t say anything, wishing Matt would leave. If she told him not to come back, he’d find another way to visit Davie. His work provided plenty of opportunity to schedule meetings where Andie would need to be present.

      She refused to be forced to do something she didn’t want to do. But getting Matt out of her life again would take a gigantic miracle.

      Finally Davie was asleep. After Matt left, the boy had been so wound up, he barely ate any dinner. Dad this and Dad that. Davie had gone on and on about what he planned to do with his father. Andie had never seen her son so animated. Not even on Christmas morning.

      Oh, Matt. Please don’t hurt us again.

      Turning off the hall light, she sat in the recliner and stared at the gift Matt had brought her. A small package wrapped in dainty pink paper with a pretty white bow. Her fingers itched to know what was inside. She remembered the last time he’d bought her a gift—on their third anniversary, three months before he left. An exquisite heart-shaped ruby necklace she hadn’t worn since. Sometimes she took it out of the box and held it in her hands, usually at night when she couldn’t sleep and was all alone so no one heard her cry.

      Standing, she picked up Matt’s gift and carried it to the kitchen, where she dropped it into the garbage can. The thunk as it hit bottom mirrored her empty heart. It felt good to let it go. To mentally tell Matt no. He couldn’t just walk back into her life like this. Her heart no longer had room for him.

      Flipping off the living room light, she walked through the dark to her bedroom. She sat on the corner of her bed and folded her hands in her lap, letting the quiet of the house settle her nerves.

      She shook her head and stood, retracing her steps to the kitchen. In the shadows, she reached for Matt’s gift and pulled it out of the garbage before carrying it back to her room. Taking a deep breath, she closed the bedroom door and flipped on the light.

      A quick study of the package showed uneven edges and too much tape. Knowing Matt had wrapped this himself almost made her smile. Almost.

      Slowly and carefully, she peeled back the delicate paper to reveal a white box. She found an envelope placed on top of an expensive silver-gilded music box. Taking the music box from the Bubble Wrap, she lifted the lid. The soft tune of “Unchained Melody” filled the room.

      Their love song.

      She hummed along for a moment, remembering the poignant words so well. She had loved this song in the past. Now the lyrics seemed mournful, filled with longing and loneliness.

       Are you still mine?

      The words left her feeling empty and depressed. She closed the lid, her hands shaking. The card rested on the bedspread, beckoning to her.

      Her fingers reached for it of their own volition. She lifted the flap and pulled the card free of the envelope. For all his manly ways, Matt had always been a romantic. Cards, flowers and gifts. Before he’d left, he’d never forgotten her birthday or their anniversary.

      Before he’d left.

      The card was just what she expected. A flowery, mushy sentiment of the heart. But what he’d written touched her like nothing else could.

       To my dear wife Andie, for giving me the greatest gift of all. Our son. Love, Matt

      She sat there in shock. Not even realizing she was crying until her tears dripped onto the card, smudging the ink.

      She sniffed and wiped her eyes, then wrapped up the card and music box and tucked them far away in the highest, darkest corner of her closet. Where Davie wouldn’t find them.

      Her heart ached. She felt more alone than ever before. What did Matt expect from her? To just welcome him back with open arms? She couldn’t do that. Not after what he’d put her through. She believed in God, and forgiveness but she just couldn’t let this go. She didn’t have that much faith.

      She wondered about his leg. Something had happened to him. Something bad. Maybe a car accident or other injury. It must have changed him somehow. He seemed so vulnerable now. So sad.

      Clicking off the light, she crawled into bed and stared into the darkness. She hadn’t said her evening prayers because she