The Forest Ranger's Rescue. Leigh Bale

was time she drove out to Cove Mountain and took a look at the cutblock herself. She needed to know just how bad the theft really was.

      “Okay. See you soon.” He waved, looking momentarily like the sweet, naive boy she’d been raised with.

      As she stepped into the outer office, she tugged her purse out of the desk drawer where she’d stowed it earlier that morning. A number of possible solutions to their financial woes rumbled through her mind. Solutions that wouldn’t involve laying off any workers.

      They could sell off some of the new equipment Alan had recently bought, but they wouldn’t get full price now. They might be able to refinance their loan, or take out a second mortgage on Mom’s house. That meant talking to Larry Cambridge, the bank manager. And Mom would have to sign the papers, which might freak her out in her present state of mind.

      Jill took a deep, settling breath. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Mom’s security was important, too. She wouldn’t want to move to Boise to live with Jill.

      The mill currently specialized in lumber and plywood. Maybe they could diversify into posts and poles. Definitely not ideal, but it might be enough to keep them in the black. They’d figure something out. She just hoped they didn’t lose the sawmill in the process.

      * * *

      Brent flipped on the heater in his truck. The damp May weather didn’t bode well for fire season. The heavy rains they’d been having would turn everything to green. Then, as the cheatgrass dried out in June, he could find himself called out on a wildfire. That would mean leaving Evie overnight with Velma Crawford, her sitter. Not an ideal situation, but it couldn’t be helped. At least Evie liked Velma and was willing to stay in her home while Brent went to work every day.

      Looking across the seat, he smiled at his sweet little daughter sitting serenely in her booster car seat. He’d wanted to take Evie with him up on Cove Mountain, so he’d left his Forest Service truck parked back at his office. Even though he was still working, some people might create a stink if they saw his child riding around with him in a government truck. They didn’t understand the long hours a forest ranger worked, so he tried to spend time with his family while he checked the cutblock where Russell Sawmill was harvesting timber.

      “You doing okay, sweetheart?” he asked.

      Evie didn’t smile, but she nodded and gazed out the window as zillions of vibrant green ponderosa pine flashed past their view. A cloud of dust billowed up behind them on the narrow dirt road as they circled the mountain.

      He downshifted as they climbed in elevation. Thick forests of Douglas fir, western hemlock and ponderosa pine pierced the azure sky like elegant dancers. A logger’s paradise. You sure couldn’t get views like this living in a city.

      Evie glanced at him and he knew what she was thinking.

      “Pretty, isn’t it?” he said.

      She nodded, a permanent scowl marring her high forehead as she clutched a stuffed toy rabbit in her lap. The way her wary gaze darted between him and the road told him she was excited but nervous. She never quite let down her guard anymore. Never was fully at ease.

      A double-trailer logging truck approached from the opposite direction and Brent pulled over on the thin road to give it extra room to pass. Brent returned the driver’s wave as his gaze swept the heavy load of ponderosa pine, which towered over the cab of the truck. A flash of red caught his eye. A ticket stapled to one log on the back of the load. It was habit for Brent to look. To inspect. To make sure the loggers were following the law. He knew his timber assistant was working up here today and must have already checked the load of lumber to determine the number of logs.

      Back on the road, he soon approached the landing area of the timber operation, and the sound of heavy engines and chain saws filled the air along with suffocating dust. Evie clapped her hands over her ears and scowled at the deafening noise. Brent chuckled as they passed by the cutblock area. Another fifteen minutes and he pulled over and killed the engine. He didn’t like what he saw. From the disapproving scowl on her face, neither did Evie.

      Dozens of naked stumps porcupined the mountainside. Gone were the tall, lush trees that used to blanket this hillside, cut and stolen in the night by thieves.

      Evie reached across the seat and tugged on his sleeve. He looked her way and she pointed out the window. A lone figure moved through the ruined forest. A woman, wearing blue jeans and a red sweater.

      Jill!

      Before he could stop her, Evie clicked off her seat belt, threw open the heavy door and hopped out of the truck.

      “Evie, wait,” he called as she raced toward Jill.

      Brent hurried to follow after his daughter. Since the theft, an eerie silence filled this forest with nothingness. No birdsong. No animal life. No treetops rustling as the breeze rippled past. This forest had been destroyed.

      Violated by greed.

      At the sounds of Evie’s running feet and gasping breath, Jill turned and gazed at the child with wide-eyed surprise.

      “Evie. What are you doing here?” Jill said.

      She lifted her head. Brent was highly aware of the exact moment when she saw him. He felt her gaze like a physical blow. As though an electric current flowed between them, shocking him with its intensity. And he couldn’t ignore a sudden rush of joy. For some inane reason, he liked being near this woman. As though she were his homecoming and they belonged together. An odd notion, but there it was.

      “Howdy.” He waved, trying to sound casual. As though this meeting was a regular occurrence. No big deal. And he hoped she didn’t notice the happy zing that seemed to fill his voice.

      “Hi.”

      Jill’s reply didn’t sound too eager and he couldn’t blame her. His profession and the question of timber theft hung between them like a thick iron curtain.

      Without asking permission, Evie tightened her fingers around the woman’s hand. Showing complete trust. Assuming Jill would let her do it. And Jill did, looking completely unruffled by Evie’s forward gesture.

      Jill bent her knees so she could stoop down and meet the girl’s eyes. “Have you been doing okay since I saw you last?”

      Evie nodded, her long ponytail bouncing. Seeing his daughter so energized pleased Brent enormously. He didn’t understand what it was about Jill that drew both him and Evie like a heat-seeking missile.

      Jill smiled. “Good. I was planning to come and visit you later this evening. I have something for you in my car. I picked it up at the store before I drove up on the mountain. Would you like to see what it is?”

      Another nod and bright, earnest eyes from the child. Brent hadn’t seen Evie this engaged in a long time, and he marveled that Jill had this effect on his daughter.

      Still holding Evie’s hand, Jill walked with the girl toward her car. It was parked on the other side of the draw, hidden by a low-lying hill. No wonder Brent hadn’t seen it when he’d first arrived.

      Feeling a bit out of place, he trailed behind, curious to see Jill’s surprise. At her car, she opened the back door and leaned inside. The rustling of a plastic bag sounded as she pulled out a small dry-erase board. It included a miniature eraser with a magnet and a purple marker. Very interesting.

      “Since you’re now a big six-year-old, you’re starting to learn to write, aren’t you?” Jill asked.

      Evie nodded with uncertainty, her gaze riveted on the erase board like it was Christmas morning.

      “You can use this to write what you want to say and show it to your dad and other people. You can talk to him and anyone else that way. You want to try it?” Jill held out the board.

      Evie didn’t take it. A small shudder swept her body and she looked down at the ground.

      Jill knelt in the dust, seeking Evie’s gaze. When she spoke, her voice sounded