The Forest Ranger's Child (15 page)

Chapter Fourteen

T
he sermon was on service to others. A topic that both shamed and inspired Lily. She thought of how much Dad, her teachers and other people had done for her in the past. And she became even more determined to begin serving others in return. Somehow her resolution buoyed her spirits and gave her added courage to move beyond her sadness. To help lift other people’s loads if she could. It would take a lot of time, but she had taken the first steps toward turning her life around and she wanted to do even more.

Another thought struck her. When she served others, she was also serving God. How simple. How honest and lovely. That was what the Gospel of Christ was all about.

Only when the service ended did she finally release Nate’s hand. He smiled in understanding, and clenched and released his fist several times, as if to get the blood flowing back through his fingers.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she stood.

He joined her, his tall body shielding her from view of other people. “Don’t be.”

“Why aren’t you married, Nate?” The moment the words left her mouth, she wished she could call them back. For all she knew, he’d been divorced or dumped by a woman he loved. Something painful that he didn’t want to share.

“You really want to know?” he asked.

She nodded, feeling mean-spirited for asking him such a personal question. Yet his response was intensely important to her for some crazy reason.

“In the past, I’ve dated a lot of lovely, educated women. But I never found that one gal who really clicked with me. Someone I felt comfortable with and was easy to talk to. Someone who made me feel lighter than air. Like I couldn’t draw another breath until I saw her again. In the past, I could never envision coming home every day to any of the ladies I went out with, much less raise a family with them. I guess you could say I never met the right woman…until recently.”

Recently. Her heart gave a sudden lurch and she clenched her jaw. His candor left her speechless and a hollow feeling settled in her chest. “Nate, I—”

He cut her off. “You asked, so hear me out, Lily. I never knew how lonely I was until you came into my life.”

Oh, she couldn’t do this. He was talking about marriage, wasn’t he?

“I…I can’t stay for Sunday school,” she said. “Next week, after the shock of my return has worn off a bit, I’ll stay for all the meetings. But not today.”

“That’s okay. I’ll take you home.”

She breathed with relief as he led her toward the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Louise skirting through the pews, headed straight toward Lily.

Nate must have also seen Louise. He pressed Lily ahead of him, cutting Louise off as they stepped outside into the fresh air.

“I’m parked over there. Go on and get inside my truck. I’ll be there shortly.” With the palm of his hand, Nate pushed against Lily’s lower back and indicated his truck sitting beneath a cherry tree in full blossom.

Lily hurried in that direction, conscious of Nate turning and intercepting Louise with a congenial smile.

“Hi, Louise. How are you?” he said.

Lily glanced over her shoulder and saw Louise craning her head around Nate, trying to get past him. “I’m fine. Is that Lily Hansen I just saw?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, it is.”

Clara came outside and joined them, but Lily kept going. “Hi, Nate. Is Lily leaving?”

As Lily reached Nate’s truck, she heard his deep voice behind. “She’s not feeling well, so I’m taking her home.”

Home. Nate was taking her there. And somehow, that thought frightened Lily more than anything else. Because something had just happened without her even being able to stop it. Without her even realizing it until it had already occurred. Nate had shielded her without her asking him to. Since their first meeting, he’d become her protector. He’d said he wanted to be more than just friends. At first, she’d been suspicious of his motives. Now she believed he was a genuinely kind man. But did he really care for her? Or did he just feel sorry for her?

Lily didn’t know what to make of this. She couldn’t completely push Nate away, yet she couldn’t let him get close, either. Could she?

* * *

Nate walked down the front steps of the church house and reached the sidewalk with Louise and Clara in hot pursuit. He turned and lifted his hands in the air, hoping to ward them off. “Ladies, you can speak with Lily another time. Right now, I’m taking her home. She doesn’t feel well.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Thank you for taking care of her, Nate.” Clara stopped and gave him an understanding smile.

“But…but I was hoping to talk to her,” Louise said.

Nate nodded. “And I’m sure she wants to talk to you, too, but maybe next week.”

The woman’s small eyes narrowed like a hawk’s. “I heard she’s pregnant.”

Nate bit his tongue, wishing the old biddy would leave Lily alone.

“She is expecting a baby. Isn’t that wonderful news?” Clara said.

Louise leaned closer and spoke in a mock whisper that anyone passing by would be able to hear. She eyed Nate. “Do you know who the father is? She’s not married.”

“I don’t think it’s our business, do you?” Clara asked.

“Well, I just think it’s—”

Nate took a step, the woman’s needling voice raising the hackles on the back of his neck. The urge to strangle Louise filled his entire being. Lily had been deeply hurt by Tommy and Nate promised himself no one would hurt her like that again.

Clara’s features tightened and she lifted a hand in dismissal. “I wouldn’t pay attention to mindless gossip, Louise. It’s not our business nor our place to judge. By the way, how is your son doing in San Quentin?”

Oh, that was a low blow, but it shut Louise up. Nate knew she had a son in prison for armed robbery. So who was Louise to find fault with Lily? Nate almost hugged Clara for her quick comeback. Instead, he winked at her. In return, she gave him a quiet smile. Whether Lily believed it, she had friends here in Jasper. People who actually loved and cared for her.

People like him.

The thought of loving Lily Hansen almost sizzled Nate’s toes. He was highly conscious of her as a beautiful, intelligent woman. And whether she liked it, he wanted her for his own.

“My…my son is just fine. He gets out in sixteen months. I wanted to throw a baby shower for Lily,” Louise said.

Clara shook her head. “As her best friend since childhood, I’ve already asked to do that.”

Without a backward glance, Nate sauntered toward his truck. Grateful to Clara for intervening and giving him the time to get Lily out of here. He perked his ears for the sound of following feet behind him and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t hear it. Finally, Louise had gotten the hint.

Without fanfare, Nate opened the door and climbed into the driver’s seat of his truck. Lily sat in the passenger seat, her face void of color, her shoulders squared and tense.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded, her voice sounding small. “I suppose everyone at church knows about the baby.”

He inserted the key into the ignition. “Yes, but you knew that before you came here. There’s no way to keep it quiet.”

She lifted a hand to rest across her rounding stomach, her eyes wistful. “Dad won’t know what happened to me.”

Nate nodded toward the church house where Hank stood on the front steps talking to Clara and Louise. “I’m sure Clara will tell him I took you home.”

Putting the truck in gear, he backed it up and drove out of the parking lot. He glanced at Lily as he thought about what he wanted to say to her. An idea had started forming in his mind days ago and now he was trying to get up the courage to tell Lily about it.

“You have a good friend in Clara Richens,” he said.

“Oh?”

“She just put Louise in her place.” He told Lily what Clara had done.

Lily nodded. “Clara always was quite blunt. I never had her courage.”

“Yes, you do. In your own way. You just go about things a bit differently, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as courageous as you.”

Her mouth softened and she looked at him with a mixture of gratitude or doubt, he wasn’t sure which.

“Yes, I believe Clara is a true friend. She never criticized or betrayed me when we were kids. And she’s been kind to me since I returned home.”

“I’m glad you have someone to talk to.”

When they reached the outskirts of town, he turned left, heading up to Angel Lake instead of south toward Emerald Ranch.

“Where are you going?” Lily laid her hand along the arm rest of the door as she looked out the windshield.

“I thought we’d take a little ride. Is that okay?”

She nodded, her expression serene.

The road twined up the Ruby Mountains, the truck finally emerging past a subalpine dwarf aspen forest area. Nate eyed the remains of an avalanche from the past winter, extending across the valley for several miles. Gigantic drifts of dirty snow still covered the road in places.

“I’m afraid this is as far as we dare go today,” he said.

“Wow! Look at that mound of dirt blocking the road.” Lily pointed at a huge pile of trees and rocks sealed in a mound of damp sludge.

“Yep, I’ve scheduled a road crew to clear it away before the Fourth of July weekend. Campers will want to get through and won’t be able to.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Did the flooding cause this?”

“No, this was caused by an avalanche.”

She frowned and gazed at him with contemplation. “Is this another debris torrent building up?”

“Kind of, but different. This one doesn’t have any water backing up behind it. The debris dam building up above Bill’s ranch included the force of water.”

Lily shuddered and Nate thought she might be remembering the flash flood that almost killed her. She’d learned the hard way that water could be a strong and ruthless assailant.

He gazed at the tidy campground next to the lake, flanked by glacial cirques. This was part of his ranger district and he took any and all opportunities to ensure all was well.

He parked near a picnic table and got out, going around to open Lily’s door for her.

“I’m not dressed for hiking,” she said.

Nate heard the tension in her voice. He glanced at her pretty high heels and trim ankles. A feeling of masculine appreciation zinged through him and he longed to take her into his arms and kiss her sweet lips. Instead, he indicated his nice suit. “I’m not, either. We won’t go very far. Just to the tables where we can sit and enjoy the view.”

He cupped her elbow as he led her across the rocky ground. Whipping out his kerchief, he laid it across the seat so she wouldn’t snag or get her dress dirty. Then he sat opposite of her, gazing at the crystal water and jagged rocks.

“In the wintertime, this is a dangerous avalanche area.”

“Yes, I remember one year some of my friends from school came up here on snowmobiles. One of the kids was killed in an avalanche. It took several months to find his body. It broke his parents’ hearts.” She shivered.

“Are you cold?” Nate leaned his elbows on the table, his gaze pinned on her face.

“No. I was just remembering that gloomy time. It is lovely here. One of my favorite places on earth.”

“Mine, too.” He smiled, trying to put her at ease.

A solitary tear dripped onto her cheek and Nate reached across the table to wipe it away with his thumb. “Don’t be sad, Lil. It’s not the end of the world. There are happier days ahead for you.”

“I’m just thinking how much I have to be grateful for. Dad’s a stern man, but he never gave up on me.”

“Neither did the Lord.”

She nodded in agreement.

He took a deep, cleansing breath. “I’ve been wanting to talk with you about something I’ve had on my mind for days now.”

“And what’s that?”

“I meant it when I said I’ve never met the right woman for me…until recently.” He reached into his pants pocket and knelt on one knee beside her. She looked so beautiful in her flowered dress, the afternoon breeze rustling her long curls.

Holding up his arm, he opened his hand to reveal a large diamond engagement ring resting on his palm. “Lil, this is yours. I’d like to return it to you.”

Lily gasped, staring at the ring in silenced amazement. In her eyes, Nate saw recognition.

“That…that’s my mother’s engagement ring.”

“Yes, I know. I’d like you to wear it again. I want you to marry me and be my wife.”

“Nate, I…I’m pregnant.”

He gave a low laugh and inclined his head. “Yes, I’m well aware of that. I’d like you to be my wife and I want to be a father to your baby.”

“But…but how did you get Mom’s ring? I sold it to pay for hay.”

“And I bought it back to return to you.”

Her brown eyes glistened with moisture. Ah, did she have to cry? He wanted this to be a happy time. But she wasn’t happy. In fact, she looked heartbroken.

Tears of indignity fell freely down her cheeks and her face contorted in frustration. “You shouldn’t have done that, Nate.”