The Replacement. Anne Duquette Marie

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СКАЧАТЬ dead because of carelessness. That poor woman. And now I’m taking her room, her gear, her winter uniforms, her bed, even her dog. I doubt I’ll get much of a welcome from the dog—or Eric. Not to mention the other two rangers. I don’t blame them, though.

      Eric must be devastated about this ranger’s death, she found herself thinking. As team leader, he’d always emphasized safety….

      Eric, her ex-lover with the laughing blue eyes, the dark hair and the capability to surmount any and all obstacles—or so she’d thought. She’d only seen him devastated once before. The day their happiness ended.

      Yosemite

       Summer, four years earlier

      LINDSEY NELSON sat dejectedly in her bedroom at her summer cabin. The wedding dress she was supposed to be wearing tomorrow hung unwrapped, untouched, in her closet. Her suitcases were packed for her honeymoon vacation, boating and hiking at Lake Tahoe, along with some easy climbing. The dress, the suitcases, the snorkeling equipment in their travel bag for the honeymoon—it was all waiting and ready. For nothing, it turned out.

      She stared at the floor, unwilling to meet the gaze of the white-faced man standing before her. Just this time last week she’d thought her life perfect. Lindsey Nelson, year-round search-and-rescue ranger for Yosemite, had it all: a job she loved, a man she adored and her wedding day tomorrow.

      But her last rescue had ruined that; one loss had triggered it all. Lindsey and Missy, her beloved golden retriever, had searched and found a missing five-year-old boy. Missy might have been getting on in years, but her nose and her determination to succeed was as strong as ever. Yesterday, after sunset, when the other searchers had given up for the day, Missy and Lindsey continued their search alone—and were rewarded for their efforts.

      The boy had been found alive, but Missy’s great courage was no match for her advancing years. For the first time ever in their partnership, Lindsey knew Missy’s rescue days were over.

      “It’s time to retire, girl,” Lindsey had said after rushing her to the vet. “Eric, I don’t know about going to Lake Tahoe for the honeymoon. The vet said Missy’s still very fragile. Maybe we could go to the coast, instead. She’d get more oxygen at the beach than at the higher altitude of Tahoe.”

      “It’s too late to change our plans now,” Eric had replied. His large, capable hand stroked the dog’s head. “Maybe we should just board her at the vet’s and reevaluate her health after the wedding.”

      A warning rang in Lindsey’s head. Reevaluate from Eric’s lips meant We’ll see, as in No way.

      “I’m not going anywhere, and Missy isn’t going anywhere without me while she’s not feeling herself. I’m not leaving her side.”

      “Even to get married?”

      “We’ll still get married the day after tomorrow, just as we planned,” Lindsey said reasonably. “After that, the vet and I will…reevaluate the honeymoon plans.” Her choice of his favorite word to stall was deliberate.

      Eric drew in a deep breath and changed tack. “Sweetheart, I know you love the mutt. She’s—”

      “Her name is Missy!”

      “She’s done great work over the years. You both have. But marriage means we should put each other first.”

      “Then you should respect my wishes. I don’t want to leave Missy alone when she’s sick.”

      Eric had been disappointed, but agreed to postpone their honeymoon for the time being. “I can wait for the honeymoon, as long as the wedding is still on,” Eric said. He closed the door to her room with the easy maturity that would soon earn the twenty-six-year-old rescuer his promotion to head ranger.

      Twenty-one-year-old Lindsey had sighed with relief and considered herself lucky to have such a great guy in her life. But right now her dog needed her. She fixed Missy a special dinner with the vet’s new pills mashed and mixed in. Then they curled up in bed for the night, the woodstove blazing with heat for the invalid. Missy burrowed her nose against Lindsey, while Lindsey encircled the shaggy neck with her arm, her hand resting on Missy’s golden head.

      Late that night, before the sun rose on her wedding eve, Missy’s brave heart quietly, painlessly stopped. Even in death, the nose that had saved so many lives remained snuggled under Lindsey’s loving hand.

      Lindsey’s fellow rangers gave Missy an official funeral in the beauty of Yosemite that dog and handler had served so faithfully, and loved so well. Her family, in town for the wedding, attended. Pet and kennel owners themselves, they understood Lindsey’s pain. Eric had seemed understanding himself, until later when they all gathered at a local hotel for what was to have been the prewedding dinner.

      “Are we all set for the ceremony tomorrow?” he asked.

      Lindsey shook her head, tears starting again. “I can’t, Eric.”

      He grew very still, as did the whole roomful of family and friends, including other rangers. “I think we should postpone the wedding,” she whispered.

      “You mean…cancel.” His voice hadn’t sounded like her lover’s at all.

      “No, reschedule,” she insisted. “I just need a day or two and then everything can go on as planned. I’m so sorry, Eric…everyone. I just can’t…” Her voice broke. “I hope you understand.”

      He had, at first. He’d been comforting, loving and compassionate—until that evening when Naomi, who had never approved of Lindsey for her beloved twin, had used her influence with Eric.

      That influence was considerable.

      Lindsey had overheard the end of one argument. “For God’s sake, Eric, Lindsey knows what our work schedules are like! Yours and mine and hers. She’s a park ranger! She also knows this park is booked two years in advance. Not to mention plane reservations and rental car reservations and the tight planning it required to get everyone flown in. This is going to throw everything into one big mess. Believe me, twin, Lindsey doesn’t want you to delay the wedding, she wants to cancel it. She’s scared. Her dog’s death is a perfect excuse to call it off. She’s been dragging her feet all the way to the altar.”

      Eric had used those same arguments later that evening in private.

      “But…you said you were okay about this,” a shocked Lindsey had said. “It’s only for a day or two.”

      “I thought it over, and I’m not.”

      “You mean your sister thought it over, and she’s not,” Lindsey had accused him. “You always take her side over mine! Dammit, Eric, I warned you about this. She’s never liked me. She’ll never like anyone who takes you away from her, and if she has to lie to keep you, she will!”

      “You’re wrong.”

      “I’m not! First thing she did after her husband died was come running back to you! Both your parents are alive, yet suddenly she has to be a park ranger herself.”

      “She’s right about one thing. You have been dragging your feet about this wedding,” Eric accused.

      “Damn right, but not because of you…because СКАЧАТЬ