Healing the Forest Ranger. Leigh Bale

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СКАЧАТЬ you from around here?” she asked.

      Cade jerked his thumb up. “I own a small ranch just west of here.”

      “Ah, Sunrise Ranch.” She nodded.

      He wasn’t surprised she knew his place. The community wasn’t large, and everyone knew everyone else. So, why hadn’t he met this woman before? He longed to ask where she’d come from, but resisted the urge to show any interest.

      “My name is Lyn,” she said. “I’m fairly new in town. Only been here two months, so I haven’t had an opportunity to meet you yet.”

      “Yeah. Come on. I’ll take you to your truck.” He removed his foot from the left stirrup and reached out a hand to help her step up behind him on his horse. His mind kept repeating her name. Lyn. It suited her—feminine yet decisive.

      “No, thanks. I can walk.”

      She limped away, and he watched her with a bit of doubt. Maybe it was for the best. It wouldn’t bode well if someone saw him riding with a Forest Service employee. He’d never hear the end of it. Instead, he rode along beside her, just in case she changed her mind.

      “Did you hurt yourself?” He jutted his chin toward her left ankle.

      “Just a sprain. I was out here checking the damage to the watering hole when I saw the horses. I didn’t expect Buck to attack me. I’m sure he was still feeling defensive after his fight with the bachelor stallion. Otherwise, I doubt he would have bothered with me.”

      “Buck?”

      “Yeah, that’s what I named the buckskin.”

      Cade’s jaw went slack, but he quickly turned his face away so she wouldn’t see his surprise. “You actually named one of the stallions?”

      “Uh-huh. I take pictures of all the wildlife I see out here on the Stokely Ranger District.” She explained about naming the stallions of each herd so she could keep track of them in her reports.

      “Wait a minute. You’re the new forest ranger?” He’d heard they were getting a new ranger in town, but had no idea she’d be a woman, or that she’d care about the wildlife enough to document them.

      “That’s right.” She nodded and smiled pleasantly.

      “Hmm.”

      “You don’t sound pleased.”

      “I’m just indifferent.” And stunned. A petite, attractive woman wasn’t his idea of what a forest ranger ought to look like. In fact, he’d never met a woman ranger before. Especially not one this pretty. Most of the rangers he’d met were men with pot guts. Overbellies who wouldn’t listen to reason. At least not where the wild horses were concerned. Cade wasn’t sure what to think about this turn of events.

      “I suppose you’re planning to round up the wild horses and take them off the range,” he grumbled.

      “Not if I can help it.” She kept her gaze trained on the rocky ground in front of her.

      “What do you mean?”

      “I love the wild horses. But I also love the elk, antelope, bighorn sheep and mule deer. And they need to eat and drink out here, too.”

      “There’s plenty of feed for all the wildlife,” he said.

      She stopped and looked at him squarely, resting her hands on her slim hips. A blaze of fire sparked in her eyes. As stunning as the wild mustangs he’d seen minutes earlier. “No, there’s not. Buck’s herd is starving. They’re too lean—I could see that with my own eyes. And they’ll soon be out of water.”

      What she said went against everything Cade had been brought up to believe in. “Bah! The mustangs have been running wild across this land for centuries. They’ll make do. They always survive.”

      “Yes, but many will die a slow, cruel death. A lot of elk and deer will suffer the same fate. There isn’t enough water and feed out here to sustain so many wildlife and domestic livestock, too.”

      He waved a hand. “You’re just another cow lover. Get rid of all the ranchers’ fat cattle, and the wildlife will have enough feed to live on.”

      She chuckled, not seeming offended in the least. “Well, I do enjoy eating a nice steak and hamburger now and then. But the ranchers are definitely restricted on how many cattle they can graze on public lands. They don’t take more than their fair share, believe me. I won’t let them.”

      That was just the problem. He didn’t believe her. “Ma’am, there are more important things out here than the ranchers and their cattle.”

      She brushed her hand across some sage. “There are miles of sagebrush out here. It’s edible, but provides very little nourishment for the horses. They need grass. Wild horses don’t migrate to better areas when food and water runs out. They just stay here and starve. And please, call me Lyn.”

      Not if he could help it.

      She poked a tuft of Great Basin wheatgrass with the tip of her scuffed boot. “It takes fifty acres of this kind of land to feed one horse for one month. That doesn’t include elk and mule deer, nor any cattle, either. You can do the math as easily as I can to figure out how many miles of land are needed to keep that wild-horse herd happy and healthy. But I can tell you this area can sustain about one hundred and fifty wild horses. We currently have over four hundred and fifty horses living in and around this national forest. And that’s too many if we don’t want to see them starve to death.”

      She turned and continued walking. In spite of his desire not to, he found himself liking the jaunty bounce of her hair. Spunky and sure of herself. He’d never met anyone like her.

      He flinched when she whirled around and continued her dialogue.

      “And you’re wrong about the cattle. They’re just as important as the wild horses. Every man, woman and child in this country needs to eat. And cattlemen make their living by growing cows. The horses are important. The cows are important. And so is the other wildlife out here. The issues aren’t easy, but we need to find ways to make it all work together. And I have some ideas, if you’d like to hear them...”

      He cut her off with a wave of his hand. “Forget it. I’ve heard it all before, and I doubt you have anything new to add that’ll make a difference to me.”

      “Have it your way.” With a simple shrug, she kept walking. No argument. No blustering anger. She seemed easygoing and laid-back. Disarming in her candor. And he couldn’t help wondering about her ideas. For the first time, he really wanted to know. But asking her to explain seemed a bit like admitting defeat right now.

      They soon arrived at her truck, her boots and pant legs covered by a thin sheen of dust. As she unlocked and opened the door to the driver’s seat, she tilted her head to look up at him. “We might have conflicting opinions, Cade, but I can make a big difference here in Stokely. And I intend to do just that.”

      She climbed inside and reached for the armrest to pull the door closed. Before she did so, she gave him a smile so bright that it made his jaw ache. “Thanks again for all your help. I appreciate you being so neighborly.”

      He nodded СКАЧАТЬ