The Forest Ranger's Return. Leigh Bale

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СКАЧАТЬ had taken almost everything from him.

      His leg. His fiancée. And almost his self-respect.

      She peeled back the cuff of her white sock and rubbed her ankle. The movement commanded his gaze. Nice, trim ankles and shapely calves. He was still a man after all, and could appreciate a pair of pretty legs.

      “May I?” He reached out a hand and she nodded.

      He pressed his fingers gently against her bones, testing the structure for damage. Bloody abrasions scuffed her smooth skin, but he didn’t have access to a first-aid kit right then. A battery of questions bludgeoned his mind. Where had she been all these years? How had life treated her? Was she married with a passel of kids? And why had she abandoned him so long ago?

      “Nothing broken. You’ve probably just got a nasty sprain,” he said.

      Bracing her hands behind her, she leaned back and looked at him with a mix of dread and amazement. But not a smidgeon of recognition.

      His heart rate ratcheted up several notches, and he felt suddenly protective of her. Just like the night her parents were killed. Only now he wasn’t a young, powerless kid who couldn’t stop Social Services from taking her away.

      She shook her head with disgust. “This was so stupid of me. I took my eyes off my path and stepped in that hole over there.”

      She pointed at a rather deep gopher hole camouflaged by clumps of bleached grass.

      “It’s probably not good to run in the fields. They’re very bumpy and hard on the legs,” he said.

      He wanted to tell her who he was, but something held him back. Something he didn’t understand. Of all the people in the world, he hated for Julie to see him like this. One legged. No longer whole. But she’d turned her back on him long ago, and his situation would probably be of little importance to her now.

      “How’d you lose your leg?” she asked.

      He blinked, taken aback by her blunt question. But Julie had always been like that. Never mean or cruel. She’d just spoken her mind. At least until she’d disappeared from his life.

      As if realizing her mistake, her face flushed. “I’m sorry. That was rude. It’s none of my business.”

      “No, it’s okay. Most people pretend they don’t notice my missing leg. I lost it in Afghanistan.” But her candor still surprised him. A lot. And very few people surprised him these days.

      “You’re in the military?” She sat forward again, looking interested.

      “Not anymore. I’m a marine.” He tightened his mouth, not wanting to disclose too much about himself. To anyone. Especially a girl he’d loved when he was fifteen years old and too young to know anything about the world.

      “Ah, well, thank you for your service to our country. And I’m so sorry for your loss.”

      He caught the tone of sincerity in her soft voice. No pity, just gratitude.

      She braced herself to stand, and he reached out an arm. “Here, let me help you.”

      She eyed him, looking skeptical. Then, without a word, she accepted his offer, sliding her fingers against his.

      Trusting him.

      The warmth of her soft skin zinged through his arm. He tightened his grip and pulled her up, then let her go and stepped back.

      “You think you can walk? Or should I call someone for you? A husband, maybe...?”

      “No, I’ve never been married,” she said.

      Alone, just like him.

      Surely he imagined the subtle throb of regret in her voice. And yet, a single man of his age was probably more sensitive to other people in the same predicament. But he was still amazed that she didn’t seem to remember him.

      “I’ll get my truck and drive you home,” he offered.

      She glanced at his amputated leg again, as though assessing his abilities. He knew what she was thinking. They were out in the middle of nowhere. How could he get his truck and drive her home with only one leg?

      He jabbed a thumb toward the vicinity of Sunrise Ranch, which was now shrouded behind an edge of mountains. “I don’t live far from here. You’d only have to wait a few minutes.”

      His gaze skimmed past the white stripe along her blue runner’s shorts to her scratched knees. A streak of dirt marred the edge of her chin, and he longed to brush it away. To touch her and make sure she was real. He hated being perceived as weak, especially by a girl from his past.

      Correction. Woman. She wasn’t a child anymore. And neither was he.

      “Um, no. I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I can walk home.”

      She applied slight pressure to her ankle, testing to see if it could bear her weight. As she took a few limping steps, her face immediately contorted with pain. He knew she couldn’t walk home. Not like this.

      “It’s three miles into town. You’re gonna have to let me help you. Don’t worry, it’s what I do.” He forced a smile.

      Her beautiful eyes locked with his, filled with doubt. “What do you do?”

      “I help people. I always have.” But he hadn’t been able to help her twenty years ago. In so many words, he’d asked her to trust him. Again. And yet, he’d failed her once. He’d been too young to stop her from being taken away. To protect her from being hurt by people she didn’t even know. But now he was a grown man. Things were different. Being a protector was in his blood. It was what had driven him to become a U.S. Marine. What had driven him to save Cade Baldwin’s life in Afghanistan. And what drove him now to train horses and work with amputee kids.

      Because they needed him. And it felt good to be needed.

      “Okay, thank you.” And then she smiled. A stunning reminder of who she was. The expression lit up her entire face, curved her generous lips and crinkled the slim bridge of her nose. If he’d had any doubts before, he lost them now. This was Julie Granger.

      His first love.

      He took a deep breath, then thrust his hand out in greeting. “I’m Dallin Savatch. Most people call me Dal.”

      He watched her face carefully, waiting for recognition to fill her eyes. Nothing. Not even a glimmer.

      Instead, she dragged her gaze down to his fingers. As though hesitant to touch him. He waited for her shiver of disgust. He’d seen it before, time and time again, with other people who couldn’t get past his missing leg. But that shiver didn’t come. Not this time.

      She clasped his fingers tight and shook his hand. “My name is Julie Granger. I’m sorry to inconvenience you like this, but I really appreciate it.”

      So. She didn’t know him. And he couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. How could she forget him so easily? Was her memory lapse selective or real?

      He decided to let it pass. To pretend he СКАЧАТЬ