Leigh Bale - Falling for the Forest Ranger

How profound. In that moment, Zoë realized that all their discussions, all the bedtime prayers and taking her son to Sunday school classes, had actually paid off. In spite of his wiggling and talking during lessons, part of what Jonah had been taught had actually sunk in.

Tanner frowned and turned away, making a pretense of adjusting his rearview mirror. “Some people just use God as a crutch.”

“What do you mean by that?” Zoë couldn’t help asking.

“Never mind. It’s not really an appropriate business topic anyway.”

Zoë hesitated to push. It wasn’t her business, after all. She worked in a scientific field and had met her share of religious skeptics before, but something in Tanner’s eyes told her he’d believed in God once but had somehow lost his faith. “It’s Saturday, we’re not in the office, we’re in your personal truck, so go ahead and talk. I don’t mind. Don’t you believe in God?”

“Occasionally.” He didn’t meet her eyes.

“What does that mean?” How could you occasionally believe in the Lord?

“God and I leave each other alone for the most part. It works better for us that way.”

She’d never heard such a cynical statement in all her life. She opened her mouth several times, a myriad of comebacks stinging her tongue. But then she remembered that she barely knew this man and had no right to judge him.

“You sound hurt,” she said.

“Uh-huh.” The firm set of his mouth told her he would say no more.

“Maybe we can go fishing after work,” Jonah said, seemingly oblivious to their discussion on Deity.

“We’re not going fishing today,” Zoë said.

“Then when can we go?” he persisted.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Zoë thought Jonah had said enough for one day.

“Is he always like this?” Tanner asked as they headed out of town.

She decided not to be offended by the question. From Tanner’s earnest expression, she didn’t believe he meant it as a criticism. “Yes, but he’s also an excellent student and gets along with everyone at school.”

“Except Brian. He bosses me around all the time. I don’t like him much.” Jonah made an ugly face.

Tanner chuckled and Zoë thought perhaps she’d misjudged the man. Maybe he wasn’t such a hard case after all.

Tanner’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel and he took a deep breath, as if he were about to submerge his head underwater. “Tell you what. I like to go fishing, too. How about I take you to Kids’ Creek Park in town? They have rainbow trout there and we just seeded the pond with hatchery-raised steelhead salmon. Since it’s illegal to catch steelhead in the wild, that’s a real treat. I’m sure we could catch your limit.”

“That’d be great.” Jonah bounced happily on the seat, then paused and quirked one brow. “But what does seeded mean?”

Tanner jerked his head toward Zoë. “Ask your mom.”

The boy promptly faced his mother and repeated his question.

She smiled and brushed a jagged thatch of blond hair away from his eyes. “It means they brought in a big truck from the fish hatchery filled with smaller steelhead fish and dumped them into the pond, just so kids like you can have fun catching them.”

“Except our steelhead aren’t small. Most of them are over twelve inches long,” Tanner said.

“Wow! Can we go, Mom? Can we?” Jonah wriggled with expectation.

She hesitated. Tanner’s invitation had come as a complete surprise. She sensed a subtle tensing in his shoulders and wondered if he regretted his offer. An outing of this sort was just what Jonah needed. She couldn’t think of one legitimate reason to say no. “Of course we can go.”

“Hooray!” Jonah swiveled around to face Tanner, his little body squirming in anticipation. “When? When can we go?”

“How about tomorrow afternoon?” Tanner smiled but stared straight ahead, keeping his eyes on the road.

“I’m afraid tomorrow is Sunday and I take Jonah to church. What about another day?” Zoë ignored Jonah’s irritated gasp. She was eager to worship God and meet their new congregation to make some friends. Then she could trade babysitting on the weekends and set up playdates for Jonah throughout the summer months.

Tanner swiped a hand across the light stubble on his chin. “I can’t go again until next Saturday.”

“That would work for us,” she agreed.

“But that’s a whole week away,” Jonah whined.

Zoë squeezed his arm gently to settle him down. “Then that’ll give you something fun to look forward to.”

“Ah,” he grumbled but didn’t argue further.

“Where are we going first?” Zoë asked Tanner, hoping to change the subject.

“Out to Harry Ragsdale’s farm.”

“It’s sure beautiful here.” Zoë gazed at Bingham River running parallel to the road, taking in the pristine view of clean, rushing water, willows and cottonwoods. Farther out, wide meadows covered with sedges and wire grass added a variety of vibrant green hues.

Tanner nodded in agreement, his expression showing pride in the area where he worked. Somehow sharing this appreciation with him gave them something in common.

They passed a sign that read Ragsdale Farms.

With their focus back on work, the frown returned to Tanner’s face. Just when Zoë thought they were making headway and becoming friends, Tanner had to go and disappoint her. She’d just have to remember not to expect anything from him—then she wouldn’t be disappointed again.

Chapter Four

The black asphalt gave way to dirt road. The tires of the truck kicked up gravel. Tanner slowed their speed and put on the blinker before turning onto Challis Road.

He must be crazy. What had he been thinking to invite Jonah on a fishing trip? He didn’t know a thing about kids. No doubt Zoë would come along. Which meant Tanner would have to be near her in a personal setting as well as at work.

No, he shouldn’t have made the offer. But remembering the fun he’d had with Grandpa had made him want the same for Jonah. He didn’t even like kids. Or at least he didn’t think he did. He’d wanted them once. Oodles of them. But his broken engagement had ended all that. Children were okay for other people, but not for him.

“There’s good riffle along the river here,” Zoë observed.

Tanner nodded and gazed at the frothing water dashing over the jagged rocks. Riffle oxygenated the spawning beds.

Zoë shielded her eyes against the bright sunlight pouring through the windshield. “How much of the water here is diverted for irrigation?”

Tanner couldn’t remember ever meeting a woman who was actually interested in his work. Zoë was quite refreshing. “All but 7 percent. This is a heavy agricultural area and they use almost all the water in the river.”

She gave a low whistle. “No wonder there isn’t enough for the fish to swim up the lower seven miles of the river.”

“We haven’t come up with an idea on how to combat that problem yet.”

“Do the farmers need to use all the water they take out for irrigation?”

He shrugged. “Probably not, but until we install farmer’s screens in all the irrigation ditches, there’s no system in place to control their outtake. Maybe you can think of something for us to do until we get all the screens in place.”

He’d kiss her if she came up with a solution. This one problem had become a real quandary for them. So far, nothing they’d tried had worked. He doubted that an outsider would be able to think of a solution.

Zoë pointed to an area along the riverbanks with no overhanging willows. “Have you had cattle grazing over there? The riverbanks are caved in and raw. No vegetation growing, which means no redds.”