Read Online The Forest Ranger's Child by Leigh Bale - Free Book Online Page B

Hank and his daughter working out in the stable. Hank smiled and shook Nate’s hand while Lily turned away and seemed to ignore him.
    “We were just getting ready to go into the house for lunch. I’d take it as a personal favor if you’d join us,” Hank said.
    The insistent tone in his voice and subtle pressure on his arm told Nate the man wouldn’t take no for an answer. And truthfully, Nate didn’t want to leave yet. Even with Lily glaring at him like a vulture ready to pick out his eyes.
    “You got something on your mind you want to discuss?” Nate asked, highly aware of Lily shifting impatiently. His gaze swept over her baby bump, which had noticeably grown. Without another word, she turned and headed back toward the house. He admired the jaunty swing of her hips. She wasn’t waddling yet, but he figured it was just a matter of time.
    Hank pulled Nate with him as he followed his daughter. “As a matter of fact, I do have a couple of questions for you. First, I want to make sure the Bailey bridge you had installed over Cross Creek is gonna hold up under all this flooding.”
    “Yeah, it’ll hold.” Nate’s boot heels crunched against the graveled driveway. “And I had one of my men put signage along the road to direct people away from the creek bed where Lily got hit by the flash flood.”
    He enjoyed the bounce of her soft curls as she stepped up onto the front porch of the house. She wasn’t a big woman, but she had spunk, and he liked that. A lot.
    She didn’t wait for them at the door but went inside, the screen door clapping closed behind her.
    With Lily out of earshot, Nate paused and faced Hank. “I don’t think I should come in, Hank. You and your daughter need time alone. Don’t worry about the Bailey bridge. It’ll hold.”
    Hank clasped Nate’s arm. “Don’t go. I don’t mean to cut into your work time, but I really wish you’d take a meal with us. I owe you big time for saving Lily, but I also have another favor to ask you… .” A deep, hard cough shook Hank’s chest and he almost doubled over with the force of it.
    The back screen door flew open and Lily rushed down the steps to her father’s side. “Daddy, are you okay?”
    She wrapped an arm around her father’s back, supporting him until the coughing spasm subsided. Gut-wrenching fear filled her eyes and that’s when Nate realized how much she loved her father. It couldn’t be easy having an irascible man like Hank Hansen for a dad and Nate’s heart warmed toward her.
    “I…I’m fine.” Hank gasped for breath.
    “I don’t like this cough you’ve got, Dad. I think we need to go back into town to see the doctor again.”
    Hank drew away and brushed off her concern. “I told you I already saw Doc Kenner before you came home. I’ve got some medicine in the house. I’ll take it and be fine.”
    Without a backward glance, the older man reached for the door. “Come on, you two. I’m frying bacon for BLT sandwiches. You can both help. I’m starved. Let’s eat.”
    Nate stood where he was, gazing at Lily’s dubious expression. “I’m sorry, Lily. I know you don’t want me here.”
    Okay, maybe he was being a bit blunt. But at the age of thirty-two, he was too old to play games with a pretty woman. And he still didn’t have a handle on his feelings for her. She obviously didn’t like him. But what he couldn’t understand was why he liked her so much.
    She faced him squarely. “Let’s get one thing straight right now, cowboy. I’m not interested in you. Not now, not ever. Okay?”
    He grit his teeth, wondering who had hurt her so badly that she seemed to dislike men so much. “What gives you the idea I’m interested in you?”
    She pursed her lips. “It’s obvious.”
    He arched one brow, trying not to laugh at the way her face crinkled with repugnance. “How so?”
    She lifted a hand and jutted her chin. “Because you keep showing up here.”
    “Don’t flatter yourself, Lily. I’ve got a job to do.