Free The Forest Ranger's Husband by Leigh Bale Page B

she omitted the part about getting married and having a child.
    “Ah, then you do know each other.”
    Matt nodded. “Yes, quite well.”
    “Then I’m not going to worry about it. Our forest is lucky to have you both, and I’ll trust that you’ll get along and work together for the greater good.”
    “Yes, sir,” Matt said.
    “Absolutely,” Andie agreed.
    Cal stood. “Good, then. I’ll let you get back to work. Thanks for staying behind to have this chat.”
    A rush of relief fell over Andie. She tried to swallow, but her throat had a lump in it the size of Kansas. The room seemed to close in on her. She had to get out of here. Now.
    Because of his leg, Matt moved more slowly. Andie stood and shook Cal’s hand, then made a hasty retreat. She planned to take Davie to the movies tonight with Sue and Brett. Matt wasn’t coming over to practice baseball with Davie, and she looked forward to the reprieve. She needed time to clear her head and think.
    She needed time away from her husband.
     
    At the movie, Andie went with Brett to get seats while Sue and Davie bought popcorn. Andie led the way up the dimly lit stairs, followed by Brett, who carried little Rose.
    “Is this okay?” She indicated some rocking seats midway up the theater.
    “Yeah, Davie should like this.”
    She chuckled. “He’d have me go all the way up to the top if I would. That boy is just like his father. Always wants the biggest, fastest, highest possible.”
    Brett sat in the aisle seat while Andie moved over two seats so that Sue could sit next to her husband, with Davie beside Andie. “Sounds like Matt’s an adrenaline junky.”
    Andie crossed her legs and rested back in her chair. “He used to be, although I think the last wildfire he was on may have cured him of that.”
    “You mean the one that injured his leg? Sue mentioned it to me.”
    “Uh-huh. He won’t talk about it, but I’ve heard a few things that make me wonder what happened. I know it was serious enough to take the life of one of his crew members and nearly kill him.”
    Brett shifted the baby in his lap and handed her a bottle. “Andie, what happened to make Matt leave?”
    “Sue didn’t tell you?”
    He smiled with compassion. “Yeah, she told me, but I’d like to hear your version.”
    She glanced at him, then stared at the advertisements flashing across the wide movie screen. She spoke low so other people around them wouldn’t overhear. “We had a fight. A bad one.”
    “What about?”
    She released a deep sigh. “He’d put in on a hotshot job without my knowledge. When he got the job, he wanted me to just pick up and move with him to Oregon. I knew what it would lead to. Constant absences as he deployed on highly dangerous jobs.”
    “And?”
    She squirmed. “And I told him no, I wouldn’t go.”
    “So he left you?”
    “Not exactly. I told him to leave, and he did.”
    “Is that what you really wanted? For him to leave?”
    She brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes, an excuse to absorb the tears beading in the corners of her eyes. Hopefully the dim theater hid her expression. “Of course not. He should have known that. I still can’t believe he left without saying goodbye. Without talking it over some more.”
    “How could he have known if you didn’t tell him?”
    She realized the part she’d played in Matt leaving, and it wasn’t pretty. Knowing she was partly to blame in their separation didn’t make his return any easier. She thought she’d sorted all of this out. Apparently not. Old feelings of longing came crashing down on her, leaving her feeling more bereft and lonely inside. It’d been so easy to blame Matt for the rift in their marriage. To excuse her own part in his leaving. But if she were honest, she had to admit she’d pushed himaway. She could have called or gone to see him, to say she didn’t really mean it. And if her marriage was the most important thing to her, she should have gone with him, knowing it meant so