The Ranger Read online

  “This is the turnoff,” Rhiannon said.

  He smoothly wheeled the vehicle onto the small, rutted dirt road. “A mile in, right?”

  “Yes.” Her tense gaze scanned the road ahead and she nervously wound a lock of hair around her finger.

  “He’s here,” she said. “I can feel him.” She closed her eyes and concentrated. Her forehead knotted. “Euphoria and…fear.”

  Theo must have found the treasure, Will thought. But why was he afraid?

  She gasped and leaned forward. “There’s his car!”

  He’d seen it. The car shot forward as he quickly accelerated down the lane, then jerked to a stop behind Theo’s sedan. Rhiannon was out of the car and running toward the graveyard before he could even get the gearshift in Park. He snagged the orange juice he’d been carrying in the cooler from the back, then bolted from the car and ran after Rhiannon.

  The cemetery was untended and overgrown with weeds and the weathered headstones—those of them that were still standing—listed sideways as though the effort to remain upright was almost too much to bear.

  “Here!” she called, then dropped to her knees, disappearing from sight.

  When Will reached her, she’d gathered the old man into her lap and was hugging him tightly. “Theo!” she cried. “Can you hear me? Are you okay?”

  A weak smile faltered over his lips. “You know the answer to that, child.”

  She laughed, but it held a slightly hysterical edge. “Don’t toy with me,” she said. “Tell me what’s wrong!”

  “I fainted,” he said, his voice low.

  Will uncapped the juice and held the bottle up to the older man’s mouth. “Drink,” he said. “You need the sugar.”

  Rhiannon’s eyes rounded with astonishment, then appreciation. “I wondered why you never drank that,” she said absently.

  “It wasn’t for me.” He helped Theo take another drink and was relieved to see a bit of color come into the older man’s face. The panic he’d felt when he’d seen Theo unmoving in Rhiannon’s arms had been eerily familiar. Terrifyingly so.

  “Thank you, young man,” Theo rasped. “That’s definitely helped. I feel much better.” His eager gaze swung to Rhiannon. “But did you see?” he asked her. “Look,” he said meaningfully. “It’s here, Rhi. It’s here.”

  Her gaze swung to the little headstone that marked Winston Watson’s life. Will followed her gaze.

  Winston Watson

  July 2, 1861

  February 19th, 1864

  My son, my heart

  Ah, Will thought. Theo had been right.

  Rhiannon’s astonished gaze found his, then Theo’s. “Oh, Theo!”

  “You’ve got to dig,” he told her. “My tools are right there. I don’t have the strength quite yet.”

  “We’ve got to get you to a hospital first,” she said, her expression clouding. “We’ll come back. We’ll—”

  “Rhiannon,” he said. “I’ve been looking for this for most of my life and have endured years of ridicule over believing in its existence. Do you really think I’m going to leave now without it, when I’m so close? Would you really take this from me?”

  “Theo—”

  Will picked up the shovel. “Where do I dig?”

  Theo’s shrewd eyes caught and held his for a minute. He instantly knew what Rhiannon meant about Theo being much better at reading people than she was. He could practically feel the old man excavating his brain. After an interminable moment, Theo smiled up at him. “No time for proper introductions,” he said. “We’ll do that later.” He gestured toward the metal detector. “Hand me that and I’ll show you how to work it.”

  Less than thirty seconds over the grave, the little beeping noise that heralded a find went nuts and Rhiannon marked the ground with the shovel. Will tossed the metal detector aside, snatched the shovel out of her hand and put the blade in the ground. A satisfying thump sounded when the edge of the metal hit something solid.

  Theo was able to sit up now. His eyes lit up.

  Will quickly removed the earth, then hauled a small metal trunk from the soil. Anticipation chugged through his veins, pushing a smile onto his lips. He walked over and carefully put the box into Theo’s withered hands.

  The older man slid his fingers lovingly over the box, then withdrew a pocketknife from his khaki pants and used it to pry open the lid. A single torn page lay on top of a blue velvet sack, curiously preserved despite its age.

  It was a page from the Bible, the book of Matthew, chapter six.

  Theo’s hands shook as he carefully handed it over to Rhiannon for her inspection, then he lifted the little pouch from the box.

  Diamonds, emeralds, pearls, amethysts, rubies, some in settings, some not, emptied into his open hand and he chortled with glee. “Rhi,” he said. “Do you see this?”

  Her eyes sparkled with tears and were much prettier than any of the stones in Theo’s palm, Will thought.

  “I do,” she choked out. “You found it.” She paused. “And I found you.”

  “Ah, but I’m no treasure.”

  “To me you are,” she said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. “Now, let’s go.”

  RHIANNON STEPPED OUT into the hall where Will had patiently waited for hours and an overwhelming sense of loss washed over her before she’d taken the first step in his direction.

  It was over.

  Though she’d known this moment was going to come and that every step closer to Theo had put her one step closer to their farewell scene, she nevertheless was not prepared for the anguish that felt as if it was shredding her soul.

  This was precisely why she hadn’t wanted this, Rhiannon thought. Love made you weak. Love made you stupid. And while she knew it was going to hurt now, she was taking a page out of Barney Fife’s book and nipping it in the bud.

  Time for a clean break.

  It would be easier if she knew he wanted it, but…he didn’t.

  There had been many times in her life when she’d wished she couldn’t feel other people’s emotions, and last night, when she’d felt Will’s attraction and affection shift into something more—something frighteningly significant—she had never been more touched.

  Or more miserable.

  She could not do this. Didn’t want to feel it. She didn’t want the roller coaster her parents had. Didn’t want the misery that went along with the joy.

  Her hands shook as she started toward him and she made herself smile.

  Will pushed away from the wall as she approached. She could feel the wariness hovering around him. He knew what was coming. She probed his emotions and mentally gave a sigh of relief when she felt his resignation.

  He would not fight.

  Because, ultimately, he was a gentleman.

  “You didn’t have to wait,” she said, spying her suitcase at his feet. “We’ve been back there for hours.”

  “I wanted to wait,” he said. “Wanted to make sure he was going to be okay.”

  “He’s almost fully recovered,” she said. “He’s been properly frightened, so I think he’ll take better care of himself in the future.” She smiled at him. “You were great back there. Without the orange juice and hard candy, he might not have been so lucky.”

  “But he’s going to be fine?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Insulin dependent, much to his horror, but fine.”

  He released a pent-up breath. “That’s a relief.

  “You know I’ll have to give Tad an update,” he added, darting her an uncertain look. “Does Theo want him to know about the jewels?”

  “Oh, yes.” Rhiannon felt her smile widen. “Since he never believed they existed, Theo is making sure he doesn’t get them.”

  Will chuckled. “Can’t say that I blame him.”

  “Tad’s in for another surprise, too,” she said, chuckling. “Theo’s made a few changes in his will that are certain to enrage his son. But the city council will be very happy.”

  “Serves him right,”
Will said with a grimace. “Greed makes people mean and stupid.”

  Rhiannon couldn’t agree more. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hold it together. “So…you’ll be heading back to Atlanta, right?”

  His guarded gaze tangled with hers. “That’s the plan. I’m assuming you’ll be driving Theo back to Begonia?”

  She nodded. “I will. We should be able to leave in the morning.”

  “Good.”

  The silence lengthened between them and she swallowed, preparing her heart for the break. “Thank you so much,” she said shakily. “Particularly for letting me come along with you.”

  He merely shrugged and that smile she’d come to love tugged at the corner of his mouth. “It’s a good thing you did. I couldn’t have found him without you.”

  She nodded primly. “I told you I would be helpful.”

  “A helpful distraction,” he corrected, and it seemed like a lifetime ago that they’d had this argument. “But a—” his gaze drifted over her mouth “—very welcome one,” he finished, his voice curiously rusty.

  And it cleaved her heart in two. Rhiannon actually thought she felt it break.

  She grabbed her bag. “I’m actually going to go try and clean up a bit,” she told him, gesturing toward the restroom. She leaned forward on her tippy toes and gave him an awkward, one-armed hug. His own familiar arms twined around her waist and squeezed.

  “I’m going to duck in and tell Theo goodbye, if that’s all right.”

  She nodded, swallowing thickly. “I’m sure he’d like that.”

  He hesitated. “Rhiannon—”

  “It’s okay,” she said before he could finish. “The status quo, remember?”

  His face was grim, but he nodded all the same. He walked around her, thankfully without say ing goodbye—unbearable—and soon disappeared into Theo’s room.

  Rhiannon looked heavenward, hoping to stem the tears that suddenly stung the backs of her eyes.

  “This is for the best,” she muttered quietly. “Really.”

  Too bad she wasn’t convinced.

  14

  “AH, MR. FORRESTER,” Theo enthused as Will walked into his hospital room. “Rhiannon tells me you’re the security expert my son hired to find me.”

  Will nodded, still trying to process what had just happened out in the hall. He’d known it was coming, of course. But knowing it and being prepared to accept it were two entirely different things.

  But he didn’t have a choice.

  She didn’t want him.

  He’d known that going in and had been fine with it until his feelings had changed.

  He nodded at the older gentleman, a sense of pride swelling in his chest that he’d actually helped him, that he hadn’t been too late. A curious sense of redemption lightened his heart, making his shoulders feel a little less heavy. “I am, sir. But I couldn’t have found you without Rhiannon,” he told him. “You really gave her quite a scare.”

  “I know and I truly regret that. I’d meant to call her later and let her know what I’d found, but I forgot to pack the charger on my cell phone and didn’t want to call collect. That would have been rude.”

  Will started to point out that she would have been much happier with a collect phone call than being left in the dark, but didn’t. What was the point? A thought pricked.

  “What exactly was it that you did find?” he asked. “Rhiannon didn’t think you knew about Mortimer’s first family.”

  His faded eyes lit up. “A photograph of the three of them,” Theo told him. “Tucked in one of Mortimer’s old Bibles. It was probably the only one that Sophia never destroyed. On the back was the inscription ‘My love and my heart.’”

  Will inclined his head. “Very clever.”

  “It was worth it,” Theo said, nodding. “Not be cause of the jewels, you understand, but because of the mystery and the history behind them.”

  “They’re probably worth a fortune.”

  His eyes sparkled with mischief. “My son will salivate.”

  Theo pulled the little bag from beneath his hip and emptied it onto the tray table, and Will was struck again by how lovely the jewels were.

  The older man plucked a single diamond solitaire from the pile and held it up for Will’s inspection. “Rhiannon will like this one.”

  He wouldn’t know, Will thought, swallowing.

  “When were you planning on telling her you’re in love with her?”

  Will blinked and his startled gaze found Theo’s.

  He laughed uncomfortably. “I’m sorry?”

  Theo’s brows formed a bushy line. “Don’t play coy. You’re talking to a master. I’m sure you know that.”

  He did. “Does she know?”

  “Probably.”

  Damn.

  “Has she given you that rubbish about being content in her own company and how love makes people stupid and how she doesn’t want any part of it?”

  Will laughed at the distaste in Theo’s voice. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

  Theo frowned. “Hogwash,” he retorted. “Rhi’s so used to feeling the bad things that come along with love that she’s afraid of it. She focuses so much on how the emotion tears one down that she’s ignored how it can build you up.” Theo’s gaze burned with intensity. “It’s the most powerful, humbling emotion of them all. She calls it the Boss.”

  She would, Will thought with another weak chuckle. He rubbed the back of his neck. “She knows where I am if she wants to find me,” he said. “I’m not going to force her.”

  Theo grew thoughtful. “No, she’ll have to come around on her own. But she will. She loves you, too, you know.”

  Hope flared pathetically. “She does?”

  “Yes, she just hasn’t fully admitted it herself yet.

  But when she does—” he pressed the solitaire into Will’s hand “—you’re going to need this.”

  Will’s mouth opened, but he couldn’t get any words to come out. He cleared his throat. “Sir, I can’t accept this. It’s—”

  “It’s yours. For your treasure.”

  Will shook his head and silently pocketed the stone. “I’ll return it if you’re wrong.”

  Theo merely smiled. “I’m never wrong.”

  He certainly hoped so, Will thought. He had a lot riding on the outcome.

  “THIS IS RIDICULOUS,” Elizabeth said two weeks later as Rhiannon continued to mope around her house. “You can’t keep on like this. It isn’t healthy.”

  “I know,” she said glumly. “Love sucks. This is why I didn’t want it.”

  “Whether you wanted it or not, Rhi, you’ve got it.” She scratched Keno behind the ears. “I wish I could understand why you don’t simply call him.”

  “Because that would change the status quo, the one I told him I wanted.”

  “But isn’t he in love with you, too?” Elizabeth asked, seemingly confused.

  Rhiannon flinched at the word. “I think so. Theo says definitely and has been lecturing me about how fabulous love can be and how I’ve just got a terrible attitude.” She grimaced. “Can you believe he actually told me he was disappointed in me?”

  Liz snorted. “Yes, I can. He’s an opinionated old fart.”

  “He is not,” Rhiannon admonished, even though her friend was only kidding. “He’s just looking at everything through Sarah-colored glasses. He had a wonderful, healthy relationship with her and doesn’t understand why I’m reluctant to hand my happiness over to another person.”

  “Your parents were pretty screwed up,” Elizabeth conceded. “But that doesn’t mean you and Will would be. History isn’t doomed to repeat itself. Just look at how different Theo and Tad are.”

  Tad, Rhiannon thought sourly. She absolutely couldn’t believe him. Now that his father had found the Watson treasure, he was determined to get back into her good graces in order to get her to convince Theo to leave the jewels to him.

  Er…no. When hell freezes over. Idiot.

  But
it was an interesting turn of events, one she had to admit she was enjoying.

  And to a degree, logically, Rhiannon knew Liz was right. But she was still terrified of falling in love only to fall on her face. To have it backfire. She didn’t want to be one of those bitter old people she saw consumed with the one who had gotten away, or the one who had broken their heart, or the one who had died.

  It inevitably ended in disaster, even in Theo’s case, which she had, in a fit of irritation, pointed out. Her old friend’s eyes had softened and he’d taken her hand. “Rhi, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss my Sarah. But even knowing what I feel now, I would walk through hell for the simple pleasure of getting to hold her hand again. You don’t know what you’re missing, and it pains me that you’re too afraid to try.”

  Was he right? Rhiannon wondered. Was she being a coward? Was fear what was holding her back?

  All she knew was that it felt as if a huge part of her chest was missing and it was all she could do to put one unhappy foot in front of the other every day.

  Initially she’d told herself it would get better. That time was the ultimate remedy. That she would be fine. But she was increasingly afraid that this hole in her middle was getting bigger, the edges becoming more raw. She’d looked at her toothpaste yesterday, thought of him and stood in her bathroom and squalled.

  She was falling apart.

  Will, undoubtedly, could put her back together. But would he keep her that way? Or would he break her heart? That was what terrified her. That was what held her back.

  “Go to him,” Elizabeth said. “Tell him you want to change the status quo.” Her eyes twinkled. “Then tie him to the bed again.”

  Rhiannon blushed and rolled her eyes. “Why in the hell did I tell you that?”

  “Because we don’t have any secrets,” her friend said. “Trust me, Rhi. This is right. Don’t waste it.”

  “But what if it ends badly?”

  “But what if it doesn’t end at all?”

  An image of Will, shorn hair, pale gray eyes and that endearing smile, rose in her mind’s eye, tormenting her with its perfection. She ached for him. Still burned for him. Dreamed of him every night.