Falling for the Forest Ranger

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.”

Redds were spawning beds for fish. The eggs needed cold, clean, well-oxygenated water to survive. Without shade from overhanging willows and other vegetation, the temperature of the stream increased and killed off the eggs.

“Yes, the cows have tromped in the stream and broken down the banks here. We convinced several local ranchers to let us fence off parts of the streams to stop this from happening. The area should recover over time.”

Gazing out the window, he decided by midweek he could find a valid excuse to call Zoë and cancel the fishing trip with Jonah. There wasn’t enough time in his busy schedule to spend fishing with a cute little boy who talked too much anyway. Tanner had been foolish to make the offer.

No, he couldn’t do that. His guilty conscience nipped at him. Canceling would break Jonah’s heart. And Tanner wasn’t that cruel. Not yet anyway.

A kid like Jonah might be a lot of fun. And a lot of hard work, too. Tanner was gaining a new appreciation for Zoë. From his experience with his own mother, he knew that being a single mom wasn’t easy, yet Zoë seemed to do it with such calm grace.

He heaved a disgruntled sigh. Tanner hated the thought of hurting Jonah and losing the boy’s trust, though he didn’t know why. What Jonah Lawton thought shouldn’t matter to Tanner. The boy wasn’t his son. They had no connection except that Tanner now worked with Zoë. In spite of trying not to, Tanner still liked the kid.

Too much.

Maybe it was because Tanner understood the hurt of losing his father so young. Then, his mother had been busy working just to put food on the table. No quality time. No one to attend his ball games or help with his science projects. No one to confide his troubles and victories to.

Tanner shook his head, keeping his gaze on the narrow dirt road. They skirted fields of alfalfa, barley and potatoes, the outlying mountains providing a stunning backdrop for meadows and streams twining through the valley. Lovely and serene. Tanner frequently went to the mountains whenever he felt sad or lonely, which was often these days. Out here, he never felt lost or alone.

Until now. Until he’d met Zoë Lawton and her inquisitive little son. He wasn’t alone just now, but he still felt lost.

In a matter of days since he’d met them in Harper’s Grocery Store parking lot, something had changed for Tanner. Something he couldn’t explain. The fact that he didn’t know what it was left him feeling disconnected and troubled.

Yep, he’d have to go fishing with Jonah. He couldn’t retract the offer. Not without upsetting the boy, and his mother.

The mother.

He tossed a quick glance at Zoë, taking in her faded blue jeans, warm sweater and practical boots. Gone were the professional jacket, skirt and heels that’d almost made him salivate. With her slender legs crossed and her delicate hands resting in her lap, she looked too young to be a professional woman supporting a child.

And a widow.

From what Jonah had said, she’d lost her husband years ago. Tanner couldn’t help wondering if she’d loved the man. If his death had crushed her heart the way Cheryl had crushed his.

As the wheels thumped across the washboard road, he cast surreptitious glances Zoë’s way. Her head bobbed gently with the swaying of the vehicle. She looked completely at home, not at all a prissy city girl who couldn’t handle a bit of dirt on her clothes. Her smudged eyeliner made her blue eyes appear smoky and mysterious. No matter what this woman wore, she was beautiful.

As they passed the canal, Tanner slowed the truck and pointed at the trench filled with water. “You can see there’s no farmer’s screen on this irrigation ditch. Last spring, hundreds of fish took the wrong turn in the canal, got lost and ended up in the ditch instead of moving on their way through the river.”

Jonah sat up straighter to see out the window. “What happened to them?”

Surprised to find the child listening, Tanner explained, “With nowhere else to go, they ended up in the fields, dead.”

The boy blinked at that. “Dead?”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, we’ll do something to stop it from happening again.” Zoë patted Jonah’s arm.

Tanner didn’t think she should promise something she might not be able to deliver. But her confidence made him feel as though they really could resolve the problems they faced.

They rounded the bend and saw a rusty old truck parked at the side of the road. A man in his mid-forties stood near the ditch bank, wearing a baseball cap, blue overalls and knee-high waders. He waved, then propped his shovel in the dirt before leaning his forearms against the top of the handle.

“That’s Harry Ragsdale.” Tanner pulled over, then killed the motor.

They all got out and joined Harry before Tanner made the introductions.

“I must admit I was a bit surprised when Tanner called to see if I’d meet with you today. What can I do for you?” Harry’s ruddy cheeks wobbled slightly as he shook Zoë’s hand.

“It’s not what you can do for us, but what we can do for you.” Zoë spoke right up, her voice pleasant enough. “We need to put a farmer’s irrigation screen on your property as soon as possible. We’d like your permission to start work immediately.”

Harry shrugged, his doubtful gaze resting heavily on Tanner. “I already told the ranger I can’t do that. Screens are a big pain to maintain. They catch garbage and clog up. They have to be constantly cleaned. I don’t have time for that kind of nonsense.”

Zoë’s spine stiffened, her smile fading to a disapproving frown. This didn’t look good.

“We have to do something, Mr. Ragsdale. The Endangered Species Act requires it by law,” she said.

Harry lifted a hand, as if to shoo away a fly. “Then do something else. But I’m not gonna put any screens on my property.”

Zoë tilted her head and her eyes hardened just a bit. “A screen will keep wayward salmon from swimming past the canal and ending up dead in your ditch.”

“I don’t care if they do. They rot and provide good fertilizer for my fields.”

Zoë’s mouth tightened. “But so many fish are dying that they’ve ended up on the endangered-species list. If you won’t maintain a screen, we’ll have to get an injunction against you to shut off your water.”

“What?” The word exploded from Harry’s mouth like a nuclear detonation. “You can’t do that. I need water for my crops. Shutting off my water would put me out of business.”

“You’re leaving us no other choice,” Zoë insisted.

Tanner held up both hands. This wasn’t what he’d expected at all. “Now, now, that won’t be necessary. We can deal with this situation without resorting to shutting off your water.”

Zoë glared at Tanner as if he’d just slapped her face. “Then, what do you recommend?”

“I can’t afford to install a farmer’s screen.” Harry’s voice vibrated with anger. “All that cement and steel. It’d cost me thousands of dollars.”

Jonah stepped closer to his mother, sliding his hand into hers as his eyes creased with worry over their raised voices. A protective impulse swarmed Tanner’s chest and he longed to comfort the child. Maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to bring the kid along. From the way Zoë patted the boy’s cheek in a reassuring gesture, she was having second thoughts, too.

“You won’t have to pay a dime of the costs, Harry. FRIMA has given us a grant to fund the project. We just need your permission to have it installed. We’ll do all the work.” Placing one hand on the other man’s shoulder, Tanner looked into his eyes, a tactic he frequently used to calm irate farmers.

“What’s FRIMA?” Harry asked in a gruff voice.

“The Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act. They’re a voluntary, nonregulatory program that provides funding to screen water diversions. All you need to do is help ensure that it’s maintained. Can you do that if it means keeping the fish out of your ditches and moving in a safe passageway?”

“Well, um, yes, I suppose if you’re gonna pay for it, I can at least help maintain it,” Harry said.

“Good! I knew we could count on your help.” Tanner smiled, hoping to lighten the tense mood.

Zoë’s face flooded with color and Tanner could tell she was upset. Didn’t she realize that angering the local farmers would never help them achieve their goals? Threats would just get everyone fighting mad.

Harry smiled and nodded at Tanner but tossed a sneer at Zoë. And that’s when Tanner realized that she’d just made an enemy who would talk to the other farmers in the area. Word would soon spread like wildfire that they had a hard-nosed federal marine biologist in town. Tanner knew how it worked. He’d been at this game a long time now.

Tanner needed to talk to Zoë in private. He should have explained things better before he brought her out here. Letting her face an irate farmer hadn’t been Tanner’s intent, but he’d had no idea when Harry resisted their proposal that she’d make such a do-or-die threat.

“Okay, I’ll set it up and be in touch with you soon,” Tanner told Harry.

“Good, you do that. You can call me anytime,” Harry said.

As they walked back to Tanner’s truck, Zoë didn’t say a word. From her narrowed eyes, he realized this wasn’t over. She was very upset. At him. He could almost imagine hot steam jetting from her ears, eyes and nose. He figured she was keeping her silence because of Jonah. But once they were alone again, he dreaded the inevitable flare-up that was sure to follow.

* * *

Zoë bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep from telling Tanner what she really thought about the way he’d coddled Harry Ragsdale. No doubt he was doing the same kind of appeasement with the other farmers in the area. And what about the ranchers and logging companies?

Glancing at Jonah, she almost wished she hadn’t brought her son along. She was angry and burned to give Tanner a piece of her mind. But she didn’t want to have harsh words with Tanner in front of her little boy. For now, she clamped her mouth closed and thought of calm, professional words she should say to Tanner later on.

Tanner drove them out to meet with two more farmers, with the same results as the first. One farmer argued, even when Tanner told him that FRIMA would cover the expense. The farmer didn’t want the nuisance of dealing with a screen. He didn’t want to be bothered.

And then Zoë stepped in with her usual blunt candor, which triggered Tanner into cajoling the man to get him to agree. The way Tanner tried to accommodate each farmer made Zoë think Tanner was part of the problem rather than the solution. No wonder so many fish were dying!

By the time noon rolled around and Tanner parked his truck near a campground at the base of the Bingham Mountains, Zoë seethed with annoyance. She didn’t want to be so hard-nosed, but she had her orders. Her employment was riding on her success here. With a young son to raise, she couldn’t afford to lose her job.

While Jonah raced ahead to play by the stream that threaded its way through the tall cottonwoods, Zoë reached for her bag and their lunch. She then walked with Tanner toward a picnic table nearby.

“Jonah, don’t go too far. Stay where I can see you,” she called as the boy bent over the shallow creek and poked the water with a stick.

Tanner tugged the picnic basket from her hand and carried it for her. Finally they were alone and she could have a private word with him. Taking a deep breath, she vowed to remain civil.

“Who do you think you are?” she asked quietly.

Okay, that didn’t come out the way she’d intended. She was so troubled that her emotions seemed to burst out of her mouth.

His response sounded just as clipped, telling her that he was also flustered by today’s events. “I’m the Fisheries and Wildlife staff officer over this national forest. We want to get these people’s attention, but we also need their cooperation. And we can’t do that with threats. If we’re gonna solve these problems, we need the support of the farmers.”

Zoë wasn’t so sure that was true. And yet, she didn’t want to cause more problems, either. She felt like an astronaut in outer space, not quite sure of herself anymore. “They’ve already taken too much advantage, Tanner. These problems didn’t happen overnight. They happened over years and years of abuse. The fish are out of time. Coaxing and being nice will take too long. We need action right now.”

“And you think threats will work better?”

“When people refuse to do what’s right, yes. We have the law on our side.”

His dark eyes met hers. “Threats only work as a last resort,” he said. “But I’ve found that we can get a lot of cooperation from these people if we show them what the problem is and offer to help them solve it. If we fix problems by cramming solutions down their throats, we just end up with a bunch of congressional inquiries.”

She tilted her head in confusion, never quite taking her eyes off Jonah. “Congressional inquiries?”

He nodded. “That’s right. The farmers and ranchers have a direct line to their senators, whom they support with reelection funds. And believe me, their senators listen to everything they have to say.”

He chuckled without humor and she realized he was serious.

“But congressional inquiries?” she said again. “They really resort to such drastic measures?”

He hitched one shoulder. “Would you really resort to shutting off their water?”

She nibbled at the end of her pinkie finger, thinking this over. “Yes, I would.”

“Well, so would they. Before I came here, we had congressional inquiries all the time. The Steelhead National Forest doesn’t need politicians breathing down our necks. Which is what will happen if Harry Ragsdale and other farmers like him start making angry phone calls.”

No, that wouldn’t be good. It’d stir up a pot they didn’t want stirred and delay getting the job done even longer. Zoë never knew working at the local level could be so complicated.

“I can certainly understand why you want to avoid that,” she agreed.

But what about her orders? Her boss in Portland had made it very clear what he expected her to accomplish this summer. There wasn’t any room for pampering.

“So you can see why I tried to be pleasant with Harry Ragsdale instead of bullying him,” Tanner said.

“Did I bully him?” The thought made her feel horrible. She didn’t want to bully anyone. She was just trying to do her job.

His handsome mouth flashed with a brief smile, telling her that she’d surprised him today. “Yes, and you’re the prettiest bully I’ve come across lately.”

His words caught her off guard and her cheeks flushed with heat. From the sudden color in his face and the way he quickly looked away, she could tell he’d let the compliment slip out without thinking.

Okay, better to forget about his flattering remark. She’d just let it drop.

“I’m sorry I didn’t warn you before we came out here. I should have explained the situation to you better,” he said.

She appreciated his apology, but it didn’t solve anything right now. “Then what do you propose? If farmers won’t agree to let us install the screens on their property, then we’ll need to force them to comply.”

He snorted. “Good luck with that tactic.”

Zoë couldn’t help feeling bitter about the situation. From what she’d seen, most people didn’t care. They just wanted to go on with their lives, without any inconvenience to themselves. And Tanner seemed to be letting them do it. “I just don’t like the way you baby them.”

“I’m not babying them. I’m working to get results we can all live with.” He set the basket on the picnic table.

Biting her tongue, Zoë spread out a thin cloth, then unpacked their lunch. She kept her face toward the stream, watching Jonah.

Tanner stood at the edge of the table, hands in his pockets. Zoë quashed the urge to apologize. Not when she really believed he was wrong in his tactics. And frankly, she had the power to override him. She didn’t want to do that and cause more friction between them, but she’d do it if she had to.

“At least we got them each to agree to the screens,” he said lamely.

She handed him a paper plate with a turkey-and-Swiss-cheese sandwich and a handful of grapes and rippled potato chips on the side. “Three down and zillions more to go.”

His frosty gaze brushed past hers in a dismissive glance. “We’ll deal with each of them.”

“Hey, I saw little fish swimming in the stream,” Jonah gasped as he joined them. “But they don’t have any fins. Just a long tail.”

He plopped down on the bench and snatched up a sandwich, seemingly oblivious to the dark stares from the adults nearby.

“That’s nice, sweetheart. But I’ll bet they’re tadpoles, not fish,” Zoë said.

“Tadpoles?” Jonah’s brow crinkled as he took a bite and chewed.

“Baby frogs. You saw them once in Portland, remember? And we need to bless the food before we eat it.” She answered patiently, surprised at her serene voice when she was feeling anything but calm inside. Why could she maintain her composure with Jonah but not with Tanner?

Conscious of Tanner’s troubled frown resting on her, she offered a quick prayer. She and Tanner ate their lunches in silence, listening to Jonah’s happy chatter. She answered the child’s melee of questions about tadpoles with quick, succinct sentences. Only when Zoë brought out the cookies did Tanner speak to her again.

“These are delicious. They taste just like the ones my grandma used to make. Soft and chocolaty.” He held up his fourth cookie, a big bite taken out of the side as he chewed with relish.

“Thank you.” At least she’d done something right today. But she didn’t like the tension between them. She didn’t like feeling like an ogre.

Later, Zoë packed everything up while Tanner went to the creek with Jonah. At one point, she looked up and saw Tanner holding her son’s hand, assisting the boy so he could cross the water without falling in. Seeing this man helping her little son reminded her that Derek was gone and wouldn’t be coming back.

Thinking about her husband caused her throat to ache, as though an icy fist squeezed it tight. How she longed for the companionship and intimacy she’d shared with her husband. Someone to talk to who really cared.

Someone who loved her as much as she loved him.

Shaking off her black mood, she returned the basket to the truck and got out her hip waders and sample kit. At the side of Clear Creek, she pulled on the green rubber waders. Then she opened her kit and took out several empty, tubelike glass vials. She dipped some into the water and some into the muddy bank for soil samples. As she pressed the cap onto the last vial and labeled the little jar, she became aware of Tanner standing nearby with Jonah.

“You taking some samples?” Tanner said.

“Yep.” She slipped the vial into her pocket before reaching for her fishnet. Holding still as the water swirled around her knees, she waited until a trout swam by. With quick movements, she scooped up the fish with the net. Keeping the thrashing animal in the water, she leaned down and gently clasped it with her hands, turning it upside down so its gleaming white belly faced her. The fish immediately quieted as she inspected it with her hands.

“Rainbow trout?” Tanner asked.

“Yes, eight inches long and in good health.” She didn’t look up as she measured the fish against the notches carved in the handle of the net.

She let the fish go and it zipped away while she pulled out a small notebook and jotted down the information.

“You’ve obviously handled a lot of fish, yet you’ve never gone fishing.”

“That’s right.” She didn’t offer an explanation. She hadn’t thought about it until now, but she never seemed to have enough extra time for leisure activities. Until recently. Although their scheduled fishing trip was mostly about Jonah, she also looked forward to the experience. But she didn’t want to tell Tanner that. He might get the wrong idea.

“Okay, that’s it. I’m done for now.” She stowed her notebook in the pocket of her shirt, then reached for a boulder to grasp so she could pull herself out of the stream. She found Tanner’s hand in front of her, his long fingers extended. Surprised by his offering, she gazed up at his stony face for several moments. As he pulled her up, she felt his great physical strength. She didn’t look at him as she rinsed the mud from her waders, dried them off, then folded them to carry back to the truck.

Jonah sped ahead of them, hopping over clumps of grass, kicking at a rock and laughing. Having a great time.

“I appreciate your getting those samples.” Tanner spoke beside her.

An unexplainable irritation gnawed at her gut. “It’s my job.”

“I know. But I didn’t even think about it, until I saw you doing it.”

She faced him. “And why is that so surprising, Tanner?”

“I, um... It’s not.” His face flushed with embarrassment, his hands in his pockets like a little kid who’d just been caught stealing a pack of gum.

“It’s your strategy in dealing with the farmers I don’t agree with,” he said.

“Is that right?” She bit back a harsher response.

His shoulders relaxed somewhat and his gaze softened. “Look, I didn’t mean to offend you, Zoë. I don’t know many women who would tromp through a stream to gather mud samples,” he said.

His confession left her speechless for several moments. “We definitely have different methods. I’d like to take these samples to my office now, if you don’t mind.”

Turning, she kept walking, conscious of him following behind. Back in the truck, they didn’t speak much as Tanner drove them down the mountain and back to town. In the supervisor’s parking lot, Zoë gathered her bags and moved them over to her car.

Before she took Jonah home, the boy looked up at Tanner with a charming smile. “Don’t forget our fishing trip next Saturday.”

“I won’t.” Tanner spoke low.

Zoë opened her mouth to tell Tanner that she’d changed her mind about them going, but she couldn’t stand to hurt her son that way. It wasn’t Jonah’s fault that she was having an altercation with Tanner over their methods.

Tanner took a deep inhale of resignation. “I’ll pick you up at nine.”

“Do you know where we live?” she asked.

“I do. It’s a small town.”

Right. She got it. But she still didn’t know if they should go.

“Thanks for taking us out today.” She said the words mechanically.

“You’re welcome. I’ve got another trip planned for us midweek, to visit one of the logging operations. I’ll call your office on Monday to give you the exact time. I’ll pick you up at your office.”

Yeah, that would be fun. She couldn’t wait.

She nodded, her gaze glancing off his. “Fine, I’ll let my assistant know.”

And without another word, they parted company on that sour note.