The Forest Ranger's Husband by Leigh Bale Read Free Book Online

“I hope so.”
    Realizing Matt was watching her, Andie blinked and began picking up toys around the living room. She’d overheard Davie’s conversation with Matt and didn’t like it one bit. How she wished Davie could get to know his father without becoming emotionally attached. But Davie loving Matt was inevitable. The boy wanted his father. So much. For that reason alone, Andie had let Matt into her house.
    Against her better judgment.
    “You put him into baseball?” Matt asked.
    She shrugged. “He started last year. It’s what he chose.”
    “I guess it’s in his blood.”
    She straightened, a roller skate dangling from her fingers. “Actually, he saw a picture of you playing baseball in college and refused to consider any other sport.”
    He glanced around the room. “I don’t see any pictures of me. Not a single one.”
    She looked away. “He went snooping and found the photo albums I had put away in the bottom of my cedar chest. He’s a bit like you. Intelligent and precocious.” She didn’t mean it as a compliment. “Once Davie realized you’d played baseball, that was it. He insisted he would, too.”
    And she didn’t have the heart to hide the pictures from Davie. At first, she’d left photos of Matt out, hoping he’d return. After a year, the photographs became a constant reminder of what she’d lost, and she’d finally put them away.
    “Smart kid,” Matt said.
    “Yes, he is.”
    “I can understand why you didn’t want to show him pictures of me.”
    She turned, her gaze locking with his. All the years of waiting and hoping, fighting off the loneliness and hurt, came boiling up inside her fast and hard. “I didn’t want him to hurt as much as I did.”
    “I’m sorry for hurting you, Andie.”
    “Yeah, right.” She pursed her lips tight.
    “I didn’t know he existed until a few days ago. And he didn’t know me.”
    She hardened her jaw. “And whose fault is that? You left me, remember?”
    “If you’d just called and told me I had a son—”
    Davie stood in the doorway, looking between them. He wore his Redhawks uniform, the leather baseball glove firmly on his left hand. His little face crinkled with worry. “Are you guys having a fight?”
    Matt flashed a smile and gestured to his son. Davie walkedcloser and Matt squeezed his arm. “No, we’re just having a grown-up discussion, that’s all. Hey! This uniform looks great on you. Maybe we can play catch sometime.”
    Davie’s eyes brightened. “How about now?”
    “It’s dark outside and getting late. You haven’t had your dinner yet.” Andie turned and folded the burgundy afghan before draping it over the back of the couch.
    “How about tomorrow evening after I get off work?” Matt stood and tugged on the brim of Davie’s baseball cap.
    “Yeah! But aren’t you staying for supper?”
    Matt shook his head. “Sorry, hotshot. I can’t. Maybe another time.”
    “Ah!” Davie walked him to the door. “Don’t be late tomorrow, or it’ll be supper time and Mom won’t let me go out cause she thinks it’s too dark and cold.”
    “You got it.”
    Matt looked over the boy’s head at Andie. She stood in the middle of the room, feeling harsh and unforgiving. She didn’t say anything, wishing Matt would leave. If she told him not to come back, he’d find another way to visit Davie. His work provided plenty of opportunity to schedule meetings where Andie would need to be present.
    She refused to be forced to do something she didn’t want to do. But getting Matt out of her life again would take a gigantic miracle.
     
    Finally Davie was asleep. After Matt left, the boy had been so wound up, he barely ate any dinner. Dad this and Dad that. Davie had gone on and on about what he planned to do with his father. Andie had never seen her son so animated. Not even on Christmas morning.
    Oh, Matt. Please don’t hurt us again.
    Turning off the hall light, she sat in the recliner and stared at the gift Matt had brought