Her Heart's Bargain
Where the rest of the Reserve’s activities supported the Reserve itself, the lodge profits would be going to the Callaways. No one could mistake how important the lodge was to the family.
“Why all this interest in Ash? I mean, the project stalls, I guess, but he’s got no connection to Callaway Construction or the governor.”
“Ash has been the most vocal opponent of the building plans and their impact on the animals and their ecosystems. Even I could see how the public could think he’s responsible for the report being leaked. He planned to present the findings at the next Reserve board meeting, but instead, it’s out there in the world, blindsiding the Callaways.”
Macy tipped her head back. “And neither Whit Callaway will be happy about that.” Since they ran the board and the board made all the hiring and firing decisions in the Reserve, the situation could get tense quickly.
“It’s so obviously a sabotage, making sure the biggest critic of the Callaways has a copy of the report that might point to greed, or at least a love of profit over preservation. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ash had considered doing it,” Brett said.
When she started to ask if he thought Ash was that devious, Brett answered, “I don’t think he did. Not his way, even if he loves this place. Actually, all it would have taken to convince Ash not to do it is to imagine this news frenzy.”
“Story’s got a bit of a soap opera atmosphere. Wealthy family. Political rivals. Scandal.” Macy frowned. No wonder reporters were making the trip to Sweetwater. Was this going to cause trouble for longer than a day?
Brett rubbed his forehead. “Not to mention the society wedding Winter and the Callaways have been planning. Marrying Winter, who’s admired by everyone who knows her, was bound to be a big boost to Whit’s credibility as a worthy candidate. If Winter goes through with it, there’ll still be a rain cloud over her day now.”
Macy hadn’t even considered that. “Oh, boy.”
Brett’s rough laugh echoed loudly. “Yeah. That pretty much covers it. No matter what it does to Whit Callaway’s election chances, this is going to leave a bruise. And if the Callaways decide to go there, Ash’s job could be in danger. They have a lot of power with the board of directors.”
“I wish I could talk to Ash,” Macy said, “to be sure he knows we don’t believe it’s true.”
“This morning when he called me and told me to get here ASAP so you’d have support, you were the most important thing on his mind. He’ll be okay. We’ll all work this out.” Brett turned to check on the people out front. “He and I must have crossed paths on the road. I was in Knoxville with Leanne. She’s thinking about going back to school and Christina insisted she didn’t need to go alone for her meeting with the admissions people.” He shook his head. “Yes, I took my ex-wife to meet with a college admissions counselor because my girlfriend insisted. Weirdest family in the world.”
Macy patted his shoulder and smiled. “Probably not the entire world, but you, your adorable kids, your ex and your new love, who might as well be her sister... Well, weirdest in East Tennessee, at least, possibly the whole state. Hold your head up, kid.” Teasing him was normal. After the crazy morning they’d had, it was nice to have some normal again.
Brett studied the floor and then he nodded. “I’ll accept that, as long as we’re solidly in the running for happiest, too.”
Pleased to have something to think about other than the missing Ash and the potential fallout to the story, Macy tapped his cheek affectionately. “That lipstick on your handsome jaw should get you a big head start in that competition.”
“You don’t expect me to fall for that, do you?” Brett raised an eyebrow.
Macy didn’t answer, only widened her grin. He didn’t want to believe her, but he had his doubts.
“It’s a good color for you, but it’s better on Christina.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’d wager a month’s pay that’s why you were late. You had to make a quick stop down at the campground for a good-morning kiss?”
Brett rubbed his jaw to eliminate the evidence. “Maybe.” If this had been any other day, she would have hooted with excitement and given him so much grief over the blush staining his cheeks that Brett would have quit the ranger station like his hair was on fire.
As it was, she couldn’t contain a wicked laugh. “That woman’s got you good. I love it.”
He rolled his shoulders. “I love it, too.”
“Good thing. When the pictures come out in the newspaper tomorrow, everyone’s gonna know you’ve been claimed.” Macy’s grin matched his until she noticed the way the reporters were watching their show through the large windows.
Anxious for the protection and control of her usual spot, Macy retreated to her chair. “You staying in the office today?”
Brett motioned over his shoulder. “As long as they’re here, I’m here. I’ve called in an extra officer for campground patrols. There are no tours on the schedule today, so all the guides have the day off. Ash insisted you aren’t to be left alone until this is settled.”
“I can handle it.” Macy straightened her shoulders. “I was thrown off when everything started, mainly because I had no idea what was happening. Now, though, I’ve got this. You don’t have to babysit me.”
“I’ve got my orders, Macy.” Brett picked up his hat and stared out at the parking lot. “Ash wants me here, so here I’ll stay. The two of us are more than equal to a few pushy reporters and Sweetwater’s finest troublemakers.”
Of course they were.
“Business goes on, even when scandal hits.” She tapped the reports she’d intended to power through before the phone started ringing. “I’ve got plenty to do. The open house is less than two weeks away, and this place is not close to ready. When we show off the new education panels that Ash has been working so hard on, I want this whole building to shine. I want the parking lot to be filled to overflowing with our neighbors from Sweetwater. With no Ash bothering me to find things in clear sight on his desk, I should make record time.” Except she and Ash were a team. Working without him wasn’t easy.
“He’ll get here as soon as he can. You know he loves this place.” Brett pointed at the small office he used whenever he was in the ranger station. “I’ll catch up on some paperwork. You call me if things escalate or you need help.”
Macy saluted, but paused before digging into her most urgent task.
It had taken a long time to find the place that fit her like a perfectly tailored dress. In the end, she’d had to make it for herself, but she had it now. As work spaces went, hers ruled. Cramped offices formed a ring on three sides of the airy lobby which was filled with educational panels about the flora and fauna of the Smoky Valley Nature Reserve. Ruthlessly straightened and organized maps and pamphlets lined the wall across from her desk. Everything was in reach, which made it simple to keep the place running smoothly.
The boxes stacked in the corner had been annoying her for a week. Ever since she’d met a large snake in the small outbuilding used for storage, Macy refused to enter it. Ash had moved these boxes in for her recently because it was time to put out the holiday decorations.
After Ash’s reports were done, she’d get on that. It would distract her from the strange tension in the air.
Ash Kingfisher was as much a part of the fabric of the ranger station as the chair she sat in, the view out the windows and the easy peace she felt when she walked into the lobby. Without him grumbling away at his desk, everything was slightly askew. His absence left a hole.
Her only option? “Get to work, Macy Elizabeth Gentry. There’s no time for moodiness.” She could hear the words in her grandmother’s no-nonsense voice, so she straightened in her chair, set about clearing her missed calls and then compiling the visitor stats for Ash’s review.
When he came back into the office, he was going to be impressed with what she’d pulled off. She would raise some stink over being initially left out of the loop, and then things would return to normal.
CHAPTER TWO
ASH KINGFISHER HATED missing days at the ranger station. The amount of paperwork that shuffled across his desk was enough to drown any strong bureaucrat.
It wasn’t what Ash had planned for or wanted. Ever since his first encounter with a ranger on the trail up to The Aerie with his grandfather, he’d dreamed of becoming a law enforcement ranger; getting paid to spend days out on the Reserve, the uniform, even the hat, all of it had seemed his perfect job. But he’d landed behind a desk when a mistake had robbed him of the full use of his leg. Was he good at his job? Yes. That didn’t mean he loved the sound of pen scratching across paper as he signed an unending stack of reports.
After three days out of the office? He’d need a life preserver, an unlimited coffee supply and all the organizational ability of the best right hand ever, one Macy Gentry. Most days, she was all the help he needed to make it through.
Today, even her skills might not be enough.
This forced vacation reminded him that he missed seeing her every day. Macy was the bright ray of light that cut through his shadow. No matter what happened today, it would be better than the rest of the week because they’d be together.
His visit to see the chief ranger in Knoxville had been predictable. Frank talk, so many questions about who might have released the report if it hadn’t been him, a tense phone conversation with Whit Callaway, Senior, followed by the chief ranger’s orders to stay out of sight for a full week, answer zero phone calls and knocks on his door, and let Brett and Macy handle the Reserve’s business. He hated it.
A full week? Seventy-eight hours was all Ash could manage. He needed his desk, his view of the forests and the comfortable sounds of Macy running the world outside his door. The park guides needed a new schedule. Brett was handling all the incident reports that landed on his desk, doing Ash’s job. And Macy was forced to juggle all the tiny crises that hit every day in a busy place like Otter Lake.
Ash closed his eyes and tried to breathe in the peace of the Buckeye Cove along Wattie Run, one of the smaller creeks that flowed into Otter Lake. At this time of year, few animals were stirring in the cold hours before dawn, but the heart of the land was still beating. He tried to concentrate on his own heartbeat. If he was successful, it would drown out the chaos that had taken over his brain ever since he’d gotten an angry phone call from his boss Monday morning.
When the faintest pink of sunrise over the mountains stained his eyelids, he gave up. It wasn’t that he was a big believer in meditation, but when times got hard, he knew he had to go to the water.
Very little of his father’s Cherokee heritage had trickled down and stuck with him, but this was unshakable. His sister could tell stories and share their history easily because she’d soaked it in. For him, he had to be outdoors to truly feel alive. Today, the sound, the smell, the quiet of his spot beside the running water were necessary.
He needed to absorb enough silence and calm to make it through what would be a hard day.
Winter was his least favorite season, but attendance numbers dropped in the Reserve and there was more time in the day to get outside. To get away from the ringing phone and back to what made him love his job. The land he worked hard to protect. His father’s favorite fishing hole. The place his grandmother’s youngest brother had told him about the legend of Rabbit tricking Possum, leaving him with a tail without a single hair. The background of the old faded wedding photo his mother loved to show him. She’d been the original hippie, even if she’d come to Sweetwater and Otter Lake on a spring break trip from her Ivy League school forty years ago, about a decade too late to claim the name.
Donna Warren and Martin Kingfisher had met on a hike; as soon as she’d graduated, Donna had left New England behind to find her real home in Tennessee.
She and his father had married with a small group of friends who’d made the climb up to the overlook of Yanu Falls. From his spot, he could hear the falls rustling in the summertime. Right now, the water was more of a slide along a frozen surface down into the lake.
But that was okay. It was only for a season. In the spring, everything would change again.
He’d held on to that promise, that things would change again, for a long time.
Unfortunately, sometimes when the promise came true, things only got worse.
“Dark. Real dark, Kingfisher.” Ash forced himself to stand, the ache in his leg worse than when he’d started out that morning. Sitting on cold rock could do that to a man. Eventually, he’d either have to give up his favorite hike, or he’d have to admit old age and bad decisions had caught up with him and find a place with a bench. “So it’s going to be like that, is it? Nothing but rain clouds and thunder.”
The hoot of an owl stopped him in his tracks. “Oh, fine. That’s not creepy timing.” If his grandmother had been near, she’d insist the owl was a messenger. Somehow, every omen had to do with death the way his enisi told it. “Could be good news, Ash. And messages are just messages, anyway.”
Frustrated with himself, Ash limped back to the Reserve SUV sitting alone in the tiny parking lot. The push to get the Reserve’s attendance numbers up hadn’t taken off, and this latest catastrophe was going to be a distraction. To address either problem, he had to be hands-on.
As Ash slid into the driver’s seat, he gripped the steering wheel. While his leg painfully adjusted to the change in circumstances and the heater warmed everything, Ash muttered, “Three good things.”
That was Macy’s influence. It wasn’t that she was so bright and optimistic herself. She had no time for foolishness. Self-pity? Yeah, that would be enemy number one to his capable office manager.
He liked it like that, too. Without her...
He didn’t want to imagine how dark life might get without her.
In the bad days right after the accident, where a friend’s decision to climb the wrong spot in the park had gotten them both injured, Ash had struggled against that darkness. The threat of never being able to do what he loved, serving at Otter Lake as a ranger, had been real. Then he’d been moved to his spot in the new visitor center. Eventually, the Administrative Services director had sent young Macy Gentry to manage it and turn his world upside down, mainly by forcing light into dim corners.
They’d made each other miserable before they’d learned to work together.
Come up with three good things. That’s what she muttered to herself every time someone snapped at her over the phone, or a vendor gave her the runaround, or when he made her mad enough to spit. Sometimes she said them out loud. Sunshine. A steady paycheck. Work that matters. She’d said it; Ash had felt it and he was grateful for the reminder.
Ash backed out of the parking spot. “Number one, your commute is perfect.”
Driving in the park was something he enjoyed. Even in the winter, the old growth trees meant lots of shade and sun and the animals of the park were hardy. A little cold only slowed them down. As he turned into the parking lot of the ranger station, Ash hit the brakes hard at the sight of a shadow on the path leading up to the visitor center’s overlook. Was it a black bear? The mild temps meant the bear might still be out foraging, but he faded into the trees before Ash could get his binoculars out.
Black bears mean good luck. His father had told him that the first time they’d run into one on a hike up Yanu. Ash had never found anyone else who said so, but his father either believed or wanted him to, so Ash went with it. Good luck. He needed it.
And Macy’s car was already parked outside. “That’s got to be three.”
She was usually the first in; he was the last out, only because he insisted she go home ahead of him. He and his rangers and support staff served the visitors to Otter Lake and Smoky Valley Nature Reserve. They were responsible for safety and law enforcement in the park, all education and conservation efforts, and welcoming visitors. If school groups needed guides or researchers needed support or hikers got lost or campers got rowdy or bills needed to be paid, it all ended up on his desk.
Macy made sure all of that fell into an orderly formation. Spending all day with her annoyed was going to test his patience.
Following orders outlined by his boss, the chief ranger, was always important, but it was especially a priority now that he owed his career to Leland Hall. Climbing without the proper safety equipment as a Reserve law enforcement ranger had been dumb beyond belief. Being fired would have made perfect sense. Instead, Leland Hall had recommended him for the new head ranger position. Ash’s hardline position on safety procedures was now well known to everyone who worked for him. No one would make the same mistakes he had, not while he was watching over the rangers at Otter Lake. He’d been lucky Chief Ranger Hall had believed in his ability to do more. His boss’s questioning about the leaked environmental impact report had been a hard blow. Being ordered away from his post was worse.
“Doesn’t matter. Only way out is through.” Ash heard his grim tone. He knew that people were saying he’d leaked the report. That he was being disloyal to his sister, to the town and what the lodge might mean for the local economy. “Never met bad news he didn’t like.” He’d gotten a reputation as Mr. Doom because he was forced to point out problems with the lodge project.
But he did all that upfront, no sneaking around.
The mayor and town council of Sweetwater and other places that depended on the Reserve for tourism wanted the lodge. They could see money coming in, and the guy who’d insisted it was a bad deal for the Reserve itself was never going to be popular.
It made sense that folks suspected he’d stirred up the governor’s office.
Ash only wished he’d thought of it. Construction was scheduled to begin in less than a month. All this media frenzy stirred up by the governor might mean nothing, but if it delayed the lodge until he could come up with a permanent solution, it would all be worth the trouble. The architect’s plans were going to be confirmed at the next board meeting. His plan had been to present the report he’d commissioned on the impact of building at The Aerie at the same time.
Someone had beaten him to the punch, though.
And while he’d been trying to sleep last night, it had hit him that his sister would be tangled up in the same mess for however long it lasted. What if her job was in danger because of her connection to him? Worse. What if Whit Callaway was stupid enough to blow up their engagement over this lodge report?
After the chief ranger had suggested getting solid support for his position against building at The Aerie, he’d commissioned the report, but he’d talked to Winter about the findings. Showing it to her had changed her middle-of-the-road attitude to firm opposition to construction of the lodge. It could have worked for the board of directors as well.
Would she and Callaway be able to weather this trouble and the suspicion that Ash was sabotaging Whit’s political career?
He loved his little sister. This better not hurt her.
The fact that he hadn’t heard from her since the news broke made it impossible to pretend he might ever fall asleep again, leaving him plenty of time to make an early morning visit to Buckeye Cove.
“Silver linings to the storm clouds.” Ash chose a spot in the empty parking lot of the ranger station and slowly slid out of the SUV. The lack of a crowd out front was a relief. Leland had been right; with no Ash on hand, the reporters had moved on to other angles for their stories.
What would happen when word got around that he was back at his desk?
Maybe he should have taken the whole week as the chief ranger had ordered.
“I’m here now. Might as well clear my desk.” If the reporters or angry Sweetwater citizens started gathering, he could disappear.
Ash grabbed the hat he only wore on official visits and when he was forced to. Safety procedures were life. Uniforms inspired respect and gave his staff a professional image. But the hat? Carrying the thing was good enough, even if it was time for a haircut.
Letting his own standards slip would never do, no matter how off track his whole week had been.
As soon as he stepped inside the open space of the lobby, some of his anxiety melted. He could smell coffee. Macy was nearby. Every inch of the visitor center was in order. His office manager had been busy. Natural greenery framed the line of windows, while a giant wreath with white lights had been hung on the wall behind her desk. The holidays at the ranger station were usually low-key, but this year, Macy had badgered him into hosting an open house. They had new displays. Attendance numbers needed a boost. Everything she’d said made sense.
But now he was the center of a controversy. The last thing he wanted was to issue an invitation for people to stop and stare. Should he reconsider the open house?
Worse, would it turn into a picket line instead of a party?
The new winter educational displays were impressive.
Losing the head education ranger was a blow he’d have to focus on soon. The other park rangers responsible for teaching programs and guiding visitors had picked up the extra work, but someone needed to direct their activities, someone who could expand the Reserve’s reach.
He’d move finding that person to the top of the list.
Right after he soothed Macy, figured out how to clear the suspicion that he’d torpedoed the lodge project and found out whether his sister was brokenhearted or not, he’d finish applying for approval to hire a new education director.
Why was he so tired all of a sudden?
“Well, now, I wondered when I might see you again,” Macy drawled as she strolled over to block the pathway to his office. That was how she got him to stop: a full-blown barrier. If they were boxers in a ring, she’d be squared up and ready to fight.
Getting over that hurdle was job number one.
He should have spent more time figuring out what to say.
“Yeah, haven’t seen you in some time.” Ash ran a hand down his nape and fought back a wince as her eyebrows shot up. Not the way to go.
“You think you can make jokes, Ash Kingfisher?” Macy wildly shook her head. “That’s just another sign the world is off-kilter. Out. Of. Control. You don’t make jokes. You grunt. Sometimes you complain. Other times, you do thoughtful things that keep me from seriously considering doctoring your coffee in a bad way. But now, details. I want them.”
“Fine. Leland called me to Knoxville, where he and the Callaways questioned me about the environmental impact study I commissioned on the building plans at The Aerie. As I hope you’ve guessed, I had no information to give them. This isn’t me, but convincing anyone in Knoxville of that is going to take some effort. Leland told me to lay low all week, avoid the press and the staff of the Reserve, but I couldn’t.” The urge to tell her he’d missed her smile even more than he’d missed his desk or Otter Lake was strong, but he fought it back. To her, he was just the boss and not...anything else.
He dodged her to head straight for the coffeemaker, grateful his bum leg made it possible. His mug was sitting in front. Like she’d expected him. He filled the fish-shaped mug and covered the Don’t Bait Me on the side with both hands as he took the first sip. When he opened his eyes, Macy was propping one shoulder against the door frame, doing her best impression of a patient woman. Not a hair was out of place, but the temperature in the air suggested he was pressing his luck. “The fact that I requested the study, Winter’s engaged to a Callaway, the construction company is owned by a Callaway, the Reserve is involved... I’m right in the center of all the speculation and it makes sense to anyone who doesn’t know me.” He took another long drink of the coffee, acknowledged his burned taste buds and enjoyed the slow roll of caffeine into his system. “Was it terrible here?”