Page 7 of Rescued By the Ranger

“I’m sorry that Shane didn’t explain that we would be here,” she says cautiously, like I’m going to go ballistic. When I never should have been that grumpy with her in the first place.

I relax a little. “I’m sorry that I was a grumpy old man.”

“You don’t look old,” she says it and then I watch her cringe a little and chuckle.

“Okay, little one, I need to go check on the electricity and see if we can get you back to playing Barbies.” I look down and unfortunately, I might have disfigured one with my booted foot.

She turns to her mother. “Mommy, can I have some hot chocolate?”

So resilient at this age.Too bad that fades overtime when we know things.

I hand her over. “The stove is gas. It’ll work.”

“Sure, pumpkin. Let’s get you some hot chocolate and marshmallows.”

“Thank you, Mr. Rhodes,” the little girl says softly and my heart about explodes in my chest.

“You’re welcome…”

The woman holds out her hand. “This is Jazzy and I’m Leesa Anderson.”

“Nice to meet you, Jazzy.” I boop her nose and she smiles a toothy grin. “And it’s really nice to meet you, Leesa.” I shake her hand. The room seems small. Like we’re taking up all the space by touching each other. Like I should be closer.

My heart does a backflip in my chest.

And I get the hell out of there.

4

RHODES

I makeit to the garage and slide to a hard stop after descending the three steps to the concrete floor. What I see sends a chill down my spine and I run a hand through my hair. I can’t be seeing what I’m seeing. I shake my head and clench my eyes to clear the vision.

Opening my eyes, I walk closer and my brain still fights understanding, but it’s not like it’s a picture or something made-up the internet. It’s not AI. It’s reality.

All the cables to the power bank have been torn out, like dozens of electrical tentacles splaying in the air. It’s not like they’re repairable. They’re shredded. Whoever did this knew what they were doing to make it a very dire situation.

My family doesn’t have enemies, that I know of.

Maybe a disgruntled employee of my father’s law firm?

Maybe a past client?

Maybe random violence?

Maybe…

The guy in the window.

I swallow hard, thinking of Jazzy and how terrified she was. That little girl saw something that has me wondering if I shouldtake both of them to my cabin, but seeing as the drive would probably be too dangerous, it’s best to stay here.

But what is dangerous here?

I really don’t know and I’m not going to think about it too much.

Collecting supplies,like candles, flashlights, and lighters from bins, I prepare for us to hunker down for the night. Thankfully, Dad always said that gas fireplaces were a waste when wood ones were what our ancestors did on this land. They’ll keep us warm, or at least comfortable.

I head back inside and find Leesa and Jazzy in the kitchen and they’re mixing up something by the light on Leesa’s phone and it looks tasty.

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