Another “shh!” hissed from behind, this one not so gentle. Lindsey picked up Pam and settled her on her lap, her mouth inches away from the child’s ear.
“Ginger is a color,” she whispered. “How about if we pick something that describes the puppy’s fur? How about—oh, maybe Daisy? Or Sunny?”
Pam frowned, then brightened. “Could I name her Pumpkin? It’s orange, and Ginger is orange-y.”
“I think Pumpkin is a perfect name,” Lindsey agreed.
“We’re gonna have so much fun,” Pam squealed loudly, forgetting to whisper.
A pause in the sermon and a disapproving stare from the presiding minister had Lindsey flushing with embarrassment. The “new daddy” beckoned Pam with a crooked finger and kind smile, and she happily left Lindsey’s lap to sit between the bride and groom.
The last Lindsey heard, Pam did indeed have a new golden retriever puppy named Pumpkin. Lindsey held out hope for a stable future for them all.
Her own wedding hadn’t come about as soon as she’d wished. Although Jack Hunter had replaced Eric at Yosemite while Naomi had her surgery, it was only temporary. Eric had spent the remainder of the winter back at Yosemite. Lindsey went home to recuperate at her parents’ and missed him terribly. However, the one bright spot was knowing Eric wasn’t alone. He and Ginger had remained together, and Eric had hand-towed the dog on the sled for the long trek back into the isolation of Yosemite. If Lindsey had once had doubts about Eric’s love for her, those doubts were gone. He’d trusted her life and his future happiness to Ginger—because he had finally trusted Lindsey herself.
He finished out the rest of the winter doing avalanche control, working the dog and packing up Keith’s and Naomi’s things, as well as his own, in the cabin where he’d spent the past seven years.
“I can work anywhere you want,” he’d said at their last meeting. “As long as we’re together. Just let me know.”
Lindsey had been afraid he’d change his mind, and expressed her concern over Eric’s giving up his way of life for hers. “What if you come to resent it? And me?”
“I’d resent it if you kept me out of your life,” he said quietly. “I’ve done my part here. It’s time to move on.”
Lindsey had felt uneasy about the whole situation. She’d discussed it during her counseling. Lindsey had developed a full-blown case of claustrophobia after twice being buried in the snow. She hadn’t even been able to get in a car unless all the windows were down. Back in San Diego, she’d worked on behavior modification techniques in therapy while her bones knit and arm healed. After six weeks, the cast was removed, and she began to work with the new dog chosen for her out of the “in-training prospects” at her parents’ kennel.
Rocky was a beautiful black-and-tan German shepherd who showed great promise in multiple search-and-rescue techniques, both in rural missing persons and urban collapsed-structure and earthquake rescue. Like most of his breed, he loved to work. He definitely loved having Lindsey as a full-time partner, and had a devilish sense of canine humor and independence, not always appreciated by more serious law-enforcement owners. He made Lindsey laugh the very first time she met him. Her wise mother immediately said, “Forget police work for Rocky. This is the rescue dog for you,” and brought her the leash.
Rocky and her family had helped with her loneliness while Eric was gone, but she missed him constantly. She’d also missed her youngest sister. Lara had met the hospital’s helicopter pilot, who’d kept in touch with Lindsey during her recuperation. Lara had suddenly transferred up to Lee Valley and joined the police force there to be closer to Jim. Much to her parents’ shock, she’d already moved in with the bold man who had vowed to protect Lindsey and Pam with his own life.
“I’m not getting married until I’m good and ready,” Lara explained to Lindsey in private. “And it’s not as if I’m pregnant or moving into a brothel. Mom and Dad are so old-fashioned!”
“You’ll understand when you have your own daughter,” Lindsey said, seeing both sides.
“Well, I don’t have any kids, and they aren’t in my immediate future, either. Besides, it’s a small town and there aren’t any apartments for rent. The opening on the police force is now or never, so I’m taking it before someone else does. This is the guy for me. I don’t need to wait four years to be sure.”
Lindsey had winced inwardly at her younger sister’s honesty, but only said, “Mom and Dad will miss you. So will I.”
Lara grinned and kissed her cheek. “Only until you get Eric back in your arms. Then you won’t miss me at all.”
IT HAD BEEN A LONG WINTER and a very late spring before the snowpack melted and Eric could leave his duty station with a clear conscience. The Hetch Hetchy watershed filled reservoirs for the massive Central Valley population, and the park and roads were clear of snow and open to the public. Bears awoke, deer migrated back to the lush, grassy meadows, and Lindsey was able to see Eric again. Their separation had been rough, and their reunion was tinged with regret over all the time they’d spent apart. They finally reunited physically, and they planned their wedding—today’s wedding. Their personal happiness wasn’t in doubt, but their professional future still seemed uncertain.
“You’re awfully quiet,” her mother said, finishing with her hair. “Are you nervous?”
“I need to see Eric,” Lindsey said suddenly.
“But it’s bad luck!” her mother protested.
“You’re not going to call this off again, are you?” her oldest sister asked warily.
Lindsey’s mother turned as white as Lindsey’s veil.
“No, I just want Ric.” Lindsey stood, lifted the lacy folds of her long dress and hurried out of the cabin and over to the men. Her father and the others stared at her as she burst onto the patio area in the alcove.
“Ric?” she called out. “I need to talk to you.”
“You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” her father asked.
“I want to talk to Eric.” She determinedly made her way through the men to the one she loved, handsome in his formal wedding attire.
“Can we go for a walk?” she asked.
“If you’re leaving me at the altar again…” he said, his voice hoarse.
“Would everyone please stop saying that!” Lindsey looked around at the men, and then the women who’d hurried after her and had joined them on the pavilion. “I’m not! I just wanted…”
Everyone stared at her, waiting breathlessly. “Maybe it’s better that you all hear this,” she decided. She faced Eric and took both his hands in hers.
“We’ve spent so much time apart. I thought that since everything’s going so well with both our families, we should stay in Yosemite one more year.”
“Through another winter?” Naomi gasped out loud.
“Yes.” Lindsey continued to watch Eric. “Rocky hasn’t been trained in snow rescue, yet. I can’t do that in San Diego. And I thought…well…since they haven’t found anyone to replace you or the team…maybe we should stick around until next summer. That way they’ll have trained staff who really want to stay here. We’ll feel better about leaving, and we can go from there.”
Eric blinked in surprise. “But…I thought you hated it in Yosemite!”
“I hated being caught in the avalanche. I hated how people were killed, and hurt.” Her voice dropped so only he could hear. “I especially hated how I hurt you.”
“But…the counselor said…”
“She says I’m fine. I say I’m fine. I also say we have a lot of time to make up for, and people like Pam need good rangers in Yosemite. Why not a year-long honeymoon with just ourselves for company?”
Eric moved closer, his black pants brushing against the full skirt of her dress. “Lindsey, that’s very generous, and I love you even more for it, but Jack said he’ll personally take my place if he can’t find anyone by the start of fall.”
“He found someone, Eric! Me! I’m the perfect replacement, only I never realized it! I’ve missed
being here with you. If we’re together, a year here is nothing at all. Your training kept Pam and me and Keith alive! What kind of ranger—what kind of person would I be if I left the park and made you leave the park without a capable, willing rescue team to replace us?”
There was a pause as Eric squeezed her hands even tighter. “Sounds like you know what you want.”
“I do. And if everyone would stop eavesdropping,” she said, deliberately speaking louder, “we could get this show on the road and I could say ‘I do’ again!”
Everyone broke out into cheers and applause. Ginger, unhappily away from all the excitement, ducked her head and slipped out of her collar, leaving a barking Rocky still tied. Ginger ran over the soil made damp from the waterfall’s spray, threaded her way through the crowd on the pavilion and emerged in front of the couple. Barking happily, she jumped up, muddy front paws making contact with the side of the bride’s dress.
The women moaned, and the men made unsuccessful grabs for the energetic dog, who led them all on a merry chase.
The bride and groom, their lips on each other’s in a loving kiss, ignored the crowd.
“Let’s get married,” the bride murmured, her arms around the groom’s neck.
“I love you,” the groom said, the two of them contentedly remaining in each other’s embrace.
JACK HUNTER, WEDDING GUEST, watched as Keith restrained Ginger until Naomi hurried over with the slipped collar and leash. The women assured Lindsey that the mud wasn’t much, and it wouldn’t show in the wedding pictures since it was on the side of the dress instead of the front, and they would sponge it out right now so it didn’t stain.
Jack grinned. Lindsey Nelson hadn’t heard a single word in the entire melee. Her face—what he could see of it—shone with happiness, and she hadn’t bothered to glance at her dress to check the damage even once. Not once.
He’d made the right choice, no question. He silently congratulated the couple, then congratulated himself on another job well done. No one could have replaced the opening Lindsey Nelson left four years ago—except Lindsey Nelson herself.
In the welcoming warmth of a summer sun, in the celestial beauty surrounding the rainbow around Yosemite’s Bridalveil Fall, anyone could see that.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-3649-3
THE REPLACEMENT
Copyright © 2003 by Anne Marie Duquette.
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