Love Is a Battlefield (2 page)

The buzzing cell phone put a stop to what could have been a disastrous trip down memory lane. A glance at her phone identified the caller as Vickie Harris, park ranger at the Washington Monument—and one of her best friends in the world. Kristy quickly wiped away the tears and flipped open the phone.

“Hello,” she said softly. The old building's thin walls meant phone conversations had to be whispered in order for them to remain private.

“Hey, girl. I had a second and wanted to call and check in on you. How's the first day back?” The concern was evident in Vickie's voice and immediately became the first bright spot in Kristy's morning.

“You're not going to believe this, but I just had a meeting with Hank, and—”

“How is good old Chief Strong?” Vickie cut in. “Still as grumpy as ever?”

Every summer during college, Vickie and Kristy had worked seasonal positions at Shiloh. They quickly learned that beneath Hank's tough exterior was a heart of gold. But after today, Kristy wasn't so sure.

Kristy barely managed to keep her voice down as she filled her friend in on the bombshell that had effectively blown up her morning. Saying it out loud to Vickie only made her predicament all too real.

“No way. What are you going to do?” Anger tinged Vickie's soft southern drawl. No matter how many years she spent in Washington, Vickie would always be a southern belle. “You aren't going to take it, are you?”

“I don't see that I have a choice. You know I'm not interested in another park. Besides, I live in park housing. If I don't take it, I'll have to find a new place to live. And I
really
don't want to move right now on top of everything else.” The buzzer sounded as the back door opened. Had her replacement entered the building?

“Well, I can understand that, but why can't you just have your old job back?”

“They've already hired someone to fill my position.”

“What?” Vickie obviously wasn't expecting this bit of news. “That was fast. Who is it?”

“Captain Jack sparrow.” “Who?”

Kristy already felt like everyone expected her to have a nervous breakdown. No need to give them any more reason to be suspicious. “Nothing. I haven't met him yet.” she looked around at the bare white walls and wrinkled her nose. “Oh well. At least I have one more summer here.”

“Oh Kris. I'm so sorry. This has to be tough. Any word from Mark?”

Kristy glanced down again at the wrinkled wedding invitation and rubbed her fingers over the raised letters that spelled out her and Mark's names.

“Nope. None. I don't have anything to say to him anyway.” she took a deep breath. Just the mention of Mark and she felt her blood pressure rise.

“Well, I have plenty to say to him.” Vickie was almost yelling. “Listen to me. You deserve so much more than he could've ever given you. I know you're hurting. But I promise you this is a good thing.”

Kristy could feel the hot tears welling up again. Sometimes being female wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

“I know. I can see that we didn't belong together. And believe me, I've had a lot of time to think about things these past two weeks.” she wadded the invitation back into a ball and shoved it into the trash. Where it belonged. “You ever need some alone time? Just go on a honeymoon cruise by yourself. You'll have
plenty
of time to think.”

Although, even with all the time she'd had to reflect on her problems, she still wasn't sure which she'd rank as the lowest point of the past two weeks—Mark literally leaving her standing at the altar, or the reality of embarking on their honeymoon alone. She couldn't decide.

“if it's any consolation, I think the worst is over. I'm praying for you.”

Kristy was glad someone was praying for her. Ever since the almost wedding, she was having a tough time talking to God. It seemed like her prayer button was stuck on mute.

A rap at the door made her jump. Owen poked his head in and signaled for her to come out front. She held up one finger to let him know she'd be there momentarily, and he disappeared.

“Vick, I need to go help Owen collect visitor fees and get the movie started.”

They said their good-byes, and Kristy closed the phone with a snap. As she walked out to the familiar desk, she took a deep breath. It was time to put her troubles aside. After all, rangers were supposed to be tough and ready for anything. She smiled at a visitor who had a question about the driving tour and found her tension lift as she slipped into ranger mode. Whatever the circumstances, she was glad to be back.

“The twenty-five-minute movie will begin in five minutes. Please make your way to the theater and be seated.” Owen's booming voice was magnified by the loudspeaker. He gave Kristy a wink as she grabbed the remote for the movie. He knew how much she hated making announcements into the microphone. She guessed he must be trying to make up for her lousy morning.

Kristy ushered the last of the visitors into the theater, pressed Play on the remote control panel, and closed the door. Finally. For the first time all morning, things felt almost back to normal. But her resolve faded completely as she came around the corner and saw the job stealer behind the desk with Owen. They were talking and laughing. Like buddies already.

betrayal stabbed her gut, even though she knew it was ridiculous to expect Owen to ignore someone out of loyalty to her. She forced herself forward. She'd been hoping to put off meeting the new guy until she'd adjusted to the fact that someone had come in and taken over her job. It looked like she was out of time, though.

As Kristy made her way to the spot where the men were standing, she couldn't help but take note of her replacement's appearance. His chiseled jaw gave him the air of someone accustomed to being in charge. Tanned skin and muscled forearms indicated time spent in the great outdoors. As she got closer, she could see the flecks of gold in his dark brown eyes, watching her with interest as she approached. But no matter how nice he was to look at, he had her job. That was a permanent strike against him in her book.

“Kristy, have you met our newest employee?” Owen slipped into his “good ol' boy” routine and gave the new guy a hearty slap on the back.

“No. I haven't had the pleasure.” she was determined to be a grown-up about this. But did they have to introduce themselves? They wore name badges after all. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a way around it. At least, not a polite way.

She held out her hand and flashed the brightest smile she could muster. “Hi. I'm Kristy O'Neal. Nice to meet you.”

His handshake was firm, just as she'd expected it to be. “Ace Kennedy. And the pleasure is all mine.” His lips turned upward in a slow grin as he held on to her hand just a second longer than she would've liked.

You can pour on all the charm you want to, mister. But we're not going to be friends.

“Kristy, will you be up for a bus tour tomorrow?” she could tell Owen was trying to be a nice guy and give her some more time to herself if needed. But she didn't want to be given special treatment just because of what she'd been through. And she especially didn't want Ace to think she was a weak female who let her personal life interfere with her work.

Except that if she hadn't let her personal life interfere with work, she never would've let Mark talk her into quitting her job to marry him and move away
. My dream job. Why did I ever think a life with Mark was worth giving up something I love so much?

“A bus tour sounds great. Who is it for?”

“it's a group from a senior citizens' center. They want a brief tour. Maybe a couple of hours.” Owen made a note on the daily schedule. “There's nothing else going, so I think we can spare you to do it.”

Kristy loved to lead bus tours. And once the summer season got going, a ranger-led bus tour would be almost unheard of because things would be too busy in the visitor center. So she was thrilled that Owen would let her lead what was likely to be the last one for several months.

“If it's okay, I'd like to go along on the tour.” Ace directed his comment to Owen, but he glanced at Kristy out of the corner of his eye.

Suddenly, the bus tour felt a lot less like a gift and a lot more like a burden.

“That's fine.” Owen nodded then turned to her. “You know how it works. Ace here is still learning about the battle.”

Unbelievable.
Kristy wondered why no one else saw anything wrong with her being demoted and then having to show the ropes to the guy who took her place.

“Sure.” she nodded at him. In reality, she would rather have cleaned out a cannon than let Ace tag along on her tour. And cleaning out a cannon was definitely not at the top of her list of fun things to do.

“I will warn you, it's been a long time since I've done a bus tour. Hopefully, I'll give the correct information.” she smiled to show that she was joking. Although ... maybe if she taught Ace all the wrong facts, he'd be out of here.

“Oh, I'm sure you'll do fine.” Ace gave her a playful grin. “I've heard you're a great ranger.”

Kristy wondered what else he'd heard. He hadn't been present for her public humiliation, but several of their coworkers had. And if she knew anything, it was that the park gossip traveled faster than a speeding bullet.

Ace Kennedy closed the door to his office and collapsed into his desk chair. He hated to admit it, but he was surprised. And it took a lot to surprise him these days.

When he'd accepted the position at Shiloh, he hadn't realized he was walking into something that would open up old wounds. In fact, he'd expected to find a fresh start waiting for him in the small west Tennessee town. Counted on it, even.

Upon his arrival, it had seemed he'd found just that. Green countryside, peaceful river filled with fish, locals who waved when he passed them. It was the picture-perfect place for a man to start over. But his impression had changed two weeks ago, on his first day on the job. Owen had given him a tour of the offices and grounds, finally pausing at the door of his new office.

“Just to warn you, the ranger who worked here before painted the walls. She said the white walls made her feel like she was in a hospital.” Owen had opened the door, giving Ace his first look at the cheery yellow that adorned the walls.

“It's certainly bright,” he'd remarked.

“You're welcome to paint over it if you want.” Owen chuckled. “Kristy took a lot of flak for her color choice, but she was determined to spruce it up.”

Ace had noted the soft tone in Owen's voice when he mentioned Kristy's name. “Nah. No need to paint over the yellow. I'm sure I'll adjust to it.”

They'd made their way into the brightly colored office. Aside from the usual computer, printer, and telephone, the room was bare—except for a lone box in the corner stuffed with picture frames and a bunch of artificial flowers. Yellow daisies. Ace's knowledge of flowers was limited, but daisies had been Caroline's favorite flower. And seeing them poking their cheerful yellow heads out of the cardboard box had transported him back to the last time he'd taken daisies to Caroline. He'd quickly pushed the scene away, but that had been the moment he'd known.... He might've moved hundreds of miles away, but the old memories had hitched a ride with him.

Owen had followed his gaze and motioned toward the box. “Kristy left some stuff here. She was supposed to drop in and pick it up, but I figure with the wedding this afternoon, she's forgotten.”

“She's getting married today?” Ace had asked, trying to seem interested. Better to concentrate on what Owen was saying than dwell on the past.

“Yep. Out at Rhea Springs. Can you believe she's having her wedding at the park? I've been here for nearly thirty years and have never seen a ranger love this park more.” Owen had leaned against the door frame and shaken his head. “I'm not sure she'll know what to do with herself now that she's moving away.”

Once Owen had left him alone, Ace sat down at the desk and looked around his new office. It was strange, but the yellow did make him feel a little happier. And he'd certainly not been very cheerful lately. Leaving behind everything he'd known in Illinois, he'd headed his truck south. It was only a seven-hour drive, but it was proving to be a tougher transition than he'd expected.

He'd glanced down again at the box of Kristy's things. A photograph sticking out at the corner caught his eye, and he couldn't resist pulling it out. The girl in the picture seemed to leap off the imprint and come to life. Blond, wavy hair and big blue eyes made her a classic beauty. But it was her smile that caught his attention. The camera had captured her in a moment of laughter, the happiness reaching all the way to her eyes. Ace couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed like that. If this was Kristy, then the man she was marrying today was a lucky one.

It hadn't been until the next day that he'd heard the news.

He'd been sitting in his office, reading about the battle, when Owen and Chief Strong came in the back entrance.

“So he just didn't show?” the chief had asked as they'd paused right outside of Ace's office.

“Not a sign of him at all. But you know Kristy. She didn't shed a tear. Just held her head high and walked up to the front in her wedding dress. Said she wanted to thank everyone for coming, but that there wouldn't be a ceremony.”

Hank had let out a low whistle. “Whew. Did you hear anyone say why he got cold feet?”

“Nah. I didn't stick around after that. I figured she'd want some space. Hey...” Owen had trailed off and cleared his throat. “I know her position has been filled, but do you think there's anything we can do? she hasn't even moved her stuff out of the house yet.”

Ace had been shocked at the information. He'd glanced again at the box of her things and wondered how she would bounce back from something like that. He knew firsthand that learning to live again after complete devastation was nearly impossible.

“I do have one position available. But it's seasonal. You think she'd be interested?” the chief had asked.

“It's worth a shot.”

A few days later, Owen had moved Kristy's belongings into the seasonal office. Ace had wondered if that meant she'd accepted the temporary position and, again, how she was recovering from the recent blow.

The day before she was supposed to come back, Ace remembered the photographs he'd seen sticking out of the box and went into the seasonal office to look through them. He knew the last thing she would need on her first day back was a reminder, so he removed the pictures of her and her former fiancé from the frames and slipped them facedown in the top drawer. He wadded up the yellow wedding invitation and threw it in the trash. At the time, it had seemed like the least he could do.

The shocker came today. He'd expected Kristy to be fragile and beaten down. But the confident woman he'd just met certainly didn't seem fragile. In fact, she had a fierce look in her eye. He wondered where she found her strength. Of course, whether it was genuine or an act remained to be seen, but for some reason, he wasn't counting her out. And despite her coolness toward him, Ace hoped they could at least be friends.

A knock at the door brought him back to the present.

“Yes?” he called.

Chief Strong poked his head in the door. “Ace, can you come out front? We have a little situation I'd like to discuss with everyone on staff.”

Ace jumped up. A situation? “sure thing.” He glanced at his half-eaten sandwich lying on his desk. Lunch could wait. It hadn't been that good anyway.

“This will only take a minute.”

He followed the chief out front, where Owen and Kristy were waiting. Noting their puzzled expressions, he guessed impromptu meetings must not be a normal occurrence around here.

“Gang, we've had an incident out on the park,” the chief began. “Someone spray-painted the Tennessee Monument.”

“You're kidding.” The horror in Kristy's voice was a testament to how much the park meant to her.

Owen scratched his chin and frowned. “How bad is it?” he asked.

“Well, it could be worse, I guess. They mainly got the base of the monument, but used a variety of colors. No particular pattern. Tommy Daniels went out there to mow this morning and discovered the damage.”

“This morning? Why didn't anyone radio in and let us know?” Owen inquired.

Hank let out a snort. “Some of the maintenance guys tried to clean it off before they let me know. Thankfully, they didn't make the problem worse. It can be fixed, but it's going to be a lot of trouble.”

Even though Ace was still learning about the park and all the many monuments, he knew the Tennessee Monument was the newest one on the park. In fact, it was only a few years old. Considering the park was located in Tennessee, he'd thought it strange that the state had only recently commissioned a monument.

Hank held up a bag. “This was beside the monument.”

Several bottles of spray paint were visible through the white plastic.

“It looks like the culprit intended to do more but got spooked. I haven't spoken to Steve about it yet, but I'll check to see if he remembers seeing anyone acting odd yesterday while he was on patrol.” Shiloh's lone law enforcement ranger, Steve Jackson, patrolled the park nightly.

“Probably just some hoodlum kid, trying to seem cool to his buddies,” Owen offered.

Hank nodded. “Could be. But just in case, I want all of you to be on the alert for anything out of the ordinary.”

“Of course,” Kristy said.

“Not a problem,” Owen chimed in.

Then silence. All three looked at Ace. “Right.” He nodded.

So the key to survival here must be to always agree with the chief.

“And since we're coming up on Memorial Day weekend, there's a good possibility that they might strike again. Keep your eyes peeled.” And with that, Chief Strong swept past them, carrying the bag of paint up the stairs to his office, still grumbling under his breath.