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The young woman behind the desk furrowed her brow. “Can I help you, sir?”
“I’m looking for Tra—Ranger Weston.”
“Oh! I believe he’s… Let me check.” She took a few steps toward the far end of the visitor center before disappearing altogether. Somewhere in the back of the building, she murmured to someone before returning to me. “Yes, Ranger Weston can see you now.”
Relief flooded me and I hurried in the direction she’d come from, finding Travis sitting behind a desk, tapping at a keyboard and staring at what appeared to be an ancient computer monitor. He didn’t glance up when I entered. “I’ll be right with you. Just a second.”
“Travis.” My voice wavered as I spoke.
His gaze darted to me immediately and he stood, shoving his chair back. “Is something wrong?”
I swallowed hard, a lump forming in my throat. “Is something wrong? Are you kidding me? I thought a bear had mauled you.” Tears threatened to fall, stinging my eyes.
He crossed the room and I wrapped him in a tight hug, burying my face in the nape of his neck. He smelled like woodsmoke and sweat and the outdoors, and he chuckled a little as I held him. “Nobody was mauled.”
“I thought…” My voice cracked, the pain in my voice evident. My body threatened to betray me, my chest tight as I clung to him.
Travis rubbed circles on my back, squeezing me tighter. “It’s okay. Nobody was hurt. We weren’t even in much danger.”
“Much?”
He pulled back to meet my gaze. “There’s always a little danger with my job. Especially with wildlife. But really, we were as safe as it’s possible to be when dealing with a curious—if misguided—bear. I was in the truck until the bear was tranquilized. Honestly, it was James—Dr. Mason—who had the highest risk. But—”
“Trav?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re rambling.”
He shook his head like he’d just realized what he was doing, letting out a shaky laugh. “You’re right. It’s just, there’s a lot of adrenaline flowing with things like this. I’m sorry. You just caught me by surprise. I’m fine. We’re all fine. Even Arthur is fine.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Arthur?”
A little laugh shook his chest. “The bear. He’s been… a frequent flyer out here. James took him to a rehab facility and they’re working on a relocation plan. He’ll live out his happy bear life somewhere far away from here.”
“They won’t euthanize him for being dangerous?”
Travis shook his head again. “I don’t think so. He’s not actively a danger, just overly curious. Trust me, the wildlife center will do everything they can to find Arthur a home first.”
I stepped back and scrubbed my hands over my face. It had been a weird day. How had we gone from me worrying about his life to listening to Travis tell me what was going to happen to a wild bear?
“What are you doing here, anyway?”
I met Travis’s gaze again, my cheeks heating. “I wanted to talk to you.”
He frowned, a crease forming between his eyebrows. “Is—are we okay? You’re not calling off the wedding, are you?”
“No! I mean, no. Just the opposite.”
“What’s the opposite of calling off a wedding? Telling me it’s still on?”
I laughed a little, nerves bubbling up out of me. “I’m more worried that once I tell you what I have to say,you’llcancel the wedding.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why would I do that?”
The tension in my chest was ratcheting up, my heart squeezing and my shoulders tight. I needed to just spit it out already. “I’m in love with you.”
His jaw dropped, eyes widening. We were silent for what felt like an eternity, several long seconds of just staring at each other.
