Sweet May
A Montana Matchmakers Short Story
Reina M. Williams
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to places, establishments, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental and the work of the author’s imagination.
Copyright © 2021 Reina M. Williams
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Cover design via Canva/photo: StarFlames—5196428/pixabay
All rights reserved.
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First Digital Edition/April 2021
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Epilogue | Two Weeks Later—Dean and Maya’s Wedding
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Flint was the last bachelor. Not in the world, of course, but in his family, and it seemed, in this corner of Montana. With summer coming in, warmer weather made coupling the order of the day. But not for him. He didn’t care that all his brothers were paired up. He didn’t care that all his friends had partners. He didn’t care that he couldn’t even get a date to Luke Levi and Dolly Gallagher’s wedding reception tomorrow.
Okay, so he cared about that last one. That he, Flint Manning, who usually had women chasing him, had been turned down not once, not twice, but three times, was the worst defeat he’d had in some time. He had better luck roping cows than he did women. Not that he was comparing the two.
He leaned against the fence to the cow pen and glanced at the wide sky, blue and vast. Manning Ranch was home; he’d never known different. Not the main house, anymore—his oldest brother Adam and his new wife Minnie called that home now. Flint had moved into the old bunk house with his twin Ethan, but now Ethan was defecting to the nearby town of Loving, like their other four brothers had. Leaving Flint alone.
He shrugged and stretched. Why should he care? He could have the place to himself now, without Ethan bugging him about cleaning up after himself.
So he was picking up his things anyway. Soon he’d get back to himself.
His phone buzzed. Since it was his honorary grandma, Mrs. G, he picked up and gave her a hearty greeting.
She laughed in that infectious way that made him smile. “Flint, you ole cowpoke, get yourself into town for dinner tonight, huh? The café at seven.”
“What’s the occasion?” he asked. Mrs. G didn’t usually invite him to town, but then again, she could be spontaneous, one of the things they had in common. She used to come out to the ranch and make time for each of them. She and Flint would fly by the seat of their pants, doing whatever felt right that day, sometimes fishing in the nearby creek, sometimes making grilled cheese and tomato soup and watching an old Western, Mrs. G schooling him on all the ways they’d gotten history wrong. He loved that firecracker of a woman.
“Haven’t seen you since Brandon’s wedding. Since I can’t get there, I thought you could come here.”
“Glad to. See you then.” They said their goodbyes and he ended the call. He rubbed his hands together before getting back to his chores. At least he had a date this here Friday night. Maybe he could convince Mrs. G to let him escort her to the wedding tomorrow. Why not? He’d had his share of dates in his life, and family was forever, unlike romance.
THAT EVENING, HE STROLLED into Gallagher’s Café, his boots clomping on the wood floor. He removed his hat and hung it on the vintage rack by the door. Opening his arms, he waved to Mrs. G at the host’s stand. She shook her head at his brazen attempt at a hug and obliged by bringing it in for one of her signature warm embraces followed by a pat on his cheek.
“Clean shaven now? Had to be different than Ethan, huh?”
He shrugged. She was right, as usual, he supposed, but unlike his twin, he wouldn’t admit to it. Rubbing his jaw, he winked at her instead. She chuckled and batted his arm.
“I’ve saved us a great table. Mandy will be our server.”
Mrs. G must mean the newest waitperson here at the café, who’d replaced Flint’s childhood nemesis—and his twin’s new girlfriend—Autumn West. He followed Mrs. G to a corner table, one where you could see the street and even a patch of trees and river, now flowing briskly in the warmer snow-melting weather. Possibly due to the clear evening and pleasant temperature, more people than he’d seen on his last trip into town were ambling, some even with ice cream cones from Careys’ General Store.
He held Mrs. G’s chair and sank into the one opposite her, splaying out his legs. “Who’s Mandy? Isn’t Lorna still here?”
“Mandy’s who I hired to replace Autumn when she went to work for Irene. Lorna’s still here.”
His assumption was confirmed. “And I can hear her.” The older woman’s laugh rang out from the other side of the café. Lorna had been with Mrs. G from the start. As he turned, he caught sight of a beautiful woman coming out from the kitchen.
He swallowed, hard, and rubbed his thighs. She was gliding this way, a smile on her rounded face, her long brown hair in some kind of mermaid-like braid. He’d sure like to see her in nothing but a... Whoa, there. Though he had a reputation for appreciating women, he no longer thought about them inappropriately, until it was mutual and wanted.
“Mandy, this here is Flint Manning,” Mrs. G said, interrupting his beginning-to-be-inappropriate thoughts about Mandy. “Flint, Mandy Thurmburg.”
“Hi, nice to meet you. Mrs. G talks about you all a lot.” She held out her hand, pale and plump, as if to shake his.
It was all he could do to touch her hand, not even giving her his usual firm grasp. He made a non-committal noise—okay, more like a weird groan—and tried to smile back at her. Her brows tugged together for a second before she smiled again and turned to Mrs. G.
Smooth, Manning, real smooth. Where was his trademark charm and casual ease? Blown to dust by Mandy’s beautiful smile and curvy frame, her long, thick hair and bright brown eyes. She was important. Surety settled in his bones.
She was gorgeous. His legs tingled.
She was kind. His chest expanded.
And... She was it. The one.
He shook his head and tried to attend to what Mrs. G was saying. But she and Mandy had stopped talking and were both looking at him expectantly.
“Uh, what?” he managed to croak out. What the heck? He didn’t believe in all that love at first sight nonsense. But these feelings he was having... They sure felt a lot like love. Nope, nope. Too soon. How about never. Flint Manning didn’t do attachment and romance. He had to be different, not like his brothers, who pined after women for years and years, who actually believed in love and partnership. He was different.
“You okay?” Mandy asked, touching his shoulder.
The spot lit up, sending sparks down his arm and into his chest.
“Uh, yeah.” Could he sound any less like himself?
Mrs. G eyed him, a poker face on. “We asked about what you want for dinner? Mandy asked if you wanted to hear the specials.”
He swallowed again and forced himself to look at the menu, just to try and calm the fireworks going off in him. “Sure, what are the specials?” Anything to keep Mandy talking and give him time to come back to himself.
“Bison burger with sweet potato fries, minestrone soup
with fresh bread, or salmon on wild rice pilaf.”
“What do you recommend?” He could care less what he ate at this point. He wasn’t sure he could the way his stomach leapt when he glanced at Mandy.
“The salmon’s really good, and it’s going off the menu soon.”
“I’ll take it.” He wanted to take her. Out, of course.
“Drinks?” she asked. Mrs. G must have ordered while he was MIA.
“My usual,” Mrs. G said.
“Just water.” He was suddenly parched as Mandy smiled and nodded.
She turned and he tried to focus on Mrs. G and not Mandy’s rear. She wasn’t an object. She was a woman, who had feelings and all. They probably just weren’t off the wall, like his.
“Mandy’s new in town. She and Autumn knew each other in college.”
So, she was probably around his age, early twenties. She almost looked younger, with her rounded, open face. He wasn’t going to think about her body. Not right now, anyway.
“How’s she settling in?” he asked Mrs. G.
“People seem to love her.”
He rubbed his jaw, trying to feel if it ran as hot as he felt in his ears and face. He nodded.
Mrs. G continued, “Though I’ve had to shoo Jason Riggs and some of his buddies off. They get a bit aggressive, especially for someone like Mandy.”
He crossed his arms. He’d heard about the Riggses. The thought of someone that jerky trying to put moves on Mandy made his face heat in a different way. But she was a grown woman, and Mrs. G had her back. It wasn’t his call to be mad about it. He rolled his shoulders to displace the misplaced emotion and grinned at Mrs. G, who returned his look, a bit too slyly. But what could she be up to, anyway? She knew better than to try her matchmaking business on him.
“I have a question,” he began.
“Shoot.”
“Will you allow me to escort you to Luke and Dolly’s wedding?”
“While normally I couldn’t resist your charms,” she said with a wink, “Hank’s already got that honor. Besides, I’ll be all over the place, as I’m Dolly’s only relative.”
Of course. He should’ve known what she’d say, if he’d bothered to think it through. Her stepson was her go-to wedding date. It suited them both to spend the time together, and not be set up on a date by well-meaning friends. He could relate. Getting set up—could there be a worse dating scenario?
“But, I have an idea.” Mrs. G’s smile plumped out her round cheeks, and the corners of eyes crinkled.
If she didn’t appear so happy, he’d be suspicious. Actually, he kind of was, based on the still-there slyness of her expression.
His stomach didn’t have time to decide whether to clench in wariness or excitement with the reappearance of Mandy.
She set down their drinks with a gorgeous smile. His mouth hung open, the words he was about to say to Mrs. G evaporating in the heat of his thoughts about the woman standing near him.
“Mandy,” Mrs. G. touched the younger woman’s hand. “Flint here has a question for you.”
He snapped his mouth shut. What? He didn’t have a question for Mandy, not right now, when he was down for the count, like a thrown rider, out of breath and out of sense.
Mandy glanced at him, eyebrows quirked in a cute-as-heck show of expectation and patience.
He shot a what the heck? shake of his head at Mrs. G.
“Go on, ask her, you know, about the wedding.”
He sank back into his chair. He’d been hit. By the he-hadn’t-believed-it matchmaking of Mrs. June Gallagher. What kind of honorary grandma violated his dating code? She was trying to set him up. Him, Flint Manning. On a setup date. It was...unheard of. Uncalled for. Unfortunately...
Mandy touched his shoulder for an instant. All thought zipped away.
“I love weddings!” She held her order pad to herself as if it were a favorite gift. Her joy swirled around, leaving him upright and wondering what his problem was.
“Would you go with me?” Today was a rough ride for him. He sounded like the greenest guy in the dating pool. And he was a fool.
Mandy glanced at Mrs. G. “I can vouch for him,” his now-reinstated honorary grandmother said.
“All right, then, I accept. I was hoping to go! And I better go now. Customers. See you, Flint.” She touched the same spot she had, leaving him warm and dazed. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to notice as she nodded to Mrs. G and walked away.
He shook his head, to try and stop himself from watching her curves shimmy. Meeting Mrs. G’s too-pleased gaze, he narrowed his eyes. She chuckled and sipped her coffee. He gulped water to quench his thirst.
While he now had a date with the prettiest girl in town, maybe in the state, maybe anywhere, it was a setup: he knew it, and she probably did too. It was embarrassing. Though maybe not as much as how he’d acted the fool. He didn’t see how this setup date could go well if his trademark charm took a break anytime Mandy was near.
Chapter Two
Mandy hung her apron in her spot and twirled in the corner of the room. Only Manuel was left mopping, while Mrs. G sat at her desk in the office beyond the café kitchen.
“‘Mandy, keep a minister handy,’” he sang one of her favorite musical songs, whirling the mop as she danced in time, laughing. He smiled as he finished his task while she wrapped up snug in her coat and scarf. The days were warmer, but the evenings still carried a chill.
“Someone’s going to be a lucky man someday,” Manuel said.
“Yes, but it’s going to be a while.” She winked, enjoying keeping the laughter going with one of her friends. Everyone at the café had become a friend, and that was how she liked to live. Not that she was silly enough to believe everyone could be a friend. Still, she tried to stay surrounded by them, and appreciated that she’d found a place where that was possible, and even simple.
“If my cousin were here, he’d want to be in the running.” Manuel put away the mop and eased back his thick, dark hair with his forearm.
“You tell him if I’m ever in Arizona, we’re on for getting those tamales. How’s your family?”
“All good. I’m going down for his graduation later this month.” Manuel’s pride in his cousin showed in his upright posture and pleased smile.
“Law school’s a big accomplishment. Tell me before you go, so I can give you the card and scarf I made for him. I hear nights can get cold there in winter.”
“You’re awesome.” He patted her shoulder. “Want me to walk you to your car?”
“I wanted a word with Mrs. G. You okay alone?”
Manuel nodded. When he’d first moved here from Arizona, he’d run into some trouble from a few of the locals, who were angry about the small influx of Venezuelans who’d been hired on some of the area ranches, like Shepherd’s. Didn’t matter that Manuel was Mexican American, and his family had probably been here longer than those who hassled him. It was racism, pure and simple, and Mandy hated it. Hating wasn’t in her, usually, but injustice boiled her blood. Her giddiness from the shared moment of fun with Manuel sank.
And now she needed to ask an awkward question, or two, of her boss. She said good night to Manuel, squared her shoulders and knocked on the open door of the office.
“Mandy, what’s up, buttercup?” Mrs. G set aside her reading glasses and pressed fingers into her eyes.
Mandy’s brow crinkled. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, just a bit tired. There’re a lot of last-minute wedding details, not to mention the usual business woes. But enough of that, what’s going on with you?”
Mandy sat across from the older woman who she already loved. Mandy loved easily and fully. She wouldn’t want anything to happen to this cheerful, kind, sassy woman who’d taken a chance on her. But she wouldn’t press Mrs. G. She’d just keep an eye on her.
“Just... Well, I know you said you’d vouch for Flint, but...” He was a handsome man, for sure, and the way his brown hair bristled out in its short cut, and his strong fo
rearms had been displayed by his rolled shirtsleeves had given her a jolt of pleasure that she didn’t often feel just looking at a man.
“But you’ve heard of his reputation? It’s overblown and over. He’s a good man.”
She let out a breath. Mrs. G knew the way the small-town info worked, as if just by breathing, you inhaled the latest news, and Mandy had heard a thing, and more, about Flint Manning. “Yes, glad to hear it. You know I don’t want to deal with any smooth-talking mess.”
“I do know. Would I subject you to that?”
She supposed it had been silly to be concerned. Especially since nothing about Flint’s demeanor, which had seemed goofily flustered, suggested that he lived up to the talk she’d heard about Flint Manning, last bachelor of the seven wealthy ranching Manning brothers. Sequences from one of her top ten Hollywood musicals, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, flashed through her mind, and her feet itched to dance.
“I sure hope not,” she said before grinning.
“Oh, you.” Mrs. G’s expression faded to something more serious. “I will tell you that Flint can be a handful. He’s strong-willed and stubborn, but is also kind and loyal.” Mrs. G’s face softened, highlighting her round cheeks and eyes.
“You love those Manning brothers.”
“I sure do. I want them all to be happy. But you all here are family too, so I want that for you as well. Happiness. If you really don’t think going to the wedding with Flint will make you happy, then call it off.”
She squeezed her hands together. Going to the wedding reception with a kind, handsome man could be a happy thing. Not happiness complete, of course, but one more yellow brick in her road to Oz, which would lead her home. That’s what she was searching for, after all. Home.
“I’ll go for it. Should be fun, right? I hear from Autumn that you all put on some great wedding parties here in Loving.”
“Darn tootin’ as my uncle used to say. Can’t wait to see you strut your stuff on the dance floor.”
“Only if you’ll join me?” Mandy should get up and go, but something stuck her to the chair. The feeling of love, being encircled with the warmth of family and home. She’d had it for a time, and it was what she wanted to find again.
Sweet May Page 1