Taming the Mountain Man (Tamarack Ridge Romances Book 3)

by Jeanette Lewis

  He went to his workshop, intent on driving thoughts of Jennica’s wedding out of his mind with some hard work. But once he’d fired up the forge, he was paralyzed. He’d been planning a big bowie knife, but now the sketch looked wrong, the materials looked wrong. Everything about it was wrong.

  He crumpled up the sketch and tossed it into the garbage.

  She had been in here, the night Astrid had trimmed his beard. He and Jennica had stood in the workshop, talking about … he thought back. What was it? Simple things, nothing earth-shattering. He’d invited her back to show her how to make a blade, once he got the press working. But he hadn’t kept his promise.

  His eyes went to the press, sitting for so long in a garage, neglected and rusting. It had been broken, but that didn’t mean it had to stay broken. Jack had fixed it up, replaced the hydraulic lines, scoured off the rust. The press had become one of his prized possessions, made none the worse by its rough history.

  His mind flickered back to Valerie, back to the time when, in his heartbreak, he’d decided women were toxic and loving someone was a weakness. He’d thought he was being smart, putting his head above his heart and learning from past mistakes. Yes, Valerie had hurt him, deeply, but he’d made it worse. She’d made the initial cut, but Jack was the one who kept prodding and poking at it, then wondering why it wouldn’t heal.

  Chapter Seventeen

  As a girl, Jennica had pictured her wedding day many times, but she’d always been a bit vague on details. Except for one thing—she wanted the ceremony to be held under the tamarack trees in her grandmother’s backyard in the fall, when they were at their most brilliant. Yellow would never be anything but a happy color, and over the years, the vivid needles of the tamaracks had come to symbolize the best of things—the best day of her life.

  At least her wedding bouquet had yellow roses. That was something.

  Jennica sighed and set the bouquet on the marble-topped vanity in the bride’s room. Josh had wanted to get married somewhere grand, and after Collette’s wedding, her mother had been eager to book the Peterborough Mansion, coasting on Aunt Michelle’s experience to plan the wedding in only a few months. Such was their excitement … and relief. If one of Jennica’s siblings had announced they were getting married so quickly, their mother would have had a fit about the tight schedule. But now she was amiable, giddy even, pushing them toward the wedding day as quickly as possible.

  Besides, this was what you did, right? This was a grown-up version of a wedding, not a little girl’s daydream as she lay on her back on the lawn, squinting so the yellow tamarack needles would become slivers of golden light. This was what reasonable people did—get married at a reception center and afterwards have a nice catered dinner and a honeymoon in Hawaii. So what if it wasn’t the dream of her childhood with yellow pine trees and her barefoot in her grandmother’s wedding dress?

  Jennica paused. She’d wanted to wear Grandma’s wedding dress, but when she’d unpacked it, she’d found the lace was damaged. It could be repaired, but it would be cheaper and faster to rent a gown from a store in Great Falls. She’d repacked Grandma’s dress with a twinge of sorrow.

  She’d wanted to feel the lush green lawn beneath her bare feet as she walked down the aisle toward her groom. But here on the plush rugs of the Peterborough mansion, she was a far cry from barefoot. Jennica pulled up the heavy skirt of her wedding dress to give her shoes a once-over. They were nice three-inch heels, white to match her gown and with a little bit of lace covering the toes. Glamorous and refined and worth the blisters she’d have after tonight.

  She took a few deep breaths. It was going to be fine. This was what she wanted, what everyone wanted. She was finally doing the right thing. No more failure to launch. Today she’d have a husband, then eventually there would be kids and hopefully the little frown line between her mother’s eyes would go away. She’d stop being the family project, and the bait for everyone’s jokes.

  There was a knock at the door, and she shot a glance toward the clock on the wall. She had forty minutes before the ceremony. Her mother was off checking the final preparations with the mansion’s hostess, and her sisters had gone to put the finishing touches on their own hair and makeup. Soon they would descend on her, to puff and preen and make sure she looked perfect on the most important day of her life.

  Jennica’s throat tightened as a wave of anxiety crashed through her. She reached for the bottled water next to her bouquet and took a small sip. It was totally natural to be nervous, right? Every bride was nervous. Her mother had assured her the nerves would go away as soon as she saw Josh waiting for her under the arbor covered in purple wisteria.

  The knock came again, heavier.

  “Coming!” Jennica heaved herself up, smoothing her white skirt as she moved to the door. She twisted the antique brass handle and opened the carved oak door. “You guys are ear—”

  The word died on her lips.

  Jack stood in the doorway, wearing a blue flannel shirt and no tie, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. His hair had been pulled back hastily, his beard was untrimmed, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

  He looked terrible.

  He looked wonderful.

  “Jack,” she whispered, pressing her fingertips to her mouth.

  They locked eyes, and it was like that moment on the dance floor, in this very building but at a very different wedding. That moment right before he’d kissed her and sent her world spinning. She’d been trying to forget about that kiss for months now.

  “Don’t do this,” Jack said. It came out low, gravelly.

  Wordlessly, Jennica stepped back so he could enter the room, then closed the door quickly behind him. They faced each other beneath the chandelier dripping with crystals, and in the full-length mirrors mounted on either side of the room, Jennica saw an endless repeating of their figures. Her and Jack, locked in a standoff forever and ever and ever.

  “Why are you here?” she finally asked, her voice catching on the words.

  “Don’t do this,” he said again, barely louder than the first time.

  “Don’t do what? Get married?”

  He nodded. “It’s a mistake.”

  Her temper flared. “Oh, and I suppose you’re the expert at determining mistakes?”

  He flinched but kept a steady gaze, those amber eyes boring into hers. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” he admitted. “But the biggest one was when I let you get away from me.”

  Her brain stuttered. This couldn’t be happening. Not on her wedding day! “I’m getting married in less than an hour,” she blurted.

  “I know. My timing is horrible. I … Colton just told me yesterday, and I figured I was too late.” He ran one hand through his hair and the calluses on his palm caught on the strands, pulling them loose from the elastic band at the base of his neck. “I spent all night thinking about you, wishing I could talk to you.”

  “What’s your point, Jack?” Jennica said tartly. “You said it yourself: it was all pretend from the beginning.”

  There was a long moment of silence as the pain in his eyes flared. “I was wrong,” he said quietly. “I knew from the moment I saw you in that silly black beauty mask, the day Lincoln and I came to do the trees—I knew then that I was a goner.”

  “Well, you’re pretty good at keeping secrets.”

  The string quartet was warming up, and the sound drifted faintly through the second-story window of the bride’s room. Jennica crossed to the glass and pulled the lace curtains back a few inches. The rows of chairs on the patio filled slowly with guests while the pastor circulated, shaking hands. Maybe they were talking about the weather, what a beautiful day it was for a wedding. Or maybe the drive to Great Falls from Tamarack Ridge. Or maybe how nice it was that flaky Jennica Waverly was finally getting married.

  She could see Josh’s parents standing near the cake, talking to some of the guests, but there was no sign of her mother or father. They were inside, maybe coming up the
stairs to get her right now.

  “Jennica?” Jack’s voice was very soft, almost like a prayer.

  She whirled toward him. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Don’t marry him,” he said. “Please? Give me some time. I’m not used to this. I’ve … since Valerie, I’ve actively avoided it. But I swear I’ll get there, and I want to get there with you.”

  He wasn’t making any sense. Jennica shook her head. “Avoided what? Where do you want to get?”

  Jack faced her squarely, met her eyes. “Love,” he said softly.

  A beat of silence reverberated through the room, and Jennica felt all of the fight and the pain go out of her in whoosh. She’d wanted to hear him say it for so long. She’d imagined this moment hundreds of times, wished for it, tried to pretend that Josh’s “I love yous” held as much meaning for her as Jack’s would have.

  But now, looking at Jack, she knew there was no comparison. Josh’s kisses didn’t bring fireworks, had never rocked her world the way Jack’s had. And even if her mother was right and fireworks didn’t last, wasn’t it better to have had them at the beginning than not at all?

  She’d been quiet too long, and Jack seemed to sense she needed more. He sighed and scraped his fingers along his jaw. “You remember Valerie Amble?”

  Jennica nodded.

  “I guess you could call us high school sweethearts,” Jack said. “We started dating our senior year and kept on after graduation.”

  “Okay, I remember that,” Jennica said.

  “We dated for a few years, then I proposed and she accepted. We’d planned to get married in the summer. She was in school in Great Falls and I was working long hours at the lumberyard, so we didn’t get to see each other as much as we’d have liked. I should have realized she was growing distant, but I was focused on working and saving as much money as I could.”

  He sighed heavily. “I used to have a cellphone, kept up on the latest model and everything. One night at work I got a text from her that said something along the lines of Hey, baby. So good to see you today. Then she went on to describe in graphic detail some of the very intimate things she had done with this person called baby. Much more intimate than we’d ever been.” He lifted his hands and let them fall. “Needless to say, it wasn’t me. She’d met some guy online and she’d been cheating on me and sent the text to me by mistake. That’s why I don’t like cellphones or the internet.”

  “What happened?” Jennica whispered. Her heart ached at the pain in his eyes.

  “She went with the other guy. Last I heard, they were in Arizona somewhere with a bunch of kids.”

  “So you stay offline and away from technology because it helped one woman break your heart?”

  “I guess so,” he admitted. “And I know firsthand how destructive it can be.”

  “Seems a little bit of misplaced anger to me,” Jennica said.

  “Yeah, I know that now,” Jack said wryly. “I’ve been so busy feeling sorry for myself that I … I let you get away.”

  They both jumped at the knock on the door. “Jennica? Are you almost ready?” It was her mother’s voice.

  Jennica’s eyes flew between the closed door and Jack’s face. If her family came in here and saw him … “One second,” she called, her voice sounding high and tinny in her ears.

  “I need to finish your makeup.” Another voice, Kiera’s this time.

  “I need a few more minutes,” Jennica called. “Please?”

  There was a muffled conversation beyond the door, and then Kiera replied. “We’ll go get you some fresh water; we’ll be right back.”

  Jennica whirled and paced across the room, kicking her heavy skirt out in front of her as she walked. “I appreciate hearing the truth, but don’t know what you want me to do about all this now,” she said frantically as she turned back to Jack. “It’s too late.”

  In a flash, he crossed the room, grabbed both her hands in his. The familiar calluses on his palms seemed to burn into her skin. “It’s not too late. You’re not married yet,” he said urgently. “Please? I know this is a lot to put on you all at once, and I’m sorrier for ruining your day than you can imagine. But I’ll be even more sorry if I let you slip away without a fight, without even giving it a chance.”

  Her eyes darted to the door. It wasn’t that far to the kitchen. Her family would be back any moment.

  “I’m never going to be rich,” Jack said. “I’m starting to find a few gray hairs in my beard. Sometimes I get so involved in a project that I forget to eat. I’m stubborn and scruffy and uncivilized. But I love you more than I ever thought possible. All I’m asking for is a chance.”

  She looked into the blaze of amber in his eyes, searching for and finding what she’d been hoping to see ever since they’d kissed in the room just below … love.

  Jennica cleared her throat. “I need to talk to Josh,” she said.

  “And tell him?” Jack’s voice was hoarse with urgency.

  Jennica sighed. Her heart was in a tangle, and regret burned in the back of her throat. She would be ruining everyone’s day, but saving her own life. She managed a little smile. “I’ll tell him It’s not you, it’s me,” she said.

  Epilogue

  Jennica blew on the dandelion and the seeds rode her breath, then caught the breeze, blowing away in a swirl of downy fluff. She watched them dancing through the air and couldn’t suppress a small giggle of happiness.

  “Oh, sure, you laugh now, but those are going to sprout and then we’ll have a hundred more dandelions to deal with.” Jack came up behind her and put his arms around her waist.

  “They’re wishes,” Jennica said. “You have to set them free or they won’t come true.” Her grandpa had always had an endless litany of things that could be counted as wishes—dandelion seeds, shooting stars, a fish that got away, the yellow needles of the tamarack trees, a stray eyelash, and once, even a sheet of burned cookies when she’d forgotten to set the timer.

  Jack’s arms tightened around her waist, and he leaned in to press a kiss on the sensitive spot behind her ear. “Well, what did you wish for?” he whispered.

  Goosebumps broke out on her neck as she nestled her head against Jack’s chest. They’d been working in Grandma’s backyard for two hours, trimming the bushes, pulling weeds, and cutting back the overgrown ivy that climbed along the fence. Jack smelled like sawdust and sweat and, faintly, the spicy scent of his cologne.

  “It’s a secret,” she said, as they watched the last of the dandelion seeds whirl away. “If I tell my wishes, they don’t come true.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Shall I tell you one of my wishes?” he whispered huskily in her ear.

  Jennica turned in his arms and ran her fingers up his chest, over the soft cotton of his shirt and to the back of his neck, where they tangled in his sun-kissed hair. His eyes softened at her touch and he leaned his head back with a sigh, giving himself totally to the whims of her fingers.

  “Yes, tell me one of your wishes,” Jennica breathed softly.

  One of Jack’s hands left her waist, and she felt the coldness rush in at the absence of his touch. It was like she’d become addicted to him and couldn’t bear to be more than a few feet away at all times.

  He reached in the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small, round object that glinted in the sunshine. A ring. “I wish … no, I hope that you’ll marry me,” Jack said. He held up the ring so she could see it more clearly. It was made from Damascus steel, the dark and light patterns of the two metals twining in a delicate circle. Set in the middle was a blue stone.

  “Oh, Jack!” Jennica breathed. “It’s gorgeous. Did you make it?”

  He nodded, his eyes never leaving hers as he took her left hand and slipped the ring on her finger.

  She held out her hand and turned it. The blue stone winked and shimmered. “You have to make more of these,” she said. “I’ll bet they’ll sell like crazy on your website.”

  It had been two months since
she’d canceled her wedding to Josh. The guilt she’d felt at hurting him had faded a lot when she’d learned he was already engaged to a girl from Great Falls. Someone Jennica didn’t know.

  In those months, she and Jack had spent as much time as they could together. She’d helped build his online store, and their friend Ledger had done a video about Jack’s knives on his successful online channel. Orders were pouring in. If the trend kept up, Jack had told Jennica he could quit the lumberyard and make knives full-time by the end of the year.

  “I’ll make more rings,” Jack said, “but not like this. This is a one-of-a-kind ring for my one-of-a-kind girl. The stone is a sapphire. I picked it to match your eyes.”

  Jennica held her left hand near her face. “How’d you do?”

  Jack’s amber eyes deepened. “Perfect match,” he said softly. “But you never answered.” Then, still holding her hand, he sank to one knee in the grass. “I love you, Jennica Waverly. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone. You have brought me back to life and given me something I never thought I’d have again—hope. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” The answer flew from her lips almost before he’d finished asking the question, but it didn’t matter. A second later, he leapt to his feet and grabbed her in a crushing hug, and then their lips were coming together in a long, lingering kiss that held the promise of many more wishes to come.

  Hello Bookworms!

  I hope you enjoyed Taming the Mountain Man.

  For more Tamarack Ridge Romances, please check out Book One: Loving the Mountain Man, and Book Two: Charming the Mountain Man.

  The books are designed to be read in any order without spoilers, but you may have fun spotting crossover characters!