Montana Cherries (The Wildes of Birch Bay Book 1)

by Kim Law

  More than one set of footsteps moved through the family room, and Dani closed her eyes to focus on the patterns of the movements. One sounded like Jaden. Another was softer, probably Megan, given that wherever Jaden went, Megan followed. And vice versa.

  The girl seemed sweet and very down-to-earth. And Jay was smitten. Big-time.

  Which made Dani wonder what Megan thought of Montana, and if she might be considering moving here with Jay.

  Heavier footsteps moved into the kitchen, pausing for a moment, before heading down the hall. That would be Gabe. Dani was ready for him when he reached the open door to the study.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” she called out as he passed.

  His steps stopped and he leaned back, bottle of water in hand, and peeked into the room. “What’s up?”

  She put a concerned expression on her face. “What’s going on with you and Michelle?”

  She’d tried to stay out of her brother’s business, but the house was full of people now, and the arguments hadn’t slowed.

  Gabe took a careful step backward and came into the study. He closed the door, and stood, legs apart, in front of it. “What makes you think anything is going on with me and Michelle?”

  God, she hated the alpha act men could dish out. “Don’t treat me like I’m an idiot, you moron. I hear you two arguing every night. Everyone hears you two arguing.”

  “Couples argue. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

  “Maybe I could help.”

  He laughed at that, but the sound was more sarcastic than jovial. “Did I miss your wedding?” He pointed the bottle of water at her. “Got some firsthand experience hidden in there somewhere?”

  “Don’t be a jerk. I’m only trying to help.”

  “Well, I don’t need your help.”

  He turned for the door, so she tried again. “You know she’s been flirting with Ben?”

  It took a couple of seconds, but he once again reversed positions. He didn’t speak.

  “She took her clothes off in front of him last week,” Dani informed him. “Did you realize that? Walking down the hall. And yesterday she was in the kitchen before he and Haley left, in a nightie that no one but you should see. It was embarrassing, Gabe. And completely inappropriate.”

  “I know. And we’re all aware that she’s angry with me,” he explained. “She takes her anger out in really poor ways.”

  “Well, she needs to stop.”

  “And maybe you need to mind your own business.”

  Dani stood from the desk. “You are my business.” Her voice rose. “Every one of you is. I’ve been here for the past fourteen years taking care of things. You can’t just shrug that aside.”

  “Maybe we never wanted to be your business.”

  At his words, she froze. Then dropped to her seat. Was he serious?

  “I didn’t mean that,” he said. And he actually looked apologetic. “Of course we were glad you were here. I’m just tired, and I’m not in the mood to argue.” He held his hands out at his sides. “And I don’t even know what we’re arguing about.”

  She didn’t get his attitude. Not too long ago they could talk about anything. They’d been close. It hadn’t always been that way, but life had leveled out for them over the years. However, pretty much since the day she’d announced she was moving to New York, things had begun to change. His arguments with Michelle had escalated, and Dani sensed the distance growing between her and her brother every day.

  She felt it with her whole family.

  “I don’t want to argue either,” she spoke more calmly. “But I hate the thought of moving away, and leaving everything in a mess. And I’m afraid my going is what’s doing it.”

  He stared at her then, and she could see his thoughts churning. Finally, he lost some of the steam in his stance. “Your leaving is not the problem.”

  “Then tell me what is,” she begged. She needed to be able to fix things. “I just want to help because I care.”

  “I get that. Really. But it goes both ways. I care about you, too.”

  “Then why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”

  He shook his head as if frustrated with a child. “Don’t you get it? I’m trying to handle this on my own—to leave you out of it—because I care. Because I don’t want anything to get in the way of your leaving.”

  She rose once again, panic beginning. “What is it?”

  When he didn’t answer, she moved to stand in front of him. Her brother was tall and well built, but standing before her now, he didn’t seem as solid as he always had. They’d relied on each other a lot through the years. She wanted to be there for him now.

  “Don’t push me out,” she pleaded. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  His jaw was hard, and she didn’t think he would share anything with her. But when she put her hand on his arm, he broke. “Michelle wants to move,” he told her, his voice cracking.

  “With Jenna?” Fear swelled in her. He couldn’t let Michelle take Jenna.

  “With me and Jenna,” he corrected.

  “Oh.” She blew out a breath. Then the meaning registered and her eyes went wide. “Oh.”

  “To the West Coast,” he added flatly.

  “But . . .”

  They couldn’t go to the West Coast. The orchard was here. He ran the orchard.

  “I know.” He nodded. “And I’ll figure it out, I promise. I can hire a foreman, and still come back a couple of times a month, maybe more. I’d be here for harvest, of course. There are plenty of qualified people around to oversee things the rest of the time.”

  He wasn’t going to run the business?

  But it was their family business.

  “Is moving what you want to do?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine her brother anywhere but here.

  He looked at her then, and she flashed back fourteen years. They’d been standing side by side at their mother’s funeral. Her dad had his arm around Aunt Sadie, and the youngest kids were in front of the two of them. Cord had been on the other side of the adults with his girlfriend. But she and Gabe had stood apart from the rest of them.

  They’d both felt the weight of the world on their shoulders that day. At the ages of eighteen and seventeen, they were no longer kids, and they’d understood that they had a family to think about. As the oldest siblings, they couldn’t desert their family.

  “I don’t know,” he answered, and she could see the truth of it. He’d been like her. He hadn’t had options. “I’m not sure I’ve ever asked myself what I want to do with my life. No one has.”

  She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her brother.

  “You know I don’t need hugs,” he said drily. His arms remained at his sides.

  “Everyone needs hugs.” But she dropped her arms when he remained immobile. “We can figure this out. But let’s include everyone in the decision. Maybe Jaden will want to take on more. If no one ever asked you, I’ll bet no one ever asked him either.”

  “Dani—”

  “We’ll have a family meeting.” She nodded, not letting Gabe stop her. “If Cord and Nate can’t be here, then we’ll call them, conference them in. Have you talked to Cord lately?” she asked. She’d tried Nate earlier today, but he was still avoiding her. “We should do this before picking starts, and from the looks of things I’d say that’ll be soon.”

  “No, I haven’t talked to Cord. And we start picking Wednesday. Some of the pickers got here today.”

  “So tomorrow night.” She looked at her watch. “It’s not too late. I’ll call Cord and—”

  “I’ll call them,” Gabe interrupted. He didn’t sound happy with the fact, but he did sound resigned to it. “I’ll set it up. Tomorrow night. Should we bring in Dad?”

  “No.” Dani shook her head.

  Gabe lifted his brows.
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  “He’s retired,” she explained.

  “And that’s all? It has nothing to do with you being upset that he’s marrying Gloria?”

  “I’m not upset that he’s marrying Gloria.”

  “Could have fooled me.”

  She stared stonily at him, but he merely stared back. She routinely forgot that he was more stubborn than her. Finally, she conceded. “Okay, fine. It wigs me out a bit,” she admitted. “I know they’ve been together a long time, but I can’t help but wish it were still him and Mom, you know?”

  Gabe didn’t agree, only stared. She sighed.

  “I’ll get over it,” she promised. Mostly because she knew she’d have to. “But really, he’s retired. He turned the business over to us. Let’s let him have that. We can figure this out.”

  It took a few additional seconds, but Gabe’s jaw finally eased. He shook his head in resignation. “You were supposed to be in New York before I figured anything out. You know you can’t stay, right? Even if no one else in the family wants to run things. You’re moving to New York.”

  “Of course someone in the family will want to run things. It’s our family farm,” she stressed. “But I don’t get why you didn’t include me to begin with.” His omission hurt.

  “Because I worry about you, you dumbass. You don’t need another excuse not to go.”

  “I haven’t been making excuses.” Her voice rose with the denial.

  Gabe once again glared at her. “We’re all grown, Dani. Jaden’s been an adult for years. You’ve made one excuse after another to stay here, and we won’t let you do it anymore.”

  “No, I haven’t,” she continued to argue. Was he blind? “I had to stay. Dad needed me to take care of things. You all needed me. I had to make sure everyone was okay.”

  She’d promised their mother she would.

  “We’ve been okay for years. And you’re going.”

  When she didn’t immediately reply, Gabe added, “We won’t have the conversation if you don’t promise me that. I’m serious.” And he sounded serious. She couldn’t remember ever hearing him be so firm with her.

  “Of course I’ll still go,” she admitted. “But my boss is great. I could delay a few weeks—”

  “No.” His voice turned hard.

  “I’m just saying. My new boss—”

  “Will be thrilled when you’re in New York. You can’t stay, and you won’t stay. You’re leaving if I have to fly across the damned country with you and make sure you get off the plane.”

  It wasn’t like she’d really had a choice of going before now, but she saw no need to argue the point further. “So you’re saying that you’re tired of me?” she teased, wanting to lighten the air in the room. It had grown too heavy.

  Gabe scratched at the back of his neck in frustration, and he suddenly reminded her of their dad. Though their dad hadn’t looked that worn out in years.

  “No, sis.” Gabe took her hands in his. “I’m not tired of you. Never. But you need to have your own life. It’s time.”

  She suddenly understood this entire conversation. “And you need yours, too?”

  His lips pressed together and he nodded.

  She hugged him again, she couldn’t help it. That time, his arms lifted to circle her loosely. He ended up patting her on the back. “Tomorrow night,” she murmured into his chest. “And I’ll still get on that plane in . . .” She peeked at the wall calendar and finished with “Seventeen days.”

  Oh, geez, she was leaving in only seventeen days. Nerves hit her again.

  Gabe kissed her on the forehead and set her back from him. “I love you, dumbass. Knock ’em dead in New York, will you?”

  She nodded. “I will. And I love you, too.”

  “Now, can you please try to enjoy harvest this year? It’s the heart of us. Who we are. Slow down for once and take pleasure in it.”

  “I always take pleasure in it.” And she didn’t disagree. It was the heart of them. Some of the best times in her life had been during the middle of summer on their family farm. But slowing down wasn’t an option.

  “Enjoy it,” Gabe stressed. “Because you’re about to be a big-time New Yorker.” He shot her a wink. “And who knows if you’ll make it back next year.”

  “I’ll be here,” she told him defiantly. She couldn’t imagine not being home for harvest.

  “Maybe. But this year, treat it as if you won’t.”

  He opened the door and walked out, and Dani stared after him. Fear gnawed at her. So much was changing. Gabe was moving to the West Coast? What would happen to the orchard? She’d held it together in front of him, but real fear rooted her feet to the floor. Her family—her world—was collapsing around her.

  She needed Ben.

  His strong face came to mind, and she wanted to go to him. Only, he wasn’t there.

  And for the first time in her life, she didn’t think that ice cream or staring at the big Montana sky was going to soothe her heart.

  She could text him.

  Before she changed her mind, she grabbed her phone and tapped out a message: How are things tonight?

  He answered almost immediately. Good. We went shopping again. She bought you something.

  I’ll love it.

  You don’t even know what it is.

  I’ll love it anyway.

  Of course you will. You’re good like that.

  She didn’t immediately reply, because she didn’t know what else to say. She wanted to tell him about Gabe leaving, but that didn’t seem like a text kind of conversation. But she also wasn’t ready to let the connection drop.

  Her phone chimed once again. I wish you were here.

  She smiled. To take care of Haley?

  LOL. No. Because you’d like it. And because you could use a break. Come down. Take a vacation before you start your new job. We can hang out down here for a few days.

  Go to New Mexico with Ben? And Haley? She shook her head.

  I can’t just leave. I have work to do, and we start picking Wednesday morning. Plus, we’re having a family meeting tomorrow night.

  Everything okay?

  A few things going on. I’ll tell you about it when you get back.

  Anything I can help with now?

  The band constricting her heart loosened. You just did. She included a smiley face emoji. Thanks for the chat. Tell Haley I said hi.

  Will do.

  Her phone chimed once more as she set it down on the desk.

  I’ll be done here in a couple of hours. Call if you need to talk?

  Unexpected dampness appeared in her eyes. I’m good. Thanks.

  She put her phone down and dropped her face into her hands. She was so not good. How had it come to be that she got a little bad news and she couldn’t function without talking to Ben?

  That wasn’t good at all. That was scary.

  chapter eleven

  Ben stood face-to-face with the formidable set of double doors to his mother’s seventy-five-hundred-square-foot Hollywood Hills mansion, and let himself go back twenty-four years to the very first time he’d been in this spot.

  He’d been seven, and the last thing he’d wanted to do was move to California.

  Especially when a stranger had picked him up at the airport to bring him here.

  Today he was a grown man—a father—and had spent years in a rewarding and lucrative career. He’d reached impressive heights, won awards, gained international acclaim, and had people worldwide willing to pay big money for the opportunity to be photographed by him. He was somebody.

  Yet standing there, he once again felt like that same seven-year-old kid. Hesitant, scared, and not wanting to open the doors and go in. As well as desperately clinging to the hope that his mother might show a little love.

  Only this time, his wish was for that l
ove to be directed toward his daughter.

  “Are we going in?” Haley asked quietly at his side. She stood, hand in his, probably just as nervous. They’d decided on a quick detour back from New Mexico so she could meet her grandmother; however, since landing at LAX, Haley had fallen silent. Nothing about that had changed during the thirty-minute trip in the rental.

  “We are going in,” Ben confirmed. He glanced down at his daughter. “I just need a minute before we do.”

  He took in the very special outfit she’d picked out all by herself, and could already imagine his mother’s response. Haley wore her new pink cowboy boots, carried a child-size green purse with a stuffed animal hidden inside, and had on a pink T-shirt and an orange tutu over her green leggings. The leggings and T-shirt matched her purse and boots respectively. This had been highly important.

  She also sported a new hair bow with hearts on it that was half the size of her head. He’d had to ask the saleslady how he was supposed to attach that thing to her hair, and this morning he’d patted himself on the back for getting the job done.

  Of course, it was crooked now, and her hair once again looked as though he hadn’t bothered to comb it. But he was getting better. And Haley didn’t seem to mind his lack of skills.

  She pursed her lips as if in thought before nodding in a very grown-up fashion. “ ’Cause you’re scared.”

  “I’m not scared,” he immediately denied, but he saw that Haley seemed scared herself, and he had to admit that she had a point. “Maybe a little,” he confessed. His daughter was smart.

  “Me too,” Haley said. “I think she might be mean.”

  At this, Ben had to chuckle. “She’s not mean, sweetheart.”

  Just, maybe not exactly loving.

  “Okay.” Haley didn’t sound like she believed him. “But can we go home soon?”

  That was pretty much his thought, too. He wanted to go home soon. To Montana. To Dani.

  But after a surprisingly good two days spent with his daughter, he’d been thinking about the fact that he had yet to introduce her to his mother. In fact, he had yet to speak to his mother since he’d learned Haley existed. Which was sad on both their parts. She had to have wondered about a granddaughter herself, given the rumors that had been flying.