by Kim Law
Harry Baker shook her hand before pulling her into his arms. His big body seemed to engulf her as he patted her on the back. Harry and his father owned a fishing charter up in Bigfork that had grown to be one of the area’s premier tourist stops.
“I wouldn’t be here without you,” Dani told him when he stepped back.
He laughed. “We wouldn’t be here without you. New York is lucky to get you.”
She warmed at his praise. “Thank you. And I’m sorry I had to cut ties, but with the new job it was essential.”
“I know. It had to be done. Life goes on and all that.” He touched a finger to his hat, pushing it back on his head. Like several men there tonight, he’d traded in his baseball cap for his cowboy hat. It was their party attire. Some had even polished up their best boots. “You ever find yourself looking for clients again,” Harry went on, “you call me. We can always use someone like you in our back pocket.”
She agreed, and they parted and headed their separate ways. She’d made the final phone call today, and as of two hours ago, she had no remaining clients of her own. Which was scary. She’d worked hard for what she’d accomplished, but she knew she’d work even harder in her coming days.
Her gaze finally landed on Ben, and her heart turned over to see him dancing with Haley.
He’d also brought out a cowboy hat tonight. His grandfather’s. The one that had been hanging in the study ever since he’d arrived back in Montana. It looked good on him.
Watching them, it was hard to imagine either Ben or Haley when they’d first arrived here. Haley had truly blossomed over the past few weeks. She talked nonstop, nothing seemed to scare her or slow her down, and she now had a running list of new friends she couldn’t wait to invite to her new house.
And Ben. Dani pressed a hand to her chest. Ben was buying a house in Birch Bay.
Not yet, but he’d been looking.
That was something she would’ve never imagined from the big-city boy who’d only ever wanted to travel the world. He was an amazing parent, and he and Haley were both blessed to have each other.
“Aunt Dani?”
Dani looked down to find Jenna, dressed in her Sunday finest, peering up at her. “What is it, sweetie?”
Tears started. “I don’t want you to go.”
“Oh, baby.” Dani quickly picked up her niece and held her to her chest. “It’ll be okay. We’ve talked about this, remember?”
Jenna sniffled. “I know. But I’m going to miss you too much.”
Dani began swaying to the music, Jenna still in her arms, and smiled at Ben when he shot her a wink. “Did your daddy tell you about your Christmas surprise?” Dani asked, putting her mouth close to Jenna’s ear. “I’m not supposed to tell.”
Which wasn’t really true, but Jenna loved learning about surprises.
“No.” She sniffled again.
“He’s going to bring you to New York during your Christmas break from school,” she told the girl. Dani and Gabe had talked about it, and with the move to LA, along with losing Haley and Dani, it seemed Jenna might need something special in the coming months. “How about that?” Dani asked. “We’ll go see the big Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, and we’ll ice-skate. And we’ll go shopping. That sound good?”
Jenna nodded, but her face still said she’d rather nothing changed. “I might like that,” she finally got out. Dani once again hugged her niece tight in her arms.
“I suspect you will. And I’ll enjoy seeing you. It’ll be almost as much fun as moving to California,” she added, faking confidence. Jenna had not been handling all the pending changes well, so Dani and the rest of her family had been playing it up. “I understand you’ll also be going to Disneyland.”
“I don’t want Disneyland,” Jenna suddenly wailed.
Dani saw Michelle watching from the other side of the dance floor, but she didn’t seem overly concerned with her daughter. She had been sticking to Gabe’s side this evening, though. For the most part. At least she wasn’t ignoring both of them. Of course, Michelle wasn’t one to cause a scene in public. Plus, she was getting her way. They would be moving in a couple of weeks, therefore she had reason to be less of a witch.
“You don’t want to go see Cinderella?” Dani asked her niece.
This dried the tears. “I do want to see Cinderella.”
“Well, she’s at Disneyland.”
Jenna seemed to think about that, and finally, sent her aunt a questioning look. “Will there be a prince there?”
Dani smiled. “Most likely there will be several.”
“I do want a prince,” Jenna informed her. And with that, the world righted itself.
Dani continued swaying with the girl in her arms while watching Ben do the same with his daughter. His gaze was also trained on Dani. They’d had a lot of fun together these last few days, and she wanted to be in his arms right now. Whether they could do more or not, they did have tonight. And she would miss that man like crazy come tomorrow.
The song ended, and Dani set Jenna on her feet. “We’ll call each other every week,” Dani promised. “And everything will be okay because we’ll all still love you just as much as we do today, right? Me, Uncle Cord, Uncle Nick, Uncle Nate, and Uncle Jaden. All of us.”
“And Pops and Gloria?”
“Yeah, baby. And Pops and Gloria.”
Dani had spoken to her father tonight, but only briefly. It had been a tiny step in the right direction, but they had a long way to go yet. The distance would help. It would take the immediate pressure off. They could talk a couple of times a month, and with some effort, she thought she could one day have her father back.
All five of her brothers suddenly moved toward the trailer being used as a stage, and one by one they climbed aboard. The band stopped playing and all eyes turned to them. Dani got teary as she looked on. They were proud, good men. And she’d played a huge role in that. Her next thought was of her mother, which she promptly suppressed.
Her third thought was that she wished they could all be here together again. Forever. That was her real dream, to have her family right here in Birch Bay. And her right there with them.
But maybe deep down she’d always known that would never happen.
“May we have your attention, please,” Gabe announced up front.
The few who hadn’t already quieted stopped talking immediately.
“Thank you.” Gabe looked around the crowd. “I know this party’s been going for a while already, but we wanted to take a moment to welcome you. Usually tonight is reserved for all the many hardworking people who’ve helped make Wilde Cherry Farm a success, but this year is a little different.” He squinted his eyes and peered into the crowd. “Dani?”
Dani grinned. What were they up to? “Yes?” She raised her voice to be heard.
“Would you get up here, please?” This voice was Cord’s, and Dani snickered at the feminine sighs of pleasure at the deep rumble. His was the deepest voice in the family. Add that to his way-too-good-looking exterior, and she understood the moans.
Poor girls. They didn’t stand a chance.
She made her way through the crowd and to the trailer, where Nate and Nick reached out and helped her up.
“This here,” Gabe started, putting his arm around her shoulders, “is one tough lady. Our big sister has held our butts to the fire more times than you can imagine over the years. She’s helped hold this family together, and she’s done it at a huge cost to herself. So tomorrow, with all of our blessings, she starts a new page in her life.”
More cheers sounded, and Dani fought off tears.
Ben grinned at her from the crowd, and Haley and Jenna stood together at his side. The smiles on the girls’ faces overshadowed the sadness she knew they felt over her leaving.
Her dad and Gloria linked arms as they watched on, their pride clear.
And Michelle stood, arms crossed, looking bored.
“We’re proud of you, sis,” Nick said into the mic. “You were a pain in our ass most of the time, but you’ve always been consistent.”
Laughter bounced through the crowd.
“You didn’t let us get away with anything,” Nate added. Then tossed in a wink. “As far as you know.”
Everyone snickered.
“And we’re way better people today because you were in our lives,” Jaden finished. His words—and gaze—were sincere, and she went to him and gave him a huge hug.
Standing with Jay, she took in the rest of her brothers. They sure knew how to make a girl feel appreciated. Thank you, she mouthed to all of them. She couldn’t have described the enormity of her love for her family at that moment if she’d had to.
“And with that said”—Cord once again took the mic—“we wanted to give our sister a going-away present from her little brothers. Something she could remember us by.”
A present?
She eyed them, suddenly not trusting whatever they were about to do.
And she was right not to.
In a flash, they picked her up while several of the pickers rolled out a giant vat of cherries that hadn’t made the cut. If the skin was broken or if the stem got separated from the fruit, it couldn’t be shipped.
But they didn’t make a habit of putting those cherries in a person-size tub.
And they sure as heck didn’t put them in a tub and smash them!
“Noooo!” Dani thrashed in their arms, but they merely laughed at her efforts.
“We love you, sis. But this is payback for all the times you’ve driven us crazy,” Gabe said.
“And there were a lot of those times,” added Jay.
“Don’t forget us when you’re a big, bad New Yorker,” Nick began, and Nate finished up with “but go blow the socks off everyone out East.”
And with that, Cord took her from the rest of them and dumped her into the vat of cherries.
chapter twenty-two
The last rays of color disappeared from the sky as the music started back up after the band’s break, and Ben grew anxious waiting for Dani’s return. Her brothers had wrecked both her hair and her outfit, but it seemed she’d been gone an awfully long time for repairs.
He was tired of waiting. And he was finished dancing with anyone but her.
If she didn’t show back up soon he would go to the house and find her. And if that happened, neither of them would be returning to the party at all.
Familiar laughter hit his ears, and he followed the sound to find Michelle talking with a man who appeared quite pleased with the attention. She’d been at Gabe’s side for most of the evening, seemingly on her best behavior, but she stood now, distanced from everyone else, just her and this man. And then Ben realized who the guy was. Ben had seen Michelle talking with him at the bar Sunday night. Or, rather, flirting with him.
Ben hadn’t said anything at the time, assuming it to be harmless. She’d had a few too many to drink, but she and Gabe had seemed to be having a good time.
But damned if she and the man didn’t look awfully chummy tonight. Which pissed Ben off.
His friend was changing his entire world—their child’s world—for her. And she still flirted with other men?
Not on his watch.
The sea of people parted as he crossed the middle of the dance floor. When he reached Michelle’s side, she glanced up at him and her laughter slipped.
“Dance?” he asked. It wasn’t really a question.
“I’m in the middle of a conversation, Ben.” Her flirting with him had ended a couple of weeks ago—thank goodness—and she looked at him now as if he were mud on her shoe.
“Your conversation is over.” Without waiting for a reply, he took her wrist and moved them toward the dance floor.
“Ben,” she gritted out, as she tugged against his hand as subtly as she could. “Let me go.”
“Not until you hear me out.”
“About what?”
“About you,” he said. He swung her into his arms and smiled as if he were thrilled to have her there. “And your marriage. Smile so people don’t figure out that we’re arguing.”
A bright smile lit her mouth. “Stay out of my marriage.”
He swung her out and back, rewrapping his arms around her to have her right up against him, and put his mouth to her ear. “I can’t do that. You’re married to my friend, yet you routinely seem to forget that.”
“I don’t—”
“Here’s the deal,” he interrupted. “I have money.”
With his statement she stopped struggling against his touch, and he gave her some space. They remained together, however, both dancing to the beat, and to the casual observer they would look like any other couple having a good time.
“I have a lot of money,” he clarified with yet another fake smile.
He’d known she would listen to that, because he’d overheard her telling a girlfriend this week about “her” new LA apartment. The woman was a money-grubbing, coldhearted bitch. And Ben would do whatever he could to protect his friend from letting that destroy him.
“And if I have to use every last cent of it to pay for your divorce,” Ben continued, “and to make sure Gabe gets custody of your child”—he stared straight into her eyes—“you’ll get nothing.”
“You have no right to talk to me like that.”
He ignored her. “You either start treating your husband like the good guy that he is, quit flirting with any-and-everyone, and pay attention to your daughter, or I’m going to rain hell down on your head.”
His speech shut her up. And honestly, it shut him up, too. He hadn’t been planning on saying all that, but he found that he meant it. Gabe was a good guy. His friend. And even though Ben hadn’t seen him in years before this trip, Gabe had opened his home to him without question the minute Ben had needed it.
That kind of favor had to be returned.
He and Michelle swooped around the dance floor, they smiled, they pretended a grand time.
“You can’t threaten me like that.” Michelle finally got her voice back.
Ben once again pulled her to him. “If that’s what you believe, then go on about your business tonight. Flirt. Hell, sleep with the guy. That’ll help my fight.”
“I don’t cheat on my husband.”
“No?” He wasn’t sure if she did or not, but if she hadn’t already . . . “If I hired someone to follow you, would that hold up?”
She stopped dancing, her breathing hard, and looked him up and down. “How dare you?” she spat out. Venom shot from her eyes, and he began to suspect that their ruse of enjoyable dancing was about to be up. Which was fine. He didn’t want her near him any longer.
“Your husband is by the band,” he told her. “Ignore your new friend, and don’t leave Gabe’s side again tonight. Or that apartment I’ve just set you up in is history. As is the life you’re hoping to fake your way through once you’re in LA.”
She eyed him, anger rolling off her, and without a word turned and walked away.
Standing behind her was Dani, and Ben immediately forgot about Michelle and everything she’d done to piss him off. Dani was back.
She was dressed, now, in a flowing skirt of turquoise and white that hit just above the knees and dipped longer in the back. Her own set of cowboy boots were on her feet, and there was something flimsy and clingy draped around her chest. He gulped. He couldn’t wait to take that off her.
She also had on the pink cowboy hat that Haley had brought her from New Mexico. Ben couldn’t help but smile at the contrast the hat made with the sex goddess thing she had going on in the light of the bonfire.
“Well, hello, darlin’,” he murmured.
Her brows shot up. “Where�
�d you pick up that accent, Hollywood? It come with the hat?”
He tipped his grandfather’s hat at her and winked. “Maybe. Or it might be because I’ve officially turned in my Hollywood card. Handed my apartment keys over to your brother the other day.”
“Yeah?” She glanced in the direction that Michelle had gone. “That why you were dancing with my sister-in-law?”
“Ah, babe.” He reached for her as the band started a new song. “I do love your jealous streak.”
“Please.” She made a face. “I am so not jealous.”
“Well, I am.” He pulled her into his arms. “Dance with me, woman. I think you’ve been in the arms of every man here tonight but mine.”
She gave him a throaty laugh, but she also twined her arms around his neck. Her body fit snug against his. “I seem to be a popular girl. Not that you’ve been standing around by yourself.”
“Oh, there’s that jealous thing again,” he murmured.
She softened and warmed in his palms, but her massive eye roll kept the mood light.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he told her. He stared down at her and made a point of capturing her lower body tight against his. At the sight of her he’d started to get hard, and he wanted to make sure she knew it.
Her eyes widened in pleased surprise.
“Of course, you’re beautiful every day,” he added. His hand was on the small of her back—the shirt she wore left the skin there exposed—and his fingertips took a quick dip under the material of her skirt to sweep across the top curve of her butt. “But tonight you’re glowing.”
She wiggled at his touch, and he grew harder with her movements. Short breaths came from between her parted lips. He had her ready to do more than dance.
“I guess it comes with taking two showers for one party.” Her words came out breathless.
God, he wanted this woman. Right now. And he didn’t want to let her get on that plane tomorrow.
“They love you, you know?” he said. “Your brothers.”
“I know.” She nodded. “And I even realize that they showed that tonight. In their own way. But good grief.”