Montana Dad

by Jeannie Watt

Yes. Then what? “She’s fostering the dogs rather than adopting.”

  “Ah. Well, easy fix. She leaves, we adopt.”

  He gave his sister the eye. Katie had long been a rescuer of anything with four legs—or two. She’d nursed her fair share of injured birds back to health.

  “And it begins.”

  Katie laughed. “I promised Brady that I wouldn’t overload the place with orphaned animals, so I give money to the rescue society when I can. But—” she wrinkled her nose at him “—this is a special case. Right?”

  “Probably.”

  And he didn’t like the idea of Alex leaving before he got to know her. For the first time since meeting Kayla, he was looking at another woman with interest and curiosity. He wasn’t certain how to handle the situation, but he figured he’d work his way through it. The only given was that his daughters would not be affected by anything he did in his adult non-daddy life. That part of it he’d have to figure out as he went along.

  “So when can I meet her? The new neighbor.”

  He frowned at his sister. “I’m not in charge of that.” He finished the onions and slid a pan onto the stove, pouring in oil to warm.

  “You like her, don’t you?”

  “She’s okay.” No sense getting all enthusiastic about his response—not when his bloodhound of a sister was homing in on the scent.

  “Okay?” Katie said on an amused note. “You sound like a teenage boy who’s been asked about his crush.”

  Nick gave her a look. “I’m getting to know her. She’s getting to know me, but it’s strictly a working relationship.”

  “Ah.” Katie said the word a little too lightly.

  “No ah,” he muttered. He gave his sister a look. “I don’t need you butting into my business.”

  Katie laughed, unfazed by his stern answer. “Yeah. Just like you didn’t have a hand in trying to get me and Brady together.”

  “That’s different.”

  “How?” she asked on an incredulous note.

  “I knew Brady was staying, no matter what he said he was going to do. As to Alex... I’m pretty sure that she’s going to leave.”

  “And we’ll buy the property.”

  “Yeah.” But somehow, while owning the property was important, it didn’t seem as important as it’d been less than a week ago.

  Katie pulled out a drawer and dug through it, pulling out a pair of salad tongs.

  “I heard from Cassie while you were gone,” she said in the conversational voice she used when dropping a bombshell.

  “Finally.” Their sister was a school district administrator in a small Wisconsin town, and, ever the overachiever, had the bad habit of immersing herself in her work. It wasn’t unusual for weeks to pass with no contact. “Has she been hospitalized for exhaustion?”

  “Probably close to it. She’s determined to solve every problem in her district single-handedly, and the fact that it’s summer isn’t slowing her down one bit. But she plans to visit before the new school year starts.”

  “I will believe it when I see it.” Because despite Cassie’s good intentions, it seemed that something always came up and her visits got pushed back until they were no longer on her calendar.

  “I think Grandma chewed on her for missing Christmas with the family this past year, so she’s going to make it home this time.”

  “Once again, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  Katie gave a small shrug. “She’ll make it home for Christmas no matter what.”

  “I’ll give you that one.” Cassie wouldn’t miss a visit from their dad, who’d emigrated to Australia five years ago after marrying a fellow veterinarian who had a practice there. They all missed him, but he was so happy with his new wife and new life, that seeing him only once a year seemed a reasonable tradeoff. Unlike Cassie, he wrote the occasional newsy email, so in that regard, they heard from their dad on the other side of the world more often than they heard from their sister who lived on the same continent.

  “Hey,” Katie said softly. “You know Cassie isn’t purposely distancing herself.”

  “I know, but I also think she hasn’t figured out what’s important in life.” Or how fragile life is.

  “Not our call.”

  Nick smiled a little as he stirred the onions which were beginning to sizzle. “I’ll give you that one, too.” But he wished his sister would realize that crises were going to keep coming in her chosen profession, so she may as well take her vacation days when she was supposed to.

  “By the way,” Katie asked, expertly shifting the subject. “Are you serious about adopting the dogs if the new neighbor moves?”

  “I am.” If it came to that, he’d give Roger and Gus a home.

  Katie beamed. “Good.”

  * * *

  “ALEX, NO ONE IS looking for you. Come home.”

  Alex pushed her hand up into her hair and put pressure on her head as she fought to keep her tone neutral. It was not unusual for her and her mother to go for months at a time with no contact, and now she could count on a call every couple of days. And it wasn’t because her mom was concerned about her. Or, if she was, it wasn’t the top reason on her list for making contact.

  “I have two dogs, Mom.”

  There was a deathly silence followed by “Please tell me you are pet sitting.”

  “Not pet sitting. I wanted companionship.”

  “Then join a club. Oh, yes, that’s right, you can’t join a club because someone might learn your name.”

  Just what she needed. Her mother belittling her situation. But as always, the situation was all about Cécile.

  “Lawrence—”

  “Attends to matters in his way, which isn’t my way.” She did not need to hear again about how Jason’s little brother was successfully weathering the storm surrounding his brother and the missing money. “Tell people that I took a job on the West Coast. No one would fault me for moving for a job.”

  “If you hadn’t disappeared the second they dropped the investigation.”

  Her mother was like a pit bull. Once she clamped down on something, she was not letting go.

  “Nobody cares, Mom.”

  “You haven’t been to my sorority meetings.”

  “Like those women have perfect lives, perfect relatives.”

  “None of their relatives are possible felons.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Alex was rarely snarky with her mother, but something had shifted. Suddenly, the little girl in her no longer cared about pleasing her mother. The little girl wondered why her mother wasn’t more concerned about supporting her in her time of need.

  “Alexandra.” The chill in her mother’s voice used to bring her to her knees, but Alex was done with that.

  “Mom.” She echoed her mother’s tone and could easily visualize her mother blinking, as she did when she didn’t get the response she anticipated. “I have to go. Goodbye.”

  And then she hung up the phone and turned it off.

  It was the first time she could remember ending a call instead of waiting for her mother to decide she’d spoken long enough. Her heart was beating faster than usual, because, as always, she felt as if she’d just completed an exhausting fencing duel after speaking with her mother. She was about to get up and walk off the tension when Roger crossed the room and threw himself down close to her feet. Then his little chin worked its way onto her sneaker.

  Alex froze at the contact, half-afraid that the dog would retreat again if she moved. But Roger had staked out his territory, and after a few seconds, Alex allowed herself to relax back into the cushions. It was amazing how comforting that little furry chin felt as it pressed down on the top of her shoe.

  Gus ambled in from the kitchen, where he liked to nap in front of the fridge, apparently realizing that he was missing a bonding opportu
nity. He padded across the room, laid his chin on Alex’s thigh long enough to get a pet and an ear scratch, then flopped down next to Roger, his big body pressing up against her leg.

  That clinched it. She wasn’t going to be moving for a while. For the first time in forever, with one dog holding down her shoe, and the other pressed against her leg, she felt content to just sit and be.

  * * *

  NICK FOUND HIMSELF whistling as he undid the useless bike lock from Alex’s back gate. He could give Alex another couple of uninterrupted days before he had things to take care of on the ranch. Brady would return in two weeks, and then, with the exception of the really busy times—fence building, branding, et cetera—he’d be free to put his time into building.

  He’d already received a few inquiries, directed to him by Emmie at the building supply, and it looked as though the summer months would be full after he completed Alex’s projects. The summer may well be full if all he focused on was Alex’s projects, but he didn’t yet know the extent of her renovation plans. He got the idea that all she wanted to do was to shore up the old house so that rain didn’t seep through the roofing and the plumbing didn’t leak. If so, fine.

  She was in the backyard with the dogs when he drove in, and as he approached the side gate, he saw that she was playing a game with Roger. The little terrier had his teeth clamped around an old bicycle inner tube, and Alex was tugging at him as he growled and jumped his butt backward. Gus watched, a canine smile on his face.

  “Morning,” she called as she gave one last tug, then released the tube. Roger proudly trotted across the yard, dragging black rubber behind him, and hid his treasure behind a lilac bush.

  “Looks like you and Roger have made friends.”

  She smoothed the hair away from her face with one hand. “Yes. He took pity on me last night after I talked to my mom on the phone.”

  “Bad news?”

  “Oh, no,” she said lightly. “Just a normal mother call. Fraught with stress. You know. The usual.”

  Actually he didn’t, because his family didn’t work that way. Yes, they had their fraught moments, but it wasn’t the usual. “Everything okay?”

  “She wants me to come home. I don’t want to go.” She motioned with her head toward the house. “I have coffee, if you’d like a cup before we go over the plans for the house.”

  “Coffee sounds great,” Nick said, ignoring the fact that he had brought his largest thermos to get him through the day. Sometimes coffee was more than coffee.

  Alex smiled at him and led the way to the back door. Roger jumped to his feet, as if afraid of missing something—or perhaps he was already afraid of Alex leaving him. He trotted to the door and Alex held it open, waiting for him to go inside before entering the house herself. Gus seemed content to lay in the grass, but Alex left the door open so that she could see him through the old-fashioned wood-framed screen door.

  Nick waited until she’d poured coffee into handmade ceramic mugs before saying, “Let’s start with your renovation budget. How much do you want to spend?”

  “Let me answer that with a question. What are the essentials that need taken care of and how much will they cost?” Roger had settled under the table, close to Alex’s feet, and was keeping a close eye on Nick, as if expecting him to snag Alex away from him at any second.

  “We can patch the roof instead of reroofing. The plumbing is going to be your biggest expense.”

  “Let’s start with that—patching the roof and fixing the plumbing. I’ll need a written estimate.”

  “Of course.”

  A brief silence fell between them, then Alex said, “My aunt Juliet didn’t have much of a reputation in these parts, did she?”

  Nick sucked in a breath. He could be tactful, or truthful. Not both. “Juliet took old Dunlop to the cleaners, then left him when he needed her.”

  “That’s par for the course,” she said on a sigh.

  “Will she do the same to you?”

  “Maybe, but she’s helped me out thus far, so I’m hoping for the best.” When Nick didn’t answer, she said, “My aunt always had a soft spot for me.” Her mouth tightened ever so slightly. “Because I’m not my mother.”

  “Your family dynamic sounds interesting.”

  “No. It’s boringly normal in my parents’ social circle.”

  “Are you rich?”

  “No.”

  “Well, your talk of social circles and elementary boarding school got me thinking.”

  “My parents are wealthy.”

  Nick could see the barriers clicking into place at the mention of her parents. She once again brushed strands of golden hair away from her face, and one corner of her mouth tightened ruefully before she added, “And I have a trust fund.”

  “I see.” She was edging toward defensiveness.

  “It’s not a lot of money. More like a monthly trickle. If I want to live like a college student, then I’ll survive without a job unless the cost of living jumps. That’s how I’m living now, but frankly—I hate not working.”

  “I understand that feeling.” He was a bit lost himself without work; however, the idea of having money just “trickle in”? That was something he couldn’t imagine.

  Alex squared her shoulders, seeming to sense the direction of his thoughts. “Other than the trust, which came from my late grandparents, the only help I’ve gotten from family was when my mother allowed me to move into her house after my place was broken into. My idea, not hers. It was a—” she swallowed “—tense time.”

  “You don’t get along?”

  “I’m a bit of a disappointment.”

  An awkward silence followed her words, and Nick drained his coffee cup. “Let’s take a look at the plumbing and any other small jobs that won’t eat up your available budget.”

  Alex set aside her untouched cup of coffee. “Yes,” she said a little too briskly. “Let’s.” She got to her feet and Roger scrambled out from under the table, ready for action. She started for the dining room without waiting to see if he was going to follow.

  “Alex...”

  She stopped and turned, giving him a curious look, as if wondering why he’d reengaged when they could have both quietly went to their separate corners.

  “I was out of line asking if you were wealthy.” He got to his feet and crossed the room to where she stood. Her chin lifted when he came to a stop.

  “No. It was a valid question. And I didn’t mean to give an impression that I need sympathy when I answered.”

  He had a feeling that sympathy was the last thing Alex Ryan wanted. “None given,” he replied with a half-smile as he reached out and touched her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. He didn’t know what possessed him to touch her, but for one brief second her muscles relaxed beneath his palm before snapping taut again. He dropped his hand and Alex’s lips parted. She looked almost...regretful...as his hand fell back to his side.

  She moistened her lips. “As to disappointing my parents, that’s simply a matter of record. I didn’t go to law school or embark on a flashy career that would impress people. I didn’t marry a billionaire. Or even date one. Instead, I dated a guy who turned out to be a criminal, and my career in accounting and finance was pretty boring. But you know what?” She tilted her chin at him. “I was happy until the big surprise happened.”

  “The big surprise,” he repeated with a lift of one eyebrow.

  “Trust me—it was a very big surprise.” She smiled then, a tenuous curving of her soft lips, and maybe it was that odd mixture of vulnerability and determination to stand on her own that got to him. Or maybe he just liked her. Whatever it was, he leaned his shoulder against the wall and folded his arms over his chest so he wouldn’t reach for her again.

  She opened her mouth as if to speak, closed it again and frowned at the floor. When she looked up again, she said, “I’m in one
strange place, Nick.”

  It was the first time she’d used his name, and he liked the intimate way it came off her tongue.

  “From what you tell me, I have to agree.”

  “I’m a little touchy about my parents. And I spend too much time overthinking.”

  “Maybe you need friends. You know...like the nice Callahan family who live nearby. I hear they’re fun to hang with.”

  Alex’s smile widened, making Nick’s breath hitch. She was gorgeous when she smiled. “Maybe. I’ll give the matter some thought.”

  Nick could accept that. It was a small inroad, which made him realize he wanted more. More time with Alex, more information about her.

  “Hey,” she said softly.

  “Yeah?”

  “You can bring your girls here anytime you want while you’re working. I enjoy having them here.”

  He smiled back at her. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.” He pushed off the wall and tucked his thumbs into his front pockets as he gestured toward the downstairs bathroom with his chin. “Let’s see what we need to do to this place.”

  “Yeah.” She started down the hall ahead of him.

  Chances were that when Alex left, this house would be his, so he was essentially being paid to do his own work. But that thought no longer sat as well as it once had.

  Deep down, he was fairly certain that he didn’t want this woman to leave.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ALEX HAD SAID he could bring the girls with him, and the next morning, Nick did just that. Katie had gone to town the night before to help Rosalie make more doodads for the June in Bloom vendor show and promised to pick up Kendra and Bailey from Alex’s on her way back to the ranch during the early afternoon.

  The girls would have loved to have helped with the crafting, but Nick thought that Katie and Gloria and Rosalie could get more done without his girls underfoot. This show was important to them. They’d had a soft opening of their store a few months prior, but the formal announcement would come at June in Bloom, followed by a grand opening at the store, and that, in turn, would tick off Vince Taylor. He wanted Rosalie and Gloria’s business to fail so that he could snap up their house, which sat between the two Grand Ladies he’d recently opened as swanky bed-and-breakfast inns.