The Major Gets it Right

by Victoria Pade

  “You didn’t want to feel like you were living in a barracks?” he joked.

  “I was never into anything military-ish...”

  “Including your dad? Or because of your dad?” he fished.

  “The things that my father was more interested in than me have always just not...been my favorite things...” Clairy said diplomatically.

  Quinn laughed wryly before taking a slug of his beer. “Things like me,” he said. “And me not being one of your favorite things is a hell of an understatement.”

  That wasn’t quite as true as it had been before she’d spent time with him recently. But she didn’t reveal that. Realizing that she hadn’t hated that time the way she’d expected to, realizing that she might have almost verged on liking it a little, was strange enough. And confusing enough. He certainly didn’t need to know something seemed to be shifting in her. Especially when she didn’t understand it herself and needed to sort it out.

  * * *

  THE CAMDENS OF MONTANA: Four military brothers falling in love in Big Sky Country!

  Dear Reader,

  Growing up, Clairy McKinnon hated Quinn Camden. Raised by a cold, distant career-military father, she had good reason to resent the boy who robbed her of General Mac McKinnon’s attention. The boy her father viewed as the son he’d never had. Clairy couldn’t possibly compete, and Quinn only compounded the alienation she felt by ridiculing young Clairy when she asked him to stay away.

  Now here they are years later, Clairy fresh from a failed marriage and Quinn at a crossroads in his own life.

  What can come out of airing old grudges, reexamining the past, revealing new secrets? Attraction? It doesn’t seem likely.

  Until it happens. But can the two of them overcome all that bad history and turn it into something a whole lot better? Keep your fingers crossed...

  As always, happy reading!

  Victoria Pade

  The Major Gets it Right

  Victoria Pade

  Victoria Pade is a USA TODAY bestselling author of numerous romance novels. She has two beautiful and talented daughters—Cori and Erin—and is a native of Colorado, where she lives and writes. A devoted chocolate lover, she’s in search of the perfect chocolate-chip-cookie recipe.

  For information about her latest and upcoming releases, visit Victoria Pade on Facebook—she would love to hear from you.

  Books by Victoria Pade

  Harlequin Special Edition

  The Camdens of Montana

  The Marine Makes Amends

  The Marine’s Baby Blues

  Camden Family Secrets

  The Marine Makes His Match

  AWOL Bride

  Special Forces Father

  The Marine’s Family Mission

  Montana Mavericks: Rust Creek Cowboys

  The Maverick’s Christmas Baby

  Montana Mavericks: Striking It Rich

  A Family for the Holidays

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Excerpt from Not Their First Rodeo by Christy Jeffries

  Chapter One

  “Clairy, honey, I’m here...”

  “I’ll be right down, Mim—I just need to put on some clothes,” Clairy McKinnon answered her grandmother’s announcement. Clairy was in the upstairs master bedroom of the small Victorian two-story house that was now hers.

  From the time she was six until she’d left for college at eighteen, Clairy had lived in the house with her grandparents, occupying one of the other two, smaller bedrooms. When widowed eighty-year-old Mildred McKinnon decided to accept her boyfriend’s invitation to move in with him, Mim—as everyone called her—had signed the house over to her sole heir just before Clairy’s recent decision to return to her small hometown of Merritt, Montana.

  She’d arrived from Denver late the night before—too late to disturb Mim at her new home with Harry Fergusen—so Clairy had come straight here, letting herself into the clutter of her own furniture and belongings that had arrived days ago, and the last of Mim’s things yet to be moved to Dr. Harry’s.

  “I made some tea to ice—it’s in the fridge,” Clairy informed her grandmother in a voice loud enough to be heard as she pulled clothes from her unpacked suitcase on this blazingly hot June Saturday.

  Mim wouldn’t be staying—she’d already let Clairy know that she and Dr. Harry had to attend a wedding in Billings this afternoon. Clairy planned to use the day to finish packing her grandmother’s things so they were ready for the last of the move on Sunday, then work to settle in herself with whatever time was left.

  Aware that there was a limit on Mim’s visit today, Clairy hurried.

  Dressing purely for comfort and serviceability, she pulled on a too-big, too-many-times-washed gray sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off into ragged edges at her elbows, and a pair of faded black yoga pants spotted with ugly dots where bleach had splashed on them.

  Ten minutes earlier she’d been in the shower, so her burnished copper-colored hair was still damp. Rather than wait for it to dry, she gave her shoulder-length hair a cursory brushing and gathered it into a very lopsided topknot, which kept the thick mass of naturally wavy hair contained and out of her face, but was hardly attractive. She didn’t expect to see anyone except Mim today, though, so it didn’t make any difference to her.

  Her entire grooming took about five minutes and it was obvious she hadn’t put any effort into it when she caught sight of herself in the full-length mirror on the inside of the open closet door. But she didn’t care. She was more interested in seeing Mim for the first time since Clairy’s father’s funeral five months ago.

  “When do you need to leave for Billings?” she called to her grandmother as she went down the stairs and made a sharp left, bypassing the living room to head for the kitchen at the back of the house.

  “I didn’t hear that...” Mim called back.

  Clairy started to repeat her question, but before she went too far, she spotted the elderly woman.

  Clairy had inherited her red hair from Mim, who still wore it in a chin-length bob—minus any gray, thanks to Mim’s hairdresser. Never without fashionable clothes, earrings, several necklaces and at least three rings on each hand, Mim was decked out in a fancy paisley pantsuit, full makeup and more jewelry than usual.

  “Oh, you’re ready to go,” Clairy said. She’d assumed she’d have most of the morning with her grandmother before Mim went back to the doctor’s place to change and head for Billings, which was about sixty miles south of the small town. Obviously not...

  “Harry dropped me off so I could see you while he went to pick up the present. He’ll come back for me after,” Mim explained. “Twenty minutes or so—his cousin wanted us to have lunch and then go to the wedding together, so we’re leaving early.”

  Clairy reminded herself that even if she didn’t have long with her grandmother right now, she’d see her frequently because they’d be living only two blocks apart. So she didn’t complain. She just went to the kitchen and hugged Mim hello.

  Mim hugged her in return and held on tight. “I’m so glad you’re home!” her grandmother said warmly.

  “Me, too,” Clairy said with equal enthusiasm.

  It was still another moment before Mim released the hug. Then she stepped back and
said, “How are you doing?”

  “I’m good. Glad to have that drive from Denver behind me, glad to be home, glad all my stuff got here okay ahead of me.”

  “But you must be sad, too, though—divorce is sad! You don’t have to put on a good face for me.”

  To Mim, divorce was unthinkable. A tragedy. Mim had been married a month before she’d even graduated from high school, and she’d gone through thick and thin with a military husband until the day Walter McKinnon died six years ago.

  “I’m not putting anything on—I am good,” Clairy insisted. “The marriage was... Well, it just was what it was... Now that it’s over, I’m moving on—I’m doing a reset.” It was something she’d said to her grandmother several times since she and Jared had separated, trying to convince Mim that she wasn’t a victim. Because she wasn’t.

  “You had to leave so much behind, all your friends...” Mim said sympathetically.

  “There weren’t really any left who were just my friends—Jared only socialized with his own clique, so over the years I saw less and less of my pre-Jared friends. And once the split happened, I was out of his circle—his friends went back to being just his friends.”

  “The snooty—”

  Clairy cut off her grandmother to give her the brighter side. “Marabeth has been my best friend all along and is still my best friend—it’ll be good to live near her again, to see her more than a few times a year, the way it’s been since college. So who I left behind in Denver isn’t a big deal,” she assured Mim.

  But her grandmother continued to see the situation as tragic, despite Clairy’s best efforts. “Still, seven years down the drain...”

  “Better than eight. Or nine. Or ten,” Clairy said to put a positive spin on that, too. Although she was sorry it had taken her that long to realize she’d made a mistake.

  The same mistake she’d been so determined not to make, just dressed up to look different.

  “And now that’s it? It’s all over and done with?” Mim said, as if that, at least, brought her relief after a lengthy battle.

  It hadn’t been lengthy or a battle, but rather than try to persuade Mim that the whole thing had gone so smoothly it was as if the marriage had never happened, she simply said, “Yes, it’s all over and done with.”

  “And that visit Jared wanted yesterday morning before you left town? What was that for?”

  Oh, Mim was not going to like this answer...

  “It was sort of a walk-through so he could make sure I wasn’t taking anything I shouldn’t be taking—his artwork, anything from his collection of watches, his wine collection, that stuff. I wasn’t taking anything, anyway, so it didn’t make any difference.”

  Mim clenched her teeth in anger. She’d already made clear how unfair it was that Clairy was leaving the marriage with only what she’d had going into it. “And the girlfriend, who I still think he had on the side before—”

  “He didn’t even have a minute for me, Mim. I know he wouldn’t have cut in to the more important use of his time with a side dish.”

  “Then how do you explain how fast he found this one?”

  “That’s how he operates—about a year after we were married he told me that he doesn’t like to be single because his friends drive him crazy wanting to set him up. And he doesn’t have time for it. So the minute I was out of the picture, I’m sure he looked for someone he could plug into the empty slot to avoid the setups and keep him free for what he does want to devote himself to. Unfortunately, my replacement doesn’t know that yet. Any more than I did until later. I just feel kind of sorry for her.”

  Mim actually shivered with rage at that. “And why did he want your replacement to come along yesterday? You already met her.”

  “She’s his fiancée now—”

  “Oh, of course she is! Whirlwind Wedding Willy—three months to get you to the altar, and he’ll probably have this one there even quicker.”

  Clairy didn’t comment, hating that she’d let herself be swept off her feet and into the abbreviated courtship that had had her married to Jared so soon after they’d met. She’d let romance override common sense and better judgment. It was something she would never do again.

  “You know I stayed in the loft when we separated while he went to try out a two-floor penthouse to see if he might want to buy it... Well, he does—”

  “Because he thinks he deserves even more.”

  Clairy ignored the snide remark and went on with what she was saying. “He wanted Tina to see the loft before he decided whether to sell it or not now that he has decided to upgrade.”

  “Why sell it? He doesn’t need the money, and now—when the time comes—he’ll have a place for her to live through their divorce the way you lived in it through yours. That snake!” Mim said angrily.

  Clairy finally accepted that nothing she was doing to ease her grandmother’s anger at her ex was working, so she decided to just try reasoning with the older woman. “Please don’t get upset, Mim. None of it is worth raising your blood pressure. I just want to put the whole thing behind me.”

  She thought Mim got the message when the elderly woman sighed elaborately. “I’m just glad you’re home,” she repeated at the exact moment the doorbell rang.

  “Harry?” Clairy asked with a glance in the direction of the front entrance.

  “It’s not Harry—he’s just going to honk.”

  “Company, then?”

  “Not for me,” Mim said. “Everyone knows I’m at Harry’s now. Maybe it’s Marabeth...”

  “I don’t think so... She was going to come by to help around here today. Then, just before I got in last night, she texted me that she couldn’t make it and put a whole lot of giddy emojis at the end of the text—I don’t know what that was about. Maybe she had a particularly good Friday night that was going to last through today...” Clairy mused.

  “Then I don’t know who this could be,” Mim said with a shrug.

  Both Clairy and Mim went to the front door. Clairy opened it, and standing just outside the screen door on the covered front porch was a military man—something easy to determine even from a cursory glance because of the camo pants tucked into combat boots, a khaki-green crewneck T-shirt and the ramrod-straight stance.

  Before Clairy had gotten beyond the clothes and posture to look at the face, Mim said, “Quinn!”

  Quinn Camden?

  Oh, great...just my luck...

  Quinn Camden had sucked up every minute her father had had from the General’s first visit to Clairy after shipping her to Merritt to be raised by her grandparents. And he’d gone on sucking up every minute on every other visit from then on, trailing her father like a shadow.

  Quinn Camden was the person her father had thought of as the son he’d never had. The son the General had wished he’d had.

  Quinn Camden was the man Clairy continued to have more contempt for than anyone she knew, including her ex-husband. She held him at least partially responsible for her bad relationship with her father—more so than the long absences required by the US Marine Corps because Quinn had made himself a brick-wall barrier between her and the General in his pursuit of her father as his mentor. And nothing—not even begging him to stay away—had raised so much as a drop of compassion or consideration in him.

  Tough luck.

  That had been his smug reply to her plea and it still rang in her ears all these years later...

  “Oh, I wish I had more time!” Mim’s voice interrupted Clairy’s thoughts. “I’ll have to leave for a wedding any minute. But please come in! I’m so glad you could get here!”

  Clairy stepped aside, unwilling to participate in the welcome.

  “Clairy, it’s Quinn,” her grandmother said, likely realizing that the two had not seen each other since Quinn Camden left for Annapolis sixteen years ago, when Clairy was sixteen.

&nbs
p; “Ahh,” Clairy acknowledged—and not in a friendly way. She hadn’t recognized him, even when she had had a glimpse of his face.

  But Mim was so happy to see Quinn, and so eager to get him inside, that her grandmother didn’t seem to notice that Clairy had turned to ice. And since Quinn Camden’s focus was on the effusive older woman, he didn’t seem to have noticed, either.

  As he came into the house and Mim ushered him into the living room, Clairy remained near the front door, merely watching.

  So this is you now... she thought scornfully, taking a closer look at the man he’d grown into as he and her grandmother exchanged pleasantries.

  Sixteen years ago he’d been a skinny teenager with bad skin. It was no wonder she hadn’t connected the man before her with that image, because as much as she didn’t want to admit it, now he was a very, very long way from it.

  He was at least six foot four, and the T-shirt he had on was filled out with broad shoulders, undeniably impressive muscles in a wide chest and biceps that were cut and carved.

  His waist was trim, his hips were narrow, and the thighs in those camo pants looked strong enough to kick down a wall.

  And when her gaze finally rose up the full length of him to take in the face she hadn’t yet studied in any detail, it shook her slightly to discover that he was the best-looking man she’d ever seen in person.

  In fact, he was so good-looking that she didn’t know how that hadn’t drawn her attention from the start. It was certainly a face any woman would stare at—high cheekbones, a razor-sharp, granite jaw, a straight, slightly pointed nose and an unmarred, squarish forehead. He was so supremely handsome it was difficult even for Clairy not to be awestruck.

  He had dark, almost black, hair, cut short but still longer than her father’s. In fact, the stubble that covered Quinn Camden’s face and surrounded his solemnly sensual mouth was longer than the hair on the General’s head had ever been.

  As were the full eyebrows over those eyes that should have been a dead giveaway as to who he was the minute she’d opened the door—the Camden eyes that were a distinct, unique, bright cobalt blue.