Maggie's Montana (Montana Bound Book 3)

by Linda Bradley

  “Really?” Chloe said, her jaw dropping open.

  “Really.” Staring into her emerald eyes, the prospect of Montana life filled me up. “I think I’d miss you too much if I didn’t, and besides, Bradley thinks it’s a good idea, too.”

  Chloe beamed and her shoulders slumped forward as she leaned into her dad.

  “Well, what do you think?” I asked.

  Chloe stood, our noses touching. She hugged me tight with a mighty squeeze. “You’re not yanking my chain, are you?” she asked, her breath brushing against my ear.

  I held her close. “No, I’m not yanking your chain, Chloe. I really want to come live with you.” John’s teary stare moved me. His warm touch confirmed that we belonged together. “Well, what do you think, J.P. McIntyre?”

  “I think our lives just got made.”

  “Mine, too. Then it’s settled,” I said.

  Chapter 39

  John and I waved goodbye as Mom and Chloe got situated in Mom’s convertible.

  “Be good,” John said as Mom backed slowly down the driveway.

  “I will,” Chloe called, sliding her oversized sunglasses up to the bridge of her nose. She adjusted the scarf tied around her head.

  “She will call me if I need to come get you,” John said firmly. “Seriously, Glad, call me if you need to.”

  Mom stopped the car then lowered her sunglasses and peered over the top of them. “Please. I’m sure we’ll be fine. We’re just going out for ice cream then over to my house. We’ll have fun.”

  “Maggie and I will be home, if you need us,” he said.

  “I got it, but we won’t be calling. No offense,” Mom said with a nod.

  John and I stood in the front yard and watched them drive away. “They really are two peas in a pod,” I said, walking toward the house.

  We sauntered up the stairs and went inside. John closed the front door, then locked it. A fierce grin crossed his lips as he stepped closer.

  I raised my eyebrows at him. “They just left. What if they come back?”

  “You heard her, she’s not coming back.”

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t ready to come to Montana and look what happened there,” I said, stepping backward down the foyer.

  John’s devious expression made my stomach flutter with excitement. A squeal escaped my lips as I ran into the kitchen.

  He caught me, then stepped into me, my back against the wall. “Are you going to kiss me?” I whispered.

  “I’m going to do more than that.” John ran his finger down my cheek, over my collarbone, and then he unbuttoned my blouse. He fingered the cottony fabric and kissed my skin.

  My body craved him as his mouth grazed my skin. Leaning forward, I held his face in my hands. I peered into his smiling eyes. “Really, we should wait until they’ve been gone a few minutes.”

  John groaned. “Fine.”

  The doorbell rang. Bones’s toenails clicked along the hard floor as he raced to the front door.

  “Told you,” I said, buttoning up my shirt.

  Unlocking the deadbolt, I turned the doorknob. Beckett raked his fingers through his hair when he saw me.

  “What are you doing here?” I glanced over my shoulder at John then I looked back to Beckett.

  “Oh, I didn’t know you had company,” he said, peering over my shoulder.

  “It’s okay,” John said, “I was just on my way home.”

  I made a face at him, and then opened the screen door and walked outside. Beckett paced back and forth. “I’ll see you in a few minutes,” I told John, kneading my shoulders with my fingers. “What’s going on?”

  Beckett leaned against the half wall of the porch and crossed his arms. “I ran into Glad at the market and she said I should talk to you as soon as possible.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and jingled his keys.

  I rolled my eyes. Thanks, Mom. “As you can see there’s a ‘For Sale’ sign in the front yard. I’ve had an offer already.”

  Beckett glared at me. “Where are you going?”

  “Why does it matter?” I asked. “You have your life, and now I have mine.”

  Beckett took off his sunglasses and hung them on the collar of his tangerine-orange Lacoste button-down. He rubbed his right temple, softening his hard stare. “Where are you going?”

  “Um.” I took a deep breath. “I’m moving to Montana.”

  “What?”

  The corner of my mouth lifted as I heard my own words. Beckett’s face drooped. I cheered for myself. “Yeah, it’s time to move on. I’m heading west.”

  “What?” Beckett caught his breath with a gasp.

  I spoke slowly as if he was hard of hearing. “I. Am. Moving. To. Montana.” My heart fluttered, the anticipation making me giddy.

  “So this is what Bradley wasn’t telling me.”

  “Yup,” I said proudly, knowing that Bradley kept his promise. Good boy.

  “Well, I’ll be dipped.” Beckett ran his slender fingers through his perfect hair. “Now get to the rest of it.”

  I narrowed my gaze at his words.

  “Sorry.” Beckett fidgeted with the blooms cascading over the clay pot beside him.

  “There wasn’t anything I could do when you walked away. I buried my feelings knowing I couldn’t change anything. I don’t expect you to understand or even be happy for me, but it’s my time. I’m going to Montana to be with John and Chloe.”

  “The guy next door?”

  Beckett moved closer to me. I held his stare as he processed the information.

  “This is a lot to take in,” he said.

  “Suppose so.” I remembered how I felt as Beckett delivered his life-changing news a little over three years ago. His sucker punch left me broken, and I resented him for it, but we stayed together, feeling obligated to live the charade. Time hadn’t healed all wounds, but fate had slipped between the cracks and shown me the way. Montana called to me in a different way than it had called to Winston, John, and Chloe, but it called just the same and I answered. “Have you thought about the house? I have to decide what to do about the offer.”

  Beckett rubbed his forehead. He looked out over the front yard. “Remember when Bradley used to leave skid marks on the driveway? You’d get so mad.”

  “I remember,” I said.

  Beckett faced me, not masking the sadness behind his eyes. “I suppose it’s time to move on.” His sigh, monumental.

  “I thought you already had.” I sat down on the swing, nudging my foot against the porch floor to get the sway going.

  “I thought I had, too. I just thought you’d always be here.” Beckett stopped speaking, his brow wrinkled with thought. “I guess there was some comfort in that.”

  “Guess so.”

  “I don’t think I could live here. It’d be too sad.” A shadow washed over Beckett’s gaze.

  I grimaced. “It would make you sad?” Did this place really hold that many negative memories for him?

  “Yeah.” Beckett sat at the other end of the swing. “I think so. It would remind me of you and what I put you through.”

  With a hard swallow, I crossed my arms over my stomach. “You’re forgetting, there was a time I didn’t want to be married any more either. It wasn’t just you.” My heart ached for both of us. Beckett hadn’t caused the demise all by himself.

  “I know,” he said.

  My chest rose and fell with the breeze that swept by. It rustled the bushes and left just as quickly as it came, sending a message to both of us.

  “Then I’ll accept the offer.” My heart raced.

  Beckett forced a smile. “You deserve to be happy after putting up with me.”

  Reaching over, I patted his hand. For as many times as I’d held his hand before, it felt strange now. He’d given me Bradley, and for that I was thankful. “I’ll let you know when the deal goes through.”

  “What about your job? You were always manic about getting your teaching years in.”

  “I got it
covered. I’ll have my years in. I finished what I started, and that’s all that matters. It’s not about how you cross the finish line, it’s the fact that you finished the race.”

  “I guess that’s good, then.”

  “Yeah, it’s good.” Pride filled me up. The paperwork was being processed and I’d soon be on my way. If all went according to plan, I’d be in Montana by Christmas.

  Beckett put his sunglasses on. “Well, I guess I better get going. I’m meeting some friends for dinner.”

  “That sounds like fun.” The sun streamed onto the porch and warmed my face. I shaded my eyes to see Beckett.

  He started down the stairs then turned as if he had something to say.

  I leaned against the railing and waited. “What?”

  “There’s something different about you. In a good way.”

  “Thanks,” I said, knowing he was right.

  Beckett sauntered down the sidewalk and over to his Prius. He was thin like he’d always been, his manicured hair didn’t give way to the gentle wind, and I wondered what other secrets he concealed, but knew they were for someone else to discover.

  Knocking on John’s door, I digested Beckett’s departure.

  “Everything okay?” he asked, inviting me in.

  “Yeah.” An unexpected sadness washed over me.

  John shut the door behind me then drew me close. “Glad just called.”

  “Are they coming home?”

  John laughed. “They’re not. They’re fine. She just wanted to let us know that they were settled. I think it was code for get your groove on.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him, then kissed me. Melting into his arms, I fiddled with the collar of his shirt. “Did you talk to Winston?”

  John smiled. “It’s all good. He said he was glad that his ticket would come in handy after all. I’m not sure what that means, but by the smile on your face you do.”

  I kissed his lips. He held me close and it felt like we’d been together forever. “I love you, John McIntyre.”

  “I love you, too, Maggie Abernathy.”

  “Damn you’re a lucky man.”

  “I sure as hell am, neighbor lady.”

  Dear Readers,

  Thank you for joining me on the Montana Bound journey. When Maggie Abernathy and Chloe McIntyre called to me, I knew I had to listen. This series was inspired by my own bout with cancer and navigating Maggie’s journey made it possible for me to connect with so many others who have had or know someone who has dealt with this disease. I hope Maggie and Chloe have touched your heart in the same way they have touched mine. If you enjoyed this book and have a minute to spare, I’d really appreciate a short review on the page or website where you purchased Maggie’s Montana.

  It is with much heartfelt gratitude, I thank you.

  Sincerely,

  Linda

  Website: www.LindaBradleyAuthor.com

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaBradley-389688594534105/

  Twitter: @LBradleyAuthor

  Link to my Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/LindaBradley/e/B00JUIS2FS

  Link to my Barnes & Noble page: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/maggies-way-linda-bradley/1122880519

  Also by Soul Mate Publishing and Linda Bradley:

  MAGGIE’S WAY

  Middle-aged, Maggie Abernathy just wants to recuperate from cancer during the solitude of summer vacation after a tiresome year of teaching second grade.

  Maggie’s plans are foiled when precocious seven-year-old Chloe McIntyre moves in next door with her dad, John. Maggie’s life changes in a way she could never imagine when the pesky new neighbors steal her heart. With Maggie’s grown son away, her ex-husband in the shadows, her meddling mother’s unannounced visits, and Chloe McIntyre on her heels, somehow Maggie’s empty house becomes home again.

  Available now on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/jowuly4

  MAGGIE’S FORK IN THE ROAD

  Maggie Abernathy learns that pesky neighbors John and Chloe McIntyre are moving to Montana. The only problem is…she can’t fathom living without them now that they’ve stolen her heart. While trying to digest the news and accept John’s decision to leave Michigan, Maggie ventures to Chicago with Chloe to see Chloe’s Hollywood mother in a photo shoot, where the three kindle a quirky bond making it even harder for Maggie to say goodbye. With the support of Maggie’s meddling mother, her best friend Judy, and a surprise visit from Montana rancher Winston Ludlow McIntyre, Maggie begins to wonder which fork in the road leads home.

  Available now on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/z9dbsvd