Return of the Cowgirl

by Eve Gaddy

  Not too much later, the Marietta cops came to take Villareal and hold him for the Feds. Before they led him away, Glenna asked them to wait a minute.

  “Rolando.” The look the man gave her, unsurprisingly, was laced with hatred. “There is no child.”

  “You lie.”

  “No, I had a miscarriage. I was in a bus accident and lost the baby. So all this was for nothing. Except to put you in an excellent place to get caught,” she added. “And by the way, I also told them about the murder you committed. Murder and counterfeiting should put you away for a long time.”

  Mitch wondered if the man might actually burst a blood vessel, but beyond pointless cursing there wasn’t anything he could do stuck between two cops with his hands cuffed behind him.

  “Murder?” Mitch asked Glenna when they’d gone.

  “Yes. Rolando murdered my friend, Valencia. That’s why I was running and why I was so afraid. Except I didn’t remember until I heard Rolando’s voice. I’d blocked it out. Her eyes welled with tears. “He shot her, Mitch. In cold blood.”

  Mitch pulled her into his arms. “He’ll pay for it now. Thanks to you.”

  “And you,” she said.

  Almost two weeks later Glenna and Mitch sat with the entire Gallagher clan in the living room of the farmhouse.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the preacher said. “Kiss your bride, Dylan.”

  A little surprised to find herself teary, Glenna watched Dylan and Samantha’s first kiss as husband and wife. “They look so happy,” she said to Mitch with a sigh. “I think they’re good for each other.”

  “The rest of your family seems happy too,” Mitch said.

  In the weeks since she’d been back, and especially since she’d regained her memory, Glenna had spent a lot of time with her family. Getting to know her brothers again, along with their wives and kids, had truly made Glenna feel like a part of the family. Jack was still the only one with kids, although Wyatt’s wife, Mia, was due in a couple of months. And Sean and Honey had announced they were having a baby just the day before.

  Jack and Maya had brought their new dog, Rambo, along, a rescue Carmen and Gina had found at school and brought home. While he’d been banished to the kitchen during the ceremony, they’d let him out as soon as it was over. Dylan and Sam’s dog, Shadow, had been a part of the ceremony. Dylan had been very close-mouthed and mysterious about who would be his best man. He didn’t ask any of his brothers and speculation about who it would be had been rampant.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog be the best man before,” Glenna said. “But Shadow managed it beautifully.” She added, watching the two dogs playing with each other, “Sam told me she was just glad Dylan hadn’t wanted his stallion, Trouble, to do the honors.”

  “That would’ve been interesting,” Mitch said.

  “Very. But they decided Trouble was still too easily spooked.” She laughed. “Too bad. I would have paid to see it.”

  Jack came over and talked about the wedding a bit before saying, “As your oldest brother, I’ve been elected to ask you something.”

  “Well, that sounds ominous. What?”

  “Are you two planning to get married before your birthday at the end of next month?”

  Mitch choked off a laugh while Glenna glared at Jack. “We haven’t discussed marriage, Mr.—I mean Dr. Nosy. Tell everyone to butt out of my business.”

  Not chastened at all, Jack responded, “We thought you might need to be reminded that if you get married before your next birthday, we can take care of the conditions of the will and give you your share.”

  He looked at Mitch and said, “We’ve tried to give Glenna her rightful portion of the ranch anyway, but she’s too damned stubborn to accept.”

  “She’s a little hardheaded,” Mitch agreed. “But we’ll talk about it and get back with you.”

  “Do that,” Jack said. “And Mitch?” Mitch looked at him. “Good luck.”

  “Ignore him,” Glenna began. “I don’t know why he thinks—”

  “I think we should,” Mitch interrupted.

  “That’s what I said. We should ignore him.”

  “Not ignore him. We should get married.”

  Glenna stared at him, certain she hadn’t heard him correctly. “What did you say?”

  “I said we should get married. But that’s wrong.”

  “Oh.” Gee, thanks. I’d just as soon you hadn’t told me that.

  “Come with me.” Mitch grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him.

  “Where are we—”

  He opened the library door, pulled Glenna inside and backed her up against the door. Hands on either side of her face, he looked down at her with a smile.

  “Trying to decide whether to kiss me or strangle me?” Glenna asked.

  “No. I know exactly what I want to do with you.”

  The way he looked at her made her heart slam against her chest. “Wh—what?” she stuttered.

  “Marry me, Glenna.”

  “I thought you weren’t ever getting married again.”

  “I changed my mind. I hadn’t met you when I said that.”

  “I don’t want you to feel pressured to marry me. I’m fine with just being with you.”

  Mitch bent his head down and kissed her. She started to speak and he kissed her again. “You know me better than that. Do you really think I’d ask you to marry me because I felt pressured?”

  She gazed into his eyes. “No.”

  “I love you. Say you’ll marry me, Glenna.”

  “I can’t think of anything I want more.”

  “So, you’ll marry me?”

  “Yes, Mitch, I’ll marry you.”

  “Good,” he said, and kissed her. “Soon,” he added, lifting his mouth from hers.

  “Whenever you want.”

  The End

  Meet The Gallaghers of Montana

  Sing Me Back Home

  Book 1

  Love Me, Cowgirl

  Book 2

  The Doctor’s Christmas Proposal

  Book 3

  The Cowboy and the Doctor

  Book 4

  Return of the Cowgirl

  Book 5

  Enjoy an Exclusive Excerpt from

  Sing Me Back Home

  Book 1 in the Gallaghers of Montana series

  Copyright © 2014 Eve Gaddy

  He heard it through the grapevine.

  In Marietta, Montana, the grapevine was Sally Driscoll, the barista at the Java Cafe. Along with Carol Bingley, manager of the pharmacy, she knew everything there was to know about the town and its citizens. Or thought she did, anyway.

  Most mornings, Jack Gallagher stopped at the Java Cafe on the way to work. Ordinarily, he didn’t pay much attention to Sally. But today the gossip hit him in the chest like a kick from a horse.

  “Dr. Gallagher, have you heard the news?”

  “What news?” he asked, resigned, knowing Sally would hold his coffee hostage until he answered.

  “Maya Parrish is in town. You know, the famous model.”

  As always, her name gave him a jolt. Pleasure. And pain. “Her sister lives here. I imagine she’s in town to visit her.” He’d seen Maya a few times over the years, but only from a distance. They had managed to successfully avoid any closer interaction.

  “No, not for a visit. Maya and her daughter are here to stay,” Sally said with relish. “They’ve moved into her great-great-great grandmother’s house on Bramble Lane. The one old Dina Parrish lived in until she died a few months ago.”

  Maya’s ancient aunt had left her the house on Bramble Lane? Maya and her daughter had moved into a house the street over from his and he hadn’t even known it?

  Speechless, Jack stared at the barista. Maya, his high school love, the woman who’d broken his heart all those years ago, was home to stay.

  Well, shit.

  “Isn’t that cool? Who would’ve thought Maya Parrish would move back to Marietta?”
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  Not him, that was for sure. Sally probably didn’t know of his and Maya’s history. Probably. It wasn’t a secret, though, so she might. Since she was waiting expectantly for a response, he said, “No, I hadn’t heard that. I’m running late, Sally. I’ve got to get to the hospital. Could I have my coffee now?”

  Jack tried his best to put Maya out of his mind after that, but that proved impossible. After he rounded on his hospital patients, he went to his office. Many of the town’s doctors had offices in the medical building across from the hospital, since it was so conveniently located. Jack had moved his own office into it shortly after the building was completed. He’d been back in Marietta since he finished his Family Practice residency and had never regretted coming home.

  He was beginning to regret it today, however. His first patient, Eileen Delaney, should have clued him in.

  He walked into the exam room and spoke as he washed his hands at the sink. “Hi, Mrs. Delaney. How have you been?”

  “Not good, Doctor.” She patted her heart as she often did, though as far as Jack knew, she’d never had any evidence of coronary artery disease. “I’m not feeling at all well. I don’t think these allergy shots are working. What’s the point of getting jabbed all the time if it doesn’t do any good?”

  Jack sighed inwardly. They went through the same exact conversation whenever Mrs. Delaney came in for her weekly allergy shot. The shot she insisted only Jack could give her. She didn’t trust Jack’s nurse, Vera Lancaster.

  The problem wasn’t one of trust, he knew. The two women had been at odds ever since Mrs. Delaney accused Vera of fixing the results of the bake-off at the Marietta Fair, causing Mrs. Delaney to lose to her archrival. Vera denied doing any such thing and maintained that Mrs. Delaney’s cooking was not as good as she thought it was. The feud had been ongoing for several years now. Naturally, Vera couldn’t stand Mrs. Delaney either.

  “I can stop giving the shots to you any time,” Jack said, knowing what her answer would be. “Just say the word.”

  “No, no. I’m here. Might as well take it.” She chattered on, talking about Marietta High School Homecoming, coming up in a few weeks. “Who do you think will be elected to the Homecoming court?”

  “I have no idea. Gina hasn’t mentioned the Homecoming court,” Jack said, referring to his daughter. And as far as he knew, she didn’t care. Now, the football team and players were another matter altogether. Though school had only started a couple of days previously, Gina had a crush on one of the football players. She didn’t realize her old man knew about it. He’d have to be an idiot not to, since Gina was constantly on the phone or texting to Mattie Guthrie or one of her other friends, and Kevin Taylor was one of their main topics.

  He was still dwelling on his baby girl being old enough to be interested in boys when Mrs. Delaney brought up another subject.

  “Have you heard about Maya Parrish?”

  “Yes,” he said, hoping to head her off. “I understand she’s moved back to town.”

  “That’s right.” Nodding decisively, she added, “I hear she’s divorced.”

  Jack made a noncommittal sound though he was well aware of Maya’s marital status.

  Mrs. Delaney leaned forward and said knowingly, “Maya never took his name, you know. There’s something odd about that.”

  Not really, he thought. “A lot of professional women keep their maiden name.”

  Mrs. Delaney sniffed. “I don’t hold with that foolishness.”

  Jack squelched the urge to defend Maya. What did it matter what Mrs. Delaney thought?

  “Didn’t you and Maya date in high school?” She raised an eyebrow and damn near winked at him.

  “Yes,” he said in his most imposing, abrupt voice. It had no effect on Mrs. Delaney. That was the problem with someone who’d known you all your life.

  “Maya’s little girl is the same age as Gina,” she went on. “The girl’s name is Carmen. Carmen Collins.” She sniffed again.

  He’d known Maya had a daughter, but had forgotten she was around Gina’s age. Great. Daughters the same age meant they’d see each other at school functions. Maybe Carmen wouldn’t have the same interests as Gina. His and Maya’s paths didn’t necessarily have to cross.

  Oh, get over it, he told himself. All that was years ago and you’ve both been married since. Running into Maya again shouldn’t be a big deal. He’d probably find out he wasn’t even attracted to her anymore.

  Still, by the end of the day, Jack had developed a nervous tic every time someone brought up Maya. Which was every single patient. He wished he had “Yes, I know Maya Parrish is home to stay” tattooed on his forehead. Even that wouldn’t stop the talk, though.

  He had a feeling nothing would.

  Returning to Marietta had been the right thing to do, Maya thought as she shopped in the local grocery store for a few things she needed to make her famous variation of the dessert, Death by Chocolate. Moving had been the right thing for Carmen as well as herself. Months ago, when Carmen’s father, Graham Collins, had told them he was getting remarried and moving to Europe, Carmen had been terribly upset. While she liked her father’s new wife, she wasn’t ready for him to move so far away. The promise of trips to Europe to stay with Graham and Adele didn’t seem to help much, either.

  But for Maya it was a sign. There was nothing keeping her in Texas now. Her company, Maya’s Models, was slowly becoming Internet only, so she could base herself anywhere. Over the early summer, Carmen had been on the verge of getting in with the wrong crowd at her school, which gave Maya that much more reason to move.

  As for Maya herself, she’d never thought she’d be back to stay. But over the years she’d found that she missed Montana and the mountains. And oddly enough, she missed small town life. Her sister Amy lived in Marietta now too. Another person who’d lived elsewhere and returned.

  Maya had especially missed Montana during the Texas summers. The coolness of Montana summer mornings beat the hell out of Dallas traffic jams in the sweltering heat of the summer all to hell and back.

  Marietta had grown, of course, but it was still a small town, with that lovely small town flavor. Of course, there was also the “everyone knows everything about you and your business” angle of living in a small town, but that seemed a small price to pay for such a great place to raise her child. Marietta was a beautiful place, situated to the north of Paradise Valley, in between the Absaroka Mountains and the Gallatin Range. Copper Mountain rose to the west of town, lending dignity and majesty to the view with its purple and white peaks, and the green of the Evergreens and spots of yellow where the Aspens had only just started to turn.

  There was only one possible fly in the ointment. One tiny little thing she was worried about. Living in the same town as Jack Gallagher again. Dr. Jack Gallagher now. Along with the mountains and her family, she’d left Jack behind when she left Marietta to pursue her modeling career, in Dallas, Texas.

  Jack Gallagher. Her almost fiancé, whom she’d almost jilted at the altar, the night of their high school graduation.

  Maya had plenty of time before she needed to worry about seeing Jack again. Right now, she was driving to the high school with her daughter in tow. Some bright soul had decided the Spirit Club should have a party shortly after school started, so that all the students and parents could get to know each other. The same bright soul had also decided to make it a potluck supper. Maya had volunteered to make her famous Death by Chocolate dessert. It was always a crowd pleaser. Not to mention, it was one of few desserts Maya knew how to make.

  She asked Carmen to help her carry everything in, since she not only had the glass compote full of the dessert, but also various bags of paper plates, napkins, and plastic cutlery. So much for that promise. Maya hadn’t even turned off the car before Carmen dashed off to see some friends. “Carmen, wait,” Maya called, watching her daughter’s retreating back. Typical, she thought. Determined to make only one trip, Maya balanced the heavy dish in one hand and the
bags in the other and headed for the gym doors.

  Holding the compote carefully, she reached with her other hand for the double wide doors just as they swung open. She jumped back to avoid being smacked by them, losing her precarious grip on everything, including the dessert.

  “Da—darn it!” she yelled, just in time to see her beautiful masterpiece slide right out of her hands and land upside down on the door mat in front of the entryway. She stared at it with her mouth open, then looked up, prepared to rip someone’s head off.

  “Don’t you look where you’re go—” Maya broke off staring into those gorgeous green eyes she’d never forgotten. “Jack?”

  “Maya,” he said, looking as taken aback as she was. “I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.”

  She bit back the obvious response, wondering why in the world the glass serving dish hadn’t broken, and why she’d thought it a good idea to bring anything glass to a high school party. The dish looked intact, though, but the dessert’s lovely layers were a thing of the past. The stupid thing had taken all afternoon to make, an afternoon she’d spent cooking when she should have been working.

  Jack and she knelt down at the same time, bumping foreheads. They both drew back as if burned. “Let me help,” he said. “Maybe we can salvage it.”

  “Oh, sure,” she said, dripping sarcasm. “We’ll just turn it over and hope no one notices the nasty dirty crap from the floor on the top.” Why did it have to be Jack? And why now? She’d known she’d run into him after moving back to Marietta, but she’d hoped to have more time before seeing the man whose heart she’d broken all those years ago.

  He didn’t look heartbroken now. Sexy, good-looking, smoking hot, maybe, but sure as hell not heartbroken.

  He flashed her his trademark smile, another thing she’d never forgotten. “Do you have a piece of cardboard? That will make it easier to turn over without losing all of it.”

  Maya fished around in her bags and came up with a large paper plate. Jack took it, deftly sliding it beneath the dish and flipping the whole thing upright. “Here you go. We can scrape the top layer off and it will be good as new.”