by Amanda Renee
The sun had just begun to rise and filter into the room as Liv rose from her chair and looked out the window. Was her sister having a relapse? Was that possible with PPD?
“Liv, sit next to me.” Jade patted the couch. “Oh, that’s cold.” She jumped when Wes rested the ice pack against her ankle.
“It’s already starting to swell.” Wes held her foot firmly. “Liv, I can’t tell if you’re trying or not trying to tell us something, but my patience is wearing a little thin. When we last spoke, you told me you didn’t want me in your daughters’ lives. Now you’re saying their family is my family. You didn’t tell them, did you?”
“Well...” Liv gnawed her bottom lip. “Yes, I did. I felt I owed them the truth. My actions not only threw your lives into total chaos, it had the potential of hurting the girls and Wes’s family in the future. I hadn’t thought about the school issue, or that the girls and their cousins would be friends. I was laser focused on having a baby. In hindsight, that destroyed my marriage more than our inability to have children.”
Jade felt Wes’s grip tighten slightly on her foot. “Liv, I love that you did the right thing, but that was Wes’s place to tell his family. Not yours.”
Wes exhaled slowly and stood. “I’m not concerned that you told them. I’m more concerned with what comes next.”
The front door opened, and Harlan poked his head in. “Is it okay for us to come in now?”
“What’s going on?” Jade tugged on Wes’s arm. “Help me up. What are they doing here?”
“I called them.”
Wes slid his good arm under her and lifted Jade beside him. “I’m almost afraid to believe what this might mean,” Wes whispered.
One by one, the entire Slade family filed into Liv’s small living room.
“Thank you for coming. And, Jade and Wes, please forgive my little trickery. I didn’t think you would come otherwise. Especially Wes.” Liv walked over to him and held his face in her hands. “Dear Wes. I am so sorry for the way I treated you. You gave me the greatest gift in the world, and I was so cruel. You asked to be a part of their lives. And today I’m giving that to you.” Liv cupped her sister under the chin. “To both of you.”
“Liv,” Jade sobbed. “What are you saying?” She knew her sister would never relinquish her rights to the girls. If that’s what she was doing, then there was something seriously wrong. “Liv, please.”
“I’ve already contacted my attorney and he will meet with us later today to explain in further detail, but...”
“Liv, no.” Jade pulled her sister into her arms. “You can’t. I won’t let you. You love those girls.” She didn’t care what she had to give up in California, she’d stay by her sister’s side every day and make sure she was okay.
“Jade, sweetheart.” Liv soothed her hair. “Because I love them, I’m asking you to become de facto parents.”
“De what?” Jade released her sister. “I don’t understand.”
“De facto parents. In Montana, a child or children can have more than two parents. You and Wes would assume day-to-day parental roles with me.”
“This isn’t a sister-wife thing, is it?” Wes asked.
“I think I might be able to explain this.” Harlan stepped forward. “If you two choose to reside here in Montana, and like Liv said, assume the day-to-day parenting of the girls alongside her, her attorney can petition the court to have you named de facto parents. Because you’re their biological parents, you have an excellent chance a judge will sign off on it.”
“And considering my father is the judge—” Belle winked “—your odds are pretty good. We took Liv to meet with him and he detailed everything that needed to happen in order for the court to grant the arrangement.”
“You both have to live in Montana though,” Dylan said. “That partnership is still open if you want it.”
“And I still say Saddle Ridge needs an event planner,” Emma added.
Jade blindly reached behind her for Wes’s hand. She needed to feel his touch, to know she wasn’t dreaming.
“And you need a place to all live that’s not too sister-wifey.” Garrett laughed. “We talked it over with Liv, and we have two side-by-side guest cottages on Silver Bells that we’d like to offer you. They need to be renovated, but—”
“But the sale of this place will more than pay for them,” Liv said. “You two would have your space, and I would have mine. The girls would have both houses to call home.”
Jade’s heart hammered in her chest. “Liv, are you sure about this? You love this place.”
“I love you more.” Liv clasped her hands over theirs. “Do you two love each other?”
“Yes,” Wes said as he wiped away a tear. “I love those girls more than life itself.” He started to laugh. “And I really wish I had use of both arms right now.”
“Oh, Wes.” Jade wrapped both of her arms around his waist and looked up at him “I’ve got you. And I love you.”
“I love you too, with all that I am.” He looked across the room to his family. “I love all of you. And, Liv, thank you. This means everything to me, but there’s just one problem.” He sighed heavily.
“What?” Jade pulled away from him. They were so close. How could he possibly back out now?
Wes lowered himself on one knee and took her hand in his. “I don’t have a ring or some grand speech prepared, but I have a lifetime that I’d like to share with you and our crazy, unconventional family. That is if you’ll marry me.”
A wave of euphoria bubbled inside her. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!”
The shadows in her heart had finally disappeared and she was happy. Blissfully happy with the father of her children and a family to call her own.
* * * * *
If you loved this book, don’t miss the other titles in Amanda Renee’s SADDLE RIDGE, MONTANA series:
THE LAWMAN’S REBEL BRIDE
A SNOWBOUND COWBOY CHRISTMAS
WRANGLING CUPID’S COWBOY
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Rodeo Family
by Mary Sullivan
Chapter One
Zachary Brandt wasn’t a coward.
Not usua
lly.
He hovered behind a curtain at the picture window that looked out onto his front yard as Nadine Campbell drove her sporty little black car onto his ranch.
In rural Montana on the outskirts of small-town Rodeo, home of dusty, domestic, practical pickup trucks, Nadine scooted around the countryside in her spotless, foreign car.
He should be out on his porch in full view to greet her, not hiding here inside, building up his resolve.
She parked, adjusted her rearview mirror and fiddled with her makeup, the gesture speaking of insecurity he’d noted in the past.
Even way back in high school, before she’d left town for those eight or so years, she’d been self-conscious about her looks. Zach couldn’t imagine why, or what she was doing to makeup that was never less than perfect.
She smoothed her long, red hair, as glossy as glass. Nadine belonged in Rodeo about as much as a racehorse might, an elegant, refined filly among a bunch of stolid workhorses.
“Whatcha doin’, Dad?”
Zach startled. No wonder. He’d just been caught spying on a visitor rather than stepping outside to welcome her. He glanced over his shoulder. His twin sons stood in the living room doorway. They weren’t the only ones who’d caught him; Zach’s father had, too.
Dad raised an eyebrow. Ryan and Aiden watched him with Maria’s deep brown eyes and wide, full-lipped mouths. She might not have left Zach with much, but she’d given him these two treasures and for that he would always be grateful.
They stepped forward and crowded him at the window. Staring out at Nadine, Aiden whispered, “Pretty.”
Understatement. Nadine could give lessons in pretty to the Montana countryside, and Zach thought that was damned stunning.
“Who is she, Dad?” Ryan asked.
“Her name is Nadine Campbell, and she’s a reporter for the newspaper.”
“I saw her before in town,” Aiden said. “She’s got red hair.”
As red as red could be.
“What’s she doing here?” That was Ryan, as curious as ever.
“She’s going to interview me.”
Ryan looked up, not as far as he used to. His kids were growing too fast. Seven years old already. “What about? Our ranch?”
“Partly. She wants to talk about my paintings, but they wouldn’t exist without the ranch. Right?”
“Right,” Ryan answered. He’d heard it all from his dad before, about how his paintings were an outward expression of his love of his land. Then a knowing smile lit his face. “But you’re gonna get her to talk about the ranch!”
Zach ruffled his hair. “You’re too smart to be a kid. Are you an adult in disguise?”
Ryan pressed into his hand.
Zach’s quiet son, Aiden, stood in front of him, leaning back against his legs. Zach settled a hand on his shoulder.
Nadine’s car door opened. He didn’t want to be caught staring. “Come away from the window.” He tried to herd them from the room, but Dad stepped brazenly in front of the window with a mischievous smile hovering on his lips.
“Nadine Campbell.” Zach’s father pretended to think, but his eyes sparkled. “Hmm. Name sounds familiar.”
“Of course it’s familiar,” Zach snapped. “You know everyone in town.” His dad’s feigned ignorance didn’t fool him. The man knew who Nadine was. Did he realize what she used to mean to Zach?
Did he realize what she could still mean to him if Zach had his way?
Second chances rarely happened in real life. Sometimes a man had to grasp that second chance with both hands before it slipped away. A determined man did, at any rate. Zach had managed to spend years, long swathes of time, forgetting about Nadine, but here she was back on his ranch.
“I remember her from years ago before she left town,” Dad said.
Maybe Dad had known how Zach had felt. He could be intuitive...when it suited him.
“She stood out, back then,” Dad said.
“Pop, let’s go,” Zach insisted, trying to get his father to step away from the window. “Get away from there.”
Aiden shrugged off Zach’s hand on his shoulder and joined his grandfather at the window. Ryan did the same thing.
“She’s getting out of the car!” Ryan shouted.
“Modulate, Ryan,” Zach said.
“She’s got pretty shoes on,” Aiden whispered.
Aiden spoke too low. Ryan lived at full volume. If only Zach could even them out. On second thought, no. Each was perfect in his own way.
“Those shoes will get wrecked,” Pop said.
A thought occurred to Zach. “How come you remember her from when she was a teenager?”
His father pretended to look surprised. What game was he playing? “She came out here once with a bunch of kids when you were in high school, for some project or other.”
“Yes, she did.” Zach remembered that visit with vivid discomfort.
“She didn’t like the ranch,” Pop said, bringing back Zach’s disappointment.
It had hurt his teenage ego. The ranch had been, and still was, his world. His pride and joy.
Aiden tugged on his sleeve. “They’ll get wrecked, Dad.”
“Those shoes? Sure will. You two,” he said, touching their heads, “root through the rubber boots in the back porch and see if you can find a pair that might fit our guest.”
Maria’s would still be back there. She sure wouldn’t have taken reminders of the ranch with her, and Zach hadn’t cleared out the porch in the three years since she’d left.
The boys ran off toward the back of the house.
Pop turned from the window. “Didn’t she used to have a mess of curly hair to her waist?”
Yes, her hair had been a mass of long, red curls. Her face had sported more freckles than Zach could ever hope to count. Where had those gone, both the curls and the freckles? How did a person change her appearance so drastically?
Zach eyed his father. “I don’t remember you having a photographic memory.”
“She stood out,” he said, “’cause I knew you liked her. I paid attention. Wanted to make sure she was worthy of my son. She didn’t like the ranch. End of story.”
Pop had known he’d liked her? And he’d worried about Zach? It warmed him.
Nadine still stood out, just in a different shell than the one she used to wear. And hadn’t he always wanted to get a good long look inside that shell?
Dad watched him altogether too carefully before raising that pesky eyebrow again and murmuring, “Well.”
Yes. Well. Some feelings died over time, but some only pretended to, living underground and flaring back to the surface the second a woman came back to town after years away. When she had returned a year ago, he’d been shocked. After high school, she’d told anyone who would listen that she was heading off to New York City to meet her destiny. To forge a career on television.
Now she was back and no one knew why. She didn’t seem to have plans to leave. Zach hoped that would work in his favor. But obviously too much showed on his face if Dad, in his oblique way, was commenting on it. Zach wiped his expression clear of emotion and stepped out onto the veranda.
Lee Beeton, owner of the Rodeo Wrangler, had pestered Zach for an interview for years. Zach had said no. Then Nadine had come back to Rodeo. A year later, she’d asked for an interview. Zach had said yes.
A second chance...
Would she like the ranch any better this time? Would she like him?
She stretched her slim legs, her pretty high heels emphasizing their length while she rummaged in her purse. She didn’t belong here. Their differences struck him anew. I am a sturdy Clydesdale and she is an exquisite Arabian.
He crossed his arms. Why was it taking her so long to get out of one small car?
And what’s the rush, Zach? You aren’t usually this impat
ient.
Yeah, but Nadine had come back to his ranch.
* * *
NADINE CAMPBELL COULDN’T delay her meeting with Zach Brandt any longer. She had to get out of this car. She had to face him down.
What had started as a simple story about Zach’s love of the landscape and painting it, a story she had looked forward to writing, had turned into a snafu of huge proportions just this morning.
Nadine did not want to be here. There was no way out. Trapped, panic clogged her throat. Could a person suffocate on anger?
Her nerves rattled like a pair of castanets. She shouldn’t have stopped in at the newspaper office before coming out for the interview. Then she wouldn’t have seen her boss, Lee Beeton, who wouldn’t have put her into this awful, awful bind.
Find out that family’s secrets.
No. That wasn’t Nadine’s job. Her job was to talk to Zach about his artwork. That’s it. Nothing else. No digging up dirt. What was Lee’s purpose in needing to know secrets anyway? He didn’t publish a gossip rag.
But he’d issued an ultimatum—do it or you’re fired—and now she had no choice but to write the story he wanted.
In the brilliant sunshine bathing Zach’s ranch, Nadine felt clunky and awkward, an old feeling she’d thought she’d outgrown. With this awful new directive from Lee, any smooth confidence she might have possessed had deserted her this morning. She ran a hand over her twitchy stomach.
From the car, she retrieved the canvas bag that contained the tools of her trade: notepad, laptop, recording device, pencils and pens. The bag was her raison d’être. Her security blanket, its very existence reminded her that, yes indeed, she was a bona fide journalist who deserved to be writing.
She sensed Zach’s presence on his veranda. She couldn’t avoid him any longer, so she turned and walked toward the house.
He stood on his porch steps and watched her approach with his unnerving steady regard. Did the man never blink?
The ranch hadn’t changed since her tour here in high school for a project about local cattle ranching. The sturdy white brick house with blue shutters might be considered by some to be pretty. There was nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t to her taste. She liked modern and sleek. Not that she found much of either here in Rodeo, but back in New York City—oh, heavenly, perfect New York—there’d been plenty of it.