The More Mavericks, the Merrier!

by Brenda Harlen

  Except that he’d promised Fallon he’d be here. And he was—but where was she?

  He looked around again, but he still didn’t see her. Of course, there was already quite a crowd gathered. It seemed that every year, there were more and more people who came out in support of the event. He recognized Tessa Strickland, looking pretty and pregnant, with her fiancé Carson Drake, and Dr. Jon Clifton with Dawn Laramie, obviously and happily in love.

  Then a glimpse of copper hair snagged his attention, and he automatically turned. The color was exactly the same as Fallon’s, and he’d never known anyone else whose hair was as pretty and shiny as a new penny. The woman was about the same height as Fallon, too, with the same slender build, but the similarities ended there. Instead of Fallon’s tumble of curls, this woman’s hair was straight and sleek; instead of Fallon’s customary—and eminently practical—jeans and flannel shirts, this woman was wearing a short denim skirt with high-heeled boots and a soft green sweater that molded to her distinctly feminine curves.

  Definitely an out-of-towner, he decided. Because no Montana native would venture out on a frigid December night without long underwear. But even while he shook his head at the woman’s complete lack of common sense, he couldn’t deny that her long, shapely legs sure were a pleasure to look at.

  As if sensing his perusal, the woman slowly turned around. And Jamie’s jaw nearly hit the floor when he realized the woman he’d been ogling was Fallon.

  But he’d never seen Fallon looking like this before. She was hot enough to melt the snow on top of Falls Mountain, and he could tell by the way several other men in attendance were checking her out that he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

  Justin Crawford whistled under his breath. “Is that Fallon O’Reilly?”

  “Yeah,” Jamie reluctantly confirmed.

  “She looks...different.” The cowboy continued to stare at her. “Hot.”

  “Yeah,” he said again, not at all happy to realize it was true. She was his friend—he didn’t like the idea of other guys ogling her. And he especially didn’t like to admit that he’d been ogling her, too.

  He crossed the room to where she was chatting with Nina Traub. She glanced over as he approached, her lips curving in a familiar and welcoming smile.

  Except that even her mouth looked different today—slicked with something peach-colored and shiny. Something that tempted him to want to taste her lips. The hint of a distant memory teased the back of his mind. Of a sweet and innocent kiss that had stirred some not-so-sweet-and-innocent yearnings. Yearnings he’d ignored then and needed to again now.

  With a brief wave of acknowledgment in his direction, Nina headed the opposite way.

  His dark mood must have been reflected in his expression, because Fallon’s smile slipped as he drew closer. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  “Everything’s just—” his gaze dropped to her mouth again “—peachy.”

  “Then why are you scowling?”

  His only response was to shrug out of his jacket and drape it over her shoulders.

  His action made her scowl, too. “What are you doing?”

  “It’s cold in here,” he told her, inwardly cursing the fact that his jacket barely covered the curve of her butt. It certainly didn’t come close to the hem of her short skirt—or the mile of shapely leg on display beneath that hem.

  “I’m not cold,” she said, pulling his jacket off her shoulders and holding it out to him.

  He took her arm instead of the jacket.

  “Come on,” he said, and guided her over to a vacant table. He held out a chair for her to sit down, so that her legs would be hidden from view beneath the table.

  “What’s going on with you?” she asked him.

  “I’ve been waiting half an hour for you to show up,” he said, which was a slight exaggeration and not even close to being the reason for his irritation.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I was in Kalispell today and ran into some traffic getting back.”

  “What were you doing in Kalispell?”

  Fallon looked at him for a long minute, then shook her head. “Apparently I wasted a lot of time and money.”

  “Shopping?” he guessed.

  “That, too,” she agreed, managing to keep her tone light despite the fact that his obliviousness had caused her ever-hopeful and pathetic heart to sink into the pit of her stomach.

  “For Christmas?” he guessed, because apparently this inane conversation wasn’t yet close to being done.

  “Actually, most of my Christmas shopping is done and my gifts wrapped,” she told him. “I was looking for an anniversary present for my parents. They’re celebrating thirty years of marriage on Christmas Eve.”

  “That’s impressive,” he said.

  She nodded. And proof that her mother was obviously a lot more knowledgeable than Fallon when it came to matters of the heart. If the man had half a brain in his head, he’d be head over heels in love with you. Unfortunately, I think he’s got so much going on in his life right now, he just can’t see the beautiful, incredible woman who is in front of him, and I don’t see his situation changing anytime soon.

  Fallon had thought—hoped—she could change it. She’d honestly believed that changing her hairstyle, putting on some makeup and buying new clothes would make him look at her differently. A five-minute conversation had disabused her of that notion.

  They worked together wrapping the gifts that were piled beside their table. Jamie didn’t say much as they worked. Fallon found herself humming along to the Christmas music that played softly in the background. There were a lot of people in attendance to help out with the event and much happy chatter as people talked with their friends and neighbors while they worked.

  Jamie hardly said a word, and when he did speak, it was only to ask her to pass the scissors or tape.

  “How were the kids today?” she asked, attempting to break the unexpectedly awkward silence.

  “Good.” He folded the corner of the paper, secured it with a piece of tape, and didn’t look up at her.

  “How is Jared doing with his new teeth?” she asked, having noticed that the little guy’s first two teeth had finally broken through his bottom gums a few days earlier.

  “Fine.” Fold. Tape. Repeat.

  “Are the puppies still sleeping in the laundry basket?”

  “Fine,” he said again.

  She affixed a bow to the present she’d finished and set it aside. “You’re not listening to anything I’m saying, are you?”

  Now, finally, he glanced up. “What?”

  She huffed out a breath. “If you don’t want to be here, why did you agree to come?”

  “I do want to be here,” he said.

  “Well, you’re not acting like it,” she told him.

  “I’m just...thirsty.”

  She blinked. “You’re thirsty?”

  He nodded. “I’m going to grab a cup of hot apple cider. Do you want one?”

  Though she was as baffled by his sudden interest in a beverage as she was by his lack of communication, she decided that cider would be good. “Sure,” she agreed.

  Jamie pushed his chair back and stood up to head toward the refreshment table.

  Shaking her head at his inexplicable mood, she returned her attention to her task. Or pretended to, while she surreptitiously watched Jamie move across the room. There was just something about the way the man filled out a pair of jeans that made her blood hum in her veins. But she was tired of being a solo act. She wanted to be with a man who wanted to be with her, and since that obviously wasn’t Jamie Stockton, she should follow her mother’s advice and start looking in another direction.

  Jamie hadn’t quite reached the refreshment table when Bobby Ray Ellis slid into the chair he’d recently vacat
ed.

  She’d gone to high school with Bobby Ray and they’d occasionally hung out together in a group of friends, but they’d never dated. Probably because, like most of the other guys in Rust Creek Falls, he’d seen her as a good pal rather than a potential mate. And that had never bothered her before, because she’d been too infatuated with Jamie to want to go out with anyone else.

  But now she was starting to accept that her mother was probably right. That it was time to give up hoping that Jamie would ever see her as anything more than a friend for himself and a babysitter for his children.

  “You look awfully pretty tonight, Fallon,” Bobby Ray said, drawing her attention back to the table.

  She smiled, grateful that someone had noticed the effort she’d gone to with her appearance. “Thank you, Bobby Ray.”

  “And I was wonderin’,” he continued, “if you’ve been dating anyone recently. Exclusively, I mean.”

  She shook her head as she cut a piece of paper from the roll. “No,” she said, not wanting to admit that she hadn’t been dating at all—exclusively or not.

  “Because I wouldn’t ever want to encroach on someone else’s territory,” he assured her, “but I sure would like to take you out sometime, if you were interested in goin’ out with me.”

  And while a part of her bristled at the idea of being considered any man’s “territory,” she knew Bobby Ray too well to be offended by his choice of words. “Are you asking me out on a date, Bobby Ray?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I am. Or at least, I’m tryin’ to.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” she admitted.

  “I can help you with that,” he said. “Say yes.”

  She smiled at his polite earnestness. He really was a good guy and more than pleasant to look at. Maybe he didn’t make her heart feel all fluttery inside, but since no one other than Jamie had ever had that effect on her—and since Jamie had shown less than zero interest in asking her out—she decided to follow her mother’s advice and go out with other people. “Okay, yes,” she finally agreed.

  Bobby Ray’s smile stretched across his face. “How about tomorrow night? They’re showin’ National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation at the high school.”

  Despite the impressive growth of the town in recent years, Rust Creek Falls still didn’t have an actual movie theater. Instead, movies were shown on Friday and Saturday nights at the local high school. “That sounds like fun,” she decided.

  “Great. Give me your number and I’ll get in touch with you in the mornin’ to firm up plans,” he said.

  So she added her number to the contacts list in his phone as he did the same to hers.

  Her former classmate had just slipped away when Jamie came back carrying two paper cups of hot apple cider. “What did Bobby Ray want?”

  She accepted the cup Jamie offered and wrapped her hands around it, because maybe it was a little chilly in the room and tights weren’t nearly as warm as long johns. “He asked me to go out with him.”

  Jamie scowled. “Like on a date?”

  “You don’t have to sound so surprised,” she told him. “I do occasionally go out.” Which okay, was a bit of a stretch considering that she hadn’t had a date in more than a year. Still, his question and tone were both a little insulting.

  “But... Bobby Ray?” he said skeptically.

  “Why shouldn’t I go out with Bobby Ray?” she challenged.

  “He just doesn’t seem like your type.”

  “Really? Then who do you think is my type?”

  She held her breath, waiting for his response. Waiting for some hint that he’d finally recognized that they should be together.

  But he only lifted a shoulder, a casual gesture of indifference. “I don’t know.”

  She was oh-so-tempted to pick up the roll of wrapping paper from the table and whack him upside the head. Was he being deliberately obtuse? Or was he trying to let her down easy? Well, to hell with that.

  “Just because you don’t find me attractive doesn’t mean that other men don’t,” she told him.

  His scowl deepened. “What are you talking about?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing. Forget it.” She fought against the tears that burned the backs of her eyes. “I think I’m going to go home now.”

  “What?” He seemed genuinely startled by her sudden announcement. “Why?”

  “Because it’s been a long day and I’m tired.” And she knew that if she didn’t make her escape quickly, she would likely do something she would regret—though it was a toss-up as to whether that “something” might be hitting him with the wrapping paper roll or kissing him senseless.

  “But... I thought we were going to wrap presents together.”

  She pushed her chair away from the table. “There are enough other people here that I won’t be missed.”

  * * *

  Jamie watched her pull on her coat—a heavy, full-length garment that covered from her chin to the top of her boots—and wondered why he felt as if she’d directed that last comment at him. As he watched her go, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d done something wrong, even if he had no idea what that something might be.

  And though he’d only been fifteen years old when he lost his parents, they’d made a point of teaching him manners and responsibility, and it was all too easy to imagine what they’d say about him allowing Fallon to walk out into the darkness of the night alone.

  He pushed his chair back and hurried after her.

  The night was cold—the type of cold that seared the lungs and crunched beneath the feet. It did both as he jogged across the parking lot in an effort to catch up with her hurried stride.

  “Fallon, wait.”

  “It’s too cold to stand around outside,” she told him, not even adjusting her pace.

  “Let me apologize.”

  She paused beside her SUV and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her long coat. “Why do you think you need to apologize?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But obviously I said or did something to upset you, and I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head. “No,” she said, maybe a little sadly. “You didn’t do anything.”

  “Fallon,” he tried again.

  She waited, expectantly, but he didn’t know what else to say.

  After a moment, she opened the door of her vehicle and stepped up onto the running board. “Good night, Jamie.”

  He moved closer and caught the top of the door before she could close it. “Bobby Ray’s a good guy,” he finally said.

  She nodded. “I know.”

  “And if you really want to go out with him...well, I hope you have a good time.”

  She responded by shoving her key in the ignition and starting the engine—a clear indication that their conversation was over.

  * * *

  Have a good time.

  Fallon drove home with Jamie’s parting words echoing in her head and tears stinging her eyes. But she refused to let them fall. She refused to let herself cry any more tears over a man who was too blinded by his responsibilities and grief and guilt to see that she was in love with him.

  There had been moments over the past couple of weeks—when he’d held her steady as she tried to loop the lights around the Christmas tree and when she’d kissed his chin after bashing it with her head—that she’d been certain he felt something. If not desire at least awareness. But apparently she’d been wrong about that, too.

  And maybe she should be grateful that he’d never figured out the true depth of her feelings. Because as much as it hurt to acknowledge his disinterest, she knew it would be infinitely more painful to accept his pity.

  She was almost home before she remembered that Bella had asked her to keep an eye open at the community center for any single
women who might be interested in marrying Jamie and becoming an instant mother to his three babies. It wouldn’t be too difficult to come up with a list of names for her friend. There were a lot of suitable candidates and many of them had been at Presents for Patriots tonight to check out the unmarried men in attendance—including Jamie Stockton.

  Hadley Strickland was the first name that came to mind. Hadley was a beautiful young veterinarian from Bozeman who was visiting with her grandparents—Melba and Old Gene—over the holidays. She’d also spotted a couple of women she didn’t know by name but who she guessed were cousins of the Daltons and definitely pretty enough to snag any man’s attention. It certainly wouldn’t take much effort for her to generate a list for Bella, but that didn’t mean she was going to do it. She’d stood back and felt her heart shatter as Jamie married another woman once already. She wasn’t masochistic enough to want to experience the same thing again.

  * * *

  “You weren’t gone very long,” Bella said, when Jamie walked into the house before nine o’clock. She was sitting on the sofa with Jared in her arms; both Henry and Katie were on a blanket spread out on the rug, sleeping. The puppies, confined to the play yard, immediately started jumping up at the walls of the enclosure, yipping for attention when he entered the room.

  “There were a lot of people there. They didn’t need me,” he told her, scooping up the puppies before they woke the sleeping babies.

  “But I thought you were meeting Fallon there.”

  “I was. I did.”

  “So where is she?” Bella asked.

  “She went home.”

  His sister continued to rub circles on Jared’s back. “Did something happen between the two of you?”

  “Nope.” He lowered himself into an armchair and lifted his feet onto the coffee table.

  Bella narrowed her eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”