“I’m looking forward to it.” Amy smiled at Stan, then grinned at the excited squeal coming from the other side of his reception area.
“Make the most of all that enthusiasm,” Stan said.
“I plan on doing just that. I’ll see you next week.”
Stan smiled and disappeared back inside his office.
She walked across the room, lifting her sister out of the stroller. Catherine’s little fingers made a quick grab for the silver chain around Amy’s throat. She tried to pull the necklace free, but Catherine had her fingers wrapped around the metal links, pulling them toward her mouth.
“Hold still.” Nathan moved closer, dangling a set of keys in the air. Catherine’s gaze darted to his fingers, then back to the necklace. Nathan gave the keys another shake. Catherine’s fist opened and Amy’s necklace fell out of her hands.
Catherine not only wanted the keys, she wanted the man holding the shiny metal shapes. As soon as her fingers closed around the keys she reached for Nathan. He held his arms out and she lunged toward him.
Amy laughed at the grin sliding across his face. “It looks as though she’s added you to her list of best friends.”
Nathan balanced Catherine in his arms. “She’s added more than me. Jake, his wife Doris, and Jessie Adams made her list of favorite people as well. We’ve spent the last forty minutes eating scones, drinking coffee and catching up on what’s been happening since I last came to town.”
Amy pushed the stroller into the corridor. “Did you hear anything exciting?”
Nathan’s eyebrows rose a foot off his face. “Is this the same person who never listened to gossip?”
“That’s because my mom and I used to be the main gossip around town. After she left everyone’s curiosity died down. Sally keeps me filled in on what’s happening.”
“Trust my sister. She can sniff out a scandal quicker than anyone I know. Let’s get back to the truck.”
“You still haven’t told me what news is circulating Bozeman.”
Nathan glanced at her before pushing the elevator button. The dimple in his cheek hid a smile that was fit to bursting. “There’s a reason for that.”
“You’ve got to be joking? Doris and Jessie were talking about me? But I’ve only been back a day.”
When the dimple turned to a megawatt smile she nearly forgot about town gossip. The last nine years dissolved in a rush of hormones, filling her body to overflowing with sweet cravings that begged to be set free. Nathan sucked in a deep breath, his gaze as hot and heated as the blush she could feel on her face.
Clenching her hands against the plastic handle of the stroller, Amy moved away from the danger zone standing beside her. She glanced at Catherine, happily chewing on the edge of Nathan’s denim jacket, then back at the elevator.
She felt like she’d just walked backward through a carwash. She was still struggling with soap suds and wax when the elevator doors opened.
“It wasn’t bad gossip. They were more interested in Catherine than anything else. As soon as I told them she was your half sister they didn’t ask any more questions.”
She nodded, staring at the little green numbers slowly sliding down to ground level. It didn’t matter what people said. Her sister was safe. She had a job. She should be happy, and she was. Sort of. But most of all she felt relieved.
“What else do you need to do?” Nathan asked.
She gazed at him, wondering if he realized how long her list of jobs had become. “How much time do you have?”
“How much do you need?”
“You don’t want to know,” she sighed. Opening her bag, she pulled out a folded piece of paper. Car washes aside, letting Nathan help her seemed like the only way she’d get through the things she still needed to do. Second on her list was finding somewhere to live. “Sally said to go and see Adele Murphy at Landmark Real Estate. She’s in charge of their rental properties.”
“I thought you were staying at the ranch for a couple of weeks? Do you need to go to the realtor today?”
“I can’t afford not to. I start work next week and I’m not going to have much time after that to look at apartments.”
Nathan glanced at his watch. “I can spare another couple of hours. If you’re hungry we can stop for lunch then go and see what’s available.”
“Lunch it is, then we’ll shop for an apartment.” And heaven help both of them if Jessie or Doris got wind of Amy looking at real estate with Nathan. Both of them would become the number one hot news of Bozeman for at least a week.
“No. Definitely not.” Nathan crossed his arms in front of his chest, staring at the ugly two bedroom apartment Adele Murphy had shown them. “The balcony’s a danger-zone for kids and you’d never be able to get Catherine up the stairs without risking a hernia.”
“It’s perfectly adequate,” Amy hissed. “And it’s in my price range. It beats the last property hands-down.”
“Yeah, that’s because the last one had a rat infestation worse than our barn.”
“Scoff all you like, but it’s my choice and I like this one.”
He looked at the walls painted a crappy mud brown, and the small shabby kitchen tucked at one end of the living room. “It’s too small.”
Adele Murphy sashayed into the room. Her black designer coat, high heels and bright red scarf belonged in the apartment as much as Amy did. “Well, what do you think?”
Her smile stretched a little too thin for Nathan’s liking. Adele tried to sound enthusiastic, but her voice came off sounding about as excited as the dirty green bathroom he’d just seen. After looking inside the last two apartments Adele had shown them, he knew why.
Amy glared at him. “It’s much better than the last one. With a bit of redecoration it could look quite nice.”
He stared straight back. Nothing could make this box look good.
Adele pulled a fancy little gizmo out of her jacket and started tapping on the screen. “At seven hundred dollars a month, it’s one of our more affordable options.”
Amy moved Catherine onto her other hip. “Is there any negotiation on the one year lease?”
Nathan moved toward Amy and held his arms out. Catherine took the hint even if her sister looked annoyed. He pulled the bundle of snowsuit against his chest and walked to the second bedroom. Nine steps. At least no one would get lost in this shoe box. He glanced over his shoulder, just in time to see Adele purse her red lips.
“We have strict instructions from the owners not to accept any tenants for less than a year.”
He glanced down at Catherine. No one in their right mind would ever stay in this dump for a year. Unless they didn’t have a choice. “What else is available?”
Adele turned to face him, flicking through computer files with the tip of a manicured nail. “You’ve seen all we have in this price bracket. If you want a home with more space and a garden, you’d be looking at about a thousand dollars a month.”
He looked at Amy. She shook her head.
“How far away from the center of town do you want to live?” Adele looked straight at him, her finger poised above the touch screen.
“Nathan’s not living with us,” Amy said. “We’re not…a couple. The apartment will be for Catherine and me.”
“Oh, I assumed you were married.” Adele’s gaze swept over Nathan. “You must be a good friend to brave these temperatures to look for an apartment.”
Nathan could see some not too subtle cogs spinning inside Adele’s head. He walked to the front door and held it open. “Thanks for showing us around. We’ll get back to you.”
Adele smiled, handing each of them a business card. “Let me know when you’re ready to look at more properties. I’m only a phone call away.”
The realtor’s fingers lingered just a tad too long on his hand. He had to fight an impulse to wipe his fingers on the side of his jeans.
Amy walked past him with her nose tilted in the air. Her cheeks had turned a rosy shade of pink and her eyes looked li
ke they were ready to nail him to the nearest wall. She stomped across to the truck, opening the back door for Catherine before slamming her door in his face.
He clicked Catherine’s harness into place then walked around to the driver’s seat. Peering inside the cab he said, “Is it safe to sit beside you?”
“Only if you’re not worried about getting your ear chewed off.”
He pulled himself into the truck, shutting the door on the cold wind howling outside. “I’m feeling brave, so go for it.”
Amy glared at his face, her gaze flicking to his ear and back again. Heat spiraled through his body, pooling in places it had no place going. Amy wouldn’t be nibbling on any piece of his anatomy. Ever again. But by God, he couldn’t help remembering what it felt like to have her teeth and tongue work their magic on his body.
“That apartment was perfectly adequate.”
“Perfectly adequate for someone without a baby. It didn’t even have a patch of grass for Catherine to play on.” Or a decent heating system, or one curtain that didn’t need to be replaced. And he hadn’t even bothered to turn a faucet on because he was sure the water would have been about as brown as the walls.
“Considering we’re heading into winter, a patch of grass doesn’t rank too high on my list of priorities. It’s warm and tidy.”
“And small and dirty.”
Amy’s lips clamped together in a tight line. “It’s compact, but there’s only the two of us. It’s in a reasonable neighborhood and there’s a supermarket down the road.”
He started the vehicle, turning back toward Main Street. “Why aren’t you looking for something bigger? You’ll be earning good money once you start at the hospital.”
“Good money for six months and then I don’t know what’s happening.” She rubbed her forehead, frowning at the road ahead of them. “I don’t want to over commit my finances until I’ve got a permanent job. There’s more than one realtor in Bozeman. I’ll make some calls tomorrow.”
He glanced across at her. She looked pale and defeated. “There’ll be something out there. Just not that one.”
She took a deep breath. “Maybe not, but I’m not ruling it out completely. It’s my decision.”
“Fair enough.” He looked up at the black clouds rolling across the sky. They were in for another storm and he didn’t want to be anywhere outside when it hit. “Let’s get you and Catherine home. Sean’s on dinner duty tonight and he’s cooking his specialty. After tasting his buffalo spaghetti you won’t want to be going anywhere.”
“Is that why you’re living with your parents?”
“It’d take more than Sean’s cooking to keep me there. As soon as mom and dad arrive home I’m heading to my place.”
“Sally told me you’d built a home not far from your parents. I didn’t expect to see you when we arrived.”
“You’re not the only one that got a surprise.”
Amy cleared her throat. “So why are you staying in your old room?”
“Dad wanted me to keep an eye on Sean and Matthew. Sally moved in a couple of days before mom and dad left for Florida. She’s supposed to be helping around the ranch, but I’ve got a feeling mom wanted us to keep her on the straight and narrow.”
A brief smile crossed Amy’s face. “I don’t think it’s possible to keep your sister out of trouble. When do your parents get home?”
“In two days. Sally’s already got her bags packed, ready to head back to her apartment.” He looked in the rearview mirror. “Catherine’s sound asleep. Did you look at the daycare center?”
She nodded. “Stan took me downstairs and introduced me to the staff. They seem really nice and the facilities are lovely. I’ve booked her to start on Monday, so we’ll see how it goes.”
“Do you need to do any night shifts?”
“Not at the moment. There’s a team of local doctors that split the evenings between them. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever need to start working through the night.”
Nathan thought he had it rough. Becoming a single mom to her half sister had turned Amy’s life around in a complete circle. And she’d only just begun. God knew what would be thrown her way over the next few months. Or years.
He passed another truck heading out of town, then glanced across at Amy. They’d both been dealt a new deck of cards and he wondered if either of them knew what they were doing.
Amy carried her sleeping sister upstairs. She unzipped Catherine’s snowsuit and slowly peeled it off her body. It had been a big day for both of them and there’d be even more busy days ahead. At least she had a job. For six months she could pretend they had a normal life. That the shadow of their mother wasn’t hanging over them, ready to smother the life they were making for themselves.
She took her jacket off and stood silently beside the cot, watching the gentle rise and fall of her sister’s chest. Life had to be more simple than the twisted path they’d found themselves on. Half the time she didn’t know where she was heading. All the plans she’d made didn’t mean a thing if her mom took Catherine back.
She had no control over the process she’d started as soon as she’d called Child Protective Services. No control over the wreck of a mother that had abandoned both her daughters. Her hands gripped the wooden rail. It felt solid and real and that’s what she needed more than anything else at the moment.
With a tired sigh she turned from their bedroom and headed downstairs.
Sally looked up from the kitchen table. “How did you get on?”
“I’m working at the hospital for the next six months and Catherine’s enrolled in daycare. You’re home early.”
“I had a half day at school. Congratulations on your new job. Did you manage to get in touch with the property manager?”
“Yep,” Nathan came in from the hallway, dropping two flat boxes on the table, “and all of the apartments were health hazards.”
“They were not. They were reasonably clean and had all the basics.”
“Basics my ass,” he scoffed. “One of the apartments would have squeezed inside mom’s kitchen, it was so small.”
Amy gazed at the four walls surrounding them. He wasn’t far wrong but she wouldn’t admit that to him. She moved across the kitchen and grabbed a couple of mugs from the pantry. “One of them may be a possibility. Do you want a cup of coffee, Nathan?”
He frowned. “Are you being nice because you want something or because Adele thought we were married?”
Sally choked on the biscuit she was eating.
Nathan grabbed the boxes off the table when Sally’s arm almost connected with her mug of coffee. Between a coughing fit, she squeaked, “Married?”
Amy glared at Nathan. The man had absolutely no sense of timing and a weird sense of humor. “The property manager thought we wanted a family home.”
Sally stared at her. She didn’t get it. Neither had Amy until Adele asked Nathan how close to town he wanted to live. Grabbing a napkin off the counter, she passed it to Sally. “She thought we were looking for an apartment for the three of us. Nathan, Catherine and me.”
Sally’s gaze moved between Amy and her brother. Her lips twitched and she started laughing. “What did she say when you told her you weren’t together?”
Amy stared at Nathan’s grinning face. He was enjoying every single minute of their almost marriage.
“It wasn’t so much what she said, but what she did.” Nathan dropped the boxes back on the table. “Adele gave me her business card.”
“She gave us both a business card.”
“But did yours have her home number on it?”
Amy reached into her back pocket. Pulling the card out of her jeans, she turned it over. No home number. “I don’t believe you.”
Nathan opened his wallet and held a little blue card in the air. “Exhibit one for the disbelieving doctor.”
Amy peered at the card waving in the air. “It’s the same as mine.”
“Nope. Come closer and I’ll show you.”
She knew all about getting close to Nathan and it wasn’t a good place to be. She stared at the card, then at the grin beaming across the room at her. She shouldn’t be tempted, but she was.
A loud bang made her jump. Coffee. She needed to make herself a mug of hot, black coffee to take the edge off Nathan’s bad-boy smile.
Sean limped into the kitchen, waving an electric drill in his hand. “Who the hell left this in the middle of the doorway?”
“That would have been me,” Nathan said. “And unless you want to put a crack in mom’s lightshade I’d suggest you put it on the table.”
Sean’s gaze shot to the red light dangling above his head. He dropped the drill, staring at the boxes covering the table. “What are you making?”
Nathan walked across to the kitchen and opened a drawer. “No way, you’re not helping me. Last time I let you loose with a drill I ended up having to re-screw all of my drywall.” He moved back to the table and ran a knife along the edge of a box, flicking the lid open.
“Nothing that a little plaster didn’t fix.” Sean nudged one of the boxes closer. “Baby gates? Where are you putting these?”
Amy sloshed boiling water over the edge of her mug. She turned in time to see a dull blush creeping up the side of Nathan’s face.
“After Amy nearly threw herself down the stairs this morning I thought it might be a good idea to put these up.”
Sally burst out laughing. “I can really see how that’s going to help her.”
Nathan glared at his sister. “You know what I mean. I’m sure Catherine will appreciate my efforts, even if you don’t.”
Sally reached across and patted Nathan’s hand. “You did good, big brother. Just don’t put too many holes in dad’s banister otherwise he’ll rant and rave about it for weeks.”
Nathan pulled one of the wooden gates from the box. “Do you recognize this?”
Sally frowned. “Should I?”
“You used them as a climbing frame.” He opened a bag of screws that had been tied to the edge of the gates. “Dad swore that out of all of us, you were the monkey of the family. As soon as you could open your eyes you were climbing where you weren’t supposed to go.”
Forever in Love (Montana Brides) Page 5