Sweet Montana Boxed Set 1-5

by Lisa Mondello

  Brody could see that Trip was still affected by losing his friend as if he’d lost a brother. Based on what Hunter had told Brody about Trip, he treated his ranch hands more like family than like employees.

  “I have a bunk house. A few of the ranch hands live there. But I also have a small house on the property near the bunkhouse that’s meant for the ranch manager. My ranch is not as big as some of these other spreads, so I can’t pay you what some of the bigger operations do. But you’re welcome to live on the ranch in the manager’s house as part of your salary. You won’t find trouble here, and you’ll have room to work in peace without judgment. I can promise you that.”

  “I appr… I won’t let you down.” Brody stood and reached out his hand to shake Trip’s hand.

  * * *

  Brody wasted no time at all gathering his things and packing them into his truck. He’d decided to hold off on moving his belongings into the manager’s house and instead dove right into work. There was a lot to do.

  He’d spent the morning getting to know the ranch hands he’d be working with. Buck Jackson, the youngest of the crew took him through his routine working in the barn with the horses and introducing him to the ranch animals and the boarders. All the stalls were labeled, which made it easier to get to know the horses.

  He took one of the quarter horses, Desert Rose, out for a ride just after lunch to get a feel for the property. Trip met him halfway on his ride and gave him a rundown of the layout. They rode along a dirt path until they reached a meadow of wildflowers.

  “This is my favorite spot,” Trip said.

  “I can see why.”

  “When I first bought the ranch I had the bulls up here in this pasture. By the end of the season, the ground was all dug up. I knew it would come back. It always does. But my sister, Brenda, came up here and spread a whole bunch of seeds on the ground. At the time, I thought it was grass. I wasn’t sure why she was bothering. The next spring there were little pockets of flowers. That’s what she called them. Pockets of flowers. The year after that, they’d filled in more. Now it’s full of flowers and I hate to bring the bulls up here to pasture.” Trip laughed. “She’d probably have a fit I ruined all her work.”

  “It’s nice. The view is amazing.”

  “Well, I had no hand in that. Anywhere you go in Big Sky Country, the view is pretty spectacular. But I lucked out when I got this place.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  Trip thought a moment. “I’d say it’s going on fifteen years.”

  “Really?”

  “As I said, I lucked out when I found this place. It’s close to family. Brenda lives in the next town with her family. I’ve got some cousins not too far up the highway. I had a good couple of years on the rodeo circuit and I saved every penny I could to have something of my own one day. The ranch was in foreclosure at the time I bought it. A sad story. Of course, there were some out of state suits who’d come into town to buy it. I can almost bet my bid on the property wasn’t as high as what others offered. But the bank gave the ranch to me and I’ve made it my home. Levon was with me from the start. It was his home. Tabby came to live with us after her parents died. I knew her dad on the circuit. The Lone Creek became her home. Now it’s yours.”

  Brody looked around the meadow of color and to the mountains beyond. How the hell had he gotten so lucky?

  “Come on. I’ll show you the creek this ranch is named after,” Trip said.

  They’d spent another hour or two riding. It was well into the afternoon when Brody headed back to the barn alone with Desert Rose. Trip had decided to stay out for a while longer. He passed Dusty bringing one of the horses in the arena as he brought Desert Rose into the barn. He’d yet to see the arena. The ranch offered riding lessons and barrel racing lessons to the locals. Trip had told him that Tabby had done most of her barrel racing training with Tenterhook here at the ranch.

  Tenterhook had star quality, Trip had told him. But a devastating injury caused by the same man who’d killed Levon, forced Tenterhook into early retirement at least until his injury was fully healed.

  Brody passed Tenterhook’s stall on the way to putting Desert Rose in her stall. Tenterhook lifted his head above the gate to greet him.

  “You sure are a beauty,” Brody said as he passed. He opened the gate to Desert Rose’s stall and led her inside. He filled her water trough with water. Then he headed down to the stall where they kept the fresh hay and grabbed the pitchfork, taking a good mound of hay and putting in a wheelbarrow so he could fill the hay bin in the stall when he heard the sound of boots charging down the center aisle of the barn toward him.

  He dropped the hay into the wheelbarrow and then poked his head out from the stall to see who was coming.

  “I don’t believe it.” Tara Mitchell looked at him in disbelief.

  “What?”

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, anger seething inside of her and threatening to bubble over the surface.

  Brody held the pitchfork in his hand. “I work here.”

  She sputtered. “You? Who’d give a murderer a job?”

  He tamped down the pain in his gut he always felt any time anyone ever used that term. This time it was worse because it was Tara.

  “Someone who was willing to give me a second chance. Trip Taggart hired me. And yes, he knows about my past.”

  He knew as soon as he’d uttered the words that they were the dead wrong thing to say. Tara Mitchell wasn’t interested in giving him a second chance, not that he blamed her for it.

  “My brother didn’t get a second chance, did he? Why should you?”

  He shifted uncomfortably where he stood. This war would wage between them for the rest of their lives. And if he was living in Sweet, then they were bound to eventually run into each other.

  But he was starting over. It had taken a long time and he had done a hell of a lot of things in his life to set himself straight and get to this point. After that ride with Trip, he could see himself digging in roots here, just as Levon had done.

  He didn’t blame Tara for her anger or her resentment. But he wasn’t going to let her destroy this chance he had by making a scene.

  “I know you’re upset, but—”

  She threw her hands out to her side in disgust. “Upset? That doesn’t exactly cover it. He was my brother, Brody. He wasn’t some rodeo guy who had ridden into town and then left and broke my heart on his way out to the next rodeo.”

  “I know that. I also know that there isn't a damn thing I can do that will take away the pain you feel. I’m sorry for that. But I did pay for my part in it. And it was an accident. The jury saw it that way and so did the judge. Hell, even the prosecutors saw it that way and asked for the most lenient sentence. The only thing they didn’t see was self-defense.”

  “My brother’s still dead. He’s always going to be dead.”

  “I know. But that was the road he was on long before I showed up on the scene.”

  Her eyes flashed with anger. “He was trying to get help. People do try to get help and they recover from addiction.”

  “Tara, I don’t want to re-litigate the fact that your brother wasn’t just using, he was dealing. And worse than that he was pushing that poison on my sister.”

  She took a step back as if he’d slapped her, and maybe it felt that way to her.

  “Doug never would’ve pushed anything on anyone.”

  “You may not believe it. But it’s true.”

  Brody recalled what he’d seen that awful day. He had many chances to relive it in his mind. The incident that had made him snap and go after Tara’s brother in anger. Doug Mitchell wasn’t a well-known drug dealer on the reservation. There were plenty for any addict to choose from. Hunter had told him that many times over the years when guilt would settle itself on Brody’s shoulders. But they didn’t used to do what he’d seen Doug do with Marie.

  “I saw it with my own eyes, Tara. I saw him putting the drugs into Marie’s b
ody. I’ve relived that moment every day for the last ten years. And I’m sick of seeing it. I don’t want to see it. He could’ve killed her. Enough people considered what I did self-defense except for the fact that I kept fighting him after I pushed him off her. Him falling and striking his head on the brick, well, that was an accident. Manslaughter. I paid for it. I don’t expect that you’re ever going to understand it, much less forgive me for it.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Forgive you for it?”

  He talked over her. “But at least see your brother for what he was. He wasn’t an angel. None of us were back then. He paid his price and I paid mine.”

  She took a step toward him and glared. If not for the fact that she was slight and at least a foot shorter than he was, it would’ve intimidated him. But he held his ground.

  “Doug is still dead and you’re working here on this ranch. It seems to me you got the better end of the bargain.”

  Even in her anger, she was a beautiful woman. Her long brown hair swung around and landed like silk on her shoulders as she turned and stalked down the center aisle of the barn, the same as when she’d arrived. She whipped open the outer door and then slammed the barn door shut.

  Brody was sure Trip was going to hear that, even out on the ranch property. A few minutes later, he watched Dusty come through the door and let out a whistle.

  “Damn, Brody. Did you cause that storm that just blew through here?”

  Brody looked down at the floor, and then back up at Buck. “Afraid so.”

  “Lightning Strikes and I nearly had a heart attack walking out of the arena when she blew through.”

  Lightning Strikes was one of Trip’s prize horses, ready for breeding. If he’d been spooked and then injured, it would be game over for Brody. His job, his reputation, such as it was, and any chance of getting employment on another ranch within a two-hundred-mile radius from here would be gone.

  “Is Lightning Strikes okay?”

  “He’s in the paddock running circles. He’ll be fine in a few minutes as soon as the dust she created down the driveway clears out. Next time give us a little heads up so we can get out of the way.”

  “If I had any warning, I would have let you know. But I somehow missed that storm warning myself.”

  Sweet Montana Outlaw: Chapter Three

  It had been five days since she’d confronted Brody at the Lone Creek Ranch. She’d been in a miserable mood. By yesterday morning, Norma, her baker extraordinaire, dropped off the baked goods bright and early and then hightailed out of the store to her next stop without any of the normal chitchat they normally shared. Even someone as bubbly as Dixie was starting to avoid her by finding reasons to run into the back storeroom when Tara started muttering obscenities about Brody Whitebear.

  Only the customers who came into the store got a smile and some sunshine from her. Tara played the part well. She was sure her customers didn’t notice her underlying mood. But as soon as the bell rang and the door closed, her smile faded.

  Well, no more. After going over the books last night and seeing a nice increase in sales that she had hoped Dixie’s little experiment would provide, she’d decided she’d had enough mopping and misery and gotten it out of her system. She was determined to enjoy her new good fortune despite seeing Brody again.

  As she drove to work that morning, the sun was just peeking up over the mountains. Some people didn’t like this hour of the morning, especially on a cold snowy Montana morning. But Tara had never minded getting up early. She knew how to dress warm. She’d learned how to travel on snowy and icy roads throughout the years she’d lived in Montana. Her apartment was close enough to town where Sweet Sensations was located so she didn’t have to worry about driving too far.

  Norma Calhoun was always awake and baking her goodies way before Tara was out of bed. Then she packed up her truck with the pies, muffins and pastries, still warm and smelling sweet, and delivered the baked goods to Tara’s shop at six o’clock sharp. Tara had learned early on that there was a lot of foot traffic on the main drag in town that early in the morning no matter what the weather. Cowboys were up getting supplies or eating breakfast at the diner across the street.

  Sweet Sensations had experienced many starts and stops over the years since Tara had started it. But changing her hours and adding the bakery had made a lasting financial impact despite the competition with the breakfast diner across the street. Her shop was now known for its hot and cold specialty coffees and freshly baked sweets for those people in a hurry even on a cold or rainy morning.

  But this morning wasn’t cold or rainy. It was sunny and bright and Tara decided that thoughts of Brody would not ruin such a perfect day. Soon the sun would be climbing high in the sky and it would be warm. All the tourists who had stayed away because of the freak blizzard a few weeks ago would now be coming back to town and ready to start hiking on one of the many trails that led into the mountains that Sweet and the surrounding towns had to offer.

  As she drove down the road and headed to the store, she took a moment to glance at the dashboard for the time. She groaned. She was running ten minutes late, and Norma would probably be at the shop when she got there. And she’d be angry, not that Tara didn’t blame her. Norma had other places to deliver to, and she had her own catering schedule to keep up.

  But as Tara pulled up onto Main Street, she saw flashing blue and white lights and a police cruiser parked in front of her store. Norma’s car was parked out on the street in front rather in the back where she normally pulled in for delivery. She was standing on the sidewalk with her body leaning against her truck as she spoke to Officer Lincoln.

  Tara’s heartbeat kicked up a notch. Confusion and fear collided with her as she pulled her car up to the curb, shoved it into park, and then launched out to make sure Norma was okay. As soon as she approached the police cruiser, she saw the front window of Sweet Sensations completely smashed. Glass was sprayed on the sidewalk and inside the shop.

  She ran over to Norma. The closer she got to the older woman, the more she saw how rattled Norma was by what she’d witnessed.

  Guilt choked Tara as she took in Norma’s tear filled eyes. She was late and whatever had happened here, Norma had to deal with it herself.

  “Are you okay?” she asked Norma, touching her arm.

  “Oh, thank heavens!” Norma said as relief washed over her face when she saw it was Tara. “I’m fine. I wasn’t here when they were here. I was afraid you’d been inside when I saw this damage.”

  Norma, a middle-aged woman with a thick stomach and hair she kept wrapped in the back of her head in a messy bun, swiped a hand across her forehead as if to push away hair.

  “I was late,” Tara said. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

  “Sorry? I’m not. What if you’d been here when this happened?”

  Tara placed a hand over her chest to slow her rampant heartbeat. “What exactly happened?”

  Norma shrugged. “I was about to pull in the back like I always do, but I saw the window. I mean, how can you not? And I thought the worst. I didn’t know what to think. Chuck and I had our house broken into about ten years ago and they did the same thing. They broke the window so that they could get inside. There was no way I was going in there. But I was afraid you were already inside, so I called the police.”

  She turned and saw Officer Lincoln on the sidewalk across the street talking to a few cowboys in front of the diner. One of them pointed in their direction and continued telling his story.

  “Did they see what happened?”

  Norma shrugged. “I have no idea. I never saw anyone come out. So I think whoever it was who broke in is long gone.”

  Tara glanced through the broken window and saw two other officers inside her shop. One was looking around and talking, pointing at things. He had a camera in his hand and was taking pictures. The other was on the phone talking to someone. She recognized the man as Officer Caleb Samuel and knew him well. He usually stopped into the shop ever
y morning for a coffee and scone at the beginning of his shift.

  Her shop was a mess. Someone had caused this destruction on purpose. It broke Tara’s heart to see it in such disarray. She’d worked so hard to build it up and make it part of the community. People liked it. She got good reviews from her customers. She’d even searched blogs from travel sites and had seen people comment about coming to Sweet and visiting Sweet Sensations. Her store had given her pride.

  But now it looked broken. Invaded by someone who hadn’t cared about all the work and love that she’d put into the shop.

  “Oh, I totally forgot about Dixie!” Norma said, her expression full of panic.

  Tara shook her head. “She has today off for an examine at the college.”

  “Oh, thank goodness.”

  Dixie was so young. She was very naïve in some ways. It would have been horrible if she’d been here during the break in.

  If Tara had been on time this morning, she may have seen whoever had did this. But more than likely, it had happened hours ago. Why hadn’t her store alarm gone off? She didn’t have the most sophisticated system, but if someone had tried to escape through one of the doors, it should have gone off.

  In her angst over Brody Whitebear being here in town, had she forgotten to set the alarm when she’d left last night? What were the chances someone would break in on the one night she hadn’t set the alarm?

  And who would be so callous and so mean to destroy the beautiful work that some of the local artisans had put countless hours into creating? Every one of them will be paid. Tara would make sure of that. She knew that the insurance company would reimburse her for the items that were lost. But no one would get to enjoy the beautiful pieces that were now gone.