Sweet Montana Boxed Set 1-5

by Lisa Mondello

  He quickly pulled on his boots and walked over to Tara’s bedroom door. It was closed, so he knocked lightly. He listened until he heard her rouse. Then he cracked open the door just a bit, and called inside. “Are you awake?”

  Tara sat up straight in bed and stared at the doorway. That same look of fright crossed her face until she recognized him standing there.

  “Yes, come in.”

  He opened the door fully and stepped inside. But stayed by the door. Seeing her sleepy and rumpled and intoxicatingly beautiful took his breath away. He loved her. Somehow, she’d crept under his skin and dug into his heart.

  “I have to go,” he said.

  Her eyes opened wide and she ran her fingers over them to clear them as she focused on him. “Oh, of course. Any other day and I would’ve been up and out to meet Norma at the shop.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?”

  “I saw you at the shop yesterday, remember?”

  “That’s right,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “How can I forget? You were there. Thank God you were there.”

  The look of gratitude she had felt misplaced. “And Hunter. He was there too.”

  “I owe the two of you my life.”

  “Why don’t we just call things even? If we can.”

  She looked down at her hands for a few seconds and then lifted her gaze to him. “Do you think that’s even possible?”

  “It’s just a figure of speech. Things are never even.”

  “No, I mean is it ever possible to move past one thing to another thing. You know what I’m talking about. There’s always going to be a history between us. But then there’s this thing. I know you know what I’m talking about.”

  He drew in a deep breath. “I’m not a stupid man, Tara. I know what I see. And I know what I feel.”

  She chuckled, yet it held no humor. “I’m glad one of us does. I’m just a big jumbled mess about everything these days.”

  He wanted to touch her. He wanted to wipe the frown he saw in her expression away and replace it with that laughter he’d seen at her face when they’d run through the meadow. His mind kept going back to that moment. It was completely innocent. There was nothing wrong with what they both did or why they were there. And yet, every time he thought about that moment when he’d kissed her, it filled his heart with happiness.

  “Are you going to be okay?” Brody asked.

  She smiled. “You’ve done enough, Brody,” she said. “I really appreciate you coming here last night. I actually slept and I didn’t think I was going to.”

  Then she placed her hand over her mouth and looked at him. “But you look like a mess. I’m sorry. That wasn’t a nice thing to say.”

  He chuckled. “It’s honest. And true. You were right. Your sofa isn’t exactly the most comfortable thing for a six-foot plus cowboy to sleep on.”

  “You wouldn’t let me give you the bed. I would’ve slept on the sofa. I sometimes fall asleep there watching television.”

  “I’m a cowboy. And a gentleman. There is no way I would’ve let you take that sofa so I could be comfortable in your bed unless you were snuggled in that bed with me.”

  Her eyes widened until he saw the most beautiful color of blue. He crossed the line. There was this thing between them. Unspoken until a few minutes ago. But whatever it was, he’d just cross the line.

  “I wish you had been.”

  Something kicked his gut with the thought of what she was implying. “I have to go,” he said.

  He turned to leave and was just through the doorway when she stopped him with her words.

  “You will come back, won’t you?”

  Turning around, he couldn’t help but smile. How could he look at such a beautiful woman this early in the morning and not smile at her beauty.

  “As long as you want me to, I’ll come back.”

  She lifted her eyes to him and held his gaze. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Brody?”

  “What?”

  “How about forever.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. His heart beat hard as if it would explode in his chest.

  “Forever?” he asked, taking a few steps back into the room.

  She threw the blankets off her body and swung her feet onto the floor. Then she met him halfway in the room.

  “Yeah, forever.”

  “You don’t mean that. You’re scared. I’m here for you as long as you need me.”

  “Forever,” she said again. “I mean that. You make me feel alive, Brody. You make me feel safe. Why wouldn’t I want that forever?”

  He reached out and touched her cheek. She leaned into it.

  “I want to kiss you, you know.”

  She smiled up at him. “That would really nice. I’d like that.”

  “Forever.”

  Her smile widened. “Forever. I think I’m in love with you, Brody Whitebear.”

  “I know I’m in love with you, Tara Mitchell. It’s crazy, but it’s true. This is a new river for me.”

  “And me.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and he held her tight. Life was funny. The river couldn’t take you back to the source, but it could start anew and bring you to new places. Brody never thought he’d end up here. What a fabulous surprise.

  Sweet Montana Secrets: Chapter One

  There was something in the air. A certain stench of greediness that Julie Samuel could almost smell as she waltzed through the employee’s door of the Red Wolf Casino where she’d been working for more than six months as a bartender.

  It was going to be a busy night. By the end of her shift, she’d have sore feet, burning eyes from the cigarette and cigar smoke, and hopefully a pocketful of tips to add to her stash for whatever the future held.

  As she moved through the casino toward the employee’s break room, a woman in her seventies or eighties breezed right in front of Julie as if she hadn’t even seen her. The woman headed to a slot machine and settled herself in a chair for what would probably be a few hours of her retirement money being lost. In a way, the woman reminded Julie of Margaret, the old woman who owned the house where Julie rented a room. Margaret was a bit older and more fragile. And Margaret wouldn’t be caught dead in a casino. Julie still remembered Margaret’s reaction when Julie had told her where she worked.

  “Now you take care of yourself, little girl. You’ll get no future with one of those men you meet in the casino. They’re probably married and cheating on their wives or they’re drowning their sorrows in their whiskey so they don’t have to go home and tell their wife they lost all the money to pay the mortgage.”

  Julie smiled at the memory. She wasn’t interested in meeting men. Especially not here. But Margaret reminded Julie of a worldly old aunt with stories of the great depression and “the good ole’ days.” There was always a story with Margaret. Of all the places she’d lived, Julie had enjoyed living there the best.

  She punched the time clock quickly and then deposited her purse in her locker. Glancing at her watch, she saw she had a minute to get to the bar before Gary, the other bartender she worked with most nights, noticed. And he would notice, Julie thought.

  “Hey,” she said, walking behind the bar. Gary, a heavyset man in his mid-forties, could move faster than she could. Customers liked him. Right now he had a long line of cocktail waitresses at his end of the bar waiting for their orders to be filled.

  He nodded to her. Then she went to work filling drinks for a few of the people who sat at the bar. They were easy enough; a few beers, a brandy neat, and a whiskey sour. She filled the unmixed drinks first and then headed to the ice machine to grab some ice for the whiskey sour.

  “Whoa. The ice machine is almost empty again.” She grabbed what little ice was left in the machine, knowing the rest would be gone in the next five minutes given how busy the room looked, and poured it into a mixing cup.

  “It broke this afternoon,” Gary said.

  “Aga
in?”

  Gary shrugged. “It won’t be fixed until tomorrow. We have bags of ice in the freezer in the restaurant.”

  “Oh, that is going to make things real convenient tonight.”

  “I’ll get a few after I finish these drinks.”

  “Nah, finish what you’re doing,” Julie said, as she quickly mixed the whiskey sour and dropped it in front of the woman sitting next to the man with the brandy neat. He handed her some bills and lifted his hand to indicate she should keep the rest.

  After ringing up the sale and dropping the extra in the tip jar Gary and her would split at the end of the evening, she said, “I’ll grab two bags. You can get the next round.”

  Gary nodded and went back to the long line of cocktail waitresses at the bar while Julie quickly darted through the casino toward the neighboring restaurant. With every step, the smell of steak and burgers filled her head, making her stomach growl. She walked up to the hostess and said, “I hear you guys are keeping bags of ice for us in your freezer.”

  “For the bar? Yeah, Drew mentioned something about that. Just go into the kitchen. You’ll find Drew back there.”

  Julie did as she was told and found the manager who helped place two bags of ice in Julie’s arms.

  “I have a cart in the back,” Drew said. “I’ll bring it up so it’ll make the next few trips easier.”

  Julie chuckled, and teased, “Sure, make it easier for Gary. Thanks for these.”

  “No problem.”

  She headed back through the restaurant and weaved around the casino patrons on her way back to the bar area. She nearly dropped both bags of ice when she spotted who stood in front of her as a group of people dispersed.

  “Caleb,” she whispered. Her bottom lip wobbled a little even though she fought to keep her composure. It had been over twelve years since she’d seen her brother. She’d been in high school when he’d joined the military and went overseas. Two years after that, she’d left home and had never gone back.

  Caleb’s expression registered shock. “Julie!”

  He looked down at her with a mixture of surprise, relief and anger all rolled into one. For a second, Julie wanted to shrink down as she used to when she was a kid and her big brother was angry with her. She wasn’t a kid anymore. She was a woman, and she had all the scars to prove it.

  “Caleb. What are you doing here?”

  Her arms and chest felt numb from holding the two ice bags against her body. But the sudden glacial stare he cast on her made her shudder.

  “Me? Where the hell have you been all these years?”

  He’d raised his voice, and a few people turned to look in their direction, including Gary who frowned and motioned with his head in concern toward Caleb. Julie shook her head quickly to let him know she was okay, and not being harassed by some crazy person.

  She drew in a deep breath. “I wasn’t aware that I needed your permission to do anything.”

  Caleb frowned. “We’re not talking about permission, Julie. We’re talking about decency. I’m your brother, for cripes’ sake, and you disappeared from the face of the earth years ago.”

  “You found me, didn’t you?”

  “If I hadn’t seen you pass by while I was having dinner with Katie, I wouldn’t have seen you at all. So don’t get cute with me.”

  “Why not? You always said I was cute kid. A brat, but cute.”

  Katie. He was here with a girl but that girl didn’t seem to be anywhere in the vicinity.

  Caleb shook his head and chuckled. But she could tell he was angry as much as he was surprised. “You’re my sister. Brat goes with the territory. Besides, I’m thinking you look more of a brat than cute right now with that snarky look on your face.”

  “What am I supposed to have?” she whispered, leaning toward him. “You’re embarrassing me in front of my boss, and I need this job.”

  Gary wasn’t exactly her boss. He was one of a few managers who worked in the bars for the casino. But word of this could easily get back to the floor manager if Gary chose to say something.

  “You’ve been a few towns away from Sweet this whole time? You could’ve called.”

  “Mom and Dad sold the house. And you were gone when I left. How was I supposed to call when I didn’t have your number?”

  “Don’t give me that.”

  “Aren’t you on a date? Where is this Katie person?”

  He shook his head as if befuddled. “This Katie person? She was your best friend in high school. Or did you suddenly develop a case of amnesia for that as well as the use of a telephone.”

  “Katie Dobbs? You’re with Katie Dobbs? Wait, you’re dating Katie Dobbs?” Julie looked around but couldn’t see any sign of Katie anywhere.

  “Don’t change the subject. She’s still in the restaurant. You could have called Mom or Dad’s cell phone.”

  “They were disconnected. They must have changed them when they moved out of state. Anyway, the last I remember, you were in the military, thousands of miles away. I had no way of knowing where you were or when you’d return to the States.”

  “A letter. Anything. You could have contacted any of your friends.”

  “I sent a letter to Katie. I never heard back.”

  “You didn’t tell her where to find you!”

  “Ssh. Keep your voice down.”

  Her arms were frozen and the bags of ice were starting to melt against the heat of her body.

  “You grew up in Sweet,” Caleb said. “People know you there. You could have easily just driven into town and talked to any number of people who know the family. A neighbor. Hell, even the Realtor who sold the house could have told you where Mom and Dad moved. You didn’t even try.”

  She forced her shoulders to stay straight although she felt the weight of her actions pulling her down. Her body trembled from the cold.

  “You have no idea what I’ve been through, Caleb,” Julie said.

  “I do. It took me a long time to find out, but I know that you left here because you were pregnant.” He said those last words quietly but it sounded like a bomb going off in her ear.

  “You do?” Her eyes were wide with surprise as she looked at her brother. “How?”

  “Never mind how. I just found out.”

  She thought for a second. “Katie? Did she tell you something?”

  “She didn’t tell me. But she told me about your relationship with Hunter. The rest of it fell into place. You could’ve told me, Julie,” Caleb said.

  “You were in Iraq.”

  “Afghanistan. Thank you for remembering.”

  Guilt stabbed at her. She’d been so preoccupied during that part of her life that she’d forgotten where her brother had been stationed. He could’ve easily been killed and she would never have known. She’d made sure of it. She didn’t want to hear about news from Sweet, Montana, her hometown. She wanted to start new, with no memories to hold her back. It hadn’t started out that way, but she’d had no choice.

  “What happened to the baby?” Caleb asked. “I have a niece or nephew somewhere, don’t I?”

  She felt the burning of tears behind her eyes. She glanced at Gary who was holding his own at the bar, but it was getting busy. He frowned and motioned to her to get to work.

  She turned to Caleb and lifted her chin. “Leave it alone, Caleb. If you love me, then leave it at that.”

  “What about Hunter? Doesn’t he have a right to know why you left?”

  Oh, God. If Caleb knew, did that mean Hunter did too? No, it couldn’t be. She didn’t know how Caleb knew about the baby but why would he tell Hunter? He had no reason to see Hunter.

  “I’m working, Caleb. I beg of you.”

  “I’m not letting this go, Julie. I’ve been looking for you ever since I came home. If you don’t tell me where the hell you’ve been all this time then…”

  “What? What are you going to do?”

  His gaze bore into her. “Tell Hunter.”

  Panic filled her until her face
felt as though it was on fire. “Tell Hunter what?”

  “Tell Hunter, or I will tell him I saw you. And you can deal with whatever blowback you get from him. Because I know one thing, we both deserve some answers.”

  She glanced over at the bar. Gary lifted both arms and showed his impatience with a hard glare.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow, Caleb. I have to go.”

  He chuckled with no humor. “How? You don’t even know how to find me?”

  Tears filled Julie’s eyes. “Yes, I do. You live in an apartment near the center of town in Sweet, Montana. Still. You never left like Mom and Dad did. I looked you up. I have your landline number.”

  His anger melted away with her confession. “I kept a landline so you could find me.”

  “It worked. I did. I’ll call you tomorrow. I don’t want to be fired. Please, just leave for now.”

  She stomped away carrying the melting ice bags, and didn’t give Caleb another look. Gary was none too happy with her when she reached the ice machine.

  “Your shirt is soaked,” he said, grabbing one of the ice bags, ripping it open and pouring the ice into the ice machine to keep it frozen. “Who was that guy giving you a hard time?”

  She could lie and say it was nobody to make it easier. But Gary would know she was lying. “My brother, Caleb.”

  “Oh. Well, brothers do that sometimes. Tell him not to bug you at work.”

  She ripped open the other bag of ice and poured it on top of the other ice already in the ice machine. Glancing over toward the spot where Caleb had found her, she saw that he was still standing there. She’d missed him. She hadn’t realized how much until she saw him.

  She’d have to ignore him the rest of the evening if he insisted on standing there. But when she took a second look, he was gone.