Sweet Montana Boxed Set 1-5

by Lisa Mondello

  “I get mistakes have been made. Both sides. I should have done more to...”

  “Stop.” She knew where he was going and she hated it. “Don’t blame yourself for what I did. You were in Afghanistan for God’s sake. I was here. You could have died. I should...have come back to see you. I didn’t know when you came home until I found your name and address online.”

  “Is that all you did? Did you even try to reach Mom and Dad?”

  “Yes. I called them, but the number had been disconnected. They’d changed their cell phone numbers, too, so unless I called you, it was a dead end. I know I could have found them the way I found you. I just didn’t know where to look.”

  “You had my number. Christmases. Birthdays. Fourth of July picnics. You could have called.”

  “I was scared. I supposed I could have called Katie.”

  “She wasn’t here. She was married. Like you, she was living somewhere else.”

  “Katie was married before? When?”

  He genuinely looked surprised. “She got divorced over a year ago.”

  So much had changed. She’d missed it all.

  “Just come home, Julie. I want you to. I miss my sister.”

  “Did you tell Mom and Dad you’ve seen me?”

  His eyes widened. “You mean you still haven’t called them? I gave you the number.”

  “Don’t rush me. This is hard. I will. Tonight. I promise.”

  “Enough of this already. Just come home. Be with people who love you.”

  “Who? You’re the only one left in Sweet who loves me.”

  He shook his head. “You know that’s not true.”

  She couldn’t take the pleading in Caleb’s eyes. She had no argument other than she lived with Margaret, an old woman who needed some help every now and then even though she had a visiting nurse. But Margaret wasn’t family. She was a kind old woman who had given her a place to live when she’d decided to come back to Montana and make her way back home. Now Caleb was urging her to take the final step and come home all the way. Dr. Matthews would be so pleased.

  “Okay, I’ll come home. But I don’t want to feel your hands on my back all the time. I’m not your baby sister anymore.”

  “You’re wrong. You’re always going to be my baby sister.”

  He reached for her and squeezed her in his arms as he used to when they were younger.

  “Let’s do it now.”

  “Can we at least eat first?”

  Caleb chuckled as he picked up his bison burger. “Sure. But I want to help. I’ve got the rest of the day off.”

  “No, let me do it.”

  He frowned. “Why? Don’t you have a lot of stuff?”

  She sighed impatiently. “Just let me do it, Caleb. I can do it. Don’t—”

  “I know, I know. Don’t keep my hands on your back. Fine. Get your stuff together and I’ll make sure I’m there so I can help you move in.”

  “Okay.”

  Julie turned to her tuna sandwich and played with the pickle on the plate. She was glad Caleb had backed off. But as soon as they finished lunch and they walked to their cars, she regretted her decision.

  * * *

  As soon as she’d gotten back to her room, she’d called her therapist. Dr. Matthews had said that coming back to Montana was a step closer to confronting her past. Julie hadn’t believed her any of the hundred times she’d said those words. But something in her shifted that last time they’d spoken. Your life can’t move forward unless you confront the past.

  Well, she’d not only confronted it. She’d bowled it over.

  Five years of therapy had been what it had taken to get her to this point. In the beginning, Julie had squashed everything. She’d kept everything buried deep inside and it had chipped away at her little by little each day.

  She’d purposely moved a distance away from Sweet when she came back to Montana. She’d needed time. She had only been working at the Red Wolf Casino for about six months. It was a step. She hadn’t bothered to find a real apartment. In fact, the only real apartment she’d had was early on. It felt too big, even though it was only a one-bedroom garden apartment.

  She’d started renting rooms in big old homes with elderly ladies soon after she’d moved to Seattle. Mrs. Golding was a sweet woman. But she had too many rules about closing the cabinets and facing the towels in the bathroom a certain way, and always pushed Julie to come down to the TV room to talk more. She’d left there for a boarding house for women in Olympia. She’d stayed there about the same amount of time before she’d ended up moving further south to Portland, and then Eugene. The house in Eugene was owned by two elderly sisters. She’d stayed there the longest because they were easy to live with. They’d kept each other company and didn’t care too much about what Julie was doing as long as she paid the rent on time.

  But now she was renting a room at Margaret’s house. Julie barely ever saw the woman because she worked late hours and slept late during the day. But Margaret liked tea in the afternoon when Julie got up. Julie was usually not in any rush to get out the door, so she sat and talked with Margaret as a way to start her day.

  It was the perfect situation for Julie, although she had a feeling that Margaret’s son, Edmund, had hoped that having Julie live there would relieve some pressure off him to hire a visiting nurse.

  It hadn’t. Julie wasn’t a nurse and she worked very long hours at the Red Wolf Casino. There wasn’t anything more she could do beyond being a companion for Margaret, which she had tried to be.

  She knew that Margaret didn’t approve of her working at a casino bar, but she had the feeling Margaret genuinely liked her. She didn’t focus on Julie’s work or pry into her past. After a day in town with the visiting nurse, she would always come home and tell Julie a boy she’d met at the market or the doctor’s office who was the sweetest boy and would be a nice “suitor” for her.

  Julie would always laugh and tell Margaret that she was too busy to date a “boy.” And Margaret always insisted she was holding out hope to find her a husband.

  Well, Julie was ruined where men were concerned. She hadn’t fully recovered from the last man she’d loved. How could she possibly open up to love from another?

  She heard Margaret on the phone with someone while she packed up the rest of her belongings. It had been hard telling Margaret she was leaving, but the sweet old woman understood. Family was family.

  As she’d told Caleb, she didn’t have much. She had a box that she’d moved from place to place that remained sealed with duct tape. Another rubber container she kept her shoes and boots in because it was easier than searching for them in the bottom of the closet or under the bed. And then another box with things she’d taken from home when she’d left. It was mostly pictures and yearbooks. The last time she’d moved, she’d shed many things that didn’t mean anything to her. The old wall decorations she’d had in her other rooms were secondhand items she’d picked up at a tag sale because she couldn’t stand the empty walls.

  She glanced around the room just as Margaret appeared in her doorway. She walked with a walker and leaned on it as she looked into the room.

  “I’m going to miss having you here,” Margaret said with a warm smile. “You were the perfect boarder.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing. I enjoyed being here. I feel like I’m running off on you.”

  Margaret waved her off with the flick of her hand. Then put her hand securely back on the walker. “You’re moving on, not running away. There is a difference, you know.”

  “Is there? I’m glad you can see it.”

  “You’re living your life.” Margaret laughed. “My son is not so good with letting his mother live her own life.”

  “Is that who you were on the phone with?’

  She nodded. “Edmund is not comfortable with me living on my own. I think he’d rest easier if I were living in an old age home, if you want the honest truth of it.”

  “He worries. He loves you. Besides,
you’ll get someone else to move in and take my place.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe. I like to do my own thing. I don’t think I’ll ever be old enough for one of those old age homes he keeps talking about. I do like to putter around my own home.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that.” Julie looked at Margaret and wondered what she was getting at.

  “He wants to put an ad in the paper right away. But I think I’ll keep this room empty just in case you need to come back. Even if it’s only for a visit.” She winked at Julie with affection.

  Julie sat on the bed and felt the weight of tears behind her eyes. “I can’t thank you enough for giving me a safe place when I needed one. I feel like I’m abandoning you.”

  “You’re moving forward,” Margaret said, relieving Julie’s burden of guilt. “That’s what you young women are supposed to do these days.”

  “Yeah?”

  “In my day very few women went to college. Most got married right after graduating high school, if not before.” Margaret put on a brave face. “Look at this as a new adventure. Everything is brand-new ahead of you. Even if you think you’re looking over your shoulder, keep your eyes ahead. You’ll find your way.”

  Julie wondered how Margaret could know that what she said was so fitting. They’d talked about many things over the past six months but she hadn’t confided in Margaret about living in Montana. Julie had kept to places she’d visited and jobs she’d had on the West Coast.

  Perhaps when you got to a golden age as Margaret had, that sixth sense was part of wisdom. Regret filled her as she sat there with her hands in her lap. She was going to miss Margaret.

  “Make sure you send me a postcard or letter to let me know where you land. I’d like to keep in touch and hear about your adventures.”

  Julie chuckled. “You make it all sound so romantic, Margaret.”

  “It is!”

  Julie sighed, squashing down emotion before she spoke. “May I come back and visit?”

  Margaret smiled. “I’d like that a lot.”

  * * *

  “That’s all you have?” Katie asked, coming out of Caleb’s apartment as Julie climbed the stairs with a box in her hand.

  Julie’s eyes widened as she looked up at her old friend for the first time in years. “I didn’t know you were going to be here, Katie!”

  Katie smiled and then rolled her eyes. “Is that all you to say to me after all this time? Put down that box and give me a hug.”

  Julie reached the top of the stairs and dropped the box on the porch. Then she opened her arms to receive Katie’s hug.

  “It’s been too long,” Julie said.

  “We have a lot of catching up to do, you and me.”

  “I’ll say. When did you suddenly get the hots for my brother?”

  Katie laughed and turned away as if she were embarrassed. But not before Julie saw the twinkle in her eyes. “We have lots of catching up to do. Let me help you.”

  “I don’t have a lot to move. I told Caleb I didn’t have much.”

  Katie glanced over Julie’s shoulder toward the car. “I’ll grab those bags in the trunk to make it go faster. Be right back.”

  Katie headed down the stairs and ran through the parking lot towards her car. Julie had left the trunk open to make it easier to unload everything. She didn’t have anything worth stealing, so if someone had been inclined to take any of her belongings, it wasn’t going to be a huge loss. Except for the box she’d taken first. She reached down, lifted the box to her arms, and turned to find Caleb in the doorway.

  He opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. “Do you want me take that for you?” he asked.

  “I’ve got it. Where do you want me to put these things?”

  “Anywhere you can find some open space. We will deal with how to rearrange everything later.” He peered down toward her car. “That’s all you have? No furniture?”

  “I told you I didn’t have much. I usually rent rooms that are furnished. I didn’t need any.”

  She walked through the apartment and searched for some empty space to drop the box. She finally decided to tuck it in the corner of the kitchen where it wouldn’t be tripped over.

  “If this is all too much, I can get a storage unit and just unpack some clothes.”

  “No, it’s okay. We’ll find room. Look around and make yourself at home. I’m going to go help Katie.”

  She was standing by the window and it made it hard to ignore the interaction between Katie and Caleb. He pulled the bags from her hand and placed them on the ground next to them. Then he took her in his arms and began dancing with her in the middle of the parking lot.

  She wanted to gag.

  But it was so romantic.

  Aliens had to have kidnapped her brother and replaced him with this guy dancing with her friend.

  Julie turned away from the window and looked around. It was small but it was home. She’d finally come home. Now she had to keep her word and talk to Hunter.

  Sweet Montana Secrets: Chapter Three

  Why wasn’t the phone ringing? His cell phone was normally filled with messages from horse owners this time of the year, and this year was no different. But the one call he wanted to get was from Julie. She hadn’t called.

  He couldn’t keep going back to the Lone Creek Ranch for no reason just to see if she’d stopped by there. Caleb had Hunter’s number. If Julie wanted to get in touch with him, she could easily get it from him.

  But she hadn’t called. It had been five days since she’d stopped by the Lone Creek Ranch to see him and she hadn’t called.

  He’d filled his day with work. The Friday before any type of competition was always busy. Horse enthusiasts, stock companies, and barrel racers needed their horses in top shape to compete. As he finished the last job and climbed into his truck to head home, he checked his cell phone for recent calls.

  Seven missed calls. Four phone messages. All the calls were from numbers he had in his contact list, which meant they were clients.

  Julie hadn’t called.

  It had taken Hunter years to get Julie out of his mind. There were days he swore he’d never forget her. In a way, he longed for those days when he’d been working hard to get clean. He’d been hyper-focused then. He’d had to be in order to get healthy again. That hyper-focus had made it easier for him not to think about missing Julie.

  But as time had worn on and he’d found his head clearer, the longing for her had become almost unbearable. Throwing himself into work helped. But it hadn’t worked today even though he’d filled his schedule to keep his mind occupied.

  It was the end of the month and he needed to stop by the post office to drop off his rent check. If he waited until the weekend to mail it, he might forget. He was always getting calls throughout the weekend for an emergency of some sort. He drove through town and passed the police station. He saw Caleb and another police officer in the parking lot talking. He waved but they were deep in conversation and didn’t see him.

  Continuing on, he passed the diner where he ate most mornings. Maybe he’d call Brody or Trip and see if either one of them wanted to meet him in the morning. The one thing he missed about working as a ranch hand was the communal meals and conversation. He wasn’t lonely. He saw people all day long when he went to shoe horses. Hunter liked being able to move around and meet new people. But he worked alone and that had its disadvantages.

  He pulled into the parking lot of the small post office near the center of town. The post office was closed, but the lights were on for after-hours drop off and pick up of mail. Hunter kept a mailbox in town rather than at his apartment mostly out of convenience since he drove through town a few times a day. He pulled open the glove compartment where he’d tossed his rent check envelope this morning.

  He’d forgotten to swing by first thing this morning when he’d headed out to the Mason ranch in the next town, but it didn’t matter. It was easy enough to swing by now since the post office was on his way hom
e.

  He grabbed the envelope and climbed out of the truck. As he headed for the post office door, he saw someone push through and hold the door for him. He stopped short and sucked in a deep breath when he realized it was Julie.

  “Oh,” she said quickly, taking a step to the side so he could walk through the door.

  She dropped her hold on the door when his hand connected with it, but then he let go and the door closed leaving the two of them standing outside.

  “I didn’t expect to see anyone here this time of night,” Julie said awkwardly.

  “Neither did I. But I’m glad I caught you.”

  “Yeah?”

  He nodded. “You said you’d call.”

  “I’ve…been really busy.”

  “To busy to explain why you left so abruptly and never told me why?”

  “Yes.”

  She looked around as if she were searching for people who might be looking at them.

  “We’re not doing anything wrong, Julie. I don’t know what you’re afraid of.”

  “I know that. I thought no one would be here now.”

  Confused, he asked, “What were you doing?”

  “I needed to send a letter to someone.”

  His stomach dropped. He didn’t want to know if that someone was a man.

  “I’m dropping off a… Do you want to get something to eat?” he asked, hoping they could finally cut through the awkwardness that was driving him crazy.

  “I ate. And I…”

  “Yeah, sure. Okay,” he said quickly.

  “I’m not sure being in a public place to talk is such a good thing,” she added. But her words only confused him more.

  “Why should that matter?”

  “Well, I…just don’t think it should be someplace public.”

  She took a step onto the path leading to the parking lot. There were no other cars in the parking lot, but he saw her car parked on the street. He hadn’t noticed it when he’d pulled into the parking lot.

  “You’re making excuses, Julie,” he finally said. “If you don’t want to talk, then let’s cut the charade. I’ve waited ten years already.”