Forever Wishes (Montana Brides, Book 4)

by Leeanna Morgan

  A woman walked toward the truck with a backpack slung over her shoulder. Her short blonde hair and petite frame were the direct opposite of Jake’s tall, dark, and well-built attractions. But her startling blue eyes reflected the same strong personality that her brother had in bucket loads.

  “Mad Max is all sorted.” Lucy looked inside the truck and smiled at Erin. “Hi. I’m Lucy, Jake’s sister. I’ll just get our bags and then we’re ready to go.”

  Jake walked past with his sister’s suitcases in his hands. “I’ve got them. Did you bring all of those cookies you made?”

  Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled at Erin. “My brother has a sweet tooth a mile long.” She turned toward her brother. “They’re already at camp. Gracie picked them up on her way through this morning.”

  Jake closed the canopy and moved around to the front of the truck. “Do you need to use the bathroom, Ethan?”

  “Mom’s already asked me that heaps of times, Uncle Jake.”

  “Well?”

  “I don’t need to use the bathroom. And I’ve got a hanky and my book.”

  “Good man. Let’s get going then.”

  As Jake drove down the driveway, Erin settled back in her seat, looking forward to the next couple of days with Jake, his sister, and thirty excited teenagers.

  ***

  Camp Discovery was everything Erin had imagined it would be. Pine and aspen trees rose from the mountains surrounding them, their shadows rippling across a large lake.

  All around them, teenagers were making their way to their rooms, pulling suitcases behind them. Counselors and volunteers were directing any lost souls to their cabins and boxes of gear were being moved to where they needed to go.

  Erin was sleeping in Elm Cabin. She met the four teenagers and adult buddies that would be sharing the same room with her.

  Jake had disappeared to get ready for a meeting, so she decided to look around the grounds before chaos descended.

  She spotted Ethan running around the camp, exploring every nook and cranny he could find. Lucy invited her over to the adventure playground with them and they laughed as Ethan zoomed along the zip line.

  Beyond the playground, Erin could see a big red barn with at least half a dozen horses grazing in the corral. “This place is amazing. Has it always been a camp?”

  Lucy shook her head. “When the Bernard’s bought the property eight years ago, it was a cattle ranch. They built the camp from nothing and every couple of years they add another building. But the rest of the land is still used to graze cattle.”

  “It must take a lot of money to keep the camp open.”

  Lucy smiled. “That’s why we hold the charity ball each year. Even with all of the other fundraising projects Jake’s involved in, the camp still relies on volunteers to keep it going.”

  Ethan had finished his first ride on the zip line and was about to swoop down for a second run.

  Two arms grabbed Erin around the waist, pulling her tight against warm skin. “He must have inherited a gene for flying through the air.”

  Her heart slammed into her ribs and she yelped in surprise. “Jake Williams, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” She turned in his arms and he dropped a light kiss on her lips. Her heart pounded as she gazed into his clear blue eyes.

  With a grin on her face, Lucy said, “I hate to interrupt, but the welcome meeting in the dining hall starts in ten minutes.” Her gaze darted to the playground. “Come on Ethan, time to go back.”

  Ethan gave the zip line one last wistful look before turning toward his mom. Running straight at her, he yelled, “Race you, everyone!”

  Lucy took off at a sprint and Jake grabbed Erin’s hand. They all arrived at the dining hall laughing and slightly out of breath, ready to hear what adventures were waiting for them.

  Ethan was in his element. With a smile on her face, Erin watched him sit in the middle of a group of teenagers, telling them all about the zip line. His face lit up as each of the activities were discussed and teenagers were placed in their teams.

  As she looked around the room at the excited faces, Erin had a feeling that more than one little man wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight.

  ***

  Two o’clock in the morning wasn’t the best time to be walking around the camp, but that’s what Erin had been doing for the last hour. First night nerves had left a girl in the bed opposite her teary-eyed and homesick.

  They’d walked across to the dining room and Erin had fed her large quantities of hot chocolate and honey on toast. When the teenager’s yawns had outnumbered the words coming out of her mouth, Erin had taken her back to their room. She’d met another teenager and their caregiver in the hallway about to do the same thing. So she’d walked to the kitchen with them, then turned around and headed back to bed.

  Halfway across the yard she spotted Jake moving in the opposite direction. She flicked her flashlight off and on to get his attention. “Homesick puppies in the male rooms as well?”

  He gave a rueful laugh. “If only. Two rather amorous teens took off into the woods for a night-time rendezvous. We eventually found them, but we’re not the most popular people right now. What about you?”

  “Two homesick girls.” Reaching up, she lightly kissed his lips. “I’m off to bed to try and get some sleep. I’ll see you in four hours for breakfast duty.”

  “Not so fast,” he said softly. “Want to get amorous with a hormonal male? I know a quiet spot in the woods where we won’t be seen.” Leaning forward, he nuzzled the side of her neck.

  “You’re worse than the teenagers,” she said softly as warm tingles rippled through her body.

  “Comes with old age.”

  She leaned in close as he trailed little kisses up her throat. It probably wasn’t the best move at two o’clock in the morning, and it definitely wasn’t the kind of kiss friends shared. But she didn’t care.

  His lips did more gentle exploring, leaving her knees weak and her blood pounding. She could have blamed sleep deprivation, but it was spontaneous lust that kept her glued to his body.

  “Umm…I need to use the bathroom and I don’t know where to go.” A tall teenage boy stood not far from them, with a worried frown on his face.

  Lifting his head, Jake sighed.

  Oh boy, Erin thought, struggling to get her brain into gear. What a kiss. Resting her hand on Jake’s chest, she felt his heart pounding against her fingers, matching the same erratic beat of hers.

  Jake took a deep breath and looked at the teenager. “Follow me.” He lifted Erin’s hand to his lips, leaving a soft kiss in her palm. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Standing upright without the warmth of his body pressed against hers took all of the concentration she could muster. A smile slid across her face. “You give really nice goodnight kisses, Jake Williams.”

  “Next time, plan on them being good morning kisses.”

  She blushed at the deep, dark need swirling in his eyes.

  “I really need to use the bathroom, mister.”

  Erin gave Jake a little push as the teenager bounced from foot to foot. “Sweet dreams, Superman.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Dragging herself out of bed, Erin stumbled to the shower. The hot spray worked its magic on her tired body. After tossing and turning, she’d finally managed to get a few hours sleep before her alarm clock woke her up. Breakfast needed to be prepared for the masses and a room full of hungry mouths wouldn’t care that she’d hardly had any sleep.

  Thirty minutes later she felt a lot better. A couple of pieces of toast and a hot chocolate had restored her energy reserves and put a smile on her face.

  As she washed her dishes in the kitchen sink, she looked out the window toward the lake. It sat like a giant mirror under the big Montana sky. Geese landed on the water, honking an early morning welcome to anyone mad enough to be out of bed at the crack of dawn.

  Jake arrived in the kitchen just as she started putting boxes of cereal on a table. Her heart ski
pped a beat. Even in faded blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt he was a sight to behold. Trying not to stare at her early morning Romeo proved to be more than her hormonally deficient body could cope with.

  “Morning, Erin. Did you have a good sleep?”

  Passing him some bowls and spoons, she smiled. “Eventually.”

  Jake gently kissed her lips. “You smell good enough to eat. Like a basket of yummy apples.”

  “Apple shampoo.” She laughed. “Guaranteed to attract horses, sheep, and cowboys.”

  “You’d better watch out. This cowboy might decide to nibble on an apple if you’re not careful.”

  A blush that would have set the kitchen on fire spread across her face.

  “Come on you two, you’re holding up the breakfast team with all that lovey-dovey stuff.” Lucy looked between them.

  “You’re just jealous, sis.” A grinning Jake looped an arm around both women.

  Lucy laughed. “Too right, macho man. Something has to keep the world turning and love isn’t going to do it.”

  His smile froze in place.

  With a puzzled frown, Erin looked up at him, then around the room. People were setting up tables, toasting bread, and getting food ready for a hungry crowd. Nothing major to cause the scowl on his face.

  Taking a step back, he shook his head. “What can I do to help?”

  “Go and see Janice.” Lucy waved her hand toward the back of the room. “She’s in the kitchen cooking bacon. There’s a master plan for everything that needs to happen on the wall by the fridge.”

  “Save a seat for me at breakfast.” With a quick peck on Erin’s cheek, he was off to do some serious damage to hormone levels in the kitchen.

  ***

  Later that evening, Erin looked around the dining hall. Snippets of conversation about the day’s adventures filled the room. The clatter of empty plates being collected and boisterous laughter brought a smile to her face.

  Ethan glowed with happiness as he told Jake about his afternoon. “We walked across a big swing bridge and fed the geese some bread. It was really cool. And then we went kayaking with the kids in our group.”

  “Sounds like you had a great time.”

  “We’re going horse riding tomorrow.”

  Lucy stood up and started clearing away their dinner plates. Ethan yawned, sinking low in his chair. “Come on little man, time for bed. We can get up bright and early and see the horses before breakfast if you like.”

  The smile on Ethan’s face told them he liked that idea very much. His arms reached up to give Jake a goodnight kiss. As he trotted off happily with his mom, they could hear him wondering out loud what his horse was going to look like.

  Jake laughed. “Ethan’s probably cooking up a daredevil mission for tomorrow. Lucy had better warn the riding instructor that he has an excited cowboy joining his crew.”

  “He’s a great kid. And you’re a great Uncle, Mr. Williams.” Her gaze settled on Jake. He looked totally at ease in the cafeteria-style dining hall. No one looking at him would know he was a lawyer who lived in a home that could easily grace the pages of any architectural magazine.

  “Thank you, ma’am.” A warm smile lit his eyes. “Ethan’s had a lot to deal with in his short life. He’s a happy little kid.”

  “How did his dad die?”

  “Car accident. He’d been working late and got caught up in a thunderstorm on the way back to the ranch. A drunk driver crossed the middle of the road and plowed into the side of his pickup.”

  Erin’s heart bled for what Lucy and Ethan must have gone through. Her mom and dad’s accident hadn’t involved a drunk driver, but the end result had been the same.

  Tears welled in her eyes for the senseless loss of Lucy’s husband, and for her parents’ early death. “I’m sorry. That must have been horrible for everyone.”

  He nodded. “It wasn’t a good time. Ethan had just turned two. Lucy had her hands full with him as well as coming to terms with Dan’s death.” He looked up as a teenager yelled from the other side of the room. “We pitched in as much as we could to make their lives easier, but it was still hard on them.”

  “It’s just as well they had you and the rest of your family to help out,” she said sadly. If it hadn’t been for her friends, she didn’t know how she would have coped with the bone-numbing sadness that had overwhelmed her after her mom and dad had died.

  Waking up each day and dealing with everyday life had been hard. Meeting with lawyers and accountants to sort out her parents’ estate had been almost more than she could handle.

  Jake leaned across and kissed her cheek. “Uncle Jake to the rescue.”

  She blinked back more tears, managing to tilt her lips into a half smile. “Can a girl put in an order to be rescued or does she have to wait to be asked?”

  “I’m an equal rights kind of guy. I like the idea of a girl rescuing me.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Do you know anyone who might be willing to take on a man who doesn’t know one end of a vacuum cleaner from the other?”

  She took a deep breath. “Depends on whether he’s open to new learning experiences.” Jake’s smile replaced the sadness in her heart with a burst of happiness.

  He held her warm hand in his. “I’m ready, willing, and eager.”

  ***

  Erin closed the cupboard doors, pleased to see the last of the plates stacked on the kitchen shelves. “I’m glad I’m not on clean-up duty tomorrow morning.”

  “At least we got to spend some time together.” Jake closed the lid on the commercial dishwasher and stood in front of her. “There has to be some benefits to being inside instead of roasting marshmallows on the campfire.” Leaning forward, he nudged the side of her neck with his mouth.

  A fine tremor ran along Erin’s skin. “You’re going to get me into trouble with the boss, Mr. Williams.”

  “I can’t see why, Miss. Reynolds. Besides, I’ve got something I want to show you.”

  “Why does that ring alarm bells in my head?”

  Jake smiled. “Hold those bells until after you’ve seen the place I took Scott to last summer.”

  Erin left the dishtowel on the counter. “As long as it doesn’t involve getting naked, then I’m all yours.”

  Jake held her hand and pulled her toward the back door, grabbing a flashlight off the top of the freezer. “We’re going to get close to nature, but not the naked kind. Unless you want it to be?”

  The hopeful note in his voice made Erin smile. “That would definitely fall into the category of wishful thinking.”

  “You can’t blame a man for trying.”

  She smiled as Jake led her across an open field. She’d been doing a lot of wishful thinking herself over the last few days. But they were friends. Friends with a mega dose of spine-tingling attraction.

  “Over here.” He moved toward a grove of trees not far from the lake.

  If she was going to kiss Jake, then this would have been the perfect spot. It was far enough away from the camp to give them privacy, but close enough that she didn’t feel as though they’d get lost walking back.

  So much for a good old-fashioned friendship. Her hormones were going into overdrive just thinking about being alone with Jake in the woods.

  Her mom had always said that you needed to kiss a few frogs before your Prince came along. After more years than she cared to count, and one mixed-up fiancé, she’d given up hope of ever finding a man that came close to being her Prince. Until Jake, that is. He was funny, intelligent, patient, and kind. All the qualities she wanted in a man.

  It didn’t seem fair that he had such a huge aversion to being a father. If he’d been even remotely interested in having children, she’d be dragging him down the aisle. In the last few weeks, her six-months-at-tops plan had deteriorated into a pile of mush.

  “You’ll need to crawl through the opening of the cave. I’ll turn on my flashlight once we get inside.”

  Erin blinked. Somewhere between communing with nature and kissing f
rogs she’d stopped paying attention to where they were going. Jake stood beside a gap in a wall of rock no taller than a leprechaun.

  “You want me to go in there?” She peered inside, imagining all sorts of creepy crawlies waiting to land on her.

  “It gets bigger as soon as you’re inside. Just keep to the right-hand side of the cave.”

  “You do realize that librarians aren’t known as the most adventurous people on the planet?”

  Jake shook his head. “You’re stalling. It’s going to be worth it.”

  “Does anyone else know we’re here?” She had visions of falling into an underground stream and being lost for weeks. Or landing in a deep hole and not being able to get out.

  “I told Lucy,” Jake said. “You’ll be fine.”

  Erin took a last look at the itsy-bitsy cave opening and crawled through. She prayed like crazy that Jake knew where he was going and that the flashlight batteries didn’t run out of power.

  Jake pulled himself through the opening after her. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking that this would have to be the craziest thing I’ve ever done.” She held her breath as something fluttered past her cheek. She wouldn’t scream. She never screamed. It was probably a cobweb or something. But cobwebs meant spiders. Big, black, hairy spiders that could kill someone half her size. “Turn your flashlight on, Jake.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  Light flooded the cave and Erin looked frantically around, brushing her face with her hands. “Something soft and hairy hit my cheek.”

  Jake looked around and grinned at a spot above her head. “Could have been a bat.”

  She looked up and peered into the darkness. “I hope you’re joking. You’d better show me what’s in here fast, or I’m going to head back to camp.”

  Jake flicked the beam of light to their right. “Think of this as character building. Just follow me and don’t look down.”

  Erin couldn’t help herself. Her gaze darted to her feet. Just to be safe, she shuffled closer to the wall. “Don’t tell me we’re on the edge of a cavern?”