Pete shook off the lasso. Came over to sit by Ben.
A truck pulled in the gravel drive. Sam Brooks got out, retrieved his tool belt from the bed. “Need help?”
Ben nodded, and Sam came up to the porch.
“I thought you’d be saving the town of Mercy Falls,” Pete said, something Ben couldn’t place in his voice.
Sam regarded him a second, then grabbed a drink from the cooler. Turned to Ben. “The city had to condemn a couple houses near the river—foundations crumbled. Unfortunately, one of those was Pete’s rental.”
“Mom is thrilled to have me back at home,” Pete said, and again, Ben couldn’t read his tone.
“Yeah, well, the Sweetwater Lumber Company might be in business with all the repairs. Which is good because about half of the businesses just south of Main Street are closed indefinitely, including quite a few B&Bs and the Grand Hotel. We could use a boost in our economy.”
“Running for sheriff already?” Pete said.
Sam turned to Pete. “Funny.”
Pete lifted a shoulder.
Sam sighed, then sat down on the edge of the deck, regarded Ben a long moment. “I still can’t figure out how you went from throwing footballs to hosting the CMAs.”
Ben smiled.
“Is Carrie Underwood as hot in person?” Pete asked, now smiling.
“Everybody looks hot with a couple layers of makeup, but yeah, she’s pretty enough.”
Pete raised an eyebrow, and even Ty looked at him.
“So, tell us about Hollie. I certainly wouldn’t forget her if I saw her in a crowd,” Pete said.
Ben gave a chuckle. “Goldie says she adds the sassafras to the act.”
“Have you and her, uh . . .” Ty gave him a look that finished his sentence.
Ben shook his head. “No.”
“Seriously, dude. That’s not what the magazines in the grocery store say.” Gage had given up his attempts to lasso the hay bale. “Apparently you’re hiding out after your big breakup.”
“No breakup. We might have flirted a little . . .” Okay, a lot. And for a little while, he considered she might be the one to take his mind off Kacey.
It took just one after party to realize that he’d need more than a near tryst with his singing partner to get his mind off the woman who’d been the real thing.
Besides, he had mistakes he didn’t wish to repeat.
“Listen, sure, I’m not a monk. I’ve dated. But no one . . . well, my career takes up a lot of time. Mostly I’ve never found . . . loved anyone like I loved Kacey.”
And he couldn’t believe he’d just admitted that. It earned a sort of silence among the guys.
“Weren’t you hooked up with that actress, Mackenzie Grace?” Gage said.
“We were just friends. Guys, you can’t believe everything you read.”
“It was on the internet,” Gage said.
Ben gave him a look.
Gage held his hands up. “So, you’re saying you haven’t even been tempted?”
Ben finished his Coke, tossed the can into a paper bag they were using for garbage. “I didn’t say that. I just . . . I have enough baggage.”
Pete gave him a look, nodded. He and his big brother Sam might be the only ones who knew what he was referring to. And even then . . .
He looked at Sam. “Did you know Kacey has a daughter? Audrey?”
Sam frowned. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm.” Sam considered him now, and Ben couldn’t help it. He met Sam’s eyes and nodded.
“Really,” Sam said. “Huh.”
“I know. But the thing is, Audrey doesn’t know her father. At all. He hasn’t been around in her life.”
Sam said nothing, and Ben knew he’d inadvertently opened old wounds. Because, probably no one got over losing a parent, especially one who died way too young.
Still. He glanced at the steer head on the hay bale. “What if she had a chance to know her father? Do you think Kacey should let her? I mean, it’s been . . . a lot of years.”
“No doubt,” Gage said.
Ty was picking at his can of Coke. “Depends on who he is. If he’s a jerk or in prison or something, probably not. But if he’s a decent guy, I guess it depends on what’s best for the kid. How old is she?”
“Thirteen. She’ll be fourteen in a week or so.”
He couldn’t look at Sam.
“That’s a tough age,” Gage said. “Hormones and all.”
Sam leveled a look at him. “I think the father would have to ask himself if it’s in his daughter’s best interest. Or is it going to add problems to her life?”
“Why would it add problems?”
“Say, if the father were, I don’t know, someone who people watched, who could have his personal life dragged through the don’t-believe-what-you-read tabloids.”
Ben’s mouth tightened, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ty cock his head.
Ben threw a glance at Sam, ready to end the conversation, but Sam had his gaze on him. “I guess, if it were me, I’d make sure I didn’t do anything that might hurt someone I loved.”
Yes, well, Sam would say that. But he struck a chord of truth.
Kacey was right about the blowout this could cause—and not just because of Audrey’s age and hormones but because it would change everything.
It was one thing to be the cool, country star dad.
Completely another to subject Audrey to a life under scrutiny. No thirteen-year-old survived that unscathed.
“If we do this right, we can both figure out how to be good parents to our daughter.”
He had to figure out how to do it right.
7
“Please tell me I haven’t just made the worst decision of my entire life.” Kacey never really returned home until she had tracked down Sierra and met her for soup at the Summit—their favorite sandwich and soup cafe.
Sandbags still closed off Main Street all the way to the bridge. After a week, the water had begun to recede, muddy and gray as it rippled in low-lying parking lots on the sunny Saturday morning. The sandbags lining the sidewalks protected the downtown shops—gift stores, a used bookstore, a barbershop, the historic Grand Hotel, and of course the Summit Café.
Kacey had parked her Escape in the Safeway grocery store lot and hiked down the cracked sidewalk to the café.
Now she sat across from Sierra in a red vinyl booth as her high-school bestie sipped her regular—a banana chocolate shake—and almost ignored her Reuben sandwich. She wore a loose sweatshirt, and her black hair was tucked into a jaunty beret. “I don’t know, Kacey. Don’t ask me. Apparently, I am the queen of abysmal decisions.”
Hmm. “Does that have anything to do with the chocolate overload?”
“Barkeep, get me another!” Sierra called out. Rick, at the long soda counter, looked up.
“She’s lost her mind,” Kacey said and waved him off. “But really?”
Sierra hit bottom with her straw, sucked up the remains.
“Wow. That bad?” Kacey picked at her turkey club, her own appetite in the dregs. She was living on Diet Coke and energy bars. Locking her door at night to keep herself in.
Staring way too long at the shadows on her ceiling before surrendering to the Ambien.
Sierra wiped her mouth. “Yes. It’s that bad.”
Unless she was mistaken, her friend’s eyes glistened. “What happened between the two of you?”
She watched as Sierra blinked, hard, fast, and forced a smile. “He fired me.”
“Fired you? Fired? You don’t get fired. You’re the best personal assistant on the planet.”
“Not anymore. I am un-em-ployed. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get a reference, either.”
She looked away, blinked again, then reached for the ketchup. “Which is fine, because I am done being at someone’s beck and call. Probably I need to take some time off and air out the house. You should see my backyard—I think frogs have taken up residence in my new swam
p. And the flood took out my deck in back. It’s hanging off the house in pieces, falling into the river that used to be my backyard. And, my driveway is a swamp. I need Wellingtons just to get to the door. I just hope that Sam doesn’t show up, put a big condemned sign on the front door.”
She affected a sort of laugh that had Kacey reaching out, touching her hand. “Sierra—”
“Nope.” She pulled her hand away. “I’m good. Believe me, I’ve lived in worse conditions and survived unemployment. I don’t need Ian Shaw. I’m over losing my job. The sad part is that the man could actually use my help right now.”
“Why?”
“Oh, because . . . well, you weren’t here, but when his niece went missing three years ago, a lot of folks”—she pointed at herself—“thought she’d run off with her boyfriend, Dante James. But . . .” She made a face. “Dante’s body washed up in the flood, and suddenly Ian is thinking that maybe she was killed. Or murdered.”
“Murdered?”
“I don’t know. Apparently Dante was arrested once for assault.”
“So was Ben. That doesn’t make him a murderer.”
“Ian is upset, and he doesn’t know what to think now, but apparently I’m not invited to help.” She lifted a shoulder. “Leaving me free to worry about you, my friend, and how you’re in a heap of trouble.”
Kacey took a bite of the sandwich, then pushed her plate away. “So, as long as we’re planted firmly in denial, could you please confirm to me that I haven’t lost my mind about letting Ben attend Audrey’s softball game?”
“Can’t do that. You’ve totally lost your mind.” Sierra smiled and picked up the Reuben.
“I knew it! What aren’t you telling me? Is Audrey really in trouble? You’re supposed to be my eyes here—”
“Calm yourself, Lieutenant. Audrey is fantastic.”
“What about this Nate guy?”
“Nate is great too. His dad is the associate pastor, for crying out loud. Nate plays in the worship band, and frankly, he and Audrey probably spend their time reciting verses—they spent ten years in Awana together, after all, and attended Bible Study this year.”
“I doubt they’re reciting Bible verses.”
Sierra laughed. “Well, I don’t think it’s serious. Not like you and Ben after you saved that guy from the bear mauling.”
Yes, everything had changed after that night in the park. “I think things were probably changing before that, but yes, spending a night saving a life—I think that was when I really started to fall for Ben.”
“You had a crush on him since he took you hiking on Swiftcurrent Pass. To ‘show’ you the fire shelter.” She added finger quotes for effect.
Kacey managed a smile. “Maybe. But it became something more after that.”
“Which is why you are in heaps of trouble, my friend. Because I know you. Ben King is the only guy you’ve ever loved. You haven’t even looked at another man since he left.”
“I’m a mom. And a soldier. I don’t have room for love.”
“No. You don’t have room for anyone else but Ben. And now he’s inching his way back into your life and . . .” She lifted a shoulder.
“And what?”
“And you know what my mother says. Never give a man control over your heart or he’ll run away with it and you’ll never get it back.” She dragged a French fry through ketchup. Sighed as she looked at it a long moment. “I’ve gained ten pounds in five days, I’m sure of it.”
“Really, Sierra, if you want to talk about it—”
“I’m just an idiot, that’s what. But it’s you I’m worried about. Ben’s leaving tore you apart. I would dare say he did take your heart with him and never gave it back. The military put you back together, mostly. And that was a good thing. But it’s different now. You’re different.”
“What do you mean?”
“Seriously.” Sierra stopped midswipe with her next fry. “I don’t know what the military does for people like you who have to save the day—to the detriment of your own safety and sanity—but it doesn’t take a doctor to recognize the dark circles under your eyes, the way you’re mainlining that Diet Coke. You’re still not sleeping, are you?”
Kacey looked away.
“Please. Do I need to bring up the bronze star and why you got it? You deserve more than a four-month break. Maybe it’s time for you to think about retiring, so to speak. And yes, while Audrey’s doing just fine, really, you might consider sticking around.”
Kacey finished her Coke. Frowned at her empty glass. “I love Audrey, you know that. But flying helicopters is my life. I’m not good at anything else.”
“You could be, if you wanted to. Besides, the guys at PEAK are great. Did you meet them all?”
“I met Jess and Gage, the EMTs.”
“Gage is awesome. He’s a world-class snowboarder—even taught lessons for a while.”
“I liked him. And I met Ty too.”
Sierra made a face. “Ty. Yeah. His dad runs one of the biggest spreads in Montana. Ty grew up cowboy rich—trucks, horses, big toys, and lots of rodeo. And he was the one who was with Chet in the crash. We haven’t gotten the full story from either of them, but speculation is that Ty caused the crash. He did keep Chet alive, however, so he gets credit for that. But he hasn’t been up—even in the sim—since the accident.”
“He looked a little bent out of shape that I was there.”
Sierra nodded. “Pride. When do you start?”
“Chet said he’d give me a few days to get settled, but I’m itching to get going, start some training. It’s been a long week at home.”
Sierra frowned.
Kacey shook her head. “Audrey is withdrawn, and I can’t quite get my footing with her. Ben asked me, out there on the mountain, what kind of mother abandons her daughter? He apologized later, but maybe he’s right. I’m not cut out to be a mom. I have the wrong genes.”
“Are you serious? You’re not your mother. No, I don’t mean your perfect mother, Laura. I’m talking about your other mother. You’re not remotely like her, and don’t let your fears tell you otherwise.”
Sierra knew her too well. “Her grandmother is more of a mom to her. And I feel like she’s changed so much since I saw her last.”
“It was just five months ago, for Christmas.”
“I know, but . . . she’s growing up so fast. Did you know she’s in a band?”
Sierra nodded. “They play for the youth group sometimes.”
Kacey picked at her napkin. “Maybe I should just head back to Florida before I make things worse.”
“What? No. Audrey needs you—she loves you, and frankly, she needs a mom who understands the challenges of being thirteen.”
Kacey leaned back, sighed. “Maybe I can keep her from making my mistakes.”
“Like Ben?”
Kacey nodded.
“I don’t know, Kace. Ben might have been a mistake when you were seventeen, but you’re not seventeen anymore. I’m not seeing the drawbacks.”
“How about the fact that he’s a star. He has a life in Nashville—one that he isn’t going to leave for a daughter he barely knows. And—”
“And you don’t think you can compete with all the female attention?”
Kacey’s mouth opened. Uh. Then she frowned, shook her head. “I don’t care about Ben and the female attention. I’m over him.”
Sierra choked on her food, then grabbed a napkin and covered her mouth.
“What?”
“Oh, Kacey.” She continued to cough. “Like . . . I said . . . heaps of trouble.”
“Do I need to give you the Heimlich?”
Sierra’s eyes were watering. She shook her head and took a drink of water. Cleared her throat. Finally, “But if you want, I’ll be glad to give you a whack upside your head. You invited him to your daughter’s softball game.”
“And?”
“Don’t tell me this isn’t some crazy dream of yours to sit in the stands with Ben while y
our daughter plays softball.”
“What . . . no. I never—”
“Kacey, sometimes you don’t know yourself.”
Kacey blinked. “I don’t need Ben King in my life to be happy. Most importantly, I don’t want him in my life to complicate it. I will not fall in love with him again.”
Sierra held up her hands in surrender.
“Besides, ten bucks says he doesn’t show.”
“I’ll take that action. I think you’re giving him too little credit here.”
“Yeah, well, in my worst nightmares, he shows up, does something spectacular, then breaks my little girl’s heart.”
Sierra made a humming noise, something that sounded like assent.
“All done here?” Rick came over, smiled down at Sierra. “Hey, Kacey. I heard you were back. Welcome home.”
“Thanks, Rick,” Kacey said. She glanced at her watch. “Game’s in an hour. I gotta run.” She looked at Sierra. “Wanna join us?”
“And watch you not fall in love with the man who still carries your heart in his pocket? Yes, I’m in.” Sierra slid out of the booth. “Besides, if your old man is going to be there, along with Ben, we could sell tickets.”
Kacey froze. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes, my friend. Oh yes.”
“We’ve got to get ahead of this thing, Benjamin.”
Ben paced the edge of the baseball park, the sun winking overhead, the smell of fresh-cut lawn and grilling hot dogs stirring up memories. He fought to keep his voice low. “No, Goldie, I won’t go on the Today show. Why would I do that? It only makes Hollie’s betrayal seem okay.”
“You need to start being okay with it.”
He could imagine Goldie pacing her fifth-floor office on Music Row. In her fifties, a platinum blonde, she’d discovered him plunking out songs at the Bluebird and turned him into a star.
“What part of Hollie recording her own album in secret and releasing my song is okay? She had a contract, too, with me.”
“We both know that Hollie’s been itching to launch her own career, and the contract she had with you allowed for individual efforts.”
“She still shouldn’t launch it by betraying me.”
“She claims you two wrote the song together—or started to. That you abandoned it halfway through. Which we’ve talked about. You lose enthusiasm for something, and suddenly you walk away. Frankly, Benjamin, Hollie Montgomery was the best thing that happened to your act in a long time. You couldn’t afford to lose her.”
Wild Montana Skies Page 14