Six Months in Montana (Montana Sweet Western Romance Series)

by Kelley, Pamela M.

  "I know, I've been thinking about that," Christian said, as they walked into the master bedroom, which was large and airy, with a spacious walk-in closet and adjoining master bathroom that held a beautifully tiled glassed- in shower stall and an oversized, old-fashioned, claw-foot soaking tub.

  "That's quite a bathroom," Molly breathed. Christian looked pleased.

  "Thanks. That was mostly Traci too."

  Molly followed Christian downstairs, and into a pretty den-office that was a mix of leather, dark wood and light. The room was at the far end and didn't have a floor above it, but did have a soaring cathedral ceiling with natural wood beams and plenty of glass to let in lots of natural light. Bookcases lined the walls and two oversized club chairs sat on either side of a real wood fireplace. A soft dog bed sat in the middle.

  "Toby and I spend a good bit of time here." Upon entering the room, Toby had immediately flopped down in his favorite spot. "Have a seat." Christian sat in one of the club chairs and Molly did the same, enjoying the feel of the buttery soft leather.

  "So, what I'm thinking is that we keep it simple. Remind people that we knew each other way back when we were kids, and say I ran into you in New York when I was there on a business trip a few months ago. What's the name of your hotel, the Carlyle?"

  "Clarendon."

  "Right. I can say I stayed there, ran into you. Saw you again when you came home to visit your mom, and that we've been in touch since." He frowned. "At least there's an element of truth there."

  "It doesn't sound very romantic though, not if you want people to believe we're madly in love."

  "Okay, you're right." He thought for a moment, then said, "I know, how about this: I ran into your mom and aunt, told them I was heading to New York on business and they insisted that I look you up."

  Molly smiled. "Now that is believable. Aunt Betty would have demanded it."

  Christian grinned, and Molly thought how young he looked when he let loose a little, and how attractive he was when he smiled, and the laugh lines danced around the corners of his mouth and eyes.

  "So, I looked you up and we went to your favorite restaurant for dinner, where was that?"

  "Becco, near Times Square. We had steak and the triple side of pasta."

  "That sounds good. We're having steak tonight too, no pasta though, just baked potato, I'm afraid." His eyes twinkled, and Molly realized she was having fun. She was starting to remember what a good time she and Christian always had together.

  "I love baked potatoes."

  "Great, so where was I? Okay, so we went to your favorite restaurant, and as soon as I met you there I was a nervous wreck. I was remembering a tomboy with short brown hair and freckles, and in walks this drop-dead gorgeous girl with long caramel curls and a beautiful smile. The only way I knew it was you was because of the freckles. They're very cute by the way. How's that?"

  Drop-dead gorgeous? Christian was being too generous. "Good, but remember, you want this to be believable."

  "Molly, you are gorgeous. You must know that." Christian looked so serious that Molly was surprised.

  She had never thought of herself as gorgeous, just as someone who cleaned up okay when lots of makeup and clothes were involved.

  "Okay, continue…" she encouraged.

  "So, I was surprised by how well Molly had grown up, but it was when we got to chatting over dinner that I realized I was falling head over heels for her. I felt like I'd known her forever, and yet was just starting to learn who she was. That's how it started, and she felt the same. She came to Beauville a few times, and I went to NY a few more times, and we both realized that it was just too hard being so far apart, and that there was no reason to wait. We went back to her favorite restaurant on my last trip to the city, and over champagne and chocolate mousse, I popped the question and much to my delight, she said yes!" He was really getting into it, and Molly thought that if the farming thing ever didn't work out, he could make a living acting.

  "That was quite a performance! You convinced me. They'll eat it up."

  "Let's hope so. You hungry yet? I can throw the steaks on the grill."

  Molly's stomach rumbled in response, eliciting a chuckle from Christian.

  "Come on out to the kitchen. The baked potatoes are already on the grill and the steaks are ready to go."

  "Can I do anything to help?" Molly offered, as they made their way to the kitchen. She'd already admired this room earlier, when Christian started the tour. It was a true chef's kitchen, complete with granite counter tops, double ovens and an Aga stove.

  "Actually, I have a bag of lettuce and some veggies out on the counter for salad. If you want to chop the veggies and throw everything in a bowl, that'd be great. Oh, and there's a bottle of Cabernet next to the fridge that I opened earlier; feel free to pour us both a glass if you like."

  Christian grabbed the steaks and headed off to the grill, while Molly got to work opening the bottle of Cabernet and pouring two glasses. She then sliced a juicy beefsteak tomato and chopped a red pepper, then prepared some onion and cucumber. She emptied the bag of lettuce into a bowl, added the vegetables and then tossed until they were well mixed.

  She took a sip of the wine and it was delicious. A few minutes later Christian returned with the steaks, and they sat down to dinner. While they ate, Christian filled her in on the Ford business ventures.

  "It's a working ranch, about five thousand acres in total. About half the men we employ work as ranchers, the other half are with the building side of the business. We are general contractors and I'm a licensed architect. I've grown that side of the business since graduating college. The ranch side has stayed fairly steady. That's not where our long-term growth is likely to be."

  "Do you do mostly large developments or single projects?"

  "It's a mix right now. It used to be all single projects, but over the years the development side has grown so that it's now almost half of what we do. Beauville still has a lot of land and plenty of demand."

  "So, business is good?" Molly was happy for him. Christian had always said he was going to be an architect, and he’d done it.

  "We can't complain. We're one of the larger employers in town. Beauville is still very much a small town. It's a great place to live."

  After dinner, Christian took the bottle of wine outside and they sat on the front porch sofa, chatting comfortably, with Toby contentedly sprawled on the front step.

  "We'll be expected to immediately leave the next day for our honeymoon," Christian said.

  Molly hadn't thought that far ahead, and wondered what he had in mind. She had a feeling he wouldn't want to do anything typical, such as Hawaii or the Caribbean. That would be a little too romantic.

  "I was thinking, if it sounds good to you, we could spend a week in New York City? You can show me around. Might be kind of fun, I've never really seen much of the city."

  "That would be great!" Molly was thrilled with the idea. There was so much to see and do in New York, and it was always fun to play tourist and see the city through someone else's eyes.

  They chatted a bit longer, and watched the sun set. It was a beautiful night, clear and crisp, and Molly reluctantly decided it was time for her to head home. She was surprised at what a good evening she'd had, and how much she'd enjoyed Christian's company. Maybe the next six months would be better than she'd thought. It looked like she and Christian might be able to pick up their strong friendship from where they'd left off.

  "I should probably get going. I have to get up early tomorrow, and I'm sure you do too." Molly stood and picked up her glass.

  "Here, I'll take that." Christian took her glass and the wine bottle and carried them inside, returning just a moment later to walk her to her car.

  "I'm glad you could come out tonight. It was really good to catch up. Reminded me a little of the old days."

  "I know, for me too. Thanks for dinner, I really had a good time."

  Christian pulled her in for a quick hug and, once again
, Molly felt that surge of electricity when they touched. The intensity of it startled her and she pulled back awkwardly, wondering if it was all in her mind, or if Christian had felt it too. His face gave nothing away, and Molly told herself it must have been the second glass of wine playing tricks on her.

  Chapter 4

  Molly and her mother set out the next morning for Bozeman again, in search of a wedding dress. They'd run out of time the day before and hadn't got to the last store on their list. Aunt Betty wasn't able to join them this time; she had a long-standing hair appointment that she didn't want to miss. As much as she loved her aunt, it was nice for Molly to have her mom all to herself. Her mother was much quieter than Aunt Betty, content to stay in the background and a bit more relaxing to be around.

  "Do you ever miss the city?" Molly asked as her mother pulled into the parking lot of the dress shop.

  "Of course I do. I loved living there. It's a different world, so alive, there’s always something to do and things going on. But I love it here too. I always have. It was just too much after your father passed on. I needed that time away and moving to Brooklyn was the perfect solution. I think I always knew I'd want to come back here someday."

  "Now Aunt Betty loves it too. I never thought she'd leave Brooklyn."

  "I don't think she would have, if it hadn’t been for Harold getting sick."

  Aunt Betty's husband of nearly thirty years had been sick with colon cancer for several years before passing away. By the time he’d died, Betty had already started the grieving process and had had some time to process it.

  "It was all her idea, coming back here," her mother said softly. "I talked about Beauville a lot and she knew I missed it, and I think she was at the point where she wanted a fresh start, too. There were too many memories of Harold in Brooklyn. It definitely helped me to get out of Beauville when I left, and I think we both knew it would help us to come back here."

  "It seems like she's settled in well."

  "That's an understatement! It's as if she's lived here her whole life. She's already met more people in the two years we've been here, than I ever did in all my years with your father." They both smiled at that as they got out of the car and walked in the store.

  Molly hoped that her mother and aunt would eventually find someone else. They were only in their early sixties and were adorable. Her mother was about the same size as Molly, a few inches over five feet, and was still a size six, same as Molly. She wore her hair in a pretty bob that just grazed her collar bone, and she and Aunt Betty colored their hair regularly to hide any trace of gray. Her mom's color was a soft sandy shade, a little lighter than Molly's, while her Aunt Betty wore hers a touch longer and in layered curls that were a brighter blonde. Aunt Betty was taller and a bit rounder than both of them, but hid the extra weight well as she was more into fashion than Molly's mom, or even Molly for that matter.

  A cheerful saleswoman noticed them immediately and came over to help.

  "We called yesterday. I'm the one who needs a dress as soon as possible. My wedding is less than two weeks away."

  "Wonderful! I'm Emily; we spoke on the phone. I set a few dresses aside for you, ones that we have in stock. So if you like any of them, we can alter it within the week for you."

  "That sounds perfect!" Molly wasn't about to be too picky, given the circumstances, and had already decided that she was going to choose something today, from this store, and be done with it.

  So, she wasn't expecting to love all three dresses that Emily brought out to show her. They were all beautiful and simple, exactly what she had in mind.

  She modeled each one, and though she and her mom liked them all, they both agreed on the winner. When Molly walked out of the dressing room in the third dress, her mother caught her breath and her eyes teared up.

  "You like this one, I take it?" Molly said, as she walked toward the mirror and felt goose-bumps as she saw her image. The dress looked as though it had been made for her. It fit perfectly, and was both elegant and simple. It was a timeless design and Molly loved it.

  The enormity of what she was about to do really hit her for the first time, as she stood staring at herself in the wedding dress. A wedding dress! Something in her expression must have alerted her mother because she walked over to Molly and took her hand.

  "You look breathtakingly beautiful in that dress. But, you don't have to do this." She spoke softly but firmly, and Molly looked at her in confusion.

  "You know why I'm doing this, Mom. It's just for six months, and Christian is a nice guy. It'll be fine." She reassured her.

  "I just don't want you to feel pressured into something you don't want to do. Rick will be fine if something happens to his job. He'll land on his feet."

  "He might, but what about the others? What about Christian? He's worked too hard to get to this point. He doesn't deserve to have everything taken away."

  "I'm just saying, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. Your aunt and I will support you, no matter what. You know that."

  "I know, Mom. I do want to do this though. It feels like the right thing, if that makes sense?"

  Her mother just squeezed her hand and then pulled her for a tight hug.

  "I'm so proud of you, honey."

  ***

  There was no bachelor party. Unless you counted the night before the wedding, when Travis and Christian spent most of the evening in Christian's den, sitting by the fire, with Toby in his usual spot. They drank scotch, a fair amount of a very good blend that Travis had brought over.

  "I've been saving this for a special occasion. Guess this is as good as any."

  The scotch was smooth and strong and began to take the edge off Christian's nerves, which had been jumpy all day. All week in fact.

  "So, you're really going through with it?" Travis gave his friend a searching look. "You sure about this?"

  Christian was silent for a long moment. "Sure about it? No. It's a god- awful situation my grandfather put me in. A heck of a thing to do to Molly, too. She doesn't deserve this. It’s six months of her life she's giving up, getting stuck with me."

  "Six months isn't really that long in the whole scheme of things. Gives her a chance to spend some time with her family. Her aunt told me they've hardly seen her in the past few years since they moved out here. Molly never got much time off, only made it out here once a year around Christmas, and even then it wasn't on the holiday itself. Hotels are open on holidays and, as a manager, she was usually there."

  Christian had never thought about that. "No kidding. That must have been hard on her and her family." Holidays had always been a big deal in his house growing up. His mother had been an excellent cook and his dad had made a great Santa. He’d had the rounded belly to pull it off. Christian’s eyes darkened as he thought of them. They had lost their lives much too young and so quickly. Even worse, it had happened on Christmas Eve, as they had been on their way home. A drunk driver going the wrong way on a dark mountain road. They’d never seen it coming, and had died instantly. It had happened nearly fifteen years ago, but sometimes the hurt was still so raw and fresh that he couldn't believe it had been that long.

  He didn't know what he would have done without his grandparents. His grandfather had been a rock and his grandmother had kept all the holiday traditions going. When she’d passed and his grandfather had moved in with him, he’d done the same. Yeah, holidays were important, and he couldn't imagine missing them. His younger brother Dan, though, couldn't stand Christmas to this day, because of what had happened.

  "Earth to Christian," Travis teased.

  "Sorry, just spaced out there for a minute." He knew that Travis understood. They'd been best friends since elementary school.

  "So, what did you decide to do for a honeymoon? Anything?"

  "Manhattan. I thought it would be fun for Molly, well, for both of us actually, to play tourist there. She knows the city so well and I've barely seen anything."

  "That's a good idea. Two friends
who happen to be married visiting the big city." Travis smiled mischievously before adding, "What about sleeping arrangements?"

  "What about them?"

  "Molly's a beautiful girl. I'm just saying."

  Christian frowned. "It's not like that."

  "So are you saying you're going to be celibate for the next six months?"

  "I'm not saying anything. To be honest, I haven't thought that far ahead."

  "Fair enough. What about Isabella? You said she's the only other person who knows the truth about your wedding?"

  "I thought I owed her that much. She's a good person; we had fun together."

  "Well, if she knows the truth, maybe she'd be up for an occasional rendezvous?"

  Christian shut that idea right down. "Absolutely not. I wouldn't do that to either of them. Wouldn't be right."

  "I suppose not." Travis had a thoughtful look on his face.

  "So that means Isabella is available? Would it be breaking guy-code if I took her out? Not saying I'm going to, just wondering."

  Christian grinned at that, and realized he didn't have the slightest jealous feeling about it. He really did like Isabella and he loved Travis. The thought of the two of them together was intriguing. "Go for it. I am totally okay with that idea."

  ***

  There wasn't an official bachelorette party either. Meghan arrived around six the night before the wedding, and she and Molly were quickly shooed out of the house by Aunt Betty, who said they had the rest of their lives to stay home.

  They decided to go to Delancey's and have dinner at the bar. Delancey's was not only the best restaurant in town, it also had entertainment, and tonight it was two guys on guitars singing Top 40 covers. They were pretty good, though, and the music made for nice background sounds as they ate dinner and caught up.

  "I can't believe you're really doing this." Meghan said, as the bartender set down her cocktail, a shimmery pink Cosmopolitan.

  "Neither can I." Molly raised her glass of Chardonnay and tapped it against Meghan's drink. "Cheers."

  "Cheers. I do think you're a little crazy for doing this, but in a good way. And you're right, six months will go fast. I'll have you back in Brooklyn before I know it. Right?"