Six Months in Montana (Montana Sweet Western Romance Series)

by Kelley, Pamela M.

  A little before six, Molly wrapped up for the day and headed off to Harry's bar to meet Meghan for their usual Thursday night drink.

  Meghan was already sitting at the bar sipping a glass of wine when Molly arrived and settled into the seat next to her. Jimmy, their favorite bartender, was over in a flash to take her order and moments later returned with a glass of Cabernet.

  "So, how was your week?" Meghan asked.

  "Crazy, as usual." Molly laughed and took a sip of her wine. It was delicious and, after a few more sips, she felt herself start to relax. It had been a long week, with long hours and although she loved it and was grateful for the opportunity, she was also a bit surprised to find that she didn't feel the same sense of excitement she'd always felt before. It was like something was missing.

  "Well, you were pretty much doing the job before, even without the title." Meghan said, when Molly tried to explain how she was feeling. "Maybe it's just a bit of a letdown now that you're finally in the role and it's not as different as you'd imagined."

  "Maybe. I suppose that could be it," Molly agreed.

  "Or maybe your priorities are just different now." Molly knew Meghan was referring to Christian.

  "That's very much over," she said softly.

  "You're sure?" When Molly nodded, Meghan continued, "Okay, well, if you're sure, there's someone I'd like you to meet. He's a friend of Ben's, actually. Ben wants to have us all over to his place for dinner after work tomorrow." Meghan and Ben had been dating now for several months and Molly was happy for them both.

  "I don't know." Molly hesitated. The idea of a date with someone else held little appeal.

  "It's not really a date. Think of it as dinner with friends. It'll be super- casual. If there's a connection, great; if not, no worries."

  Most people would definitely have considered Kyle Thompson a catch. He was tall, dark, handsome and most of all, nice. He was a college friend of Ben's and had recently relocated to Manhattan. Molly enjoyed talking to him. He had a great sense of humor and was passionate about his work as an architect. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him, except that he wasn't Christian. At the end of the evening, when he asked her to have dinner with him sometime, she agreed because she liked his company and because she didn't have a good enough reason to say no. Christian wasn't in the picture any longer, and Kyle really did seem like a great guy.

  When her mother and Aunt arrived late Saturday afternoon, they hopped a cab to Molly's apartment and she met them there as soon as she was done with work. The small apartment was full of life with the two of them in it, and they had stopped along the way to pick up some snacks, cheese and crackers and a bottle of wine, which Aunt Betty opened as soon as Molly walked in the door. They had tickets to see Mamma Mia the next night, and reservations at Becco for dinner before the show, so on their first night in town, they just wanted to relax and catch up and, maybe, if they felt like it, have a pizza delivered.

  Her mother and aunt were of course thrilled to hear about Molly's upcoming date. "It's good to get out there and meet new people," Aunt Betty said, when Molly expressed hesitation that she was ready to really start dating again.

  "It's okay if he just turns out to be a friend," her mother said. "You can always use a good friend, and maybe it will turn into more. Just take it one day at a time," she advised.

  "Have you seen Christian around? How is he?" Molly couldn't help but ask.

  Her mother and aunt exchanged looks, and then Aunt Betty spoke up, "I don't know that there's anything to it, there's probably not, but Isabella has been seen out with Christian a few times."

  Molly's heart sank. Was he back with Isabella already? If that was true, then she had to question if Christian had ever felt the way she had. Apparently not. Her misery must have been apparent on her face, because her mother stood up and gave her a hug.

  "We weren't going to say anything, but it has been a few months now, and if Christian is moving on, maybe you should do the same."

  "No, I'm glad you told me. Let's change the subject. What should we get on our pizza?" While they debated the various toppings, Molly made up her mind to definitely see Kyle again, and to try and stop thinking about Christian, because it didn't seem as though she was on his mind.

  Christian couldn't stop thinking about Molly. He thought it would be easier once she was gone and he could get back to living his life the way he'd always done it. But that was impossible. The house seemed emptier than ever, like all the life had been drained out of it. He wasn't sleeping well and he knew he'd been a bear to be around, impatient and quick to snap. Travis had called him on it and he'd admitted that he'd been having a tough time of it. But Travis had little sympathy. The solution was simple to him, but Christian wasn't ready to go there, not yet. He wanted to give Molly time to figure out what she really wanted and to experience the job she'd dreamed about.

  Molly had a great visit with her mother and Aunt Betty, and a few days after they left, Kyle called to suggest going to dinner that Saturday night. He picked her up at 7:30 and they went to an interesting Ethiopian restaurant, where there were no utensils and they shared several dishes and used pieces of soft bread to scoop up the fragrant meats and vegetables. Molly was surprised by how much fun she had with Kyle. They laughed at the novelty of eating with their hands and it made for a comfortable, informal feeling. They had plenty to talk about and Molly felt like she was having dinner with an old friend. Which, she realized could be an issue, as what she didn't feel was the crazy excitement and attraction that she'd felt with Christian. But, maybe that was okay. Maybe nice and fun and comfortable could be a good thing too. Maybe the attraction would come after they'd spent more time together, and when she stopped comparing him to Christian.

  It was a beautiful clear night, and after they finished eating they decided to walk back to Molly's place instead of getting a cab. When they reached the door of her apartment building, Molly debated whether or not to invite him in, but before she decided, he said, "I have an early meeting in the morning, so am going to grab a cab home. I had a really great time tonight and would love to do it again soon, if you're up for it?" He smiled and Molly didn't hesitate. "I'd love to." She had enjoyed the evening as well, and would be happy to spend more time with him.

  "Great, I'll call soon and we'll make a plan." He leaned over, gave her a quick peck on the lips and then was on his way.

  Two nights later, Molly was home for the evening and had just climbed into her softest pajamas and curled up on the sofa to watch a little TV, when the phone rang. At first, she guessed it might be Kyle calling to make plans for the coming weekend, but then she saw the caller ID and the butterflies came rushing back: it was Christian's cell phone number.

  "Hello?"

  "Molly, it's Christian." He sounded uncertain and very far away.

  "Hi, what's up?" She tried to sound casual and friendly.

  "How've you been?" he asked.

  "Good, busy with work. You?"

  "Same. Listen I'm calling because I have to come to New York tomorrow and would love to see you, see how you're doing. Are you free to meet up for dinner tomorrow night? I could meet you at Becco's after you get off work, or anywhere else you want to go?"

  "Becco's is fine. I should be able to get there by 6:30. Why are you coming to New York?" she asked.

  "A business meeting. I'll tell you more about it when I see you."

  "Okay," she agreed. "See you tomorrow night."

  "Looking forward to it." His voice sounded more confident now, more like the Christian she used to know.

  Molly was a bundle of nerves the following day. She was so distracted that she kept forgetting what she was about to do, and had to check her to- do list repeatedly to make sure she stayed on track. Finally, she was able to wrap up for the day and jumped in a cab to go to Becco's.

  Christian was waiting for her outside the main entrance and pulled her into a hug as soon as she reached him.

  "Have you been waiting long?"
she asked him.

  "No, just got her a minute before you did. Are you ready to head in?"

  He held the door for her, and they went inside and were seated immediately. The waiter came and they ordered a bottle of Amarone, a smooth red that went wonderfully with the pasta. Christian ordered a sirloin steak and Molly got what she always got at Becco's: the triple pasta. The pastas changed daily, but they were always delicious. Tonight was light-as-air gnocchi in a gorgonzola cream sauce with walnuts, rigatoni with spinach and scallops and fettucini with a light tomato and onion sauce.

  As they drank their wine and ate their meals, they caught up on everyone they knew and what everyone was up to.

  "How's the job going? Is it everything you'd hoped?" Christian asked.

  "It's fine. It's going well. Everything is wonderful," she said with forced enthusiasm.

  "I heard that you're dating." Christian stated. Molly thought that was interesting. The only people who knew about Kyle were her mother and her aunt, and she knew her mother would never say anything. What was Aunt Betty up too?

  "I've gone on a couple of dates. Kyle is a nice guy." She couldn't help adding, "I think you'd like him." He glowered at that, and then Molly asked,

  "I heard you and Isabella are back together?"

  Christian looked outraged at the thought. "What? Where did you hear that?"

  "You were seen out with her a few times. People assume things."

  "Well, they would be assuming wrong. We are most definitely not back together. We were meeting to discuss a possible business deal."

  "What kind of business would you have with Isabella?"

  "She wants to unload her inn. It turns out she's not meant to run a B & B." He smiled at that. "She wanted to ask my advice and if we might be interested in taking it over. I told her I'd run the idea by you, but that I didn't know if you'd have any interest in another Montana property."

  "That's the business meeting you referred to? With me?" Molly was a little confused. "You could have just called."

  "No, I couldn't. I needed to see you, to look you in the eyes and see if you're happy here. Or if you might ever be happy somewhere else, say in Beauville maybe?"

  Molly's heart raced. "What are you asking exactly?"

  Christian smiled then, and Molly caught her breath at the sight of the laugh lines that danced around his mouth and the cute little crinkles around his eyes when he grinned. He dropped to one knee and took Molly's hand. "Molly I love you, and I've been missing you like crazy. Would you consider staying married to me?"

  "Seriously? Yes, of course! What took you so long?"

  He kissed her then, a long kiss that resulted in the tables around them clapping. He sat back down and took her hand again.

  "It's been hell, this waiting. I wanted to give you enough time to feel like you'd really tried out the new job and that you weren't giving something up to be with me. I was going to wait another month or two to be sure, but then when I heard you'd met someone, I panicked. I couldn't risk losing you."

  "You wouldn't have lost me. Kyle's a sweetheart, but he's not you."

  "So, what do you think about Isabella's idea? If you took over her place, you'd have plenty to do between that and Rose Cottage." Molly loved the idea and now that she had Ann already working as a manager, it would be a simple transition.

  "I love the idea, and more importantly, I love you. You have no idea how much I've missed you."

  "I think we owe a toast to Gramps," Christian said. "If it hadn’t been for him, we probably wouldn't be together."

  "To Gramps!" Molly agreed, and then clinked her glass against Christian’s. "And to the rest of our lives, together." She leaned over then and kissed him, and then they started making plans. As soon as she could work out her notice, she'd be on her way home to Montana and back to her husband…

  ~The End~

  If you enjoyed SIX MONTHS IN MONTANA, and want to be the first to know when new releases are available and to get my early reader discounts, please sign up for my New Release Alerts. I hate spam and will never share your email. I’ll just send the occasional note to let you know about new releases, special discounts, giveaways and opportunities to read and review advanced reader copies. Thank you! http://eepurl.com/IZbOH

  Here’s a sneak peek of MISTLETOE IN MONTANA, which is Dan and Traci’s story.

  Dan is Christian’s younger brother who lives in Chicago and loves the city life. He is not happy to be stuck in Beauville, MT for several months recuperating with a badly broken leg. His spirits lift when he meets newly single Traci, who is crazy about Christmas…while Dan would be happy to skip the holiday entirely. She is not ready for a new relationship with anyone, especially a scrooge like him…but Dan doesn’t give up easily.

  Breaking up with someone was never an easy thing to do, and Traci Jones had been dreading this lunch date all week. She and Billy Sears had briefly dated in high school and then started up again a few years ago. They’d been engaged for almost a year and Billy had been pushing recently to set a date and was growing ever more frustrated when Traci kept changing the subject. She had never been someone who was in a hurry to get married to anyone, but most especially to Billy. The time was long overdue to end things and she knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But, it was necessary. Looking back, she could see that the signs were there, indicating trouble ahead, but she’d been oblivious to them, at first.

  She had been caught up in Billy’s easy charm and sunny good looks, his thick blonde hair, blue eyes and muscular build. He kept himself in very good shape and loved all the attention that he received. Billy had been a star quarterback in high school when Traci was a cheerleader, and he still spent most of his time at the high school in his role as gym teacher and football coach. Billy was the guy who was always the center of attention at parties, amusing at first, but after a few drinks he often grew loud and annoying.

  Once they got engaged, Traci saw the troubling side of his personality more and more and started having doubts. It didn’t help matters that Billy had a lingering back injury that flared up often. This meant he often took strong pain meds that seemed to make his mood swings even more dramatic.

  It was her suggestion that they meet for an early dinner as Billy was too busy to do lunch. She’d suggested a more casual place, not wanting to give the idea that this would be a romantic dinner, but Billy vetoed that and insisted on their favorite restaurant, Delancey’s.

  Fortunately, they had a corner booth in the back and it was just a few minutes past five, early still for the dinner rush so the restaurant was mostly empty. Which was good in case Billy caused a scene.

  Their waitress returned to the table with a glass of Shiraz for Traci and a Budweiser beer on draft for Billy. She took their orders and as soon as she walked away, Billy started in on her.

  “What’s going on with you and Christian Ford? Someone saw your car out at the ranch again. Do you think I’m stupid?”

  “Traci sighed. He was in a mood, which meant this was going to be even harder to do, and all the more necessary. These paranoid accusations by Billy were becoming a regular thing, and truth be told were starting to scare her a little. She wasn’t stupid by any means, and could see the direction her life would go if she stayed with Billy, and she wanted no part of it. He hadn’t gotten physically violent yet, but she could sense the potential simmering under the surface as his temper showed itself more frequently. For months now, his jealousy had been a problem as he was constantly texting her to see what she was doing and who she was with and if he didn’t like her answer, it was a problem.

  “Yes, I was out at Christian Ford’s ranch, again. You know I’ve been working with his wife Molly to redesign the Rose Cottage.”

  The waitress returned with their salads and a loaf of bread and Billy said nothing in response, just stabbed his fork into his salad and took a huge bite, glaring at Traci the whole time. She glanced at her watch, wondering how much longer it would be for their meals to arrive. She had no app
etite at all, and just couldn’t wait to get the break-up over with and go home. But, she didn’t want to raise the subject until it was almost time to leave. She knew Billy too well, and knew it could get ugly fast.

  “You got somewhere you need to be?” Billy asked. He’d seen her glance at his watch and was immediately suspicious. Which was ridiculous, she’d never given him any reason to doubt her. She’d asked her twin brother, Travis, who was an attorney, for his advice recently; though she’d known what he was going to say. Travis hadn’t been a fan of Billy’s even from the beginning.

  “He’s not good enough for you,” he had said simply. She’d wanted to try and understand where Billy’s jealousy was coming from because it was a mystery to her. “It’s an insecurity thing I’d bet. He’s afraid of losing you, so he’s trying to control you.” He looked more serious as he continued, “I’m glad you’re thinking of ending it. Frankly from what you’ve told me lately, I’m afraid his behavior will escalate and you don’t need that.”

  No, she didn’t need that. Traci’s life was going great otherwise. She was 32 years old and owned her own small condo and her design business was growing steadily. Not enough for her to do it full-time, but she was getting there. She also worked part-time at Beauville’s only department store. Snow’s was a family run business and she enjoyed working there, plus the discount was helpful as she was able to purchase many items for her decorating jobs- cute pillows, lamps, etc. At first, she’d thought Billy was the missing piece and had once imagined a life with him. He could be a lot of fun and he was great with kids. But the Billy she was dating now wasn’t the same person. Maybe this was just a rough patch or maybe this was who he really was. Either way, Traci was no longer interested in sticking around to find out.