Last Year's Bride (Montana Born Brides)

by Anne McAllister

  Jane and Sam were taking the two couples to the airport, then were having an evening in Bozeman. Jane had booked them into a posh place just for the night.

  “We need some alone time,” she said. “If we’re out here, we’ll have all of you.” She glanced at Nell and Cole and Sadie and Em. “And if we go into Marietta, next week we’ll be in the newspaper.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Cole said cheerfully. He’d been looking happier by the minute, Nell thought. She’d even heard him laughing once or twice.

  Now he helped Mac and Chandler pack the back of the Suburban Jane had brought with suitcases and duffle bags and dog crates. Then they all piled in. Em and Sadie blinked back tears, waving as Sam headed the Suburban toward the highway.

  Nell felt her own throat tighten as Cole took one of her hands in his and wrapped his other arm around her shoulder, squeezing lightly, tucking her in against him. She blinked and sniffled as the Suburban went around the bend and out of sight.

  “Thank God,” Cole said cheerfully and gave her a grin and then a smacking kiss. “We’ve got our lives back.”

  Nell returned the kiss, but punched him lightly in the ribs. “I don’t,” she reminded him. “Not entirely. Not yet.”

  “Well, you don’t have to do anything right now,” Cole said. “You’re mine until tomorrow night.” That was when she would be flying back to Los Angeles. “Gran,” he called to Em who was heading back to the house, “you and Sadie wouldn’t mind havin’ some pups here visiting for a few hours, wouldn’t you? Nell and I have some things to do at the cabin.”

  Em turned at the bottom of the porch steps and looked back at him. “Oh, I think Sadie and I can handle them for the rest of the afternoon while you and Nell do whatever it is you have to do at the cabin.” The look she gave him—and the twinkle in her eye—made it clear that she knew exactly what was going to happen at the cabin.

  Nell knew her cheeks were hot, but she was sure Cole’s were redder.

  “Go on with you on,” Em said and turned to head up the steps. And Nell thought she heard Em mutter under her breath, “About time.”

  They made love. Long leisurely love. Perfectly marvelous love. Love like they hadn’t made since they’d been in Reno. Then Nell had a shower while Cole slept, and then he took a shower while she went down and made dinner.

  “Sure you don’t want to shower with me?” He’d looked hopeful—and far too tempting with his hair mussed and his all of his hard body on display as he stood in the door to the bathroom.

  “I would,” Nell said, “but my stomach is growling. And besides,” she said, “I want to save some fun stuff for tomorrow.”

  But she had to admit that the thought of joining him under the spray, even if the shower was small, was seriously tempting.

  She had brought some food up from the ranch house and was making some chili to go with it when her phone began vibrating on the kitchen counter. Cole had made her leave it there because Grant had a habit of calling at the worst possible times. He’d already called half a dozen times today, but it was Saturday so she ignored him.

  Now she reached for it because she could actually talk for a few minutes while Cole was in the shower. Happily, it turned out not to be Grant at all.

  “Jane,” she said, delighted when she saw the ID on her phone. “What’s up? Don’t tell me you and Sam are bored.”

  “No. We’re at the hospital.” Jane’s voice was hollow and desperate. “Sam’s had a heart attack.”

  Chapter Nine

  Cole heard the door open to the bathroom and grinned in anticipation. “So much for dinner,” he said over the sound of the shower running. “I knew I was too much temptation.”

  He poked his head around the edge of the shower curtain and saw Nell, pale as a ghost, staring at him. Instantly his grin vanished. “What’s wrong?”

  He jerked off the water and grabbed a towel. Damn it to hell. He knew he shouldn’t have presumed, knew he should never have left the pups with Gran. She did too much. She’d been pushed beyond her limits by the TV show, by so many demands he couldn’t even begin to guess how many. And he’d just made it worse by being selfish and making one more.

  “What happened to her?” Please God, not now. She might have worked her fingers to the bone for years, but between McKay’s cattle and the money from the TV show, financially things were actually good. And Sam had Jane now. And he had Nell. Things were finally looking up.

  “Her?” Nell looked momentarily confused.

  “Gran.” Cole scraped the towel over his face, scrubbed at his hair, peered at Nell through the folds in the towel. “Is she all right?”

  She shook her head. “It’s not Gran,” she said, and he felt a whoosh of relief. “It’s Sam. Your dad,” she added, as if he didn’t know who Sam was. “He’s had another heart attack.”

  The other shoe—the one Cole seemed to have spent his life waiting for, but recently, stupidly, hadn’t even been thinking about—dropped.

  He didn’t even know why he was surprised. He shouldn’t be. He should have realized that it was inevitable, that there were no givens, no real promises of happy endings.

  His old man had had no business saying yes to a marriage proposal from a beautiful woman sixteen years younger than he was. It was insane. And obviously deadly.

  The thought was a punch in the gut. “Is he—?”

  “He’s hanging in there,” Nell said. She took the towel out of his hands and began to dry him. It wasn’t meant to seduce. It was useful—and comforting, as if by rubbing the water from his body, she could communicate the way she cared. In the depth of his brain, Cole understood that. He allowed it, appreciated it even. He stood still and let her dry him, then put her arms around him and he slid his around her, feeling even more the comfort in their embrace “Jane is with him. So are Mac and Maggie and Beth and Chandler.”

  “What? All of them? How’d they all get there?”

  “They hadn’t gone to the airport yet. I gather that they were on their way, just passing the off-ramp to Main Street and Sam took a right. Jane said, um, the airport is further on. And your dad said, I just need to make a quick stop at the hospital first.”

  Cole felt his eyes bug. “A quick stop? He drove himself to the hospital?” Bloody damned idiot! “For God’s sake!” He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  Nell was doing both. She hugged him even harder. “I told Jane we’d come to the hospital. She wants us to tell Em and Sadie. I’m guessing they’ll want to come, too.”

  “They will.”

  Cole didn’t know how to tell his grandmother. She’d been so happy. And he’d seen it in her eyes, that after years of worry, she felt things were going to be all right now. He didn’t know how to break the news.

  So when they got to the ranch house, he sat in the truck and called Sadie who had gone into town to meet a friend, while Nell went into the house and told Em.

  Cole didn’t know what she said, but apparently it was the right thing because a few minutes later his grandmother came out, pale but composed. She hadn’t been crying. Her eyes were perfectly dry as she looked at him as she climbed into the back seat of the crew cab.

  “Gran,” he said, feeling hellishly out of his depth. His voice broke.

  “He’ll be fine,” Em said firmly. “Let’s go.”

  They drove into Marietta in silence. Cole didn’t know how his grandmother could delude herself into believing Sam would be fine. And even less did he know what Nell was thinking. She didn’t speak. But she did reach over and put a hand on his thigh. Again, he knew it was there to comfort. He covered it with his own.

  In Marietta, she said, “I’ll ride over with Sadie. We might be glad we have two vehicles.”

  It made sense, Cole thought, which was more than he was apparently capable of doing.

  “I’ll go with Sadie,” Em said.

  But Nell shook her head. “I want to.”

  Whether Nell wanted to or not, Cole understood that this was t
he way she thought it should be. He should take care of his grandmother. Sadie shouldn’t. And someone should be with his sister. She shouldn’t go to the hospital alone.

  When Nell left to go with Sadie, Em climbed into the front seat next to him. Every few minutes Cole slanted a glance her way, looking for signs that she was crumbling. But she sat still and strong and unblinking, except for shortly after they got up onto the Interstate heading out of Livingston toward Bozeman when he must have made some sound in his throat.

  Then she reached over and patted his knee. “It will be all right.”

  Her composure, her certainty—so bloody misplaced—was more than he could take. He didn’t even know he was going to explode until he did.

  “The hell it will,” Cole snapped. “He’s just had his third damn heart attack!”

  “This one didn’t sound so bad,” Em said soothingly.

  “Bull!” Cole said. He would have said more but she was his grandmother and he didn’t want to shock her. “He’s overdoing things in case you hadn’t noticed. Ever since he met Jane he’s been out at all hours. He’s been planning to ride up to the summer range with me. I tried to tell him no, but he insisted. I was gonna go slow, but hell, he’d prob’ly want to ride up the damn mountains, hell for leather! He thinks he can do anything! He’s probably even having sex a couple of times a night.” The minute he said the words— to his grandmother, for heaven’s sake!— Cole was mortified. His face burned.

  There was a pause, then Em smiled a small impish smile. “Well, you know, the doc said exercise was good for him.”

  It was a testament to how furious Cole was that he didn’t even see any humor in what she said. “The doctor said if he had the surgery they could repair the valves. The doc said he could be good as new. Did he listen? Hell, no! He turned down that surgery more times than I can count. So why would he listen to anything else?”

  “Don’t swear, darling,” Em said, and patted his knee once again.

  So Cole didn’t swear anymore. Not out loud anyway. But he figured he had cussed a hundred time over in his head before he finally turned into the hospital parking lot.

  Of course the old man was in the ICU. That’s where they put people who were having heart attacks—presumably even ones who were stupid enough to drive themselves to the hospital. He’d been there before when Sam had had his last one.

  But to Cole’s surprise, while Sam was hooked up to half a dozen monitors, this time he wasn’t flat out unconscious. He was only half-reclining in the bed, and he was wide awake.

  “What’re you doing here?” he demanded when Cole walked in. “I thought you were having your honeymoon.”

  “Small interruption,” Cole snapped right back. “Some dumb ass had a heart attack.”

  The monitors recorded several high jumps and a rapid beeping sound. The nurses came running. Jane looked terrified.

  Em gave Cole a disapproving look. “Go outside if you’re determined to give him another one.” Then she crossed the room, leaned down and kissed her son’s forehead. “You don’t look too bad.”

  Cole thought Sam looked like hell, despite being awake and ornery. He was pale and there was pain in the tightness around his mouth and in his eyes. But at least he was alive. And for the moment at least, Jane was there fussing over him.

  Cole was certain it wouldn’t last. It never did.

  He slipped out of the room. It was Em’s idea after all—so he wouldn’t give Sam yet another heart attack. And that was fine with him. He didn’t need to be there watching Sam’s future go down the drain. He strode down the hall, cracking his knuckles as he went.

  “Cole!”

  He turned to see Nell coming after him. He waited, and she caught up, then tucked her arm in his.

  “I think he looks awful,” she said, confirming his own estimation. “But the nurse says he’s doing very well.”

  Cole didn’t snort, but he made a sort of hmm of disbelief. Nell must have been able to translate it because she squeezed his arm, then backed him up against a wall and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

  “Don’t be a pessimist,” she said firmly. “He’s a resilient guy, your dad.”

  “A cat only has so many lives.”

  “I think Sam might have more lives than any cat. Besides, he has Jane in his corner this time.”

  Then Cole did snort. “Not likely.” He turned and started walked down the corridor again.

  Nell caught his arm. “What’s that supposed to mean? You think she’ll just walk away?”

  He turned to face her. “Wouldn’t you?”

  “Of course not. Not if I loved him!” Nell was looking at him, stricken.

  Determinedly Cole shook his head. “She’s young. Well, sort of. Not a lot older’n me, anyway. She could have her pick of guys. Guys not old enough to be her father!”

  “He’s not. He’s—”

  “Sixteen years older than she is. Yeah, so I’ve heard. So what? She could have her pick of guys with good strong healthy hearts!”

  “He could have surgery!”

  “Yeah, that’ll happen.” Cole shrugged her off, then shook his head. “I feel sorry for him. He hasn’t had it easy, marryin’ the wrong women, gettin’ stuck with three kids. It’s too bad it won’t work for him this time.”

  “You don’t know—”

  “I know,” Cole said darkly. He took off his hat and rubbed a hand through his hair. Then he looked into Nell’s deep brown eyes once more. “I know,” he said quietly.

  Because he did.

  Nell stayed at the hospital with Sadie and Em. Cole drove back to the ranch alone. He had work to do, he told them. Sam understood.

  Cole had gone back into his dad’s room before he left. Everyone else backed away when he approached Sam’s bed, as if they didn’t want to be there for the next skirmish. Cole didn’t blame them.

  “You got a little more color in your face,” he told Sam after a moment’s silence. There. That at least wasn’t worth fighting over.

  A corner of Sam’s mouth had quirked, as if he knew what Cole was doing. “Hope so,” he’d said. Then he reached out and punched Cole lightly on the upper arm with his fist. “I’m sorry.”

  Cole frowned. “The hell are you sorry for? You didn’t do it on purpose. Not even you could have a heart attack on purpose.”

  Sam laughed—just a little. “No. Not even me.” He shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. “I’m sorry it’s all fallin’ on you.”

  Cole rubbed a hand against the back of his neck. “It’s okay. I can handle it.”

  “I know that. You’re a rock, just like your grandmother says. Always have been. At least you got a good woman to stand by you.”

  Cole swallowed. “Yeah.” His gaze flicked over to where Nell was standing on the far side of the room talking in a low voice with Jane and Maggie and Beth. “She’s a good woman, all right. The best.”

  Now the good woman was taking everyone to dinner in town while Cole went back out to the ranch. There were chores that needed doing tonight. And if Sam wasn’t going with him tomorrow to take the cattle up to the summer range, he might as well get an early start in the morning. He might call Dillon and see if he or one of the hands on the Sheenan place would like to lend a hand. It was easier with two. There was no reason any longer to imagine he’d get a day-long honeymoon with Nell. It wasn’t going to happen.

  He knew it. He accepted it. And he knew Nell did, too. Before he left, he had heard her telling Em she would bring her back into Bozeman tomorrow morning to see how Sam was doing.

  He got back to the ranch a little past eight. It was hard to imagine it the beehive of activity it had been less than twenty-four hours ago. It seem almost desolate now—as if it had been abandoned.

  “Wouldn’t it be cool if everyone got swept up by Martians?” he remembered his brother, Clint, saying when he was nine. At seven, Cole had thought that would indeed be cool. Now he knew it would just feel lonely.

  He cleaned
up the living room and dining room in the ranch house, picked up all the cups and plates and silverware sitting on the table, stuff that Em hadn’t got to from lunch—stuff that he and Nell had left her with, he remembered guiltily. Then he washed the dishes and didn’t leave them to drain on the counter top. He knew Em. She’d wash them all over again unless he dried them and put them away.

  He was just finishing when he saw headlights coming up the road. Nell? Already? He tossed the dish towel on the table and went to open the door.

  But it wasn’t Sadie’s car. It was a truck he didn’t know. It pulled up alongside the barn, both of its doors opened, and two men wearing cowboy hats got out. In the half-light of dusk, he didn’t recognize them until they were halfway across the yard.

  Then he stared. “Mac? Chandler? What the—?”

  “We figured you needed a couple of hands for the drive tomorrow,” Chandler said. He was grinning his summer-camper grin, but he was wearing a new straw cowboy hat and a pair of Wranglers with his Polo t-shirt.

  Cole frowned. “You’re supposed to be on a plane.”

  “Missed it,” Mac said unrepentantly. “We were at the hospital, weren’t we? Matter of life and death.” He shrugged. “We’ve got a few days. So we rented a truck, brought the dogs back with us. We’d be glad to help. What do you say?”

  Cole said yes.

  He didn’t want to make demands on his neighbors. Dillon had his own cattle to deal with. And hell, why not? Chandler and Mac had learned a lot. A couple of days in the saddle and they’d learn a lot more—especially about sore butts. “If you’re sure?” he gave them an option to back out. “I can do it on my own.”

  “Probably faster,” Mac said before Cole could say it himself.

  But Cole just shook his head. Fast didn’t matter. “Yes,” he said. “Glad to have you. Hell, yes.”

  While they remade their bunks in the bunkhouse and settled in, Cole put together provisions from the kitchen, gathering enough for three and stowing it in saddlebags. Then he went out to the bunkhouse again and told them he’d be there at six.