Somewhere Montana

by Platt, MJ

  “Well, we’d better pick up everything so I can get these two ready for supper,” said Sage. Mac took her hand to help her up and wouldn’t let it go.

  “Guess you need to get busy,” said Mac, looking at JJ. “The toys have to go back in the toy box.”

  “Us?” asked JJ, pointing to GG and himself. “But Angela always does that.”

  “Do you see Angela here?” asked Sage gently.

  “No,” answered JJ contritely.

  “Who took them out of the box to play with?” asked Mac.

  “We did.”

  JJ and GG looked at each other as Sage regarded them with raised eyebrows. They reluctantly started picking up the toys. When they finished, JJ looked at the picture puzzle and the log buildings. “Do we have to take them apart and put them away, too?” asked JJ, sadly eyeing the miniature ranch in progress.

  “Do you want to work on it tomorrow?” asked Sage.

  JJ and GG both nodded enthusiastically.

  “Well, if you were building a house to live in, would you take it apart at the end of the day because it wasn’t finished?”

  JJ thought about that for a minute and it was like a light came on. “Of course not.”

  “Then we’ll leave it and the puzzle because it isn’t finished either.”

  “JJ, may I suggest something I was taught when I was your age?” asked Mac. “When I was done playing with a toy, I put it back before taking out another one. Then I didn’t have a big mess to pick up at the end of the day. Want to try it while you’re here this week?”

  JJ gave him an odd look, and then broke into a big grin.

  “Okay, down to the bathroom. Time to wash your face and hands for supper,” said Sage, shooing them out the door. Mac followed and helped her oversee the washing and drying. Then he sent them to the kitchen, keeping Sage there with a hand on her arm.

  “Be careful,” he warned her. “Swindon was asking a lot of questions about you today. I don’t know if he’s placed you or if he was fishing. He made it sound like he was only interested in finding out about a pretty woman. I’m glad the other guys were there. They got in some good-natured teasing until they saw I had enough. Two Feathers stepped in and redirected the conversation to what they were fixing for lunch and what we had covered this morning. So, watch what you say in front of him or his kids. I don’t think he has finished his interrogation.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Sage, cupping his cheek. “I’ve been in Seattle often enough I know the city fairly well. Besides, if he did find out the truth, what could happen? I’m sure Graham and Marcos don’t run in the same circles.”

  “I can’t have anything jeopardize your safety!” he replied gruffly, pulling her close. His head descended to capture her lips in a tender kiss. He kept it brief, although he wanted to deepen it, take it further. Standing in the bathroom with the shower handy, his mind conjured ideas he needed to suppress.

  “Supper,” he said, his voice husky, as he led her down the hall to the kitchen.

  After the meal they all gathered in the parlor to go over the day’s events.

  “Alan, how’s the ankle feel?” asked Mac.

  “Not as bad as I thought it would,” he answered. “I doubt if I could perform with Riverdance, but I should be good to go in the morning.”

  “Your boots lace tightly enough to give it support,” stated Two Feathers. “You start having any problems, be sure to let us know. Part of your survival is not being a martyr. Good training for all of you.”

  The other man nodded agreement.

  “I’m always interested in new areas,” spoke up Jim. “Your town has a quaint setting and name. Care to give us the story behind it?”

  “In 1835,” Mac started, “two mountain men, Jacques Deveaux and Riordan Murphy, saw the end of the fur trade coming and decided they wanted to settle down. Both men were in their mid-to-late thirties when they discovered the valley. They decided to build a town there. But they had to figure how to entice more people to settle it. In order to do that, they had to secure a deed to the area and decide on a name for the town. So they applied for twenty-five square miles, which incorporated the whole valley. When Murphy was making out the papers, it asked for the location. Deveaux said they were somewhere in the Montana Territory. And Murphy replied that that was as good a name as any and their town would be Somewhere, Montana.

  “Over the years, some people wanted to change the name, but they got voted down real quick,” he added. “The original settlers and their descendants liked the unique name. It set deep roots. Now nobody could change it anyway. The original town site is on the National Historical Register.”

  “Interesting,” said Dave. “Were your ancestors some of the original settlers?”

  “No. This ranch has been in existence only about a hundred years. We have three thousand acres, considered small by some ranching standards. It’s plenty big enough for us and what we want to do.”

  “That mountain out there part of it?” asked Buck.

  “Yes, and you’ll get to meet quite a bit of it this week.” said Mac with a smile.

  GG climbed down off the couch where she had been sitting with her father, who wasn’t paying any attention to the children, and marched up to Mac. “I ride? Me and JJ been really, really good for Miss Susan,” she stated solemnly. “We picked up the toys like she said.”

  Her father sent a condemning scowl at Sage. Mac also saw it.

  “Not tonight, GG,” refused Mac. “We got back late and everybody’s tired.” The disappointment on her face got to him and he picked her up and sat her on his lap. He realized she wasn’t going to pull a spoiled brat tantrum. “Maybe in the next couple days, if we get back early enough and the weather holds. Besides, the horses have all gone to bed for the night.”

  “Oh,” she said, staring at his face. “You gots a boo-boo, too. Were you in the accident with Miss Susan?”

  * * * *

  Sage saw the raw pain in his eyes as he shuddered.

  “She was right. We can all have accidents and be okay.”

  “Excuse me. I have business to attend to.” Mac’s voice had a raspy quality as he set the child on the floor and quickly left the room. Sage followed him to the office. He was standing in front of the window, shoulders slumped, his reflection showing the desolation on his face. She couldn’t imagine what caused his abrupt change. She stood in the doorway staring at him.

  “Callum?” worry apparent in that one word.

  “Go away, Sage,” he ordered sharply. “This doesn’t concern you.” He refused to look at her.

  She wanted to help him through whatever it was that brought him to that level. Like he had helped her. To hold him, comfort him. She took a step forward, her hand out to him.

  “No!”

  Sage backed out of the room at his angry response and, with apprehension, went to the kitchen. She busied herself with the tray of coffee and sweets for the men in the living room. What was that dark place that sucked him in? The last place he had been was Afghanistan. What savagery had happened there?

  I ought to get him to talk about it. I had a couple courses in psychology. But would I be more of a hindrance than a help? He must have talked with counselors when he returned to the states. PTSD is a cruel companion to be riding on anybody’s shoulder. I just wish I could help him. I love him. And it hurts to see him tormented that way.

  As she turned to get the plate of brownies, Mac walked into the kitchen. He laid a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her forehead. She could still see pain lurking in the depths of those murky brown eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Sage,” he whispered. “I’m not ready yet to share that burden with anyone. I don’t know if I ever will be.”

  “When you are ready,” she said, cupping his face in her hands, “I’ll be here to listen. Sometimes it’s not so much sharing a burden as unlocking a cage and letting the beast that’s trapped you go back where it came from.”

  She drew him down to her to de
liver a kiss that turned up the heat in her body to settle in a sizzle in her nether regions. Opening to him before he could ask, she deepened the kiss. Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him to her so every curve fit against him like they were made specifically for each other.

  “Grab the brownies,” she ordered, slowly drawing away. “Bedtime snack, and then everyone hits the sack. This has been an eventful day.”

  Sage placed the tray on the low table in front of the couch and passed the coffee around to the men. She set two small glasses of milk, with napkins and a brownie beside each one, at the end of the table and pulled two pillows off the couch to place on the floor. Then she bowed to the children. They returned the ceremonious bow and took their places on the pillows.

  “Get up!” Graham ordered. “My children do not eat off the floor.”

  “Oh, Daddy,” said GG calmly, “we’re not eating off the floor. This is a Japanese teahouse. Miss Susan read about it to us today.”

  “They’re a little young to be reading Teahouse of The August Moon, don’t you think?” he asked in a disparaging tone.

  “She Googled it for us,” JJ jumped in before Sage could respond. “She was reading us a story about a little girl who took a trip to Japan. It told about a teahouse and we wanted to know more about it. So she got it on the computer. There were a lot of pretty pictures and it told us about their tea ceremony. We wanted to try it and she said we could.”

  She saw Mac smile into his cup, watching a big name lawyer backpedaling, brought down not by another lawyer but his own six-year-old son. That had to smart. Then she realized the only other being in the room he could go after was her. Mac flicked her a heads up warning look and she understood.

  Sage noticed the only other one to pick up on the undercurrent was Jim. He sat up straighter and sent a silent signal to Mac that he was there if needed. Mac sent him back a look over the rim of his cup that said watch and wait. She needed to be in top form.

  “Susan,” said Graham, turning his attention strictly to her, his tone as sweet as honey, a benevolent expression on his face. “Have you ever worked with the Costigan Foundation on Brevit Circle? That may be where we met.”

  “I’ve helped them a time or two. But it’s on Benton Street. The one on Brevit Circle is Cashfield Industries. They help the handicapped and mentally challenged to find employment.”

  “Yes, how could I have mixed them up?” he conceded. “Do you know the Nortons?”

  “Rick and Gloria?” The slight dip of his head in acquiescence had her inwardly smiling. She knew what he was up to. “Been to parties at their estate on the Sound.” She began collecting the cups and loading the tray. That brought her in close proximity to him.

  “Lovely parties on the beach, too. I believe I remember you have a rose tattoo right there,” he said with a smirk, laying his hand on her hip at the top of her buttocks. She sidled out from under his touch, giving him an angry glare. Mac stepped between them, his demeanor definitely saying hands off.

  “No. That would be Sylvia Gray. We’ve often been mistaken for each other,” said Sage smoothly, trying, but not succeeding, to keep the anger out of her voice.

  “Not anymore,” he countered, incensed by her rebuff, staring pointedly at her scar.

  “Think it’s time we all hit the hay,” said Jim, standing and stretching. “I, for one, won’t have trouble sleeping tonight.” He looked at the other three men near him and they got the message. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.

  “Can I expect you in a few minutes to put the children to bed?” Graham looked at Sage.

  “No you cannot,” declared Mac through clenched teeth. “She takes care of them only during the day when you’re not here. They are your children, your responsibility.”

  The other men started collecting their coats. Dave passed the children’s jackets to Graham. He had to back down.

  Soon Mac and Sage were alone in the room. He circled an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She could feel him shaking in anger. She tucked her face into his neck where he could lay his cheek along hers. Her closeness seemed to soothe him. He started to calm down. After a few deep breaths, she felt him unclench his jaw.

  “Are you all right?” he murmured.

  “Yes,” she sighed, nestling into his embrace.

  “You’re not to be alone with him. I’d just as soon give him his money back and send him packing tonight.”

  “No,” she said, lifting her head to look intently at him. “He seems to have a personal agenda that’s developed since he arrived. He’s hiding something. Keep him with the group. Make his survival a little more tenuous than the others. Two Feathers has his number. I think Jim and Dave are becoming suspicious of him.”

  “We’ll keep a close eye on him. There will be someone with him at all times. I saw Two Feathers and Little Mouse silently communicating as only they can do. I swear Two Feathers was trying to figure what he could slip him to incapacitate him at night.”

  “We can’t do that. He has the children. We can’t endanger them. You two can work on him. I can work on making the children into better citizens than he intends. Or at least stir their interest. That ought to give him something else to chew on.”

  “Don’t do anything that will stir him up while he’s here. Wait until he gets them home before they start pushing his buttons.”

  With a groan, he dipped his head to take her lips in a passionate kiss. She opened to him, allowing him to deepen it. Fire raced through her body. He tucked her in closer so she could feel his hardened response. It was like reliving that night eight years ago. Suddenly he broke away and turned his back.

  “Go to bed, Sage!” he ordered. Then he strode from the room and upon reaching the office, slammed the door.

  She stood there, swaying, her mouth open, staring at the closed door. It felt like she was sixteen all over again. She wanted to run to her mountain, the cave behind the falls, to see if Sascha was there, the cougar who was her friend and protector. But this time she couldn’t leave. The children needed her. With leaden feet she trudged up the stairs, tears streaming down over her pale cheeks.

  Chapter Ten

  Mac sat, a reflective mood encompassing him, as he whittled the stick that would be part of the rabbit snare he was teaching the men to make. Two Feathers studied him, looking troubled, for a time before ambling over to sit beside him on the log.

  “You whittle that anymore and all you’ll have left is a giant toothpick,” offered Two Feathers. They were sitting far enough from the others their conversation would be private. “What’s troubling you, Son? Sage? You two have a falling out? She’s quiet, not around you unless absolutely necessary, and Little Mouse says she’s not eating well either.”

  “History has a way of repeating itself,” replied Mac, pitching his voice low and glancing at the men sitting around the fire working on their own sticks. “I was an idiot—again. It was a repeat of that night eight years ago and I reacted the same way. Sage deserves to be treated better than a one-night stand. She warrants my being able to control myself. In my unit I was known to keep my cool under fire.”

  “This is a completely different situation.”

  “Last time I figured it was only infatuation. Once we were no longer around each other, it would die a natural death. It didn’t. Every time I look at her or am in the same room with her, I want her. To make her mine. Sorry, Grandfather, that’s probably TMI. When I should have my mind on business, I can’t think of anything but her.”

  “I know what it’s like to love someone to that extent. You are going to have to figure a way to fix it. She’s still here because of the children and her promise to watch over them. When they’re gone, she will be, also.”

  “I can’t keep her safe if she’s not here. Diego is still out there somewhere. The info I’ve got on him would make your skin crawl.”

  “Then you’d better head back to the house now. While you can have some private time with her. I c
an finish making and setting the rabbit snares. Then we’ll be coming in too. I’ll drag it out as long as I can.”

  Mac gave Two Feathers a searching look then walked over to the campfire and hunkered down by the men. They offered him their sticks and he approved what they had done.

  “Something’s come up back at the ranch I need to take care of,” he announced. “Nothing concerning the children,” he added, looking at Swindon. “They’re fine. So, I’m going to leave you in Two Feather’s capable care. All we had left today was the making and setting the snares. Hopefully, you’ll manage to catch a rabbit or two. Because that’s your supper tomorrow when we do the overnighter.”

  “Holy crap!” exclaimed Buck, pointing up the mountain to a large cougar perched on a boulder watching them.

  “Sit still,” Mac ordered. “He won’t bother you if you don’t bother him. He’s been around this ranch many years and has never harmed a human or any livestock. You may have to share a rabbit with him, but he won’t take them all. Go back about your business and don’t pay any attention to him. He’ll disappear when he’s ready.” Mac strapped on his snowshoes and backpack and, after checking with Two Feathers, started down the mountain.

  An hour later Mac walked in the door and watched Sage helping the youngsters with their boots and snow pants. Her startled look and quick shudder made him wince.

  “Everybody’s fine. No emergency,” he said, addressing his remarks to Little Mouse. “Two Feathers is finishing up the day and will have them back here before too long. Something I needed to take care of here.”

  Little Mouse glanced from Sage’s down-bent head to Mac’s worried scrutiny of the lady.

  “Susan, may I see you in the office?” asked Mac, adding a please when he saw her posture stiffen.

  “I need to get the children’s cocoa and cookies,” she stated, her voice trembling slightly.

  “I can do that,” spoke up Little Mouse. “Go ahead. We planned to make cookies after. So take your time.”

  “Will you be all right, Miss Susan?” asked JJ, stepping between Sage and Mac.