Cowboy On Her Doorstep (Montgomery Brothers Book 1)

by Pam Mantovani

  Logan nodded. “I remember.”

  Of course he did, just as he would have remembered the discovery of her father acquiring that money is what led to the night she’d conceived Marissa. Ashamed at the way she’d jumped to the wrong conclusion, Kendall placed a tentative hand on his chest. “I’m sorry, Logan. I should have trusted you.”

  “Trust me now,” he said after a brief silence. Then she felt the brush of his lips against her forehead.

  “I do,” she whispered, nestling closer and drifting to sleep.

  KENDALL WOKE with a start, jackknifed up in bed. Frantic, she looked around the room, positive some strange noise had jolted her awake. All she heard was the sound of her heart pounding as it echoed in her ears.

  Glancing down, she discovered she still wore the clothes she’d worn last night. That’s when she remembered.

  Logan’s announcement about the attorney, her panicked jump to the wrong conclusion, slicing her foot on the broken wine glass, and his tenderly tending the cut. The way he’d held her in his arms while he carried her, held her close by his side once he settled them both in her bed.

  Her hand reached out to run over the sheet where he’d lain beside her.

  He’d been more patient and understanding than she deserved. She’d wounded him with her mistaken accusations. Now she had to find a way to apologize, find a way to regain a measure of the friendship they’d always known with each other.

  Tossing back the blanket, she rose, wincing a little when she put weight on the heel of her foot. Moving more cautiously, she showered and dressed. When she entered the kitchen, she drew up short.

  He’d cleaned up. Gone were the dinner dishes, obviously washed and put away. Gone was the shattered glass. All that remained of last night were the flowers he’d brought sitting in the center of the table. A piece of paper was propped against the vase.

  His thoughtfulness added to her sense of guilt. Her hand trembled as she lifted the paper. In the scratched lettering she recognized as Logan’s handwriting, he’d given her the attorney’s name, address, and time of his appointment. Below that single line he added four words that eased her apprehension and had a small smile curving her lips.

  You’re a bed hog.

  “THANKS FOR YOUR help.” Carter said.

  “Sure.”

  “Have to admit I didn’t expect it.” Carter paused then added, “Since you just got in while I was headed out.”

  Logan looked at his brother over the saddle. Carter wouldn’t ask more. “I needed the distraction.” Only the work hadn’t done the trick. His thoughts all morning had been on Kendall.

  He’d recalled every minute from the time she’d opened the door, looking so pretty in that short skirt. Then he remembered the flustered look in her eye as he gave her the flowers. When he pressed his lips to her wrist.

  God, when he’d held her, soft and warm, in his arms while she slept. While he lay in her bed, wide awake and rock hard. His body had pounded with the urgency to lose himself in her even as his mind argued it would be wrong for both of them.

  “Guess you’ll be heading over to the Davis place,” Carter mused. “For the lesson with Brittany.”

  “Yeah.” He had to figure out a way to catch a shower and change of clothes between there and going to the lawyer.

  “Seems like a lot of trouble to pack up what you need every time you head over there.” Carter lifted the saddle from his horse’s back, settled it on the split-rail fence. With a flick of his hand, he signaled the horse inside the corral.

  “What are you saying?”

  “Never have done anything with that land you wanted.”

  Logan went still, felt his heart kick in his chest, saw the dream tempt him the way a mirage in the heated desert could fool you into believing it was real. “The ranch is yours,” Logan told his brother.

  “And I’m telling you I’m not using that part of the land. I know you’ve been going over to the Davis place so they don’t have to drive out here. Just thought if you’re serious about doing more of this, you might want to build yourself a training ring, some stables, and a barn, instead of taking everything everywhere you go. You can use the land.” Logan turned around, faced Carter. “Might be I’d find some time to help you get a barn and some fences up.”

  “I don’t know what I’m doing. I haven’t decided if I’m staying or not.”

  “The land’ll be here when you decide.” Carter turned away and walked into the barn, leaving Logan with more to think about than he had time for.

  USING HIS HAT, Logan brushed the dust off his jeans the best he could. He was late for his appointment with the lawyer due to the training session with Brittany Davis running longer than he’d expected. The girl showed promise and wasn’t afraid to work hard. But he hadn’t been able to catch a shower and a change of clothes before the appointment.

  With a quick shrug, he twisted the knob and entered the office. Kendall shot to her feet.

  Now he felt even dirtier than before. She wore a pale yellow blouse tucked into black slacks and shoes with a small heel. While her gaze filled with question and hesitation, at least the dark crescents of fatigue beneath her eyes were gone.

  “Kendall.” He nodded. “Sorry I’m late.”

  “I was early.”

  “How’s the foot?”

  “Better.” She glanced down at her shoes, then up at him. “Thank you.”

  Logan could still recall scooping her into his arms, how she’d felt nestled against him. “No problem.” He waited a beat. “Marissa?”

  “She’s with Audra.”

  In no time, the receptionist led them down a narrow hallway to what would have once been a bedroom of the old house. Harley Barker rose to meet them.

  “Logan, it’s good to see you.” Over the wide desk the two men shook hands. Harley might have been practicing law for forty years, but he had the grip of a twenty-year-old. If he was surprised to see Kendall with Logan, he didn’t show it. “Hear tell you’re helping the Davis girl become a barrel racing champ.”

  Logan waited until Kendall sat before he did so. “She’s doing most of the work on her own.”

  “My granddaughter’s caught the rodeo bug.” Harley tipped his head, gestured toward a picture on the credenza to Logan’s left. “Let me know if you want another student.”

  “Appreciate the confidence.”

  “You always did seem to have a way with the horses.” He grinned over at Kendall. “Well, I have to say this is the first time I’ve had a client bring the cops into my office with him.”

  “Kendall has a stake in what I’m here to discuss with you.”

  “I see.” Harley looked from Logan to Kendall. “The two of you getting married?”

  “No.”

  Logan frowned at Kendall’s quick and agitated denial. “I’d like to set up what I guess is a trust fund.”

  “I see.” Harley picked up his pen and made a few notes on a yellow legal pad.

  “It’s for her daughter, Marissa. I haven’t had a lot of expenses while in the military, so I’ve saved most of my pay.” When he named the amount he had in mind, Harley sat back in his chair and studied Logan.

  “I’d want it set up so Marissa can use the money for college if she wants to go. If she doesn’t want to go, then she can have the money when she turns twenty-five. Kendall’s not to have access to the money for any reason. I’d want her signature on whatever you come up with.”

  Harley held up a finger. “I suggest we add a contingency clause. Some way the funds would be available in case of an emergency. Kendall would still need your permission to access the money, but at least she’d have the option if Marissa needed it.”

  “I have no problem with that,” Logan agreed.

  “Except that Logan doesn’t live here,”
Kendall pointed out. “How will I get his permission if he’s overseas and I don’t know how to get in contact with him?”

  Logan shifted. “I’ll agree that Harley can make any emergency decisions if necessary.”

  “That okay with you, Kendall?” Harley asked.

  “Yes.” She cleared her throat but didn’t look at Logan. “Of course.”

  It took a minimal amount of time to go over the specifics, hammer out a few details.

  “I’ll be in touch once the paperwork is complete and ready for both of your signatures,” Harley said. “How much longer you going to be in town?” he asked Logan.

  “Not sure.”

  “Well,” Harley continued. “Like I said, the granddaughter’s got the rodeo bug. If you want something to keep you busy while you think things through, let me know.”

  “I will. Thanks.”

  Outside the office, Kendall placed a hand on his arm, waited until he looked at her. “Logan, I don’t know what to say. To just say ‘thank you’ doesn’t seem like enough.” She bit down on her bottom lip, reminding him of the taste of her.

  “I didn’t do this to pressure you into telling her.”

  “No.” She shook her head in support of her claim. “I know. Last night, well, I obviously jumped to conclusions. I wish I could blame the wine, but . . .”

  “It’s okay, Kendall,” he said when she paused. “I understand you just want to protect Marissa.”

  “That’s true, but I hurt you with the way I reacted, and Logan I’m sorry I gave you the impression, even if only for a second, that I’d think that of you. It’s not your way. But this.” She gestured toward the office they’d just left. “I know you explained a little last night but I didn’t expect . . . Logan, it’s so much. You should spend it on something you want.”

  “I did. Carter has the ranch, so he doesn’t need it. And he probably wouldn’t take it from me anyway.”

  She took a deep breath, moved her hand away. “It makes all the difference in the world. Marissa will now have a future I’m not sure I could have given her, the chance to do whatever she wants in life. It seems I’ll say ‘thank you’ after all.”

  “Not necessary,” he said, again calling on a short answer. He punctuated his desire to leave the subject behind with a shrug. “It’s been a long day, and I’m hungry.”

  He took the two steps down, putting a little distance between them. Then he gave in, turned, and looked at her. “I didn’t have time to clean up before getting here, so it’s going to be pretty simple.” He offered his hand. “Want to come and have dinner with me?” Then he held up his hand to stop her answer. “Don’t do this because of Marissa or because of what I just did here.”

  “I would like to have dinner with you.” Kendall walked down the steps to stand before him. Although she had to tilt her head to look up at him, he had the strangest notion that she held the upper ground. “And I can honestly say that Marissa has nothing to do with me wanting to be with you.”

  IT HAD FELT like a date, Kendall reflected three days later. They’d sat in a back booth, sharing wings and beer while they talked. They’d always been able to talk. People they knew stopped by for a quick chat—or a speculative look. She’d teased him about being asked to be Grand Marshall at the Founder’s Day Parade even as everything inside her had filled with pride. Maybe if he again felt the community connection, he’d want to stay.

  Still, it had been so easy to be with him. That night, for the first time since his return, she and Logan had slipped back into the rhythm of their friendship. Well, except for the passing touches and long looks that had chills followed by streaks of heat running down her spine. Then there’d been that lovely bone-melting kiss on her doorstep.

  Friendship hadn’t been between them at that point.

  In the days since then, she and Logan had dealt with each other on a professional level as he continued the sniper training. He’d come to dinner one evening, had stopped by another night before bedtime and taken them out for ice cream. There had been long stirring kisses on those nights as well.

  She worried about becoming involved and spending time with him. The mother in her questioned if his interest was the result of his wish for a relationship with Marissa. The woman in her gloried in his attention and attraction.

  Now she drove to his ranch—his brother’s ranch, she corrected—while struggling to keep the thought that he might stay from rooting in her heart.

  “Hurry, Mamma.”

  “Marissa, stop kicking the back of my seat.”

  “Hurry.”

  “I’m going to stop this car and turn around to go home if you don’t be still. Now do as I say.” Kendall winced when she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw her baby’s bottom lip tremble. She hated knowing she’d used even a slight variation of one of her father’s commands against her little girl. The nagging remnants of an earlier argument with Audra pounded at her temples.

  “It won’t be much longer, sweetie.” She turned down the long gravel lane leading to the Montgomery ranch.

  “Horses,” Marissa squealed when she spotted some in the pasture they drove past.

  “Look over there, Marissa.” Kendall slowed to a stop so she could point out the side window. “See the cows?”

  “Horses,” her daughter stubbornly demanded.

  Suppressing a sigh, Kendall put the car back in gear and drove until she could pull up outside the paddock area.

  “We’re here,” Marissa cheered as she bounced up and down in her car seat. “Hurry, Mamma.”

  Once Marissa was out of her car seat, Kendall had to move fast to stop Marissa from running off.

  Marissa whined and pulled harder on the hand Kendall refused to release. “Mamma. Let go. I wanna see the horses. Mamma.”

  “Just a minute, sweetie.” Kendall saw Logan leaning against the fence, watching them. She wondered why he didn’t come their way, but decided it had something to do with Carter walking over to his brother. She heard the snicker of the horses her daughter so wanted to see and touch. Pride for her daughter’s single-minded focus warred with concern for where that kind of independent nature could lead.

  “It’s been a minute. I wanna see the horses,” Marissa said.

  Kendall knelt down to face her daughter. “You have to promise to do whatever Logan says.”

  LOGAN LEANED back against the top fence rail and watched his daughter and the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. He wondered what Kendall was telling Marissa. Was it instructions on how to act on the ranch? Or a warning about what to say to him?

  “Looks like trouble,” Carter said as he came to a stop beside his brother.

  “It’s a mother talking to her daughter.”

  “When you get two females together, it doesn’t matter what age they are or if they’re related, it’s trouble.”

  Logan grinned. “With that kind of attitude, it’s no wonder you spend more time with cattle than a woman.”

  “You always did have an easier time with ’em than I did.”

  Logan’s grin grew a little wider. “It helps get them where you want them if you talk a little first.”

  “And where are you wanting to go with the Grant girl?”

  It wasn’t Carter’s way to ask, and he damn sure wasn’t asking about Marissa, so Logan hesitated, considered. Then all of his thoughts, and a good bit of his blood, heated at the images of him and Kendall tangled in his bed, her bed. Hell, based on the way he’d felt about her since his return, he’d settle for a few hours in the bed of a truck.

  “Damned if I know,” Logan finally answered.

  “Then leave her alone.”

  Logan looked over sharply, surprised to see the protective light in his brother’s eyes. “You have feelings for her?”

  “She lives her
e. Don’t do anything to make it hard for her when you leave. She’s had a hard enough time ignoring all the whispers about her and that little girl.”

  Logan shoved aside the flash of guilt and clamped a hand on Carter’s arm, preventing him from walking away. “Do you have feelings for her?”

  “Not the way you mean.” Carter shook off Logan’s hand and turned to face the approaching women at the same time Marissa broke free and started running forward.

  “Hold on there, little one.” Carter caught the girl mid-stride and lifted her up.

  “I wanna see the horses.” Her bottom lip trembled as she stretched out over his shoulders.

  “You will, but you have to go slow,” Carter answered. “And they like it best if you talk softly.”

  “Okay.”

  Carter handed her over to Logan. The brothers’ gazes met, held. “You be careful now.”

  Logan couldn’t be sure if his brother spoke to him or Marissa. Still, he promised, “We will.”

  He carried Marissa to the corral fence, answered her questions, kept an eye on her quicksilver movements, instructed her about how to act with and stroke the horse he’d specifically picked out. During the entire time, he remained alert and conscious of Kendall’s every move.

  He didn’t even have to look at her, he simply knew where she was at any given moment, what she was doing. He liked the way her light scent tantalized his senses, liked the way her jeans fit her curved bottom. Her low voice had him wishing for an intimate conversation between the sheets. He couldn’t remember ever being so aware of a woman.

  “Kitty,” Marissa shrieked when she spotted one of the barn cats darting inside the old building. Before anyone could catch her, she ran off.

  Carter sighed. “I’ll go with her.”

  “Why do I have the feeling I’m now going to be bombarded with demands for a kitten?” Kendall asked.

  Logan chuckled. “Because she’s as single-minded as her mother?” He couldn’t resist. He trailed a fingertip down her bare arm, pleased when she shivered.