He rubbed his hands down the top of his thighs, glancing at the door. Waiting for any sign of what was to come.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Jacob muttered. “Go and look through the window. You know you want to see what’s going on.”
Alex was on his feet and across the room before Jacob finished. “Don’t say anything about the photo. If you so much as…” He watched Nicky wrap her arm around Emily. It wasn’t the kind of hug you gave someone to say hello. It was the kind that offered comfort to a sister who was close to tears. He turned back to the couch and sat down. She knew.
“You forgot to tell me about the part where you’ve fallen in love with her.”
The deep, pissed off tone in Jacob’s voice rattled Alex’s nerves. “I didn’t forget.” Jacob snorted and Alex dropped his head into his hands. “She crept under my skin. Got there before I knew what was happening.”
“Well, you’d better make your mind up pretty quick about what you’re going to do. In a few minutes, you’re not going to have one unhappy woman to deal with, but two. And believe me, you don’t want to mess with Nicky if she thinks you’ve hurt her sister.”
Alex didn’t know what to do. If he left now, Emily would hate him for the rest of his life. If he stayed, she might still hate him. She’d yell at him. Call him every name she could think of, then add a few more for good measure. But at least they’d be talking. He could explain, tell her it wasn’t what it looked like. Try to make her listen to the explanation she wouldn’t want to hear.
The front door opened. Alex jumped to his feet and Jacob stood beside him, drawing the lines on the war that was about to erupt.
“I think you’d better leave.” Nicky kept her hand on the door, waiting for them to make a move.
“Where’s Emily?” Alex asked.
“She’s taken Christopher down to the river. I don’t know what’s happened, but she needs time away from you.”
Alex felt the intention of the words and flinched.
Jacob picked up their hats and shoved Alex’s into his chest. “Thanks for the coffee. Tell Sam I’ll stop by and say hello in the next few days.”
“I’ll do that,” Nicky said. She turned to Alex. “Emily cares about you. Don’t make a mess of things. Otherwise, you’ll have me to answer to.”
“It’s just a misunderstanding.” Jacob pushed him from behind and he stumbled forward. He glared at his brother and all he got was a scowl back. Alex moved toward the door, down the porch steps and out into the warm Montana sunshine.
He couldn’t leave things as they were. He’d done nothing wrong. If Emily didn’t choose to believe him, then that was her problem. He wouldn’t leave the ranch until he’d spoken to her, even if she didn’t want to listen.
He fished his keys out of his pocket and threw them at Jacob. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“I’m sure about what’s not going to happen,” he mumbled. “I can’t leave things as they are. If I’m not back in twenty minutes, don’t come looking for me. I’ll make my own way into town.”
“If you get stuck, give me a call.”
Alex nodded and headed across the yard. Wild flowers grew everywhere, painting the pasture in a kaleidoscope of color. He’d been out to Sam’s place a few times when poker nights had rolled around to his turn. They’d thrown steak on the barbecue, devoured a ton of potato salad and talked about anything and everything that mattered in their lives.
He followed a well-worn path, heading toward the river that wound through the ranch. He heard Christopher giggle and knew Emily wouldn’t be far away.
She was sitting on the grass with Christopher beside her. They were throwing stones into the water, laughing when the water splashed into the air.
He cleared his throat. Emily froze. “Jacob showed me the picture. It’s not what you think.”
Christopher looked at Alex and grinned. His chubby fingers picked up a stone from the pile beside them and threw it on the grass in front of him. His smile dipped as he looked between the river and the grass.
Alex sat beside him and launched the stone toward the river. The splash brought a smile to Christopher’s face and the offer of another stone from his fingers.
Alex pickup up the stone, worn flat and smooth from navigating God knew how many rivers. “Molly had an idea for raising money for Kaylee’s transplant. She wants to publish a book, photos about life in Montana. She’s going to donate the profits to Kaylee.”
Emily didn’t say anything. She stared straight ahead, watching the sunlight dance off the water and disappear into the flowers on the other side of the bank.
Christopher nudged Alex’s hand. “Tone.” He pointed to the water, his big blue eyes waiting, eager for another splash of water.
“In a minute, buddy.” Alex moved the stone to his other hand. “She took the photos of me the day after your photo shoot. Mac must have been working on the ranch and saw us. He didn’t tell me, otherwise I would have explained so that it didn’t look so…wrong.” He threw the stone. Christopher clapped and handed Alex another one. The little guy was persistent.
Emily took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I thought…”
She left the sentence hanging in mid air. It twisted, turned and landed with a thud against Alex’s chest. He knew what she’d been thinking. Most of Bozeman would have thought the same thing. Especially if they’d known what had happened in the old library building that morning.
“When Jacob showed me the photo on Mac’s Facebook page I had to find you. Explain what had happened.”
Christopher handed Emily a stone. As she threw it toward the water her gaze caught at Alex, held him tight until he had to force himself to look away. So much more than disappointment clouded her eyes.
He carried on. He didn’t know what he was going to say, but he knew something needed to be said. “I can’t…” He stopped. Tried again. “I blamed myself for what happened two years ago. You didn’t trust me. Maybe I didn’t give you a reason to. We hadn’t known each other for more than a few months. I wasn’t in one place long enough to help you see that I’m not the person you think I am.”
Christopher had used up his arsenal of stones and had stumbled across to the base of a pine tree. He bent down, fell over and wobbled to his feet, waving a small twig in the air.
“I didn’t think you were anyone apart from who you are.”
Alex sighed. “You jumped to conclusions. Painted me black before I had a chance to talk with you. You thought you knew me, knew my intentions before I did. You did the same thing today. I can’t make you trust me. That has to come from you.”
He stood up, unsure about where they’d go to from here. He wanted to be a part of Emily’s life, for her to know that she could rely on him. Trust him to always be there for her. But he couldn’t do that on his own.
He glanced at Christopher. “Sam and Cody are giving me a hand in the boutique tomorrow. If you’ve got some spare time we’d appreciate your input.”
Emily looked up at him, shading her eyes with her hand. “I’ll try and get there by ten.”
Alex turned to leave.
“Wait.” She scrambled to her feet. “You’re right. I did jump to the wrong conclusion. I just…I just need time. To work out…everything.”
Alex wanted to wrap her in his arms. Tell her they could work on whatever she needed together. He wanted to make everything all right, make them all right. But it wouldn’t help, wouldn’t fix what was broken. So he simply nodded and kept his thoughts to himself.
“I’ll see you around ten.” He walked toward his truck, left his heart in her hands and hoped she realized how much was at stake.
***
“Are you okay?”
Emily took the washcloth from Nicky and wiped Christopher’s hands. A single tear fell down her face. Like the pressure valve on a steam engine, more tears followed. Crazy, heartfelt tears that made her catch her breath and pray that it h
ad all been a mistake. That the last four hours hadn’t gone from the most amazing in her life to the worst.
“Here…” Nicky lifted her son into her arms and passed Emily a handful of tissues. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”
A little while later Christopher started rummaging around inside his toy box, the kettle boiled and the fridge door opened. And still the tears fell. Great big blobby tears that soaked through her shirt and left her feeling miserable.
“Drink this. It might make you feel better.”
Nicky pushed a mug of coffee toward her and Emily took a sip, wincing as the sweetness hit her taste buds. “How much sugar did you put in here?”
“More than usual. Drink up, it won’t do you any harm.”
Emily took another sip before reaching for more tissues.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
Instead of trying to explain, Emily walked to the kitchen counter and picked up her cell phone. She found the newspaper’s website and passed the phone to her sister.
“Is that Alex? And Molly? What are they doing?”
“Take a guess,” Emily said quietly.
“Is this one of your trick questions?”
“There’s no tricks. Tell me what you see.”
“Well…” Nicky moved her head to the side, staring intently at the screen in front of her. “The quality of the photo isn’t great, so I’d say it was taken from a distance. It doesn’t look as though either of them know the photo is being taken. Molly’s got her hands on Alex’s shirt. She looks as though she’s smiling.” Nicky tapped the screen and enlarged the image. “And he’s smiling back. Not in a sexy, come and get me kind of way. But like he’s standing there under sufferance. Like Sam looks when I make him do something he doesn’t want to do.”
Nicky handed the phone back to Emily. “I don’t know what they’re up to, but knowing Alex it won’t be what you think it is.”
“What do you think I saw?”
“Alex and Molly about to tear each other’s clothes off and have sex.”
Emily choked on a mouthful of coffee.
Nicky passed her a tissue. “Nod if I’m right.”
Emily nodded.
“There you go. I know you better than you think I do, and that’s a worry.”
Emily blew her nose. “I’ve got trust issues.”
“No kidding.”
“You’re not helping.”
“That’s the whole idea, little sister. Do you remember when you first arrived in Bozeman with your mom and Cody? You could spot a fake Gucci from a mile away and knew the names of the top twelve fashion houses.”
“I felt like a misfit.”
Nicky gave her a quick hug. “You were fourteen years old.”
Emily had been the girl from California with frizzy red hair, weird clothes and her head in the clouds. She’d known nothing about living on a ranch, mucking out stalls, or living in blizzard conditions that lasted for months on end.
“I wanted to help you, make you feel welcome,” Nicky said. “But every time I tried you ignored me and did what you wanted to do. Sound familiar?”
Emily couldn’t help the slow grin that spread across her face. “You might be right.”
“I’m more than right. If it hadn’t have been for Michelle Murphy locking you in the girls’ bathroom at your prom, you still wouldn’t trust me.”
It had taken Emily a long time to forgive Michelle. It was a stupid prank - the six-foot Amazonian cheerleader’s chance to show everyone that she could make the five-foot-three girl with Rodeo Drive clothes, disappear. Nicky had come looking for her and kept her company until Cody arrived with an ax from the ranch.
Mr. Pickles, the school custodian, hadn’t been too thrilled about the damage. Neither had Michelle after they’d given her the bill for fixing the door.
Emily stared at her phone. “I never used to be that bad.”
“What changed?”
“Dad. Me. I didn’t want to come to Montana, but it got easier the longer I was here. When dad turned up four years ago, everything went wrong.”
“I know it’s hard. Your father’s got problems, but you can’t make them yours.”
“He’s been staying in Bozeman for the last few days.”
Nicky’s mouth dropped open. “Does Cody know?”
“He warned me not to see him. Alex wanted me to stay with him.”
“Alex knows, too?”
Emily nodded. “We told him everything.”
Nicky bit her bottom lip. “Where’s your dad now?”
“He left this afternoon. He came to the boutique and Alex told him to leave.”
Christopher crawled into the kitchen pushing a toy truck in front of him. Nicky wiped the dribble from his chin. “That must have been difficult.”
Another tear slipped down Emily’s face. “I know he’s not the best dad in the world, but I love him. I just can’t let him into my life.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to shut everyone else out.”
“You mean Alex.”
Nicky shrugged. “He’s not your father. He may not be the right person for you, but unless you trust him, you’re never going to know.”
“It’s not Alex so much that I don’t trust. It’s me. Every relationship I’ve had hasn’t lasted more than a few months. My dad comes and goes out of my life like dirty dishwater and I can’t even keep my fish alive.”
“Hercules died?”
Emily nodded. Hercules had been the last of her fish. Ten dead guppies in as many months must have been a world record. Even the pet store owner looked at her sideways when she walked into his store.
“I’ll remind you to be extra careful when you babysit Christopher.”
“What am I going to do?”
“I wouldn’t buy another fish in a hurry.”
Emily threw her hands in the air. “You’re not helping. If I can’t figure out what I’m going to do, I could miss out on something wonderful.”
“Or someone wonderful.” Nicky sat forward in her chair and Emily sighed. “You could try pushing your comfort zone in a crazy direction. Put yourself in a situation where you have to make decisions fast. You’ll have no choice but to trust yourself and everyone around you.”
“I’m too busy. I’ve got orders coming in from all over the place and we’re getting close to moving my stuff across to the boutique. Alex is about to frame the partition wall in your office and mom keeps finding things in jumble sales for the boutique. I don’t have time for crazy.”
Heat hit Emily’s cheeks. A few hours ago she had been crazy. Big time crazy. Crazy enough to knock her socks off and leave her wanting more.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Emily shook her head and tried to think of other crazy things that didn’t involve rippling muscles and lumpy couches. “If crazy is going to happen it has to be something that works with the opening of the boutique. Something big, something…”
“I’ve got it. A fashion show.” Nicky tapped her fingers against the table. “But not just any fashion show. We’ll use the boutique as the stage. Have the models walk down the staircase and wander through the audience. Sam’s got friends in the advertising world. We’ll include some of the VIP guests at Big Sky Resort, make it into a night that no one’s going to forget.”
“I’ve been in fashion shows before. How is this pushing my comfort zone?”
“You’ll be organizing it.”
“I will?” Emily didn’t like the sound of that. She’d seen firsthand how much work was involved and knew she couldn’t do it. Not on her own. “How is a fashion show supposed to help with my trust issues?”
“You’ll be so busy that you won’t be able to do everything. You’ll have to trust other people to follow through and make the show a success.”
“You’re nuts, but I’ll give it a go. Can you do the marketing side of things? Molly might take the photographs. We could use some of the images she shot on Alex’s ranc
h to start building interest in the show. What do you think?”
Nicky grinned. “I think we’ve got a plan.”
CHAPTER TEN
“You can’t be serious?” Alex held the nail gun to the wall and pulled the trigger. “We’ve still got to finish Nicky’s office and move your things across. If we don’t pass the final inspection, we’ll be here for even longer. It can’t be done, not in the time you’re looking at.”
Emily looked around the top floor of the boutique. Most of the boxes had been emptied and the shelves they’d salvaged from another building were waiting to be filled. Cody and Sam were downstairs, hanging the last of the mirrors. Apart from Nicky’s office, the rest of the work was minor, the finishing details that would make the boutique complete. “It will be good for business. Nicky, Gracie, and Tess have offered to be models and I know the senior students at the local high school would love to be involved.”
Alex wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. They’d all been working hard, pulling together the last details. “Does Trent know that Gracie’s going to be walking down the staircase in six-inch heels?”
“Not yet. And she won’t be wearing high heels.” Emily didn’t even know if Gracie would make the fashion show. She was so big that even her doctor was worried that she’d give birth any day. But saying no to Gracie was like standing in front of a grade four tornado. It just didn’t happen.
“Why does it need to happen in three weeks? Couldn’t you leave it until Thanksgiving? There’ll be more people around. Big Sky Resort will be bursting at the seams with women wanting to spend a few hours off the ski slopes.”
Alex gave the wooden framing a tug, then moved across to sheets of drywall stacked against the railing. “Hey, Cody,” he yelled down the stairs. “Come and give me a hand for a minute.”
“I’ll be there in five,” Cody yelled back.
“So was that a definite maybe?” she asked.
“You don’t give up, do you?”
“I’m trying not to.”
Alex’s face softened, moved from mildly annoyed to majorly interested. “Do you want to make this work?”
Forever Cowboy (Montana Brides, Book 5) Page 13