Montana Welcome (The Blackwell Sisters)

by Melinda Curtis

  Pepper studied Lily’s face. “There’s a lot more going on in your naming process than meets the eye. But if it works for you...”

  Lily nodded. “Pearl and Mouse it is.”

  “I can’t wait to hear you explain this to Conner.” Pepper looped her arm with Lily’s and steered her toward the motor home. “He’s ‘having a day,’ as my grandma Dot would say.”

  They walked slowly toward the motor home.

  Lily knew she shouldn’t pry into Pepper’s past, but there was very little room for privacy in the RV. “About what you said earlier... When you were telling Conner why it was important to save Royal...” Lily placed a hand over Pepper’s. “I want to tell you how sorry I am that you went through whatever it was you went through to feel safe.” She didn’t need the details.

  Pepper bit her lip, and then details were spilling out. “I was bullied in middle school.”

  “You don’t need to tell me,” Lily said softly.

  “I’m challenged in the height department and I went through an awkward stage where I tripped over everything. Kids can be mean sometimes, you know? I didn’t seem to fit in with my friends from the year before. And I just felt vulnerable to attack all the time. So, I decided I wasn’t going to school anymore. I just burrowed under the covers and wouldn’t get out of bed, even after my parents met with school officials. When Dot heard, she came to see me. She told me you can rise above the tide if you accept who you are and know where you’re going. That’s when we formed my life plan. With it, I know life is going to throw obstacles at me, but I have a place I’m working toward and I have to believe things will get better. And they do. They did.”

  Her determination to stick with her life plan began to make sense. “You know, it’s not a betrayal of Dot to change that life plan of yours. She’d understand.”

  “I know. But I’m happy.”

  Lily nodded, but she was struck by how brittle Pepper sounded when she made that claim.

  * * *

  “HOW DID YOU meet my son?” Conner’s mother, Karen, had a cheerful voice and a playful attitude. She rarely let an opportunity to tease slip past.

  It was just what Lily needed after an afternoon on the road, an afternoon where Pepper filled Conner’s silence with chatter, gushing words that couldn’t quite smooth over the various rebellions of his passengers.

  Lily forced herself to smile, knowing that smile would come across in her words to Conner’s mother. “Conner and I bumped into each other at a wedding.”

  “I hope you caught the bouquet and he caught the garter. That would be so romantic.”

  “But sadly, not true.” Conner wasn’t the type to vie for a garter. He was more the brooding wallflower who watched the party pass him by. “We’re very different.” And the distance between them seemed unbearable after he’d given her that tender embrace only to set her aside at the horse auction.

  Lily knew she wasn’t the kind of woman Conner and the Rocking H would most benefit from. He’d told her his ranch needed work and an infusion of capital. She couldn’t provide either. He required proper motivation to return to the work he loved. She’d been unable to inspire him to try. He had a full plate of obligations. She’d proved over and over that she could use a hand with daily living.

  Not that I can’t live my life alone.

  Conner was outside, setting up the outdoor living space in the fading light. They’d stopped for the night in the Warm River Campground. He knew Lily was talking to his mother on the phone, but he hadn’t come inside.

  “You two aren’t different, Lily.” Pepper butted in from the dinette.

  “Woop-woop.” Natalie concurred.

  Lily rolled her eyes at them.

  “I heard that.” Conner’s mother chuckled. “Are you a horsewoman? I’ve been hoping a nice cowgirl would come along and get him back to training.”

  “I own a pair of boots, a bur—”

  “Never mind,” Karen said. “I don’t want to judge as long as you make my son happy.”

  Lily didn’t deny anything.

  Conner hovered near the screen door, wearing a grim smile and a question in his eyes: Is it my turn to talk?

  “Here’s Conner.” Lily tried to keep an equally grim smile in place. “He’s smiling at me now. And for the record, we’re just friends.”

  “I can fix that. Let me talk to him.” It was easy to see where Conner got his commanding attitude. Karen’s tone oozed with it.

  “Perfect timing.” Lily handed Conner the phone as he came up the motor-home stairs.

  “How are things, Mom?” Conner took the phone and went back outside, walking toward the campground bathrooms. His words grew too faint to hear.

  “Psst.” Pepper set down her phone and grinned at Lily. “He’s sweet on you. He didn’t get half as mad at you for buying Pearl and Mouse as he did with me for getting Royal.”

  “It makes no difference.” He hadn’t agreed to help her train Mouse. “After this week I’ll hardly see him.” It sounded like the Blackwell Ranch was large and he’d be busy. Still, the realization knocked her back in her seat, longing pressing on her chest.

  How can I want to be with a man I just met?

  Amanda would worry if Lily admitted such a thing. Peyton would scoff. She welcomed their perspective.

  It defied logic. Logic—and her family—would have said she and Danny were perfect for each other. But she’d had enough of other people guiding her decisions.

  She wasn’t ready to let Conner ride out of her life. She’d like to see where things between them might lead. But to do so meant braving scuttlebutt and flouting convention. Runaway brides didn’t turn starry eyes to someone else so soon.

  She stared up at the emerging stars, wishing she were strong enough to grab on to what she wanted in life and not let go.

  * * *

  “THAT POOR GIRL.” Conner’s mother sounded worn out upon hearing the true reason Lily was with him. “It takes guts to walk out on your wedding. I hope this trip cheers her up.”

  “Well, if it doesn’t, it won’t be for lack of trying.” Conner walked the campground’s main loop at a pace conducive to staring at other campers to make sure there weren’t any jilted grooms in the vicinity. The smell of campfires and pine permeated the air.

  “Lily is so sweet.” His mother tsked. “Just don’t fall for her if she’s on the rebound, hon. Make sure this is real.”

  “Mom. That wasn’t why I told you about her.” Was it? When it came to anything about Lily, rational thought scattered to the wind.

  “I’m just sayin’. You have your own set of problems separate from hers. And a runaway bride like that might not know her own mind.”

  That was sound advice. How Conner hated hearing it.

  “I can tell when you’re being stubborn. Let her go, hon.”

  “Mom, you can take a banana and accuse it of being a pineapple. But it’s still a banana.” She was seeing something where there was nothing.

  His mother huffed. “You’d best listen to me. It’s not as if you haven’t had your share of hard knocks. Don’t tempt fate.” She hung up.

  “Right.” Conner didn’t tempt fate anymore. He tucked the phone in his back pocket and continued his circuit. The occupants of the campground favored big rigs with bump-out rooms. Whatever happened to roughing it with a tent?

  As he neared the motor home, Pepper and Natalie came out to meet him, blocking his path.

  “Dude, you’re in need of some serious love advice.” Pepper was once more the bride without a care in the world. “You’re breaking Lily’s heart.”

  Natalie made the woop-woop gesture without saying a word.

  “Pepper...” Conner couldn’t bring himself to say she didn’t know what she was talking about. “Butt out,” he said instead.

  She smirked at him, which inspired Natalie
to do the same.

  At the next campsite someone began playing a guitar. Beyond that, someone laughed. Everywhere around them, people were happy.

  Roughing it in the lap of luxury.

  That was not—and would never be—Conner. He’d forever be the guy scraping by.

  “Just so you know, ladies...” Conner leaned forward as if he was going to share a secret. “I’m not that great of a catch. Lily can do better.” And wasn’t that the truth?

  Pepper and Natalie stared at him, stared at each other and then burst out laughing.

  “Conner.” Pepper hadn’t smiled that big since the concert last night. “You have no idea what kind of men are out there. The fact that Big E put me in your care says a lot about who you are inside.”

  “And trust me.” Natalie sized Conner up in a way that made him uncomfortable. “We can appreciate what kind of man you are on the outside.”

  “Ladies, you flatter me.” But Conner refused to be swayed. He tried to step around them.

  Again, they blocked his path.

  Pepper held out her hands in the universal stop position. “The way you close yourself off isn’t healthy. Humans were meant to be social, to be loved.”

  Conner rubbed the back of his still-stiff neck, reminding himself he was an employee paid to provide Pepper a good time. If that meant occasionally listening to her romantic notions, so be it.

  “Do you know what happens to bachelors who stop dating?” Pepper didn’t tease. The future dentist was serious about dispensing advice. “Do you?”

  “They live happily ever after?” Was there any other answer to give?

  Pepper scoffed. “They become lonely, crotchety old men.”

  “Word,” Natalie echoed, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Patience. Conner rubbed his neck again, eyeing the motor home a mere forty feet away.

  “They eat frozen dinners and watch too many hours of reality TV.” Pepper nodded sagely. “They have holes in their socks and nothing to do on a Saturday night. In a word, they’re unhappy.”

  Conner tamped down his pride in favor of his need to humor Blackwell guests. “I’m perfectly content, ladies, holey socks, reality TV–filled Saturday nights and all.”

  “Are you?” Pepper’s expression turned sly. “There are dark circles under your eyes, and you drank so much coffee today you’re not going to be able to sleep tonight. What’s been keeping you awake?”

  Jilted grooms.

  “It’s Lily,” Natalie answered for him, her short blond hair ruffling in the evening breeze. “You’re going to toss and turn with Lily mere feet away, wondering how you can pass up this opportunity at a fun and fulfilling life.”

  Conner stifled a groan.

  The girls flanked him, each taking hold of one arm and marching him toward their motor home.

  “Now, if you had friends to take care of you,” Natalie said, “they’d have made you take notice how much caffeine you were taking in.”

  “Nag, you mean.” He had his mother for that.

  “Nurture,” Pepper corrected. “Relationships are symbiotic.”

  “And here I thought they were romantic.” Conner tsked.

  “Sweeping gestures are romantic,” Pepper corrected. “Love is... It’s that safe, comfortable place you always wanted but didn’t think you could find.”

  They reached the edge of the outdoor carpet and stopped. The motor home was dark inside, Lily’s silhouette visible in the front seat.

  “Go on.” Pepper released him.

  “She’s waiting.” Natalie did the same.

  Conner didn’t move. If any man was heading down the solitary path they described, it was him. He didn’t have the time or financial resources to court a woman, much less a Blackwell.

  He stifled a sigh.

  “You’re a tough one,” Pepper said, as if her pep talks usually motivated folks to go out there and win their one true love.

  Natalie sniffed. “He probably likes old recliners and stale sandwiches.”

  “Beer in cans and beef jerky instead of wine and beef bourguignonne,” Pepper agreed.

  “I’ll tell you what I do like.” Deciding he was spending another night outside, Conner moved to a storage cabinet, taking out a small bundle of firewood. “I like a warm fire and quiet time to reflect upon tomorrow.”

  He didn’t allow himself to think beyond that.

  * * *

  “A PENNY FOR your thoughts.” Conner brought Lily a cup of coffee the next morning.

  She accepted the mug with both hands.

  “I was thinking it was a brand-new day.” A chance for new beginnings. Lily sat outside the motor home watching the sunrise. She’d gotten up as soon as she heard Conner moving around outside. She’d just returned from the bathroom, where she’d showered and dressed for the day in leggings and a sweater. “I was wondering how to approach it.”

  How to approach him.

  “That sounds heavy.” He sat next to her, a slow smile building on the face she found so endearing. “I should have laced your coffee with whiskey.”

  “That would’ve been good.” Just knowing he was giving her that smile made Lily’s insides warm.

  “I’m assuming you’re wrestling with issues regarding the wedding last weekend.” Conner sipped his coffee, making her wait for his reply. “Is it time to move forward without looking back?”

  “I don’t know. Is it too soon?” Lily set her coffee down and leaned forward, ready to hang on his reply.

  “If you’re the strong sort, it’s not too soon.” Conner sipped his coffee and then leaned toward her. Anyone walking by would see a couple bridging the gap between them. “Maybe the answers you seek are yet to be found on this road trip of ours. Ask me what’s on the itinerary today.” There was a playful glint in his eyes. And then he sat back in his chair, glint disappearing as if he’d just remembered there should be no bridge between them. “The ladies are going to have a spa day,” he said, not waiting for her guess.

  “They’ll be in heaven.” Lily tried to hide her disappointment in Conner’s guard going up behind a smile.

  “They won’t be the only ones. You’re going, too. We’ll have to drive an hour or so to get there.” He sank deeper in his webbed seat, staring at the horizon. “But there’s a mud bath in your future. And I heard something about goat yoga.” He chuckled. “Sounds right up your alley.”

  Lily recognized his babbling for what it was—him trying to put another wedge between them. She was the sort to bounce back and she wanted to bounce in his sphere. That required a lot of resilience and a little subtlety. “You know what would be better than Pepper and Natalie doing goat yoga?”

  He shook his head.

  “The entourage’s chaperone doing goat yoga.” Lily waggled her fingers at him.

  “No, thank you, ma’am.” Conner reverted to his stoic cowboy expression. “I’ll leave farm-animal meditation to the city folk.”

  Across the road, a man hopped out of his motor home and gathered his fishing gear.

  “City folk. Really?” Lily picked up her coffee and cradled the warm mug to her chest. “Are you up for a small wager?”

  Conner shook his head. “Never. I don’t gamble.”

  “Oh, come on. Everyone accepts a dare now and then. I promise no money will exchange hands.” She offered a sly grin. “You’re curious about what I might wager, aren’t you?”

  He cleared his throat, staring at those black boots of his. “What did you have in mind?”

  “If I can get the ladies up and moving in thirty minutes or less, you’ll do goat yoga with us.”

  His eyes narrowed. “And if you can’t?”

  Lily propped her elbows on her knees. She hadn’t anticipated he’d have terms. What could she put up against goat yoga and mud baths? Racking her brain, she watched
the fisherman walk down the road. And then it came to her. “I’ll tell Pepper the truth about who I am.”

  Conner chuckled. “This is too easy. Those two didn’t get dressed yesterday in under an hour.” He tipped his hat to her. “But I’ll be kind. Tell me when you want me to start the clock.”

  “Now.” Lily set her coffee on the little side table and bounded into the motor home. “Ladies, I just saw Chance Blackwell’s tour bus drive toward the exit. And Conner heard they’re headed for the nearest diner up the road. But he’s determined we don’t move until you’re up and moving.”

  It was a gamble, possibly no enticement at all. Pepper was related to Chance and might see him when they reached the Blackwell Ranch. Why would she get excited over this?

  Despite that, Pepper squealed. The motor home rocked from them leaping out of bed. There was a mad rush for suitcases and the bathroom.

  “Tricky.” Conner admitted defeat, folding his chair to stow away.

  “I didn’t work ten years as an adventure tour guide without learning how to make people move.” Now, if only she could motivate Conner to see her as more than a flighty city girl. “It’ll be a pleasure to observe your yoga technique later.”

  * * *

  “I’M NOT A sideshow attraction,” Conner grumbled at Lily. “And this is not relaxing.”

  “Yoga is about strength and looking inward, not relaxation.” Lily spared him a half smile that made him forget Big E and repercussions from this trip.

  They were on their hands and knees with goats balanced on top of their flat backs amid a group of people similarly posed and paired. Pepper and Natalie were taking this completely seriously, eyes closed and looking utterly Zen-like, cell phones filming. Conner and Lily had been unable to achieve inner peace.

  “Admit it,” Lily whispered. “You thought goat yoga was some silly stunt.”

  He had. But so far yoga in general had surprised him. First off, the positions weren’t easy to hold, especially in blue jeans. And second, you often had to hold them while goats climbed on your back or your behind.