Romancing the Montana Bride (Montana Lakeside, #1)

by Munn, Vella

  Held him. Kept him. Lived for him.

  As he repeatedly drove into her, she alternated between gazing into his eyes and closing hers so only lovemaking registered. This was her man, her husband, master of her body and heart. Knowing everything about his woman.

  More than she did about herself.

  More complete and connected than she’d given him credit for. Then he’d ever let her see.

  She started climbing the wonderful slope that led to release. Going faster and stronger, holding on with all her strength, barely aware that she was crying. Feeling his power, his muscles, his size.

  His everything.

  Reaching the top of the slope and looking out. Holding herself there as long as possible before diving, screaming, over the edge.

  Chapter Twelve

  As the sun started to slip behind Mount Lynx, Jes placed logs on top of the kindling burning in the firepit. Sparks shot out then settled down. The sunset wasn’t going to be spectacular but she would still take pictures. Hopefully there’d be more of a show tomorrow night.

  Jes and she had opened up in ways she hadn’t known were possible let alone hope would happen. She now understood how deeply his father’s death had impacted him. He’d opened up about job stresses that he’d previously tried to protect her from and she’d told him why she had to leave her job or risk losing her mind. He understood that photography was an extension of her and she knew he’d learned he needed more from life than to have created an inanimate object.

  They’d made love.

  Jes moved his lawn chair close to hers and sat down. The last boat was leaving the lake and heading for the distant resort. Before long, except for the creatures that belonged here, they would have this part of the world to themselves. When she extended her hand toward him, he took it and lifted it to his mouth. He laid kiss after kiss on her knuckles.

  “I don’t think we need to talk about what happened in there.” He indicated the cabin. “At least not now.”

  “No, not now.”

  For several minutes they listened to the birds and squirrels they’d drawn in with more peanuts and apple slices. Jes squeezed her hand and placed it on his thigh. She started massaging the muscle there.

  “I love it here,” he said. “Feeling the peace.”

  “Remembering doing things like this with your dad?”

  “Yes. I haven’t gone mountain climbing since he died but I’m ready to. I want to do it in his honor.”

  “I’d love to climb with you, if you want me.”

  “Of course I do. You’ll need good climbing boots.”

  “I don’t know what constitutes good.”

  “How about I buy them? Size seven narrow, right?”

  “Right. And you wear thirteen medium. Jes, I think we have some decisions to make. About us. This can be real, can’t it?”

  “Yes, it can.” He sighed. “And far different from how I believed today would turn out.”

  Having him so close was turning her on. It had been like that once, a simple matter of seeing or hearing or smelling him and wanting him. “I was so nervous, waiting for you to show up. Wondering what we’d talk about.”

  “I wondered the same thing.”

  “We know now. What made the difference?”

  “Part of it is the setting,” he said. “It was like that with Dad and me. We’d talk much of the time we were climbing or camping. Sometimes we’d just listen but there was always so much I wanted to tell him when I had him to myself. He said he felt the same way.”

  “Nothing got in the way of you two communicating when you were in the wilderness. No distractions.”

  “That’s what you and I should have done when things started going sideways.”

  “Yes, we should have.” Fortunately they were getting a second chance. “Jes, having money isn’t going to change me. I’ll continue with photography because I truly enjoy it, but from now on I’ll do what I want to, not take assignments to pay the bills.”

  “What do you want to focus on?”

  “Wildlife. Nature.” An idea, the first concrete one she’d had since coming back to earth following her climax had her reassuring herself that her camera was on the ground within reach.

  “I understand an elk herd spends the summers around here. I’ll find out where it is and take—”

  “I’m uneasy about you being out alone.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  “What if I have your back? Carry your equipment and get the elk to pose.”

  “You want...”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Good, because I’m going to have the time.” He sighed. “Time. That’s going to take some getting used to. Maybe...”

  “Maybe what?”

  “The house needs work. Whether we keep or sell it, it could be in better shape.” He placed his hand over hers. “Maybe it’s too soon for us to decide about the house. To try for us.”

  Us. “Was it too soon for you to ask?”

  “No.”

  “I feel the same way.”

  He squeezed her hand. “For that to succeed, I believe we should be living closer together.”

  “Yes, we should.”

  His expression reminded her of how he’d looked the day they’d gotten married. She felt the same way, excited and a little scared, eager to live with this precious person.

  “You’ll want to stay in Kalispell near your mother and sisters,” she said. “Then there’s Cole, Trever, and the race track.”

  “Given your dad’s health issues—”

  “There’s life making its presence known again. I wish—I’d love it if it could just be the two of us.”

  “So do I, but that isn’t real.”

  “No, not real.”

  He started to say something, but his attention switched from her to something behind her. “Get your camera,” he whispered. “Slowly turn around.”

  She did as he’d suggested. A doe and her two fawns were emerging from a thicket. The doe barely gave the humans a glance as she headed toward the closest apple slice. The babies stayed close to their mother, little heads extended as they sniffed. Spindly legs, twitching tails, and shining black eyes melted her as she took pictures. She was afraid the little family would take off once they’d finished the apples, but Jes reached into the nearly empty carrot bag and tossed one at them.

  “See,” he whispered as the fawns noticed the vegetable. “I’m exactly what you need in the way of an assistant.”

  It took everything she had not to laugh as each fawn grabbed a carrot end and started pulling on it. Delighted, she switched to video and recorded the tug-of-war. Their mother ended the argument by snatching the vegetable and chewing on it.

  “Perfect,” she muttered.

  “It is,” Jes whispered back. “Just like today turned out.”

  Not just today but, she now believed, for the rest of her life.

  Their life.

  The End

  The Montana Lakeside Series

  Book 1: Romancing the Montana Bride

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  Book 2: Redeeming Her Montana Love

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  Book 3: His Montana Rescue

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  Book 4: Saved by the Montana Hero

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  Book 5: Taming his Montana Heart

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  An Exclusive Excerpt from Redeeming Her Montana Love

  Book 2 in the Montana Lakeside Series by Vella Munn

  Copyright © 2016 Vella Munn

  Water exploded from the split in the pipe and soaked Alisha Hearne’s dirty jeans. “Of course,” she muttered as she jumped back.

  She was in danger of totally losing it today. Stressed didn’t begin to explain how she felt. She hurried into the cabin, opened the small door to the electrical panel, and pulled out the fuse that controlled the well. After turning the old fuse to the OFF position, she reinserted it. With water no
longer being pumped through the antiquated galvanized iron lines, she went back outside to get a closer look at the damage. Between her wet jeans, some snow on the ground, and a breeze that carried cold air down from Mount Lynx, she should have put on a jacket.

  The split started where the pipe went under the cabin. She didn’t want to think about how far it might extend into the laughingly-called crawl space or whether there was more than one split in the line.

  Well, she told herself as she shook off her jeans and positioned herself so the sun reached her back, did she expect anything different? She hadn’t been to the cabin, located in Montana’s Flathead National Forest, since last fall and then only briefly. More to the point, the pipes had been subjected to winter’s sub-zero temperatures since they’d been put in back in the 1940s. They were breaking down. Also, any water left in the line would freeze and expand. At least she’d had the forethought to bring several jugs of water with her. She could turn off the valve between the pump and house, attach a hose to the pump, and have access to water that way.

  Temporary fix.

  Instead of dealing with yet another repair, she’d love to go for a long walk along the lake, to watch daylight end and night engulf this beautiful place. There were only a handful of cabins at this side of the lake, and the people who owned them were respectful of their neighbors’ space and desire for quiet. That was what she’d love to try for a change of pace, quiet. Peace.

  A high-powered screaming distracted her from her immediate problem. The sound was coming from Lake Serene some fifty yards away, a boat going over the fifteen-miles-per-hour speed limit. Accompanied by the now awake Bruce, her eighty-pound mutt who’d been dozing in the sun and didn’t care that pine needles were sticking to his short, black coat, she headed for the dock, jumping over water streaming from melting snow as she did. Except for the berms around the cabin, most of last winter’s snowpack had melted. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to drive to the one place where her mother had felt at peace.

  Not thinking about that now...

  The dock listed so far to her right she remained safely on the bank. No way could she straighten the dock on her own. She’d stopped by the resort and asked the manager if he could recommend one of his employees to do the work. He’d offered to send someone over to look at her project. Even though the resort’s new owner had sent an email to every cabin owner letting them know he was anticipating a mutually beneficial relationship, she didn’t expect anyone to show up so soon.

  Bruce looked around for a dry spot and gingerly lowered his rear end to the ground. Three pine trees had lost their hold on the bank and fallen into the lake. They provided waterfowl with perches but she’d have to find a way to haul them to shore and cut them up so she’d have firewood.

  Add it to the list.

  Feeling overwhelmed, which she hated, she stared at the ground. As a child, Lake Serene had been her idea of the perfect getaway. Having to wear her grown-up hat was another story.

  Sighing, she shielded her eyes and stared out at the still body of water that three weeks ago had been covered with snow and ice. Even with the irritating sound, she mentally slipped back to lazy afternoons spent fishing here with her mother. They’d bonded over trout, bragging rights, and whose turn it was to clean their catch. As for whether her mother had wished their conversations had gone deeper—no, she wouldn’t go there.

  The offending boat appeared. Whoever was pushing the motor’s limits was kicking up an impressive spray of white as he entertained himself by creating figure eights. At least he wasn’t at the lake’s south end with its fish-rich deep hole and the Silent Creek inlet where fishermen were undoubtedly planning his demise. She didn’t understand someone who wasn’t cued into those around him and only cared about himself.

  “Darned moron.”

  She let out a yelp and whirled to face the speaker behind her.

  “Sorry. Guess you didn’t hear me for all the noise that fool’s making.”

  “Doc!” she exclaimed as she hurried to the lakefront path where her closest neighbor was leaning on his trademark walking stick. Bruce was already sniffing Doc’s coveralls. So much for warning her of intruders. She hugged the man she’d turned to more than once for tools, advice, and the occasional handyman service. Doc, a retired dentist, had understood that her mother hadn’t always been able to pull herself together enough to tackle repairs. He’d gone out of his way to help Alisha in ways that went way beyond supplying nails and paint brushes.

  By putting hammers and saws in her hands, Doc had played an important role in the strong, independent woman she’d become.

  “I was hoping I’d see you.” Doc hugged her back. “Our family’s so grateful to you.”

  “I was just doing my job,” she said. They both knew it was more than that.

  “You worked your tail off. When I think of what might have happened if I hadn’t thought to call you—you stopped my daughter and her husband from getting into a financial disaster with that house they almost signed on.”

  “It was in bad shape. Your instincts about the seller and his agent downplaying defects were right.”

  Doc smiled. “Carolyn is my baby girl, always will be. She thought I was being overprotective until you told them the same thing. What we’re most grateful for is how much time you devoted to finding them a place they could afford.”

  “They’re happy with it?” She saw no point in telling Doc she seldom handled residential properties. She’d found advocating for Carolyn and her husband to be deeply satisfying—worth the arguments with her father.

  “They’re delighted, especially since Rance didn’t have to change schools. And with my son-in-law gone as much as he is, it eases my mind knowing my baby’s in a safe neighborhood in a house without any question of asbestos.” Still smiling, Doc studied her. “So how’ve you been?”

  She took a deep breath and sighed. “Okay. I’m sorry I didn’t stay in touch better this winter. I meant to.”

  He squeezed her arm. “Your dad died. I knew you had your hands full.” He jerked his head at the lake. “This is the third afternoon that moron’s been at it. I’m guessing he works at the resort. Can’t be a cabin owner or guest. We know better.”

  The resort consisted of a lodge that included a restaurant, meeting rooms, bar, and the reservation office for the motel rooms, cabins, and studios that were clustered around the lodge. The complex was more than a mile away by boat and over four by vehicle. Except for at night when she could see the distant lights, she was barely aware of the commercial establishment’s existence.

  “Have you seen what they’re doing there?” Doc scratched the top of Bruce’s head. “There’s some serious work going on.”

  “I went there on my way here a few hours ago. After seeing the picture you emailed me of the dock yesterday, I enquired about hiring one or more of the workmen to repair it.”

  “Good thinking. As extensive as the resort remodeling is, there’s probably some experienced tradespeople. Did you take the grand tour?”

  “No. I wanted to get the cabin open and aired out.”

  “Bet it was musty.” Doc shook his head. “I still have a key. If I’d known you were coming, I could have taken off the shutters and put on the screens so you could have the windows open. I was inside, otherwise, I would have heard you drive in.”

  She looked in the direction of the cabin Doc and his wife had bought when their children were little. She could barely see it for the evergreens between the two lots. Ponderosa pines and other seedlings fought for every inch of soil not taken up by mature trees. Beautiful as they were, the evergreens also represented a fire danger in summer and needed to be thinned.

  Another item for her must-do list.

  “The access road has more ruts than I remember,” she said. “Not that I’m complaining. Not having it paved keeps most visitors away from us.”

  “That might change if the new owner has his way. He’s going to do everything short of putting up
billboards saying this way to Lake Serene.”

  “You’re exaggerating. The Forest Service would never allow billboards.”

  “What I’m saying is it’s going to be different.”

  She knew a little about the proposed improvements the well-heeled owner intended to implement. Some, like allowing water skiing on a lake known primarily for its fishing, would never fly. Of course if she decided to sell, it wouldn’t affect her.

  If.

  “Darn it,” Doc grumbled. “He’s heading this way.”

  Taking her cue from the older man who’d already started toward the shore, she trailed behind him. Doc was right. The crazy boat driver appeared to be checking out the thirty-some small docks belonging to private cabin owners. At least he’d slowed to trolling speed. At the rate he was going, he’d reach her dock in a couple of minutes, so she planted herself as close to the listing structure as she dared. She didn’t care what had brought him here. She just wanted to give him a piece of her mind about his disregard for what this high mountain lake stood for. She studied Mount Lynx across the lake. Although it was May, the top was still buried under snow and intimidating to her. By late summer the sharp edges would show. She’d never climbed it, but when she was growing up, she convinced herself she could tackle it no problem. She just wasn’t sure whether she’d have to carry a sleeping bag and plan on having to stay the night.

  Night, alone near the top of the area’s most imposing mountain. Away from all responsibility.

  Intriguing thought.

  The motor’s high growl triggered something inside. She’d been under a lot of tension lately and didn’t need this idiot adding to it. She needed to smell what was left of the snow, the water, pine, and dirt. To be renewed.

  Now that he was close, she realized this wasn’t one of the nearly-derelict boats she remembered the resort renting out. At least twenty-feet long, it had both a trolling motor and an outboard she figured was least ninety horsepower. Judging by the shiny sides and immaculate pedestal fishing seat, the craft was new. Envy nibbled at her. Being at the controls of the craft would be a blast.