The Little Maverick Matchmaker (Montana Mavericks: The Lonelyhearts Ranch Book 3)

by Stella Bagwell

  Drew planted a kiss on Dillon’s forehead and as he straightened away, the child flung his arms around his neck and held on tight.

  “I love you, Daddy.”

  Emotions pierced Drew’s chest and in that moment, Drew realized without a doubt that what he’d told Josselyn yesterday was truer than he’d ever imagined. Moving here to Rust Creek Falls had been the right decision. For him and Dillon.

  “I love you, too, son.”

  After giving him a gentle pat on the cheek, Drew turned out the light and left the small bedroom.

  * * *

  The next day for lunch, Josselyn decided to forgo the school cafeteria and walk the two blocks to the Gold Rush Diner for one of their scrumptious burgers. With September nearing the halfway mark, the weather had been unusually mild and dry. A predicator of a cold wet winter, or so the old-timers around Rust Creek Falls were forecasting. But today the sun was bright, making the gold and red leaves on the trees along the sidewalk look even more vibrant.

  Less than a minute away from the eating place, which was tucked a few doors down from the Rust Creek Falls Gazette newspaper office, she heard her phone ringing inside her shoulder bag.

  Pausing on the quiet sidewalk, she dug out the phone and hurriedly swiped without bothering to check the identity of the caller.

  “Hello,” she greeted cheerily.

  “Josselyn. It’s Drew.”

  Her fingers gripped the phone as she tried to guess why he might be calling her. “Oh, hi, Drew. How are you?”

  “I’m good. I was wondering...” He paused, then continued, “It sounds like you’re outside. Are you not at work today?”

  “As a matter of fact, I just happened to be walking over to the Gold Rush Diner to have lunch.”

  “Save me a seat,” he quickly replied. “I’ll be right over to join you.”

  Before she could say more, the phone went dead.

  Josselyn slipped it back into her bag, and though she felt like skipping the remaining distance to the diner, she forced herself to go at a ladylike pace.

  Five minutes later, she was seated in a booth, studying the menu lying in front of her, when Drew slid onto the bench seat across from her. Dressed in a blue plaid Western shirt and a pair of jeans and boots, he hardly looked as though he’d spent the morning attending patients at the clinic. But he looked as sexy as all get-out, she decided.

  “Hi,” she greeted again, her gaze traveling up and down his six-foot-plus frame. “Are you off work today?”

  “No.” He glanced down at himself. “These are my work clothes. Only no one knows it because they’re hidden beneath a lab coat.”

  “Your patients probably don’t know that you were a cowboy long before you became a doctor.”

  Grunting with amusement, he picked up one of the menus that had been left on the table. “Reckon that would worry them?”

  “A few might expect you to pull out a branding iron instead of a stethoscope,” she teased, then looked at him curiously. “You haven’t explained why you called.”

  He put down the menu. “I wasn’t sure if you were able to leave the school grounds, but I had a bit of a break between patients so I thought I’d give it a try and see if you could join me for lunch.”

  In spite of her effort to stem it, the smile on her face deepened. How could she not show her feelings around this man? Just being in his presence made her thrilled to be alive.

  “What a coincidence,” she told him. “I just happened to have a yearning to eat here at the diner today.”

  He glanced around the long room with its low ceiling and wood plank flooring. Small round tables and chairs filled the inner part of the space, while booths with smooth wooden seats lined the walls. Near the front, a long bar stretched the width of the building, and at the moment, the red swiveled stools in front of it were filled to capacity with diners.

  “This place never changes,” he said. “Even as a kid I remember it being just as it is today.”

  “Thank goodness,” she replied. “The food is delicious.”

  She’d hardly gotten the comment out of her mouth when a pretty young waitress with a tangle of dark curls pinned to the top of her head ambled up to their table. After she’d dug out a pad and pencil, her gaze swung furtively back and forth between Drew and Josselyn.

  “What can I get you two today? The lunch special is stuffed pork chops and candied yams. The yams are yummy, but the chops are just—” She made a so-so gesture with her hand.

  “No matter,” Josselyn spoke up. “I want a burger all the way with fries and ice tea.”

  “The same for me,” Drew told her.

  “Thanks,” she said, with a sidelong glance at Drew. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

  Josselyn watched the waitress swish away before casting Drew a coy look. “I think you have an admirer.”

  His brows lifting, he glanced around the room. “Really?”

  She groaned. “The waitress. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice. She was very pretty.”

  “So she was. I see pretty women all day long, Josselyn. But I don’t see them in that way. If I did, I’d be mighty messed up.”

  Josselyn wished she could kick herself. She sounded like a jealous female. Which was ridiculous. Drew could look at any woman he wanted, in any way he wanted, and it was none of her business. But Lord help her, she wanted it to be.

  Her laugh came out more like a croak. “Sorry, Drew. I wasn’t thinking. I guess I’ve never stopped to think about your job. If you don’t mind me asking, what is it like anyway, tending to women’s medical needs all day long?”

  “First of all, it’s an honor. When I help a patient get healthy or stay healthy, whichever the case, it’s not only for her, but for all those who love her. I see them as mothers and wives and girlfriends, aunts and sisters. It’s a family thing. And the babies I help bring into the world make those families even bigger.”

  “Yes,” she said thoughtfully. “I see what you mean.”

  The waitress returned with their drinks, and after he’d taken a long sip from the tall glass, he looked at Josselyn and smiled. “So have you recuperated from the fishing trip?”

  What could she say? That spending the day with him had been the most exciting thing she’d ever done in her life? That she’d spent half the night walking around her cabin, trying to get the scent and the sound and the image of him out of her mind?

  “It was a lovely day, Drew. I wasn’t tired at all.”

  A faint dimple appeared in his cheek and Josselyn wondered how it would feel to touch his face at will, to place her lips on his any time she felt the urge. Which was beginning to happen on an all-too-frequent basis.

  “Neither was Dillon,” he said. “I didn’t think he was ever going to fall asleep. By the way, in case you haven’t seen him in the library yet today, he lost a tooth last night. A lateral incisor.”

  She laughed. “You’ll have to explain what kind of tooth that is. I didn’t make straight As in health.”

  “That’s a bottom tooth. Next to the two middle ones. A child normally loses the two middle ones in the bottom first. Then the two middle at the top, then back to the bottom on the sides. And girls usually go through this development at a younger age than boys. That’s your health lesson for today.”

  “Let me guess—girls lose their teeth earlier because we mature faster,” she said with a chuckle. “So did the tooth fairy visit Dillon?”

  “Certainly. Although I’m not sure why. Earlier in the evening, Dillon snuck into the kitchen and cut huge hunks out of the pies Claire had baked for the boarders’ dinner.”

  “Oh, your cousin couldn’t have been happy about that.”

  “Dillon was just lucky that his aunt Claire had baked the pies and not his great-grandmother. Melba would’ve banned him from the kitchen for life.”

>   Josselyn shook her head with amusement. “So did Dillon eat his pie?”

  “Every bite. You probably noticed during the fishing trip how much he likes sweets. He would’ve eaten the whole bag of marshmallows if I’d let him.”

  “What can I say,” she said with a guilty laugh. “I would’ve eaten the whole bag, too. If I’d let myself.”

  “Well, it might surprise you to learn that Dillon is a miser. He’s already stuffed the tooth fairy money away in his piggy bank.”

  “Smart boy. He’ll probably grow up to be a financial investor someday.” She leveled a pointed look at him. “Or do you want him to be a doctor?”

  He shook his head. “I want him to be whatever he wants to be. At the moment that seems to be a matchmaker.”

  Heat tinged her cheeks. “Does that bother you? At the school picnic when we first met you seemed rather upset with him.”

  His gaze dropped sheepishly to the glass of ice tea sitting in front of him. “I was upset,” he admitted. “To have my son telling a stranger that I’m a lonely widower wasn’t exactly the way I wanted to spend my afternoon.”

  Deciding now wasn’t the time to be shy, she said, “Frankly, I’m glad that Dillon dragged you over to the punch table. Otherwise, we might not have met.”

  He grimaced. “No. Probably not. Other than work, I don’t get around town much. And I can’t remember the last time I introduced myself to a woman. Not since Evelyn died.”

  Since Evelyn died. Josselyn had already heard him speak those words so many times. It wasn’t easy for her to hear them. But she hoped in some small way it was helping Drew purge himself of a grief he’d held on to far too long.

  He looked up and her heart did a little skip as she watched a slow grin lift one corner of his lips.

  “But I’m glad Dillon noticed you that day. It’s nice to have someone to talk to. Someone who will listen to me and not think I’m some sort of disturbed weirdo.”

  He couldn’t know he was turning her heart to helpless mush, she thought. He couldn’t see that just being in his company made her incredibly happy. Which was a huge relief. Otherwise he’d be thinking she was the weirdo, or the biggest fool in Rust Creek Falls.

  Sliding her hand across the tabletop, she gently touched the tips of her fingers to his. “Why would anyone think you’re weird? You’re a doctor, for Pete’s sake.”

  He let out a mocking snort. “I’m not exactly a sociable person. And as for me being a doctor, we doctors aren’t immune to human frailties. We’re just more adept at hiding them.”

  What was he hiding? Other than an empty hole in his heart. A void that she desperately wanted to fill.

  “Now that’s a scary thought,” she joked. “The next time I go for my annual checkup I’ll be wondering if my doctor is really a Jekyll and Hyde.”

  He laughed and the sound was like a million dollars to Josselyn. She wanted to hear the rich, happy sound again and again.

  His fingers slid over her hand, then enfolded it in a tight hold. “That’s one of the things I like about you, Josselyn. You make me laugh. And that’s a hard thing to do.”

  Where was all this going? Should she be thinking this impromptu lunch date was special? Or would she be smarter to believe the man was just hungry and didn’t want to eat alone?

  Thankfully, the questions swirling through her thoughts were interrupted when the waitress suddenly appeared with their food, and the next few minutes passed with them eating and making small talk.

  It wasn’t until Josselyn’s plate was nearly empty and she was checking her watch that Drew caught her by complete surprise.

  “I think we should see each other again.” Leaning slightly forward, he added in a husky voice, “On a real date. Without a seven-year-old chaperone. What do you say?”

  A real date? She didn’t know what constituted a real date for him, but she was already picturing the two of them in some quiet, cozy place with his strong arm around her shoulders, his face temptingly close to hers. Oh, yes, that would be a real date.

  “Well, I—I haven’t thought that far ahead,” she said, hoping not to sound too overeager despite the little voice in the back of her mind yelling, Liar, liar, you’ve been dreaming of dating the doctor from the very first moment little Dillon introduced him to you.

  “Then I’m asking you to think on it now,” he replied. “We could drive over to Kalispell and have a nice dinner, or go to a movie, or both. Or whatever you’d like.”

  There was no point in her trying to act coy, Josselyn decided. Not when she was practically squirming with joy over the invitation.

  “That’s sounds nice, Drew. I’d love to go. When were you thinking to have this date?”

  He pushed aside his empty plate and tossed several bills onto the table to take care of the waitress’s tip. “What about tomorrow night? I realize the next day will be a workday. But another doctor is scheduled to be on call for me tomorrow evening. So we wouldn’t have to worry about our date being interrupted with an emergency. I promise to have you back home by a reasonable hour,” he added with a grin.

  She’d gladly forgo hours of sleep to spend some private time with this man, but she’d keep that revealing fact to herself. “Then it’s a date. Would you like for me to meet you here in town tomorrow evening? It would save you making a trip out to Sunshine Farm to pick me up.”

  He shook his head. “No. I said I wanted this to be a real date. I’ll drive out to the farm about six thirty and collect you. Unless that’s too early.”

  “No, six thirty is fine.” Her mouth was suddenly so dry she reached for her tea and gulped down a long drink. “I’d better be going or I’ll be late.”

  “Yes, I need to get back to work, too,” he said. “I’ll deal with the check. The school is on my way. I’ll drop you off.”

  * * *

  Later that evening after work, instead of going straight home to Sunshine Farm, Josselyn drove to the corner of Cedar Street and North Broomtail Road and parked her car in front of the only dress shop in town.

  The little boutique was one of the first places Josselyn had patronized after she’d moved to Rust Creek Falls, and since then, she’d become friends with the owner. Gilda was a petite blonde in her thirties with an appetite for romance, in spite of a marriage that had ended in divorce court.

  A cowbell clanged over the door as Josselyn stepped inside. Thanks to a pair of burning candles, the faint scent of baked apples permeated the air, while at the far back of the room, a radio was twanging out country music. A few feet away, near a circle of newly arrived sweaters, Gilda stood next to a young dark-haired woman Josselyn didn’t recognize.

  “Oh, hi, Josselyn,” Gilda greeted her, then motioned for her to join them. “Come over here. I want you to meet someone.”

  When Josselyn reached the two women, Gilda promptly introduced the pretty brunette as Caroline Ruth.

  “Caroline has just taken a part-time job with Vivienne Shuster, the wedding planner. I believe you’ve met Vivienne, haven’t you?” Gilda asked.

  “Yes. She was at Sunshine Farm, seeing to the details of a barn wedding.” Josselyn turned and smiled at Caroline. “From what I see you’re going to be very busy. Rust Creek Falls is full of lovebugs, and when a couple gets bitten it seems like a wedding quickly follows.”

  Caroline smiled back at her. “Perhaps you’ll soon be one of our clients,” she suggested coyly.

  Josselyn brushed away the idea with surprised laughter. “We’ll both probably have gray hair by the time that happens.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Caroline said cleverly. “Not the way that guy in the Gold Rush was eyeing you.”

  Gilda was suddenly all ears. “Hmm. I want to hear about this, Josselyn! You were having lunch with a man?”

  Rust Creek Falls was a small town, but Josselyn never imagined gossip could circulate this
quickly.

  She looked at Caroline. “You were at the diner?”

  The young woman nodded, then laughed at Josselyn’s bemused expression. “Sitting at a table across from you. And to set your mind at ease, I couldn’t hear a word that passed between you.”

  Thank goodness, Josselyn thought. Even though nothing embarrassing had been said, she wouldn’t have wanted anyone hearing Drew ask her on a date. That had been a special moment for her, not one she’d wanted broadcasted over the diner.

  “Don’t keep me waiting. Who was this man?” Gilda interjected the question.

  “Dr. Strickland,” Josselyn told her. “You might not know him. He only moved here about six weeks ago. He’s a widower with a young son.”

  “Strickland,” Gilda repeated thoughtfully, then turning her head, she peered through the front window of the shop. Across the street, the south corner of the four-story lavender-colored building called Strickland’s Boarding House could be seen. “Is he related to those Stricklands?”

  “Grandson,” Josselyn answered.

  “Very handsome, too,” Caroline chimed in. “You say he’s a doctor and single? That’s odd, because I think I’m suddenly feeling sick. Very sick.”

  Josselyn knew the young woman was only teasing; still she felt a prick of jealousy.

  “He’s an ob-gyn,” Josselyn informed her. “Are you having female problems?”

  Caroline’s laugh was short and sultry. “Only the lack of a good man in my life.”

  Gilda rolled her eyes. “Caroline is itching to get married. She just can’t wait to tie herself to a man. Can you imagine? She’s only twenty-three. I’ve tried to tell her the whole thing is overrated. It’s much more fun to play the field.”

  “Age has nothing to do with wanting to be a wife to a man who loves her,” Josselyn stated.

  Tossing a smug smile at Gilda, Caroline said to Josselyn, “Like minds. I think we’re going to be dear friends.”

  “I hope so,” Josselyn told her.

  The young woman started to reply, then paused as a phone inside her handbag rang. “Excuse me,” she said, and stepped aside to deal with the call.