Closer to You (A Haven, Montana Novel)

by Jill Sanders

  She tilted her head and looked at him, not wanting to admit what the last statement of his did to her insides. Since the moment she’d seen him standing outside her hotel door, her heart had been racing. Seeing him in an actual suit did something to her and she wasn’t liking the distraction one bit.

  She decided to switch tactics. “You seem like a civilized person. Why are you so determined to keep control of your father’s business? Why not sell and head back to LA?”

  She saw the cords in his neck tense. “Because it’s what he wanted.” He turned and slid out of the car. She watched him walk around and open her door, then he held out a hand for her to take.

  When she got out of the car, her eyes fell on the simple house for the first time. At first glance, it looked like a small log cabin. But with every light in the home on, the place glowed, making her realize that it was a lot bigger than she’d first thought.

  High windows shined as long, thick wood beams held up a wide porch which ran the entire length of the front of the home. The place was quite lovely and looked like the kind of home she’d imagined three boys had grown up in.

  “You met my brother Trent,” he said when they made it to the front porch. “Trey is our youngest brother.” He opened the door and there was a blonde man standing just inside. “Trey, this is Kristen Howell. She works for JB Holding.”

  “I’ve heard a lot about you.” His brother reached out and took her hand. “Let me take that coat for you.”

  She watched Tyler roll his eyes as his brother smoothly removed her jacket.

  Where the two older brothers had dark hair and dark eyes, Trey had curly blonde hair with silver-blue eyes. There was something undeniably attractive about the man. All three of the brothers could easily be on the cover of any magazine as the sexiest man alive.

  Trent’s hair was the longest, and while the other two brothers had shaved and dressed up for the occasion, the middle brother looked more relaxed for the evening in a sweater and slacks.

  She followed them into a great room and noticed a tall woman standing by a massive two-story fireplace, which was nestled in a wall of windows. The woman’s coloring matched that of the two older boys. Her dark hair was cut short, in a stylish bob, giving her a much younger appearance. When they walked into the room, she smiled, showing off the same dimple Kristen had noticed on Tyler.

  “Welcome. I’m Gail McGowan.” She moved across the room with her hand extended. “I hope your flight in was a pleasant one.”

  Kristen shook the woman’s hand. “I’ve had worse.” She smiled. “You have a lovely home,” she said, glancing around. The place was quite a contrast to anything she’d seen so far in Haven. It was truly gorgeous. It could be right up there on the cover of a magazine with the rest of the family.

  “Thank you. Please.” Gail motioned for her to sit. “We’ve got the fire going, but let us know if you get chilled. Spring in Montana can be quite a shock if you’re not used to it.”

  “I’m fine. Thank you,” Kristen said as she sat down.

  “So, Tyler tells me you’re here to try and take over our business,” Gail said.

  “Jesus, Mom,” all three boys said in unison.

  “Hush now.” She waved them off as she sat across from Kristen. “We’ll just get the business side out of our way so we can get on with the evening.” Gail turned back toward her.

  Kristen was a little surprised at the woman’s forwardness, but really, she was more impressed.

  “Yes, the company I work for, JB Holding, would like to buy out the remaining shares that your family holds.”

  “How long have you worked for JB?” Gail asked as her sons stood around, shaking their heads at her.

  “Almost three years,” she answered.

  “Do you trust them?” The question threw Kristen off.

  “Trust them?” She shook her head, her confusion evident.

  “Are they a good company?” Gail reiterated.

  “Of course. The business was founded twenty years ago and we own controlling interests in hundreds of companies across dozens of industries. I’ve personally negotiated deals that have made business owners very wealthy.”

  “That’s nice. What does JB plan on doing with the shares in McGowan?” she asked.

  “I . . .” Again, she was stumped. “I’m not sure at this point.”

  “They sent you out here”—Gail glanced toward the large windows, where fresh snow was falling—“halfway across the continent, and you don’t even know what they plan on doing with our business? Are they intending to run things as we have or impose policy changes?”

  “They haven’t shared that information with me yet. There are some details in the proposal I gave to . . .”

  “Yes, lawyers will jumble anything to the point that it’s illegible. What happened to the other companies you’ve helped acquire?”

  She thought about it. “Some have been sold, others are still running as they did before we purchased them.”

  The room was silent for a while, then Gail stood suddenly. “Thank you for being honest with me. Now,” she sighed. “How about we move on to the food portion of the night?” She held out her hand for Kristen to take. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, truly.”

  “Thank you.” She felt her heart skip and wondered if she’d said the right things to convince the family to give her a chance.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Dinner was pleasant enough after his mother had bombarded Kristen with questions, and everyone moved on to polite conversations. Honestly, if Tyler had known that his mother was going to pull a stunt like that, he would have tried to convince her not to. He could tell by the reaction of his brothers that neither of them knew their mother was going to spring that line of questions on Kristen either.

  He was impressed that Kristen had risen to the occasion and hadn’t seemed to hold back on the truth. Was she really clueless as to what JB Holding wanted with McGowan Enterprises?

  Maybe he needed to spend more time reading through the proposal she’d left on his desk. After all, his mother had been correct that lawyers could muddle up even the simplest things. There were a few lawyers in town he could talk to if he had questions. One of them, Steven Rice, was his father’s friend from way back.

  After eating, they moved back to the living room and sipped coffee while they enjoyed some of his mother’s coffee cake. The snow was growing heavier and soon after dessert, Tyler mentioned they’d better get going before the roads got too bad.

  Kristen looked relieved and a little nervous as he helped her on with her coat.

  “You really should think about getting something warmer.” He glanced down at her sleek black high heels and shook his head. “And some boots. Real boots, not the ones you wore earlier.” As he pulled her coat over her shoulders, his eyes roamed over the open-back dress she’d worn and tried to hold in a moan.

  “Thank you, I don’t think I’ll be in town long enough to . . .”

  “I thought you were here for two weeks regardless.”

  “Yes, but . . .” She turned toward him, biting her bottom lip. Then she shook her head and reached for her bag. “I’ll think about it.”

  “There’s a place right in town that carries anything you’ll need.” He opened the door as she said her good-byes to his family.

  After helping her into his car, he shook the fresh snow from his hair and slid in the driver’s seat.

  “It’s so beautiful,” she said, leaning forward in her seat to look out the window.

  “It always is, until it starts to melt. Then it turns to mud.” He pulled out of the driveway slowly.

  “Yes, I noticed that.” She frowned and leaned back in the seat.

  “You must be tired,” he said, turning onto the main road. “Why don’t you take a day—”

  “Are you trying to get rid of me already?” she broke in.

  “What?” He glanced over at her quickly. “No, I was just thinking that you might want to do some shopping. We’
re supposed to get more of the white stuff this week.”

  “I think I’ll manage,” she responded, looking out the window. He glanced down at those sexy legs peeking out from under her dress and shook his head.

  “Suit yourself.” He sighed and pulled into town. “But if you need it, this is the place to get supplies.” He nodded to Granger’s Market.

  “Thank you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and he had a hard time returning his eyes to the road.

  “I like your mother,” she said after a moment. He turned toward her again.

  “Why do you say that?” he asked.

  “She’s a strong woman. One who doesn’t hold back. I’ve always appreciated women like that.” Kristen sighed and turned her eyes toward him. “Most women I’ve known would have remained silent and not asked the questions they wanted.”

  “Like you?” he asked as he pulled into the parking spot in front of her door.

  She thought about it a moment, then shook her head. “No, I’d like to think that I’m not afraid to ask questions.”

  “Like . . . what JB plans to do with our business?” He shifted toward her.

  “It’s my job to negotiate the sale, and the future of the company under JB Holding is need-to-know. Mr. Burnett wouldn’t provide that information to me if I had asked.”

  He tilted his head and looked closer at her. “Yet you were willing to hop on a plane and put your best foot forward doing his bidding?”

  “It’s my job.” He watched her chin rise slightly.

  “Sure, and this is my family’s business. One my father worked all his life to create and maintain. One that sustains this community. Why would we willingly sign on a dotted line when we’re not one-hundred percent sure what your boss intends to do with it?”

  He heard her sigh, then she dropped her arms and nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll see what answers I can get from him.”

  “Until you do, maybe you can lay off the negotiations and sit back and enjoy yourself some.”

  She laughed as she looked around. “I doubt it. I’m a city girl. I don’t think Haven has a lot to offer. Unless you intend for me to visit one of the many strip clubs we just passed.”

  He smiled. “You might like them. The Wet Spot is the biggest and most popular.”

  “Of course it is.” He could tell she was trying to hide a smile. “With a name like that . . . who wouldn’t want to walk through the doors?”

  “Hey, what else are a bunch of men who work almost fifty-hour weeks supposed to do with their money and time off?” He thought back. “You know, there was a time I thought I’d like city life.” His entire youth he’d dreamed of living in the bustle and chaos of a big city. Now, however, he wouldn’t trade Haven for anything. The few months he’d lived in the city had proven one thing: he was a country boy right down to his core. Sure, he’d had fun. Too much fun. But there had been something missing in the hard-working days, late nights partying, and all the women he’d enjoyed. None of his time there had felt like he’d been building a home. In fact, looking back at it, he realized how selfish he’d been. Using all his college money to party had been a huge waste of his father’s hard work. Not to mention squandering it on a particular girl, who had, once the money had run dry, left him without a look back.

  No, he couldn’t imagine continuing living the way he had in the city. A few months there and he’d been burned out.

  “And?” She tilted her head slightly and looked over at him.

  “Things change.” He smiled over at her and threw the car into park. He wondered if he was falling into the same mistakes he had in LA. His eyes ran over Kristen in the dark car. She looked a lot like the women he’d dated then. Even dressed like them, but he could tell there was something different. Which only made him want to discover what that difference was.

  She smiled back and reached for the door. He jumped out quickly and held the door as she slid out.

  “Thank you for dinner,” she said, dusting the fresh snow from her coat.

  “Thank you,” he replied. She tilted her head in question. “For being honest with my family.”

  After nodding, she reached for her hotel door, only to have him once more hold the door open for her.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She closed the door behind her, leaving him out in the snow.

  Kristen waded out to her car the next morning and cringed as she thought about what the snow was doing to her shoes and slacks. Her legs were frozen by the time the car warmed up.

  She did stop at the market and purchased a few items for herself. Some toiletry supplies, thick socks, a pair of black boots, some food that would keep in her hotel room for when she didn’t feel like venturing out to find a place to eat. Which, after driving around town a few times, seemed limited. It appeared there were more strip clubs in Haven than diners.

  There was only one diner in town that she found. The Dancing Moose Diner looked inviting enough, so she pulled in the parking lot.

  When she walked in, a loud bell rang, and every eye in the place turned toward her. Ignoring the stares, she walked over, sat at the bar area, and started glancing through the menu.

  She was going to have a hard time finding something halfway healthy to choose from. She’d started a new yoga program the week before leaving and wanted to stick to her goals. Which meant half of the items on the menu were off-limits.

  “Is that your breakfast or are you feeding a rabbit?” Tyler asked almost fifteen minutes later as he took a seat next to her along the bar.

  “Very funny.” She took another bite of her veggie omelet. She watched as he ordered the logger breakfast. Which, according to the menu, included three types of meats, four eggs, a stack of pancakes, and coffee.

  “Are you feeding an army or just yourself?” she asked.

  He smiled. “Don’t knock it, it’s about the only hot meal I’ll get until late tonight.” He took a sip of the coffee the waitress set in front of him.

  “When are you coming back into the Spot?” The woman leaned on the counter and batted her eyes toward Tyler.

  “I’ve got too much work. You know that, Darla.” He turned toward Kristen as the other woman sighed and walked away to deal with other customers.

  She raised her eyebrows and glanced at Tyler.

  “What?” He smiled as she shook her head.

  “Why do I get the feeling that the McGowan brothers are somewhat infamous around here?” She’d overheard a few conversations since being in town, and everything she’d heard led her to believe that the men were the most sought-after available bachelors in the entire state of Montana.

  “No McGowan ever walked away from a good time,” Tyler said as Darla set a massive plate of food in front of him. The woman giggled, then walked away, her hips swinging extra wide.

  Kristen watched as he dug into the food quickly. He ate like he and his brothers had last night. Quickly.

  “Do you always wolf your food down?” She leaned back and pushed her half-empty plate away.

  He stopped and glanced at her, then swallowed a sip of coffee. “I suppose it comes from having two younger brothers on your heels waiting to take what’s left.”

  She smiled. “I’m sure that your mother always made sure there was plenty of food on the table.”

  He nodded. “Yes, but Dad didn’t always give us time to eat it all.” She raised her eyebrows in question. “We started working for him early.”

  “How early?” she asked.

  He thought about it. “I suppose I was around eight when I started.”

  She frowned. “That’s appalling. Why would your father force you to work?”

  “Whoa. My dad never forced anything on anyone.” She could see the instant temper in his eyes, then he leaned back and took a deep breath. “He had us working in the office, doing stupid shit like taking out the trash or making copies. Then, the week I got my driver’s license, I was put in charge of driving the crew out to the sites every day I didn’t have school.”r />
  She relaxed a little and listened to him talk about the odd jobs their father made them do to keep them busy.

  “I guess that’s why all of us left town shortly after graduating. We wanted to see what else was out there. I ended up in LA, Trent in Vegas, and Trey”—he shook his head—“went to Miami.”

  “What did you find out?” she asked, gaining his attention again. She’d read in the files that the brothers had split, but still, she wondered why. And, more importantly, why they dropped their new lives to return.

  “That city life is pretty screwed up. I tried school, then worked as a mechanic for a while. I’d helped my dad rebuild a few cars in my time. Made just enough to stay in a hellhole and feed myself. I partied too much, blew my dad’s hard-earned college fund on . . . stuff.” He shook his head and she could see to this day he was still disgusted about it. “Found out the hard way that what’s important to you isn’t always important to others.”

  “What brought you back?” she said after a moment and watched as his eyes turned sad.

  “I got a call just before Halloween that Dad had collapsed while visiting a job site. I flew back just in time to see him take his last breath.”

  “I’m sorry.” Kristen almost whispered it as her hand reached out to cover his.

  Tyler’s eyes moved to her hand. She moved it away and tucked it under the counter.

  “So, we all returned and tried to make a go of running the business.”

  “From what I’ve seen, it sounds like you’re doing a pretty great job.”

  He nodded, then pushed his empty plate aside. “The first few months were tough, actually. If I’d been a betting man, I would have said that if things had continued to go the same way it was in the first month, we would have gladly signed the first offer JB made us.”

  “What changed?” She leaned back.

  He stood and threw a wad of cash on the counter. “We did.”

  Tyler was getting tired of answering questions. He’d been on the phone for almost an hour and had a splitting headache.