Jayden’s Hope: MacKenzies of Montana

by Hart, Liliana

  For a moment, she thought the ten hours of sleep she’d gotten were going to keep her up the rest of the night, but halfway through the bowl of soup, when the warmth started to seep through her bones, she felt the heaviness in her eyelids.

  She put the lid back on the soup to put back in the refrigerator and cleaned up her mess. Then she went back to the cozy bedroom and pulled the cloud-like covers up to her chin. Just as she was drifting off, Jayden’s face came to mind, and she remembered what she’d told him when he’d asked to paint her.

  He’ll find me.

  She couldn’t let him do it. She’d recognized the genius of the work in his guest bedroom, and it hadn’t been hard to put two and two together. He might as well put a billboard of her face up in every major city in America.

  Before she drifted off to sleep she wondered if anyone had ever told Jayden MacKenzie no. There was always a first time for everything.

  * * *

  Holly woke again mid-morning the next day, the sky still gray and the rain still falling, though considerably less, and she repeated what she’d done the night before. In the daylight she had an entirely different view, and she realized there was a covered porch that looked out over the lake.

  So she made her plate and wrapped a blanket around her and sat in the rocking chair out back. When she was finished, she went back to her bedroom, opened the curtains so she could watch the rain fall, and then fell back into sleep.

  The cycle repeated for another day—sleep, eat, watch the rain—and when she woke up the morning of the third day, there was sunlight streaming through her window. There’d been many a sleepless night while she’d been married to Derek, and she couldn’t remember the last time she felt this refreshed and looking forward to what was to come.

  When she got up this time, she showered and dug through her suitcase for a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She’d been lazy long enough. It didn’t take her long to unpack her suitcases and put everything it needed to go, and she unpacked the boxes as well. She’d only brought the things most precious to her. Some family heirlooms and a picture of her and her father when she’d graduated with her Master’s degree in business.

  She studied the picture and traced the smile on his face. If only she’d known how soon he would’ve been gone after that picture was taken. She’d been high on life, the whole world in front of her, and he’d already been dying of cancer.

  She set the picture on her dresser in the bedroom, and finished up with the boxes. And then she did a walk-through of the house, making a list of supplies she needed and anything she could add to the house to make it her own. The furniture in the cabin was beautiful, but they’d purposefully left things as basic as possible so she’d have a chance to leave her own fingerprints. Everything was white—the walls, throw pillows, and bedding. There was no art on the walls.

  It was a blank slate for her to do as she wished, and Declan had said she could do whatever she wanted with it. It was hers. She wanted a permanent home, and for once, she wanted home to feel like it belonged to her and not on the pages of some snooty magazine.

  There was enough in her bank account to give her some cushion for a while, and once she started working, her salary was enough to cover anything else. Independence felt good.

  Until she remembered her car was stuck in a ditch, and she was going to have to call a tow truck. She checked her cell phone, but there was still no service, and she laid her head against the wall. She added finding a new service provider to her ever-growing list.

  There was a house phone in the kitchen, and beneath it was a phone book. It had been so long since she’d seen either she wasn’t sure she remembered how to use them. Were the MacKenzies listed? Declan’s number was in her cell phone. She could always call him.

  She picked up the phone and started to dial when something caught her eye out of the window of the kitchen door. Her car was parked under the little portico. She opened the kitchen door and stuck her head out, and sure enough, it was there big as life. Not only was it there, it had also been cleaned.

  Then she remembered she’d given Declan her keys, and he’d never given them back. It was just one more thing she owed him for.

  She went out to see if he’d left the keys, and she saw them sitting on the seat of the driver’s side.

  “I’m definitely not in New York anymore,” she said. “I guess you don’t have to worry about car thieves out here.”

  She ran back inside and grabbed her purse and her list, and then came back to the car. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure what day of the week it was, but the weather was nice and the sun was finally out, and the need to explore was taking over.

  So maybe the car wasn’t practical and wasn’t ideal for Montana winters or torrential downpours, but it was perfect for the summer. She decided one of her stops would be by the mechanic shop to make sure she hadn’t done any damage, and to also see if anyone knew of a good secondhand four wheel drive she could buy for cheap.

  It was a good half hour drive back into town, and it looked like she wasn’t the only one who’d had the idea of getting out. Everyone had been cooped up and was desperate for sunshine and conversation by the looks of it. The parking spots on Main Street were full, so she looped around and found a place to park behind the library.

  She wanted to walk. To get a feel for Surrender. This was her home, and soon, she’d be working and interacting with the people, and she wanted to absorb as much as she could. She was Holly Hammels, a woman who’d recently lost her father and was now without any family. According to the paperwork Declan had given her, she had a business degree from a college that had always been a rival of her own, and her middle name was Elise.

  Stay as close to the truth as you can get.

  The ground was still damp in places, and there were several puddles in the pitted streets, so she carefully made her way to the wooden sidewalk and nodded to a couple of people as they passed her by.

  Annabeth’s Attic

  She’d noticed the clothing boutique the day she’d driven into town. The clothes in the window were fashionable and well made, but also functional, and Holly thought the store would’ve done very well in New York.

  She opened the door and was greeted with the smell of cinnamon and the soothing sounds of a rainforest. There were clothes displayed on mannequins and completed ensembles artfully displayed on the walls. There was everything from daywear to eveningwear, and everything in between.

  “Hello,” a voice called out from the back room. “Come on in and make yourself at home. Can I get you some coffee or champagne?”

  A gorgeous redhead came out from the back, wearing a long flowing skirt in a bright fuchsia and a draped top of black lace and a rainbow of colors. It should have clashed with her hair but she somehow made it work.

  “Oh,” Holly said. “No thank you, but I appreciate the offer.”

  “I try to keep my customers happy,” she said, smiling. “I’m Annabeth.”

  “Holly,” she said, taking the woman’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You wouldn’t happen to be the Holly who’s staying at the lake house, would you?”

  The look of surprise on her face must have been obvious because Annabeth rushed on to assure her.

  “News travels very quickly here,” she said. “You’ll get used to it. Besides, your car got stuck close to my house the other day. If you’d made your way to the right instead of straight ahead, you would’ve fallen through my door instead of Jayden’s. And probably about an hour sooner.”

  Holly let out a laugh. “Good to know. I take it you’re Annabeth MacKenzie?”

  “Guilty,” she said. “We don’t get a lot of action around here, so you’re going to be news for a while. But everyone in the family can’t wait to meet you.”

  “Everyone in the family?” Holly asked, her eyes going wide.

  “As soon as Jayden told his parents what had happened to you, the story spread across the network. You must be tough. Jayden is not
pleasant when his work is interrupted.”

  Holly’s lips twitched. “There was an…adjustment period.”

  Annabeth snorted. “That’s very diplomatic. I’ve got something for you,” she said, moving to the rack in the back. “You’ve got great bone structure. And I would kill for your height. Did you model?”

  “Oh, no,” Holly said. Derek’s words came back to haunt her. She was too tall, her hips too big, her face too angular, her nose too crooked. “I’m just plain old me.”

  “Plain is the last thing I’d call you,” Annabeth said. “You’re very unique. You’re not meant to wear the same kinds of clothes other women wear. You should be showing off your attributes instead of trying to hide them. You’ve got the height to carry those curves. Very sexy. I’d love for you to model some of my lingerie. I do shoots several times a year for the catalogs I send out.”

  “Lingerie?” Holly asked, feeling dazed. She hadn’t seen any lingerie in the store.

  “Sure,” Annabeth said, pointing to a curtain that was discreetly hidden in the back corner of the store. There was a neatly printed sign that said adults only. “The lingerie shop is the most profitable part of my business. I’ve been keeping the women sexy and the men happy in Surrender for a couple of decades now. What do you say? Could I get you to pose for me for the magazine? I wouldn’t put you in anything you’re not comfortable with.”

  “I’ve never really photographed well.”

  “I don’t believe that for a second, but it’s your body I want,” Annabeth said, winking. “It’s a paying job.”

  “Can I think about it?” Holly asked. If it was only her body, she wasn’t above making a little extra money however she could.

  “Sure,” Annabeth said. “Now go try this on. I’m pretty sure I have the size right. I have an eye for these things.

  It was the color of royalty—a purple rich in depth and texture—and it gathered at one shoulder and flowed to the ground. It was completely impractical, but Annabeth had been so kind she did as she was asked and went into the dressing room.

  The dress felt like heaven on her skin, and she saw after she got it on and zipped it up the skirt slit all the way up her leg. Annabeth had been exactly right on the size.

  “Here, this belt goes with it,” Annabeth said, handing it over the top of the dressing room door.

  It looked like Roman coins had been strung together, and when she put it on, it cinched her waist and accentuated the hips Derek had always found so offensive.

  “I’m dying to see it on someone,” Annabeth said. “I fell in love with it when I ordered it, but it’s rare to have someone so perfect to try it on.”

  “I don’t know…” Holly said, as self-conscious as she’d ever been. “It’s really not me. I’m more of a plain Jane kind of woman.”

  Holly opened the door and stepped out into the area that had the mirrors, and she turned only to see Annabeth’s face. She looked like someone had hit her with a two-by-four.

  “Oh, my, God,” Annabeth said.

  Holly’s heart sunk, and she started to step back into the dressing room to take it off.

  “No,” Annabeth said. “Don’t go anywhere. You took my breath away. It’s better than I ever could have imagined. Damn, I’m good. I knew you’d be perfect.”

  “What?” Holly asked, sure she’d heard wrong. And then she turned and saw herself in the mirror and she gasped. She looked like a goddess. She didn’t see any of the flaws Derek so often called out. Her curves looked lush, her waist small, and she stood with her shoulders straight and her chin held high.

  “What size shoe do you wear?” Annabeth asked.

  “An eight,” Holly said.

  “These run a little big,” Annabeth said. “Try a seven and a half.”

  “Oh, I can’t wear heels,” Holly said automatically. Nothing that would make her taller than Derek.

  “Why?”

  “I’m too tall,” Holly said.

  “Nonsense,” Annabeth said. “Put them on. They’re perfect.”

  They were gold sandals with a spiked heel and straps that crisscrossed halfway up her calves. It had been so long since she’d worn heels, she wobbled for a second or two before she caught her balance.

  “It’s you,” Annabeth said. “I want you to have it.”

  Holly hesitated, trying to figure out how to tell her she couldn’t afford something so impractical. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “But it’s not in the budget just now.”

  “No,” Annabeth said. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m giving it to you. Think of it as a welcome to Surrender present.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t,” Holly said. “It’s too much.”

  “And I’ve got the perfect undergarments,” Annabeth said, steamrolling over her protests.

  Twenty minutes later, Holly found herself agreeing to meet Annabeth for lunch one day and with two shopping bags worth of things Annabeth had picked out for her. She hadn’t had a chance to get a word in edgewise.

  She made her way down each side of Main Street, stopping at each shop and picking out things for the house along the way. Some of the items were too big, like the gorgeous trifold screen she’d found at the mercantile that would be perfect for her bedroom, and she paid for them and said she come back for the items later.

  She took all her packages back to her car and was loading them up when a familiar black Hummer pulled up beside her.

  Jayden got out of the SUV and hooked his sunglasses in the neck of his shirt. His jeans and t-shirt were well worn and fit him like a glove. She swallowed hard and then stuck her head back in the trunk so she wouldn’t make a fool of herself. It should be illegal to look like that.

  “I heard you were buying out the town,” he said, coming up to stand beside her.

  She answered from inside the trunk, not quite ready to look at him. “I tried to buy them out,” she said. “Every time I ran into a MacKenzie they were shoving me out the door with a bag in my hand and telling me it’s a welcome present. It’s a wonder anyone can stay in business.”

  He chuckled, and the sound sent a shiver down her spine. Get a grip, Holly. He’s just a man. A very attractive, very successful, very sexy man.

  “That’s how they lure you in,” he said. “You’re fresh meat. Next time you go shopping you’ll visit them again, right?”

  “Of course,” she said. “But surely they can’t do that with every customer.”

  “No,” he said. “But as far as you’re concerned, you’re the long lost MacKenzie cousin they never had. Don’t worry. By the end of it you’ll have spent a fortune many times over. Sometimes I think they charge me double.”

  He stuck his head down in the trunk so it was next to hers. “How many times are you going to keep moving that one bag around?” he asked.

  “I was just trying to make sure it fit,” she said.

  “Uh, huh. Do I make you nervous?”

  She jerked her head up and hit the top of the trunk, and she uttered a word that probably wasn’t said very often on Surrender’s public streets.

  Jayden grinned at her and pressed his fingers to the top of her head to ease the sting. “Good one,” he said. “Very creative.”

  “No, you don’t make me nervous,” she said.

  “Good, because that would be silly. Especially since you fell into my arms and I’ve tucked you into bed.”

  Her face heated before she could help herself and he grinned again.

  “Good,” he said. “I’d hate for the attraction to be one sided.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” she asked. “Have you been drinking?”

  “You’ve got to be hungry,” he said. “Let’s get some lunch. The diner should have cleared out a bit from the lunch crowd.”

  “I…” but Holly found herself walking back across the street to the diner she’d visited her first day in Surrender.

  Before he could open the door to the diner for her she put her hand on his arm and stopped him.

  “I
’ve about had my fill of being steamrolled by MacKenzies today. I don’t know if it’s hereditary or you’re just used to being in charge, but how about you ask questions every now and again instead of giving orders?”

  His lips twitched and he nodded. “I can do that,” he said. “If it makes you feel better, I did it on purpose. You’re beautiful when your mad is up.”

  Her mouth opened in shock just as he ushered her inside the diner.

  “Hey, stranger,” Mac called out. She ran at him and gave him a huge hug, and he swung her around before putting her back on her feet.

  And then Mac did the same to Holly. “I wondered when you’d be back.”

  “You mean you wondered if she survived the drive out to the lake house?” Jayden asked pointedly.

  “Geez,” she said. “I already got a strip torn off me from mom,” Mac said. “I don’t need you to lay in too.”

  “Oh, no,” Holly said. “It wasn’t her fault. She did try to stop me.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Mac said. Alice and I both felt guilty for letting you leave. I worried about you all afternoon until I got home and I heard the news about you on the network. It’s a miracle you ended up falling into Jayden’s arms.” And then she winked at her cousin. “Seems like fate to me.”

  Chapter 9

  “We’ll be taking the corner booth,” Jayden said pointedly, and then he turned to Holly. “Do you want the special?”

  Holly had no clue what was going on, or why people kept talking about a network. What network?

  “I don’t know,” Holly said. “Do I want the special?”

  “You told me to ask questions,” Jayden said. “But my recommendation is yes. You can never go wrong with the special.”

  “Two specials coming up,” Mac said, heading back to the kitchen.

  They went to the corner booth, and Holly watched with envy as Jayden greeted each of the customers by name.

  “Why are they all staring at you?” she asked, taking the seat across from him.