Tank shook Grant’s hand. “You’ve already done that. Drive safely. If you need anything, I’m only a phone call away.”
“Bye, Tank,” Mallory said. “Tell Kelly I’ll call her in a couple of days.”
“I will.”
She waved at Tank as they left the parking lot. Her eyelids felt so heavy that she could hardly keep them open.
“How’s the arm?” Grant asked.
“Okay. Thank you for leaving when we did.”
“You’re welcome. Prop the pillow against the window. I’ll let you know when we’ve arrived at the ranch.”
Mallory did exactly that. With country music playing on the radio and warm air filling the cab, she quickly fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
***
Mallory opened her eyes and frowned. She’d thought a ranch would be quiet—a peaceful haven away from everyday life. But the noise coming from outside her bedroom window was anything but peaceful.
She carefully pulled herself out of bed, wincing as her arm moved in protest. Once she’d pulled a baggy sweater over her head, she opened her curtains and leaned against the window.
Someone was driving a tractor toward a red barn. Another man was following behind with two dogs. A rooster let out a triumphant cock-a-doodle-do and a loud thump came from somewhere inside the house.
She opened her window and leaned out, waving at the men below.
The man trailing behind the tractor raised his hand and smiled.
Mallory watched them for a little longer before swinging her gaze toward the mountains.
Grant had told her that Big Sky Resort wasn’t far away. In winter, there were festivals and markets galore. A new indoor ice rink was due to open soon, and the shopping center was adding more retail outlets each month.
Another thump from inside the house had her moving away from the window. She opened her bedroom door and walked along the landing.
The door to one of the rooms swung open and Grant stood in front of her, holding a big box. “Good morning, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?”
“Better than I have all week. What are you doing?”
“Getting this room ready to wallpaper.”
“Can I see?”
“Sure.” Grant walked into the room. “This used to be John’s bedroom.”
Mallory’s eyes widened. “Wow. It’s like stepping into a time capsule.” All the furniture was out of the room, but the walls were full of movie and music posters. “The Spice Girls?”
Grant smiled as he put down the box. “What can I say? My brother had a crush on Sporty Spice. And no, you can’t help.”
“I could take down the posters.” She pulled out the pins from the poster in front of her. “See...it’s not hard.”
Grant frowned. “You only came home from the hospital yesterday.”
“I’ll be careful.” She smiled at him, hoping he’d feel sorry for her. Mallory hated not being busy, and taking posters off the wall seemed like such a small thing to do.
“Okay, but only the posters that are below shoulder height. You might want to get changed first.”
Mallory glanced at her blue plaid pajama bottoms and purple sweatshirt. “Mom bought them for me.”
“They look warm,” Grant muttered. He took a poster off the wall and placed it in his box.
“What will you do with the posters once they’re off the walls?”
“Take them to John. He might want them for his garage.”
Mallory laughed. “Sporty Spice will live another day.”
“Something like that.” He glanced at Mallory. “I was thinking about you last night.”
Mallory’s eyebrows rose and Grant blushed.
“Not like that,” he spluttered. “About how long you want to stay here. I think two weeks is too short. Your arm will still be healing. What if you stay here for two months?”
“That’s a long time.”
“It will go fast. I know it’s not ideal for your job at the hospital, but I wasn’t sure when you were thinking of going back to work.”
Mallory handed Grant another poster. “I was going to talk to you about my job. It’s a long way to drive into Bozeman each day, so I was thinking about Big Sky.”
“There’s no hospital there.”
“But there are plenty of retail spaces. I thought we could visit the management team and check out different options. I’ve always wanted to open my own physical therapy clinic.”
“You’d need other staff to help you.”
“There are people at the hospital who would love to work at Big Sky.”
Grant dropped a poster into the box. “Have you thought about the cost? You might have to spend a lot of money to set up a clinic.”
“It’s worth finding out what’s possible.” She was worried that Grant thought it was a bad idea. “It’s okay if you don’t want to come.” Mallory headed toward the door, disappointed that Grant hadn’t at least wanted to see if it would work. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Mallory, wait.”
She turned around.
“Starting your own business is a great idea. I’d like to come with you.”
“You would?”
“I couldn’t think of anything better than having your clinic at Big Sky.”
“I’d have to do a lot of research to see if it would work.”
“We could talk to John,” Grant said. “He knows most of the people who have successful businesses in Bozeman and Big Sky. They might be able to help with some of the background information.”
“That would be great.”
Grant wrapped his hands around her waist and grinned. “Why didn’t I think of Big Sky?”
“Because I hadn’t told you that I wanted to start my own business.”
“It’s got definite potential.”
Mallory grinned. “So have you.”
Four months later...
Grant had never been this nervous. Mallory had become the most important person in his life. They’d found a way of combining their lives and it was working better than either of them expected.
“Would you keep your mind on what you’re doing,” his brother said from beside him. “If you don’t, you’re going to fall off the roof and break your neck.”
Grant gave the coil of fairy lights a pull. “Are you sure Mallory’s going to be away for the rest of the day?”
“Rachel has taken her into Billings. They won’t be home before five o’clock.”
“And she knows to take her to your place, not here?”
“I reminded her three times.” John finished stringing another length of fairy lights around one of the upstairs windows. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
Grant had never been more sure about anything—it was Mallory he was worried about.
He found the next hook and draped the string of lights over it. “If this doesn’t work, nothing will.”
“And I thought hiring an ice rink was crazy,” John muttered. “I hope she likes fairy lights.”
Grant knew that Mallory loved fairy lights. She liked them so much that she’d convinced him to wrap them around the back porch. At night, she’d sit in the living room, gazing at them through the windows.
John took a careful step backward and studied what they’d done. “Not bad for two amateurs. You do know that if this works, you’re going to have to string these things up each Christmas?”
“If this works, I won’t care what I have to do each Christmas. If she says yes, I’ll even add a pair of reindeer and a blow-up Santa to the front yard.”
“Believe me, you don’t want to do that. Bella and Rachel have bought every blow-up creature they can find. I had to resort to online catalogs last Christmas to find something different.”
Grant smiled. “You love every minute of it.”
“True,” John muttered. He picked up the last length of lights and handed it to Grant. “What about food?”
“I turned on the slow cooker this morning, and
the wine is in the refrigerator.”
John laughed.
“What?”
“You sure know how to make a girl feel special. Nothing says I love you better than a meal made in a slow cooker.”
“Don’t stress me out. Mallory likes my beef casserole.”
“I’m only joking. If she loves your beef casserole, there’s no way she’ll turn you down.” John wiped his hands on the back of his jeans. “Did you ever think you’d be stringing fairy lights on your home to win the love of your life?”
“It’s a small price to pay. I never thought I’d feel this way about anyone. I just hope she says yes.”
“So do I,” John said. “Whatever happens, I’m here for you.”
Grant hugged his brother tight.
“Before we both fall off the roof, I should tell you that Rachel baked a lemon meringue pie for your dessert. If you feel like living dangerously, we could have some for lunch and not tell her.”
“Are you kidding? Rachel has a sixth sense when it comes to you. She’d know what we’d done as soon as she saw us.”
“It was worth a try. Have you got any of Mallory’s cookies in your pantry?”
Grant ignored his brother’s sweet tooth. He had more important things to do—like climb off the roof in one piece before they both killed themselves.
He peered over the edge of the porch. “Did you anchor the ladder into the ground?”
“I did better than that.” John moved to one of the upstairs windows and yanked it open. “I unlocked a bedroom window and left your step ladder inside. It’s called forward planning.”
Grant didn’t care what it was called. As long as they both made it onto solid ground in one piece, he was happy.
Whether he was still happy at ten o’clock tonight was a different matter.
***
Mallory opened the car door and smiled at Rachel. “I had a great time today. Thanks for inviting me.”
“Anytime. I enjoyed myself, too. It looks as though someone’s pleased to see us.”
Bella rushed across the yard with Milo hot on her heels. She wrapped her arms around Rachel’s waist, then said hello to Mallory. “Did you have fun in Billings?”
“We had an awesome time,” Mallory said. “We went to all the stores you told us about.”
“Did you go to the Lovable Pets Bakery and Boutique?”
“We did.” Rachel said. “I might even have a special package in the car for you and Milo.” She hunted through the shopping bags on the back seat and handed one to Bella. “I hope you like it.”
Bella gave Rachel another hug. “Uncle Grant’s here. He’s helping dad in the garage.”
“Oh, no,” Rachel said in mock seriousness. “We’ll never get them out of their man cave.”
Mallory bent down and whispered, “They might be tempted when they see the cake we bought.”
“They love cake. I’ll tell them you’re here.” Bella raced back to the house.
Milo sat quietly beside Rachel, thumping his tail against the ground.
“Who’s a good boy,” she said as she scratched behind his ears.
Milo gave a quick bark and tilted his head sideways.
“Do you think he’s got ESP?” Mallory asked.
“No—just a great sense of smell.” Rachel pulled another small bag off the back seat and held out her hand. The salmon chunks of dog biscotti were Milo’s favorite. They lasted about two seconds.
When Milo was finished, he licked Rachel’s hand, then raced across to the house, narrowly making it inside before Bella closed the door.
Rachel laughed. “Our welcoming committee has now officially left.”
Mallory heard the front door open and grinned at the two men coming toward them. “The second committee has arrived. Bella must have told them about the cake.”
“Or the other bags on the back seat.”
John smiled at Mallory, before giving his wife a kiss on her cheek. “Welcome back. I’ve been told you brought cake home.”
Rachel popped open the trunk. “See, Mallory. Once you’ve been married for a couple of months the novelty of each other’s company wears off. Now we’re left with an empty shell of a relationship, and a raspberry and chocolate ripple gateau smothered in layers of cream cheese frosting.”
John spun a giggling Rachel in the air. “I’m in love all over again.”
Mallory felt a blush work its way over her face. She glanced at Grant and her blush got a whole lot hotter.
She carried one of the bags across to him. “This isn’t cake, but I thought you’d like it.”
He opened his gift and laughed.
“What is it?” John asked.
“A remastered edition of Casablanca. It’s my favorite movie of all time. Where did you find it?”
“In a bookstore in the center of Billings.”
Grant wrapped his arm around her. “Does this mean you’ll watch it with me?”
She smiled at the hopeful expression on his face. “I suppose I could.”
John cleared his throat. “Looks like you’ve got an exciting night planned.”
“Did you want to join us?” Mallory asked.
“No!” John and Grant said together.
Rachel swatted her husband’s behind. “You need to put all that male brawn to good use since the brain department is lacking. Take the cake inside.” She smiled at Grant. “You, too, macho man. Mallory will show you which bags need to go into your truck.”
Grant rushed to Rachel’s car and started moving everything off the back seat.
Mallory didn’t know what was going on, but John and Grant seemed to be intent on emptying the car at breakneck speed.
By the time the bags had been sorted, she was even more confused. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I thought we could head back to the ranch and watch Casablanca.”
“Now?”
“I can’t see why not. I made dinner.”
Bella ran outside with Milo. She threw his favorite ball into the air and waited for Milo to catch it.
“Don’t you want to spend more time here?” Mallory asked.
Grant shrugged his shoulders. “We can come back tomorrow. Come on, Mallory. It could be a Bogart and Bergman night.”
She had a feeling she might have unleashed a classic movie marathon. “You have to agree that we only watch Casablanca once.”
“Fine.”
Mallory blinked. “That was too easy. Are you sure there’s nothing else you need to tell me?”
John came outside with Mallory’s padded jacket. “I brought this inside by mistake.” He opened the passenger door on Grant’s SUV and threw the jacket onto the back seat. “It was great seeing you, Mallory. Enjoy the movie.”
Rachel rushed toward them. “Take these with you, too. Bella made more gingerbread men with Mrs. Daniels while we were gone.”
Grant peeked inside the cookie container.
“They’re lemon and walnut,” John said as he maneuvered Grant toward his truck. “Come for lunch tomorrow—we can finish the cake Rachel and Mallory bought in Billings.”
Mallory watched the two brothers eyeball each other. Something was going on.
Rachel shook her head. “You two guys are hopeless.” She gave Mallory a hug and walked with her to the truck. “Enjoy your dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And before she knew what was happening, they were waving goodbye to everyone and heading toward Grant’s ranch.
***
Grant had so many butterflies flapping inside his stomach that he didn’t think he was going to make it home without being sick.
At least the fairy lights wouldn’t tell her straight away what was going on—but the engagement ring in his pocket would.
If everything started going wrong, he could skip the ‘will you marry me’ part, and move straight to dessert. But if he did that, he doubted he could eat one mouthful of Rachel’s lemon meringue pie.
Mallory turned toward him. “Y
ou’re quiet tonight. Is something wrong?”
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “No, everything’s fine. How’s your arm?”
Mallory moved her arm up and down. “It’s great. The exercises I’m doing are really helping. What did you do while Rachel and I were in Billings?”
“I worked on the ranch this morning. John gave me a hand with some maintenance around the house this afternoon.”
“Did you remember to fix the sticky cupboard in the kitchen?”
“No. I’ll do that tomorrow.”
Mallory leaned down and pulled something out of her bag. “I found a catalog of tile samples in Billings. I thought it might come in handy for the bathrooms.”
“Sounds good.” Grant cleared his throat. “What were you planning on doing over the next few weeks?”
Mallory studied the pictures of the tile samples. “I thought I could help you. I can’t start work on my clinic for another three weeks. We could almost finish remodeling one of the bathrooms in that time.”
“We’ll make a list and figure out what we need to do. I don’t want you doing anything that could hurt your arm.
For the next forty minutes, they talked about Mallory’s clinic and the figure skating club she wanted to start at Big Sky Resort. By the time he turned into his driveway, his palms were sweaty and his heart was pounding.
Mallory wouldn’t be leaving Big Sky in a hurry. He just hoped she wouldn’t leave him, either.
***
Grant stacked the last dinner plate in the dishwasher.
“Here’s another cup,” Mallory said from behind him.
He slid the top rack open and moved everything around so that the cup would fit. He’d been nervous all night—worried that it was the wrong time to ask Mallory to marry him, to spend the rest of her life with him.
When she’d started talking about another friend’s wedding, he’d almost leapt out of his skin. Was she testing his reaction to see what he thought about marriage? Did she know what he was going to ask her?
“Dinner was lovely.”
“I’m glad you liked it.” Grant turned on the dishwasher and focused on what he wanted to do next. The sun had set twenty minutes ago. It was time to step out of his comfort zone and be scared senseless.
Always (The Protectors Book 3) Page 22