The Moore Sisters of Montana: The Complete Series Box Set: Books 1-4

by Ann B. Harrison

  “No.”

  “Why, what’s stopping you?”

  “Mom.” Noah’s voice came from the back door. The school bus had dropped him off.

  “In here, honey.” She withdrew her hand from Ethan’s. “Talking with Ethan. Come on in and join us.”

  “I’m sorry, Ethan. I thought I was ready for this but I don’t know if I am. Today was enough to rattle me, more than I thought it would. If your father’s the same as he was ten years ago, I think it’ll be enough to make me back off for good. Let me calm down and get over this fiasco and we can talk about it later when Noah’s not around.”

  “Fair enough. But I don’t think that’ll be enough for Mom. She’s desperate to see this guy.” Ethan broke off when Noah skipped inside. “Hey, buddy. How’re things?”

  Noah pushed his way in beside his mother and rested his head on her arm before he answered his father’s question. “Tired. It was a big day at school today, Mom. I handed in my project too.”

  “Good boy. I’m proud of you, Noah. I think it’s time for a bath and then you can watch television while I make dinner. Relax a little. What do you say?”

  “Okay. Is Ethan staying for dinner?”

  Ethan put his bottle on the table and stood up ready to leave. “I’d better get home too. Mom left me a pot roast simmering away, I believe, but thank you, Noah, for asking. We’ll have plenty of opportunities to eat together.” He made eye contact with Mari. “Have a look at that quote and let Christian know what you want to do. I’ll be here bright and early in the morning to move the stuff in the attic over to the other side so we can rip out the rest of the rot. We’re both confident that it’s isolated in that one side of the floor but, of course, until we pull off more boards, we won’t be able to tell for sure.”

  “Thanks, I will. It’d be terrible if you found more once you got into it.” She pushed Noah up and stood as well. “Thanks again for today. I’m very lucky you were here and clearheaded.”

  “Think nothing of it.” He ruffled Noah’s hair. “See you tomorrow.”

  Chapter Ten

  “Mom, anything to drop off in town while I’m passing?” Ethan walked into the packing shed early the next morning where his mother marked off an invoice.

  “Hi, sweetie.” She cross-referenced the invoice to an order book and ticked it off before putting down her pen and holding her arms out to him. “Glad to see you.”

  He gave her a cuddle. “Dad out with the pickers, I gather. How is the old grump today?” Ethan leaned against the cool room.

  “Same as ever. He’s a good man, your father, despite what you think sometimes. Life hasn’t always been easy for him, you know that.”

  “That doesn’t mean he has to make life hard for everyone else, especially you.” He grabbed a handful of cherries from the open box near the scales. “I got an earful from him the other night about letting ‘that girl’ get the better of me again. Looks like you’ve opened a hornet’s nest talking about Mari around him.” He threw a cherry in his mouth, chewed, and leaned over the trash can to spit out the pit.

  “Don’t pay him no mind. I can deal with your father. Pretty sure I understand him better than anyone else after all these years together and he’s not that grumpy, Ethan. You know how focused he gets during cherry season.” She put a new box on the scales and checked the weight, added a handful of cherries before tucking the plastic bag down neatly and adding the lid. With a flash of her hand, she’d added a date stamp and pushed it to one side ready to do the next one. Ethan took it and placed it on the pallet with the rest she’d packed that day already.

  “I spoke to Mari last night about you meeting Noah. He’s a terrific kid, Mom. You’ll like him. So polite too.”

  “I’d expect nothing less from her despite the horrible upbringing she had before we got her.” Pearl brushed a strand of hair from her face, checked another box of cherries on the scales. “I can’t wait to see that little boy. Seems to be all I think about these last few days.” She paused, hand on her hip and a frown between her eyes. “Tell me, do you think she’d mind if I went over tomorrow? We didn’t really get a day set for me to meet him because we thought it would be a good idea to give him time to adjust. Seeing you and then me and your father right away might have been a bit too much for the poor boy. As much as I wanted to rush over there after school, I understand how overwhelming it could be having a whole lot of people pushed into your face. It’s my day off tomorrow and he’ll be home. I can get this lot of orders packed and ready to ship out today if I hurry and that’ll give me all day to do my own thing.”

  “Since when have you worked Sundays anyway? Mom, you have to have time to yourself. Just because Dad lives and breathes cherries, doesn’t mean you have to work every day like he does. I keep telling you to have a life of your own. Go for coffee, shopping, anything, but make sure you get away from the farm now and then.”

  “I know that and I do go out and about, as you well know. I just wondered if she’d mind if I arrived without letting her know.”

  “If I was you, I’d call first. I know she’s worried about how Dad will react seeing her again. Even though she’s grown up now, she’s still nervous about him.”

  “She’s a sensitive girl, always was. She hates for anyone to think ill of her, no matter how much they mean to her. And, let’s face it, you and your father blamed her without listening just because someone thought they saw her leaving the house that night.”

  “I know.”

  Pearl topped off another box. “Are you still half in love with her? I wouldn’t blame you if you were. You two were always so good together.”

  “She’s changed, Mom. A businesswoman now with my child, your grandson. Certainly not the insecure girl I used to know.” He flicked a cherry stem into the trash can. “I’d love to get to know her again but I sense her holding back and I can hardly blame her after what she’s been through.”

  Pearl shook her head. “No. You can’t give up that easy, Ethan. You were devastated when she left.”

  “Sure I was but I was only eighteen. Seems that I wasn’t really what she wanted after all or she wouldn’t have married my brother.”

  “I never did understand that bit but you know your brother. So stubborn. If he’d listened to your father, he might still be alive.” She picked up another box.

  “Not sure that would be true, Mom.”

  “We both know your father wanted him to do a different sport and that’s why Rake took off, because they argued over it so much. Boxing is dangerous and we more than anyone know that.”

  “Life is a risk. I could hardly see him being a golfer just because it’s safer.”

  “Me either but at least your father’s heart was in the right place. He cares about you boys and only wants what’s best.” She picked up another box and placed it on the scales. “I know your children have to spread their wings and choose their own lives but it probably sent your father into a bad place when all his fears became a reality. I won’t be surprised if he blames her for having a hand in that.”

  Ethan nodded. What she said was true. The arguments he’d overheard between Rake and their father still rang in his ears. His brother had been so determined to follow his own dream and nothing was going to get in his way. Ethan wondered if their father had kept his opinion to himself, would Rake have left like he had?

  “Mari and he hardly spoke as kids. Rake was too busy trying to be the best boxer he could so when I found out he’d married her, well, I was surprised.”

  “Not as surprised as I was, Mom. Guess we both got it wrong.”

  “But you and she were smitten with each other. Even I could see that. Mari hated confrontations and I blame that on her mother. So, trying to get in between your brother and your father only made Jeff angry. He didn’t think anything less of her until he found out she’d gone with Rake. I wonder if he doesn’t hold her partly responsible sometimes.”

  “Seriously? How is that even worth considering?”
<
br />   “He had such high hopes for her. I think he felt let down when she left. It reminded him too much of the way her mother acted when she didn’t get her own way. At least that’s what he said at the time.” It was no secret that Mari’s mother was his father’s dream girl in college. She’d chosen someone else but that didn’t stop his father offering Mari a home when she needed one.

  “She’s nothing like her mother and we all know that. That woman was so conniving, using us to get what she wanted. Mari’s nothing like her. Nothing.”

  “I know that and even though Betty came back and stole from us, I doubt he could be really angry with her.”

  “So he takes it out on her daughter instead?” His father was an idiot.

  “Sad to say, but, yes. That’s what I think anyway.” Pearl leaned over and counted the cartons of cherries before marking off the sheet she was working against. “Another order filled.”

  “Want me to take them into town?”

  “Thanks, honey, but it’s okay. I have another order to do first then I’ll take a drive in later this afternoon. Maybe pick up some groceries while I’m there. You have enough to do but I appreciate the offer.”

  He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’ll only be doing a half day today so if you need me, yell.”

  “Will do.”

  He climbed into his truck and was just about to drive off when she called out to him to stop and pushed a box of cherries into the truck. “Give these to Mari and tell her I’ll call about tomorrow. I can’t wait to see my grandson.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” Ethan headed into town, ready to do some more destroying on the ballroom ceilings.

  *

  “Thank you for the cherries, Pearl. Noah is making himself sick eating them.”

  Pearl’s laughed sounded nervous over the phone. “I don’t blame him. I remember you and Ethan doing the same thing many a time.” She paused. “I wondered if I could come over tomorrow and visit, meet Noah?” When Mari didn’t answer straight away she hurried on. “I don’t want to make things hard for you, honey, but I’m not going to miss out on catching up with all I lost when you left just because my husband walks around with his head in the sand. I really want to see my grandson and I’m not going to wait for Jeff to forgive you to spend time with him.”

  And you’d make the best grandmother too. “Maybe I can talk to Jeff and make him see things can work out between us.”

  “I hope so, honey. I can’t wait to see Noah and nothing is going to take the shine off of that for me.”

  “He’s excited too. I’ve been telling him all about you and he can’t wait to catch up.”

  A barely restrained squeal came over the phone and Mari smiled.

  “Fabulous. Sundays are my farm-free days. I come into town for coffee dates or go to the nursery for more plants for my patch. I still like to potter around in my kitchen garden. You should come out one day and see it. Ethan built a fence around it to keep out the chickens. It’s lovely if not a little overgrown.” She prattled on, her nerves showing.

  Mari’d waited years for the opportunity to bring Noah home and meet his family and even though she was petrified of how things would go from here on in, it was time to let go of her fears and just do it.

  “What time were you thinking?”

  “You tell me, dear. I know you have the hotel open for dinner so maybe it would be better if I came over in the morning.”

  “That’d be great. How about ten-ish and we can have coffee and cake? Bella’s always bringing something sweet over and I’m sure your taste buds haven’t changed that much.”

  “You remembered?” Emotion welled in her voice and Mari could have kicked herself. If Pearl started crying again, there was no guarantee Mari would hold it together either.

  “Of course I did. How could I forget the Sunday mornings I spent with you in the kitchen? My life was blessed because of what you did for me.” She swallowed down the emotion. “I’d better go, Ethan’s getting ready to leave and I need to talk to him about something. I’ll see you then. Bye now.” She hung up before he could walk out and moved over to block his escape. “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself.”

  His lazy grin gave her a flash of memory. Her sitting on the bleachers leaning back on her elbows watching him practice. He’d turned to look up and smiled, sending her heart racing. She’d been a mess after that, her teenage hormones all over the place. He was right when he said things had changed around that time for the pair of them. No longer merely friends but something more.

  “Noah wanted me to talk to you.” She looked away, a sudden rush of nerves hitting her.

  Saying they were going to forgive each other and trying to make amends was one thing, doing it gave her a bout of nerves she couldn’t suppress.

  “Sure.” He dropped his tool bag and put his hands on his hips. “Fire away.”

  “Um, are you busy Sunday night?” She covered her nerves by pointing past the ballroom now blocked off from traffic toward the kitchen and dining room. “It’s just that he wanted to know if you’d like to try dinner in the restaurant instead of only coming in when you work. We eat down there on Sundays. Kind of like his treat for the week if he does his homework.”

  Ethan grinned and her heart raced. Why, oh why did he still affect her like this? It felt like she was a hormonal teenager, not a seasoned businesswoman who’d been married and born a child. She gave herself a mental slap. It didn’t help. If anything it made her more alert to his presence.

  “Sure. Sounds like a great idea. What time?”

  “I don’t like to eat too late because it’s school the next day. Would six o’clock be too early for you?”

  “Not at all. I’ll be in town anyway. Maybe he’d like to kick a ball with me, Cory, and Jake in the afternoon. I kind of promised I’d hang out with them and I can’t really back out of it now.”

  Wow, moving fast here. “I’ll ask him but considering Cory is one of his best friends and he totally idolizes him, I’ll have to assume that it’ll be a yes from Noah.”

  “Excellent. I’ll pick him up around three unless you want to meet us there? If you have something to do, I can do the honors.”

  “Are you sure you don’t mind, Ethan? I hate to rely on you for this but I do have a Skype meeting with a potential client at three.”

  “Of course not. But it’s a bit early to start booking the ballroom, isn’t it? We’re going to be at least a month away from looking like finishing the job and that’s if things go to plan. We know how that’s been working out.”

  She grinned, the process brides went through obviously foreign to him. “You have no idea, do you? Brides book things up to a year in advance if not longer. Organizing a wedding is no small feat, let me tell you. The venue is only one aspect of the day and I intend to take over the whole thing eventually. The restaurant, wedding venue, and honeymoon suite. I want to put my plan to her and see if she goes with it. My experience in LA with her sister’s wedding encouraged her to approach me and the idea of getting married in Cherry Lake seems to appeal as well as I hoped it would. Destination weddings are a thing right now.”

  “Fingers crossed for you then. And it’s not an imposition to pick Noah up. You keep forgetting we’ve known each other for most of our lives and even though he and I are only getting to know each other, he is my son. You can ask me to do anything and I’ll be there for you both.”

  The smile on his face almost made her melt into a puddle. After the last few years of having nobody to lean on, it was very tempting to take him at his word. But things were different now. They both had their own careers, family commitments, and there was still his father to win over. And the trust issues between her and Ethan had to be dealt with. She wouldn’t assume she could walk back into town and take up where she left off. She had more respect for Ethan than that even if he didn’t understand yet. Besides, she’d seen the guarded look on his face when they talked about their closeness as teenagers and didn’t want to push thin
gs too fast.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Noah, I need you to remember that Grandma Pearl is going to be emotional, okay?”

  He nodded and pushed another piece of peanut butter and jelly toast into his mouth, licking his fingers and making more of a mess than ever.

  “She might cry because she does that a fair bit but it doesn’t mean she isn’t happy, more that she’s very happy.” It was going to be emotional no matter which way she looked at it.

  Last night she’d tossed and turned and wondered if she should’ve said no. Avoiding the meeting might have saved her the emotions but it wouldn’t solve anything, nor would it be fair to Pearl. If only Jeff Benson could move on and forgive her for something she hadn’t done, she’d be able to get on with her life too. Funny how something so far back in her life was still impacting on her now.

  “Mom, stop telling me. I get it.” He poked his tongue out and licked the edges of his lips, then followed it with a wipe with the back of his hand smearing the jelly across one cheek. “Ethan told me what his mom’s like. No big deal.”

  “Ethan told you? When?” She stopped cleaning and stared at him, the use of his hand to clean his mouth ignored.

  “Yesterday. Maybe the next day before. I dunno, but he told me she always cries. Ladies do that.” He picked his plate up and headed to the sink.

  She nabbed him and wiped a tissue across his face. “Okay then. So long as you don’t get upset and think you had anything to do with it.” She tossed the tissue into the trash. “I have something else to tell you too. Remember you asked if Ethan would like to join us for dinner? Well, he said he’d love to but he’s going to be in town that afternoon. Apparently he’s going to go and kick a ball with Jake and Cory and—”

  “Mom, Mom, can I go too? Can I?” He danced around her feet pulling on her shirt to get her attention. She’d not seen him so excited for ages. “I promise I’ll behave. I will. I will. I’ll do everything he tells me to, promise.”