by Liz Isaacson
Montana took a deep breath and faced him. “What do you pay?”
“Tell me what you charge.”
She folded her arms. “Depending on the project, of course, but I typically earn one-fifty per day if I’m working on a project you have going. If I’m designing and building custom pieces, it doubles.”
“I can do that,” he said without breathing or blinking.
Montana’s eyebrows went up, but she didn’t challenge him. No sense in that, when the man had agreed to her fees so readily. “My schedule is pretty crazy,” she said.
“You just said it was wide open after this small job at the college.”
“Yeah.” Montana shifted her feet. “I may need to go back and forth a little. Don’t worry, Mister Glover. I can get whatever needs to be done, done. It just might not be during conventional work hours.”
He cocked his head and studied her, and wow, Montana had the sudden urge to flirt with him.
“Explain that,” he said.
She’d really rather not. She’d rather have her name signed in ink on a contract before she told him about Aurora. But he wasn’t going to budge an inch, and the scent of Arizona’s dislike of her hung heavy in the air too.
Before she could speak, Arizona called from the kitchen. “Stop flirting with her and come talk to me about this note Sammy left for Lincoln.”
“I’m not flirting,” Bishop called without removing his eyes from Montana’s.
“We need to find that lizard too,” Arizona said. “I’m not sleeping in this house with that thing on the loose.”
“I’m hiring a construction team member,” Bishop said, as if having two different conversations with his sister was normal.
Montana could not believe Arizona was his sister. What rotten luck.
“I am gonna need your number,” Bishop said, a smile gliding across his face. “I’ll call you, and we’ll work out the details of the contract. Okay?”
Montana nodded, reached into one of the pockets on her tool belt, and pulled out a business card. “That’s my cell and my business number.”
He took the card but didn’t look at it. “You’re going to have to tell me about your unconventional hours.”
“All right.”
“Maybe over dinner tonight?” He grinned at her and leaned closer. “Maybe I am flirting a little now.”
Montana’s eyes opened wider in surprise. It had been a while since a man had flirted with her, but she was glad she still recognized it. Of course, he’d come right out and said it, and Bishop Glover was unlike any man she’d ever met before.
“I have to ask my—” Thankfully, she managed to mute her voice before she could say “aunt.” She wasn’t twelve years old. She didn’t need permission to go to dinner with a handsome cowboy.
“Assistant,” she said, filling in the blank. “See what my schedule is.”
“Oh, I see,” he said, taking a step closer. “You’ll have your people call my people, is that it?”
Montana had no idea how to respond. She looked at him, and he finally chuckled and shook his head. “You’re a tough nut to crack, Montana. I like that.”
He did? What exactly did he like?
“I’ll call you later, okay? Check with your assistant so we can set something up.”
“I knew you were asking her out,” Arizona said, appearing at his side. “Can you stop it already? I need help with that note. None of it makes sense.” She gave a final glare to Montana and went back into the kitchen.
Montana turned and reached for the door, but Bishop jumped between her and it. He opened the door for her, and Montana’s pulse spun cartwheels through her chest. “Okay, thanks,” she said, finally getting her voice to work.
“See you soon,” he said, and Montana walked away from the huge homestead, her blood running a little warmer in her veins and her head spinning a little bit.
As she drove away from Shiloh Ridge Ranch, she wasn’t sure if she’d gotten a job or a date.
“Or both,” she said to herself, seizing onto the idea of that and liking it very, very much.
Now she just had to wait for Bishop to call.
Chapter Three
Bishop ignored his sister’s tirade as she started in on him and how he couldn’t just go around town getting every blonde’s number.
“This says he has soccer practice at four today,” Bishop said. “What’s so hard about that?” He looked at Arizona, who quickly turned toward the kitchen sink with her coffee mug. “Oh, I see. You just wanted to be annoying because I was talking to Montana.”
“Montana,” she said, most of the word a scoff. “What a dumb name.”
“About like Arizona,” he said, as he could hold his own with his sister. With any of the Glovers, really.
“Hey, I didn’t name myself.”
He took another sip of his coffee and waited until she turned to face him. “I don’t imagine she did either.” He lifted his eyebrows and grinned when Zona rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you just ask Duke why he asked her to dance?”
“Because, Bishop, then I look and sound jealous.”
“You are jealous.”
“I am not.” Zona glared at him. “Come help me find the lizard.”
“Where’s Link? Is he looking for it already?” Her and that lizard. She lived in the wilds of Texas, on a ranch with lots of bugs and critters. She should be able to handle a lizard.
“He said he was, but ten bucks says he’s drawing in that sketch pad Mother gave him.” She sounded cross about it, but Bishop knew she wasn’t. Everyone loved Lincoln, himself included. He was a sweet boy, with a lot of talent with a pencil and a piece of paper. Mother had seen it and done something to cultivate it, just like she did with everyone.
Bishop went upstairs with his sister and into Bear’s suite. He’d only been living there for a week or so, and Zona was staying in the third bedroom with Link while Bear and Sammy were on their honeymoon.
“Bishop, I can’t find my other shoe,” Link said when Bishop entered the boy’s bedroom. It looked like a box of clothes had exploded, and he paused, taking in the scene.
“No wonder,” he said, his skin starting to crawl already. Bishop liked a tidy room, that was for sure. He never left dirty dishes out, and he sprayed more air freshener than anyone ever should. He couldn’t stand smells, and his nose wrinkled as he definitely caught a whiff of something decaying in the Lincoln’s room.
“It’s black,” he said. “We have to leave soon.”
“You look for the lizard,” Bishop said. “I’ll find the shoe.” He started picking up clothes, and he couldn’t help folding them and laying them on the bed. Only three shirts in, he found the black hightop.
“Here you go, bud. Put it on.” He turned to find Link stuffing his folders in his backpack. He seemed stressed, and Bishop stepped over to him. “Hey,” he said. “What’s going on?” He put his hand on Lincoln’s shoulder, and the child finally stopped moving.
He sighed and sank into the chair in front of his desk. “I don’t have anyone to come to Career Day this week.”
Bishop’s eyebrows went up. “That’s not on the list your mom left.”
“I didn’t tell her about it.”
“Lincoln.” Bishop didn’t mean to sound condescending or frustrated, but he was afraid he’d come off as both. “Why not?”
“Because then she wouldn’t have married Bear, and I wouldn’t be able to live here, and they wouldn’t be on the beach right now.” He looked up at Bishop with plenty of misery in his expression.
In that moment, Bishop realized how very smart Lincoln was. “Okay,” he said. “I can come to Career Day. Or what about your grandpa or grandma? They could come.”
Lincoln shook his head. “I don’t want to ask them.”
A dog barked from somewhere down the hall, and Zona shrieked. Bishop flew toward the bedroom door and caught the black and white spotted dog Link had gotten Sammy for her birthday racing right toward him.
He barked again, and Bishop saw the lizard as it went streaking by him. “Grab it,” he called to Link. “Benny found your lizard.” He spun and closed the door, the lizard gone. Benny started rooting through the clothes, the puppy barking every other second.
“Too loud,” Bishop said over him. “Leave it. Leave it alone.” He tried to pull the dog away from the laundry, wondering if it was clean or dirty.
“Got him!” Lincoln yelled, and Benny lifted his head. He seemed to know what that meant—he couldn’t chase the lizard anymore. He trotted over to the aquarium with the red heat lamp and sniffed at it.
Bishop needed to get out of this room before he had a mental breakdown over the cleanliness of it. He said, “Good job, Link. Get your shoe on and come downstairs. We can’t have you bein’ late on your first day your momma is gone.” He stepped back into the hall, yelled to Zona that they’d caught the lizard, and went downstairs.
He made a sandwich for Link and had just tossed it into a paper bag when he and Zona appeared. “Applesauce or pudding?” he asked Link.
“Both,” Link said, and Bishop put them both in his bag. He stooped to get a snack-size bag of cookies out of the cupboard and added those to the bag before rolling down the top and handing it to Link.
Lincoln grabbed onto him and hugged him, and Bishop’s heart melted. He loved this boy, and he hugged Link back. “Be a good boy today, Link,” he said. “And get me the information about Career Day.”
“Yes, sir,” Link said, and he and Zona left the house.
Bishop breathed in the silence and picked up his phone to check what he needed to work on that day. Maybe he could call Montana right now and find out if she’d spoken to her assistant. “Too desperate?” he wondered under his breath as he put her number from the business card into his phone.
He tapped on his calendar to see where he’d be for most of the day. Sometimes he worked clear into the evening, especially as summer drew nearer. No sense in calling the woman if he wouldn’t even be able to see her.
“Oh, buckets and barrels,” he said when he saw the calendar.
He shoved his phone in his back pocket, swiped the keys to his truck from the drawer, and ran out of the house. Ten minutes later, he screeched to a halt at the Ranch house, where three of his brothers lived.
Judge stood on the roof with a couple of other guys, and Bishop whistled up to them. They all looked down at him. “Sorry,” he called. “I lost track of time this morning. We had a lizard on the loose.”
An internal sigh moved through him when he realized he’d left Benny at the homestead in his haste to get to the Ranch House for the roofers. The pup would need to go out soon, and Bishop liked having him around as he worked on the ranch.
“It’s fine,” Judge said. “C’mon up so you can see what’s going on.”
Bishop didn’t see a way around it. He’d have to make another excuse after he saw whatever was on the roof, and head back to get Benny.
He climbed the ladder and joined them, immediately seeing the problem. Hollow wood, and what looked like wood shavings, right there in the roof.
“Termites,” he said, his heart sinking all the way to his toes. He might have authority to hire whoever he wanted for his construction crew, but he didn’t own the ranch the way Bear and Ranger did, and only they could decide if this house should be sprayed and salvaged, or if the termite infestation was bad enough to have it razed and rebuilt.
“This isn’t good,” he said.
“Nope.” Judge looked at him. “What are we going to do?”
“We can’t just re-shingle,” one of the men said. “The whole roof needs to be repaired or replaced. Then we can talk about shingles.”
“Do you guys do that?” Bishop asked.
“Replace the entire roof on a home?” The man shook his head before he even finished speaking. “No, sir. We pull off old shingles, do minor fixes to the underlying sub-roof, and put on new shingles.”
“So you’re saying this isn’t a minor fix.” Bishop was kidding, of course. Anyone with two eyes—heck, probably only one—could see that the damage from the termites was major.
The man smiled, and Bishop did too. “I guess we don’t need you today.”
“We can pull the shingles off, at least,” he said. “Demo it up so you can see what you’re dealing with.”
“Might as well,” Judge said, his voice quiet and low. “They’re already here, and we need to know what we’re dealing with. Bear will insist on pictures.”
Bishop nodded, because Judge was one-hundred percent right. Bear would want to see it all.
“Let’s demo at least,” he said to the roofers. “How long will that take?”
The man surveyed the roof. “A house this size? Three of us? We’ll have it done before lunch.”
“Great,” Bishop said, already heading for the ladder. “Thanks so much.” He thought about what replacing the roof would do to his schedule. They were only supposed to re-shingle today and tomorrow. Then everyone who worked on the ranch would come help move things out of the house. He’d scheduled painters to come. He was laying a whole new hardwood floor himself.
New textiles were arriving in three weeks. The entire kitchen was getting gutted and rebuilt, with a new configuration that made sense and made the kitchen more useable.
Delays were the name of the game in construction, but Bishop didn’t have to like it. He frowned the whole way back to the homestead to get Benny too, because he suspected he wouldn’t be able to get away from the ranch anytime that week to meet with Montana.
Take Montana to dinner?
He’d definitely flirted with her there at the end, and his tactics usually worked. Women ducked their heads and giggled, and Bishop knew he had their interest. Montana had just looked at him like he’d suddenly grown a second head.
She intrigued him, and Bishop thought that maybe he didn’t want a giggly blonde. Perhaps that was why every single relationship he’d tried in the past few years had ended after only a few months.
“A few months at the most,” he muttered to himself. He pulled up to the house and ran toward the front door. Inside, he called, “Come on, Benny. Let’s get to work,” still wondering how he could see Montana that week.
If they had to rebuild the whole Ranch House, he needed her. Badly.
The dog came hopping down the steps, and Bishop scooped him into his arms. “Can’t lie around all day, you lazy dog,” he said, smiling at the canine. “We work on this ranch, dogs and all.”
Hard work had been instilled in him by his mother and father, and Bishop thrived on a full day’s work. As he put Benny in the back of the truck and headed toward the cowboy cabins in the south sector, an idea popped into his head.
If he couldn’t leave the ranch to see Montana this week, perhaps she’d come to him. A smile curved his lips, and he could barely wait until he got to the trio of cabins near Zona’s and Mother’s house to call her.
“Montana Home Designs,” she said, and Bishop’s grin grew.
“Hey there,” he said. “It’s Bishop Glover.”
“Oh,” she said.
He chuckled, mostly to get his nerves to settle. “Bet you didn’t think I’d be calling so soon.”
“Well, no,” she said. “It’s been what? Thirty minutes?”
“No idea,” Bishop said. He didn’t care about time. When the sun came up, he got up. When his stomach grumbled, he ate. When the sun went down, he went home. “I’m wondering how terribly busy you are. I’ve got a lot going on up here, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to get down to town this week.”
“Oh, well, we can meet next week,” she said.
“No,” he said. “I might need to build an entirely new house. We just found termites in the roof where my brothers live.”
She whistled in a way that said, Oh, boy, you’re in trouble.
They were; or rather, that house was. Bishop wouldn’t call Bear or Ranger until he had all the facts and all the pictures. The
y deserved some time away from the ranch. He might not even call them at all.
Preacher, Mister, and Judge could find somewhere else to stay if they needed to. He could get a pest control company out to the ranch by tomorrow, and Bishop could handle this without bothering his brother and his new wife.
“Have you had a chance to talk to your assistant yet?” he asked.
“In the last thirty minutes?” she asked, her voice like a magical melody in Bishop’s ears. “I’m surprised your call went through, honestly. The service out there is terrible.”
“After thirty minutes, you should be back to town,” he said, his curiosity piqued. “Where are you?”
“Almost back to town,” she said. “I’m just saying, it’s dead out there.”
“And yet, I’m calling you.” He grinned when she laughed lightly.
“Touché,” she said.
“Well, we could have dinner up here and talk about your contract. Or you know, your schedule. Or your pretty eyes.” He grinned, thinking himself so clever. “Whatever.”
“Dinner?” she asked. “Will Arizona be there?”
“Nah,” Bishop said, thinking of True Blue and the kitchen he’d built there. “I know a place we can go for privacy.”
“You know, you’re just digging yourself deeper and deeper with everything you say,” she said.
Bishop watched a deer walk in front of his truck. “I am?”
“First, your pick-up line about my eyes? Pathetic,” she said, though she distinctly had a teasing quality in her voice. “Second, you know a place we can go for privacy? That sounds like you’re a total creeper.”
“I just meant, I know somewhere we can get away from Zona.”
“That’s the only good thing you said.”
“She really is nice once you get to know her.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Montana sighed, and Bishop could hear the frustration inside her. “Am I bringing this dinner up to you?”
“No,” he said. “I’ll cook.”
“You cook?” she asked. “Of course he does. Of course he cooks.”
Bishop grinned, wondering if she knew she was talking out loud. “Just tell me any allergies and what time you can come. I know it’s a bit of a drive, but I really am swamped—and I really do need you.”