“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” Charlie asked. And because Josh stayed silent, Charlie told him what he thought he should do.
“You really think that will work?”
“Probably. Maybe not. You’ll never know, though, until you try. She’s worth it right?”
“Of course she is,” Josh snapped.
Charlie grinned. “Well, then, take action. Go see her tonight and call me after.”
“All right. I will. And Charlie, I’m sorry. I’ve been so wrapped up in myself that I didn’t realize how interested you were in Maggie. It must be pretty serious if you came all the way down here to see me. You have my blessing and good luck.”
“Thanks. And good luck to you, too.”
Charlie called Maggie as soon as he walked outside. She sounded surprised when she answered the call.
“Hi, Charlie. Did I forget to order something?”
“No, I don’t think so. But I just wanted to let you know I just left Josh’s office and told him that I’m going to ask you out and he needs to be okay with it because it doesn’t matter what he wants anymore.”
“You really did that?”
“I did. Is our schedule the same this week as it was last week?”
“It is.”
“Would you like to have dinner with me Friday night?”
“I would like that very much.”
Chapter 12
Maggie’s mood improved instantly and she spent the rest of the week in eager anticipation for Friday night. She went shopping Thursday afternoon before work and bought a pretty new white and gray sweater to wear with her favorite jeans and bright pink cowboy boots. She was ready when Charlie came by at six thirty to pick her up.
When she opened the door, he stood there, smiling and holding a bouquet of vividly-colored wildflowers in a clear glass vase. He handed them to her.
“I saw these, and they reminded me of you. I thought they were beautiful.”
“They are. How thoughtful. Thank you.” She took the flowers and set them on the counter, then grabbed her purse and went to walk out the door. But Charlie took her hand and pulled her toward him.
“Before we go, there’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I hope you don’t mind.”
Maggie caught her breath as Charlie leaned and his lips lightly touched hers. The kiss caught her by surprise and was even better than she’d imagined.
“I had to do that,” he said a moment later.
“I didn’t mind,” she assured him.
He took her to Mamma Mia’s in Riston, the next town over. Maggie had been there before, but not for a long time. It was better than she remembered. The service and the food was amazing, and she and Charlie talked and laughed all through dinner.
“I can’t believe that Josh actually bought a ring after his first date with Liz. And held onto it for so long. What made him wait do you think?”
“Fear of change, maybe? Things were going so well with Liz that I think he was just afraid to mess with it. But he finally came to his senses, went to her house, apologized profusely for being such an idiot and then showed her the ring. She burst into tears when he told her how long he’d had it. And then she said yes.”
“I’m so glad, for both of them.”
Charlie looked over at Maggie. “I don’t want to wait three years.”
Maggie’s heart skipped a beat. Was Charlie already thinking about marriage?
“Three years is a long time,” she agreed.
“I’ve only ever loved one other person. And we pretty much knew right away. I didn’t think I’d find that kind of connection again. But I feel like we might have that. We talked on the phone for a long time before we met, and I feel like we really got to know each other. I never spent that much time taking anyone else’s order.”
Maggie laughed. “I might be jealous if you did.”
Charlie looked deeply into her eyes.
“Do you think it’s possible to fall in love over the phone? Because I think I was head over heels before we actually met.”
“You kept rescheduling our lunch meeting, so I wasn’t sure what to think. I suggested it because I was falling in love with you, too. I didn’t really want to date anyone else. You have a mesmerizing voice. I wanted to stay on the phone longer just to listen to you talk and it was more than your voice, it was you.”
“I rescheduled our lunch meeting because I was worried that you wouldn’t be interested once you met me in person. I don’t look like Josh.”
Maggie reached out and took his hand. “I’m not attracted to Josh. He’s handsome, but he’s not you. He doesn’t have your eyes, your smile, your soul.”
“If it wasn’t entirely crazy, I’d propose to you now and suggest we run off to Vegas to get married. But I don’t think either of us is that crazy? Are we?”
“It’s tempting, but no. I don’t think we are.”
“I don’t want to wait long, though. Is two months long enough?”
“That seems like a respectable time to me.”
“Two months it is, then. If things are still going well, we can get engaged, elope, do whatever feels right.”
“That sounds quite sensible to me.”
“So, how’s this, then. Let’s make a toast?” Charlie lifted his glass. “To almost being in love.”
“We’re so close!” They tapped glasses, and Maggie dipped her fork into the oversized cannoli that they were sharing for dessert and took a bite. It had been an absolutely perfect night.
Six weeks later
Maggie arrived at Charlie’s house Sunday afternoon. They were planning an afternoon of playing with the kittens and watching movies. She couldn’t believe how big the kittens were and how lively. They were into everything.
“That’s their latest game,” Charlie said as two of them tried to climb up the drapes in his living room.
“Have you decided which one you want yet?” The kittens were almost eight weeks old, the age that would be safe for them to be adopted.
“I’m not sure. I keep going back and forth between the big black one or the wild gray one. I’ll probably end up keeping both. What about you?”
“The littlest one, I think.” The runt of the litter was three quarters the size of the others and seemed drawn to Maggie. The little kitten liked to snuggle in the crook of her neck. Maggie didn’t mind, except that when she relaxed the kitten’s purr was so loud. It was hard to figure how such a loud sound came from such a tiny animal.
They had plans to meet up with Josh and Liz later on for dinner downtown. But until then, they enjoyed being lazy on Charlie’s plush black leather sofa and having a movie marathon. After they watched two films back to back, Charlie eased himself up and went into the kitchen. Maggie heard a familiar popping sound and smiled when he returned holding two flutes of bubbly champagne. He handed one to her and she raised her eyebrows.
“What’s the occasion?”
“It’s been six weeks since our first official date and exactly two months since we first met in-person.”
“Oh!” Maggie’s jaw dropped as Charlie got on one knee and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket.
“I’m all the way in love with you now, Maggie Quinn. My feelings get deeper and stronger for you every day, and I don’t want to wait any longer. Will you marry me?” He opened the box and a gorgeous, cushion-cut diamond sparkled.
Maggie didn’t have to think about it. “I was almost all the way in love with you before we even met. I think I was just about there on our first date, but there’s no doubt that I’m all the way there now. I love you, Charlie Keane. Let’s get married.”
I hope you enjoyed Maggie and Charlie’s story! If you’d like to receive an email when my next book is released please join my mailing list.
Next up is my new series, The Nantucket Inn.
Click here to read the blurb and to preorder. It will be released on Friday, April 19th.
Excerpt—Six Months in Montana
This was the first book I published, in November 2013 and the first in my sweet western contemporary series set in a small Montana town. It’s a marriage of convenience story about a meddling grandfather who plays matchmaker in his will—demanding that two childhood friends marry—for at least six months. Here’s an except—and a link at the end to get the book, which is free everywhere. Hope you enjoy!
This is a joke right?” Christian Ford looked at his lawyer and best friend, Travis Jones, in disbelief. Now he understood why Travis had insisted that he come by his office for an official reading of his grandfather's will. “Are you seriously telling me that he changed his will less than a month before he died, and added this condition?”
“I’d love to tell you I’m kidding, but your grandfather was very clear about what he wanted.” Travis added, “I tried to talk him out of it. Told him you haven’t even seen her in years. But he was insistent, said he ran into her at the market last month. She was home for a quick visit, and they got to chatting.”
“Doesn’t she live in New York City now?” Christian hadn’t seen, or thought of Molly in years.
“She does. Works for one of the large hotel chains. Sounds like she’s done pretty well too.”
“So this makes absolutely no sense then. Her life isn’t here.” Christian glanced around the office, not really seeing the varnished dark wood bookcases, or the view out of the window behind Travis, which overlooked Main Street in Beauville, Montana, a small town just outside Bozeman. Main Street served as the center of town, and most of its small shops and businesses were along this stretch.
“Your grandfather seemed to think she’d be better off here.”
“It’s absolutely ridiculous. She’ll never agree to it. Why would she?”
Travis leaned back in his plush leather chair and picked up the will, shuffling the pages until he found the passage he was looking for.
“Well, you just have to stay married for six months. She’ll be free to go after that if she wishes, and it might be worth her while.”
“Have you called her yet?” Christian was having a hard time wrapping his head around this. His grandfather had always marched to his own drum and had had plenty of ideas about how Christian should do things, but he’d never meddled to this extreme before.
“I spoke with her briefly yesterday. She’s on her way here, meeting us in an hour at Delancey’s.”
“We’re not meeting here, in the office?” Delancey’s was the best restaurant in the area.
“Given the situation, I thought the least we could do is buy her dinner.”
Molly Bishop was tired and annoyed, though admittedly curious. It had already been a long day. She'd juggled her schedule a bit, going in to work earlier so she could duck out and catch a four o'clock flight. She made it, just barely, and it was an hour into the flight before she felt herself finally starting to relax. With the two-hour time difference between New York and Montana, she'd just about make it to dinner by seven. She'd also arranged for someone to fill in for her tomorrow and, truth be told, she could use this short break. Molly loved her job as assistant general manager at the Clarendon Hotel in Manhattan, but on a good day it was stressful, and lately there had been more fires than usual that had needed to be put out.
The hotel was an impressive one, but it was old and badly in need of renovating. In the past few months that had become painfully evident, as one major breakdown after another had needed attending to: the water heater had burst in the basement, creating a huge mess; two stoves in the kitchen had stopped working in the same week and, most damning of all, a famous reviewer had described the Clarendon online as 'old and drab, like a beautiful woman who is unfortunately showing her age'.
Molly thrived on the pace and excitement of running a top hotel in New York City. The energy there was like nowhere else. Things were always happening, and she was right in the middle of it, making sure that everyone who stayed at The Clarendon was well taken care of. That was noted in the same critical review: ‘Though the hotel is desperately in need of a face lift, their standard of service remains as excellent as ever’.
Molly put a copy of the review in her scrapbook and had high hopes for her own career review next week. She was overdue for a promotion to general manager, the dream job she had been working toward for years, and it felt like it was finally about to happen. Obviously, it couldn't take place unless there was an opening for her to move into, but the current GM had been with the organization for seven years, a long time in the hotel world, and Molly hadn't been able to help but notice that Paul had recently been in several hush-hush meetings with the hotel’s owners. Change was definitely in the air.
When the plane landed and Molly stepped outside, she immediately felt the sense of peace that always swept over her when she returned to Montana. As much as she loved New York, Montana still felt like home. The air here always had a calming effect on her. She tensed up a bit though, as she got into her rental car and started driving toward Beauville. Travis hadn't said much on the phone, just that there was something in Christian Ford's grandfather's will that concerned her, and that they should meet immediately to discuss it.
She couldn't imagine why Christian's grandfather had thought to include her in his will. When she’d run into him last month at the grocery store, it had been the first time she'd seen him in almost ten years. Once they’d got to talking though, the years had fallen away, and it seemed like only yesterday that she and Christian had been next door neighbors and best friends. They’d even shared a dog. Toby had been a stray that showed up one day and stayed, going back and forth between Molly's house and Christian's. When Molly was just fourteen, her father had died suddenly of a heart attack, and although Uncle Richard, her father's brother, lived in Beauville, her mother had had no other family in the area. They’d moved to New York two months later, to Brooklyn, where her Aunt Betty lived, and it had been decided that Toby would stay with Christian. Once a dog had enjoyed all that Montana could offer, how could he live in the city? It had made perfect sense at the time…But now Molly saw dogs everywhere she went in Manhattan.
Molly pulled into Delancey's parking lot at a few minutes before seven. It looked like they were doing a good business for a Wednesday night. Delancey's was one of only three restaurants in town and was without question the best. They were known for steak and Molly's stomach rumbled at the thought of it. She'd missed lunch and hadn't eaten on the plane, except for a small bag of pretzels.
She grabbed her purse and headed into the restaurant. Travis and Christian were already seated at a corner table and waved her over. She recognized Travis immediately, as she'd seen him briefly the last time she was in town. Both her mother and Aunt Betty were living here now. They'd come to visit one of her mother's friends a few years ago, and after just minutes in Montana, Aunt Betty had fallen in love and easily talked her mother into moving back to the area. Aunt Betty loved to entertain and half the town was at her most recent party, including Travis.
Both men stood when Molly reached the table, and Christian pulled out a chair for her. He held out his hand and said, "Thanks for coming." Molly shook both of their hands before settling into her seat. She was surprised that Christian seemed a little nervous. It had been many years since she'd seen him, and he'd grown into an impressive looking man. He smiled and she caught her breath. He still had the cutest dimples, and when he smiled the effect was devastating. Molly had heard that he'd done very well running his grandfather's business and, over the years, had expanded, so that now he had almost fifty men working for him. She must have imagined that he looked nervous.
"Christian, I am so sorry for your loss. Your grandfather was a special man."
"Thank you." They made small talk for a few minutes, as the waiter brought Molly a glass of Cabernet and then they put their orders in. The wine was excellent, rich and smooth, and she'd just taken another sip when Travis got down to business.
"I figured we might as well get this out of the way
first, then we can relax and enjoy our steaks." It seemed as though he was trying to make light of something, which Molly found odd. She'd thought it was sweet that Mr. Ford had thought to include her in his will. It had been wonderful to bump into him last month; he’d been as feisty as ever, even though it had also been clear that he had slowed down quite a bit. Still, Molly never would have guessed that he'd been sick. He’d been ninety-four when he’d died, and had lived well right up until the end, when he’d gone to bed one night and never woken up. She was more than surprised she featured in his will, and imagined he'd left her a small token to remember him by, maybe one of his crystal animals. He’d had quite a collection and Molly had always admired them as a child.
"As I mentioned on the phone, Mr. Ford thought very highly of you." Travis paused for a moment, glancing at Christian, before turning his attention back to Molly and clearing his throat before continuing. His voice was a little shaky as he continued—Molly had never seen him so flustered. Travis was always so cool and collected. This wasn't like him at all.
"Yes, so as I was saying, Mr. Ford liked you, quite a bit actually. So much so that he thought it would be a very good idea for you to marry Christian."
Molly almost spat out her wine. "What?" By the look on Christian's face, he didn't look too happy about the idea either. "I don't understand."
"After Mr. Ford ran into you, he stopped by my office the next day and added a provision to his will, a condition under which Christian will only inherit the Ford ranch if the two of you get married immediately."
Molly was speechless. No wonder Travis was a little flustered. If he didn't look so uncomfortable, she'd wonder if he was joking, but it was obvious that he was quite serious.
"This is ridiculous. Why would he do this?"
Travis looked at Christian, who then explained, "My grandfather approved of almost everything I've done, except when it came to dating. I haven't really been serious about anyone in years, and he wasn’t thrilled about the ones I have dated. He'd been after me for a long time to settle down. I told him that you can't rush these things, but truthfully I have no interest in getting married and he knew it."
Calling Charlie Page 9