Montana Wishes

by Amy Vastine

Well, that was sooner than expected. “Dad, have you really thought about this?”

  He stared at his feet. “I have. It’s the right thing to do. I probably should have done it years ago.”

  This whole thing was unbelievable and heartbreaking. “Maybe he doesn’t want to be found. Have you thought about that?”

  His eyes lifted. “It’s possible, but I still have to try.”

  “There’s nothing more important in this world than your family,” Big E chimed in.

  Amanda had had enough of his opinions on the world. She was very clear about how important family was. Her father might not survive this trip. The two of them seemed to have very different personalities.

  She threw her arms around her dad. “Keep me posted on where you are and what is going on.”

  “I will. I promise.” He squeezed her tight, and she had to swallow the emotion threatening to burst forward. “Call your sister. I’m sure she needs you as much as she always has. Maybe you and Blake can take a road trip. Check in on her.”

  That wasn’t helping her keep her tears at bay. She was losing Lily and Blake. Lily had always welcomed Amanda coming to her rescue, but in one of her darkest moments, she had chosen to run off with some guy named Conner instead of telling Amanda what was wrong. Just like Blake had decided to make the biggest decision in his life without even telling her he was thinking about it. When had she become so unnecessary?

  “I’ll call her and see if she wants me to come,” she said, forcing the words around the lump in her throat.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Amanda. I hope you have a good night.” Big E pinched the brim of his hat and made his way down her porch steps.

  Amanda said goodbye to her dad and went back inside her house. After shutting the door, she pressed her back against it and let the tears fall.

  CHAPTER TWO

  IT WASN’T LIKE Amanda to be late. Blake checked his phone for the third time. No messages. No calls. His text asking if everything was okay was still unanswered. His call went to voice mail. Worry began to set in. Once a month they met at the packing facility to oversee the filling of the boxes for Sit, Stay, Play. Amanda was usually the first one here. An uneasy feeling settled in his stomach.

  Blake couldn’t take it anymore. He had to go looking for her. His imagination was getting the best of him, causing his heart to pound in his chest and his palms to sweat. He dug in his pocket for his keys as he raced out into the parking lot. They slipped out of his hand and skittered across the hot blacktop.

  “Where are you going in such a hurry?” Amanda’s voice was like a soothing balm on a burn.

  Forgetting all about his keys, Blake raced over and wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t do that to me, Harrison,” he practically growled into her blond hair, which smelled like Amanda. Other people would call it coconuts. The woman had been using the same shampoo since she was in middle school, making it impossible for Blake to think of anything other than Amanda when he came across something coconut scented.

  “Do what? Ask you where you were going?” She stood stiffly with her arms pinned to her sides.

  He let her go. “Be late. Not answer your phone. Ignore my texts. Make me think you were dead on the side of the road somewhere. Take your pick and please never do it again.”

  She scrunched up her face in that adorable way she always did when she messed up unintentionally. “Did I not tell you I was going to drop my phone off to get the screen fixed before I swung by here?”

  “No, you did not.”

  She went around him and bent over to pick up his keys. Hitching her bag strap higher on her shoulder, she held them out for him. “Sorry about that. Yesterday was such a fiasco, I must have forgotten to text you.”

  Blake froze. Yesterday was a fiasco? Yesterday, he had got engaged. Yesterday had been the biggest day of his life so far.

  “What happened yesterday? Is that why you sounded so weird on the phone when I told you about me and Nadia? Is it Lily? Your dad?”

  Amanda winced. “I didn’t mean to sound weird when you called with your news. I’m super happy for you and Nadia,” she said, not sounding the least bit super happy.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” he said, taking his keys. “What happened yesterday that made it such a fiasco?”

  “Don’t worry about me.” She put on her happy face, the one that she wore when she was anything but. “Let’s go in and check the boxes so we can go ring shopping.”

  He snagged her by the arm as she turned to go inside. “Nice try. Tell me what’s going on. Your phone screen cracked, but that can’t be the worst of it. What’s going on?”

  Her fake smile fell and her shoulders slumped. “Fine. My father showed up yesterday with the man claiming to be my long-lost grandfather. Only he isn’t just claiming to be related. According to the DNA test I sent in, he’s most definitely related.”

  Blake knew she had been hoping to learn something different, but that was unlikely given the fact that her dad had confirmed it was true the day the wedding got called off. “I know you didn’t want it to be true, but look at it this way—now you have more family. More people to love you and be there for you. You are so lucky. You know how much I would give for a big extended family.”

  Being the only child of two only children made extended family hard to come by. Blake had always wished for a big family like Amanda’s. He couldn’t understand why she saw this as such a bad thing.

  “I worry about what all this is doing to the family I currently have. We’re all mad at Peyton because she knew. My father thinks he needs to go travel the world with Elias Blackwell to go find our quote unquote real dad. Fiona is freaking out because she’s the biggest daddy’s girl of all of us. Lily is at some ranch in the middle of Montana, bonding with these cousins of ours, and is coping with all of her emotions about this by giving up her company, moving to this ranch and planning a second wedding to someone she just met. And...” She stopped and shook her head as if scolding herself for saying something else.

  “And what?”

  She blinked and threw her hands out. “And it’s so obviously a recipe for disaster!”

  Blake placed his hands on her shoulders and dipped his head so he could look her right in the eyes, which were beginning to well with tears. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “What if it’s not?”

  “Then we’ll figure it out.” He ran his hand down her arm and threaded his fingers through hers. “That’s what you and I do when things go wrong.”

  He watched as she bit the inside of her cheek. She was holding something back. There was no way she could argue with him about this, though. They had been through some terrible things. She had been there for him when an injury stole his college athletic scholarship away from him. He had been there for her when her mother died. There was nothing the two of them couldn’t get through as long as they had each other.

  She took a breath and forced that smile back on her face. “You’re right. Everything will be fine. Let’s go inside.”

  There was nothing more frustrating than when Amanda kept secrets from him. “You know I hate that.”

  She attempted to act like she had no idea what he was talking about. “What?”

  “When you push your feelings aside and pretend you’re fine when you aren’t. Your sisters might let you get away with it, but you know I won’t.”

  She pulled her hand away. “I am fine. You just told me everything will be okay, and I’m agreeing with you. I’m going to check on this month’s boxes, help you pick out a ring for Nadia, and then I’m going to drive to Montana to help my sister. Everything will be okay.”

  “Whoa. What do you mean you’re driving to Montana?”

  “Lily needs me, so I’m going.”

  Typical Amanda. She would drop everything and anything to rescue Lily. Her loyalty was one of th
e things he most admired about her. He just wasn’t certain that Lily needed to be rescued this time.

  “She needs you for what? Didn’t you already help her plan one wedding? Do you really need to help her plan the second one?”

  Amanda’s gaze dropped to her feet. “Not exactly. This ranch she’s staying at is supposedly some amazing wedding destination, and she’s got all these people helping her plan her new wedding. What she does need from me is to empty her apartment and drive her car and all of her things to Montana. My dad even suggested that I take a road trip.”

  “Your dad suggested you take a road trip to Montana by yourself? Your overprotective dad, who added an extra dead bolt to your front door when you moved into your own place and gives you a new can of pepper spray for Christmas every year, told you to get in your sister’s car and drive to Montana alone?”

  She shrugged and brushed some of her hair out of her face.

  “That’s got to be a two-day drive,” he reminded her. “You can barely stand to drive to Santa Barbara to visit Fiona. Montana would be like driving there and back five times in a row.”

  “Okay, well, maybe he said I should bring you,” she said with a sigh.

  That was much more believable. Mr. Harrison always made a point of thanking Blake for looking out for Amanda. Not that she needed it much. Amanda was cautious and thoughtful. She didn’t take a lot of risks.

  “I can come with you,” he said.

  She shook her head. “You just got engaged. I don’t think your fiancée would want you to go running off with me for who knows how long. I could be gone a couple weeks.”

  “Weeks?” What would he do without Amanda for weeks? Of course, if he went with, he’d be away from Nadia for weeks. They’d only been together a little more than two months. She definitely could not come with them because her job with the district attorney’s office wouldn’t allow for it. It really wasn’t much of a dilemma—help his best friend and lose a little time with his fiancée or stay with his fiancée and abandon his best friend during this really difficult time in her life. Amanda needed him more than Nadia did.

  Thankfully, Nadia was also sweet and understanding. She thought Amanda was the best and wouldn’t be too upset about him leaving if he explained everything that was going on with Amanda’s family.

  “Maybe a few weeks, maybe less. Who knows? I wasn’t going to buy a plane ticket home just in case I convince my sister to come home. I’m struggling to believe that moving to Montana is the right thing for Lily to do. I may have to stay awhile to get her to see the light.”

  Amanda was the most loving person Blake knew, but she had never really been in love. She had dated guys over the years, but no one had ever caused her to fall head over heels. She had no idea how being in love could make people do things that others might think were foolish. Or how love could change someone’s perspective about life.

  “Let me talk to Nadia.” He would need to be there for Amanda if or, more likely, when Lily let her sister know she most definitely wouldn’t be coming back to San Diego. “Might be fun to check out your family’s ranch.”

  Her expression hardened. “Don’t call it my family’s ranch.”

  “Come on, Harrison. Let’s take a road trip and see if we really need to rescue your sister from this Blackwell cult.”

  That earned him a genuine smile. “Fine. Can we please go inside and make sure the boxes are filled with the right stuff now?”

  “After you, partner.” He motioned for her to lead the way. Amanda had barely survived the loss of her mom, was struggling to deal with the revelation that her father was not her biological father, and now faced losing her sister. This wasn’t going to be easy.

  * * *

  “WHAT DO YOU mean you want to go to Montana?”

  Nadia wasn’t taking the road-trip idea as well as Blake had hoped. She stood in her kitchen with her hands on her hips and one of her jet-black eyebrows raised.

  “Amanda needs to check on her sister. She’s on this ranch. Look at the pictures of this place. It’s pretty amazing.” Blake held out his phone. He’d searched the Blackwell Ranch on the internet and found out it was much fancier than he’d expected.

  Nadia folded her arms across her chest. With her dark hair slicked back in a bun and dressed in a slim-fitting burgundy top and a tight black pencil skirt, she looked like a hot but angry teacher ready to send him to the principal’s office.

  “I’ve already seen the website. I researched all about it when Amanda’s sister turned up there.”

  “You did?”

  “She’s related to Chance Blackwell. Once I went down the internet rabbit hole on him, I ended up learning a lot about the Blackwells.”

  Chance Blackwell, the famous singer. Nadia was a fan.

  “I could go with Amanda and get Chance’s autograph for you,” he offered.

  “Well, the ranch is quite the premier wedding destination. You could check it out and bring back lots of good information for me,” she said to his surprise.

  Blake scrubbed his face with his hand. “You want me to check out wedding venues without you?”

  “I can see if I can move some things around and maybe we all could go together,” she suggested.

  This wasn’t going the way he’d expected. “Amanda is going through some really tough stuff right now. Her mom died this year, only to then find out six months later her dad is not her biological dad. The sister she’s closest to ran off and didn’t come back. And now she finds out she’s got this huge extended family in Montana. I feel like I need to be there for her because her family can’t be. Wedding planning might take away from that.”

  Nadia’s face softened. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “This...this is why I love you. You are such a good man, Blake Collins.” She gave him a little peck on the lips. “Amanda is lucky to have a best friend like you.”

  Amanda had been his best friend since they were thirteen years old. He wouldn’t be the man he was today if it weren’t for her. “So you’re cool with me taking her out there?” He hugged her back.

  “You should be there for your friend. I really do think this ranch could be a unique place to get married, though. Maybe you could take a few pictures for me or bring back some brochures. I love horses, and there are sure to be lots of them on a ranch...”

  “You do love horses,” he agreed.

  “Plus, you’d look quite handsome in a cowboy hat.”

  “Me?” Blake was much more comfortable on a surfboard than he was a horse. He also preferred flip-flops over cowboy boots. Amanda often joked that he was part merman. When they were in high school, they used to practically live at the beach during the summer.

  Nadia nodded. “Put on some jeans and a plaid flannel shirt and you’d be a cowboy right out of my dreams.”

  Amanda would get a good laugh when he told her about that. “Any chance you dream about cowboys who wear swim trunks and tank tops?”

  “Maybe being in Montana will inspire you to give up your beach-bum ways. Surfer boys are just that—boys. Cowboys are men,” she said with a wink. She spun out of his arms and headed back to the bedroom. “I’m going to change and then you can take me to dinner.”

  Cowboys were men...pfft. Boy was literally in the word. Anyone could ride a horse. Not everyone could ride a wave. Montana didn’t really belong on their list of potential places to get married. Mexico and a beach was more his style. He’d indulge his bride-to-be so he could take this trip. He’d get Amanda to her sister, and he’d be there to pick up the pieces if Lily had gone and fallen in love with one of those ridiculous cowboys.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “DOG FOOD?”

  “Check.”

  “Laptop?”

  “Check.”

  “Sunglasses?”

  “They’re on your head, Harrison.” Blake plucked her glasses off her
head and handed them to her. His smile was relaxed and thankfully not patronizing. “It’s all packed. All of Lily’s things are in the trailer, and everything you need to survive a couple of weeks in Montana is in the trunk. Let’s hit the road.”

  Amanda stared at the trailer Blake had hooked up to Lily’s SUV. Everything Lily owned was in there. This was really happening. Her sister was moving to Montana. She had no qualms about leaving Amanda alone in San Diego. She couldn’t fret about that. Pushing her feeling aside, she tried to stay focused. “I don’t want to forget something important.”

  “Well, unless Lily had things hiding somewhere other than her condo, there’s no way we forgot anything that belongs to her. And I’m pretty sure that we can get anything we might have forgotten in Montana. They have stores there. Stores that sell the things you may have forgotten but haven’t because you’ve checked a thousand times.”

  His impatience was building. Amanda slid her sunglasses on. “Okay, let’s go.”

  “All right, that’s what I like to hear.” Blake jumped into the driver’s seat and buckled himself in.

  Amanda did her best to smile. She would hold on to the hope that she would be able to convince Lily not to jump into this new relationship without thinking things through. Amanda would persuade her sister to come back home and get some clarity before making any more major life decisions.

  “It’s going to be a million times easier for Lily to plan this wedding since you literally just helped her plan one,” Blake said as he pulled out onto the road.

  “Stop!”

  Blake was careful not to hit the brakes so Clancy didn’t go flying through the windshield. He pulled over. “What’s the matter?”

  “I forgot the book.” How could she have forgotten the book?

  Blake made a quick U-turn. “The book?”

  “The planner that I spent forever putting together for the last wedding. I need her to think I am there to seriously help her plan the next one.”

  Blake quirked a brow. “You forgot the book that you plan to use as a prop in your scheme to make your sister believe you aren’t there to convince her to leave the man she’s fallen in love with?”