Montana Wishes

by Amy Vastine

  “If you tell me you are in love with Nadia, I believe you. I want you to be happy and have that family you’ve always wanted. You are going to be an amazing dad.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate that you have my back.” He got up and gathered his garbage. “Your sister also doesn’t understand how she’s making you feel. I would never leave you behind. Things aren’t going to change between you and me when Nadia and I get married. I would never move a thousand miles away from you.”

  It was sweet of him to say that, but Amanda wasn’t so sure. If he really loved Nadia, she came first. What she wanted would always have to be considered. As much as Blake wanted to believe that Nadia had roots in San Diego, there were no guarantees.

  “Well, that’s good because I could end up a lonely spinster in need of someone to take me in on holidays.”

  Blake chuckled and shuffled over to her. He tucked some hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. “Like you aren’t going to get married and be the greatest mom of all time. I already hate the guy who finally wins your heart. He’s not worthy.”

  The pain was so intense. It started in the center of her chest and radiated to every part of her body. This heartache was like nothing she’d ever experienced. When she lost her mom, the pain had been horrible, but this was unbearable. She wasn’t sure how she would survive it.

  “You’re a funny guy.” She had to step away from him. “I think I am almost as exhausted as you are. I’m going to take Clancy for a walk, and then it’s shower and bed for me.”

  “I would go on the walk with you—”

  “But you told your horse to giddyap and now you need to giddy down on those ice packs.” She pointed at his bedroom door. “Go. Lie down.”

  His smile was electric. It lit up his entire face. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Amanda got Clancy leashed up and took him outside. The lights were on in the cabin next door—the cabin Lily had made her home until she got married and moved in with Conner. Surprisingly, Conner’s truck wasn’t parked next to Lily’s SUV.

  Clancy was a big fan of the ranch. He found everything extremely interesting. It might have been his goal in life to sniff every square inch of it as well as water every tree, bush or tall grass. He started to bark as soon as they made their way back to the house. Lily stood on her porch, holding a mug of something warm.

  “Conner went home?”

  “He has to get up so early in the morning and work at his ranch before coming here to work.”

  “He just keeps getting more and more impressive.” Amanda climbed the steps to join her sister on the porch. She loosely tied Clancy’s leash to the banister. He was tired from their walk and lay down by the steps, looking out at the grazing pasture.

  “He also said that I might have offended Blake with all my questions. Did I? I’m sorry if I did. I wasn’t trying to upset him. I was honestly curious.”

  “I don’t think I’m the one you need to apologize to,” Amanda said, taking a seat on the white wood glider next to the front door.

  Lily sat down next to her and they rocked back and forth. “No offense, but he clearly can’t admit that maybe he hasn’t thought things all the way through. If his only criteria for a wife is that she’d be a good mom, why didn’t he ask you to marry him like five years ago?”

  Amanda wasn’t touching that question with a ten-foot pole. “You probably made him feel defensive, and that made it hard for him to express himself clearly. I also suggest not calling him stubborn when you apologize tomorrow.”

  “I will do my best, I promise. It still makes me wonder. We both know that the man has commitment issues. The only woman he’s ever been faithful to is you.”

  Amanda rubbed her sternum, hoping to ease that pain that was back with a vengeance. “Well, friendships aren’t the same as romantic relationships.”

  “I don’t know what you’d call it, but what you two have is not just friendship. He tends to break up with women when they start to get jealous of you two. He’s always chosen you. What happens when Nadia asks him to choose?”

  Lily had no idea that the answer to that question was what had been giving Amanda nightmares. There was always going to be a day when someone else would overthrow her in his life. “What happened when Conner asked you to move here instead of coming back to San Diego to be with me and Dad?”

  “He wasn’t asking me to choose him over you. You will always be my sister no matter where I live. That is never going to change. Georgie, Peyton and Fiona are still our sisters even though they live somewhere else.”

  “I know that. It doesn’t make not having you around any less sad for me, though. Plus, have you thought about how it makes Dad feel that you went full Blackwell after finding out the truth?” Lately, it felt like all Amanda did was lose the people she loved. Her father had to be feeling the same way.

  Lily rested her head on Amanda’s shoulder. “Dad,” she said with a sigh. “I’m not trying to be a Blackwell. I’m trying to be Lily. The Lily who doesn’t need her dad to micromanage her life. The Lily who actually loves what she’s doing with her life and feels in control of things for once. Back in San Diego, it was Danny who ran the business, not me. Here, I’ve found something I’m good at, that I can do with or without Conner. It feels good.”

  “I didn’t realize you felt that way in San Diego. I mean, I know Dad likes to look after things, but I didn’t know you didn’t feel in charge of your life.”

  “I’m in charge now. I know what I’m doing and I am the one making the decisions. I love Conner.”

  “I love you. Does that matter?”

  “Do you know why it doesn’t surprise me that you rescued those wolf pups?”

  Sometimes Lily came at her from left field and made it impossible to figure out where she was going. “Because I love animals?”

  “Yes, you love animals, and you want to take care of them, and you don’t trust that anyone else can take care of them as well as you can. You brought those pups here because you didn’t believe that the other adult pups would take care of them after their mother died.”

  “True. So what?”

  “Sometimes I feel like those pups. Like someone you think you need to rescue. But I need you to trust that I have other people capable of having my back. I have Conner. I have the Blackwells. Not to mention I’m not a pup. I’m a grown woman capable of taking care of myself. I promise.”

  Amanda closed her eyes and prayed that the tears wouldn’t leak out. Lily wasn’t ever going to come back to San Diego except to visit.

  Clancy stood up and started barking at the darkness. Amanda opened her eyes to see what had caught his attention. “Shh, Clancy. There’s nothing out there.” Nothing she could see, at least.

  He kept on barking, and before Amanda could get up to grab his leash, he took off down the step. The loose knot she had made didn’t hold, and there was nothing to keep him from running toward whatever he thought he heard out there.

  “Clancy! Stop! Come here, boy!” Amanda called after him. But, just like everyone else in her life, he had better places to be.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “HE’LL COME BACK,” Blake assured her. Man, he really hoped that dog came back. Preferably this second.

  Lily ended her call. “Tyler said that we could take one of the ATVs out and look for him, but that there’s so much land to cover, our best bet is to stay put and wait for Clancy to find his way back. If we’re moving and he’s moving, we might never cross paths.”

  Amanda paced back and forth across the cabin’s front porch and chewed on her thumbnail. Clancy had already been missing for over an hour. They had walked around the cabin area and down to the lodge and back, but had no luck finding him. They needed to widen their search.

  “I can’t just sit here. He’s in an unfamiliar place. There are wild animals all around. Did you listen to what your fianc�
� said on our tour today?”

  “I’ll go out with you if you want to go,” Blake offered. He would do whatever she wanted. He knew she’d be a wreck if the dog didn’t come home tonight.

  “I think she needs to go with someone who knows the land,” Lily said. “You two could easily get lost out there.”

  “Clancy! Come on, boy!” Amanda shouted into the night. “You want a treat? Come get a treat!”

  Bribery was always a solid strategy when trying to lure a pup home. The reality was they were on a ranch with a whole lot going on, however. Clancy could easily be too wrapped up in the new sights and smells to want to come back for a boring treat.

  “Do you want me to ask one of our cousins to come help?”

  Blake could tell that Amanda wanted to say, Please don’t call them “our cousins.” She opted for, “I don’t want to bother any of the Blackwells. I’ll just take a walk and call for him. He’ll come to me.”

  She started for the stairs, but Blake snagged her arm. “Whoa. You are not walking around in the dark.”

  “Well, I’m not going to sit here and leave him out there, hoping he’ll show up eventually. He could be attacked by some other animal. He could be hurt.”

  “Then I’m coming with you. We’ll use Tyler’s ATV.”

  “Oh, my gosh, you two!” Lily let out an exasperated sigh and pulled her phone back out. “How are you going to find your way around in the dark? I’m going to ask Tyler to come help.”

  “I don’t need the help from the Blackwells,” Amanda protested.

  “Why not? They’re family. They’re more than happy to help.”

  Blake braced himself for Amanda’s reaction to the “family” comment. Her concern for her dog’s safety was fraying the edges of her patience. There were only so many negative feelings she could repress.

  “They aren’t my family, Lily! They aren’t your family, either. They are strangers whose grandfather forced us on them because he’s decided he wants us in his life regardless of how any of us feel about it. I’m sure deep down they’re annoyed that we are here.”

  Anxiety and fear—the ultimate truth serum.

  Lily gasped and was rendered speechless. Conner’s truck pulled into their little cul-de-sac. Blake feared what might come out of Amanda’s mouth with him here. How could he warn the poor man to run?

  “Somebody looking for this big guy?” Conner said as he got out of his truck. A panting Irish wolfhound followed him out, looking a little worse for wear.

  Amanda went from ornery to elated in an instant. “Clancy! Where have you been, big boy?” He was as happy to see her as she was him. He bounded in her direction and put two muddy paws smack in the middle of her chest, almost knocking her over.

  Lily turned to Conner just as quickly. “I can’t believe you found him. Ty said he’d look.”

  “I figured the least I could do was check out a couple places I imagined would interest a dog and got lucky almost right away. He had found the pond like I feared.”

  Amanda clearly didn’t care how dirty her dog was—she was too relieved to have him back. “Thank you so much, Conner. I can’t thank you enough. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t gotten him back tonight.”

  Thank goodness none of them had to find out. Conner was the hero of the day. With this rescue, he made it impossible for Amanda to hold a grudge. It would be interesting how she would handle things now that Conner couldn’t be simply the bad guy trying to steal her sister away.

  “I was happy to help. Y’all have a good night.”

  Amanda gave Clancy a shower since there was no bathtub in the cabin. It was quite comical to watch her bathe a dog the size of a small horse in the tiny bathroom. He shook what seemed like a few gallons all over the two of them and the sitting room when they tried to towel him off. Clancy slurped down two bowls of water and then followed Amanda into her bedroom, where he promptly fell fast asleep on her bed.

  “Leave it to the dog to keep this evening from being boring,” Blake said, scratching Clancy behind his ear.

  Amanda had changed into her pajamas and was taking out her earrings. “Leave it to Conner to save the day. He makes it impossible to not like him. It’s so infuriating.”

  Blake laughed. “I think we both have to admit that Lily isn’t going to find a better guy than that one. We might have to welcome him into our exclusive club.” Her humored grin made his heart happy.

  “We have an exclusive club?”

  “Of course we do. You and I have a very small circle. We don’t let just anyone in.”

  “Is Lily still in?”

  “I know she didn’t mean to make me feel bad. Plus, to forgive and forget is my motto. Especially since Conner is the reason you are going to be able to sleep soundly tonight.”

  “I’m going to really try to be happy for the two of them. I need to do that. He deserves it and she does, too,” Amanda said, eyeing the sliver of bed that was left for her thanks to the enormous dog sprawled sideways.

  “Then I will, too.” Blake nodded. “Get some sleep, Harrison. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. Wedding planning, meeting more Blackwells, and I’m going to destroy you in sand volleyball.”

  Amanda’s laughter filled the room. “You’re not even going to be able to walk tomorrow. I will bury you on that court.”

  “Oh, we’ll see about that.” He was bluffing because his backside was already sorer than it had ever been in his life. He kissed her on the forehead. It was an innocent gesture until he locked eyes with her afterward. Her big blue eyes were always his weakness. They were what had sucked him in the night of The Incident.

  “Good night, Blake.”

  He cleared his throat and took a step back, then left the room. He could never repeat the mistake he had made that one night. Not if he wanted to keep Amanda in his life. Being in love with his best friend was never easy. It was like walking into a candy store and having no money in your pocket. Being close to something so sweet would have to be good enough.

  “Good night, Harrison.”

  * * *

  “THIS IS OUR brand-new wedding barn. It can accommodate up to three hundred guests. We completely remodeled it last spring, and it has been the number one most requested spot on the ranch since then.” Hadley slid one side of the barn doors open. Beyond that were chiffon drapes tied back with rope. “We close these curtains once all the guests have arrived and then the bride gets to make a real grand entrance. For those who get married just before sunset, the photographers can capture the silhouette of the bride and her dad behind the curtains before she walks down the aisle, and the pictures are incredible.”

  Amanda was both wide-eyed and openmouthed. “This is so beautiful,” Amanda said, spinning around to take in the whole room. The entire barn had been gutted. There were strings of globe lights running along the ceiling’s wood beams, and sheer white fabric draped up there, as well. The shiplap walls were whitewashed and the floor was polished concrete. Wooden folding chairs were set up in rows on either side of the center aisle.

  “This is what it looks like for the ceremony, and then we move everyone back outside so we can set it up for the reception. On the north side of the barn, we have a patio where there’s a bar. In the warmer months, the guests can mingle while the wedding party takes some pictures. While that’s going on, we transform this space into the reception area. We have round tables for the guests and a long farm table for the bridal party. Over there, we make room for a dance floor.”

  “What about in the winter?” Amanda asked. She winced and lifted her foot to adjust her shoe. They had done more walking around than they had expected to and Amanda had worn the wrong shoes for that.

  “In the winter, we have these dividers that we bring in to separate the room. Guests mingle on one side while we set up the other.”

  “I love this,” Lily said
. “Why didn’t Pepper get married in here?”

  “Who’s Pepper?” Blake asked.

  “Our cousin who got married when I first got here,” Lily answered. “She rode a horse down the aisle and had her reception in the guest lodge dining room.”

  “After yesterday, I do not want to ride horses down the aisle. This barn with the outside bar seems much more up my alley.” Blake didn’t want anything to do with horses ever again.

  “We’ve been working hard to provide a variety of options for our brides. Since Dorothy wanted to give Pepper her dream Western-style wedding and have the whole bridal party on horses, we had her ceremony outside,” Hadley explained.

  “I think Nadia would love this place,” Amanda said. “It’s really magical. You said she loves those shows about remodeling houses in Texas. That means she likes the farmhouse style. You should send her some pictures.”

  Blake was impressed that Amanda thought about Nadia and what Nadia would like. Part of the reason he had been so upset last night when Lily was grilling him was because he feared Amanda wouldn’t accept Nadia. Making sure they were good friends was his number one priority before he and Nadia tied the knot.

  Blake snapped a few pictures and texted them to his bride-to-be. He should have thought to do that. Thank goodness for Amanda.

  “I kind of like the idea of having horses involved in the ceremony,” Lily said. “I don’t want to ride them down the aisle like Pepper did, but is there a way to include them? Horses are what helped bring me and Conner together.”

  Hadley pulled out her phone. “Since you’re thinking about getting married at Christmastime, we could do a horse-drawn sleigh that brings you and the bridesmaids to the barn. We did it last year. Let me find the pictures.” She scrolled through her photos until she found what she was looking for.

  “So perfect,” Lily said. She squeezed Amanda’s hand. “Couldn’t you picture all of us on the sleigh? Fiona would love it.”

  “She would,” Amanda agreed.

  “If we go back to my office, I can show you my scrapbook of weddings so you get an idea of what we’ve already done. Would you like to see the patio first?”