Montana Wishes

by Amy Vastine

  She had to tell him. Her near-death experience had changed how she thought about this.

  “Blake,” she said, coming out of her bedroom, dressed for the day.

  He came out of his with his shirt in his hand and not on his body. Her knees went weak and she got light-headed. “Ready to go?”

  Amanda tried her best to tear her eyes away from his chest and get words to come out of her mouth, but it was not working. There was a knock at the door and Clancy ran to it, barking to make sure Amanda and Blake were aware that someone was there.

  Blake slipped on his T-shirt and the spell was completely broken. Amanda went to the door. Leave it to one of the Blackwells to show up right when Amanda had got up the courage to ask Blake to call off the engagement.

  Frustrated, she swung the door open. Only it wasn’t a Blackwell on the other side.

  Standing on the front porch next to a giant suitcase, in her skintight jeans and a sweater that looked like it was painted on, was Nadia. She clutched her oversize, expensive designer purse. Her dark hair was slicked back in a tight bun and her eyes were shielded by huge white sunglasses.

  She whipped her sunglasses off and scowled. “Where is my fiancé?”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “NADIA?” BLAKE COULDN’T believe his ears. He joined Amanda at the door. “Nadia! What are you doing here?”

  “Well, if you’d answered any of my calls or texts in the last twelve hours, you would know what I was up to. But apparently you’ve been having too much fun on your vacation with Amanda to be bothered to respond to me.”

  Clancy barked and tried to get a sniff of the new guest. Nadia recoiled. “Can you please get this dog away from me?”

  Amanda grabbed Clancy’s collar and tugged him back. She apologized and put him in her bedroom.

  He reached for Nadia’s suitcase. “My phone died. Like died died. Drowned. I was actually about to go buy a new one. I can’t believe you’re here. Come on in.”

  “How did your phone drown on a ranch?”

  “It’s a long story, but the short version is Amanda fell, cut herself on some rocks, and I had to jump into a pond to save her. I didn’t think to take my phone out of my pocket.”

  Nadia set her purse on the café table and stared hard at Amanda. “How did you fall into a pond?”

  “That’s the long part of the story. I was messing around on the bridge and fell backward. It was stupid of me, and now I have seven stitches and a nasty scar to remind me not to do dumb things.”

  Blake needed to put Nadia at ease. He wrapped his arms around her. “I can’t believe you’re here. You came all this way because you couldn’t get through to me last night?”

  Nadia pulled back and, instead of answering the question, turned to Amanda. “I’m glad you’re okay, Amanda, but could you and your dog go back to your cabin so Blake and I can catch up?”

  Amanda’s eyes went wide and darted to Blake. He put his hand on Nadia’s shoulder. “Sweetheart, Amanda and I are sharing this cabin. It has two bedrooms. Why don’t we go talk in my room?”

  He could feel the tension in her shoulders. She was wound up real tight, but followed him into his room without saying anything else to Amanda. As soon as he closed the door, she unleashed.

  “I have tried to be understanding throughout this whole thing, but did you really have to share a cabin with her? Staying in the guest lodge in your own room wasn’t a viable option? And how did she fall in the water and not be capable of getting out by herself? She grew up by the ocean. Am I supposed to believe she doesn’t know how to swim? I have never in my life seen a woman so dependent on a man who isn’t her boyfriend or husband. There’s something not right about all of this.”

  “Whoa. Hold on there. First of all, we are staying in this cabin to be close to her sister, who lives right next door. The whole point of being here was for Amanda and Lily to be together.”

  “So why isn’t she staying in her sister’s cabin?”

  “Because her sister’s cabin is a one-bedroom and this is a two-bedroom. How is staying in my own room here any different than staying in my own room in the guest lodge?”

  Nadia kept her arms crossed in front of her, the look of indignation still on her face. “She’s up to something. Everyone agrees with me and this injury story confirms it.”

  Blake shook his head. He could feel the heat of his own anger coloring his tone. Nadia was the one who had suggested he come here with Amanda to look at the ranch as a possible wedding venue. Now she wanted to act like all this was some plot to break them up?

  “That’s offensive, Nadia. Amanda is not up to anything. I don’t know who this ‘everyone’ is that you’ve been talking to, but I’m going to guess it’s not people who know me, and they certainly don’t know Amanda. Do you really think she wanted seven stitches in her shoulder yesterday just to what? Get my attention? Amanda doesn’t have to do outrageous things to get my attention. She’s my best friend. She has my attention whenever she wants it.”

  Arms still folded, Nadia sat down on the bed. Her expression softened a bit. “My mom and my friends have been getting in my head. No one believes me when I tell them there’s nothing going on between the two of you. They keep telling me that there’s no way she’s not in love with you.”

  Blake sat down next to her. He felt bad that she had all these doubts and even worse that he had to admit that Amanda wasn’t in love with him. “She loves me like a brother. She’s never and will never be in love with me. That’s not the kind of relationship she wants from me.”

  “How could anyone want you to be their brother?” She shifted to face him and put her hand on his cheek. “Does she not see you? Does she not realize what kind of a man you are? That makes no sense.”

  He placed his hand over hers. He had no answers to those questions. He often wondered what was wrong with him, why wasn’t he what Amanda was looking for in a lover as well as a friend. Truthfully, he’d given up trying to answer that after that night when they’d crossed lines Amanda clearly wasn’t comfortable crossing.

  “It is what it is. Even if she was in love with me, I asked you to marry me, Nadia. Shouldn’t that count for something?”

  Nadia wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “It does. That’s another reason I came. I want to plan this wedding together. The only way I could feel good about it was if I was here with you.”

  “I wasn’t planning the wedding. I was checking out this place while I was here. You and I haven’t even set a date or decided on anything yet.”

  She sat back. “Well, let’s do that. Let’s set a date. Let’s talk to the people here and see what’s available. I loved all the pictures you sent me. I think a summer wedding would be perfect.”

  Blake wasn’t sure he was ready to make final decisions. He wasn’t even sure the ranch was where he wanted to get married. It was nice, but it didn’t feel like the right place for him; however, Nadia was so mad about so many things right now, it didn’t seem like the time to fight about more stuff. He could let her talk to Hadley, but they would not sign any contracts.

  “It would be great if you met with their wedding planner. We could start making a list of pros and cons to take back with us to San Diego. We can compare it with some of the venues back home.”

  “I don’t want to get married in San Diego,” she said, wrinkling her nose as if the idea literally stank. “That’s boring. Let’s do something no one else we know has done. I want to offer our family and friends an adventure, an experience they’ll never forget.”

  Blake had always thought of a wedding as something a bit more intimate. Something special for the bride and groom. The guests should have a good time, but the focus was on making the commitment. Starting a life together.

  “I will see if Hadley has some time for us. Amanda and her sister are dress shopping today, so I wasn’t going t
o see her.”

  “Oh, I want to go dress shopping. Not that I would buy my dress in some little Podunk town in Montana, but I would love to have some fun with it.”

  “Ah...” Blake hadn’t meant to invite Nadia along for the shopping trip. He wasn’t sure how Amanda would feel about that. “I can ask them if we can tag along.”

  “It’s totally weird that I’m here, isn’t it? I wish you had gotten my calls.”

  Honesty was the best policy. At least, he hoped it was. “It’s a little weird. I was not expecting you this morning, but there are worse things than having your fiancée want to be with you.”

  She kissed his cheek. “I do want to be with you.”

  Those words warmed his heart. Nadia was a good person. She was a real person. Even though she was confident and smart, she had her moments of feeling insecure. She sometimes let her imagination get the best of her. She was strong and opinionated, and there was nothing wrong with that. He never wanted his wife to be afraid to tell him what she thought.

  He was a lucky man. He had surrounded himself with amazing women. He had the best friend in the world and was going to marry a fantastic woman. As soon as he got Amanda and Nadia to be friends, all would be well.

  * * *

  DRESS SHOPPING. NOT exactly what Blake thought he would be doing today. Had Nadia not shown up in Falcon Creek, he had planned to shadow Conner on the ranch while the sisters did the shopping. Since Nadia was there, he felt like he needed to go with them to act as a go-between while they were getting to know each other.

  Lily struggled to find anything she even wanted to try on. They were at some small bridal shop in the town next to Falcon Creek. This place had racks of dresses that the women had to go through on their own. This was beginning to feel like a slow death.

  “Maybe we should start with what you want instead of me showing you dresses and you saying all the things you don’t like about them,” Amanda said.

  “What about this one?” Nadia pulled a dress off the rack. “I love the neckline on it.”

  Lily made that face, the one she’d made every time one of them showed her a dress and complimented something about it. “I don’t like all the beading in the front.”

  “Okay, no beading, no trains, no mermaid-style, no lace, not white. Give me something you do want,” Amanda said again.

  “Simple. I want the opposite of what I thought I wanted when we planned the last wedding.”

  Amanda smiled. “Well, it has to be opposite because that was a summer wedding and this is a Christmas wedding. How about you spend ten minutes on your phone and search winter wedding dresses,” Amanda suggested. “Find a couple things you like and we’ll see if they have anything here that’s similar.”

  “I liked it when you made me a nice Pinterest board last time.”

  Amanda snorted a laugh. For someone who was all about being independent, there were still some things that Lily liked a little help with. “I’ll keep pulling dresses I bet you’ll like, while you search the web.”

  “What about this one? Simple. Long sleeves. I love the fur,” Nadia said. “Maybe we should change the date and have a winter wedding, Blake. What do you think?” She held the dress up to her body.

  “I thought you had your heart set on a summer wedding?” he replied. Not to mention that he wanted a summer wedding, as well. Snow was not his idea of wedding decor.

  Nadia draped the dress over her arm. “I’m going to try this one on. We might need to reconsider the date if I like it.” She got the attention of the woman who was manning the store to let her into a dressing room.

  “You guys decided on a date?” Amanda asked.

  “We sort of picked June nineteenth this morning. Taking this trip made her feel a little insecure. She needed to know that I was serious about getting married,” Blake explained.

  “Because asking her to get married didn’t affirm you were serious?”

  “I know. I don’t understand what’s gotten into her. Some of her friends got her all worked up about me being here without her.”

  “And with Amanda,” Lily said knowingly.

  It was as she had predicted. Nadia was jealous of Amanda.

  “Don’t worry,” he said to Amanda. “She knows she was being silly. She felt bad about getting all worked up.”

  Lily stared down at her phone. “So it begins.”

  Amanda was busy stuffing her feeling about this down, down, down. He knew she was, because that was what she did when she got quiet like this.

  “It’s funny if you think about it. There are people who say you’ve been trying to seduce me this whole time. Hilarious, right?”

  Amanda did not seem to think it was very funny. “Does Nadia think I was trying to seduce you?”

  “No! Not Nadia. Her friends who don’t even know you, or me really, for that matter. Nadia knows we’re like family.”

  Lily’s eyes lifted from her phone and her gaze met his. She gave him that sympathetic look. She knew that Nadia had at least thought it.

  “Um, excuse me?” The store clerk approached them. “The lady trying on the dress asked if Amanda could come back and give her opinion.”

  Surprise registered on Amanda’s face. She looked to Blake, then to Lily.

  “That’s good. She wants your help. If she thought you were a man-stealing monster, she wouldn’t ask your opinion,” Lily offered.

  Amanda took a deep breath before following the woman to the dressing room. This was what Blake wanted. He wanted them to be friends. Friends helped each other pick out wedding dresses. Then why did it feel so awkward?

  “She dropped everything and came all the way out here? She’s not going to be my sister’s friend, Blake. It’s impossible. I’m sorry, but it’s true.”

  That wasn’t true. Lily didn’t know what she was talking about. She didn’t know Nadia. She could not judge. “No, it’s okay. She wants to be friends with Amanda. She came here because she was a little jealous, but once she got here, she realized it’s fine.”

  Lily tilted her head. “Are you sure about that?”

  “I have to be.”

  “Maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible if Amanda stayed in Montana with me. Maybe it would make things easier for you and Nadia.”

  A flash of frustration hit him hard. “She has a life in San Diego. A job. A house. Your dad.” Me, he wanted to say.

  “I’m not saying she has to move here. I am simply suggesting that it could be an option. Amanda is all about family. If she needs to be around family, we have a lot of it here now.”

  “You know she doesn’t consider the Blackwells her family.”

  “She’s scared, Blake. Once Rudy comes back with Thomas, we’re going to have a chance to mend the wounds that finding out the truth created. She’ll come around on the Blackwells once that happens.”

  As if dress shopping hadn’t been stressful enough, Lily managed to unintentionally make Blake’s blood pressure skyrocket into the stratosphere. He had a plan and she wanted to put a wrench in it.

  Amanda returned from the back. Her face was a little flushed.

  “So?” Lily and Blake asked at the same time.

  Amanda wore her best I’m sorry face. “You better not be too attached to that June nineteenth date because she’s awfully attached to that dress. She sent pictures to her mom and her sister. Her mom loves it and her sister hates it. I guess that’s okay, because hearing her sister hated it only made Nadia love it more.”

  Blake felt discombobulated. Nadia was here and wanted to get married this winter. Lily seemed certain that she could get Amanda to stay. What was happening? “She said she was not going to buy anything here. That’s the first dress she’s even looked at. She can’t possibly think she’s found the dress that fast, can she? That’s not how it works, is it?”

  Both Harrison girls shrugged. “I w
ish it was how it worked for me. It figures that the bride not looking for a dress finds one and the one who needs it now can’t find one that she even wants to try on.”

  “I will help you find one. There are a lot of dresses here. We’ll pick one,” Amanda promised. “What about the one on the mannequin back here. Come look.” She took Lily’s hand and led her toward the back of the store.

  Nadia came out, smiling ear to ear. “I can’t believe this. Who would have thought that in the middle of some tiny town in Montana, I would find the dress of my dreams? I have to buy it, Blake. I know I said I had no intention of looking while I was here, but this must be fate.”

  “I’m happy for you, but we agreed we wanted to get married in the summer,” he said, trying to assert himself in the least offensive way.

  “Well, I can’t wear this dress in the summer. We’re going to have to move it to winter. I’ll let you decide. Do you want to get married this winter or the next?”

  This was not a question he was answering in the middle of some dress shop. “I feel like we need to talk about this a little more.”

  “Blake, when a woman finds the dress, there’s no going back. I can’t not wear this dress when we say ‘I do.’” She waved over the clerk, who seemed to be helping Lily. “Ma’am, I’m ready.”

  Blake didn’t want to make a scene, but he’d been pushed just a little too far. “I want a summer wedding!” He raised his voice loud enough to make the woman coming to help check Nadia out stop in her tracks.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  AMANDA KNEW THAT SOUND. That was the sound of Blake’s final straw. He wasn’t the kind of man to lose his temper very often or very easily. For him to shout like that meant he was steaming mad about something.

  “Why are you yelling at me?” Nadia asked, her hand pressed to her chest.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.” He paused. “I meant what I said. I didn’t mean to raise my voice.”

  Amanda had to rescue him and give him a chance to calm down or he was going to be in the doghouse with Nadia. “I’ll be right back, Lily.” She ran to Blake’s side and wrapped her hand around his wrist. “Hey, why don’t you and I get some fresh air?” She smiled at Nadia. “Shopping isn’t his favorite activity.”