Forever in Love (Montana Brides)

by Leeanna Morgan

  Amy frowned. Old habits were hard to break. “It was for the best.”

  He grunted. “Maybe, maybe not. Are you planning on leaving again?”

  “No.” Everything she’d worked so hard for had begun to disappear the moment Catherine arrived on her doorstep. All the years of studying, the endless hospital rounds and dealing with Saturday night drunks hadn’t amounted to much. Nine years after leaving Bozeman she’d returned. But this time she had her sister to look after and a lot of broken dreams pushed to the back of her heart.

  She turned the radio back on. Nathan didn’t move. She tried to focus on the music instead of the thoughts skimming around her head. At some point she’d given up believing in herself. She’d accepted the life she was living and it had been enough. But not now, not when her sister’s future was at stake. She wanted more for Catherine than second best and she’d come to Montana to find it.

  “So what’s the job Stan offered you?”

  Amy gazed down at her hands. They were gripping the edge of the seat so tightly that it was a wonder she didn’t leave fingerprints in the foam. She took a deep breath and released some of the tension running through her body. “He needs a physician at the hospital. One of his doctors left two months ago and he hasn’t been able to find a replacement. He’s happy for me to work three days a week. It’s only a six month contract, but it’s a start.”

  “What will you do with Catherine while you’re working?”

  “There’s a daycare facility attached to the hospital. I’m going to take a look at it today. Why did you have to come into Bozeman?”

  He cleared his throat. “I’ve got some supplies to pick up from Jake’s Hardware. I could look after Catherine while you have your meeting with Stan.”

  Amy glanced quickly across the cab. Nathan had already done more than he’d wanted to. “Thanks for the offer, but we’ll be okay.”

  “You don’t think I can take care of her?”

  “No…I mean…yes. I know she’d be safe with you. I just don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

  His lips squeezed together in a stubborn line. “It’s no trouble. How long will you be?”

  “Stan’s going to explain what I’ll be doing, then show me around the hospital. It shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

  “I’ll drop you off and meet you outside his office at about twelve. If Catherine gets hungry I’ll find her some lunch.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “You sort out a job and I’ll see you back at the hospital.”

  She looked over her shoulder. Catherine had fallen asleep, unaware that a certain six-foot cowboy had nudged his way into her life. All Amy had to do was get a job and make a better future for Catherine. One that didn’t involve Nathan Gray.

  Nathan drove along Main Street, taking in the sights and sounds of downtown Bozeman. He hadn’t come into town much over the last few months, except to rescue his wayward brothers when they’d had one too many beers. Or a sister who didn’t want anyone’s help.

  It was just as well his mom wasn’t home yet. Sale flags hung from nearly every window, enticing bargain hunters into their stores for a little retail therapy before Thanksgiving.

  Last year their house had looked like a vegetable market. His mom must have bought every glowing three inch pumpkin in Montana. His dad had strung them along the ceiling, over the fireplace and around the staircase, anywhere to keep his wife happy. When he’d switched them on their house looked like it had been taken over by orange aliens from outer space.

  Not content with glowing pumpkins, his mom had consulted Martha Stewart’s website. She’d built a turkey centerpiece for their table. Every vegetable known to mankind had been used in the two foot high creation. It came complete with a long cranberry neck and enough corn cobs to feed thirty people.

  This year Sally had been put in charge of the decorations. God help them all if she got a whiff of the bargains flaunting themselves in the stores.

  He turned right, heading to the outskirts of town and toward the one store he felt at home in. Any red-blooded male could be forgiven for dilly-dallying over the merchandise at Jake’s Hardware. It was a man’s store, built rough and rugged like its owner. You wouldn’t find color coordinated rows of frilly stuff in here. No one tried to interest you in a coil of twine if you’d come in looking for an angle grinder. If you wanted a power tool you went to the power tool aisle. You didn’t find them stuck between the door handles and kitchen faucets. And man, you could guarantee you’d find every top notch angle grinder on the market, waiting for your inspection.

  He moved his rear view mirror to keep an eye on Catherine. As soon as Amy had left the pickup, Catherine’s big brown eyes had fluttered open, staring at him without a care in the world. He’d half expected her to start screaming, but she hadn’t, and he didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.

  He pulled into a park outside the hardware store and stared at the window display. Pumpkins of all shapes and sizes had been stacked around the latest do-it-yourself products to hit the shelves. He peered a bit closer, trying to figure out what had been draped under the pumpkins. A quilt. Not just any quilt, but an orange monstrosity with turkeys and leaves and apples sewn everywhere.

  Jake had hit rock bottom if he’d given in to the marketing frenzy tearing through every other store in Bozeman. A man didn’t need cute when he walked into this store. He wanted something tough and dependable, with enough power to blow the national gridline to smithereens.

  Unlocking his seatbelt, Nathan looked over his shoulder. A smile lit Catherine’s face. Clapping her hands and arching her body, she let him know she was ready to shop. He grinned at the excitement on her face. “I’ll get your stroller and then we’ll go inside and buy what we need.”

  As soon as he opened his door a gust of ice cold wind tore through the cab. He rushed around to the back of his truck, opened the solid canopy and pulled Catherine’s stroller out. He’d forgotten to ask Amy how to put the thing up, but it couldn’t be hard. He’d seen parents flick them open with one hand.

  He tried a flick. It didn’t work. Yanking it open wasn’t getting him very far either. His gaze tore over the frame, almost as fast as the wind whipping through his jacket. At the rate he was going he’d have frostbite before the damn thing opened. He peered through the window at Catherine. She’d given up on the wiggle. Her face had puckered into a scowl and she looked as though she was about to let rip with a giant wail.

  “I couldn’t help but notice your predicament.”

  Jake stood on the sidewalk, his round body covered from shoulder to hip in a sheepskin jacket that looked as thick as Nathan’s head felt. “Do you know how to work these things?”

  Jake shook his head. “Damn fool contraptions built for women. Bring your little one into the store and we’ll get it open in there. Do you need a hand with those baby bag things the ladies carry around?”

  Nathan raised his eyebrows. He never knew Jake was so knowledgeable about babies, but he wasn’t about to ask any questions in subzero temperatures. He passed the stroller to Jake and pointed to the back of the truck. By the time he had Catherine out of her seat, Jake was heading toward the store with Catherine’s pink backpack slung over his shoulder and an orange stroller clutched in his hand.

  A sheen of ice covered the pavement and Nathan kept a careful eye on where his boots landed. Slipping butt first on the ground with a baby in his arms wasn’t what Amy had in mind when she’d left her sister with him. But it might be what the three heads poking over the top row of pumpkins in the window display expected. Great, he thought. An audience. Just what every man needed.

  A bell jingled as Jake opened the door. “Come inside quick. That damn wind’s enough to freeze a man solid.”

  The wooden door slammed shut and Nathan breathed a sigh of relief. Catherine’s face peeked out of her pink hood. She stuck her fingers in her mouth and started chewing.

  “She’s hungry,” Jake declared. “Best get her
one of those scones you baked this morning, Doris.”

  Doris turned from the window, scowling at her husband. “Just because a baby sticks her fingers in her mouth doesn’t mean she’s hungry. And if you don’t keep your voice down you’ll scare the wee lass silly.” Doris moved from in front of the artfully designed pumpkins to stand smack bang in front of Nathan. “You’ve been holding out on us. Who’s the little charmer in your arms?”

  Two other pumpkin people nodded, looking expectantly across the room.

  “Don’t pester the boy. Can’t you see he’s got his arms full?” Jake yanked at the stroller again, cursing the mechanical nitwit who’d put the contraption together.

  “None of that language around this little lady, if you please.” Doris walked across to her husband, pushing a lever at the top of the frame. “There you go. Easy as pie.” She smiled, patting her husband’s slack jaw.

  “What did I tell you? Made for women.” Jake locked the stroller open. “All ready for your mystery baby.”

  Doris moved between Nathan and her husband. “Not so fast. This wee lass looks as though she could do with a cuddle. What do you think, Nathan?”

  He looked between Catherine and Doris. Catherine stopped chewing. Her rosy faced grin latched onto Doris. With outstretched hands she made the decision for him. “Looks like someone knows what she wants. Just watch your hair. She’s not too particular about what goes in her mouth at the moment.”

  “It’s just her way of figuring out this world,” Doris crooned. “Isn’t that right little one?”

  Catherine bounced in her arms, giggling at her audience. “Let’s get you out of your snowsuit and find you a little something to chew on.”

  Jake made a scoffing noise. Doris speared him with one of her world famous don’t-mess-with-me looks. He cleared his throat, gazing at the faces staring at the best bit of gossip to hit his store all morning. “Well don’t keep us in suspense, Nathan. Who is she?”

  Steve Murdoch laughed out loud. “More importantly, who’s her mother?”

  Nathan had never liked Steve. For someone close to fifty he still had an awful lot of testosterone packed between his ears and not a lot of anything else.

  Jessie Adams glared at her pumpkin neighbor. “That’ll be enough of that sort of talk. Just because Nathan walks into the store with a bundle of baby in his arms doesn’t mean it’s his.” Jessie’s words weren’t idle conversation fillers. She attended the same quilting group as Doris and his mom. What those women didn’t know about everyone in Bozeman wasn’t worth knowing.

  “Don’t stir yourself up over nothing,” Steve chided. He moved his hand, almost like he was about to pat Jessie on the shoulder. One look at the scowl on her face and his hand dropped away quicker than a branding iron.

  Nathan unzipped his jacket and grabbed Catherine’s snowsuit off the counter. Four pairs of eyes followed him across the room. The only person ignoring him was the person they most wanted to know about. He left his jacket on top of the backpack, wondering what they’d make of their little visitor. “Everyone meet Catherine Sullivan. She’s Amy’s half sister.”

  Doris frowned. “The same Amy Sullivan that lived with your family for a couple of years?”

  “Yep.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Amy and Catherine are staying on the ranch until they get settled in Bozeman.”

  Steve grinned. “It must be mighty cozy with another two females keeping you company.”

  Nathan clenched his fists, wanting to wipe the smirk off Steve’s face.

  “Get your mind out of the gutter,” Jessie hissed. “Some of us folk have kind hearts and others should be put out of their misery.” She glared at Steve, turning her back on his careless shrug. “It must have come as a shock finding out that she was going to be a big sister after all these years. Where’s Amy’s mother?”

  He didn’t know, but he figured Amy did. “I’m not sure.”

  Doris nodded. “I vaguely remember her. Small woman, always busy doing something but never seemed to get anywhere. Your mom’s as proud as a peacock over what Amy has achieved. We saw her graduation photos in the quilting group a few years back. Isn’t that right Jessie?”

  Jessie nodded. “Is she going to work at the hospital?”

  “Hopefully. She’s meeting Stan now.”

  Doris sighed. “That Stan’s a nice young man. If I was twenty years younger and wasn’t married to a wonderful husband I’d make sure I got to know him too.”

  “Just as well you’re married then isn’t it?” Jake muttered from behind the counter, a plate of scones in one hand and a kettle in the other. “Take a seat over by the pot-belly stove everyone. We can all enjoy a hot cup of coffee while Nathan tells us about this little girl.”

  Nathan glanced around the room at the eager faces. He’d only come in for a few things but it looked as though he’d be here for a while yet. “You know about as much as I do.”

  Doris broke one of the scones into quarters and gave Catherine a piece to chew on. “Not to worry,” she said. “Come and tell us what your parents are doing.”

  That he could manage. After five weeks away he’d had enough postcards from Florida to wallpaper his mom and dad’s spare bedroom. Twice over. He reached for a mug of coffee, smiling at Catherine as she tried to squish another handful of scone into her mouth.

  He forgot about the freezing wind howling through the streets, forgot about the jobs he’d pushed aside to come into town today. Instead he sat back, enjoying his mug of thick black coffee, the heat from the stove, and the people around him.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Walking from ward to ward, Amy began to see the differences between the community hospital in Bozeman and the larger hospital she’d been working at in Chicago. The pace was slower. Patients weren’t stacked in the corridors, waiting in queues that never seemed to end.

  She watched an elderly man in a wheelchair shake Stan’s hand, joking about whether he’d be home in time to watch the Dallas Cowboys. The light-hearted banter touched her heart and made her even more determined to make the most of the opportunity she’d been offered.

  The Director of the hospital had been another surprise. Stan Lewis stood well over six-foot tall. Built like a grizzly bear and with a deep voice to match, he’d made her feel at home the moment she’d stepped into his office.

  “What do you think of our hospital?”

  She gazed around the emergency room. Doctors moved from one curtained off area to another, assessing patients and doing what needed to be done to send them home or onto another ward. “I think it’s a wonderful facility. You’ve got a great team of staff working for you.”

  “Could you be part of this team?”

  She smiled. “I could.”

  “In that case, let’s go back upstairs. I’ve got a contract ready for you to sign.”

  While they waited for the elevator, Amy’s gaze wondered around the main entrance. Sunlight streamed through two walls of glass, casting shadows behind a carved wooden sculpture at the far end of the room. Instead of standard black plastic seating, the reception area looked bright and welcoming. Chili-red chairs had been clustered around yellow boxes full of toys. Bookshelves lined another wall, keeping children and adults happy while they waited to see a doctor.

  She took a deep breath. This was where she wanted to work. This was where she would start to rebuild her life with her sister. She glanced across at Stan as the elevator doors opened. “How long have you been living in Bozeman?”

  “Four years this winter. I moved here from New York after my wife passed away. It was a big decision to make, but Montana’s a great place to raise a family.”

  “I’m sorry about your wife. How many children do you have?”

  “One daughter. Her name’s Annabelle and she’s seven-years-old. My wife’s cousins live in Great Falls and we’d always enjoyed visiting them. After Sandra died they kept pestering me to come for a holiday. By the time Annabelle and I got here, they’d made a list of job
s I could apply for and all the reasons in the world why we should stay. I can’t imagine living anywhere else now.”

  Amy nodded. “I know how you feel.” The elevator doors pinged open and two pairs of eyes stared at her. Catherine sat in her stroller, her face breaking into a wide grin.

  Nathan stood up from the sofa and looked between her and Stan. “We’re early. The receptionist said you were looking around the hospital.”

  “We’ve just finished,” Amy said. “Stan, this is Nathan Gray. And this is Catherine, my sister.”

  Stan reached out, shaking Nathan’s hand. “We’ve met before. Nathan helped out on a fundraising event we had at the hospital last year. He auctioned off a five day working vacation on his ranch. It was so successful we’re doing it again this year.” He crouched down beside the stroller and held Catherine’s hand. She gurgled in delight. “Nice to meet you, little one.”

  Amy caught Nathan’s stare. She frowned. “Did you find what you wanted?”

  “Everything’s stacked in the truck.”

  He still didn’t look too happy about something. “Was Catherine okay?”

  “She had a great time.”

  Amy looked between Nathan and Catherine, trying to figure out what was wrong. “I’ve just got to sign some paperwork and then I’ll be finished.”

  Stan stood up and smiled. “It doesn’t seem that long ago that Annabelle was this young. You’re welcome to bring Catherine through to my office, Nathan.”

  Nathan gazed down at Catherine, wiggling in her stroller. He looked back at Stan. “You go on ahead. I’ll wait out here and keep Catherine amused.”

  “We won’t be long.” Stan walked toward his office, holding the door open for Amy. “I just need your signature at the bottom of your contract and then we’re all done.”

  A red folder sat on the top of his desk. He flipped it open and held it out to Amy. She took the pen he passed to her and signed on the dotted line. “Thanks, Stan.”

  “Welcome to our team. Ask for Marcie Jacobs next Monday. She’ll take you to the uniform room and give you the keys to your locker.” He shook her hand and held the door open. “I’ll email you more details this afternoon and see you in a few days time.”