Matchmaking with a Mission

by B. J Daniels

  Flynn seemed lost in thought for a long moment, and she wondered if he understood the pull of Harper House more than he was admitting.

  She felt a kinship with him because of the house. It was odd. She’d just met him earlier today and yet it was as if she’d known him a lot longer. Which made this date a little sad, since she didn’t think she would be going out with him again.

  Flynn poured them both more champagne, emptying the bottle. “Don’t worry about me,” he said as if there hadn’t been a lag in the conversation. “I’m a man who always lands on his feet, one way or another. Meanwhile, I’m having dinner with a beautiful, fascinating woman.” His expression was so intense she was glad that the waitress appeared with their salads.

  The conversation turned to horses during dinner and that awkward moment passed. McKenna realized that he’d either guessed about her love of horses or someone had told him. But then, that would mean that he’d asked around about her. Arlene. How had McKenna forgotten that Arlene had set this up?

  She recalled how Arlene had been so confident this man would be perfect for her. She really should cancel her membership in Arlene’s dating service first thing in the morning. If only she’d read the contract more closely.

  The evening passed quickly, and suddenly they were at that uncomfortable end of the date where he walked her out to her pickup and she feared he would kiss her.

  And feared he wouldn’t.

  His kiss was nice. Soft, sweet, tentative. What surprised her was that she sensed a vulnerability in him when he kissed her that he’d kept well hidden in the time she’d been around him. Flynn Garrett didn’t have it all together as much as he wanted everyone to believe.

  He drew back from the kiss, and she was surprised to see regret in his gaze. As he turned and walked away, she could only assume she wouldn’t be seeing him again.

  Chapter Five

  The ringing of her cell phone wrenched McKenna out of a terrifying dream in which she was running for her life.

  She jerked up in the bed, her heart pounding, her night-shirt stuck to her skin with sweat.

  “Hello?”

  “McKenna, I wanted to catch you before you took off this morning.”

  She glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even six o’clock. “Arlene?” If she was calling to see how McKenna’s date had gone—

  “I didn’t want you to feel bad about what happened last night. These things happen, although I was surprised. He seemed like such a nice young man. And he was so interested in you I couldn’t imagine why he’d cancel.”

  “What?” She was still caught in the dream; danger hunkered in the room like dense fog, making everything seem surreal.

  “I just feel bad because I couldn’t get hold of you to tell you. I tried your cell. You must have had it turned off. And when I called the restaurant to give you a heads-up—”

  “Arlene, what are you talking about?”

  “Your date last night. I just hate that he stood you up, but I have someone else who I think—”

  “Wait a minute.” McKenna sat up straighter and rubbed her free hand over her face as she tried to make sense of what Arlene was saying. “I wasn’t stood up.”

  “You mean he changed his mind and met you at the restaurant after all?” Arlene let out a relieved laugh. “Good, I wasn’t wrong about him. I told you Nate Dempsey was perfect for you. I’m so glad he showed up. I do wish he’d let me know, though. If he’d read the dating service agreement, he’d have—”

  “Nate Dempsey?” McKenna repeated.

  “Your date.” Arlene laughed. “It must have been some night if you don’t remember his name.”

  Arlene was mixed up. McKenna regretted the day she’d signed up for the online dating service.

  “Arlene, my date was with Flynn Garrett. Not anyone named Nate Dempsey.”

  Silence. An anomaly for Arlene.

  McKenna felt her first sense of unease. “My date was with Flynn, right?”

  “I’ve never heard of a Flynn Garrett,” Arlene said at last. “Who did you have dinner with last night?” she asked, sounding horrified.

  It was too early in the morning for this. “Arlene, I have to go.” McKenna hung up and replayed the scene at the restaurant. She’d just assumed that Flynn was her date. Now that she thought about it, he’d never mentioned the online dating service—and neither had she.

  She felt a little foolish. But, then again, no harm had been done. She’d enjoyed dinner and Flynn Garrett.

  Unfortunately, she couldn’t help but wonder who this Nate Dempsey was. And why he’d canceled his date with her at the last minute. Arlene said he’d been “so interested” in her?

  Not that it mattered, she thought as she gave up on returning to sleep and headed for the shower in an attempt to throw off the remnants of the nightmare she’d been having before Arlene’s phone call. Her legs felt weak as if she really had been running for her life. The dream emerged again. She had a flash of Harper House. It had been dark in the dream. She’d been running away from the house, she thought with a chill, because someone had been chasing her.

  Turning on the shower, she climbed under the spray, determined to forget the nightmare. She had a big day ahead of her. Once she had the house cleaned she could start painting. She was anxious to get her horses on the property and get moved in.

  Her sister Faith was still asleep, and Eve was over at her own house this morning as McKenna left. She drove through Old Town Whitehorse—what was left of it, which was only a few buildings.

  Old Town was the first settlement of Whitehorse. It had been nearer the Missouri River, in the country McKenna had grown up in. But when the railroad came through in the 1800s, most of the town migrated five miles north, taking the name with it.

  The original settlement of Whitehorse was now little more than a ghost town except for a handful of buildings, including the community center and the one-room schoolhouse, in the area now referred to as Old Town.

  The Baileys had been one of the first families, along with the Cavanaughs and the Jacksons, to settle in the original Whitehorse. That was one reason McKenna had wanted to buy closer to her family’s ranch. This was where her history was. By buying the Harper property she would be continuing a tradition around Old Town.

  She was thinking about that—and the roots she would be putting down—when she parked her truck across the street from the hardware store. As she got out of her pickup, she heard the train pull in.

  The tracks were just across a small town park. Today it was the Amtrak passenger train coming through, the only line in the state that provided service as far west as Seattle or east to Chicago.

  As the train slowed to a stop to pick up several waiting passengers, McKenna heard a horse whinny and turned to see a truck and horse trailer a few vehicles ahead of hers. Nothing unusual about seeing horses in trailers on the main street in this part of Montana.

  What caught her eye was the horse sticking his head out the side of the trailer. It was a spotted Appaloosa, and even before she walked over to get a closer look she knew she’d seen this horse before—and where.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said a deep male voice behind her. “Old Blue is pretty temperamental.”

  She pulled her hand back from the horse’s neck and turned. From behind her, the Appaloosa nuzzled her shoulder and snuffled her hair.

  “That’s odd—he usually doesn’t take to strangers,” the man said with a shake of his head and a wry smile. He rested his hands on his jean-clad hips and eyed her from under the brim of his straw hat.

  “I have a way with horses,” she said after her initial shock had passed at recognizing him as well as the horse.

  “I can see that.” He was the man she’d seen parked on the road at the auction, the one who’d been standing back, leaning against his pickup, watching from a distance.

  She’d taken him for a construction worker when she’d seen him at the auction because of the logo on his truck, she recalled
. The night before that, when she’d seen him ride over the hill behind Harper House on this Appaloosa, she’d taken him for a trespasser like herself.

  Now she was more than a little curious about his interest in her house and why he’d been digging the evening before the auction on what was now her property.

  “The first time I saw this horse I knew I would recognize him if I ever saw him again.” She chuckled. “Imagine my surprise at seeing him again. And you.”

  “I guess it’s a small world,” he said, smiling back at her.

  “Not that small.” She glanced at the Montana license plate on the back of his pickup. Park County. He was a long way from home. Taking a step back, she craned her neck to see the logo on the side of his truck.

  Dempsey Construction.

  No wonder she’d thought he worked construction.

  Dempsey?

  Her gaze shot back to the man. “Nate Dempsey?” She couldn’t believe this. This was the man Arlene thought would be perfect for her?

  He wasn’t nearly as good-looking as Flynn Garrett, although he was nicely built, tall with slim hips and muscular broad shoulders. His eyes were a warm, rich brown, and his hair that curled at the nape of his neck under his Western straw hat was a darker blond than her own.

  Lantern-jawed, his features were rugged and rough, like a man who’d been in his share of fistfights. But when he smiled, well, there was something about him that made her heart beat a little faster.

  “I’m McKenna Bailey,” she said. “The woman you stood up last night.”

  At least he had the good grace to look sheepish. “I can explain about that.”

  She cocked her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “This ought to be good.”

  NATE CURSED HIMSELF for making the date. At the time he’d thought it necessary to find out how much of a threat McKenna Bailey might be, and Arlene Evans had been a wealth of information about McKenna and the Baileys.

  But after he’d seen McKenna at the auction yesterday the date hadn’t been necessary. In fact, he’d felt the date would be dangerous. He hadn’t wanted her to know who he was. Let alone what he was doing in Whitehorse.

  Now, though, he saw that standing her up had been a mistake.

  McKenna Bailey was everything he’d heard she was—and more. She was trouble in a pair of slim-fitting jeans and boots. And if he wasn’t careful, she would get him killed.

  “I didn’t stand you up,” he said. “Not exactly,” he added quickly. “I called Arlene and told her I couldn’t make it because I was running so late, then I realized after I hung up that you would already be at the restaurant. So I dropped everything and hurried into town, but then I saw you having dinner with some other man….” He shrugged, amazed how easily lying came back to him.

  “I thought he was my date,” she said, looking a little less angry.

  “I can see where you could mix us up, especially if his name was Nate Dempsey, too.”

  She flushed. “I forgot to get a name from Arlene when she told me about the date. I just assumed since this other man was at the restaurant alone…” She groaned, realizing she was digging herself in deeper.

  He smiled at her, letting her off the hook even though he enjoyed seeing her flustered. He doubted that happened often. “I’m the one who’s sorry. Apparently we just weren’t meant to have dinner last night.”

  “Apparently,” she said and glanced toward his horse trailer and old Blue, his horse. “So now you’re leaving town?”

  “What gave you that idea?” he asked.

  “Your license plates.” She narrowed those oh-so-blue eyes of hers at him. “You’re not from around here, but you look familiar.”

  “I just have that kind of face,” he said, feeling the heat of her gaze.

  She was still eyeing him. “So what brings you to Whitehorse?”

  He smiled. “You sound like a cop.”

  “Have you been interrogated by a lot of cops?”

  He laughed, shaking his head at her. “I thought I explained about dinner.”

  “You did,” she said, nodding in agreement. “Now I’m just wondering what you were digging for the other evening out at the old Harper place.”

  So she had seen him riding away. “Digging?”

  Her hands went to her hips, her eyes narrowed again. “Shovel. Dirt. Red-and-blue-plaid shirt. Appaloosa horse. That horse,” she said, turning to point at Blue.

  “I admit I was out there riding the property, but I’m afraid I didn’t do any digging,” he said. What was one more lie?

  She frowned, seeming not so sure now. “Well, someone was there digging. I wonder who it was?”

  He shrugged. “When I rode the perimeter of the property I noticed that the fences are in good shape. Better shape than I thought they’d be in.”

  “If you were interested in the property, then why didn’t you bid?”

  “I was just looking for a cheap place to board my horse while I’m in town. Truthfully, I really didn’t think anyone would bid on the house and I thought…” He smiled. He did have a great smile.

  “You thought you could leave your horse out there for free,” she finished for him.

  “Not just my horse. I saw a spot on that creek in the cottonwoods that would have been perfect to pitch my tent.”

  She glanced at his rig and he could almost read her mind. Neither the truck nor the horse trailer came cheap. “You don’t look exactly destitute.”

  He shook his head. “I have some business in town, but I’m trying to make it feel more like a vacation. I’ve always preferred the outdoors and like to camp.” He shrugged.

  “I’m sorry I ruined your plans,” McKenna said, thinking how she’d also messed up Flynn Garrett’s plans. She, apparently, was just that kind of woman.

  “So what are you planning to do with the place?” Nate Dempsey asked.

  “Live there.”

  “You aren’t serious.”

  She bristled.

  “Sorry. I saw the state the house is in. I’m sure it would be cheaper to start fresh with a new house.”

  She really was getting tired of hearing this. “It’s going to take a lot of work, but I’m not afraid of hard work,” she said, annoyed. Why was it that everyone was so negative about the place? “I happen to like old houses. There’s plenty of room and it’s quiet.”

  “Well, it’s isolated enough,” he agreed.

  She’d heard enough. He must have sensed that he’d made her angry again.

  “Look, I’m sorry. We really have gotten off on the wrong foot. Let me make it up to you.”

  “That’s not necessary.”

  “No, give me a chance. I’m pretty good with a hammer.”

  She would hope so, given the logo on his truck. “I’m afraid I can’t afford to hire anyone right now,” she said, taken aback. She’d expected him to ask her to dinner again. Apparently he’d changed his mind about wanting a date with her.

  “I wasn’t looking for a job. Actually, I’m taking some time off, but I thought maybe we could make a trade. As I said, I was looking for a place to board my horse while I’m here. I just thought maybe we could trade horse boarding for some part-time construction work. After all, I do owe you after last night.”

  “You don’t owe me anything. I ended up with a very nice date last night. In fact, he was great.”

  Nate arched a brow. “Great, huh? Well, that would be hard to top. But was there any electricity involved?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Did he offer to check your wiring?”

  She had to smile. “As a matter of fact…no.”

  “I didn’t think so.”

  She felt herself weaken. She definitely could use his expertise and she had plenty of room to board his horse. So what was the problem?

  “Just think about my offer.” He gave her a smile. What was it about that smile?

  “I’ll give it some thought.” She took a step backward. “You’re sure we’ve never me
t before?” she asked again.

  “I’m sure. I would have remembered.”

  NATE REMEMBERED ONLY too well. And he figured it was just a matter of time before McKenna remembered, too. By then, he hoped, he’d be long gone.

  “Nice horse,” she said, giving Blue another pat before starting across the street.

  He still couldn’t believe Blue had taken a liking to her. She really was good with horses. He thought about her date last night and wondered who the man had been. He’d lied about seeing her with the man. Arlene had filled him in when she’d called this morning to offer to set him up with someone else.

  A sliver of worry burrowed under his skin as he watched McKenna cross the street and considered what to do next. He had to find a way to spend more time at Harper House. As he climbed into his truck he looked in her direction again. She was standing in front of the hardware store, her blond hair floating around her shoulders, her Western hat brim low, so low he couldn’t see those incredible blue eyes, but he could feel them on him.

  Had she remembered where she’d seen him before? He would never forget the first time he’d seen her, sitting on her horse outside the fence at Harper House all those years ago. Had he known then that their paths would cross? Or had he only dreamed they would?

  But not like this. Not with him lying to her.

  He told himself he couldn’t concern himself with anything but finishing what he’d come to Whitehorse to do. He couldn’t let anyone get in his way. Not even McKenna Bailey. Especially McKenna Bailey.

  Why the hell did she have to buy that house?

  He shook his head as he started the engine and pulled away. As he drove down the main street he had that feeling again of being watched. Hadn’t he figured he wasn’t the only one who’d come back to Whitehorse after hearing of Ellis Harper’s death? He was counting on company. What better place to settle old scores than Harper House, where it had all begun?

  THE HOUSE FELT EVEN colder than before when McKenna unlocked the door and stepped inside. A weak June sun shone in the dirty windows. She climbed the stairs to the third floor and looked out to the spot where she had ridden as a young girl. She could imagine herself sitting astride her horse, staring up at the house.