Forever Dreams (Montana Brides)

by Leeanna Morgan

  He moved further into the barn. “I said, come down…”

  A pile of hay landed squarely on his head.

  Jordan hooted with laughter and Gracie laughed so hard she fell backward into the loft. All Trent could see were her feet dangling in mid air. He shook his body like a wet dog, flicking hay everywhere. Great clumps fell from his head and he plucked rogue strands out of his mouth and from the front of his shirt. “Gracie Donnelly, you would have to be the most troublesome import Montana has ever seen.”

  Sticking her head over the side of the loft, she yelled, “Comes with being a kiwi. We breed them tough in New Zealand, not like you girls from Montana.”

  Trent and Jordan looked at each other and grinned.

  “She’s all yours bro’,” Jordan said. “It’s because of you she’s here, so you should take some responsibility.”

  Trent moved toward the ladder leaning against the back wall. He started climbing. “You made a critical error of judgment, Gracie.” He’d almost reached the hatch. “Always have an alternative escape route before you belittle a man’s ego.”

  She sat in the middle of the loft, grinning like a cat that had caught a tasty mouse.

  “Before you come any closer, just remember whose cooking lasagna for dinner tonight. Any funny business and the cook goes on strike.”

  “Who do you think cooked before you arrived?”

  “You had leftovers from the night before when Adele cooked?” She asked hopefully.

  He shook his head, moving closer. “Nope.”

  Gracie wiggled backward. “Okay, hotshot. I take back my slander on your manly virtues. Let’s call it quits and go downstairs.”

  “Nope.”

  Her gaze darted around the loft. “Jordan…” she yelled. “Are you still here?”

  Silence.

  Trent picked up two handfuls of hay and moved closer.

  Pushing back as far as she could go, she scrunched her eyes tight. “Just watch the tiara.” She held her breath, waiting for the hay to strike.

  Trent gazed down at her upturned face. She looked like she was about to turn blue from oxygen deprivation. Something warm slipped along his veins and wedged in his heart. He dropped the hay and took another step forward.

  “Come on, Trent. Just get it over with.”

  He knew this was a bad idea, knew it could be the beginning of the end of Gracie’s stay on the ranch. But fool that he was, his body decided to ignore what his brain told him was right. He knelt in front of her, planting an almost-not-there kiss on her lips, savoring the sweet touch of her mouth with something close to reverence.

  Gracie jerked backward, staring at him with eyes the color of a Montana sky before a rainstorm hit; deep, dark blue, swallowing everything in its path.

  It could have finished then. It should have finished then.

  He should have told her how sorry he was, what a jerk he’d been. But instead of pulling away he ran his fingers along her jaw, brushing the edge of her lips with a hand that wasn’t quite steady. As the pad of his thumb brushed along her mouth, Gracie moved forward, leaning into his body and undoing the last of his good intentions.

  He tilted her face toward his, teasing the corner of her mouth with his lips. Gracie’s hands curled in the front of his shirt, pulling him closer until he felt the heat of her body against his chest. Her lips opened and her tongue flicked inside his mouth, sending all the blood in his body due south.

  The need slamming through his body shocked him, left him trembling and so damn off-center that he couldn’t think straight. Couldn’t do anything but haul Gracie closer, groaning into her open mouth like a love struck fool.

  And that’s when he knew he was in trouble. He liked Gracie. More than liked her.

  If that didn’t give him enough reason to run like hell he didn’t know what else would. He’d traveled down the same path before and look where that had gotten him. Married to a woman who’d happily traded him for a suit-clad executive in a concrete jungle. After saying goodbye to the only woman he’d ever loved he’d buried himself so deep in misery that it had taken years to shovel his way out. And it wouldn’t happen again.

  “Gracie,” he said, drawing back from her.

  Taking a gulp of air, Gracie stared at him with a dazed look on her face.

  He didn’t know where to look. He stuffed his hands in his jeans, moving as far back as he could without looking like he was on the run. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kiss you.”

  Gracie’s cheeks flamed brighter than the feathers on a red-tail hawk. She scrambled to her knees, flicking hay off her clothes and seriously avoiding eye contact with him. “Don’t think anything of it. It was just a kiss. I won’t hold it against you.”

  Her face got a whole lot hotter.

  He’d ruined everything. Lost his mind. But damn if she didn’t look cute with her tiara hanging sideways off her head. He reached out to catch it before it fell, but thought better of it. He grabbed her hand instead, hauling her the rest of the way out of the hay before he made an even bigger mistake.

  “Come on, Gracie. It’s time to leave the loft to the mice.”

  Gracie turned on the kitchen faucet, rinsing a bowl covered in smears of chocolate frosting. The last few days had flown by. In between ignoring the hottest kiss she’d ever had, she’d made a few more trips into town. The last decorations for the barn dance had arrived and thanks to Erin’s list from the library, she’d tracked down another J. Green in Great Falls. Only it turned out he was too young to be her father.

  When she wasn’t in town or helping Adele in the kitchen, Trent had let her tag along with him. He’d introduced her to the other cowhands and taught her how to fix a fence. It was just a pity he’d spent more time laughing than helping mend the wobbly wires.

  “Are you ready yet, Gracie?” Trent stood in the kitchen doorway, hands planted on his hips and sunglasses covering his eyes.

  She didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to work out he was getting titchy. “If you hadn’t eaten half the chocolate out of the bowl I would have been ready ages ago.” Gracie put the cake she’d just finished frosting into a box. “Did you get the chicken wings out of the fridge?”

  “And the wine, and the salady things you made. Are you sure you don’t want to take the kitchen sink?”

  “It wouldn’t fit in your truck.” Gracie shooed him out of the way and raced upstairs, yanking a towel off her wet head. “Can I borrow your hairdryer?” she yelled over the banister.

  “Top drawer on the left in the bathroom.”

  Gracie found the hairdryer and plugged it in. Bending forward she let the hot air blow through her hair. She flicked her head up and looked in the mirror. Thank God for ties and baseball caps. The frizzy red halo staring back at her made her look like she’d been shoved into a power socket. Jamming the hairdryer back into the drawer, she ran into her bedroom. In two seconds flat she’d pulled her chocolate splattered t-shirt off and found a clean one to wear. Ponytail, baseball cap, lip-gloss, a flick of mascara and she was done.

  She took a deep breath and then remembered her camera. She opened her closet and started hunting. Trent had taken her to the cattle sale yards yesterday and she was sure she’d put the camera back on the shelf in front of her, but it wasn’t there.

  Gracie had a quick look under her bed and on top of the dresser. Not there either. She walked onto the landing. Trent was disappearing out the door with a box of food in his arms. “Have you seen my…”

  “Your camera’s in the truck.”

  “How did you know what I was looking for?”

  Trent grinned over his shoulder and Gracie’s traitorous heart went flipperty-flop. “It’s turned into your third arm. I haven’t seen you leave the house without it. You’d better hurry or the barbecue will be over before we get there.”

  Gracie glanced at her watch, stomping on her hormones as she headed downstairs. They were ten minutes late. “It’s just as well I know you’re exaggerating.”

/>   “Tell me that when you see the crowd of kids waiting for food.” He headed out the door.

  Gracie’s eyes darted to the nicely rounded bottom and long legs striding through the timber frame. Not that she cared what Trent’s bottom looked like, of course. But a woman couldn’t help but appreciate what was clearly outlined for the entire world to see. Especially a woman that had been living with the body beneath those faded blue jeans for the last two weeks.

  She took one last look around the foyer before locking the front door behind her. Snug jeans or not, Trent McKenzie was completely off limits.

  Gracie sniffed the air inside the cab. “You smell nice.” She bit her lip, cursing her runaway mouth.

  “You’ll make me blush with all that sweet talk.”

  Gracie locked her seatbelt into place and took a deep breath. Not a good move. She could practically taste pine and man rolled into one delicious package. “You should save your blushes for your future wife.”

  “Ouch…do I detect a hint of grumpiness inside that little body of yours?”

  “I’m not grumpy. Have you made any progress on your hunt for the perfect childbearing woman?”

  Trent spun the wheels on his truck as he drove away from the house. “What do you think?”

  Gracie knew he’d been working from dawn to dusk. Unless he’d started wooing someone on the phone he hadn’t been near any females except Gracie, Adele, his mom, and a few thousand heifers. “I think I’m being grumpy.”

  “Nice to know you’re not perfect.”

  “Keep that in mind when you see Jo-Jo and Katie. From what I’ve heard they’ll be happy to whisper sweet nothings in your ear all night.”

  Trent leaned forward and switched the radio on. “Should be an interesting evening then.”

  Gracie watched a group of kids kick a ball around the backyard. Their parents sat on picnic chairs nearby, enjoying the last heat of the sun.

  Tess’s house sat tall and proud on a tree-filled section in the center of Bozeman’s historic district. Surrounded by homes built nearly a hundred years ago, it made Gracie feel like she’d stepped back in time. The hardwood floors had creaked under her feet when Tess had given her a guided tour of her beautiful home. Wood detailing gave the house bucket loads of character and the smell of lemon-fresh polish made Gracie feel a little homesick.

  “Come and meet my friend, Kristina Green.”

  Gracie turned toward Trent’s mom. “She’s here?”

  “I brought her as my date.” Karen grinned. “Jim’s running a rodeo course out of State and I thought she’d enjoy catching up with everyone. We’re sitting on the patio.”

  Gracie followed Karen across the yard. She spotted Tess sitting beside the Deputy of Police, a mountain of a man called Dan Carter. Trent sat beside Dan, with Katie Jenkins firmly planted beside him.

  As soon as they’d arrived, Katie had introduced her nearly-six-foot-in-heels self, then tried to whisk Trent away to God knew where. It hadn’t worked. Trent had stood beside Gracie until the last sausage had disappeared from the barbecue. She didn’t know whether he’d stayed because he was hungry or because he felt obliged to keep her company.

  With Katie tucked beside him, he didn’t look as though he had much on his mind at all now.

  “Gracie, this is Kristina.”

  Gracie stared at the pretty woman sitting on a wooden bench in front of her. “It’s nice to meet you.” Soft silver curls framed Kristina’s smiling face. Deep green eyes, almost the same color as the oak leaves shading the patio, stared up at Gracie.

  Kristina patted the seat beside her. “It’s good to meet you too. Come and sit down. Karen told me Trent had a guest staying with him out on the Triple L.”

  “And that I thought you were going to be my daughter-in-law,” Karen added.

  Gracie felt a warm blush skim her cheeks. From the way Katie’s body was pressed up against Trent, Karen might not have too much longer to wait. Only it wouldn’t be Gracie she’d be welcoming into the family.

  Kristina laughed. “You’ll embarrass the poor girl, Karen.”

  “Nonsense. Gracie knows I mean well. Trent’s been talking about getting married for so long that I think he’s forgotten he needs to meet a woman first. But we’ve got a plan, haven’t we Gracie?”

  Gracie looked between Karen and Kristina. Did everyone in Bozeman know Trent was looking for a wife?

  “Don’t worry,” Kristina whispered, “Karen hasn’t told anyone except me about the reason for the barn dance. I think it’s a great way to find someone special.”

  Gracie tried not to look too stunned. Trent wasn’t looking for special. He was looking for desperate. Someone that wasn’t too particular about her husband’s lack of happy-ever-after tendencies.

  She sighed as she took another peek at Trent. If he didn’t set alarm bells off inside every part of her body, she could almost imagine becoming more than his friend. But Gracie needed to know she was loved. And she had a life back in New Zealand. And a reason for coming to Bozeman.

  She glanced at Kristina, wondering how to ask about her husband’s past without sounding like she was ticking off bullet points engraved on her brain.

  “Can I get anyone a drink?”

  Gracie jumped. Her alarm bell man stood beside his mom, a grin plastered across his too handsome face. She looked behind him, trying to find his number one fan.

  Trent raised his eyebrows. “Lost something, Gracie?”

  She bit back the words skimming along her tongue.

  “Come and join us, Trent. We were just talking about the barn dance.” Karen moved along the bench, leaving a space between her and Gracie.

  Gracie looked at the empty spot beside her, then at Trent. He had far more important things to do than sit squished between his mom and his temporary cowgirl. Things that involved a whole lot of squishing with someone that wasn’t her.

  “You’ll get permanent wrinkles if you keep frowning at me, Gracie.” Trent sat on the patio stones, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I’ll sit here, mom. It looks as though Gracie still hasn’t forgiven me for leaving the steak in the fridge.”

  It wasn’t the steak she’d been worried about and he knew it.

  Kristina looked between Gracie and Trent, a smile hovering on her lips. “Karen told me you’re a teacher, Gracie. How old are your students?”

  “Most of the kids are eight-years-old. I’ve been emailing them lots of photos of the ranch.”

  Trent pushed the brim of his hat back, giving Gracie the full blast of his laughing grey eyes. “She’s taken about fifty photos of the cattle, and I don’t think there’s one cowboy that hasn’t been snapped at least a dozen times.”

  Gracie wrinkled her nose. “You’re just jealous that Jeb’s photo ended up on the notice board in my classroom.”

  “I don’t need to be cowboy of the week.” He grinned at the tongue poking out at him. “You’d better watch your manners or else Kristina might think all kiwis are cheeky little critters.”

  Kristina put her arm around Gracie. “I’ve known you for years, Trent McKenzie, and I think you’ve met your match.” She gave Gracie an extra squeeze. “Keep up the good work. You’ve got to keep a man on his toes otherwise he gets too comfortable in his own skin.”

  Gracie looked at the man in question and blushed at the devilish gleam in his eyes. Just thinking about Trent’s skin was enough to make her wish that cuddly Katie might suddenly appear and whisk the man of the moment away.

  “The kids in Gracie’s class want to know everything about cowboys,” Trent said. “I told Gracie that Jim runs a rodeo school. Do you think she could come across and take some photos before she heads back to New Zealand?”

  “Of course you can, Gracie. Just give us a call first in case we’re between classes. Jim’s away for the next couple of weeks, but anytime after that is fine. He traveled around the world as a professional bull rider for quite a few years. He’s probably got some memorabilia tucked away somewhere th
at he could show you too.”

  Gracie’s heart leapt in her chest. She looked at Trent. His body looked relaxed, but there was a stillness about his face that raised goose bumps along Gracie’s arms.

  “It must have been an exciting life,” he said.

  Gracie held her breath, waiting for Kristina’s reply.

  “Sometimes, but raising two boys on my own for most of the year took a toll on all of us. We knew his professional career couldn’t last forever. Sacrificing our time together for a few years seemed like the obvious thing to do if we wanted to set ourselves up financially.”

  Gracie stared at Kristina. “Was it worth it?”

  “We wouldn’t have been able to buy our ranch without the money Jim earned, or start the rodeo school. But if someone else in the same situation asked for my advice, I’d tell them to hold off having a family until they could all be together.”

  “What countries did Jim visit?” Trent asked.

  Gracie’s gaze locked on his face. The words had fallen off the end of his tongue as if the question wasn’t the most important thing in the world to her.

  Kristina dropped her gaze to her hands, tightly clasped in her lap. She looked across at Gracie, and then turned back to Trent. “Jim visited a lot of places. His passport looks like an advertisement for the United Nations. He got so many stamps that we gave up counting how many countries he’d visited after he filled up his third passport.” She cleared her throat. “Who wants dessert?”

  Gracie didn’t think she’d be able to eat another thing. Her stomach twisted into a ball of knots. The questions she’d carefully thought about back in New Zealand seemed too personal, too much of an intrusion into Kristina’s life. She needed to speak with Jim, but for the first time since she’d begun her search she wasn’t excited. She was scared. Scared of the answers to questions that had sat heavily on her shoulders for the last eight months.

  “You go ahead, Kristina.” Trent stood up and held his hand out to Gracie. “I’m going to introduce Gracie to Becky.”

  Gracie looked at his hand, reaching out to the only person that knew what was running through her mind.