Montana Homecoming

by Jillian Hart

  “A relationship gone terribly wrong. That will make you want to leave town.” He took a sip of coffee, his pace leisurely beside her, taking his time as the wind ruffled his hair. “Is that what happened to you?”

  Relief left her hands too shaky to lift her cup. Maybe she should just tell him the truth, confess where she’d spent most of her twenties. But did the words come? No, they stuck in her throat, refusing to budge. “Yes, I did have a relationship go bad. I was living near Miles City at the time.”

  “He broke your heart?” Understanding radiated from him.

  This man was dangerous. He could disarm her defenses with one caring look. Why couldn’t she stop it? She took a tentative sip of the steaming hot drink. Chocolatey coffee sluiced across her tongue. “We met in our senior year of high school. Darren was the new kid in town. Charming, funny, he just grabbed everyone’s attention. Even mine.”

  “He was your first love.” Understanding layered his voice, as if he knew that particular malady.

  “I fell so hard I didn’t hold back a single piece of my heart. I didn’t know any better.” So easy to remember that wintry day when Darren Adams had driven her home after volleyball practice. “I thought he was wonderful, that he could do no wrong. Love makes you blind.”

  “It certainly can. Been there myself.” He raised his cup in a salute. “How did he break your heart? Lie to you? Cheat on you? Marry someone else?”

  “He hurt me. I had just turned twenty when the blinders came off with such force I haven’t had a relationship since.” She stepped off the curb and followed the sidewalk across the street.

  “He really hurt you.” She had to be a few years older than Colbie, so that put her in her late twenties. That was a long time for a woman to go without dating. Domestic violence, he figured. That had to be what happened, why sadness dimmed the brightness of her violet eyes. She brushed it off, shrugged her shoulders, making like it was no big deal.

  But he knew. Whatever this force that connected them deepened, a tie between her spirit and his. She couldn’t hide her disillusionment. So that was why she’d kept her distance and stayed closed off. She’d been really hurt. As much as he hated that, at least he understood. Tension eased behind his ribs, tension he hadn’t even known was there.

  “He deceived me.” Pain strained her voice, although she fought to hide it. “He betrayed me. I’m not sure I ever got over it.”

  “I know the feeling. Sidney pretended to be an honest and trustworthy Christian, someone she wasn’t.”

  “What happened?” She watched him with compassion so sincere he couldn’t stop from opening up.

  “I fell in love with her. Mostly through texts and phone calls because we were always on the move with our jobs, but we got together when we could. I think that’s why I couldn’t see what she was. I never got close enough, I never got to know her more deeply. She played a part and I wasn’t around enough to question it.”

  “You blame yourself?”

  “As much as I blame her. I should have seen she was just playing me. Just pretending to be sweet and kind when she wasn’t like that at all. Not below the surface.”

  “How did you find out the truth?” She laid her hand on Liam’s arm, a show of connection and empathy, so he didn’t feel alone with his wounds.

  “All that time, she made sure I saw her sweet side. Her fake side, as it turned out. After I moved here, I realized I was ready to settle down. I proposed, and she said yes. I flew out to meet her in Boston and we ran into her sponsor at a restaurant.”

  “Her sponsor?”

  “Found out she was a recovering drug addict.”

  “Drugs?” The word felt torn from her.

  “She had this entire other life I didn’t know about. Part of the drug culture, a lifestyle she hadn’t been able to let go of completely.” He rubbed his hands over his face.

  “You had to be devastated.” Her heart beat so hard, she was sure it jarred her words. Drugs. Her hands started shaking, too.

  “How could I marry her? There was this whole side of her I didn’t know. She’d been lying all the time. Pretending to be wholesome as if she didn’t have a past, as if she wasn’t still struggling on and off with heroin addiction.” He shrugged those big shoulders of his. Maybe determined to show that having his heart ripped out and his illusions destroyed was of little consequence to a tough guy like him.

  She wasn’t fooled. She wanted to reach out, but his story hit too close to her own.

  “Darren was selling drugs on the side.” Humiliation returned. She’d believed too easily. “I know how it feels to be lied to by the person you love most.”

  “Honesty is a trait I’ve come to admire in a woman. The best quality there is.”

  Why did her pulse skip guiltily? Because she was essentially doing the same thing as his ex. Showing him the woman she was now and not letting him know about the time in her life that marked her forever.

  Memories threatened to engulf her, cold corridors, hopelessness, shattered dreams, but she wrestled them down, keeping them secret. What would he think if he knew the truth about her? If he knew of her conviction? He’d see his ex, that’s what. There was no way now he would ever understand.

  A tiny piece of hope died, one she hadn’t even known was there.

  Unaware of how she was thinking, Liam hauled open the courthouse door for her. Gorgeous man, strapping shoulders, kindness radiating through. The way the cheerful morning sun sifted over him, he looked like a fantasy. The problem with Liam was simple. He was a good man. Helpless against it, her iron defenses melted a little more. Maybe it didn’t matter so much because there was no way she could open up to him now.

  * * *

  The morning’s testimony had been difficult, so noon recess felt especially wonderful with the sun shining everywhere, blazing the street, the park and pedestrians with golden light. The moment her foot had hit the courthouse’s front steps, she dreaded running into her dad again but he’d been nowhere in sight. Major relief. The hard part was telling Luke about it.

  “Hunter is going to go ballistic when he hears.” Luke pocketed his change and grabbed half the food bags and a drink carrier from the burger joint’s counter. “You should have told us right away. This is unacceptable.”

  “I took care of it.” She grabbed her share of the food and followed her brother to the door. “He’s gone for now. Problem solved.”

  “You should have called one of us. I would have helped you.” Luke shouldered open the door. “You didn’t need to be alone with him.”

  “I wasn’t alone with him.” Liam slipped into her thoughts again. Pretending he hadn’t, she sailed into the hot May day where the breeze flirted with nearby trees lining the sidewalks.

  “Not alone, huh?” Luke grinned at that. “I guess this means Colbie’s plot is working.”

  “Which one? The plan to talk me into moving to Montana? Or the plot to set me up with Liam?”

  “Isn’t that really the same strategy?” Luke chuckled, matching his pace with hers on the sidewalk. “If you have a boyfriend here, would you really want to move away?”

  “It’s a doomed plan. I have a job interview in two weeks.” She’d returned Ms. Chambers’s call after walking into the courthouse with Liam. She’d stood in the corridor, trying to hide her excitement while she scheduled an interview. The personnel lady had been especially encouraging. So, why did she feel a little down about it?

  “Colbie and Lil are going to be crushed.” Luke grinned in his easy, relaxed way. “They’re sure you and Liam are going to start dating any minute.”

  “You need to stop listening to those matchmakers.” Honestly. “Ever since Bree’s engagement, they’ve been unstoppable.”

  “Nothing makes them happier than a wedding.” Luke’s dark blue gaze, full of amusement, met hers. “They’re wondering who’s next.”

  “Hey, don’t look at me.”

  “You did come into court with Liam this morning. You’re spendi
ng a lot of time with him.”

  “Sure, I’m training his dog.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t see his dog this morning.”

  How did she explain not only was her heart off-limits to love, but after what she’d learned about Liam this morning, he would never be interested in a girl like her? In someone with her history. She ignored the unexplained clutch of pain in her heart. She kept her gaze glued to the sidewalk ahead of her and hoped her big brother wouldn’t guess the truth. “There are absolutely no wedding bells in my future.”

  “Sure about that?”

  “Absolutely, positively certain.”

  “That’s too bad.” Sympathy softened his voice. “I think you deserve someone nice after what happened to you.”

  Her throat closed up, making it hard to speak. Maybe it would be smart to change the subject. Throw the spotlight on him instead. “What about you? Are you dating anyone?”

  “Me? Just who would I date?” He adjusted the drink carrier, shaking his head. “I live in the middle of farm country. I spend all day either on the tractor, in the barn or tending my cows.”

  “What about neighbors? People in town? How about church?”

  “Neighbors are all married, far too old or far too young. As for the folks in town? Prospect is about a hundredth the size of Bozeman. I’ve got the same problem there as I do in church. Anyone who is single is too old, too young, not right at all or they’ve already turned me down.”

  “Have you tried the internet?” she quipped. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

  “Uh…” He fell silent, blushing profusely.

  “You have?” She couldn’t believe it. Her shy brother had ventured onto a dating site? “Do you have an online profile? How does that work? Do you do online chats with your matches?”

  “No, it’s nothing like that. I didn’t try any of those dating sites.” If he turned any redder, he might spontaneously combust. “I met someone on a website for readers. It’s a site all about books.”

  “Oh, that makes sense.” She didn’t know anyone who read more than Luke did. “How did she catch your eye?”

  “We both liked the same books. Over and over again we would post nearly the same comments. This one time in an online chat we started typing to each other. Hours passed and we didn’t realize everyone else had left the chat room.” He stopped at the corner, waiting for the light to change.

  “I’m glad you’ve found someone, Luke. You’re a good man.” Proof that there were very good men in the world.

  “Not that it’s serious or anything. We’re just friends.” A muscle ticked along his jaw, as if maybe that wasn’t the whole truth. “You won’t tell anyone? You’ll keep this secret?”

  “For a price.” She had to believe good things happened to good people. Luke certainly deserved someone to love him. “My lips are sealed. But if this does turn serious, I’d better be the first one you tell.”

  “Deal.” The light changed and Luke took off, only slightly less red than he’d been.

  The poor guy. She hugged the warm food bags to her, hurrying to keep up. Luke was a closed-off kind of man, shy when it came to personal things. It must have been hard for him to open up enough to admit his feelings.

  She knew just how that felt.

  The trees lining the park rustled cheerfully, shading the stretch of lawn. The grassy scent tickled her nose as a lazy bee droned by. Luke sidestepped to avoid the bee.

  “Brooke!” Her name sailed on the wind. Colbie waved, leaving the twins, Hunter and Max to finish spreading out the blankets.

  “We’re coming, Colbie,” Luke called out. “Don’t break an arm. We see ya.”

  “You have to know we’re starving here!” Colbie’s laughter trilled like lark song as she leaped into action, all grace and bounce. “Yum, that smells good. There’s nothing like burgers and fries. Hmm.”

  “Too bad we didn’t get anything for you.” Brooke couldn’t resist teasing. “Sorry.”

  “Not funny. Don’t get between a woman and her fries,” Colbie quipped merrily. “I’m diabolical.”

  “Clearly.” Brooke handed over one of the bags.

  “I have a confession to make. I did something.” Colbie grabbed the bag and peered inside. No fries. “Brooke, care to guess what?”

  “I can.” Luke grinned dryly. “Does it have anything to do with the guy pushing Lil’s chair?”

  “What guy?” Brooke had a bad, bad feeling, the kind where the bottom of your stomach fell out and your knees buckled right before doom happened. She glanced around, saw Lil in her chair, fragile and adorable and grinning widely. And the strapping, towering hunk pushing her carefully from the parking lot to the grass could only be one man.

  “Liam.” Brooke had to blink twice, but the image of him remained. Stalwart, striking, laughing. The low rumble rang like music, deep and inviting. Everyone around her smiled in response. It took everything she had to keep the corners of her mouth appropriately straight.

  “We ran into him on the sidewalk,” Lil explained with a bob of her short dark hair as they walked straight toward the subject of their conversation. “We couldn’t let him eat lunch all by himself.”

  “I couldn’t say no.” Liam easily manhandled the wheelchair over the uneven grass and stopped beside the blankets. “Lil charmed me, as she always does. Hi, again, Brooke.”

  “Hi.” Her stomach swooped downward again like another sign of doom.

  “Food!” Brandi bounded over to take charge of one of the drink containers.

  “Fries!” Bree left Max’s side and scooped one of the bags from Luke. “Just what I need. Fries can solve just about any problem.”

  “I’m sure there’s some scientific study we can quote,” Brandi agreed.

  “Good thing there are a lot of fries. The testimony was grim this morning.” Colbie circled around to hand over the food bag to Hunter. “It has to be horrible reliving all of that.”

  “I’m not sure how well I’m going to do on the stand. I’m praying I can keep it together. That’s my goal.” Bree unrolled the paper bag and dug out a wrapped cheeseburger, which she handed to Max. “The D.A. has been great. We’ve been going over and over my testimony and I feel comfortable with what I have to say. It’s standing up for justice. Brooke, you know how important justice is.”

  “I do.” She took a shaky breath, surprised at how casually Bree brought up the past, just like that, with no warning. Brooke swallowed, concentrated overly hard on extracting a cup of soda from the drink carrier and prayed she could keep her voice steady. “So many lives have been harmed by violence. You don’t want any more lives hurt.”

  “Exactly. It’s not about me anymore, but Juanita and the others who were killed that night.” Bree handed out a second burger. “I’m feeling stronger. The post-traumatic stress is getting better.”

  “You’re doing great, gorgeous.” Max took her hand and kissed it sweetly. Her engagement ring sparkled in the sunshine.

  “You two. Ugh.” Hunter rolled his eyes, too tough to fall for anything sappy. “Let me help with Lil, Liam.”

  “I’ve got her this time, thanks.” Liam lifted Lil from her wheelchair. Hard not to notice those strong, muscled arms and gentleness as the big man cradled the fragile woman, lowering her onto the blanket with care.

  Don’t soften your stance on this guy, she told herself. Don’t do it.

  “So, I know it’s too early.” Colbie rushed over to help Lil get settled. “But any thoughts on a wedding date?”

  “We’re keeping that top secret,” Max quipped, turning toward Bree as she sat down beside him, adorable with her light blond hair and charm.

  “I do have a day in mind.” Mysterious, Bree nudged her twin with her arm. “Don’t guess. I know you can.”

  “Ooh, a challenge. Let me see. What day could it be?” Brandi scrunched up her face, just as adorable, the two so identical you couldn’t tell the difference unless you knew them well.

  The twins were
fun to watch, but so were Colbie and Lil for an entirely different reason.

  “You fuss too much, Colbie dear.” Lil’s alto held a note of love. “I’m just fine. Sit and relax.”

  “I can’t help it, Mom.” Colbie gave a lap blanket a firm shake and let the fleece settle over Lil’s legs. “What else do you need?”

  “I’ve got everything I need.” Lil brushed Colbie’s chin with a loving hand. “Now sit down. Didn’t I raise you to obey your mother?”

  “Sure, but I’m all kinds of trouble.” Colbie pulled a cloth hat out of the bag behind Lil’s chair and shaped it carefully before placing it on her mother’s head to block the sun. Finally done, she slipped onto the blanket beside her mother. “Go on, Liam, sit down.”

  “It doesn’t feel right being here without Oscar.” He took the only available space left, which was next to Brooke. The importance was not lost on him. Colbie winked, clearly pleased her plan worked.

  And he knew why. Colbie smiled at Brooke with the same loving attention she showed her mother. Brooke had been hurt by a boyfriend she loved and trusted. She was afraid to get hurt again. He knew exactly how that felt. It was good to have another piece of the puzzle because with one look into her soulful violet eyes, he saw a kindred spirit. He hunkered in beside her, wishing he didn’t feel emotionally closer to her than ever.

  She hooked his heart with that tentative smile. He couldn’t deny it.

  “Last time we were at this park, Oscar was running like a wild thing. Remember?” A weaker man might get lost in her violet-blue gaze. “He loved that Frisbee.”

  “He ran and ran and he never tired out. I couldn’t believe it.”

  “I’m thinking he would make a good jogging buddy, except…”

  “Except he doesn’t heel,” Brooke finished his thought, reached into the last food bag and handed him the last burger. “We could work on that tonight, if you want.”

  “Great. I didn’t go running this morning. Just didn’t want to leave him penned up in that kennel.” He took the burger, his fingers brushed hers and the world stilled. Light and color, sound and motion all faded until there was only her. Just Brooke and the breeze in her dark hair, the sun kissing her lovely face and the stillness she put in his soul.