Harlequin Special Edition November 2014 - Box Set 2 of 2: The Maverick's Thanksgiving BabyA Celebration ChristmasDr. Daddy's Perfect Christmas

by Brenda Harlen

  “I know he doesn’t.” And she told Lissa what Jesse had said about common goals being more important to the success of a marriage than love.

  “Clearly Jesse Crawford is an idiot. But,” Lissa continued, when Maggie opened her mouth to protest, “since he’s the idiot you love, we’re going to have to come up with a plan.”

  “A plan?”

  “To make sure he falls in love with you, too.”

  “I don’t think that’s something you can plan,” Maggie said.

  Her cousin smiled. “A smart woman has a plan for everything.”

  * * *

  Gage and Lissa decided to go into Kalispell for dinner. They invited Maggie to go with them, but she declined. She needed some time to think about her future—and she needed to call Jesse. Before she had a chance to do so, there was a knock on the door, and when she opened it, he was there.

  “Jesse—hi.” Her instinctive pleasure at seeing him was mixed with guilt as she realized that she hadn’t told him about her plans to come to Rust Creek Falls this week. “I guess news travels fast in a small town.”

  He nodded. “Of course, I didn’t believe it when Nina told me she overheard Lani Dalton tell Melba Strickland that her father was interviewing ‘that city lawyer.’ But then Will Baker told me that he saw you and Ben having lunch at the Ace in the Hole.”

  “Who needs Twitter when you’ve got the Rust Creek Falls grapevine?”

  “Why are you here?” Jesse asked. “I thought you had some big project to work on with your boss at Alliston & Blake.”

  She stepped away from the door so that he could enter. “Why don’t you come in so we can talk about it?”

  He followed her into the kitchen, hanging his jacket over the back of a chair before settling into it.

  “Do you want anything to drink?”

  He shook his head. “No, I’m fine, thanks.”

  She turned on the kettle to make herself a cup of peppermint tea, more because she wanted something to do than because she wanted the tea.

  “I handed in my resignation at Alliston & Blake yesterday.”

  He opened his mouth, closed it again, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to say, how to respond to her news. “Okay—I’ll admit I didn’t see that one coming.”

  She shrugged. “It was time. Maybe past time. Technically, I’m supposed to give two weeks’ notice, but since I haven’t used all of my vacation this year—actually, I haven’t used all of it in any of the past few years—I’m officially on vacation right now.”

  “And your lunch with Ben today?” he prompted.

  “He offered me a job.” She didn’t tell him that she’d accepted, because she didn’t want him to immediately rush to the same conclusion that Lissa had done.

  “You’re thinking about moving to Rust Creek Falls?”

  She nodded. “I’m not sure of any of the other details yet, but I’m sure that I want you to be part of our baby’s life.” She poured the boiling water over the tea bag inside her cup, then carried it to the table and sat down across from him. “You went away to school, right?”

  “Montana State University in Bozeman.”

  “When you graduated, did you ever think about exploring options anywhere else?”

  He shook his head. “Nowhere else is home.”

  She couldn’t help but smile at his conviction. “It must be nice, to know without a doubt that you are exactly where you belong.”

  “You don’t feel like that in LA?”

  “I wouldn’t be making this move if I did,” she told him.

  “Are you going to marry me?”

  She hesitated. “I still think marriage is a little extreme.”

  “And yet people have been doing it for thousands of years.”

  She smiled. “Yes, and since it’s the twenty-first century, our child is unlikely to be ostracized by society if his or her parents aren’t married.”

  “Archaic attitudes are still pervasive in society,” he said, in an echo of Ben’s comments earlier that day.

  “And more so in Montana than California,” she acknowledged.

  “Undoubtedly,” he agreed.

  “Despite that, there are aspects of this town that really appeal to me, too.”

  “Such as?”

  “The teacher-to-student ratio in the schools. It’s widely theorized that students in smaller classes learn better. The public high school I went to had two thousand students. The secondary school here has a population that isn’t even one-tenth of that.”

  “And only one teacher.”

  She laughed, because she was almost 100 percent certain he was joking. “And I like the sense of community,” she said. “Everywhere you go, you cross paths with someone you know.”

  “I don’t always consider that a plus,” he admitted.

  “It is,” she insisted. “You might not always agree with your friends and neighbors, but you know you can count on them.

  “Lissa told me what it was like, after the floods last year. How the residents rallied to help one another. Even the Crawfords and the Traubs worked together.”

  “That’s true.”

  “You don’t see a lot of that in LA. I’m not saying that neighbors don’t ever help neighbors, but it’s not the usual mindset. It’s a town built on glitz and glamour and climbing over other people to get to the top.”

  “Why would you ever want to leave such a place?”

  She smiled at his dry tone. “I also like the idea of a job with more regular hours, so that I’d have more time to spend with my baby.”

  “And your husband.”

  She shook her head. “You’re like a wave crashing against a rock, determined to erode my resistance.”

  “Is it working?”

  “It might be,” she acknowledged. “And if I did decide to marry you, then what would you do?”

  “Call the preacher to book a date for the wedding before you changed your mind,” he replied without hesitation.

  “The wedding is the easy part—it’s the marriage I’m worried about.”

  “I’m not going to tell you that you shouldn’t worry,” he said. “Because I think you’re right—if we want our marriage to succeed, we’re both going to have to work at it. But the fact that you’re having my baby means that we both have a vested interest in its success, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to give our child the happy and stable family that he—or she—deserves.”

  “Then I guess, since it seems we both want the same thing, you should call the preacher.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded.

  He whooped and lifted her off her feet, spinning her around. And the sheer joy of being in his arms and sharing his joy convinced Maggie that she’d made the right decision.

  She still had some concerns—aside from agreeing to marry a man who didn’t love her, there was the uncertainty about whether or not she would be able to make the transition to life in the country. But if Lissa could do it—if her cousin could make the change from Manhattan to Montana—then Maggie was confident she could adjust, too.

  But Lissa had worked her butt off to prove herself to the people of Rust Creek Falls after the flood the previous year. On behalf of Bootstraps, a New York–based charitable organization, she’d rallied volunteers, coordinated their schedules and duties, and essentially gone door-to-door assisting families in need and helping repair damage. Along the way she’d fallen in love with the highly respected sheriff, which had helped the townspeople fall in love with her. Even so, Gage’s mother had expressed concern when her son had got involved with Lissa. Apparently the local residents had some pretty strong opinions about “city people” and not necessarily good ones.

  And then Maggie had swept into town from Los Angeles, an
d what had she done? She’d helped get Arthur Swinton out of jail—and while his illegal activities had targeted the residents of Thunder Canyon, the people of Rust Creek Falls weren’t unaware of what he’d done. As if representing the convict wasn’t bad enough, she’d seduced Jesse Crawford and got pregnant in order to trap him into marriage.

  Of course, that wasn’t at all how things had really happened, but she didn’t doubt that at least some of the locals would view the situation in exactly that way.

  “At the risk of you changing your mind before I’ve even put a ring on your finger, I have to ask—do you think you’ll miss the hustle and bustle of LA?”

  “It’s not as if I’m never going back there,” she pointed out. “I do still have family in California.”

  “How are they going to feel about you moving so far away?”

  “My parents have always encouraged me to follow my own path.”

  “Even if that path leads you to a small town in the middle of nowhere?”

  “Are you trying to convince me to stay or go?”

  “I just want to be sure you know what you’re getting into,” he told her. “I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, but I know the open space and isolation aren’t for everyone. Winters, in particular, can be harsh, especially for someone who is accustomed to having all the amenities of the big city within walking distance.”

  “So who was she?”

  “Who was who?”

  “The girlfriend from the big city who did a number on you,” she clarified.

  He didn’t say anything.

  “Don’t make me go into town searching for tidbits of gossip,” she teased.

  It wasn’t a sincere threat, of course, but Jesse finally answered.

  “Her name was Shaelyn,” he said. “And for all of three weeks, she was my fiancée.”

  “Oh.” And how silly was it that Maggie was disappointed to realize she wasn’t the first woman he’d ever proposed to. “How many times have you been engaged?”

  “Just two.”

  “Was she pregnant?”

  He shook his head.

  “So you proposed to her because you loved her,” she realized.

  “I thought I did,” he admitted.

  But Maggie knew it had been more than a thought to have scarred him so deeply.

  He’d told her he didn’t want to fall in love—but that was only because he’d already been there, done that. And while her heart was filled to overflowing with feelings for him, his heart was still in pieces, broken by another woman.

  Not exactly the auspicious start she’d envisioned for their life together.

  * * *

  True to his word, Jesse called the preacher that same night, and their wedding was scheduled for Saturday afternoon—only four days away.

  Christa, Gavin and Ryan all had to do some serious rearranging of their schedules, but they managed to fly into Montana on Friday. Shane and his wife, Gianna, drove up from Thunder Canyon on the same day, and the Roarkes had an impromptu family reunion at Strickland’s Boarding House, where they were all staying.

  On Wednesday, Lissa had taken Maggie into Kalispell to go shopping. Maggie didn’t want to buy her wedding dress without her mother’s approval, so every dress that she tried on, Lissa took a picture and emailed it to Christa, who would email back her thoughts and suggestions.

  After the fourth picture, Lissa’s cell phone rang. Christa was crying happy tears on the other end of the line because she knew that dress was “the one,” and she gave her credit card information to the clerk over the phone to ensure that Maggie walked out of the store with it in hand.

  And on the day of the wedding, as she helped her daughter into the gown, Christa’s eyes misted over again. “Look at you,” she said softly, almost reverently.

  Maggie did so, smiling as she took in her reflection in the full-length mirror. “I look like a bride,” she said, turning to show off the dress from all sides.

  It was a strapless design with a sweetheart neckline, a bodice covered in sparkly beads that hugged her breasts, and a full skirt that skimmed the floor.

  “The most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen,” her mother said, brushing moisture from her cheeks.

  “I’m sure Dad would have something to say about that,” Maggie countered. Then she lifted up the hem of her skirt to show her the cowboy boots on her feet. “What do you think? Lissa says she’s going to make a cowgirl out of me yet.”

  “I think, if Lissa says so, I wouldn’t bet against it.”

  Maggie smiled again. “I can’t believe it’s my wedding day already.”

  “It seems like only yesterday that you called to tell us you’d accepted Jesse’s proposal,” her mother said.

  “You mean instead of actually being four days ago?”

  Christa fussed with the headpiece. “I’ve never heard of anyone putting together a wedding in four days.”

  “That’s because no one else had Lissa taking care of all the details.”

  “Probably true,” her mother agreed.

  Maggie turned to take her hands. “Are you disappointed that we wanted to get married here?”

  “It’s your wedding,” her mother said. “And I can understand why you’d want to take your vows where you’re going to start your life with your new husband. If I’m disappointed about anything, it’s only that we didn’t have enough time to plan a proper wedding.”

  “So you think this is going to be an improper wedding?”

  The gentle teasing made Christa smile, even through her tears. “You always did know how to twist words to make your point. It’s one of the reasons you’re such a good attorney.”

  “I learned from the best,” she said.

  “Hopefully I also taught you that there’s more to life than the law.”

  “That’s why I left my job at Alliston & Blake.”

  “I only wished you’d left there sooner,” her mother admitted. “They demanded far too much of you and gave you very little in return. If you’d come to work at Roarke & Associates—”

  “I would have always wondered if I earned my position or got it on the basis of my name.”

  Christa sighed. “As much as it frustrates me to know that you believed it, I can understand.”

  “You’ll get to meet my new boss and his wife at the wedding.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” her mother said.

  “Knock, knock,” Lissa said, pushing open the door. “Mabel sent me up to let you know that the photographer’s here.”

  “Then I’ll go get the father of the bride and meet you both downstairs in ten minutes.”

  * * *

  Since Jesse had to pick up his tux in Kalispell the day of the wedding, he decided to take it directly to the church and get ready there.

  So much had happened since the day Maggie told him she was pregnant, it was hard to believe that only two weeks had passed. He’d known right away that he wanted to marry her and be a father to their child, and his conviction had not wavered. But as the clock ticked closer and closer to four o’clock and their scheduled wedding, he found himself worrying more and more that Maggie might be having second thoughts.

  He suspected Shaelyn’s most recent phone call was responsible for some of his concern. Although he hadn’t spoken to his former fiancée, there had been a message on his machine when he got home the night that Maggie had finally agreed to marry him. Shaelyn had asked him to call her back, but of course he hadn’t. She was his past and he was determined to focus on his future with Maggie.

  He should feel jubilant—Maggie was going to make her life with him and their child in Rust Creek Falls. He was getting everything he wanted. But what was she getting? She was moving away from her family, her friends, giving up a career. Yes, s
he was planning to write the State Bar exam in the new year, and he had no doubt that she would soon be licensed to practice in Montana, but he also knew that she wouldn’t have the same kind of career here that she could have if she stayed in LA.

  Which was one of the reasons she’d agreed to do this—to give her life balance, so that she could be a mother and an attorney. But it seemed to him that she was giving up more than she was getting in return, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she might come to resent him because of the changes she’d felt compelled to make to her life.

  But if there was another—a better—way to work things out, he couldn’t see it. He didn’t want to live more than twelve hundred miles away from his child. And he didn’t want his child raised by someone else while Maggie worked sixty hours a week to pay for that care.

  A knock on the door jolted him out of his reverie. Assuming it was Nate, his best man, he invited him to come in.

  But when the door opened, it wasn’t his oldest brother who walked through it—it was his former fiancée.

  Chapter Nine

  “Shaelyn.”

  Jesse stared at her for a long moment, not knowing what else to say. He couldn’t believe she was here, and he couldn’t begin to fathom why.

  “Hello, Jesse.” She smiled at him—the same slow, seductive smile that used to be the prelude to all kinds of things.

  She looked good—but then, Shaelyn always did. She had the fragile beauty of a china doll: silky hair, porcelain skin, delicate features. She was the type of woman that a man instinctively wanted to cherish and protect, as he’d once vowed to do.

  But looking at her now, he felt nothing more than surprise—and maybe some apprehension. He hadn’t seen her in seven years and couldn’t understand why she’d shown up after so long—and on his wedding day, no less. “What are you doing here?”

  “I saw your mother and your sisters in Missoula,” his former fiancée explained. “Natalie told me that they were shopping for dresses for your wedding.”

  “Why were you in Missoula?”

  “I’ve been working at the university for the past four years—at the Museum of Art & Culture.”