by Liz Isaacson
With the tantalizing smell of chocolate in her nose, she entered a candy shop. A man greeted her with a smile. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Something with caramel and nuts,” she mused as she searched the candy cabinets. “Pecans, maybe. You have anything like that?”
“Sure, right here.” He pointed to the mounded chocolate on the second shelf. “Dark or milk chocolate?”
“One of each, please.”
He selected her treats while she moved on to an array of caramel apples. “And one of these. The one with white chocolate and crushed cookies.”
“Sure thing.” He removed the apple from the case. “Would you like me to slice this?”
“Yes, that would be great,” she said. “I’m staying at the lodge, and don’t have a knife.”
He used a fancy tool to neatly core and slice the apple at the same time, and Belle thought life couldn’t get any better. Well, she knew exactly how it could be better—if Jace were by her side, choosing his own sweets to enjoy later.
“Where’s the best place for dinner?” she asked.
“That would be Stewart’s,” the man said. “Assuming you like steak.” He rang up her purchases. “If you prefer Mexican, you should try Paco’s Tacos. Best tacos in the state. And we have a great Native American food truck that circles the lake. It’s Saturday, so they’ll be up here tonight. Fry bread and nachos you won’t soon forget.”
Though she’d eaten her sandwich only an hour ago, her stomach rumbled with the want of something fried. “Where does that food truck stop?”
Jace’s phone buzzed from somewhere inside his cabin. He’d worked well into the night to ensure everything would be ready to move the herd on Monday morning—including taking care of ranch responsibilities for the few cowboys remaining behind, shoeing the horses for their trek, and checking the lower pastures to make sure the snow had melted enough to put livestock out to graze.
He rolled over, thinking only one of two people would call him. Tom or Belle. Okay, maybe three—his mother. He only wanted to talk to one of them, and as the buzzing stopped, he wondered if Belle had been on the other end of the line.
Several moments later, right when he’d started to doze again, his phone emitted a shrill beep. He’d gotten a message. Tom or his mother then. Belle would just call back.
Sleep claimed Jace again—at least until someone with very large hands practically knocked down his front door. He shot to a sitting position as Landon called, “Jace! You in there?”
The doorknob rattled as Jace stumbled to his feet and wiped his eyes. He made it to the front door without ramming into anything too dangerous, and whipped open the door, fully awake. “Landon?”
“My sister called. I couldn’t make out a lot, but I got enough to know she called you and couldn’t get ahold of you.”
The buzzing phone. Jace cursed himself for not checking it. “What does she need?”
“I don’t know. She wanted me to come get you.”
“Where is—?” Jace’s blood ran cold. “She went to Flathead Lake yesterday.” He reached for his boots, which he’d kicked off by the front door when he’d finally made it home in the middle of the night.
“You think somethin’s wrong?”
“I’ll call her.” If he could find his phone. He finally located it on the dresser, plugged in as usual. Sure enough, Belle had called twenty minutes ago. He rang her back.
“Hey,” he said. “What’s wrong?”
“H—” Her voice broke through the bad connection. “…on the side of the road.”
“I can’t hear you, sunshine. Can you hear me?”
“Barely,” she said. “I’m in Flathead Lake, right? Well, my car—”
Frustration pooled in Jace’s ears. “Can you text me where you are?” With the pieces he’d gotten, she had to be on the side of the road near Flathead Lake. But that place wasn’t exactly small, with at least half a dozen touristy towns and miles and miles of shoreline. But there was only one way in and out.
Nothing came through the line, and Jace checked the call. Still connected. As he contemplated what to do, the line went dead. “Okay, she’s stranded in Flathead Lake. Something’s wrong with her car. She’s gonna text me her location.” He hoped. “I need you to stay here and make sure Ty gets the saddles ready for Monday. And Nelson should be packing food for two dozen men for a week. And—”
“I know what they need to get done, Jace. You go.” Landon’s bright green eyes reminded Jace so much of Belle, especially when he worried about something.
“Right.” Jace grabbed his cowboy hat and stuffed it on his head. “I’ll be in touch with you. Keep your phone nearby.”
Landon held it up in response, and Jace swiped his keys from the dresser. He checked his phone every five minutes as he drove down the canyon and through town. Belle never texted. Once out of town and on the highway, Jace drove faster than he ever had before.
An hour into the two-hour drive, his knuckles ached with the unrelenting tension he kept on the wheel. His phone still hadn’t made a single sound, and he’d checked it multiple times. Even had it plugged into the portable charger that connected to his cigarette lighter.
Finally, as he exited the Flathead Indian Reservation and passed through a little settlement, his phone chirped. He swiped it from the seat and saw Belle’s name.
One word: Lakeside.
Relief and determination dove through him. He knew where Lakeside was, and he’d be there in forty-five minutes. He dictated as much to her and hit send. But the arrows just bobbed around each other, and the text didn’t go through.
Annoyed yet grateful for modern technology, Jace focused on driving. How hard could it be to find someone in Lakeside? Rain splattered the windshield, and Jace’s spirits got doused too. It would be harder in the rain.
Hard, but not impossible.
14
Jace crawled down the road running through Lakeside. If he blinked, he’d pass the bulk of the little lakeside town. And he’d already gone up the street once and come back. He hadn’t seen Belle’s car. The white church on his left then the gas station. Then nothing but a few stores and miles of Montana tundra and the lapping waters of Flathead Lake that moved into frozen ice.
Maybe someone had seen her. He pulled into the gas station and went inside. “Excuse me,” he said to the clerk. “My friend called me with car trouble. Tall woman. Auburn hair. Green eyes. You seen her?”
“Yeah, she came in a while ago.” The woman cocked her head to the side. “Asked if there was any place to get coffee. I told her Glacier Perks.” She pointed down the road. “Just down that way.”
“Thanks.” Jace flashed her the brightest smile he could manage. Once in the parking lot at the coffee joint, he still didn’t see Belle’s car, which made sense if it had broken down. One step through the door, and he found her.
Her eyes met his, and utter relief spilled from her expression. She bolted to her feet and strode toward him. “I couldn’t get any of my texts to go through, and I didn’t—”
“Shh.” He met her halfway and crushed her to him in a tight embrace. He hadn’t realized how important she was to him until that moment. Sure, he liked her. Liked talking to her and kissing her. Liked spending time with her, cooking for her, and planning a walk to the waterfalls once they melted a bit more.
But he knew now that she was more than that. She was important to him.
“I got one text,” he said. “It said Lakeside. I asked at the gas station about you.” He led her back to her tiny table, where a half-cup of coffee and more open cream containers than anyone had a right to drink sat on the tabletop. “Belle, do you even like coffee?”
That got her to smile, though it wobbled a little on her face. “I’ve had so much,” she said. “I feel all hopped up.”
He sat across from her and pushed the little cups into a pile. “Where’s your car? What happened?”
“I pulled over to take some photos,” she sta
rted. “I always do that for myself, to remind myself of a place when I can’t see it every day. Anyway, I went back to my car, and it wouldn’t start.”
“Where is it now?”
“Out on this point. Point Caroline? It’s a couple of miles.”
“You walked it?”
“It’s warmer than it looks outside.” She gazed out the window as a fresh gust of wind hit it.
“Belle.” Jace reached across the table and took her hands in his. “Why didn’t you just stay in your car?”
“I didn’t think anyone would find me.” Her chin shook. “There are houses out there, but I knocked on a couple of doors, and no one answered. I think they must be summer lake homes.” She took a sip of her coffee. “And it’s not summer.” Her emerald eyes met his, and he offered her a smile.
“You’re a warrior,” he said. “Let’s go get your car.”
“It won’t start,” she protested.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He tucked her against his side and took her to the passenger side of his truck.
Belle watched from the heated cab of Jace’s truck. Watched as he popped the hood and bent over the engine. Tiny waves lapped the shore several yards to her right. She knew he’d fix her car. Fix her life. Fix everything, the way he always did. The man had hands made of gold, just as warm and rich and comforting.
It took him about fifteen minutes, but he emerged from under her hood victorious. The grin he flashed her was as sexy as it was humble.
“You’re amazing,” she told him as she slid from his truck.
“Just helpin’ out a beautiful lady.”
She glanced around, her brow furrowed. “A lady? Don’t see one of those.”
He laughed as he slid his hands around her waist. “I got ‘er started, but I have no idea if you can make it home. I’d feel better if we had someone look at it before we try to get all the way home to Gold Valley.”
“It’s Saturday,” she said. “And almost evening. Nothing will be open.”
A strange look edged his eyes. “Guess you’ll have to extend your getaway weekend.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. I have a meeting on Monday morning.”
“Me too.” He exhaled. “Actually, I’m movin’ the herd on Monday. I’ll be gone for several days.” He contemplated the sky, his mind obviously churning.
Belle’s did too. She snuggled closer to Jace, stealing from his warmth as the last of the sun dipped below the horizon. “Maybe I can take it to a shop,” she mused. “And just leave it. They can look at it this week.”
“We’ll go back tonight in my truck, and…I’ll take you home. I can come get you for church tomorrow, and you can take me back to the ranch afterward. Then you can have my truck for the week. I’ll be out driving the herd to the lower pastures anyway.”
“And we can come back and get my car next weekend.”
Jace beamed down at her. “It’s a date.”
With a rush of appreciation, admiration, and adoration, she kissed him. “Thank you, cowboy.”
“Anytime, sunshine.”
Belle filled up Jace’s truck with gas on Friday morning and headed up the canyon. She hadn’t seen him for days, and her heart pounded as she approached the ranch. He should’ve returned from moving the herd last night, and they’d agreed to get her car from Lakeside that afternoon. The mechanic had called yesterday morning, and everything had been fixed.
Thankfully, she had the money to pay for the new coolant tank and the serpentine belt. She pulled up to Jace’s house, glad to have made it without getting stuck in the mud. The weather had been unseasonably warm the past week, and the snowmelt was soaking everything and making a mucky mess.
Jace emerged from his house, freshly showered and wearing jeans, a dark shirt, and his signature leather jacket. She drank in the sight of him as he moved toward her, a smile blazing in his eyes.
She scooted over on the seat, barely leaving him enough room to fit behind the wheel. He slid into the space, leaning down to kiss her before pulling himself all the way into the truck. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” He scanned her black and white maxi skirt and fire engine red sweater. He took her hand in his and squeezed as he pulled his door closed and settled himself. “You ready for this drive?”
She groaned and laid her head against his shoulder. “Four hours in one day. Thanks for taking me.”
“Of course.”
“I wish we had a transporter that could get us there and back instantly.”
“I don’t mind driving.”
“Of course you don’t.” She sighed. “I’ve always found it a waste of time.”
“It’s a great time to think.”
“Okay, we’ll agree to disagree.”
He chuckled, but it faded quickly. “Do you think we’ll do that a lot? Disagree and then agree about it?”
The way he spoke, it sounded like he was thinking long-term. Ashley’s advice boomed through her brain. Belle already knew he was. It didn’t upset her, necessarily. Since he’d kissed her, they’d leveled off there, getting to know more about each other’s likes and dislikes, dreams and ambitions.
But knowing that every conversation contributed to his overall commitment to her brought a level of fear she didn’t quite understand.
“I have land in Lakeside.” He shrugged. “Well, my dad does. He apparently went about buying up land for a while there.”
“Why’s that?”
“He said he wanted us to have somewhere to live once we left the ranch. You live there your whole life, and…then you have to leave when you retire.”
“You think you’ll work the ranch your whole life?”
“Yep.” He glanced at her. “Does that bother you?”
“What? No. You’re a rancher. And you’re good at it. But I see your point about not having somewhere to live once you finish working at Horseshoe Home.”
“My dad took good care of us.”
“Where else does he have land?”
“I’m not sure. I just remember Lakeside for some reason.”
The rest of the drive passed with easy conversation, and Belle decided she liked road trips just fine—as long as Jace was sitting next to her. The drive on the way home—after they shared a buffalo burger in Lakeside and Jace drove her past the empty wilderness he apparently owned—was filled with her own thoughts. She usually hated being alone with her thoughts, because she rarely liked where they went.
But today, she didn’t mind so much. She thought about Jace, and his hard working spirit, his willingness to get back up when life kicked him down, his faith and friendship.
When she got back to her house in Gold Valley, she sent Jace a text. You’re right. That drive wasn’t so bad. Thought about a lot of things.
He didn’t answer, but Belle busied herself in her new office. With only a few weeks left on the Horseshoe Home project, she needed to speed up the timelines of the other renovations she’d committed to so she could start her own design company.
She played around on her photo design software and ended up on a web browser, looking at other designer’s logos and websites. By the time she realized how late it had gotten—and that Jace still hadn’t responded—she was too tired to consider why.
15
Jace couldn’t sleep. Belle’s text haunted him, ghosting up into his mind whenever he allowed himself to relax.
So he found himself walking the ranch by moonlight, the soft sounds of horse movement and the whispering of the breeze his only companions.
Oh, and his rampant thoughts. He wasn’t sure which unsettled him more—being alone outside in the darkest part of night or Belle’s text that she now liked driving so she could think. He couldn’t figure her out. Was she just trying to make him happy? Prove him right? Show him she could get along with him?
He didn’t want her to do any of the above. He wanted her to be authentic, be herself. And if she didn’t like driving, that was just fine with Jace. But their differences obviou
sly weren’t fine with Belle.
Don’t judge her too harshly, the breeze seemed to say, and Jace paused. With his hands stuffed deep into his pockets to keep them warm, Jace tipped his head toward the stars. “What should I do?”
The thought of losing Belle made his chest cave in and his throat close. The thought of her changing what she liked for him enhanced the feeling tenfold.
“Should I talk to her about this?” He spoke aloud, his words streaming from him now. “What if she changes who she is and what she likes and then blames me? I can’t live with her resentment. I won’t do that to her. Am I over-reacting? Maybe she just wanted me to know the drive wasn’t so bad.”
Jace’s words echoed in the empty night, and every muscle screamed with tension. “What should I do?” He whispered this time, desperate to know how to handle the situation.
Give yourself time. He’d been enjoying the slow pace of his relationship with Belle. It had taken him weeks and weeks to kiss her, and now that he could do that, he wasn’t jumping to the next step. Truth was, Jace could still hardly believe that she wanted to be with him. Him, who still felt so broken sometimes, so unworthy of the attention of a beautiful woman like Belle, so stuck on what had happened to him in the past.
“None of that was your fault,” he told himself as he turned back toward the row of cowboy cabins. His mother had assured him that she hadn’t left because of him, or Tom, or their father. She’d said it so many times, Jace had started to believe her.
He didn’t speak to Wendy, and her abandonment still cut too deep for the wound to be completely healed. But each day with Belle sealed the fissure in his soul a little bit more. At least he’d thought so. Now, he didn’t know what to think.
I just want to stop thinking for a while. He climbed the steps to his front porch and entered his cabin, a new prayer in his heart. One that begged the Lord to give him the gift of a restful, deep sleep.
When he woke in the morning—an hour later than usual—Jace stayed in bed and thanked God for answering his prayers and giving him the night of rest he needed. After helping to finish the chores of feeding chickens and brushing down horses, he met with Landon to begin planning the planting schedule.
