A Maverick to [Re] Marry

by Christine Rimmer

  Married—and divorced!—in secret...

  Rust Creek Ramblings

  Rust Creek Falls’ flirty cowboy and the shy, straight-A student—a couple? We have it on good authority that not only were Derek Dalton and Amy Wainwright once an item, they were actually married! With Amy back in town for her friend’s wedding, how long before their secret past is revealed? Gather your rose petals, dear readers... We suspect these high school sweethearts may soon get a second chance at happily-wedded-after!

  Derek said, “You look good,” and she tried to read his tone. Careful? Thoughtful? Maybe a little angry?

  What did it matter, though, what was in his mind? She didn’t know him anymore. They were strangers to each other now and she needed to remember that. “Thanks. You, too—and, well, I don’t even know where to start.” She swallowed. Hard. “I have been wondering, though...”

  “What?”

  “Well, it would be good to have some idea of who knows,” she said, and then wanted to kick herself. Could she be any more unclear? He probably had no clue what she’d just tried to ask him.

  But as it turned out, he understood perfectly. “About us, you mean?”

  “Yeah. About, um, what happened thirteen years ago.”

  “Nobody in this town,” he said. “Nobody but me.” A slow smile curved his beautiful mouth. “Well, and you, now you’re here. While you’re here.”

  “I would like it to stay that way.”

  “Just between you and me, you mean?”

  “Yes, Derek.” His name in her mouth. It tasted way too familiar.

  MONTANA MAVERICKS: The Lonelyhearts Ranch

  You come there alone, but you sure don’t leave that way!

  Dear Reader,

  I’m crazy for a good reunion story, the kind where the hero and heroine had true love once—and lost it. And now, at last, they get their chance to try again.

  Brainy high-tech accountant Amy Wainwright left Rust Creek Falls, Montana, in the summer of her eighteenth year with her heart in tatters. Never, ever did she plan to return. But this summer, Amy’s dearest friend, Eva Rose Armstrong, is getting married. Eva will have no one but Amy as her maid of honor. So Amy’s back in town.

  Rancher Derek Dalton has loved one woman in his life. Amy Wainwright shredded his heart and left him alone. Now he’s the best man to Amy’s maid of honor and they’ve got a Jack and Jill bachelor party to plan.

  At first, they both swear they’re over each other. But in no time, they’re both daring to hope that this could be their chance to try again and get it right.

  I hope Amy and Derek’s story makes you smile a lot and maybe cry a little and leaves you absolutely certain that true love conquers all.

  All my best,

  Christine Rimmer

  A Maverick to (Re)Marry

  Christine Rimmer

  Christine Rimmer came to her profession the long way around. She tried everything from acting to teaching to telephone sales. Now she’s finally found work that suits her perfectly. Visit her at christinerimmer.com.

  Books by Christine Rimmer

  Harlequin Special Edition

  The Bravos of Valentine Bay

  The Nanny’s Double Trouble

  The Bravos of Justice Creek

  Married Till Christmas

  Garrett Bravo’s Runaway Bride

  The Lawman’s Convenient Bride

  A Bravo for Christmas

  Ms. Bravo and the Boss

  James Bravo’s Shotgun Bride

  Carter Bravo’s Christmas Bride

  The Good Girl’s Second Chance

  Not Quite Married

  The Bravo Royales

  The Prince’s Cinderella Bride

  Holiday Royale

  How to Marry a Princess

  Her Highness and the Bodyguard

  The Rancher’s Christmas Princess

  Visit the Author Profile page at www.Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

  Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards

  http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010002

  For everyone who’s loved and lost

  and dared to try again.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Excerpt from The Cottages on Silver Beach by RaeAnne Thayne

  Excerpt from Detective Barelli’s Legendary Triplets by Melissa Senate

  Chapter One

  “I can’t believe you’re here at last,” said Eva Rose Armstrong with a tender little smile. “When you pulled up in your fancy car yesterday, I almost wondered if I was seeing things.”

  “I’m here and I’m staying,” Amy Wainwright replied. “You won’t get rid of me until the wedding, no matter how hard you try,” she spoke firmly and did her best to ignore the growing sense of dread that had her stomach feeling queasy and her nerves on a thin edge.

  “Thirteen years,” Eva scolded fondly, “do you realize that? Thirteen years it’s taken us to get you to come back to town.” Us included Eva and her older sisters, Delphine and Calla. Growing up, the Armstrong sisters had been like family to Amy. In the years since Amy had moved to Colorado, the Armstrong girls had come to visit her often, but Amy had always found some reason she couldn’t make the trip to Rust Creek Falls—and in actual fact, it had been nine years, not thirteen, since Amy had last set foot in Montana. But Eva didn’t know about that other visit and she never would.

  “It took you getting married to do the trick.” Amy strove for a light tone. “But I’m here now. And I’m going nowhere until I see you walk down the aisle to the man that you love.”

  Eva laughed. “You don’t have to look so grim and determined about it.”

  Relax, Amy reminded herself for the umpteenth time. It’s going to be fine. “Grim?” She reached out and took Eva’s hand. “Are you kidding? I’m thrilled to be your maid of honor.” It was coming face-to-face again with the best man that had her belly in knots and her heart stuck in her throat.

  They stood near the sunny front window in the living room of the farmhouse where Eva lived with her fiancé, Luke Stockton. The best man would be joining them any minute now. And Amy would get through this meeting with her pride and her dignity intact.

  She was going to smile in a cordial sort of way, just smile and say hello and ask him how he’d been. She would treat him as exactly what he was—a guy she knew way back when. An old high school boyfriend, nothing more.

  What had really happened between them all those years ago was their secret, his and hers. And Amy could see no reason on earth why it shouldn’t stay that way.

  “Now, we just need to find a way to keep you here forever,” Eva said with a definite smirk.

  “Highly unlikely.” Amy lived in Boulder. She owned her own home and she worked for a major accounting firm as a digital forensic accountant. Most people’s eyes glazed over when she talked about her work, but Amy had always been a math whiz and a computer nerd. She totally loved stopping hackers and fraudsters dead in their tracks.

  “You never know,” Eva teased, “you could finally meet the man of your dreams right here in Rust Creek Falls. This town is magic when it comes to love and romance, you just ask anyone.”

  Once, long ago, Amy would have agreed with her friend. Now, though? Not happening. No way, uh-uh. “If you say so...”

  Eva tugged on her hand. “Come on.” She le
d Amy to the sofa and chairs grouped around the coffee table. Eva and Luke had moved to Sunshine Farm last winter. Slowly, they’d been fixing up the old farmhouse, stripping dated wallpaper, installing new countertops and appliances in the kitchen. The furniture was mostly family hand-me-downs and stuff picked up at estate and yard sales, but Eva had a great sense of style and the effect was homey. Welcoming. “Sit down,” Eva said, “and have a cookie.”

  Amy took one of the two wing chairs across from the couch—and a lemon-praline macaron. Eva was a baker by profession, her cookies as irresistible as her sunny smile.

  The doorbell chimed.

  It’s him...

  Adrenaline spurted. Amy’s throat locked up tight on a bite of macaron.

  Calm down. You’re okay. Breathe. She gulped a sip of iced tea and somehow managed to swallow the bite of cookie without surrendering to a choking fit.

  Across the room and through the open arch, in the small foyer, Eva pulled open the door. “Viv!” It was the wedding planner, Vivienne Shuster. Not him, after all. Amy’s heartbeat slowed a little as Eva ushered the other woman into the living room.

  Vivienne, a tall, striking blonde in a simple tan skirt and a white shirt, took a seat on the couch. She set down her stack of pastel binders and her tablet, shook hands with Amy and said yes to a glass of iced tea and a butter-pecan sandy.

  For a few minutes, the women chatted about nothing in particular. Viv was relatively new to town, just getting started with her wedding-planner business. “Eva, the house looks great.”

  “We keep working on it,” said Eva. Luke had grown up at Sunshine Farm, but the place had fallen into disrepair when his parents died and the Stockton family was torn apart.

  Viv had obviously heard the whole heartbreaking story, including the current state of affairs. “It’s wonderful,” she said, “that Luke and his brothers and sisters are reunited now—or almost.” Her bright smile dimmed a little. “Any word on Liza?” Liza Stockton was the only one of Luke’s siblings who had yet to be located.

  “No. But we’re still looking. We’ll never give up.”

  “Well, you’re certainly bringing the family ranch back to life again.” Viv picked up one of her binders and flipped to a tab labeled Barn Weddings. Like Luke’s brother Danny last Christmas, Luke and Eva’s wedding venue would be the big yellow barn right there on Sunshine Farm. “So, we’re still going with holding the ceremony outside, and then the reception dinner in the barn, right?” At Eva’s nod, Viv continued, “Good, then. I have a few new ideas to run by you.”

  Amy heard boots out on the front steps. Her mouth went dust-dry and her ears started ringing.

  But it was only Luke coming in from the horse pasture. She took slow, deep breaths to settle her absurdly overactive nerves as Luke left his muddy boots by the door and slipped on a pair of soft mocs. “Am I late?”

  “Nope.” Eva got up to offer a quick kiss and pull him into the living room. “You’re right on time.” They look so happy together, Amy thought. She was glad for her friend. A born romantic, Eva had survived more than her share of disappointments in love. But she never gave up. And now she’d finally found the perfect man for her.

  The doorbell rang again. Amy’s stomach lurched and her heart beat so hard, she knew it would pound its way right out of her chest.

  “That’ll be Derek,” Luke said. “I’ll get it.” He returned to the door as Amy practiced slow breathing and prayed she wouldn’t sink to the floor in a dead faint like the heroine of some old-time novel, felled by her own secret past. “Come on in,” said Luke.

  And then, there he was.

  Derek Dalton. In Wranglers and a soft chambray shirt. He took off his hat and his hair was just as she remembered it, thick and unruly, sable brown. He was just as she remembered—only bigger, broader. A grown man now, not a nineteen-year-old boy.

  He hung his hat by the door. Luke signaled him forward and he entered the living room, filling it with his presence, with their past that seemed to suck all the air right out of her lungs. He greeted Eva and Viv. And then he turned to Amy, those leaf-green eyes homing right in on her. “Hey, Amy. Long time, huh?”

  She stared up at him, unable to speak. But then he held out his big, blunt-fingered, work-roughened hand. She forced herself to take it and the shock of touching him again after all these years sent a bolt of lightning straight up her arm—and jolted the necessary words out of her.

  “Hey, Derek.” She pulled her fingers free of his grip and somehow managed the barest semblance of a smile. “Great to see you again.”

  “You, too.” With that, he turned away at last and lowered his big frame into the other wing chair.

  The meeting began.

  Viv opened a binder, pulled the rings wide and took out a small stack of papers. “Derek.” She handed several sheets to him. “And for you, Amy.” She passed Amy the rest. “You each now have the phone numbers and email addresses of everyone in the wedding party. Also, you’ll find a series of suggestions for the joint bachelor-bachelorette party, which is slated for the Saturday before the wedding. You two will be working as a team to pull it together. Invitations have already been sent and we’re counting on a big crowd. I threw in a few brainstorming sheets. It always helps to have those—just as a way to get the ideas flowing, you understand.”

  “Wonderful,” Amy said, because Viv was looking at her and it seemed important that she say something.

  “As for the bachelor party venue,” said Viv, “Maverick Manor is a dream setting, luxe and rustic at once. A real coup that we got it.” She gave Derek a nod. “Big thanks to Derek.”

  “Don’t thank me,” Derek said. His voice was a little different somehow, deeper than Amy remembered. The sound of it reached down inside her, stirring up memories, reminding her of tender moments she really needed to forget. He added, “Nate Crawford’s the one.”

  Eva asked, “You remember Nate, Amy?”

  “Yeah. Of course.” Nate had been four or five years ahead of her in school, but everybody knew him. He was the oldest of six children. His parents, Laura and Todd, owned the general store.

  “Nate’s become kind of a town benefactor in the last few years,” said Eva. “He’s a major shareholder in Maverick Manor.”

  Derek said, “I just mentioned the party to him and he offered the Manor as a good place for it.”

  “Ah,” said Amy, staring straight ahead, unable to make herself look at him though he was sitting right there at the other end of the coffee table from her. “Terrific.”

  Eva explained, “Instead of separating the girls and the guys, I wanted one big party for all of us—with nothing X-rated, if you know what I mean.”

  Viv clarified, “No strippers. And the games can be a little sexy—”

  “—but nothing over the top.” Eva patted Luke’s hand. “Just good fun, right, Luke?”

  “Works for me.” The groom nodded.

  “It’ll be a nice, relaxed get-together for everyone,” added Eva, “not only for the wedding party, but also for all of our friends in town. We want it to be loose and easy and the Manor is a beautiful, comfortable place for it.”

  Viv nodded at Derek and then at Amy. “Food and music are already taken care of, again thanks to Derek.”

  Wait a minute. Had Derek paid for all this? Or just arranged everything? The boy she’d known in high school hadn’t had a lot of money. So then, he’d done well for himself?

  Not that it mattered how much money he had. What mattered was that she would make sure the financial burden didn’t all fall on him—and wait a minute. Why was she worrying about Derek and his finances anyway?

  Really, she didn’t even know the guy anymore....

  Viv was still talking. “If you need specific songs played or whatever, I’ll be happy to pass your requests along to the band. You two will be putting your heads together and coming up with some fun things to do for the event, along with party favors and prizes.

  “Mostly, it’s a balanc
e. You don’t want to pack in too many activities, but you need a few games and such, to get people mingling. I’ve listed some very basic ideas on your party brainstorm sheets, just to jump-start the process for you. I’ll be ready with more suggestions if you need them and to help in any way I can.”

  Amy tried really hard to focus, to keep her mind in the now, to think about great things to do at a coed bachelor party and what prizes and favors might be cute.

  But her brain defied her will. Images assailed her, of those five days all those years ago, the tacky motel by the highway, the sound of the big rigs going by in the night, the reassuring warmth of Derek’s strong arms around her. How much she had loved him.

  How scared she’d been, her life spinning out of control, nothing going the way she’d planned it.

  “Fun activities,” she heard herself repeat. “Will do.”

  From the other chair, Derek spoke up, too. “Uh, yeah. We’ll get right on that.”

  The meeting continued. To Amy, it seemed endless. The memories pressed in on her, making it hard to breathe. But really, no one seemed to notice that she wasn’t saying much. Did they?

  Eva and Luke seemed relaxed, happy as only two people in love can be. Viv was laser-focused on the wedding plans. Eva, a baker to the core, was all about the food and the cake, while Viv talked flowers and ways to make the barn setting really pop.

  They discussed music for the wedding day, too. Luke and Eva had put in hours practicing their first dance. The band—the same group they were using at the bachelor party—had been given a long playlist of the couple’s favorites to fill up the evening. Luke joked that of course local eccentric Homer Gilmore would be welcome at the wedding. But they had to make absolutely certain that Homer’s infamous moonshine didn’t find its way into the punch.

  As for Derek...

  Well, Amy didn’t know how Derek was faring. From the moment he took the chair across from hers, she hadn’t been able to make herself so much as glance in his direction.

  When it was finally over and Viv was closing up her binders and stacking them to go, Amy longed to race for the stairs and the big guest room up there that would be hers for the next few weeks. She’d brought her work with her. She could power up her computer and concentrate on keeping the giant accounting firm of Hurdly and Main, International protected from cyber-criminals and digital fraud.