Montana Dreaming

by Judy Duarte

  She was either divorced or never married, he guessed, since her name was still Martin and she lived in the house where she’d lived with relatives since her mother’s death. After one day of news, he knew more about Lisa Jane Martin than he did about the women he dated.

  “She’s single,” he said thoughtfully.

  His father finally removed his gaze from the television. His eyebrows rose and a glimmer of hope sparkled in his eyes. “Yes. Yes, she is.”

  Chapter Two

  Lisa opened her eyes and stared at the plaster ceiling. Saw the same two cracks that had been there the day before and the week before that and the month before that. She sat up, and beside her both retrievers woke and yawned. Joey placed his front feet on the floor first, stretching with his hind feet on the bed, then slowly stepped down. Piper bounded from the bed in one leap and danced in front of her while she stumbled to the bathroom. “Hold on a sec.”

  A few minutes later, she peered out the curtained window of the back door, let the three dogs out of the utility room and loosed all five into the backyard. The click of a shutter reached her through the morning stillness. She couldn’t see anyone, but sun momentarily glinted off a distant object. There was a wooded area behind her house, and it was possible someone could wait out there with a telephoto lens. “Get a life!” she shouted and shut the door.

  While she made coffee and poured orange juice, she watched the dogs through the window over the sink. They seemed unconcerned with anything other than their morning sniff-and-pee routine, so she guessed all was clear.

  She turned on the television, looking for her morning show and instead saw her own image plastered across the screen. She raised one hand to her hair in horror.

  “Oh, my. Oh, my.” The Lisa on the screen looked as if she’d been struck by lightning coming out of the Salvation Army store. Her goal had always been anonymity, but her appearance called attention by its very weirdness.

  The clips of her with Emily emphasized her drab fluffiness next to Emily’s clean lines.

  What could be so interesting that all those feet of film were being taken of her? A million dollars, she gleaned from the commentary and shook her head. She still had no concept of her inheritance.

  The next image induced a groan. She’d always detested that high school picture. While other girls’ parents had forked over an arm and a leg for touched-up studio work, she’d found the very least expensive photographer in the area. She’d never thought it would make a difference. Who would see it after all?

  Lisa flipped channels. The very same picture was plastered on CNN footage. Only a few million people had seen it.

  Mind reeling, she turned off the TV. The real problem was how she was going to take care of her pets today without being followed. She had filled out paperwork for a restraining order and the judge had signed it. The press was required to stay a hundred feet away from her and out of her yard. She had twelve homes to visit this morning, then meetings with the security people and the mining association in the afternoon.

  She let the dogs in and they ate while she fixed herself breakfast. She slipped on her neon-green garden boots and washed out the kennels and runs, filled bowls with water, then locked the dogs into the shaded runs for the day.

  After showering, she considered her wardrobe. Whatever she donned, it would be on the news tonight. A pretty mind-boggling concept. There wasn’t much choice. Only long skirts hung in her closet, so she chose one and dressed, found a white ball cap to hide her hair and donned a pair of sunglasses.

  Her rusty old green Blazer started with a puff of smoke, but it started, and she pulled out of her drive. A glance in the rearview mirror showed three SUVs with satellite dishes following her.

  She’d seen clips of Madonna, J.Lo and Gwyneth Pal-trow being hounded by reporters, and she’d wondered how they ever managed to go anywhere in private. That she was facing the same problem today was surreal.

  Having an audience took the joy from a task she usually enjoyed. Caring for her pets, walking the dogs and knowing they were getting attention, was normally rewarding. Today she felt as if she were under a microscope. And she was. She took three dogs at a time in her Blazer, walking them on leashes through the park and politely picking up after them with plastic bags, which she disposed of in trash barrels.

  “Heiress picks up collie poop,” she said to herself. “Film at eleven.” Jake, the collie in question, barked at the cameraman across the street. The dog’s owner drove to a nearby town to work and paid Lisa to walk the animal once a day during his absence. Lisa scratched Jake’s ears. “Unnerving, isn’t it, to do your business with paparazzi watching? Maybe a talent scout will discover you and you’ll be the next fast-food icon. You like tacos?”

  Dogs eventually walked and cats all fed, Lisa drove home to grab a quick lunch. A new white Expedition pulled into her drive behind her, and a forty-something woman got out. “I saw Aggie on CNN last night! You, too, of course.”

  Lisa nodded. “Smile. You’ll probably see yourself tonight.”

  Barbara Cooper, owner of the dachshund in Lisa’s backyard, glanced around and fluffed her hair with her fingers. “Are you serious?”

  “’Fraid so. Did you have a good trip?”

  Barbara tugged the front of her shirt neatly into place and followed Lisa into the house. “It was work, what can I say? Did Aggie behave herself?”

  “A sweetheart, as always.”

  When they reached the kitchen, Barbara took a check from her purse and handed it to Lisa. She was one of Lisa’s longtime clients, though they’d never had a personal conversation until now. “So you own the gold mine?”

  Lisa nodded. “That’s what they tell me. It’s official, because I signed all the paperwork yesterday. It’s still not real, though.”

  “What are you going to do?” Barbara asked as they walked out to the backyard.

  After handing the woman Aggie’s retractable leash, Lisa opened the kennel door and the dachshund shot out. “What do you mean?”

  Barbara knelt and scooped up her pet. “Surely you won’t be taking in dogs anymore. I don’t know where I’ll find someone else I trust who really cares for Aggie the way you do.”

  Lisa petted Aggie’s head. “I can’t imagine not taking in my dogs,” she replied. “They’re like friends who come to see me.”

  Barbara fastened the leash on the dog’s collar and set her pet down. “We’ll see. Somehow I don’t think you’ll be interested next time. You’ll be busy.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Spending money. And I won’t blame you. That’s what I’d be doing.” She walked toward the side gate. “Well, congratulations. And thanks.”

  Lisa watched her go, checked the water dishes and fixed herself a peanut-butter-and-potato-chip sandwich.

  When she walked out her front door, a dark blue limo waited at the curb. The driver, who’d been standing beside the rear door, tipped his hat. “Miss Martin.”

  She took several steps forward. Mayor Brookhurst had told her he’d work out the details of her meetings. “This is for me?”

  He nodded. “Yes, miss. Mr. Douglas sent me for you.”

  Everyone in Thunder Canyon knew of Caleb Douglas. Even Lisa, who shied away from people and the places they gathered, had heard the talk. Occasionally Lisa cared for Adele’s enormous poodle, but she’d never run into Caleb during any of her visits.

  Gran had never had much use for the man or his high-handed wife, but because of their wealth and property holdings, none could deny the Douglases were pillars of the community.

  “You’re taking me to the security meeting?”

  “Yes, miss.”

  There had been talk recently about how the Douglases had come to claim ownership of the Queen of Hearts mine. She’d learned from Emily that the Douglases had hired her firm to prove their legal claim, but that the investigation had proven otherwise.

  Whether she liked it or not, Lisa was up to her neck in this gold-mine business. She
was going to have to be better informed, she concluded, slipping inside the limo and seating herself on the soft leather as the driver closed the door. She had a lot more questions for Emily.

  She surveyed the elegant interior and marveled at over half a dozen sparkling glasses set into wells on a minibar. Absently she wondered what was a good peanut-butter chaser. Noticing then that the driver was smoothly driving out of Thunder Canyon, Lisa experienced a touch of apprehension. She tapped on the Plexiglas divider. It rolled down silently and the driver asked, “Yes, Miss Martin?”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To Mr. Douglas’s office at the Lazy D.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  The countryside was beautiful, so she enjoyed the scenery. Horses grazed behind miles of white fence, and seed-tipped hay fields waved in the sunlight. Finally they passed through a gate proclaiming the Lazy D ranch. Since Lisa looked after Adele’s dog while the couple vacationed, she was familiar with the grandeur of the home. Instead of heading for the circular drive where the main home, guesthouse, foreman’s cottage and bunkhouse sat, however, the driver took a road that wound away. Did Caleb have offices elsewhere?

  After another half mile, she was getting ready to tap on the Plexiglas again when the driver pulled to a stop before a sprawling stone house and got out to assist her.

  “Go on in, miss. Mr. Douglas is expecting you.”

  Lisa hesitantly climbed the stairs and opened the door. She entered into a huge foyer. Shiny wood floors reflected a massive hall table beneath a chandelier. Definitely not the same stuffy decor as the other place. “Hello?”

  “Miss Martin.”

  She turned, expecting the silver-haired man she’d seen on the news. Instead a younger man, tall with black hair and intense green eyes, greeted her. Her immediate reaction was that she should turn and run right back out the door, but her feet were rooted to the spot. He wore a sport jacket, white shirt, jeans and boots. Casual attire, but on this man they made her feel even more inappropriately dressed. She’d have taken off her ball cap, but her hair was matted to her head by now.

  She did slip off the sunglasses and drop them into her denim handbag. She felt exposed in his presence…vulnerable. And she didn’t like it.

  He strode forward and extended a hand. “Riley Douglas.”

  In the flesh. He was taller and leaner than she remembered from school, his features sharpened to devastating virility by the past ten years. He looked even better than he had then. “I know—I mean, yes.”

  She took his strong, warm hand for an instant, and then he released hers.

  “I was expecting…your father.”

  “He’ll be along. I handled all the security for the mine, so I thought I should bring you up to speed and answer any questions. He does want to meet you later, though. Come on back to my office. I asked you here early so we could get acquainted and go over a few things. Once the security team arrives, there won’t be much chance for us to talk privately.”

  Lisa followed him down a hall bordered on one side by floor-to-ceiling windows that let in the sun and offered a stunning view of the ranch.

  She’d been expecting dark wood, but his office was all black leather, chrome and glass. On a counter in one corner, two coffeepots were just finishing perking, but he gestured to the wet bar. “Care for a drink?”

  This was a good-old-boy operation, she surmised, and probably a good many deals were negotiated over drinks. If his associates drank in the limo, as well, how did anyone make it through meetings sober?

  “No, thanks.”

  “The wine’s been breathing for about fifteen minutes,” he said.

  Lisa glanced at the bottle sitting in a bucket of ice. Several others stood at the ready on the bar nearby. She did enjoy a glass of wine now and then, and the labels on those bottles indicated he hadn’t picked them up at the same grocery store where she shopped. And he’d already opened one, she rationalized.

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  He picked up the bottle and poured a stemmed glass three-quarters full.

  She accepted the wine with a twinge of regret, because she knew she wouldn’t drink a whole bottle, and it looked expensive.

  “Does it suit you?”

  “What? Oh.” She tasted the white wine. It was better than anything she’d ever tried. “It’s excellent.”

  He poured himself a tonic water and gestured for her to sit on one of the black leather sofas. She did, and he sat across from her.

  “I’m glad we have this chance to meet.”

  No surprise that he didn’t remember her. Having skipped fifth grade, Lisa had been a young freshman. She’d noticed Riley Douglas right away and secretly admired his good looks and popularity. She’d been his assigned tutor for chemistry, and spending two evenings a week together had afforded more than enough opportunity for her to develop a full-blown crush. He’d always been polite and friendly enough, though distant. She hadn’t been his type then any more than she was now, and he’d easily dismissed their relationship after he’d passed his class.

  It had been okay then. It was okay now. “Yes,” was all she said.

  “Would you like to go over the arrangements I had worked out with the security people? You might prefer to hire a company of your own choice, but we’ve used Weber Security exclusively for the last eight years. I can recommend them highly.”

  “Exactly what needs to be protected? I don’t have any idea.”

  “Do you remember how this whole gold-mine thing came about?”

  “Vaguely.”

  “In February the son of the high school coach disappeared.”

  “I remember that. The Stevenson boy was found in the mine shaft and rescued.”

  Riley nodded. “And a rescue worker found a gold nugget. That started the gold fever. On more than one occasion after that vandals broke into the cordoned-off mine site.”

  “I saw news reports that some of them were injured. The clinic was hopping.”

  “Things got pretty crazy. Anyway, that property had been counted as part of Douglas holdings for generations, but suddenly our ownership was questioned. Believing our claim would be verified, we secured the area. We’ve had a perimeter guard and armed security at the site round-the-clock since mid-February, in part to protect what we thought was our property as well as to prevent any more mining injuries.”

  Security guards. Oh, my.

  “Now that the investigators have proven the land belonged to Lily Divine—and, in that case, to me—all along, will you want to be reimbursed for those costs?” Lisa was beginning to question the wisdom of coming here, of talking to a Douglas without her lawyer. “I think I should call my lawyer. May I use your phone?”

  “Of course.” He gestured to the desktop. “I assure you I wasn’t thinking of reimbursement.”

  “It would seem only right,” she insisted.

  “It’s petty, Miss Martin, and I won’t entertain further discussion in the matter.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me.” She punched numbers, and Bernadine Albright took her call immediately.

  “You were wise to call me, Lisa. I’ll be right there. Don’t agree to anything until then.”

  Lisa hung up the phone. “She’s on her way.”

  Riley raised his glass. “Good decision. Until she arrives, we’ll get to know each other a little better.”

  Lisa didn’t want the wine to go to waste, so she accepted another glass. She glanced out the double glass doors that opened onto a brick patio. In the distance she saw a modern red barn. “Is this where you live?”

  “And work. Built the house a few years ago.”

  “You run the ranch?”

  “I help. My father is the hands-on rancher. I’m the financial manager. Over the past couple years I’ve devoted myself to expanding our real-estate ventures.”

  She remembered reading about him going off to college and later coming home with a degree in finance. Lisa walked to the doors and looked out over the
pas-tureland where several horses grazed.

  “Do you ride?” he asked from directly behind her.

  Goose bumps rose on her shoulders and arms at his nearness. “I used to ride when Mr. McKinley had his stables north of town.”

  “Poor old nags.” Riley chuckled. “They were long in the tooth and not much for looking at.”

  “Not everyone has his own breeding stock in the backyard,” she replied.

  He shrugged off her comment. “Maybe you’d like to come out and ride sometime. Anytime. Consider it an open invitation.”

  Riley Douglas was only one of the many people who’d suddenly found it in their hearts to befriend her. Funny how people who hadn’t given her the time of day a week ago were now pursuing her attention.

  She definitely questioned this man’s sincerity. She may have inherited a gold mine, but she hadn’t gotten any better looking.

  She moved back into the room and studied the pieces of artwork. Modern paintings and a few sculptures. No photographs. She couldn’t recall hearing mention of Riley ever marrying. Sometimes local gossip had him paired with one particular woman or another, all of them out of her league. Why his marital status should matter was questionable, but she sure was wondering.

  “Did you do your own decorating in here?”

  He nodded. “Is it that obvious? Pretty hit-and-miss, actually. I just pick up things I like when I’m traveling.”

  The place seemed a little sparse and modern for her taste, but what did she know? She hadn’t spent money on more than a plug-in air freshener for her house in the last five years. And the only stuff she picked up while traveling was dog poop.

  There was a knock at a side door, and it opened without Riley’s consent. A thin woman wearing a dark green pantsuit carried a tray of small sandwiches into the room and placed it on the low glass coffee table. Lisa caught herself imagining setting anything edible on a table this low in her house.

  The woman turned to the counter area, where she disposed of coffee grounds and set out several glossy black mugs, each one with a fancy D on the side.