Forever And A Day (Montana Brides, Book #7)

by Leeanna Morgan

  “Last I heard you were taking your life to Portland.”

  Sarah glanced out the front window. There was no sign of Jordan, so at least she had time to talk Mac into keeping the volume down or doing something else. “Jordan will be here soon. We’re going over some website designs.”

  Mac walked through to the kitchen and took a bag of potato chips out of the cupboard. “Really? You’ve been miserable the last few days. I thought Jordan might have had something to do with it.” He opened the fridge and took out a couple of cans of beer.

  Sarah followed him into the living room. “I don’t suppose you’d consider finding something else to do?”

  Mac landed in the middle of the sofa and grinned. “Nope.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “Can you at least keep the volume down?”

  “That I can do. The remote control is on the table behind you. Can you pass it to me?”

  Sarah looked around the room. “You’re lucky I’m such a nice person.” She handed him the remote, but held tight when he went to take it away. “Remember to keep the volume down.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I think your man’s arrived.”

  Sarah looked out the window. Mac was right. Jordan was getting out of his truck. “He’s not my man,” she hissed. “And if you try any funny business I won’t bake you another cookie.”

  Mac laughed and turned the TV on. “You’re no fun. My lips are sealed.”

  Sarah growled and spun toward the door when Jordan knocked. Mac would have to duct tape his lips together to seal them.

  As she walked to the front door, she straightened her shirt, ran her hands through her hair. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and opened the door. “Hi, Jordan. Come in.”

  He looked down at his feet.

  “Don’t worry about your boots.”

  Mac laughed from the living room.

  “Ignore Mac. He’s watching a game.” Sarah walked past the living room, hoping Jordan would follow her and leave Mac to his own devices. He didn’t.

  “What’s on?” Jordan glanced at the TV.

  “Replay between the Grizzlies and the Bulls. If you know the score keep it to yourself.” Mac pointed to the folders in Jordan’s hands with his can. “You brought your homework?”

  Sarah frowned at Mac, hoping he got the hint. “I’m sure Jordan’s really busy and needs to get back to his ranch soon.”

  “It’s okay,” Jordan said. “Frank’s taken our guests fly fishing with a local outfitter. They won’t be back until after eight tonight.”

  Mac grinned. “In that case, pull up a chair and make yourself at home.”

  Jordan, clearly torn, looked between Sarah and Mac. “Sorry. Got work to do, buddy. Maybe next time.”

  “If you change your mind you know where to find me.”

  Sarah rolled her eyes. “We’re working in the kitchen.”

  Mac looked back at the TV. “Game’s starting. Enjoy yourselves.”

  Sarah led Jordan into the kitchen. “Mac’s addicted to the Grizzlies.”

  “Who isn’t?”

  She took a couple of cans of cola out of the fridge. “You too?”

  “I’m from Montana. What can I say?”

  “Go Blazers?” Sarah laughed at Jordan’s stunned expression. “I’m not a total hermit. I saw one or two basketball games in Portland.”

  “I’m shocked. I thought you had your head in a computer doing programming stuff?”

  “I took time off for good behavior. Do you want to show me what you’ve got?”

  A streak of red shot across Jordan’s face.

  Sarah felt her own face getting hot. “I meant the folders. For the website.”

  Jordan cleared his throat and opened the first project folder. “I liked these ideas the best. The only thing I don’t understand is why none of the students wanted me to link other information to my site?”

  “The idea of a website is to keep people on your site and not go to anyone else’s. As soon as they leave they might not come back.”

  Jordan stared at her for a few minutes before picking up another piece of paper. “This team talked about demographics and niche markets. How does that work with their design ideas?”

  Sarah looked at the different images, fonts, and layouts. She told Jordan how the look and feel of the website would attract different people. They went through some e-commerce options, talked about website security.

  Jordan frowned at the papers in front of them. “So the analytical tools you talked about can track what people do when they get on our website?”

  “That’s right. When you know what people are doing you can change the layout or wording to make the website more effective.”

  “This is more complicated than I thought.”

  “Once we’ve got everything up and running it will make more sense.” Sarah closed her notebook and picked up another folder. “Are these the photos you liked?”

  “No. That’s the reject pile.” He started hunting through the other folders.

  She flipped the cover open and stared at the first image. It was her and Jordan. They’d been standing outside the barn, waiting for everyone to join them after they’d toured the ranch. She knew why the photo had been rejected and it made her feel sick. She closed the cover and pushed the photos toward Jordan.

  Jordan hadn’t noticed that she’d opened the reject folder. He moved another folder out of the way before passing her a red one. “These are the ones I like.”

  She swallowed the knot in her throat and looked at the images. “Tell me why you like them.”

  After a few minutes he started going through the folder, resorting the images based on what they’d talked about. He had some great photos, images that would sell the ranch without needing to add pages of text.

  He opened the reject folder, then closed it. “I’ll go through these back at the ranch.”

  Sarah looked at the folder, then at the other papers covering the table. “I’ve made lots of notes on what you like and don’t like. Are you happy for me to start building the website?”

  “Have you got time to do it?”

  “Why wouldn’t I have time?”

  Jordan started moving all of the papers into folders. “You’ll have a lot to do. Before you move back to Portland.”

  Sarah thought about the job offer she was still considering. “I’m staying in Bozeman for a while longer.” She passed him the reject folder. “If there are any photos in here that you decide to include, let me know. I can add them to the website as I’m building it.”

  Mac’s voice roared from the living room and Jordan smiled. “Sounds like the Grizzlies just won.”

  “109 to 102.”

  Jordan raised his eyebrows.

  “I watched the game over the weekend.” Sarah picked up their empty cola cans and put them in the recycling bin. “That’s about all we need to go over for now. I’ll call you once I’ve got something for you to look at.”

  “The students will want a preview. I could go and talk to them.”

  “They’d like that.”

  Mac stood in the doorway with a grin on his face. “Have you finished working or am I still banned?”

  Sarah smiled at him. “We’ve finished. It sounds as though you got the score you wanted?”

  “Damn right. You should have seen them.” Mac shot an imaginary hoop. “Three-pointers everywhere. Don’t know what they’ve been doing at training, but they need to keep doing it.”

  Jordan picked up the last folder and stood up. “I should get going.”

  “Aren’t you staying for dinner?” Mac asked.

  “No. Not tonight.” Jordan glanced at Sarah. “Thanks for all your help. Let me know when you’re ready to meet again.”

  “I will. Bye.” She watched him walk out of the kitchen, heard the front door close as he let himself out. She couldn’t believe they were the same two people that had danced under the gazebo at Emily and Alex’s wedding. She’d messed t
hings up so badly that she didn’t know if they’d ever be friends again.

  Mac turned to face her. “Anything you want to talk about?”

  “Not at the moment.” She looked around the kitchen and took a deep breath. “Do you feel like beef stir-fry for dinner?”

  “As long as you don’t put any of that tofu stuff in it.”

  Sarah couldn’t help the smile that slid across her face. “You’re such a caveman, Mac.”

  “Most of us are. Remember that when you’re figuring out what to do about Jordan.”

  Sarah didn’t have to figure anything out. The chances of Jordan ever liking her again were about the same as Mac enjoying tofu. It wasn’t going to happen.

  ***

  “What are you doing?” Tess pulled out a chair at Sarah’s table in Angel Wings Café.

  “I’m waiting for Jacob. I thought I’d work on Jordan’s website before he arrives.”

  “How’s it going?”

  “Good.” Sarah turned her laptop around so Tess could see the screen. “We’re keeping everything simple and letting the images speak for themselves.”

  “Looks great. I like the picture of the man with the trout.”

  “That’s Pat Buchanan. He went fly fishing a couple of weeks ago. They cooked the trout and had it for dinner with the outfitter.”

  “I hope he’s booked another vacation?”

  “He will be as soon as I get the website finished. Have you heard from Emily?”

  Tess smiled. “She sent me an email yesterday. They’re on their way home. They’ve had a great time.” She glanced back at the counter. “I gotta go. Annie’s not here.”

  Sarah went back to the website, adding a couple more pages for the activities Jordan would be taking bookings for.

  “Sarah?”

  She looked up and smiled at Jacob Green. He sat down at her table and glanced at the website. “Jordan’s?”

  She nodded. “I thought I’d finish off a couple of things before you arrived.” She moved her laptop away and pulled an envelope out of her bag. “I went through the report you gave me. I’d definitely like to go and see the ranch.”

  As well as being her boss’ older brother, Jacob was a property developer. A very good property developer. Although his expertise was in commercial and residential sales, he knew a thing or two about the rural market.

  “You weren’t put off by the price?”

  “The price was fine. It’s the location that sold it to me.”

  Jacob laughed. “You haven’t seen it yet.”

  “I’ve seen the pictures. It’s beautiful.”

  “Eighty-five acres isn’t big by Montana standards, but with year-round irrigation and plenty of building sites, it’s a good investment. Do you want to go to the ranch now?”

  Sarah nodded. “I can’t wait. I’ll just buy some muffins.”

  “You go and see Tess. I’ll put your laptop in its case.”

  “Thanks.” Sarah headed across the café. “Could I buy half a dozen blueberry muffins, Tess?”

  “Sure can. Are you using my baking to sweet talk Jacob?”

  “I’ve given up sweet talking anyone. This is business. The muffins are a thank you gift.”

  Jacob stood beside Sarah. “Hi, Tess.”

  Tess smiled as she slid the muffins across the counter to Sarah. “I thought you’d gone to Florida for a few weeks after the wedding?”

  “I did. I’m back now, then off to Denver later in the week.”

  “Don’t you get tired of traveling around so much?” Tess asked.

  “Business meetings take me everywhere. One day I’ll stay put, but it won’t be for a while.”

  Sarah paid Tess and picked up the muffins. “Sounds like we’d better go and see some land before you leave again.”

  Jacob laughed. “You could be right. Let’s go.”

  As they drove out of town, Sarah thought about what she was about to do. Muffins might work for some men, but no amount of sweet talking would change Jordan’s mind about her. So she was going to do what she set out to do. Start over. But this time it would be on her terms and no one else’s.

  ***

  Sarah looked around Trent and Gracie’s living room. About twenty adults and even more children were halfway through a potluck dinner. They’d come to find out more about Jordan’s website and enjoy each other’s company.

  Jordan had shown everyone the design he’d settled on. Most people seemed impressed with the pages dedicated to showcasing the activities guests could enjoy during their ranch vacation.

  They liked the idea of keeping all of the information in one place with an easy reservation system. They also liked the idea of developing their own virtual presence. So far three families had approached Sarah to see if she could work on their websites or create new ones from scratch.

  “Everyone seems happy with what we want to do.”

  Sarah jumped. She’d spent most of the night trying to avoid Jordan. His blue eyes were alive with laughter. The grin on his face was almost a smirk. He knew what she’d been doing.

  She sipped her coffee. “It was good of them to come here. A few of the families have asked if Sally’s class can visit their ranches as well.” Jordan nodded. But he didn’t move from beside her. “Are you ready for the class visit next week?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be. I thought I’d take Pete with me. The students seemed to enjoy his company.”

  “All of the stories about the fire made an impression on them.” Sarah had seen the thank you cards Sally’s class had made after their visit. Pete and his firefighting abilities had been the star attraction.

  “What are you two doing here on your own?” Gracie handed Jessica over to Jordan. “Look after your niece for a few minutes while I go and check on dessert.”

  “Where’s mom?” Jordan asked.

  “Karen’s busy. You can’t wiggle out of babysitting duties that easily.”

  Jordan looked down at Jessica and grinned. “Guess I’m a lucky man with two babes beside me?”

  Even before the words were out of his mouth, Sarah could see he regretted them. A dull blush streaked along his face.

  “Babes?” Sarah held onto Jessica’s outstretched hand. “Did you hear your uncle, Jessica? He called us, babes.”

  Trent made his way across the room with Sarah’s cell phone in his hand. “You left this at the front of the room with your jacket. It’s rung a few times in the last fifteen minutes. Someone’s trying to get through to you.”

  “Thanks, Trent.” Sarah scrolled through the missed calls, then looked at Jordan. “If anyone asks questions that you can’t answer, tell them I’ll be back soon.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “I hope so.” She walked outside and hit redial. “Jacob? What’s happened?”

  “You’ve got it. They want a longer settlement date, but apart from that, they agreed to everything else.”

  Sarah burst out laughing. “I can’t believe it. I’m so excited I feel like I’m going to burst. Thank you, I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  “Anytime. Come and see me tomorrow. You can countersign the sale and purchase agreement, then we’ll give it to the realtor.”

  “I’ll call you in the morning.”

  “Sounds good. Talk soon.”

  Sarah stayed outside, too excited to do anything more than grin stupidly at the sky.

  She heard someone’s feet walking across the gravel yard. Jordan stopped beside her. She took a moment to settle her racing heart before she spoke. “You’ve lost your little babe.”

  “Mom’s got Jessica. I’m sorry about calling you a babe. It wasn’t appropriate. Things pop out of my mouth sometimes and it can get me into trouble.”

  “That’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it.”

  He stuck his hands in his pockets and stared across at the barn. “It’s been a good night. Thanks for all of the work you’ve done.”

  Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “The student
s in Sally’s class did most of it. I just put it all together.” She rubbed her hands along her arms. “I need to go inside. I forgot my sweater.”

  “Here.” He passed her his jacket.

  Sarah held it in her hands. She could feel the warmth of his body inside the sheepskin. She stared at it, not sure if this was another one of those inappropriate things. Not that sharing a jacket was inappropriate, but the thoughts running through her mind when she put it on might be.

  “It’s not going to keep you warm unless you wear it.” Jordan took it off her and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Is that better?”

  Sarah nodded. Jordan hadn’t dropped his arms from her shoulders. She could smell his aftershave. It was doing funny things to her body. “Umm…You can let me go now.”

  Jordan’s arms dropped from around her like a hot potato. “Sorry, I…well, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “I’m fine. Really fine. I was just…you know…” She waved toward the house. Even from where they were standing the potluck dinner was loud. She wondered if the ranch guests would be annoyed at the noise.

  As if he’d read her mind, Jordan glanced across at the barn. “No one’s home. They went into Bozeman for a night on the town. Frank’s driving them to all of the hot spots.”

  They both smiled. A Wednesday night in downtown Bozeman wasn’t exactly the center of entertainment paradise. Jordan’s guests would be treated to jukebox magic and line dancing Montana style.

  Jordan scuffed his boots on the stones. “I was wondering…you know…if you weren’t doing anything on Friday night, if you wanted to go out. With me.”

  “Like a date?” Sarah’s heart beat rocketed into overdrive. If the smell and warmth of the man in front of her wasn’t enough to make her brain splutter to a standstill, the offer of a date was.

  “Yeah. But if you’ve got other plans, that’s okay. We could do something another time.”

  Sarah didn’t have to consult her calendar. She knew what she was doing on Friday night. Sally and Tess wouldn’t be disappointed if she missed dinner with them. “That sounds like fun. Do you want to meet somewhere?”

  “I’ll pick you up. How does six-thirty sound? We could go out to dinner somewhere?”