by B. J Daniels
Jackson didn’t want this move to cause problems among the five of them. So his mind was miles away as he started to step into the dim darkness inside the barn.
The cool air inside was suddenly filled with a terrified scream. An instant later, a black cat streaked past him and out the barn door.
* * *
JACKSON RACED INTO the barn not sure what he was going to find. What he found was a blond-haired woman who shared a striking resemblance to the little girl who’d been singing outside by the corrals.
While Nat had been angelic, this woman was as beautiful as any he’d ever seen. Her long, straight, blond hair was the color of sunshine. It rippled down her slim back. Her eyes, a tantalizing emerald-green, were huge with fear in a face that could stop traffic.
She stood against the barn wall, a box of wedding decorations open at her feet. Her eyes widened in even more alarm when she saw him. She threw a hand over her mouth, cutting off the scream.
“Are you all right?” he asked. She didn’t appear to be hurt, just scared. No, not scared, terrified. Had she seen a mouse? Or maybe something larger? In Texas it might have been an armadillo. He wasn’t sure what kind of critters they had this far north, but something had definitely set her off.
“It was nothing,” she said, removing her hand from her mouth. Some of the color slowly returned to her face but he could see that she was still trembling.
“It was something,” he assured her.
She shook her head and ventured a look at the large box of decorations at her feet. The lid had been thrown to the side, some of the decorations spilling onto the floor.
He laughed. “Let me guess. That black cat I just saw hightailing it out of here... I’m betting he came out of that box.”
Her eyes widened further. “You saw it?”
“Raced right past me.” He laughed. “You didn’t think you imagined it, did you?”
“It happened so fast. I couldn’t be sure.”
“Must have given you quite a fright.”
She let out a nervous laugh and tried to smile, exposing deep dimples. He understood now why his son had gone mute. He felt the same way looking at Natalie’s mother. There was an innocence about her, a vulnerability that would make a man feel protective.
Just the thought made him balk. He’d fallen once and wasn’t about to get lured into that trap again. Not that there was any chance of that happening. In a few days he would be on a plane back to Texas with his son.
“You know cats,” he said, just being polite. “They’ll climb into just about anything. They’re attracted by pretty things.” Just like some cowboys. Not him, though.
“Yes,” she said, but didn’t sound convinced as she stepped away from the box. She didn’t look all that steady on her feet. He started to reach out to her, but stopped himself as she found her footing.
He couldn’t help noticing that her eyes were a darker shade of green than her daughter’s. “Just a cat. A black one at that,” he said, wondering why he felt the need to fill the silence. “You aren’t superstitious, are you?”
She shook her head and those emerald eyes brightened. That with the color returning to her cheeks made her even more striking.
This was how he’d fallen for Ford’s mother—a pretty face and what had seemed like a sweet disposition in a woman who’d needed him—and look how that had turned out. No, it took more than a pretty face to turn his head after the beating he’d taken from the last one.
“You must be one of Tag’s brothers,” she said as she wiped her palms on her jeans before extending a hand. Along with jeans, she wore a checked navy shirt, the sleeves rolled up, and cowboy boots. “I’m Allie Taylor, the wedding planner.”
Jackson quickly removed his hat, wondering where he’d left his manners. His mother had raised him better than this. But even as he started to shake her hand, he felt himself hesitate as if he were afraid to touch her.
Ridiculous, he thought as he grasped her small, ice-cold hand in his larger, much warmer one. “Jackson Cardwell. I saw your van outside. But I thought the name on the side—”
“Taylor is my married name.” When his gaze went to her empty ring finger, she quickly added, “I’m a widow.” She pulled back her hand to rub the spot where her wedding band had resided not that long ago. There was a thin, white line indicating that she hadn’t been widowed long. Or she hadn’t taken the band off until recently.
“I believe I met your daughter as my son and I were coming in. Natalie?”
“Yes, my baby girl.” Her dimpled smile told him everything he needed to know about her relationship with her daughter. He knew that smile and suspected he had one much like it when he talked about Ford.
He felt himself relax a little. There was nothing dangerous about this woman. She was a single parent, just like him. Only she’d lost her husband and he wished he could get rid of his ex indefinitely.
“Your daughter took my son to see the horses. I should probably check on him.”
“Don’t worry. Nat has a healthy respect for the horses and knows the rules. Also Warren Fitzpatrick, their hired man, is never far away. He’s Dana’s semi-retired ranch manager. She says he’s a fixture around here and loves the kids. That seems to be his job now, to make sure the kids are safe. Not that there aren’t others on the ranch watching out for them, as well. Sorry, I talk too much when I’m...nervous.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I want this wedding to be perfect.”
He could tell she was still shaken by the black cat episode. “My brother Tag mentioned that Dana and the kids had almost been killed by some crazy woman. It’s good she has someone she trusts keeping an eye on the children, even with everyone else on the ranch watching out for them. Don’t worry,” he said, looking around the barn. “I’m sure the wedding will be perfect.”
The barn was huge and yet this felt almost too intimate standing here talking to her. “I was just about to get Ford and go down to the house. Dana told me she was baking a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies and to help ourselves. I believe she said there would also be homemade lemonade when we got here.”
Allie smiled and he realized she’d thought it was an invitation. “I really need to get these decorations—”
“Sorry. I’m keeping you from your work.” He took a step back. “Those decorations aren’t going to put themselves up.”
She looked as if she wasn’t so sure of that. The cat had definitely put a scare into her, he thought. She didn’t seem sure of anything right now. Allie looked again at the box of decorations, no doubt imagining the cat flying out of it at her.
Glancing at her watch, she said, “Oh, I didn’t realize it was so late. Nat and I are meeting a friend for lunch. We need to get going.”
Jackson was suddenly aware that he’d been holding his hat since shaking Allie’s hand. He quickly put it back on as they walked out of the barn door into the bright sunshine. “My son is quite taken with your daughter,” he said, again feeling an unusual need to fill the silence.
“How old is he?”
“Ford’s five.”
“Same age as Nat.”
As they emerged into the beautiful late-June day, Jackson saw the two children and waved. As they came running, Nat was chattering away and Ford was hanging on her every word.
“They do seem to have hit it off.” Allie sounded surprised and pleased. “Nat’s had a hard time lately. I’m glad to see her making a new friend.”
Jackson could see that Allie Taylor had been having a hard time, as well. He realized she must have loved her husband very much. He knew he should say something, but for the life of him he couldn’t think of what. He couldn’t even imagine a happy marriage. As a vehicle came roaring up the road, they both turned, the moment lost.
“Hey, bro,” Tanner “Tag” Cardwell called fr
om the rolled down window of his pickup as he swung into the ranch yard. “I see you made it,” he said, getting out to come over and shake his brother’s hand before he pulled Jackson into a hug. Tag glanced over at Ford and Natalie and added with a laugh, “Like father like son. If there’s a pretty female around, you two will find them.”
Jackson shook his head. That had been true when he’d met Ford’s mother. But since the divorce and the custody battle, he’d been too busy single-handedly raising his son to even think about women. That’s why red flags had gone up when he’d met Allie. There was something about her that had pulled at him, something more than her obvious beauty.
“Dana’s right behind me with the kids,” Tag said. “Why don’t I show you and Ford to your cabin, then you can meet everyone.” He pointed up in the pines that covered the mountainside. “Let’s grab your bags. It’s just a short walk.”
Jackson turned to say goodbye to Allie, but she and her daughter had already headed for the old van.
* * *
“COME ON, NAT, we’re meeting Belinda for lunch,” Allie said as the Cardwell men headed for the cabins on the mountain behind the barn. Working here had been a godsend. Nat was having a wonderful time. She loved Dana’s children. Hank was a year older than Nat, with Mary being the same age. Dana’s twin boys, Angus and Brick, were just over a year and her sister Stacy’s daughter, Ella, was a year and a half. Dana had her hands full but Stacy helped out with the younger ones. All of them loved the animals, especially the horses.
True to her word, Dana had made sure Nat had begun her horseback riding lessons. Nat was a natural, Dana had said, and Allie could see it was true.
Their few days here so far had been perfect.
Until the cat, there hadn’t been any other incidents.
Her friend Belinda Andrews was waiting for them at a little Mexican food place near Meadow Village at Big Sky. While other friends had gone by the wayside since she’d married Nick six years ago, Belinda hadn’t let Nick run her off. Allie suspected that, like her, she didn’t have a lot of friends and Nick, while he’d made it clear he didn’t like Belinda, had grudgingly put up with her the times they’d crossed paths.
“I hope we didn’t keep you waiting,” Allie said as she and Nat met Belinda on the patio. “You didn’t have any trouble getting off work for the wedding shoot?” Belinda worked for a local photographer, but freelanced weddings. It was how they’d met back when Allie had her own wedding planning business.
Belinda grinned. “All set for the Tag Cardwell and Lily McCabe wedding. I took Dana up on her offer. I’m moving into one of the guest cabins later today!”
Allie wasn’t all that surprised. Dana had offered her a cabin, as well, while she was preparing everything for the wedding. But since she lived just down the highway a few miles, Allie thought it best to remain at home for Nat’s sake. Her daughter had had enough changes in her life recently.
“You really are excited about this,” Allie said, noticing how nice Belinda looked. Her friend was dressed in a crop top and cut-off jeans, her skin tanned. Her dark hair was piled haphazardly up on her head, silver dangly earrings tinkled from her earlobes and, while she looked makeup free, Allie could tell she wasn’t.
Belinda looked enchanting, a trick Allie wished she could pull off, she thought. On the way here, she’d pulled her hair up in a ponytail and even though she’d showered this morning, she’d forgone makeup. Nick was always suspicious when she wore it when he wasn’t around so she’d gotten out of the habit.
Inside the café, Nat asked if she could play in the nearby area for kids and Allie said she could as long as she didn’t argue about coming back to eat when her meal came.
“You look...pale,” Belinda said, studying her after they were seated outside on the patio under an umbrella so they could see Nat. “You haven’t had anymore of those...incidents, have you?”
Allie almost laughed at that. “I just need to get more sun,” she said and picked up her menu to hide behind.
“I know you too well,” Belinda said, dragging down the menu so she could look into her eyes. “What’s happened now?”
“A black cat jumped out of one of my decoration boxes and scared me just before I came over here. And guess what? Someone else saw it.” So there, she wanted to say, I don’t need my head examined.
Belinda nodded, studying her. “A black cat?”
“Yes, a black cat and I didn’t imagine it. One of the Cardwell brothers saw it, as well.” She couldn’t even voice how much of a relief that had been.
“That’s all that’s happened?”
“That’s it.” She had to look down at the menu to pull off the lie and was just glad when Belinda didn’t question her further. She hadn’t told anyone about the shredded dresses from her closet or the new clothes she’d taken back. The sales associate hadn’t remembered her, but said the afternoon when the clothing was purchased had been a busy one. None of the other sales associates remembered her, but agreed they’d been too busy to say for sure. She’d ended up keeping two of the outfits to wear while working the rehearsal dinner and the wedding.
“I already moved some of my things into the cabin,” Belinda said.
Allie couldn’t help being surprised. “Already? Why didn’t you stop by the barn and say hello?” Allie had suggested Belinda as the wedding photographer and felt responsible and anxious since this was her first wedding in five years.
“You were busy,” her friend said. “We can’t keep each other from our jobs, right?”
“Right.” She loved that Belinda understood that. In truth, Allie had been hesitant to suggest her friend. She didn’t want to have to worry about Belinda, not with everything else that she had going on in her life right now. While her friend was a great photographer, sometimes she got sidetracked if a handsome man was around. But when she’d broached the subject with the bride-to-be, Lily had been delighted that it was one other thing she didn’t have to worry about.
Dana had been kind enough to offer Belinda a cabin on the ranch for the five-day affair. “It will make it easier for you to get great shots if you’re staying up here and experiencing all the wedding festivities,” Dana had said. “And any friend of Allie’s is a friend of ours.”
She and Belinda had been friends since grade school. Lately they hadn’t been as close, probably Allie’s fault. Belinda was in between men right now, and much wilder, freer and more outspoken than Allie had ever been. But Belinda didn’t have a five-year-old daughter, either.
“You have no idea what this means to me,” Belinda said now. “I’ve been dying to photograph a Western wedding for my portfolio.”
“Your portfolio?”
Belinda looked embarrassed as if she’d let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. “I’m thinking about opening my own studio.”
“That’s great.” Allie was happy for her friend, although she’d wondered if Belinda had come into some money because it wouldn’t be cheap and as far as she knew Belinda lived from paycheck to paycheck like everyone else she knew.
The waitress came and took their orders. A light breeze stirred the new leaves on the nearby trees. The smell of summer mixed with that of corn tortillas, the most wonderful smell of all, Allie thought. They sipped Mexican Cokes, munched on chips and salsa to the sound of Latin music playing in the background and Allie felt herself begin to relax.
“I wasn’t going to bring this up,” Belinda said, “but you know that psychic that I’ve seen off and on?”
Allie fought not to roll her eyes.
“I know you say you don’t believe in this stuff, but she said something interesting when I mentioned you.”
“You told her about me?” Allie hadn’t meant for her voice to rise so high. Her daughter looked over. She smiled at Nat and quickly changed her tone. “I really don’t want you talking to anyone
about me, let alone a...” She tried to come up with a word other than charlatan.
Belinda leaned forward, unfazed. “She thinks what’s happening to you is because of guilt. Simply put, you feel guilty and it is manifesting itself into these...incidents.”
Allie stared at her. Leave it to Belinda to get right to the heart of it.
Her friend lowered her voice as if afraid Nat might be listening. “It makes sense, if you think about it. Nick didn’t know you were—” she glanced at Nat “—leaving him and going to file for custody of you-know-who, but you did know your plan. Then he goes and gets himself...” She grimaced in place of the word killed. “Something like that has to mess with your mind.”
“Yes, losing your husband does mess with your mind no matter what kind of marriage you had.” Fortunately, the waitress brought their food. Allie called Nat up to the table and, for a few moments, they ate in silence.
“The thing is...” Belinda said between bites.
“Can’t we just enjoy our meal?” Allie pleaded.
Her friend waved that suggestion away, but didn’t say more until they had finished and Nat had gone back to the play area.
“The psychic thinks there is more to it,” Belinda said. “What if Nick knew about your...plan?”
“What are you saying?”
“Come on. You’ve been over Nick for a long time. His death wouldn’t make you crazy—”
“I’m not crazy,” she protested weakly.
“But what if he did know or at least suspected? Come on, Allie. We both know it was so not like Nick to go hunting up into the mountains alone, knowing that the grizzlies were eating everything they could get their paws on before hibernation.” She didn’t seem to notice Allie wince. “Didn’t the ranger say Nick had food in his backpack?”
“He didn’t take food to attract a bear, if that’s what you’re saying. He planned to stay a few days so of course he had food in his backpack.”
