“I haven’t done anything,” she protested.
“Yes, you have. More than you know. You’ve given me back my son. The one who laughs at silly jokes and brings me flowers just because and can loosen his tie and join a pickup game of soccer when the mood arises.”
Charlene rested her cheek against Megan’s for a moment then pulled away. “He needed someone to remind him life is about more than work and duty and responsibility,” Charlene said. “He’s become too serious over the years. I don’t think it was on purpose, mind you. He has always been driven, maybe because of the things he has seen at the FBI or the dark things he writes about in his books. These last few months, he’s happier than I’ve ever seen him. He’s a lucky man to have you.”
“We’re both lucky,” Megan said softly.
“Hearing you say that makes me happier than I can ever tell you.”
She couldn’t tell his mother yet about the question Elliot had asked her, the one she had answered in the affirmative. By this time next summer, they would be married, but they weren’t ready to share their plans with the world yet.
She loved having this little secret between them, the boundless possibilities the future held.
After a few more moments, Charlene stood up reluctantly. “I suppose I’d better put the food out before the children decide they have to fish for their dinner.”
“I’ll help you as soon as I put my gear away.”
His mother opened her mouth as if to argue but finally shrugged. “I’ll let you help, simply because that’s what family does.”
She was just about to return her lens to its padded slot in the camera bag when she happened to catch sight of Luke out of the corner of her gaze. He was standing on the edge of the makeshift soccer field talking to Dani Capelli, the new veterinarian who had come to town a few weeks earlier and was living just a few houses away from Charlene.
The woman was pretty in a dark, intense way—though Megan couldn’t help feeling a little pang of sympathy for her. She seemed a bit overwhelmed by the noise and the crowd and chaos.
Though they were too far away for Megan to hear what they were saying, she saw Luke point to something on the dog’s head and watched Dani bend down to examine the spot.
Somehow Megan had the impression the new vet was more comfortable with the dog than with the humans at the party, though she couldn’t have said why she had that impression. A moment later, Dani’s younger daughter approached her mother with a question and the two of them walked away, leaving Luke once more alone.
Though he had made an effort to do more things with the children, he still always seemed that way. On the fringe.
Heart aching, she finished putting away her camera gear then carried her bag to him. “How are you holding up?”
He glanced down at her, and for a moment, she saw something raw and stark flash across his expression before he quickly concealed it. “Fine. It’s a fun party. Good for the kids to get out and socialize, I guess, even though I have plenty of other things I should be doing.”
“I saw you talking to the new veterinarian a minute ago. She seems nice. Dani, right?”
Luke frowned. “Yeah. That’s right. I’m doing a little work on the house she’s renting from Doc Morales. It needs a new toilet and sink.”
“She’s got cute kids, too. We ought to invite them to dinner one night. You know, welcome her to town. I can cook at your place if you want.”
Her casual tone obviously didn’t fool her brother for a moment. His mouth tightened. “Are you matchmaking, Meggie?”
She refused to feel guilty. “Is it a crime to want my brother to be happy?”
“Don’t.”
The word was short, succinct, final—and left her aching with sadness for him.
“Why not? She’s pretty.”
“And I’m married.”
To a woman who had abandoned him and their children.
“You can’t spend the rest of your life like this, with more questions than answers,” she finally said.
He was quiet for a long moment, his features remote. Then he sighed. “I know.”
As he walked away with Wyn’s dog in his arms, Megan wondered—not for the first time—why he didn’t go to Oregon and confront Elizabeth once and for all.
Maybe he was afraid of the answers he might find.
“It’s a birthday party. You’re supposed to be having fun, not sitting here frowning.”
Elliot appeared out of nowhere, his sleeves rolled up and his hair only a little messy from the soccer moves.
“I’m having fun,” she insisted. “Just a little frustrated right now.”
“Let me guess. Luke.”
She made a rueful face. “How did you know?”
“I’m a trained investigator. It’s what I do.”
He pulled her into his arms and she settled there, inhaling the scent of him. He kissed her forehead. “Give the guy a break, okay? He has the information. When he’s ready, he’ll do something with it.”
That had been Elliot’s position from the beginning. He insisted Luke would know when the time was right to find the remaining puzzle pieces to the mystery of his wife’s disappearance.
“You’re right. I know.”
If not for Elliot, Luke wouldn’t have what little information he did. She knew now the complicated steps and tireless work Elliot had undertaken to find Elizabeth.
Megan still wasn’t completely certain the waiflike woman in the photograph he had shown them was actually Elizabeth, though she could see certain similarities in eye color, cheek structure and forehead.
Elliot had laid out his case in great detail and with unerring logic. He was certain, and so was Luke.
Megan couldn’t help it if some tiny sliver of doubt remained in her heart, despite their confidence. Somehow she still couldn’t wrap her head around the idea that any woman could simply walk away from her children and spend years living in apparent isolation.
She wouldn’t worry about that right now, Megan decided. Elliot was right. When Luke was ready, he would find those answers.
She refused to ruin this perfect but fleeting summer evening by brooding about something out of her control.
She wrapped her arms around him, savoring his heat and strength and wishing he didn’t have to fly back to Denver first thing the next morning.
“So I had a phone call earlier.”
His voice had a curious, offhand tone to it that made her lift her head. “Is it a lead on the case you’re working?”
“Not exactly.”
His eyes glittered in the fading light with an emotion she couldn’t quite read.
“Remember I told you I had that buddy at the Boise field office who went through Quantico with me? I’ve been putting out some feelers about relocating. Turns out, they’re looking for someone with my particular skill set.”
Boise. Two hours away instead of nine! “Are you serious?”
“I never joke about the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ma’am,” he said in a deadpan voice that made her laugh.
“Are you considering it?”
“That may depend on the things we talked about this morning.”
Their future together, creating a family here in this community they both loved.
Despite his doubts in May after he had been shot, his future in jeopardy, Megan had realized over the summer that Elliot wasn’t ready to leave his career at the FBI yet.
He was a Bailey. Protecting and serving was in his blood.
Maybe someday he would be able to walk away from a career in law enforcement and write full-time. Not yet.
That dedication to duty was one of the many reasons she loved him.
“They’re looking for someone to start this fall. I was thinking I could commute from here,” he said. “You don’t by any chance
know of any cottages for rent in the area?”
She smiled, her heart overflowing with all the possibilities.
“It so happens I do know of one. It’s small but comfortable, on a beautiful beach along the lakeshore. I should warn you, the landlady is a handful. She’s pretty demanding.”
He grinned down at her, her tough, dangerous FBI agent, and her heart seemed to soar along with a trio of geese taking off from the lake.
“I think I’m up to the challenge.”
She was sure of it, she thought as he kissed her.
* * * * *
Watch for Luke and Elizabeth’s story, coming soon from HQN Books.
Charming, heartfelt and simply enchanting…
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Season of Wonder
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“[Thayne] engages the reader’s heart and emotions, inspiring hope and the belief that miracles are possible.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber
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SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Cole Dalton thought letting Vivienne Shuster plan his wedding—to no one—would work out just fine for both of them. But now not only are they getting caught up in a lot of lies, they might just be getting caught up in each other!
Read on for a sneak preview of the first
The Maverick’s Bridal Bargain,
a Montana Mavericks story
by Christie Jefferies.
The Maverick’s Bridal Bargain
by Christie Jefferies
Chapter One
While Vivienne Shuster no longer made assumptions about whose marriages would last, she could say with certainty that the bride and groom sitting across the conference-room table from her didn’t appear to be the types who would maliciously smash cake in each other’s faces.
Not that being a Junior Wedding Planner—yes, her boss had actually put that title on Vivienne’s business cards—in Kalispell, Montana, gave Vivienne any sort of sneak peek into the future, but it did give her an inside track as to how a couple navigated one of the most stressful events of their relationship. Because if they couldn’t deal well with simple decisions like color schemes and invite lists, the pair was doomed when it came to handling the more important realities of life after the wedding glow burned out.
Listening intently, Vivienne nodded as she scribbled notes inside the brand-new binder she’d started when Lydia Grant and Zach Dalton came into her office fifteen minutes ago. So far, Lydia was the ideal bride in that she was already eager to leave most of the details to Vivienne and seemed to be more excited over the prospect of getting married than the actual reception. In fact, the groom was the one who’d scheduled the initial consultation in an effort to take some of the pressure of planning off his soon-to-be wife.
Zach and Lydia were clearly enamored with each other and, so far, the meeting was going smoothly, with everyone on the same page. Vivienne wasn’t surprised to find herself back on Team Romance—which was what she secretly called this euphoric mood that made her believe long-lasting love might actually be possible. It was times like these when she absolutely adored her job.
Unfortunately, in her chosen profession, the good moments were starting to become a lot less frequent than the headache-inducing ones.
Glancing at her slim smartwatch, she realized that she had only another hour before her boss showed up. Vivienne had purposely scheduled this appointment for seven in the morning, well before normal business hours, because she knew that her boss would be salivating once she found out that the couple wanted to have their wedding in Rust Creek Falls. The owner of Estelle’s Events weighed all of ninety pounds—not counting her makeup and false eyelashes, which added at least another five—and had been smoking a pack a day for the past fifty years. If Estelle got her acrylic claws into this easygoing bride, then the small town of Rust Creek Falls, Montana, would never know what hit it.
“So we’ve got three bridesmaids,” Vivienne confirmed with Lydia, before turning to Zach. “What about groomsmen?”
“Now that may be a problem.” Even without his Stetson, Zach was good-looking. But when the guy hitched up one side of his mouth into an “aw shucks” grin, he became a double threat—gorgeous and charming. “I have four brothers.”
“Four?” Vivienne gulped, blinking a few times to keep her eyes from bugging out. There was more than one handsome cowboy like this out there somewhere?
Zach pulled a picture from his wallet and handed it across the desk as though to prove it. She attempted to study the photo with as much professionalism as she could muster. There were two pairs of cowboys sitting on the top slat of a wooden corral, bookending a fifth cowboy who was standing in the middle. Zach was probably one of the sitters, but, honestly, Vivienne barely gave those guys a passing glance. She quickly narrowed in on the one in the center, though only because his central position and straight posture drew all of her attention. It had nothing to do with his sexy smirk or alert blue eyes. And it certainly wasn’t because of the way his jeans fit perfectly on his—
“Is it a problem if we’re uneven?” Lydia asked, yanking Vivienne out of her inappropriate thoughts. The bride-to-be was wearing jeans, a retro T-shirt advertising the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and had a mess of brown curls piled into a ponytail. She definitely didn’t strike Vivienne as the type to be bothered by unconventional appearances.
“No problem at all,” she assured Lydia, smiling as she clung to the picture she wasn’t quite ready to return. “It’s your big day. There is no right way or wrong way to do things.”
She snuck another peek at her watch, knowing the uproar Estelle would make if she overheard Vivienne saying that to a client. As a Junior Wedding Planner, Vivienne’s so-called office actually doubled as the conference room and was currently open to the reception area so she could pull double duty as the receptionist. It also meant Vivienne could easily be overheard whenever she was talking to her clients, which was why she always tried to conduct these initial appointments when her boss wasn’t around.
“So, with that many brothers, are you willing to pick just one to be the best man?” Vivienne asked, needing to move this meeting along but not wanting to rush Zach with what could be an important decision.
Judging by the happily casual way they were all posing in the picture, it was easy to make the assumption that the Dalton brothers were close. But as an only child, her experience in dealing with sibling rivalry had been limited to what she’d witnessed during prior weddings. She’d had her share of brides who didn’t want a prettier sister upstaging them on their big day. There’d even once been an usher who decided that the start of his brother’s ceremony would be the perfect time to propose to his own girlfriend. In short, nobody liked having their thunder stolen.
Zach held his cowboy hat in his lap, tapping the brim as he considered his options. Vivienne cleared her throat. “Or you could also pick a friend or a cousin or even skip having a best man, altogether.”
He looked at Lydia, who simply shrugged. “It’s up to you.”
“I should go with Booker because he’s the oldest,” the groom began. “But Cole can have a bit of the hero complex and will think he’s the only one—”
The front door cr
eaked open, interrupting Zach and forcing all three of their heads to swivel down the short hall in that direction. Vivienne held her breath, praying it was only a delivery person and that Estelle hadn’t decided to come in early.
But before she could stand up and intercept whoever it was, the middle cowboy from the picture strode across the reception area toward them, his boot heels clicking on the hardwood floor, his jeans well-worn and snug on his long, muscular legs. An electrical current shot through Vivienne and it took a few attempts for her to get her wobbly legs steady enough to rise to her feet.
How was it possible that the man was even better looking in person?
“Speak of the devil,” Zach said to her, and then also stood up and turned to the newcomer. “What are you doing here, Cole?”
“Did you even look at your left rear tire before driving all the way to Kalispell this morning?” the newcomer said to Zach. Then, as if suddenly realizing that his brother wasn’t the only one in the room, the man removed his off-white cowboy hat and addressed his soon-to-be sister-in-law. “Hey, Lydia.”
“Hi, Cole. This is our wedding planner, Vivienne Shuster,” Lydia responded. “Vivienne, this is Cole Dalton, one of Zach’s brothers.”
Thankfully, Vivienne had braced one hand on the edge of the table when she leaned across it to shake his, because the warmth of Cole’s palm enveloped her and she would’ve found herself moving in closer to him if there hadn’t been three feet of heavily polished antique walnut separating them.
“Sorry to barge in on you like this, ma’am.” His words drew her in even closer until her hips pressed against the table.
Growing up in Montana, despite having lived only in the bigger cities, Vivienne was accustomed to the occasional cowboy calling her ma’am. But there was something about Cole’s voice that was both honey filled, yet crisp at the same time. She cleared her throat and replied, “It’s no problem.”
“What’s wrong with my left rear tire?” Zach’s words penetrated Vivienne’s improper fascination and, thankfully, reminded her to pull her hand back.
Her cheeks stung with heat as she looked down to straighten her still-empty binder, then took a swig of her iced coffee nearby. The last thing her overactive imagination needed was caffeine, but there were only so many things she could focus on beside the good-looking man with the sexy voice and mesmerizing handshake.
The Cottages on Silver Beach Page 27
