by Leanne Banks
Eliza’s chin sank to her chest. “Why is this so hard?”
Vivian shook her head. “I bet you’ve tried to do too much on your own. All of us need help at times. All of us,” she said.
Eliza stared into her eyes. “I’ve just always felt ashamed.”
“There are far worse things. You have so many strengths. You are creative, loving and friendly. The world is blessed by your presence.”
Eliza’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll be more gentle with yourself,” Vivian told her.
Eliza closed her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Am I ever going to get over this?” she whispered.
Vivian’s heart nearly broke at Eliza’s suffering. “I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. I suspect it’s day by day. And you bring light and pleasure to many people. You just need to allow yourself to bring light and pleasure to yourself. You need to remember that you are quite wonderful. Remembering that every day may take some doing.”
“How do you know all this?” Eliza asked.
“I’ve had friends who struggled with this disease and I’ve had more than a few moments of self-doubt myself. My life hasn’t been perfect,” Vivian confessed.
“But you know Benjamin wants to marry you,” Eliza said.
Vivian’s breath caught in her throat. “We’re working on that.”
“He’s been here with me the last few days. I made him swear he wouldn’t tell anyone what was going on with me,” she said.
Vivian looked at Benjamin. “That explains a lot.”
“I wanted to keep my word,” he said. “That’s why I brought you here tonight.”
She stared into his eyes and saw love, love, love. “We need to talk,” she said.
“Tell me the news when it happens,” Eliza said. “I’m going into a mental health facility, so I’ll be out of touch for a while.”
Vivian squeezed Eliza’s hand. “Good for you. I’m proud of you,” she said.
Eliza shrugged. “It will be a lot of work. Not my first rodeo, but I’m ready for this step.”
Vivian stepped closer and kissed Eliza on her cheek. “Call me anytime,” she said.
Benjamin did the same. “Thank you for tonight,” he said.
“It was the least I could do. Gonna give your baby my middle name?” Eliza asked.
Vivian gaped at Benjamin, and he shrugged.
“I had to tell her. I had to stop keeping secrets from you and from her,” he said.
Vivian nodded in understanding. “When can we talk?” she asked.
“In just a few minutes. They’re going to limit my visits so she can focus on her treatment.”
“I’ll wait outside,” Vivian said.
Vivian paced in the empty waiting room, her emotions roiling.
Benjamin approached her.
“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Vivian asked.
“With proper help and medication, she always comes out of this. It can be a terrifying ride, but I think she would do much better if she would join a support group and stick with it. I haven’t had much luck convincing her.”
Vivian inhaled, trying to collect her thoughts. “You shouldn’t have kept this from me,” she said.
“I gave my word to Eliza,” he said.
“Well, you should have convinced her to release you from that promise. It’s wrong for you to suffer this alone. What if I had kept something like this from you?”
He shook his head. “Totally unacceptable.”
“That’s the way I feel about you. I thought we had something special, but—”
“We do,” he said putting his hands on her arms. “We do. I’m just not used to sharing the load when it comes to Eliza. Even the idea is new to me.”
“I may not seem like I’m strong enough to handle this kind of thing, but—”
“I never thought that,” he said. “I just thought you might not be interested. Not everyone would be.”
“Well, of course, I’m interested. Eliza is an important part of your life. She’s precious to you so she would also be precious to me.”
Benjamin shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I found you. I can’t believe you’re here right now. You’re the strongest, most caring, most fascinating woman I’ve ever met, and I want you in my life. Forever,” he said. “I love you.”
The commitment in his words vibrated through her. She could hear and feel the certainty, but a part of her was afraid to believe. “Are you sure?” she asked. “This has happened pretty fast. Are you sure you’re not saying this because of the baby?”
“I couldn’t be more sure,” Benjamin said and took a deep breath. “But maybe you need some time.”
Vivian blinked. Sure, she had vacillated at the beginning. Her feelings had been so strong even then. But now, and not just because of the baby, she wanted him more than ever. She wanted his presence in her life. She wanted to be there for him and for him to be there for her. She checked herself. Her heart, mind and soul all agreed. She knew that being with him was right.
“I love you. I’ve never known a man I trust more. That I love being with more. We’ve had some tricky moments. Some fun and some scary ones. Life is like that. You’re the one I want to be with through all those times.”
He shook his head. “I don’t even have a ring for you.”
“I’d rather have your heart forever,” she said, and he lowered his mouth to hers in a kiss that promised everything.
Epilogue
Three weeks and two days later, the first wedding at Honeymoon Mountain Lodge was held between Benjamin and Vivian. Another wedding was scheduled in two weeks. That was the wedding of Corinne Whitman Jergenson’s daughter, Olive, and her groom, Bubba.
Vivian and Benjamin had wanted to wait until his sister was out of the mental health facility so that all their important people could join them. The weather was gorgeous, and although the leaves were falling, the clear blue lake provided a beautiful backdrop for the vows they would take on the dock.
The wedding crowd was small with no attendants. Vivian took one last glance in the mirror and walked down the hallway to where her sisters and mother stood.
“You look beautiful,” Jilly said.
“You do,” Temple said. “Are you sure you want to go through with this? I mean, marriage is challenging.”
Their mother shot Temple a sharp glance. “Of course she does. She’s pregnant.”
Vivian shook her head. “Of course. I do. I love Benjamin and he loves me. Y’all go ahead. I want a moment.”
Her sisters and mother exited to the dock, and Vivian closed her eyes. “Well, Daddy, all I can say is thank you for leaving the lodge to us and introducing me to the love of my life. I hope you’re happy up there. We sure miss you,” she whispered and felt her eyes well with tears.
Blinking furiously to dry her eyes, she walked to the door, which Grayson opened for her. His eyes turned a bit shiny. “You look beautiful, Missy. Your father would be proud.”
The strains of a guitar played, and Vivian looked to the front of the small group where Benjamin stood.
Dressed in a dark suit, he looked more handsome than ever. His gaze locked with hers, and he broke tradition by rushing to meet her and pulling her against him. “I love you so much,” he said.
“I was thinking the same thing about you,” she said and joined him as they walked to the front, where the minister stood waiting. She heard a few whispers but couldn’t make out what was said.
She stared into Benjamin’s gaze as they repeated their vows. They might have taken the long road to finding each other again, but it
had been worth it.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the minister said.
Benjamin swooped her up in his arms and kissed her.
The crowd laughed and cheered.
“I knew she was pregnant,” her mother said to Temple as she wiped her eyes. “A mother knows these things.”
“She looks so beautiful,” Jilly said.
“They are so happy,” Eliza said.
And nothing else needed to be said, because it was true. Benjamin and Vivian were so happy, at last.
* * * * *
Looking for more Leanne Banks? Try her other romantic stories:
A PRINCESS UNDER THE MISTLETOE
A ROYAL CHRISTMAS PROPOSAL
MAVERICK FOR HIRE
HAPPY NEW YEAR, BABY FORTUNE!
THE MAVERICK & THE MANHATTANITE
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Pretending they’re lovers for the cameras on a reality TV show quickly has Travis Dalton and Brenna O’Reilly wishing this game of love would never have to end...
Turn the page for a sneak preview of New York Times bestselling author Christine Rimmer’s
THE MAVERICK FAKES A BRIDE!,
the first book in the next Montana Mavericks continuity,
MONTANA MAVERICKS: THE GREAT FAMILY ROUNDUP
The Maverick Fakes A Bride!
by Christine Rimmer
Chapter One
Early March, Rust Creek Falls, Montana
It was a warm day for March. And everyone in Bee’s Beauty Parlor that afternoon had gathered at the wide front windows to watch as Travis Dalton rode his favorite bay gelding down Broomtail Road.
The guy was every cowgirl’s fantasy in a snug Western shirt, butt-hugging jeans, Tony Lama boots and a black hat. One of those film school graduates from the little theater in nearby Kalispell, a video camera stuck to his face, walked backward ahead of him, recording his every move. Travis talked and gestured broadly as he went.
“My, my, my.” Bee smoothed her brassy blond hair, though it didn’t need it. Even in a high wind, Bee’s hair never moved. “Travis does have one fine seat on a horse.”
There were soft, low sounds of agreement and appreciation from the women at the window—and then, out of nowhere, Travis tossed his hat in the air and flipped to a handstand right there on that horse in the middle of the street.
The women applauded. There was more than one outright cry of delight.
Only Brenna O’Reilly stood still and silent. She had her arms wrapped around her middle to keep from clapping, and she’d firmly tucked her lips between her teeth in order not to let out a single sound.
Because no way was Brenna sighing over Travis Dalton. Yes, he was one hot cowboy, with that almost-black hair and those dangerous blue eyes, that hard, lean body, and that grin that could make a girl’s lady parts spontaneously combust.
And it wasn’t only his looks that worked for her. Sometimes an adventurous woman needed a hero on hand. Travis had come to her rescue more than once in her life.
But he’d always made a big deal about how he was too old for her—and okay, maybe he’d had a point, back when she was six and he was fourteen. But now that she’d reached the grown-up age of twenty-six, what did eight years even matter?
Never mind. Not going to happen, Brenna reminded herself for the ten thousandth time. And no matter what people in town might say, she was not and never had been in love with the man.
Right now, today, she was simply appreciating the view, which was spectacular.
Beside her, Dovey Jukes actually let out a moan and made a big show of fanning herself. “Is it just me, or is it really hot in here?”
“This is his, er, what did you call it now, Melba?” Bee asked old Melba Strickland, who’d come out from under the dryer to watch the local heartthrob ride by.
“It’s his package,” replied Melba.
Dovey snickered.
Bee let out her trademark smoke-and-whiskey laugh. “Not that kind of package.” She gave Dovey a playful slap on the arm.
“It’s reality television slang,” Melba clarified. “Tessa told me all about it.” Melba’s granddaughter lived in Los Angeles now. Tessa Strickland Drake had a high-powered job in advertising and understood how things worked in the entertainment industry. “A package is an audition application and video.”
“Audition for what?” one of the other girls asked.
“A brand-new reality show.” Melba was in the know. “It’s going to get made at a secret location right here in Montana this summer, and it will be called The Great Roundup. From what I heard, it’s going to be like Survivor, but with cowboys—you know, roping and branding, bringing in the strays, everyone sharing their life stories around the campfire, sleeping out under the stars, answering challenge after challenge, trying not to get eliminated. The winner will earn himself a million-dollar prize.”
Brenna, who’d never met a challenge she couldn’t rise to, clutched the round thermal brush in her hand a little tighter and tried to ignore the tug of longing in heart. After all, she’d been raised on the family ranch and could rope and ride with the best of them. She couldn’t help but imagine herself on this new cowboy reality show.
True, lately, she’d been putting in some serious effort to quell her wild and crazy side, to settle down a little, you might say.
But a reality show? She could enjoy the excitement while accomplishing a valid goal of winning those big bucks. A few months ago, Bee had started dating a handsome sixtyish widower from Kalispell. Now that things had gotten serious, she’d been talking about selling the shop and retiring so she and her new man could travel. Brenna would love to step up as owner when Bee left.
But that would cost money she didn’t have. If she won a million dollars on a reality show, however, she could buy the shop and still have plenty of money to spare.
And then again, no. Trying out for a reality show was a crazy idea, and Brenna was keeping a lid on her wild side, she truly was. The Great Roundup was not for her.
She asked wistfully, “You think Travis has a chance to be on the show?”
“Are you kidding?” Bee let out a teasing growl. “Those Hollywood people would be crazy not to choose him. And if the one doing the choosing is female, all that man has to do is give her a smile.”
Every woman at that window enthusiastically agreed.
First week of May, a studio soundstage,
Los Angeles, California
Travis Dalton hooked his booted foot across his knee and relaxed in the interview chair.
It was happening. Really happening. His video had wowed them. And his application? He’d broken all the rules with it, just like that book he’d bought—Be a Reality Star—had instructed. He’d used red ink, added lots of silly Western doodles and filled it chock-full of colorful stories of his life on the family ranch.
He’d knocked them clean out of their boots, if he did say so himself. And now here he was in Hollywood auditioning for The Great Roundup.
“Tell us about growing up on a ranch,” said the casting director, whose name was Giselle. Giselle dressed like a fashion model. She had a way of making a guy feel like she could see inside his head. Sharp. That was the word for Giselle. Sharp—and interested. Her calculating eyes watched him so closely.
Which was fine. Good. He wanted her looking at him with interest. He wanted to make the cut, get on The Great Roundup and win himself
a million bucks.
Travis gave a slow grin in the general direction of one of the cameras that recorded every move he made. “I grew up on my family’s ranch in northwestern Montana.” He was careful to include Giselle’s question in his answer, in case they ended up using this interview in the show. Then they could cut Giselle’s voice out and what he said would still make perfect sense. “My dad put me on a horse for the first time at the age of five. Sometimes it feels like I was born in the saddle.”
Giselle and her assistant nodded their approval as he went on—about the horses he’d trained and the ones that had thrown him. About the local rodeos where he’d been bucked off more than one bad-tempered bull—and made it all the way to eight full seconds on a few. He thought it was going pretty well, that he was charming them, winning them over, showing them he wasn’t shy, that an audience would love him.
“Can you take off your shirt for us, Travis?”
He’d assumed that would be coming. Rising, Travis unbuttoned and shrugged out of his shirt. At first, he kept it all business, no funny stuff. They needed to get a good look at the body that ranching had built and he kept in shape. He figured they wouldn’t be disappointed.
But they wanted to see a little personality, too, so when Giselle instructed, “Turn around slowly,” he held out his arms, bending his elbows and bringing them down, giving them the cowboy version of a bodybuilder’s flex. As he turned, he grabbed his hat off the back of his chair and plunked it on his head, aiming his chin to the side, giving them a profile shot and then going all the way with a slow grin and a wink over his shoulder.
The casting assistant, Roxanne, stifled a giggle as she grinned right back.
“Go ahead and sit back down,” Giselle said. She wasn’t flirty like Roxanne, but in her sharp-edged way she seemed happy with how the interview was shaking out.
