by Julie Benson
She was distracted all right, but not by her job. When she’d said they could start over as friends, she’d never expected Reed would press the issue. She’d imagined their truce would mean if they met on the street they’d smile, nod at each other and go on their way.
But once again she and Reed had different plans. Okay, so he wanted to test their new friendship. What was the big deal? As she’d told him, he wasn’t irresistible.
Yummy and tempting, yes. Irresistible, no.
She possessed a decent amount of willpower, and a place with loud music and lots of people provided a great opportunity to test their new relationship. She could handle this.
If that were true, how come her stomach fluttered with butterflies as if she was waiting for her date to arrive?
“Liar.” Emma’s voice echoed the tiny one inside Avery’s head. “Who are you watching for?”
So much for not appearing obvious. “Reed called and said he’d drop by tonight.”
“Who’s Reed?” asked Maggie, Griffin’s wife.
“A high-school boyfriend.” Avery tossed out an abbreviated, sanitized version of their past.
Questions flew at her.
“What’s he like?” This from Elizabeth.
“How do you feel about him being back in town?” Maggie asked.
“Are you thinking about getting back together?” Again from Elizabeth.
“She said she’s not interested,” Emma scoffed.
“I can speak for myself, thank you.” Note to self. Never go out with friends when you’re the only one not in a relationship. They feel compelled to meddle. “Reed’s different now than when we dated. He’s gone all California-yuppie, arrogant CEO.”
And they still wanted different things out of life.
“That’s what I said about Griffin—that we had nothing in common and he was arrogant.” Maggie’s green eyes twinkled with amusement.
When Avery’s brother had been the bachelor on Finding Mrs. Right, Avery had laughed herself silly watching her playboy brother date gorgeous women supposedly to find a wife. Instead of marrying one of the bachelorettes, he’d fallen for the average girl, the show’s director, Maggie.
“Just because you could knock some sense into a man as thick-headed as my brother and make things work despite your differences doesn’t mean everyone can.”
“It’s funny you said that, Maggie. I thought the same thing about Rory when we met, especially the arrogant part,” said Elizabeth, Avery’s other sister-in-law. “I think there’s something to the saying opposites attract. Maybe you shouldn’t write Reed off so fast, Avery.”
Rory had met his wife on a horseback-riding tour on the family ranch. Elizabeth, a New York advertising executive, had offered Rory a modeling job, which he’d eventually accepted to earn the money to pay for their mother’s first round of cancer treatments.
“You said Reed called you? Maybe he wants more than friendship,” Maggie added.
“I heard he stood up for Avery when Harper got on her case. That doesn’t sound like a man with nothing more than friendship on his mind to me,” Emma said.
Avery glared at her friend, trying to send her a support-me-don’t-pile-on look. “Don’t you have to warm up your voice for your set, or test the speakers or something?”
Emma glanced at her watch. “I’ve got plenty of time.”
“You don’t think his calling means he wants to pick back up with you?” Elizabeth asked.
“What is it? National Find-Avery-A-Date Day and no one told me? Reed called because he was bored.” Or at least that’s what Avery told herself. He hadn’t meant anything more.
“You said he grew up here. Why didn’t he call an old male friend?”
Leave it to Maggie to pick up on that detail and have the nerve to ask the question.
“He said he hasn’t kept in touch with anyone since he left.” Avery thought about that. Granted, working on the ranch and studying to get top grades had left little time for friends, but he hadn’t kept in contact with anyone? He really had left town and never looked back.
“But he kept in touch with you?” Maggie asked.
Avery shook her head and explained the reason for Reed’s return. Then she told everyone how she’d run into him when she was at the Rocking M checking on a horse, and how she’d seen him again when he brought Jess’s dog into the clinic.
“Wow. A single guy, suddenly having to parent a teenage girl, run his business long-distance and all without any friends or family for support. He’s got a tough job ahead of him.”
Avery knew that, but hearing Elizabeth say the words put things into a different perspective. She’d been so thrown off balance from seeing Reed that she hadn’t thought of things from his point of view. He had taken on a huge undertaking and had no one he could count on.
He has you.
No. She refused to listen to the nagging voice that wanted her to save the world. She owed him nothing. Certainly not help. Not after all these years.
“If he doesn’t want to get back together, why would he call you?” Emma tossed out.
“Quit making a big deal out of this. It’s simple. He said I’m the only one he’s talked to since he got back to town, and when he got bored he called me.”
“Considering you two used to date, I’m surprised your mom hasn’t taken Reed under her wing. She has a tendency to do that,” Maggie said. “Not that I’m complaining.”
Both Avery’s sisters-in-law had firsthand experience with their mother-in-law’s matchmaking. When Elizabeth first arrived in Estes Park to shoot a commercial, Avery’s mom had insisted she stay at the ranch. When she’d balked, Nannette McAlister had said if Elizabeth didn’t stay, there wouldn’t be a commercial. That ended the discussion. Maggie had experienced similar subtle coercion when she and Griffin arrived to film the final episodes of Finding Mrs. Right.
“Don’t give Mom any ideas. That’s all I need—her going into matchmaker mode.” Especially since her mother had always liked Reed, but only because Avery hadn’t told her everything. Avery couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone all that had happened. How she’d left messages on Reed’s voice mail begging him to talk to her, and how she’d almost given up her desire to have children to keep him.
“That might not be all bad,” Maggie countered, pulling Avery back to the conversation at the table.
“She did a pretty good job where Rory and I were concerned.”
But her brothers had been different. Deep down inside, they both wanted the same things as their wives—a home and family. Unlike her and Reed. “I can handle my own love life, thank you very much.”
Emma burst out laughing. “Not from what I can see. When was the last time you had a date?”
Longer than she wanted to admit or discuss. “That’s not important.”
Maggie stared at Avery, a curious look on her face. “Why don’t you date more?”
Because she’d given up. Too many first dates that left her not wanting a second. She wanted someone who would still make her heart skip a beat when they really knew each other. A man she loved enough to overlook his annoying habits, and every man had a few of those.
When the trio at her table looked as if they’d launch into another inquisition, Avery raised her hand. “Leave it alone, okay? So I haven’t been dating a lot. That doesn’t mean going out with an old flame is a good idea.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s a bad one, either,” Emma said.
Choosing to ignore her friend’s comment, Avery glanced at the entrance again to see the door open, and Reed step inside. The rosy glow of sunset framed him as he stood in the doorway dressed in formfitting jeans and a red-and-black-plaid shirt. Then she noticed his feet. Cowboy boots. Gone was the yuppie businessman.
Her pulse skyrocketed. He looked so relaxe
d, so approachable. As though he belonged here. He looked like the man she’d fallen in love with.
Not good.
She swallowed hard. A hand waved in front of her face. She turned to see Elizabeth grinning at her. “I’m guessing from the look on your face that’s Reed?”
Avery nodded.
Maggie, the only one with her back to the door, actually scooted her chair around to get a better view. “He doesn’t look very yuppie to me.”
No, he didn’t. Unfortunately.
Avery knew the minute he spotted her. He nodded, smiled and made his way toward her.
For a brief moment she wondered how big a scene it would cause and how much teasing she’d have to endure if she made a break for it and hid in the bathroom.
“Oh, he’s delicious, and you want to just be friends? You either need your eyes checked or your standards are too high,” Maggie teased.
No, what he wanted me to give up is too high a price to pay.
“He zeroed in on you the minute he walked in the door,” Emma commented.
“And that’s not a friendship look,” Elizabeth added.
“It doesn’t matter what he’s thinking. That’s all there’s going to be between us,” Avery responded as she stood. When a chorus of “Where are you going?” chimed out, she said, “If you think I’m letting Reed get anywhere near the three of you, you’re crazy.”
* * *
WHAT A TIME WARP, Reed thought as he stood inside the bar. Halligan’s hadn’t changed in the years he’d been gone. Formica-topped tables and industrial-style chairs littered the space. Wood paneling gave the place a warm, homey feel. The intoxicating smell of burgers wafted through the air.
Unlike being at the ranch and the house he’d grown up in, being in Halligan’s didn’t stir up bad memories. Instead the bar and grill conjured up images of him and Avery spending their nights playing pool and darts after they’d grabbed a burger. Here he’d been able to forget, at least for a while, the hell at home.
He spotted Avery seated at a table near the stage. Most women spent so much time, energy and money on their appearance, but not Avery. Her look was effortless, and always had been. Approachable. No matter what she wore, she possessed a grace, a natural beauty that very few women could compete with. His gaze locked on her as he started weaving his way through the maze of tables.
Would people see him as the successful businessman he’d worked to become or would they still view him as one of the poor Montgomery boys? No mother to care for them and a father who worked them every minute they weren’t in school or sleeping. They’d pitied him without even knowing how bad things had been. Not even Avery or her family had known until the night he’d shown up at their door, the proof of his father’s abuse discoloring his face. Until then his father had been smart enough to hit his sons where it wouldn’t show for fear of losing his free ranch hands.
“Reed Montgomery? Damn, that can’t be you?”
“Afraid so.” He turned to see a blast from his past, slightly stockier than he remembered, but there was no mistaking that round face and lopsided grin. Brian Haddock, a friend from high school, strolled toward him, his hand outstretched.
“I was sorry to hear that Colt got deployed, but good thing he has you to come see to the ranch for him. That is, if you can remember which end of a horse to feed.”
He shook his old friend’s hand. “I think I remember. It’s the end with fewer flies, right?”
Brian chuckled. “I never got the chance to thank you for all the help you gave me in physics our senior year. If it hadn’t been for you, I’d have lost my football scholarship.”
“I heard about your injury. Tough break.”
After an amazing college football career as an offensive lineman at Colorado and being named an all-American, Brian had been drafted by the Chicago Bears in a late-round pick. Then in his first regular-season game, a freak accident on a broken play had ended his promising career.
“Luckily I had an education to fall back on. I have my own insurance company. What are you up to these days?”
“I own my own company, too. RJ Instruments. We manufacture computer chips for electronics.”
Brian reached into his pocket, pulled out a business card and handed it to Reed. “I’m on the city government board of trustees. Your company’s exactly the type we’re trying to get to relocate here. Our new slogan is Move to the Mountains. We’ve got some great incentives.”
With the cost of doing business in California rising he’d been mulling over relocating, but Estes Park? Not likely. Too many ghosts drifted around here, and not only at The Stanley Hotel.
“It’s Friday night. I don’t want to talk business. Call me next week, and we’ll set up a time to talk.” By then he’d have a polite no-thank-you response formulated.
“I’ll do that. We can have lunch, my treat. We’ll talk a little business and reminisce.”
Reed’s gaze locked on Avery, who’d either gotten tired of waiting for him or had realized he needed rescuing, because she’d started walking toward him. “Excuse me, Brian, but I told Avery I’d meet her here, and I’ve left her waiting too long.”
Avery, unaware of the enthralled males she left in her wake, stood out like a thoroughbred among mules. He shook his head. Where had that analogy come from?
Maybe it was true. You could take the boy out of the barn, but you couldn’t wash all the manure off his boots.
He met her halfway to her table. “You were right. Halligan’s hasn’t changed a bit.”
“I think the town would riot if anyone tried.”
Once seated, Avery introduced Rory’s wife, Elizabeth. He’d have put his money on the pretty, petite blonde being married to Griffin. Then Avery introduced him to her other sister-in-law, Maggie. Griffin’s wife was the opposite of what he’d expected. She was tall, with shoulder-length dark hair. If it hadn’t been for her striking green eyes, he’d have labeled her downright plain.
“So you’re the woman who married Griffin.”
Maggie shook her head. “I keep hearing how no one expected Griffin to marry. From the way everyone says that, you’d think I was one of the seven natural wonders.”
“Even though I was a freshman and Griffin was a senior, I heard some pretty wild stories about him.”
When Maggie smiled, the twinkle in her eyes told him she more than likely sent her husband on a merry chase. “We’ll definitely have to talk. A woman never knows when she might need a secret weapon.”
“Or blackmail material,” Avery added.
The jovial banter reminded Reed of dinners in the McAlister home. How many days had he sought refuge there when he couldn’t face life in his own house?
“Reed Montgomery? You cost me five dollars. When my husband told me you’d come back to stay with Jess, I told him he’d lost his mind and bet him that he was wrong.”
He stared at the slender waitress. Her face held more lines and her hair was now dusted with silver, but he recognized the face. “Hello, Mrs. Hughes. I’m sorry you lost the bet.”
“That’s all right, I’ll win the next one, and call me Cathy.” Genuine affection laced the woman’s voice. “How are you and Jess getting along?”
The good news is we haven’t knocked each other senseless yet. The bad news is that’s still a possibility. “We had a rocky start, but things are getting better.”
Mainly because they couldn’t get any worse.
“I worry about her. Being a teenage girl is tough enough, but to have to go through those years without a mother around? No girl should have to deal with that.”
Which was exactly why she should live with her grandparents. At least Colt’s mother-in-law had raised a child. Of course, look how that had turned out, but weren’t people supposed to learn from their mistakes? Even if they hadn’t,
certainly they’d do a better job than he would.
“It’s good to see you. Now that your father’s dead and buried, don’t be such a stranger. I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but I’ll make an exception with that man. When I heard what he’d been doing to you two boys all those years, well, being a good Christian woman I couldn’t run him out of town on a rail, but I sure thought about it.” She placed a delicate hand on his arm and leaned forward. “All the time you were in here, and I never knew what you were going through. If I had, I’d have hauled you out of that house myself, and made sure that man never got near you again. Anyone around here would have if we’d known.”
The ache in his heart burned. He’d never suspected that. He’d felt so alone, when he needn’t have.
“Now, what’ll you have to eat? I see Mick giving me the evil eye from the bar because I’m standing here chatting too long.” She nodded toward Halligan’s owner. “I’m taking his order right now, so don’t get your shorts in a knot.” Then she returned her attention to Reed. “Our buffalo burgers are still the best you can find anywhere.”
After Cathy took his order and left, Reed sat frozen in his seat, not sure what to say or do. His ghosts had definitely come out, but in a much different way than he’d expected.
“You okay?” Avery leaned toward him. “I’m sorry Cathy mentioned your dad. I know you never liked talking about him.”
His phone sounded, alerting him to a text and saving him from having to deal with Avery’s comment. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and scanned the text from Jess.
“More business?” Avery said, her tone filled with disapproval.
He shook his head. “It’s from Jess. She’s at the movies with friends. She was just letting me know what time I need to pick her up at the theatre.”
Elizabeth said, “It’s got to be hard suddenly being responsible for a teenager while running a company long-distance.”
“Things got easier by the end of the week when I didn’t have to use dynamite to blast Jess out of bed.” She still retreated to her room after school, though, while he worked in her father’s office. Then at dinner—that was rough. He’d had better conversations with former girlfriends than he did with Jess. “Teenage girls are an entirely different species. No matter what I say or do, she gets her nose out of joint.”
