Montana Mornings (The Wildes of Birch Bay Book 3)

by Kim Law

  “What I know is that you called me last week because you’d lost control. You finally let me see my daughter only after the police were called on you. Again.”

  Damn.

  He could already picture his daughter sailing away on a yacht with Michelle and whatever flavor of the day she’d sunk her claws into. And then he suddenly understood the situation. “He dumped you,” he said. “That’s what this is about. Your rich boyfriend dumped you.”

  “My rich boyfriend isn’t a factor in this.” But her lip had curled at his words.

  “Did he take back your car, too?”

  His taunt didn’t even get a rise out of her. She remained calm, legs crossed, hands once again placed in her lap. “Your part of the orchard for my promise to leave your daughter alone.”

  His cell beeped then, jerking his attention from the evilness sitting calmly across from him, and he took a much-needed break from looking at Michelle to stare at the screen of his phone. It was a text from Hannah, and when he pulled it up, he saw a picture of Jenna smiling broadly while modeling a pink coat.

  Jenna loves the new coat her mother got her. She can’t wait to wear it to the football game tonight.

  Buying her things was how Michelle had convinced Jenna she cared last fall. The idea that she was using his daughter in her scheme had him wanting to lunge across the desk and squeeze his fingers around her throat. But he couldn’t very well kill the mother of his child. That would certainly be frowned upon. He could kick her to the curb, though.

  But as he started to tell Michelle it was time for her to take her leave, he looked at the picture of Jenna again, and he knew he couldn’t do that to his daughter. Not without some sort of explanation, and not without her being a part of it. He’d learned his lesson the first time.

  But what if she wanted to go with her mom instead of stay with him?

  He couldn’t allow that, either.

  His mouth went dry as thoughts whipped through his head. He could cancel the divorce. If he did that he . . .

  No. He couldn’t cancel the divorce. Doing that would only put him and Jenna back where they’d started.

  In a quick move, he stood once again, this time sending his chair crashing to the ground behind him. He needed Michelle out of his office. He had a game to play. And then he had his life to figure out.

  “I can’t do this right now.” He needed to talk to Erica. She was always rational. She’d help him figure this out.

  “That’s fine.” Michelle stood as well, only in a much more orderly fashion. She picked up her purse and slipped the strap over her arm, then once again presented a smile. “I think I’ll skip your little game tonight, though. If it’s all the same with you. Jenna can go with your parents.”

  He hadn’t even thought about that.

  “But I am going to want your decision soon.”

  She walked out of his office then, and his body recoiled as if one of his linebackers had landed a blow to his stomach. He collapsed back to the chair, his mind still whirling a mile a minute. He had to tell Hannah to get Jenna out of there. To take her to his dad’s. And he had to get to the bus. The team should have already been on the road.

  He picked up his phone. But first, he had to talk to Erica. This week without her had about done him in, but he needed her now. He didn’t give a crap about his agreement to stay away.

  He dialed, and as he listened to it ring through the headset, he became aware of a phone ringing just outside his office. Looking up, he was presented with a sight a million times better than the one Michelle had made as she’d stood in that doorway earlier.

  “Erica.”

  He was on his feet and had her in his arms in two seconds flat. Only, as he held her, her arms remained stiff at her sides.

  He drew back. “What’s wrong?”

  She held up a piece of paper, her face strangely blank. “I got a job offer.”

  The words didn’t compute.

  “You got a what?”

  “A job,” she whispered. She bit her top lip as she shoved the paper toward him once again. “And I’m going to take it.”

  Anger swallowed him. “What are you talking about?” He snatched the paper from her hands. “We just discussed this last weekend. We’re giving us a try, remember?” He could not deal with another issue right then. He needed her here. Standing by him. And he sure as hell didn’t need her running away.

  “I know we did.” She lowered her gaze. “But this offer came in the middle of the week. I’ve been thinking about it ever since.”

  “And what? You couldn’t be bothered to talk to me about it?” He ducked down to get into her line of sight and didn’t move until she looked at him. “Why not?” The question came out hard, but he found he’d moved well beyond pissed.

  “You were busy, Gabe.”

  “I was right across the street.”

  “With your wife.”

  He had to force himself to breathe more calmly, deciding to put Michelle and everything else behind him for the moment. They clearly had to deal with this first, and time was sorely limited. Yet fear swelled inside him. Something told him that if he didn’t get Erica to change her mind right now, she’d be gone before he got back tonight.

  “Yes,” he said calmly, trying not to crush the paper in his hands. “I’ve been busy with my ex-wife this week. But wasn’t that the plan? What you wanted?”

  “It’s what was best for Jenna,” she argued. “Not what I wanted.”

  “Then what’s changed? If it was best for Jenna five days ago, then it’s still best for her now, right?”

  Her jaw clenched, but she held back any words.

  “Erica. Honey.” He glanced at the clock above the door. “I’ve had far too much shit going on this afternoon to read your mind. Tell me what happened to change things this week. Let’s work this out now, then I’ll come over first thing in the morning and we’ll finish talking through everything.” He lifted her chin when she tried to look down again. “Okay?”

  She shook her head. “It’s too late. I’ve already decided.”

  “And yet five days ago you’d decided something else.” His voice inched higher. “What happened to change your mind?”

  “You happened, okay?” She spoke through clenched teeth, but her words were little more than a whisper. “Michelle happened.”

  “I don’t know what you mean by that.”

  “You’re good together, Gabe. I’ve overheard it all week. I’ve watched it. I’ve listened to Jenna be thrilled that her mom is back in her life. And”—her voice cracked—“and she needs that,” she finished in a tight whisper.

  “And I need you.” Panic now had his brain trying to shut down. “Michelle is nothing, baby. She—”

  “I can’t,” she hissed.

  He refused to believe that, but he was taken aback at her anger. “You should have called me when you got the offer, Erica. Texted me. Something.”

  “I should have texted you?” She took a step back. “I guess I thought you’d be too busy to reply.”

  “Of course not. I would always text you back. Hell, I’d have come over.”

  And then he realized where she was going with this.

  “Erica,” he began, trying to rein in his anger. “I had a lot going on this week. You know that. That’s why the conversations got shorter. This is a big game tonight; practices have been intense. Not to mention, we’re at the end of the semester. We’ve had finals, and you know I have five classes. I’ve had a lot to do.” He looked at the clock again. “And yes, Michelle has been at my house.”

  “All week,” she muttered quietly.

  He nodded. “All week.” The urge to share what had gone down in his office before she showed up had left him. “What’s the point of having Jenna’s mother in town if she’s never around to see Jenna?”

  He’d worried about that when Michelle had suggested staying with them. About Erica not being able to handle another woman in his home all week. But he’d thought she
’d be fine with it.

  Or maybe he’d just hoped she would be.

  But even he had to admit that all the laughing and carrying on Michelle had been doing could come across as a little too much to someone on the outside looking in. Michelle had certainly put on a good show—especially now that he realized none of it had been real.

  He clenched his hands, feeling as if the battle had already been lost.

  “I’ll come over after I get back tonight,” he told her. He’d explain about Michelle then. “We’ll talk. We’ll be okay.”

  He had to get on that bus.

  Without saying another word, Erica tugged the paper from where he’d wadded it in one hand, and after smoothing it back out, she once again held it out to him. This time, he finally let himself look down at it. And that’s when he saw it. The location of the job. The part of the story that he’d been missing all along. This wasn’t about Michelle at all.

  “You’re going back?” he accused.

  She nodded her head.

  “To him?” He couldn’t believe how much the thought hurt.

  “I’m going back to teaching at his school,” she corrected. “He’s getting married next month. He’s not a factor here.”

  Gabe didn’t believe that at all. “And if you told him you’d take him back?” he asked. Gabe was fully aware how fast the other man would change his matrimonial plans if Erica so much as hinted at a reconciliation. Hell, once she was in town, plans might change, anyway. “How long do you think it would take for him to cancel the wedding if you asked him to?”

  “I wouldn’t do that.” She looked away from him once again, and he thought he saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes. Only, he didn’t know who the tears were for.

  “Don’t leave before I get back tonight,” he gritted out. “Let’s talk about this.”

  The intercom in the small room crackled to life. “Coach Wilde?”

  “Yes?”

  “The team bus reports that they’re waiting on you,” the school receptionist said.

  He looked at the piece of paper in his hand. “Tell them I’m on my way.”

  The intercom went quiet, and he crumbled the paper into a ball. “Don’t leave before I get back,” he repeated. And then he walked out of his office and away from Erica before he could watch her do the same to him.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The air was crisp and cool the following morning as Gabe sat on his porch bench alone, the sun still over an hour from coming up. He’d been out there for two hours now, willing himself to go back inside.

  She’d left before he’d gotten back.

  He still couldn’t quite believe it. Erica’s little car had been nowhere to be found when he’d returned late last night from the game, and as he’d carried Jenna in and tucked her into bed, she’d mumbled that Ms. Bird had come over to tell her good-bye before she and Pops had headed out to the game. His body felt hollow at the loss.

  Of course, the other woman in his life had not left before he’d returned.

  Michelle had been holed up in her room, though. But she’d conveniently left an official-looking document on his kitchen table detailing exactly what she’d outlined in his office. Her riding off into the sunset for his piece of his family.

  Though the orchard was owned by him and his five siblings, she hadn’t been mistaken in her assumption. His portion would bring a pretty penny. A heck of a lot more than a car. But that’s if Dani and his brothers even wanted to buy him out. Or could get the money to.

  Hell, maybe it was time to bring up the idea of selling, again. Did any of them even want to keep it at this point?

  The screen door squeaked as it opened behind him, and Mike’s nose pushed out first. Jenna followed, a blanket dragging on the ground behind her, and climbed into his lap.

  “What are you doing up so early, kiddo?”

  “I wanted to sit out here with you.”

  He reached down and lit the patio heater and covered her with her blanket, not wanting his daughter to get too cold. Then he wrapped his arms around her and snuggled her into his chest. Leaning his head against the wall behind him, he peered down through the pre-morning light. “And how did you know I was out here?” he asked.

  “Because this is where you talk to Ms. Bird.”

  So much for keeping secrets. “You knew about that?”

  She nodded against his chest, her eyelids drooping. “I wake up early sometimes, and hear you talking.” She smiled shyly up at him. “I saw you kiss her one time, too.”

  “Ah.” Well, he hadn’t meant for his seven-year-old to see that. He just hoped it hadn’t been one of their more amorous kisses.

  “It’s okay, Daddy. I don’t mind that you kissed Ms. Bird. I wanted you to do it some more because then she might have wanted to be your girlfriend.”

  Seems he should have had a talk with his daughter a long time ago. “You did, huh?” He pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “And why would you want her to be my girlfriend?”

  She closed her eyes on a yawn. “Because she makes you laugh and smile and not be grumpy anymore. And she makes me laugh, too,” she added drowsily. “And because she’s a really, really nice person, and she never ever yells at me when there’s no reason.”

  Gabe didn’t take his eyes off his daughter as he stroked his hand over her hair. He wasn’t the one who’d made a habit of yelling at her when there was no reason. Had she recalled that fact about her mother after spending the week with her?

  He had to figure out a way to break the news to Jenna that Michelle would have to leave today. And then he had to figure out what in the world he was going to do about the situation. He could lose Jenna if he didn’t come up with the money. There was no guarantee he’d win in a custody battle, and given that the cops had now been called on him twice, he’d go so far as to guess that winning would be out of the question.

  What then? He’d quit his job and move back to California?

  He’d have to. Anything to make sure Jenna wasn’t raised solely by her mother.

  “When’s Momma going to leave?” Jenna murmured against his chest.

  He thanked the heavens for the seemingly simple question. “Are you ready for her to go?”

  Jenna yawned again and patted him on the stomach as if she were petting her dog. “It’s been fun with her here, but I like it better when it’s just me and you,” she murmured. “Or me and you and Ms. Bird would be okay, too. But not me and you and her.”

  Her. She’d referred to her mother in a fashion similar to the way he and his siblings talked about theirs.

  “Plus, she’s only nice when you’re in the same room, and yesterday, she wouldn’t even go to the football game with me. She said football was stupid.” She looked up at him. “Football isn’t stupid, is it, Daddy?”

  He shook his head. “Not at all, kiddo.”

  Thank goodness Jenna was making this part easy on him.

  “I’ll talk to her as soon as she gets up, okay? I’ll tell her it’s time to go.”

  “Okay. Or I can tell her if you want me to. When you tell her she’s probably going to get mad.”

  Jenna didn’t know the half of it. He looked down at his daughter, thinking about the difference a week had made. She’d been herself again the past seven days. Nice and sweet. No obvious chip riding high on her shoulder. But at the same time, she had no idea that every day her mother had been there, it had been a lie. He didn’t know how she would take it. Or if he should even tell her.

  Again, he turned his gaze to the silent house sitting on the other side of the street. Erica had left him when he’d needed her the most. That hurt. It left a hole that he didn’t yet know how to close, but he couldn’t think about that now. At that moment, he had to protect his daughter. And if that meant talking to his siblings about selling his part of the farm, then that’s what he intended to do.

  “Do you want to tell her together?” he asked. The idea went against everything he felt was right, but at this poin
t, he didn’t want to leave his daughter out of anything.

  She nodded, her mood flattening as she seemed to intuitively grasp the severity of the situation, and when they eventually heard a noise coming from inside the house, they called in the dog and walked through the front door together. They found Michelle in the kitchen, having just come down the stairs, bags packed, and wearing a pantsuit that probably cost a month of his salary. She also carried the doll she’d sent to Jenna before arriving in Montana.

  “You’re leaving?” Jenna asked.

  “I am. But did your daddy tell you the good news?”

  “Michelle, no.” He didn’t want to bring up custody. Not yet.

  However, his opinion didn’t seem to matter. “Your daddy wants you to come live with me.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Daddy?” Worried eyes turned up to his.

  “I don’t, Jenna.” He squatted beside his daughter and breathed a sigh of relief when she stepped into him. “I want you to stay with me forever,” he explained.

  “That’s not what you said—”

  “Shut up, Michelle. And quit lying to our daughter.” He turned back to Jenna, already seeing the fear and uncertainty reenter her eyes, and he fought to show her the kind of calmness that he certainly didn’t feel.

  “I don’t want to go with her,” Jenna whispered. She wrapped an arm tight around his neck, and he could feel her heart pounding wildly inside her chest. “I want to stay with you,” she added urgently.

  “And you will. Always. Your mother is leaving now. Just like you and I talked about.”

  When he looked up at Michelle, the gleam of satisfaction shone back at him. “So I can expect a check?” she asked.

  Whatever it took. “You can expect a check.”

  “Excellent. Then I won’t be needing this.” Jenna’s mother tossed the doll she held into the trash can, and then she walked out of the house without looking back. He and Jenna didn’t move as a car door slammed outside and the rental started up. And only when the sound of tires crunched over the gravel did he look back at the trash can. Jenna stared at the doll as well. But before he could come up with the best action to take, she walked over and shoved the doll deeper into the can. Then she faced him.