Montana Cherries (25 page)

He watched her face when she still didn’t look at him. Her expression never changed. He wanted to say more, but baby steps seemed the better way to go.

“That scares me a little,” she finally spoke, and he let out a breath.

“It scares me a lot.”

They sat there in silence for several minutes longer, him afraid to push, and her thinking who-knew-what, but he couldn’t help but believe this thing between them was more for her, too. It might be hard for her to say it, to even admit it, but he’d spent many hours with this woman the past week. They’d shared tons of time over the course of the last month.

He felt it from her. They had a connection. Something rare.

Surely she could see the specialness of that.

Eventually, she spoke again, and her words sliced open his heart.

“I can’t do more,” she told him.

He closed his eyes once again. He had less than thirty-six hours to show her that she could.

chapter twenty-one

I
sure am
going to miss you two.” Dani hugged Mrs. Tamry, taking note of the frailness of her body, before turning her attention to Mr. Tamry. Dani had been thrilled to see them show up tonight for the end-of-season party, and even more so to realize they’d come out to wish her a safe new life.

As had many other people.

The sentiments had put a heaviness in Dani’s heart all night, but at the same time she’d felt like she was being given permission to fly. It was euphoric.

“Be sure to watch your mailbox, okay?” she told the two. “I’ll be searching New York for treats that I know you’ll both love.” She kissed Mrs. Tamry’s weathered cheek. “And you take care of yourself. Don’t be getting out and overdoing it by going to too many parties.”

The older couple laughed, and Mr. Tamry put his arm around his wife.

“We had to come for this one. You’re leaving us. Nothing could have kept us away.”

“Well, I do appreciate it.”

“You’ve done good, Dani,” Mrs. Tamry added. She patted Dani’s hand, her aged blue eyes showing pride. “Your mama would’ve been proud.”

Dani swallowed, but maintained her smile. She didn’t tell her friends that making her mama proud was now the last thing on her list. She was still her mother’s daughter, after all. She hadn’t had all those years of training to be perfect in public for nothing.

“Thank you,” she said. “The best part is that I’m making myself proud.”

And she was. She’d thought long and hard about whether this had been her dream or her mother’s, and though she couldn’t say with 100 percent certainty that her mother hadn’t wanted it, too—everything was still too jumbled in her mind—she felt confident that it
was
her dream. She wanted it. And she’d worked incredibly hard to get it. Therefore, she would have it, and her mother was simply a nonissue.

She moved on from the Tamrys, talking to other townspeople who’d come out to wish her well. The manager from The Cherry Basket was there, as well as several of her local clients, and even her first-grade teacher.

It was a special night, and she owed this to her brothers. They’d made sure to invite the people who meant the most to her.

The band changed up from a raucous country tune to a slow song that pulled couples onto the freshly mowed dance floor, and Dani couldn’t help but peek around for Ben. They hadn’t talked since she’d come out. She’d either been busy chatting with one of the guests when he was free, or he’d been busy dancing with one of the locals when she was. It seemed attractive, single women had shown up in droves tonight, and Ben was being a darling to entertain them.

Or else, he was intentionally trying to make Dani jealous since she’d told him last night that she couldn’t do more.

What had he been getting at, anyway? By this time tomorrow, she would be twenty-five hundred miles away. How could she possibly do more?

But she also didn’t like him dancing with other women.

“Don’t forget us back here in Montana, Dani Wilde.”

She turned to find her very first client. “Harry,” she murmured with fondness.

Harry Baker shook her hand before pulling her into his arms. His big body seemed to engulf her as he patted her on the back. Harry and his father owned a fishing charter up in Bigfork that had grown to be one of the area’s premier tourist stops.

“I wouldn’t be here without you,” Dani told him when he stepped back.

He laughed. “We wouldn’t be
here
without
you
. New York is lucky to get you.”

She warmed at his praise. “Thank you. And I’m sorry I had to cut ties, but with the new job it was essential.”

“I know. It had to be done. Life goes on and all that.” He touched a finger to his hat, pushing it back on his head. Like several men there tonight, he’d traded in his baseball cap for his cowboy hat. It was their party attire. Some had even polished up their best boots. “You ever find yourself looking for clients again,” Harry went on, “you call me. We can always use someone like you in our back pocket.”

She agreed, and they parted and headed their separate ways. She’d made the final phone call today, and as of two hours ago, she had no remaining clients of her own. Which was scary. She’d worked hard for what she’d accomplished, but she knew she’d work even harder in her coming days.

Her gaze finally landed on Ben, and her heart turned over to see him dancing with Haley.

He’d also brought out a cowboy hat tonight. His grandfather’s. The one that had been hanging in the study ever since he’d arrived back in Montana. It looked good on him.

Watching them, it was hard to imagine either Ben or Haley when they’d first arrived here. Haley had truly blossomed over the past few weeks. She talked nonstop, nothing seemed to scare her or slow her down, and she now had a running list of new friends she couldn’t wait to invite to her new house.

And Ben. Dani pressed a hand to her chest. Ben was buying a house in Birch Bay.

Not yet, but he’d been looking.

That was something she would’ve never imagined from the big-city boy who’d only ever wanted to travel the world. He was an amazing parent, and he and Haley were both blessed to have each other.

“Aunt Dani?”

Dani looked down to find Jenna, dressed in her Sunday finest, peering up at her. “What is it, sweetie?”

Tears started. “I don’t want you to go.”

“Oh, baby.” Dani quickly picked up her niece and held her to her chest. “It’ll be okay. We’ve talked about this, remember?”

Jenna sniffled. “I know. But I’m going to miss you too much.”

Dani began swaying to the music, Jenna still in her arms, and smiled at Ben when he shot her a wink. “Did your daddy tell you about your Christmas surprise?” Dani asked, putting her mouth close to Jenna’s ear. “I’m not supposed to tell.”

Which wasn’t really true, but Jenna loved learning about surprises.

“No.” She sniffled again.

“He’s going to bring you to New York during your Christmas break from school,” she told the girl. Dani and Gabe had talked about it, and with the move to LA, along with losing Haley and Dani, it seemed Jenna might need something special in the coming months. “How about that?” Dani asked. “We’ll go see the big Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, and we’ll ice-skate. And we’ll go shopping. That sound good?”

Jenna nodded, but her face still said she’d rather nothing changed. “I might like that,” she finally got out. Dani once again hugged her niece tight in her arms.

“I suspect you will. And I’ll enjoy seeing you. It’ll be almost as much fun as moving to California,” she added, faking confidence. Jenna had not been handling all the pending changes well, so Dani and the rest of her family had been playing it up. “I understand you’ll also be going to Disneyland.”

“I don’t want Disneyland,” Jenna suddenly wailed.

Dani saw Michelle watching from the other side of the dance floor, but she didn’t seem overly concerned with her daughter. She had been sticking to Gabe’s side this evening, though. For the most part. At least she wasn’t ignoring both of them. Of course, Michelle wasn’t one to cause a scene in public. Plus, she was getting her way. They would be moving in a couple of weeks, therefore she had reason to be less of a witch.

“You don’t want to go see Cinderella?” Dani asked her niece.

This dried the tears. “I do want to see Cinderella.”

“Well, she’s at Disneyland.”

Jenna seemed to think about that, and finally, sent her aunt a questioning look. “Will there be a prince there?”

Dani smiled. “Most likely there will be several.”

“I do want a prince,” Jenna informed her. And with that, the world righted itself.

Dani continued swaying with the girl in her arms while watching Ben do the same with his daughter. His gaze was also trained on Dani. They’d had a lot of fun together these last few days, and she wanted to be in his arms right now. Whether they could do more or not, they did have tonight. And she would miss that man like crazy come tomorrow.

The song ended, and Dani set Jenna on her feet. “We’ll call each other every week,” Dani promised. “And everything will be okay because we’ll all still love you just as much as we do today, right? Me, Uncle Cord, Uncle Nick, Uncle Nate, and Uncle Jaden. All of us.”

“And Pops and Gloria?”

“Yeah, baby. And Pops and Gloria.”

Dani
had
spoken to her father tonight, but only briefly. It had been a tiny step in the right direction, but they had a long way to go yet. The distance would help. It would take the immediate pressure off. They could talk a couple of times a month, and with some effort, she thought she could one day have her father back.

All five of her brothers suddenly moved toward the trailer being used as a stage, and one by one they climbed aboard. The band stopped playing and all eyes turned to them. Dani got teary as she looked on. They were proud, good men. And she’d played a huge role in that. Her next thought was of her mother, which she promptly suppressed.

Her third thought was that she wished they could all be here together again. Forever. That was her real dream, to have her family right here in Birch Bay. And
her
right there with them.

But maybe deep down she’d always known that would never happen.

“May we have your attention, please,” Gabe announced up front.

The few who hadn’t already quieted stopped talking immediately.

“Thank you.” Gabe looked around the crowd. “I know this party’s been going for a while already, but we wanted to take a moment to welcome you. Usually tonight is reserved for all the many hardworking people who’ve helped make Wilde Cherry Farm a success, but this year is a little different.” He squinted his eyes and peered into the crowd. “Dani?”

Dani grinned. What were they up to? “Yes?” She raised her voice to be heard.

“Would you get up here, please?” This voice was Cord’s, and Dani snickered at the feminine sighs of pleasure at the deep rumble. His was the deepest voice in the family. Add that to his way-too-good-looking exterior, and she understood the moans.

Poor girls. They didn’t stand a chance.

She made her way through the crowd and to the trailer, where Nate and Nick reached out and helped her up.

“This here,” Gabe started, putting his arm around her shoulders, “is one tough lady. Our big sister has held our butts to the fire more times than you can imagine over the years. She’s helped hold this family together, and she’s done it at a huge cost to herself. So tomorrow, with all of our blessings, she starts a new page in her life.”

More cheers sounded, and Dani fought off tears.

Ben grinned at her from the crowd, and Haley and Jenna stood together at his side. The smiles on the girls’ faces overshadowed the sadness she knew they felt over her leaving.

Her dad and Gloria linked arms as they watched on, their pride clear.

And Michelle stood, arms crossed, looking bored.

“We’re proud of you, sis,” Nick said into the mic. “You were a pain in our ass most of the time, but you’ve always been consistent.”

Laughter bounced through the crowd.

“You didn’t let us get away with anything,” Nate added. Then tossed in a wink. “As far as you know.”

Everyone snickered.

“And we’re way better people today because you were in our lives,” Jaden finished. His words—and gaze—were sincere, and she went to him and gave him a huge hug.

Standing with Jay, she took in the rest of her brothers. They sure knew how to make a girl feel appreciated.
Thank you
, she mouthed to all of them. She couldn’t have described the enormity of her love for her family at that moment if she’d had to.

“And with that said”—Cord once again took the mic—“we wanted to give our sister a going-away present from her little brothers. Something she could remember us by.”

A present?

She eyed them, suddenly not trusting whatever they were about to do.

And she was right not to.

In a flash, they picked her up while several of the pickers rolled out a giant vat of cherries that hadn’t made the cut. If the skin was broken or if the stem got separated from the fruit, it couldn’t be shipped.

But they didn’t make a habit of putting those cherries in a person-size tub.

And they sure as heck didn’t put them in a tub and smash them!

“Noooo!” Dani thrashed in their arms, but they merely laughed at her efforts.

“We love you, sis. But this is payback for all the times you’re driven us crazy,” Gabe said.

“And there were a lot of those times,” added Jay.

“Don’t forget us when you’re a big, bad New Yorker,” Nick began, and Nate finished up with “but go blow the socks off everyone out East.”

And with that, Cord took her from the rest of them and dumped her into the vat of cherries.