Montana Homecoming (10 page)

“Staying at a shelter, I think. We’ve all been burned by him so many times, we’ve had to cut ties.”

“It’s called self-preservation.” And it would definitely be self-preservation to pull away from her now and put a little distance between them. But did he?

No. Warmth crept into his chest as he saw her safely across the street.
This isn’t tenderness,
he told himself. He was just being a gentleman, that was all. He didn’t want to start caring about her.

Please don’t let this tenderness I feel for her grow, Lord,
he prayed for good measure. “Dad wasn’t always like this.” Brooke looked at him, drawing him in with some sort of gravitational pull and made the warm feeling in his chest rear up.

It’s not caring,
he told himself stubbornly.

“He used to be kind and funny and an involved dad when Hunter, Luke, Joe and I were very young.” She stepped out of his arms naturally, stepping onto the curb.

His hand felt empty. He was hollow without her at his side. “Joe?”

“My younger brother. He’s gone now.” Hard to miss the grief jumbling up her words. She hung her head and took a deep breath. The pain was still fresh.

“That’s right. I was overseas at the time. Gram told me.” He stepped slightly ahead of her, nearing the coffeehouse’s front door. “It was years ago.”

“Yes. Joe’s death hit all of us hard, but Dad’s clearly gone into another downward spiral. Maybe that’s why, maybe not.” Joe, a firefighter for the state, had lost his life battling a wildfire. He’d been the best of all of them, good and stalwart and full of promise. “Truth is, my mom spiraled, too.”

“You don’t talk about her much.”

“We’re not close.” How did she begin to talk about why, especially after seeing her father? She tried not to think of all the letters she’d written in prison to her mom that had come back marked “Return to sender.” “These days Lil is more of a mom to me.”

“You couldn’t do better. I’m glad you have her.”

“Me, too.” His gaze searched hers as if he could see glimpses of her secrets, seeing so deeply in that her instincts shouted to turn away. But did her feet budge? Not a chance. And why was her heart galloping as if she’d run ten miles? She cleared her throat, caught by him. “Thanks for being here. For listening.”

“It’s what friends do.” He tugged open the shop door, waiting for her to enter.

“That’s what we are? Friends?” Her feet managed to carry her forward into the bustling shop.

“Yep, friend. One hundred percent. You might as well put me on speed dial.”

“Wow, that’s just what I was trying to avoid.” She breathed in the comforting scent of coffee.

“Sorry to break this to you, but you’re stuck with me for now.”

“I don’t have a choice?” She eased into the back of the line at the counter.

“Not really. You’ve got a little color back in your face. Feeling better?”

“For now.” She glanced over her shoulder at the crowded shop. She caught a glimpse of the street and a corner of the courthouse. How was Bree doing this?

“Is that why you live in Seattle?” He pulled out his wallet. “To stay away from your dad?”

“No. It’s where I got a job.” She studied the menu tacked on the wall behind the register. The truth spilled out of her. “I had a hard time finding work. A halfway house in Seattle was the only place offering, so I took it.”

“You are in social work. I can see that.” He tossed a casual grin at the clerk behind the counter. “I’ll have a regular latte. How about you, Brooke?”

“A mocha. I can’t say no to chocolate. I try but my will is weak.” Social work? Guilt twisted through her. That sounded more elevated than her job had been doing basic cleaning and helping out in the office. But how could she tell Liam that? If he knew, he’d turn away and that was the last thing she wanted. She watched as the clerk rang up the sale. “It looks like I finally have a shot at a new job.”

“That’s great.” He dropped all his change in the tip jar. “Any chance it’s here in town?”

“No. Portland.”

“Colbie is going to be crushed.”

“She’s not the only one. This place is starting to grow on me.”

“I know the feeling. When my grandfather first got his diagnosis and I came back to help out, my foot was itching to get back on the road and pick up my old life. I loved what I did.” He took the two cups from the barista with thanks and handed Brooke’s over.

She did her best not to let their fingers touch. “Why did you end up staying?”

“When it came down to it, I didn’t want to leave.”

“I get that.” She walked through the door he held for her, letting the sweet May sun shine on her face. She stopped, waiting for him as he held the door for two elderly ladies, standing there so strong and polite. Against her will her heart gave a little flutter.

Don’t start thinking he’s a gentleman,
she told herself, but it was too late.

“I’ve always been comfortable staying away from here,” she confessed when he joined her on the bustling sidewalk. “Living in Seattle made it easier to start over. To put my past behind me.”

“There’s only one thing that can make you want to pack up, leave town and start over.” His gaze found hers, looking so deep she felt as if he could see everything. “I know because I almost did it.”

“You did?” She swallowed hard. Had he somehow guessed the truth? What was he going to say?

Chapter Ten

“A
relationship gone terribly wrong. That will make you want to leave town.” He took a sip of coffee, his pace leisurely beside her, taking his time as the wind ruffled his hair. “Is that what happened to you?”

Relief left her hands too shaky to lift her cup. Maybe she should just tell him the truth, confess where she’d spent most of her twenties. But did the words come? No, they stuck in her throat, refusing to budge. “Yes, I did have a relationship go bad. I was living near Miles City at the time.”

“He broke your heart?” Understanding radiated from him.

This man was dangerous. He could disarm her defenses with one caring look. Why couldn’t she stop it? She took a tentative sip of the steaming hot drink. Chocolatey coffee sluiced across her tongue. “We met in our senior year of high school. Darren was the new kid in town. Charming, funny, he just grabbed everyone’s attention. Even mine.”

“He was your first love.” Understanding layered his voice, as if he knew that particular malady.

“I fell so hard I didn’t hold back a single piece of my heart. I didn’t know any better.” So easy to remember that wintry day when Darren Adams had driven her home after volleyball practice. “I thought he was wonderful, that he could do no wrong. Love makes you blind.”

“It certainly can. Been there myself.” He raised his cup in a salute. “How did he break your heart? Lie to you? Cheat on you? Marry someone else?”

“He hurt me. I had just turned twenty when the blinders came off with such force I haven’t had a relationship since.” She stepped off the curb and followed the sidewalk across the street.

“He really hurt you.” She had to be a few years older than Colbie, so that put her in her late twenties. That was a long time for a woman to go without dating. Domestic violence, he figured. That had to be what happened, why sadness dimmed the brightness of her violet eyes. She brushed it off, shrugged her shoulders, making like it was no big deal.

But he knew. Whatever this force that connected them deepened, a tie between her spirit and his. She couldn’t hide her disillusionment. So that was why she’d kept her distance and stayed closed off. She’d been really hurt. As much as he hated that, at least he understood. Tension eased behind his ribs, tension he hadn’t even known was there.

“He deceived me.” Pain strained her voice, although she fought to hide it. “He betrayed me. I’m not sure I ever got over it.”

“I know the feeling. Sidney pretended to be an honest and trustworthy Christian, someone she wasn’t.”

“What happened?” She watched him with compassion so sincere he couldn’t stop from opening up.

“I fell in love with her. Mostly through texts and phone calls because we were always on the move with our jobs, but we got together when we could. I think that’s why I couldn’t see what she was. I never got close enough, I never got to know her more deeply. She played a part and I wasn’t around enough to question it.”

“You blame yourself?”

“As much as I blame her. I should have seen she was just playing me. Just pretending to be sweet and kind when she wasn’t like that at all. Not below the surface.”

“How did you find out the truth?” She laid her hand on Liam’s arm, a show of connection and empathy, so he didn’t feel alone with his wounds.

“All that time, she made sure I saw her sweet side. Her fake side, as it turned out. After I moved here, I realized I was ready to settle down. I proposed, and she said yes. I flew out to meet her in Boston and we ran into her sponsor at a restaurant.”

“Her sponsor?”

“Found out she was a recovering drug addict.”

“Drugs?” The word felt torn from her.

“She had this entire other life I didn’t know about. Part of the drug culture, a lifestyle she hadn’t been able to let go of completely.” He rubbed his hands over his face.

“You had to be devastated.” Her heart beat so hard, she was sure it jarred her words. Drugs. Her hands started shaking, too.

“How could I marry her? There was this whole side of her I didn’t know. She’d been lying all the time. Pretending to be wholesome as if she didn’t have a past, as if she wasn’t still struggling on and off with heroin addiction.” He shrugged those big shoulders of his. Maybe determined to show that having his heart ripped out and his illusions destroyed was of little consequence to a tough guy like him.

She wasn’t fooled. She wanted to reach out, but his story hit too close to her own.

“Darren was selling drugs on the side.” Humiliation returned. She’d believed too easily. “I know how it feels to be lied to by the person you love most.”

“Honesty is a trait I’ve come to admire in a woman. The best quality there is.”

Why did her pulse skip guiltily? Because she was essentially doing the same thing as his ex. Showing him the woman she was now and not letting him know about the time in her life that marked her forever.

Memories threatened to engulf her, cold corridors, hopelessness, shattered dreams, but she wrestled them down, keeping them secret. What would he think if he knew the truth about her? If he knew of her conviction? He’d see his ex, that’s what. There was no way now he would ever understand.

A tiny piece of hope died, one she hadn’t even known was there.

Unaware of how she was thinking, Liam hauled open the courthouse door for her. Gorgeous man, strapping shoulders, kindness radiating through. The way the cheerful morning sun sifted over him, he looked like a fantasy. The problem with Liam was simple. He was a good man. Helpless against it, her iron defenses melted a little more. Maybe it didn’t matter so much because there was no way she could open up to him now.

* * *

The morning’s testimony had been difficult, so noon recess felt especially wonderful with the sun shining everywhere, blazing the street, the park and pedestrians with golden light. The moment her foot had hit the courthouse’s front steps, she dreaded running into her dad again but he’d been nowhere in sight. Major relief. The hard part was telling Luke about it.

“Hunter is going to go ballistic when he hears.” Luke pocketed his change and grabbed half the food bags and a drink carrier from the burger joint’s counter. “You should have told us right away. This is unacceptable.”

“I took care of it.” She grabbed her share of the food and followed her brother to the door. “He’s gone for now. Problem solved.”

“You should have called one of us. I would have helped you.” Luke shouldered open the door. “You didn’t need to be alone with him.”

“I wasn’t alone with him.” Liam slipped into her thoughts again. Pretending he hadn’t, she sailed into the hot May day where the breeze flirted with nearby trees lining the sidewalks.

“Not alone, huh?” Luke grinned at that. “I guess this means Colbie’s plot is working.”

“Which one? The plan to talk me into moving to Montana? Or the plot to set me up with Liam?”

“Isn’t that really the same strategy?” Luke chuckled, matching his pace with hers on the sidewalk. “If you have a boyfriend here, would you really want to move away?”

“It’s a doomed plan. I have a job interview in two weeks.” She’d returned Ms. Chambers’s call after walking into the courthouse with Liam. She’d stood in the corridor, trying to hide her excitement while she scheduled an interview. The personnel lady had been especially encouraging. So, why did she feel a little down about it?

“Colbie and Lil are going to be crushed.” Luke grinned in his easy, relaxed way. “They’re sure you and Liam are going to start dating any minute.”

“You need to stop listening to those matchmakers.” Honestly. “Ever since Bree’s engagement, they’ve been unstoppable.”

“Nothing makes them happier than a wedding.” Luke’s dark blue gaze, full of amusement, met hers. “They’re wondering who’s next.”

“Hey, don’t look at me.”

“You did come into court with Liam this morning. You’re spending a lot of time with him.”

“Sure, I’m training his dog.”

“Yes, but I didn’t see his dog this morning.”

How did she explain not only was her heart off-limits to love, but after what she’d learned about Liam this morning, he would never be interested in a girl like her? In someone with her history. She ignored the unexplained clutch of pain in her heart. She kept her gaze glued to the sidewalk ahead of her and hoped her big brother wouldn’t guess the truth. “There are absolutely no wedding bells in my future.”

“Sure about that?”

“Absolutely, positively certain.”

“That’s too bad.” Sympathy softened his voice. “I think you deserve someone nice after what happened to you.”

Her throat closed up, making it hard to speak. Maybe it would be smart to change the subject. Throw the spotlight on him instead. “What about you? Are you dating anyone?”

“Me? Just who would I date?” He adjusted the drink carrier, shaking his head. “I live in the middle of farm country. I spend all day either on the tractor, in the barn or tending my cows.”

“What about neighbors? People in town? How about church?”

“Neighbors are all married, far too old or far too young. As for the folks in town? Prospect is about a hundredth the size of Bozeman. I’ve got the same problem there as I do in church. Anyone who is single is too old, too young, not right at all or they’ve already turned me down.”

“Have you tried the internet?” she quipped. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Uh…” He fell silent, blushing profusely.

“You have?” She couldn’t believe it. Her shy brother had ventured onto a dating site? “Do you have an online profile? How does that work? Do you do online chats with your matches?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. I didn’t try any of those dating sites.” If he turned any redder, he might spontaneously combust. “I met someone on a website for readers. It’s a site all about books.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” She didn’t know anyone who read more than Luke did. “How did she catch your eye?”

“We both liked the same books. Over and over again we would post nearly the same comments. This one time in an online chat we started typing to each other. Hours passed and we didn’t realize everyone else had left the chat room.” He stopped at the corner, waiting for the light to change.

“I’m glad you’ve found someone, Luke. You’re a good man.” Proof that there were very good men in the world.

“Not that it’s serious or anything. We’re just friends.” A muscle ticked along his jaw, as if maybe that wasn’t the whole truth. “You won’t tell anyone? You’ll keep this secret?”

“For a price.” She had to believe good things happened to good people. Luke certainly deserved someone to love him. “My lips are sealed. But if this does turn serious, I’d better be the first one you tell.”

“Deal.” The light changed and Luke took off, only slightly less red than he’d been.

The poor guy. She hugged the warm food bags to her, hurrying to keep up. Luke was a closed-off kind of man, shy when it came to personal things. It must have been hard for him to open up enough to admit his feelings.

She knew just how that felt.

The trees lining the park rustled cheerfully, shading the stretch of lawn. The grassy scent tickled her nose as a lazy bee droned by. Luke sidestepped to avoid the bee.

“Brooke!” Her name sailed on the wind. Colbie waved, leaving the twins, Hunter and Max to finish spreading out the blankets.

“We’re coming, Colbie,” Luke called out. “Don’t break an arm. We see ya.”

“You have to know we’re starving here!” Colbie’s laughter trilled like lark song as she leaped into action, all grace and bounce. “Yum, that smells good. There’s nothing like burgers and fries. Hmm.”

“Too bad we didn’t get anything for you.” Brooke couldn’t resist teasing. “Sorry.”

“Not funny. Don’t get between a woman and her fries,” Colbie quipped merrily. “I’m diabolical.”

“Clearly.” Brooke handed over one of the bags.

“I have a confession to make. I did something.” Colbie grabbed the bag and peered inside. No fries. “Brooke, care to guess what?”

“I can.” Luke grinned dryly. “Does it have anything to do with the guy pushing Lil’s chair?”

“What guy?” Brooke had a bad, bad feeling, the kind where the bottom of your stomach fell out and your knees buckled right before doom happened. She glanced around, saw Lil in her chair, fragile and adorable and grinning widely. And the strapping, towering hunk pushing her carefully from the parking lot to the grass could only be one man.

“Liam.” Brooke had to blink twice, but the image of him remained. Stalwart, striking, laughing. The low rumble rang like music, deep and inviting. Everyone around her smiled in response. It took everything she had to keep the corners of her mouth appropriately straight.

“We ran into him on the sidewalk,” Lil explained with a bob of her short dark hair as they walked straight toward the subject of their conversation. “We couldn’t let him eat lunch all by himself.”

“I couldn’t say no.” Liam easily manhandled the wheelchair over the uneven grass and stopped beside the blankets. “Lil charmed me, as she always does. Hi, again, Brooke.”

“Hi.” Her stomach swooped downward again like another sign of doom.