Montana Reunion (12 page)

It was like a cloud passed over her
face, but the change was so sudden, so brief, that he wondered if he’d imagined
it.
It wasn’t that he didn’t love her,
but what he’d meant was the kind of love that made people do stupid things.

“I’d better go, Jack. Get back to
the
house,
let everyone know I’m okay.”

“How about you put some coffee on
and I’ll have a quick shower. Then I’ll drive you home.”

She laughed, hands on her hips.
“Don’t think that because I’m your wife I’ll be pouring your coffee and making
you breakfast.”

He slapped her backside, knowing
she was embarrassed at his nudity by the way she kept averting her eyes, but
not caring anyway. He liked that she was flustered, especially when she had her
hands on her hips trying to look all bossy.

“I’ll be expecting a lot more than
breakfast in exchange for marriage,” he teased.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” he murmured, leaning in for
another kiss, grabbing hold of her arms to stop her from running away.

“You’re bad, Jack,’ she whispered,
escaping him and pointing to the bathroom. “Now go have a shower before we both
end up in trouble again.”

Right now he liked the sound of trouble.
Because it was keeping him from thinking about the ranch, how close he’d come
to losing it, and how the hell he was going to stop himself from falling head
over heels in love for the woman who was about to become his wife.
Because no matter what he said about just loving her like a friend,
it was bullshit.
Maddison
meant a lot to him,
and it was about time he at least admitted it to himself.

Maddison
sat in the kitchen and watched her dad. He was being bossed around by her mom
in the garden, and the look on his face told her that he wasn’t impressed. She
was guessing it was her mom’s way of keeping him busy, but away from anything
too strenuous, and it wasn’t exactly going down well.

She stared at her phone and wished
it would go away – wished everything from her normal life would just disappear
for a while so she could get her head around everything that was happening.
Her dad, her apartment, her
job.
Jack.

At least the last thing on her list
was putting a smile on her face. Everything else was more likely to give her
permanent frown lines.

But
she was doing the right thing
. Marrying Jack would mean her dad would have
the chance to walk her down the aisle, it would mean he could feel assured
about the future of the ranch he loved. Charley was doing a great job, but she
was still so young, and their dad wanted her to take time before deciding to
spend the rest of her life at the helm. And her brother was making them all
proud working another ranch, a project that their father was equally as
passionate about.

This land was about more than
business, it was about love and memories.
Family
.
And
with Jack as part of their family?
Her dad would know there was someone
there to help them, someone who loved this land the same way they did as a
family.

She stood and walked outside,
leaving her phone on the counter. She should have followed her instincts and
kept it turned off, ignored it, but she hadn’t and now she had to deal with the
consequences.

“I have some bad news.”

Her dad leaned on his pitchfork
while her mom just looked up, on her knees in front of her flowerbed.

“What’s happened?” her mom asked.

Maddison
sighed and sat down on the lawn, stretching her sore ankle out in front of her.
She’d managed to almost forget all about it the night before with Jack, but now
it was starting to ache again. Maybe it was more of a reaction to what she had
to leave behind than the pain of her fall.

“My boss has booked the next flight
out of Billings to L.A. It leaves tomorrow afternoon. I’m so sorry.”

She took a shaky breath as she
looked at her dad. He didn’t look particularly worried, but she’d come back
here to see him and now she was leaving without even spending a whole week in
his company. Without anywhere
near
to
a week back at home.

“
Maddison
,
can I ask you something?” Her mom put down her tools and plucked off her
gloves, turning to face her.

Maddison
nodded.

“Is this job really worth it?
Maddison
, I can see how tired you are, what a strain this
job puts on you.”

Trust her mom to say exactly what
was playing through her mind.
Yes, she
was tired of it all, but she wasn’t the kind of girl to give up.
When she made a commitment she didn’t back down, no matter what.

“I’ve been working on this project
a long time, Mom. But you’re
right,
I need to make
some tough decisions.” She smiled, bottom lip tucked between her teeth in an
effort to force the tears away. “Whatever happens, I’m coming back next week.
So don’t let me come up with any excuses, okay? If I have to make some tough
calls about work, then I’ll just have to deal with it. But right now, I don’t
want to let anyone down. I’m exhausted and I need a break, but I’ve always
liked what I do.”

Her mom smiled and reached for her
hand. “Just promise me that you’ll actually take a proper vacation next time.”

“Hi Jack.”

Maddison
froze. Her dad had a smile back on his face, like he knew he finally had an
excuse to escape garden duty.

After the night she’d had with
Jack, she shouldn’t be feeling on edge about seeing him, but his presence only
meant one thing.
That he was seeing their
marriage plan through to fruition.
And she didn’t know if that scared her
or pleased her… or both. Maybe she should have written up the damn list he’d
been talking about, a contract that protected both their intentions.
Not than any contract would ever protect her
heart.

She fixed a smile on her face, not
wanting her mom to realize anything was troubling her. Other than the fact she
had to leave way sooner than she should have been.

“Hey Jack,”
Maddison
managed.

His big smile put her at ease.
“Thought I’d find you all here.”

She looked him over, up then down.
He was dressed like he always had been – worn jeans, shirt with the sleeves
pushed up, and a well-loved looking pair of boots.

“Not wrangling cattle today?” she
asked.

He laughed, eyes crinkling ever-so
at the corners. She loved that when Jack laughed, she didn’t have to wonder if
he was acting or think that he could be secretly mocking her instead of being
genuine. He was open and honest with her.

“I actually came past to have a
word with your dad,” he said, pushing his hands into his pockets and facing her
father. “You have a minute, Gus?”

“Will it get me out of gardening
for the afternoon?” her dad asked.

They all laughed, her mom included.

“If you’ve got a cold beer, I’m
sure I could make an excuse to help you out.”

Maddison
took a deep breath, watching them walk toward the house before looking at her
mom. “What do you think of doing a nice dinner tonight, since I’m going
tomorrow? Maybe we could have Jack over.”

Her mom’s eyebrows were drawn
together, like she knew something was up.

“
Maddison
,
is something going on that I don’t know about? This feels suspiciously like
when you and Jack were kids and you’d tell your father about a disaster before
I knew anything about it.”

She gave her mom a wink. “You’ll
just have to wait and see.”

“
Maddison
Marie Jones
.”

All she could do was laugh. “You
really think saying my name like that will have the same effect it did when I
was a kid?”

Her mother shook her head. “No. But
it was worth a try.”

Maddison
reached for her mom, gave her a quick hug. Something had happened to her,
changed within her since she’d come home, and being emotional wasn’t really her
usual thing. “Can I help you in the garden?”

If her mom was surprised she hid it
well. “Sure,” she agreed, kneeling back down and pulling her gloves on. “And
you can tell me all about this project that’s taking you back to the city.”

Maddison
could talk about work. She might be fed up with her demanding boss, but she
always loved the events she worked on, and it would keep her mind off whatever
Jack was in the middle of telling her dad.

Or
asking him…

CHAPTER
NINE

MADDISON stared at her hands and
grimaced. She had black beneath her fingernails, and she hadn’t had dirt there
in way too long. She’d forgotten what hard work it was being in the garden, or
doing anything on the land. The most she’d tended to lately were half-dead
potted plants on her balcony.

“You know I’m kind of like a plant
hospice,” she told her mom.

She received a confused look in
return. “What do you mean?”

Maddison
laughed. “Well, I’ve tried flowers and even herbs, but it’s like they come to
me to die. You know, like they’re being sent to a hospice.”

Her mother laughed. “It’s like
you’re not even my daughter.”

They both looked up at the same
time. Jack was walking toward them, and he was chatting away to her dad like
they were old buddies. She guessed they were. She was the one rattled, not
them, anyway. Jack was probably finding this whole thing way less of a big deal
than she was, and from the casual way they were sauntering over, she wasn’t
exactly picking up a stressed or nervous vibe.

“So what secret business have you
two been discussing?” Her mom disliked not being in the know.

Her dad gave her a look that made
Maddison
smile. It was always the peacemaker, liked to keep
the women in his life happy, but right now he seemed to be enjoying having a
secret. And knowing how much it was irritating his wife.

“We’re going for a walk,” her
father said.

“A walk where?” Her mom stayed put,
one hand on her hip.

Jack was smiling at her, gave
Maddison
a wink that would have made her knees knock if
she’d been standing.

“Never mind the walk. We’ll make
tea or something.” Her father gave Jack a look that had sorry written all over
it. “These two need a few minutes alone.
Now.
”

That
made her mom move
.
Fast.

Maddison
wiped her hands on her jeans, standing as Jack came closer. He had his hands
pushed deep in his jean pockets, smile still directed at her. Her stomach
swirled, felt like the ocean was rising and falling within it, as she met the
intensity of his gaze.

This
was it
.

Jack was going to ask her, she knew
it. Being nervous was stupid, childish. It was a marriage of convenience they’d
both agreed to, not an out of the blue proposal, but it was still enough to
make her entire body
thrum
with anticipation. Because
even though this was supposed to fake, it felt a whole lot more exciting, more
thrilling than when she’d been proposed to for real.

“
Maddison
?”

She took a deep breath, glanced
back at the house.

“They’re inside watching, aren’t
they?” Jack asked.

Maddison
nodded. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”
She couldn’t believe that he’d been inside and asked her dad for her
hand in marriage.
“You asked him, didn’t you?”

“Come here.” Jack stepped toward
her, reaching for both her hands.

His thumbs moved back and forth,
caressing her fingers as he clasped her hands warmly in his. She looked up into
his eyes and saw the boy she remembered, even if he was in a man’s body that
had taken her so by surprise.

“
Maddison
,”
he started, holding her hands up to drop a kiss to her skin before dropping on
one knee.

Oh
my god.
When he’d said he would make it real, she hadn’t been expecting a
proposal on bended knee.
A chaste kiss in front of her
family, perhaps, but not this.

“We’ve known each other since we
were kids, and I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become. Will you marry me?”

Maddison
felt like she couldn’t breathe. She was staring at him, hypnotized by his eyes,
by his words.
Was lost.

“
Maddison
?”

She blinked, forced herself to
answer him, even if she
could
only
squeeze out a whisper. “Yes.”

Jack stood, still holding her
hands, but this time he leaned in to her, his cheek against hers as he murmured
into her ear. “If you don’t want to do this, if you’ve changed your mind…”

“No.” Her voice was more powerful this
time. “I mean yes, yes I want to marry you.” She hadn’t expected it to feel so
real, to feel so deeply for the man standing with his body to hers.

“Yes?” he asked, like he still
wasn’t sure
.
“Yes, Jack,” she replied, taking a tiny step backward so she could look into
his eyes, could place her palms against his cheeks. “I’ve never been so sure
about anything in my life.”

He laughed, shaking his head
slightly. “You had me thinking you were ready to bolt.”

“Never.
I
just…”

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said, slinging her
arms around the back of his neck and drawing him closer.

Jack’s eyes were fixed on hers,
like he was waiting for
a
but
.
Only it wasn’t going to come, because no matter what was going
through her head, she wasn’t going to ruin this.