Forever Cowboy (Montana Brides Book 5) (2 page)

Before he spoke to anyone he needed to work out what he was going to do for the next few months. He sure as hell didn’t want to limp around his parents’ ranch, getting in everyone’s way.
 

“In that case,” Gracie said, “I vote for hot chocolate and cake. It’s Mud Cake Monday at Angel Wing’s Café and if we hurry Tess should still have some left.”

And that was the second thing he liked about Gracie. She knew the way to a man’s heart.

Emily and Nicky stood on the pavement, staring in silence at the outside of the old library building.

“What do you think?” Nicky asked.

Emily knew what she thought. But she’d thrown herself headfirst into most things and usually ended up knee deep in trouble. This time she was determined to make a good business decision. But that didn’t stop her from wanting to jump up and down and let her imagination run wild. She knew that this was it. This was the building that would be so much more than an address for her boutique.

She glanced at Nicky, careful not to let her excitement show. “You’re right. It’s got potential.” She didn’t miss her sister’s raised eyebrows or the questions she could see in her eyes.
 

Emily pulled her shoulders back, straightened her spine, and clamped her lips together in case her smile gave her away. She tried to look at the sheet of plywood covering one of the huge windows with a critical eye. She really did. But all she could see was how it would look when the stained glass had been restored to match the beautiful design on the other side of the entrance.
 

She’d already decided to paint the underside of the porch a soft shade of blue to match the handcraft store and the café. And flowers. In spring she’d plant hanging baskets full of petunias, lobelia and maybe even some sweet potato vine to spill over the sides.
 

“Are you ready to go inside?”

Emily stopped thinking about the color of her petunias and stared at her sister. “You’ve got a key?”

Nicky nodded. “I picked it up before I came around to your place.”
 

“You were that sure that I’d come?”

“Are you kidding?” She stepped forward and unlocked the heavy padlock attached to the wooden door. “After some of the buildings we’ve seen this is a palace.”

As soon as the door opened, Emily smelt what was left of the fire. The thick, musky scent of burned wood and vinyl made her nose twitch. She stood quietly inside the building, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light, remembering the layout from when she’d visited the library as a teenager.
 

Nicky wandered over to a long desk at the side of the room. The edge of what had been the checkout counter was partially singed, blackened with charred wood and soot. “Most of the damage happened around the front of the building. Whoever lit the fire didn’t count on the smoke alarms that were installed a few years ago. Luckily most of the furniture had already been sold, otherwise there’d be a lot more stuff to get rid of.”

Emily walked across to a wall of wooden bookcases. They looked sad and lonely with nothing to fill them. “I haven’t been in here for years.” Her voice fell softly against the pine floors. When a new public library had been built a few years ago, this building had become a youth center. A few magazines and an old ping-pong table were the only things left to remind anyone of what it had been used for.
 

The wide staircase in the center of the room had always been Emily’s favorite part of the building. It curled toward the upper story, regal and gracious even after years of neglect. It didn’t look as though it had been burned, but water had soaked into the wood, leaving wide stains on the steps. Emily ran her hands along the silky smooth banister. “Do you remember when we used to come here?”

Nicky nodded. “Mrs. Barry put the latest fashion magazines aside for you. You’d disappear into one of the book stacks with them until mom picked us up.” She moved around the back of the counter and disappeared. “Found it!” She grinned. Dangling from her fingertips was the bell they’d been allowed to ring half an hour before closing.
 

Emily had already started moving up the stairs when Nicky shook the handle. The dull thud that filled the library made Emily smile. “Mrs. Barry wouldn’t approve.”

“I don’t know about that,” Nicky said. “I saw her on the back of a Harley once. Be careful on those stairs. I don’t know if they’re safe.”

“Don’t be such a worry wart. They’ve been okay for over a hundred years. A little water damage wouldn’t have hurt them.” She kept climbing, catching her breath when she saw the mezzanine floor. It was better than she remembered and so much of everything she wanted.
 

When she’d been fifteen she hadn’t appreciated the thick ropes of plaster molding, looped like vines of fruit around the top of the ceiling, or the old fashioned brass light fittings, worn to a dull gold and strung together with cobwebs.
 

She wandered around, imagining the room without the smoke-damaged ceilings. Or the piles of trash stacked around the room.
 

If she bought the building she’d set up her sewing area under the windows overlooking Main Street. She’d put her cutting table and drawers of buttons, thread, and edging on the far wall. Her mannequins would stand in the center of the room, with fabric and accessories draped over them for everyone to see. Downstairs would be her showroom, but upstairs would be the heart of her business. A place where the ordinary became extraordinary.

She’d paint the walls and ceiling a soft shade of cream, restore the wooden floors and replace the light fitting over the staircase with the biggest crystal chandelier she could afford. “This is the one.”

“What did you say?” Nicky yelled from the ground floor.
 

Emily leaned over the wooden railing. “This is it. I want to buy it.”

“We’ve only been here ten minutes. Do you want Cody to come and take a look?”

Cody was their lovable but very annoying brother. He managed the family ranch and tried to manage them. He’d also done most of the remodeling on his parents’ home.
 

She took one last look around the top floor before moving downstairs. It was time to pull her business brain out of hiding. “I don’t know if Cody’s the right person. I need someone who knows if this place is going to fall down around my ears. Sam might know someone who could help.”

Sam Delaney, Nicky’s husband and chief executive of their family’s construction company, knew everyone there was to know in the building world. With projects from Great Falls to Denver, Scotson Construction was one of the most successful companies in Montana.
 

Nicky pulled her cell phone from her hip pocket. “I’ll give him a call now.” She walked toward the back of the building, smiling as she talked quietly into the phone.

Emily kept exploring. Most of the fire damage seemed to be focused on the right hand side of the building. The floorboards were so black and crispy that she didn’t want to step anywhere near them. The fire had burned through the wall linings, leaving a thick layer of soot smeared across most of the pressed tin ceiling.
 

The creative, stubborn side of her thought that a scrubbing brush and a dumpster would get rid of most of the mess. Her practical side decided that nothing short of a total remodel would solve this building’s problems. Either way, she’d need plenty of money and a lot of time if the old library was going to become a boutique. And time and money were the two things she was short of.

Nicky’s feet echoed in the quiet building. “Sam’s making a few phone calls. Why don’t we go to the café? We can have something to drink while we look over the sale and purchase agreement.”
 

“Why doesn’t it surprise me that you’ve got all of the paperwork with you?”

“I can’t help myself.” Nicky grinned. “That’s why you love me so much.”

Emily buttoned her coat. “It’s just as well one of us knows what they’re doing. I don’t know if I can afford it and I’m already thinking about moving in.”

“You know more than you think you do. You’ve grown your on-line store from nothing into something special and now you’re ready for the next step. Trust yourself and it will work out fine.”

“I don’t know if you’re trying to scare me or make me feel better. Let’s go and order coffee before you tell me how much ‘something special’s’ going to cost.”

“Did I mention that you’re also wise?”

“Now I’m really worried. You’d better make that a double shot of caffeine in case I pass out in shock.”

Alex picked up the newspaper from the table beside him and opened it to the sports section. He figured he might as well do something useful while Gracie used the bathroom. She’d already been twice since they’d arrived at the Café.
 

Telling him that it was perfectly normal for a pregnant woman to pee twice in thirty minutes hadn’t helped. And every time she rubbed the side of her stomach he was worried the baby might decide to make an early appearance.

He’d never had much to do with pregnant women. Especially five-foot-one pregnant women who were all baby and not a lot more. He looked up when he saw a flash of pink polka-dots out of the corner of his eye.

Gracie glanced at the paper as she sat down. “Godzilla’s done it again?”

He looked at the picture of the animal that had thrown him. Fifteen hundred pounds of proud Montana bull stared right on back. He hadn’t had much time to get an up close and personal look in Godzilla’s eyes the night he’d been thrown. And if Doc Johnson got his way, he wouldn’t get another chance in a hurry.

“He threw Danni Marchello in three seconds flat.”

Gracie picked up her spoon and dipped it into the frothy star on the top of her hot chocolate. “Was he hurt?”

“Not that they mentioned, but no one’s walked away from Godzilla on their own. I appreciate you bringing me into town today.”

“I had to come in anyway, so a detour to the hospital didn’t make much difference. So tell me, Mr. World Bull Riding Champion, how do you like being the main attraction at dad’s rodeo school?”

“It’s not me they want to see.”

“The school’s been booked solid since you’ve been home.”
 

He sat taller in his seat, wincing when his leg cramped. “I was going stir crazy and needed something to do.” He never thought he’d end up teaching bull riding, but after he’d gotten over his sorry ass pride, he’d started to enjoy himself. Over the years he’d listened and learned from the best bull riders in the country. If passing on that knowledge made a difference, then he was happy to oblige.

“I hear you’ve had a few unexpected visitors?”

Alex folded the paper in half and pushed it aside. “If you mean the single women mom keeps talking about, she’s exaggerating.”

The mischievous spark in Gracie’s eyes made him wince. For some crazy reason they’d had a constant stream of unattached women finding their way out to his parents’ ranch. If they knew how carefully he dodged anything resembling a relationship, they wouldn’t have wasted their gas getting to Billings.

He took a gulp of coffee, hoping Gracie got the hint and changed the subject.

“Six in one day would have to be a state record.”

He glared across the table. “They wanted to learn barrel racing.”

“Of course they did.” The beaming smile on Gracie’s face told him she knew differently.
 

“We were fully booked,” he muttered. “Have you started your baby classes yet?”

Gracie gave him a sweet smile. “I’ll let you change the subject this time, but one day you’re going to have to tell me why you never introduce me to your girlfriends.”

“It might be because there hasn’t been one to introduce.” The trouble with finding out he had a half sister eighteen months ago, was that Gracie needed a whole pile of filling in on their family history. And there were some things he wasn’t inclined to share. Especially to a half sister who reminded him of why he didn’t do happy-ever-after.

The doorbell jingled and Alex swore the hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention.
 

Gracie looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Hi, Nicky. I thought you were heading to Denver this week?”

Alex turned around and wished he hadn’t. Emily closed the door to the café and stood beside her sister. The smile on her face disappeared as soon she saw him.
 

“The…umm…I changed my schedule.” Nicky glanced at Emily, then back at Gracie. “We just popped in to tell Tess something. I’ll give you a call later.”

“Hi, Emily. Why don’t you both stay and have a coffee with us?” Gracie asked. “There’s plenty of room at our table. Alex is back in Montana for a while and we’re just catching up on...”

“The rodeo,” Alex said quickly. If Gracie mentioned his non-existent love life in front of Emily he’d be out of the café in two seconds flat.
 

Gracie frowned at Nicky. “I thought I saw your truck parked down the street. Have you been shopping?”

Nicky shook her head. “We’ve been looking at…” She looked between her sister and Alex, then at a big envelope in her hands. “Alex, what do you know about commercial property investment in Bozeman?”

Emily made a strangled noise in the back of her throat.
 

Nicky ignored her sister and waited patiently for his answer.

If he’d been a betting man, he wouldn’t have put money on Nicky asking him about the property market. He was surprised she was even speaking to him. Especially if Emily had told her why they’d broken up.

He cleared his throat and tried to ignore the blush screaming across Emily’s face. “My brother and I bought a property not far from here about a year ago.” It had cost him more than he’d wanted to pay, but Jacob had told him it was a sure fire winner. His brother had made a fortune developing property and Alex wasn’t about to second guess his instincts. Especially when those instincts were backed up by a ton of financial forecasts and reports.
 

“But you’ve bought other commercial properties?” Nicky wasn’t letting go of whatever bone she was determined to chew. He didn’t like talking about money. The fact that he had enough of it to last a couple of lifetimes wasn’t something he wanted to discuss over coffee.