Forever Wishes (Montana Brides Book 4) (6 page)

“Why on earth did you pay four thousand dollars for a date with Jake?”

“Umm.” Erin chewed her bottom lip. “If I tell you, you have to swear never to breathe a word of it to Sam.”
 

“Oh, man. What have you been up to?”

“It’s not that bad. Jake asked me to bid for him on his behalf, so it didn’t cost me anything.” A bubble of laughter escaped her lips. “I made him promise to do me a favor in return for bailing him out of the auction.”

Nicky groaned. “Whoever said librarians were a dull and boring lot hasn’t met you. What dastardly deed are you going to get him to do, or shouldn’t I ask?”
 

“I don’t know yet,” she grinned, “but I’m sure I’ll come up with a suitably impressive job to keep him occupied for a few minutes.” Swallowing another mouthful of cake, she thought of a few jobs around her house that a six-foot-five male could easily handle.
 

Thinking of Jake in a tool belt and hard hat sent her heart rate soaring. She knew one thing. He wouldn’t need his suit for what she had in mind.

Jake stood on his sister’s front porch waiting for someone to answer the door. His arms were loaded with presents in all sorts of shapes and sizes for Ethan. He nudged the doorbell again, hoping like crazy Lucy had made it home from town.
 

His brother-in-law had been killed in a car accident four years ago, and ever since then he’d kept a careful eye on his sister and nephew. The first year without Dan had been rough on everyone, but Lucy had managed to keep going, determined to make a new life for herself and her son.
 

The big wooden front door banged open. A bundle of multicolor fur ran out to plaster his knees with buckets of doggy slobber.
 

A second hurricane came hurtling through the door. “Uncle Jake.” Ethan flew toward him, grabbing hold of his knees just above doggy slobber line.
 

“Hi, big guy. Help me get this lot into the house.”

Handing Ethan one of the presents, they traipsed into the house with Mad Max yapping at their heels. A hopeful look crossed Ethan’s little face. “Who are the presents for?”

“For you. I brought them back from Los Angeles.”
 

Excitement filled Ethan’s face. He yelled for his mom to come and join them as he led Jake through to the living room.
 

Lucy found them hunched over a pile of shredded wrapping paper and discarded boxes. “You’re opening those presents fast. I should have run from the garden.” She laughed as his hands tore into another parcel. Woops of delight filled the house.
 

Fifteen minutes later, Ethan disappeared into his bedroom to find a special spot for each of his new toys. Mad Max jumped around the living room, playing hide-and-seek inside the empty boxes.

Lucy bundled up a pile of paper. “I’ll make you a cup of coffee before lunch. Come into the kitchen.”

Water gushed out of the kitchen faucet as Lucy filled the kettle. Jake watched his sister take a carton of milk out of the fridge and put two mugs on the counter. “How’s Scott holding out?”
 

 
“Same as usual,” she sighed. “Mom keeps hovering over him like he’s a piece of fragile china and Scott keeps getting more and more frustrated.”

“Why can’t mom see that he’s a grown man and not a helpless boy anymore?”

With a tight smile, Lucy glanced at him. “I don’t think there’s ever been a helpless bone in his body. Do you remember the time he did some of the neighbor’s chores? He earned twice as much as he would have at home. He saved so hard for the school camp.” The smile faded from her face as she remembered what had come next. “And mom still refused to let him go. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him cry so much.” Lucy pushed a mug of coffee toward her brother and sat down beside him. “What a mess.”
 

Jake sipped his drink as they silently contemplated their childhood demons. At least Lucy had been at home to look after Scott. He’d disappeared from Bozeman as soon as he could drive. He’d been too wrapped up in his own life. Too sure of everything he didn’t want, to spend another minute with his family.

“I don’t know what to do about Scott,” he said. “Something’s going to happen if mom doesn’t back off and give him some space.”
 

 
“I’ll go and see her tomorrow.”

“You could talk to her all you want, but I don’t think it’s going to make any difference.” He’d thought moving back to Montana would help his family. But so far, all he’d managed to do was get in the middle of the bickering between his mom and brother.
   

Jake listened to Ethan squealing. It sounded like Mad Max was sick of the empty boxes and had found his pint sized friend, creating havoc with him in his bedroom.
 

Lucy glanced toward the hallway. “I know you didn’t get a chance to spend much time with Scott after you left for college, but he’s worked really hard to get where he is today. He’s not unlike you in a lot of ways. You’re both opinionated, stubborn males.” With a small smile she asked, “How was the charity ball last night?”
 

Jake’s head jerked in her direction. His sister cradled her mug, gazing at him with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. He cleared his throat and scowled. “I sold.”

“Oh dear. That bad?”
 

“No. Not that bad, but I wish you wouldn’t put my name forward for another auction. This is the last time I stand there like a bull at the market being sold to the highest bidder.”
 

He squirmed in his seat as Lucy’s eyes widened a fraction. He knew what she was thinking. At last year’s ball he’d taken the auction in his stride. It wasn’t like him to get fazed by a fundraising date, but he’d had enough. Three years of auctions were enough for any sane man. It was time someone else put their body on the line for a good cause.

“I’m sure the ladies thought you were more like cotton candy than a bull. So how much did a date with the illustrious Jake Williams, lawyer extraordinaire, go for?”

“Four thousand dollars.” He couldn’t help the smug note that crept into his voice. He wasn’t going to mention the deal he’d struck with Erin to bid on his behalf. That would ruin the dumbfounded expression on his sister’s face. He crossed his arms across his chest, daring her to laugh.

“Four thousand bucks? What did you do? Strip naked?”

Jake hoped Lucy missed the heat he could feel racing up his neck. There’d been a lot of nakedness last night and he’d do it again if he got half the chance.
 

“Your problem, little sister, is that you don’t know quality when you see it. When was the last time you went out to play with the male species?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “And a trip to Kids Zone with Ethan doesn’t count.” If that didn’t get her off the charity auction track, nothing else would.
 

Lifting her nose in the air, she said, “For your information, single moms don’t get a chance to get out much. And I’m not that interested in dating anyone.” She paused, smiling at him. “Besides, they’d have to go a long way to top the special men in my life.”

Hot, dry, heat blasted Erin’s face as she opened the oven door. For the last hour and a half she’d been mixing, cutting, and cooking gingerbread men for tomorrow’s preschool program at the library. They usually had about twenty-six kids turn up with their moms or dads for half an hour of stories and songs.
 

Tomorrow would be an extra special event. The kids would be meeting Carolyn, the new children’s librarian, for the first time. Decorating gingerbread seemed like a great way for the kids to get to know her, and a great way for Carolyn to meet the adults. Knowing the staff at the library, Erin wouldn’t get through the front door without taking extra cookies for everyone. So another few batches had been added to the chaos surrounding her.
 

With a sigh of relief, she slid the last tray into the oven and looked at her once tidy kitchen. It needed to be rezoned a disaster area. Flour, sugar, mixing bowls, and cookies hot from the oven covered every available inch of counter space.
 

Her clothes looked just as messy. Using the back of her hand, she wiped a strand of hair away from her face and tried to brush some of the flour off her t-shirt.
 

The doorbell chimed. With a frown on her face, she glanced across at the oven, then walked down the hallway.
 

“Jake?” Her hand gripped the open door and her pulse bounced out of control.
 

He took his sunglasses off and an uncertain smile slid across his face. “I stayed at my sister’s house last night and thought I’d say hello on my way home. Sam gave me your address this morning. I hope that’s alright?”
 

“Of course it’s okay.” Erin felt a blush warm her cheeks. “Come in. I’ve just put the last batch of gingerbread men in the oven for the library tomorrow.”

His gaze traveled down her t-shirt and jeans. “You look like you’ve had a good time.”

“Wait until you see the kitchen. There’s flour from one end of the room to the other. It’s not a pretty sight.”

Jake rubbed a finger along her cheek and down to her chin. “If the cookies taste as good as you look, no one’s going to care about what your kitchen looks like.”
 

Erin blew the stray strand of hair off her face again and tried to cool her overheated cheeks. “You say that now, but in the next few minutes you might be shocked.” She walked down the hallway and showed him gingerbread city.
 

It was worse than she remembered, and she’d only been gone a few minutes. “Welcome to my work in progress.” Taking a quick look in the oven, she scowled at the timer. “I managed to burn one batch, so I’m a bit paranoid about leaving them in the oven for too long.” Wiping her hands down the sides of her jeans, she headed over to the basin.
 

Grabbing a few dirty bowls, she stacked them out of the way. “Would you like a drink of lemonade?”

“Sure, that’d be great.” He moved across to the counter and sat down on a kitchen stool.
 
“If the cookies taste as good as they smell you’re onto a winner.” His gaze locked on the plates of gingerbread men. “How many people were you expecting?”
 

She laughed at amazement on his face. “To be safe I cooked forty for the preschool program and another twenty for the big kids at the library. If I don’t keep the staff happy they start growling, especially when there’s food involved. Help yourself. I’ve got double what I need.” Handing Jake a glass of cold lemonade, she watched him crunch into a cookie.
 

“These are good.”

“Thanks. My nana taught me how to bake gingerbread when I was about six-years-old.” Erin poured herself a drink and leaned against the counter. Jake looked even better than he had last night. More relaxed and less stressed. Maybe the thought of not being a hunted man had put color in his cheeks and a spring in his step.
 

Or maybe a night of hot sex and high heels had done it. Whatever the reason, she wasn’t getting her hopes up about why he’d arrived on her doorstep. She didn’t know much about what happened after a one-night stand, but the name gave her a serious clue.
 

“Did you get a hard time from Nicky about forgetting to call her?”

Erin thought back to her carrot cake bribe and grinned. “Nothing a slice of cake didn’t fix. She’s heading back to Denver tonight for a few days.”

“Have they decided what they’re going to do about their jobs?”

Erin sipped her lemonade. Nicky owned her own management consultancy company in Denver. Permanently commuting between Montana and Colorado hadn’t been an option she’d wanted to consider, so she’d come up with another plan. “She’s going to see if one of her senior consultants wants to manage the day-to-day operations of the company. Nicky will work on specific projects from Bozeman and fly back to Denver for meetings. Have you known Nicky and Sam long?”

 
“I’ve known Sam forever. We starved our way through college together. There’s nothing like being rock bottom broke to bring out the best in your friends.”

“I can’t imagine you living on the poverty line.”

“We were so broke that we wouldn’t even have come close to the poverty line. Some days we ate cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” He laughed at the disbelieving look on her face. “It’s true.”

“Okay,” she smiled, “I’ll believe you, but only because I’m a sucker for a good story.” Grabbing a knife, she started to move a batch of gingerbread onto a plate.