The Airman's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 5) (19 page)

He took the cups from her hands and turned her to face him. “I’m proud of you for what you’re doing here. You’re a great role model for Richard. Owning your own store; that’s a big step.”

“I’m kind of making a mess of it.” Heather tried to tug her hands away but he didn’t let her. He needed a physical connection to her since the world seemed so set on dragging them apart.

“Your sales are still down?”

“They’ve improved since I hosted the flooring demonstration. And one of my employees is working on advertising, but they’re not where I need them to be yet.”

“If you need any help, you let me know. Anything at all. You can boss me around and I’ll do exactly what you say.”

“That sounds fun.” She rolled her eyes. “Listen to me. You’re off limits.”

“I’m only off limits when Heloise is watching.” He drew her closer.

“Colt.” She tried to twist away when he bent to kiss her. “Not until after all of this is over. It’s not right, me kissing you when you have a fiancée.”

“You are my fiancée.”

“Don’t let Heloise hear that.”

“Heloise isn’t here.” He backed Heather up until she bumped against the counter. Letting go of her hands, he lifted her up to sit on it. “No one’s here except for you and me.” He cupped her chin. Gently tugging her close, he managed to kiss her this time. He’d ached to kiss Heather all day. He wanted to let her know in the most direct way possible that no matter what happened next, she was the only woman he wanted. Heather kissed him back, but when he slid a hand down to her breast, she pulled away.

“No. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

Colt heaved a sigh. Bracing his palms against the counter on either side of her, he said, “So now what do we do?”

“Now we find me a fiancé,” she said. “You heard Heloise—she expects to meet him tomorrow night.”

Colt couldn’t believe he’d forgotten that in all the drama surrounding Richard’s decision to cut class. He thought a moment. “I might know a guy.”

“Seriously? You know a guy who would pretend to be my fiancé?”

“I served with him for a while and he lives not too far away. He used to have a knack for this kind of thing. I’ll give him a call and let you know what he says later.” He leaned in for another kiss, but Heather cut this one short.

“I have to get back to work.”

He didn’t let her go. “Tell me we’re going to make it through this.”

“Colt—”

“Tell me. Or I’ll call everything off right now. We’ll go tell Heloise the truth.”

“No. I don’t want to do that. Despite everything—despite what Richard says now—one day he’ll appreciate the chance to live on the ranch, so we have to play this out to the end.” She looked away. “We’ll make it through this.”

The shine of tears in her eyes cut him to the quick. He hated that they’d been put in this position.

“I want to make love to you.”

“We can’t.” She pushed him away and jumped down off of the counter. When he pursued her, she put up her hands to block him. “Not now, Colt.”

When a tear spilled down her cheek, Colt wrapped his arms around her and crushed her against his chest. “I love you and only you. No matter what happens, you have to believe that.”

She nodded, but when she pushed him away again, he let her go.

Two hours later,
Heather parked her truck in front of the Hall and wiped her eyes again. She’d been a wreck since Colt had left Renfree’s and she’d been relieved when the day ended and she could close up the store. She’d barely reached the front steps when the door swung open and Regan appeared.

“Oh good; you’re home. I have to run into town to pick up a prescription refill. Storm and Ella are working on dinner. With everything that happened I forgot about tonight.”

“What’s tonight?”

“It’s Cheyenne’s birthday. She, Henry and the girls are coming for dinner. So are Darren and Belinda—and the Turners.”

Storm had mentioned the plan earlier in the week, and Heather had picked up a gift, but she had forgotten it was today. The last thing she needed was an avalanche of guests, but there was nothing for it but to paste a smile on her face and keep going. “That’s a houseful. Can I help?” Cheyenne was Storm’s mother, who’d followed Storm to Montana from California. She’d married Henry Montlake recently and moved in with him on his large ranch. Zoe, Daisy and Violet were Storm’s much younger sisters. They’d taken to Chance Creek like fish to water.

Darren had been the other possible heir to Crescent Hall, but these days he and wife, Belinda, were frequent visitors here. Belinda worked with Storm at Willow’s. The Turners were another young ranching family who owned the Flying W, where Camila lived. Eli, Noah, Maya and Stella Turner were siblings. When their father retired from ranching, their cousins Brody, Liam and Alex joined them. Heather enjoyed the boisterous Turner clan and normally she’d be happy they were coming for dinner.

“I’m sure you can; we’re all scrambling. Ask Storm!” Regan hurried off to her truck and Heather let herself into the Hall. She evidently wasn’t going to get a minute of quiet. Maybe it was better that way.

Storm set her to work making meatballs. Ella was setting the dining room table. “How are you doing?” Storm asked quietly as she stirred the sauce.

“As well as can be expected, I guess. How about you? The store doing okay?” She didn’t feel like talking about herself.

“It’s doing really well, actually. I did great over the holidays.”

“I’m glad to hear it. What about your mom and sisters?”

“Cheyenne loves it here. With her house in California sold and all her debts paid off she’s a new woman. Of course, now that she’s married to Henry she can be the stay-at-home mom she always wanted to be. I think Zoe, Violet and Daisy adore having her full attention.”

Was that wistfulness Heather heard in her voice? She knew Storm hadn’t had it easy growing up. Once her father had died, she’d filled his shoes and helped Cheyenne support her sisters. Heather could relate, although she hadn’t had any siblings to care for, like Storm had.

“I’m glad they’re so close. Otherwise you’d want to fly off to California all the time.”

“I’m glad they’re close, too. I would have missed them too much otherwise.”

Ella entered the kitchen and opened the silverware drawer. “Hi, Heather. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Heather deflected the question again. “How about you? Did I hear you’d found a therapist who was interested in working with you?”

“You heard right.” Ella brightened. “Dr. Diane Wells from Bozeman. She loves the idea of equine therapy. We’re working out the details.”

“Tell Heather about your screenplay,” Storm pointed her wooden spoon at Ella. “This one’s been busy.”

“Screenplay? What’s it about?” Heather was happy things were working out for Ella, despite the awkwardness between them. She knew it must have been hard for her to leave Hollywood behind for Chance Creek, but Ella never complained about small town life.

Ella blushed. “It’s about four sisters who inherit a bed and breakfast.”

“And don’t forget the crazy aunt and her conditions for the inheritance,” Storm sang out.

“She’s a crazy
cousin
, but yes, she’s modeled on someone we all know.”

A smile crossed Heather’s face for the first time that day. “That’s perfect.” Maybe Ella had hidden depths she’d overlooked before. Heather had to admit she’d always been so afraid Ella wouldn’t like her she hadn’t given her much chance to prove otherwise.

“I thought so, too,” Storm said.

“I couldn’t help but get a little revenge.”

Heather enjoyed the banter, but she knew she’d never truly feel like she belonged at the Hall until she sorted things out with Ella once and for all. Maybe now was the time to do that. “Will it bother you if I ever marry Colt and move in for good?”

Ella’s eyes widened. “Of course not! I admit when you first showed up I worried for a minute you might still have feelings for Austin—or he might have feelings for you. As soon as I saw you with Colt, that fear went right out the window. I’ve never seen two people more in love.” She lifted her hands helplessly. “I’m sorry it hasn’t worked out the way it should have.”

“We’ve got company,” Storm cautioned them.

Heather turned to see Richard and Colt walk in. Colt came over and kissed her on the cheek. Richard hung back in the doorway.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” he mumbled, leaning against the doorjamb.

“And?” Colt’s deep voice prompted.

“I won’t skip class again. And I won’t swear… in front of you.”

“Richard!”

“Okay, I won’t swear at all. Much.”

Storm coughed and hid a chuckle behind her hand.

Heather heard Colt’s long-suffering sigh and suddenly saw the humor in the situation, as black as it was. She saw the saving grace, too: she wasn’t alone in this. No matter how crazy things got, Richard had a lot of people pulling for him.

“Okay.”

Richard’s eyes widened when he finally looked up and caught sight of her face. “Mom?”

“It’s okay,” she assured him, realizing he must have spotted the traces of her tears. “I’m just sad.”

“Because of what I did?” Suddenly he was a boy again, stricken by the consequences of his actions.

“It’s been a hard day.”

Richard looked miserable. “Dad says I better do some chores.”

Dad. Heather’s heart contracted. Glancing at Colt, she saw how much it meant to him to be called that name by his son. “I agree with your father. You can start upstairs in the third-floor bathroom. Clean the tub and sink. Do the counters, too. Use the right cleaning products. They’re in the pantry.”

“Okay.” Richard went to rummage in the pantry glumly and a few moments later she heard him trudging up the stairs.

“Thank you for talking to him,” she said to Colt, who leaned against the kitchen island, watching her every move with a hunger she couldn’t mistake.

“He’s acting this way because of my mistake, right?” Colt straightened. “I’d better get back to my chores, too.”

“See you at dinner.” She went back to her work, stiffening when Colt came up behind her and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. She turned a questioning look his way. He shrugged and left out the back door, but the desire in his eyes lingered with her long after he was gone, making it even harder to accept the way things had turned out.

‡

S
torm and Regan
must have made some phone calls because neither Darren nor Belinda batted an eye at the extra fiancée at the table, and Cheyenne, Henry, and her girls greeted Melanie as if they’d known her for years. The Turners were cheerfully oblivious to the undercurrents swirling around the large dining room table and helped diffuse the tension that otherwise might have overwhelmed the rest of them. Violet and Daisy immediately piled onto Richard and managed to coax a grudging smile out of him with their silliness. Zoe, who was twelve, chatted with him over their heads and soon Colt was convinced that Richard would be able to relax for the evening, at least.

“How are you feeling?” Cheyenne asked Storm across the table. “You’re not showing much.”

“I’m showing enough for both of us,” Regan said, placing a hand on the rounded curve of her belly.

“You look terrific. So does Ella,” Maya assured her. “Isn’t that right, Eli?” Colt had met the Turners at Mason’s wedding last spring and he enjoyed the whole boisterous family. Maya’s teasing of her brother reminded him of the way he and his brothers used to interact. He hoped that someday they’d be able to relax and enjoy each other’s company again.

Eli, looking embarrassed, mumbled, “Sure is.”

“You look beautiful, too, Storm,” Noah chimed in gallantly, raising a glass and toasting her.

“I may not be showing, but all my clothes are getting tight,” Storm said. “It’s lucky I own a clothing store.”

“Do you still enjoy working at the store, Belinda?” Henry asked.

Belinda, who’d just taken a bite of spaghetti, nodded vigorously. When she’d managed to swallow, she added, “It’s getting busy, though. Melanie’s going to help us out for a while.”

“Just for a while? Do you have something else planned, Melanie?” Cheyenne asked.

“I want to open a spa,” Melanie said. “Someday.” She toyed with her noodles and Colt wondered if she was thinking that enduring the next few months wouldn’t be worth the payoff.

“Chance Creek desperately needs a spa,” Stella said from down at the other end of the table.

“Oh, I don’t think I’ll open one in Chance Creek.” Melanie shut her mouth with a snap and blushed when the Turners focused on her with interest.

Zoe had been following the conversation, too. “Where, then?”

Melanie bit her lip, as if unsure how to answer the dangerous question. Colt wondered how much Storm’s younger sisters knew about the situation. “I haven’t worked that out yet. Cheyenne, did you find it easy to move from California to Chance Creek?”

Colt relaxed as the conversation turned. He felt like he’d been negotiating a field full of landmines all day and it would only be worse tomorrow night when Heloise came for dinner. He’d spoken to his old Air Force buddy, Eric Rutherfield, who lived in Missoula, and Eric had agreed to play Heather’s fiancé in exchange for a case of beer. “Nah, sounds like fun,” he’d said when Colt offered him cash. “My life is way too boring these days. I guess I should have dodged that bullet.” Colt knew he meant the one that had torn through his shoulder and messed up the rotation of his right arm just enough he had to leave the military. Eric worked for his family’s sporting goods store now, and Colt understood why the man would be eager for a change of pace.