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The rodeo celebrity from twenty years ago was probably in his midforties. According to her uncle, he’d been married and divorced twice. He had a certain reputation with the ladies. Brianna imagined he had several children with different women.
He lifted the last box off the dolly and put it on the floor. “What’s it going to take?”
His bold approach and persistence annoyed her. “I’ve got a boyfriend,” she lied.
“But you’re not married yet.”
All women were fair game to him. “That’s true, but I’d like to be.” Brianna counted the delivered inventory and signed the paper on his clipboard. “Accepting a date with another man would spell the end of my dreams, so I’m not taking any chances. Do you have any other business? My uncle’s out front if you want to talk to him.” She handed him the clipboard.
“No other business, chica.”
Good. She’d angered him. Without wasting another minute, she walked over to the back door and opened it. “See you next week.”
He pushed the dolly out the door. “Hasta la vista.”
She shut the self-locking door and got busy unpacking boots and other items of clothing. Her uncle was whistling when she went out front with the delivered items. “I take it you made a sale.”
“That’s the third Dakota saddle this week. I’ll have to place more orders.”
“Your business is booming.”
A smile broke out on his face. “We keep getting repeat customers. You’re part of the reason.”
“Nice one, Uncle Clark. You know I’m indebted to you.”
“That works both ways. Your aunt can teach school without worrying about me running the saddlery alone. But any time you’re ready to use that college degree to start a real career, you need only say the word.”
“I know, but I’m very happy working here with you. To be honest, it makes me feel closer to Dad.”
Her uncle squeezed her shoulder. “Same here.”
She checked her watch. Ten after four. “Since today is your wedding anniversary, why don’t you leave now so you can get ready to sweep Aunt Joanne off her feet. What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to surprise her and pick her up at school. We’ll drive to Missoula and grab some dinner and then go country dancing.”
“Ooh, I’d love to see the look on her face when she sees that ring.”
“I’m excited, too.”
“Then go home. I’ll close up and see you two in the morning at breakfast.”
“Thanks, honey.” He gave her a hug and left the store. She had two more customers before it was time to lock the front door and put the closed sign in the window. With that done, she started for the back room but paused when she heard a knock on the window.
Brianna whirled around and almost fainted when she saw Eli Clayton’s tall form through the glass. “Will you let me in for a minute?” he called out to her.
She nodded but couldn’t imagine why he was there. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as she unlocked the door. He stepped inside, bringing the cold air with him.
“If you’ve come to see my uncle, he left early.”
He removed his hat. “I came by to talk to you.”
Brianna smoothed her palms against her denim-clad hips. “Why?”
“After the way I treated you, you’ve got every right to ask that question.” Those piercing blue eyes stared into hers. He was building up to something. “I want to apologize for my rude behavior at the gem shop last Saturday. Don’t bother to deny it,” he said before she could make a sound.
“I won’t.”
“At least that’s honest,” he muttered. “Several reasons were driving me at the time, but nothing excuses the way I acted. If my daughter had been old enough to express an opinion, she would have asked, ‘Why are you being so mean, Daddy?’”
Brianna couldn’t help smiling. “I realized something was wrong, but you didn’t have to come here to explain.”
“I disagree. If we could start again, I’d like to make up for it by taking you to dinner this evening. If you have other plans, then how about tomorrow night?”
Her second invitation of the day.
She couldn’t say yes to him either, but for an entirely different reason.
Eli might be divorced, but he was still in love with his ex-wife. That made him off-limits to her. There was no way she dared accept an invitation to get to know him better.
“I accept your apology, but dinner isn’t necessary.”
“Then I did more damage than I thought,” he said, his voice husky.
She shook her head. “Don’t be silly.” She took the few steps needed to open the front door so he would leave. “My aunt and uncle said your father was a true gentleman. Your visit here to make things right means it runs in your family. Consider that achieving your objective and have a lovely evening with your daughter, Eli.”
He shoved the cowboy hat on his head at an angle and moved toward her. Beneath the brim, his shadowed gaze studied her features. “We’ll meet again soon. Good night, Brianna.”
“Good night.”
After locking the door, she rushed through the store to the back room, where she turned off all the lights except for the ones in the display windows. Her legs were still trembling when she got into her truck and headed home. On the way she stopped at a drive-through for some pizza and a soda.
Once she got back, she didn’t go inside the house right away. Instead she ate in the truck and called her brother, hoping he was available to talk. Carol answered and told her he was out in one of the sheds, but she’d have him call her ASAP.
No sooner did Brianna go inside the house than her phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, she hurried into the study and sat down on the couch. “Doug?”
“Hi, Brianna. You kept your promise to call me this week. What’s up?”
She loved her brother so much. “Can you talk?”
“That’s what we’re doing, aren’t we?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I have all the time in the world for you. Carol’s fixing dinner. Go ahead and tell me what’s on your mind.”
Brianna bit her lip. “I may have made a mistake tonight, and now I don’t know what to do.”
“Do I dare assume this has to do with a man?”
Clever Doug. His instincts were razor-sharp. “Yes.”
“I take it he’s a good one.”
“Yes, I know he is. He has the most adorable fourteen-month-old daughter.”
“Is he single? A widower? Divorced? Wait—he’s not married, is he?”
“Doug—”
He chuckled. “You’ve got to give me more than a couple of yesses.”
“I’m sorry. Let me ask you a hypothetical question. If you lost Carol—Heaven forbid if you did—how long do you think you’d stay in love with her?”
“I would always love her, but I don’t think you can stay ‘in love’ forever because life has a way of evolving. I take it you’ve met a widower.”
She breathed in deeply. “No. His ex-wife is alive, but he still wears his wedding ring.”
“Yeah?” This after a brief silence. “That’s a tricky one.” It was not the response she’d been hoping for. “What mistake have you made, aside from falling for him?”
“I haven’t fallen for him!”
“Then why ask me for advice?”
Brianna jumped up from the couch. “I barely know him, but I—I find him very attractive,” she stammered. “That’s all.”
“Don’t forget the adorable daughter.”
That wasn’t possible. Libby had his eyes.
“I don’t want to be attracted to him.”
Hearty laughter poured out of him. “Poor Brianna. After all those years of tying guys up in knots without compunction, you’ve found one who has turned the tables on you. What do you know...”
“Please don’t make me feel worse.”
“Now that I know a little more about the situation, how about telling me the nature of your second mistake?”
There was no getting around this with Doug, not when she’d phoned him. “He came to the saddlery a little while ago to apologize to me for something and asked me out to dinner. I told him I forgave him but that dinner wasn’t necessary. Then I opened the door so he’d leave.”
“And did he?”
“Yes.”
“Good for him.”
She winced.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened for him to come to the store wanting to tell you he was sorry?”
“It’s complicated.”
“With you it usually is. Go on.”
She told him everything that had gone on since the night Eli had been so rude at the gem shop. Quiet reigned after she’d finished explaining. “Doug?”
“You’re frightened. Can’t say I blame you, but he could still be wearing his wedding ring for a variety of reasons. At this early stage there’s only one question you have to ask yourself. Is he so important to you that you won’t be able to eat or sleep until you talk to him again and find out what’s going on with him? In a few days you’ll know if you can’t get him off your mind.”
“I’m afraid I already know.” Her brother was right. “Thanks for listening to me.”
“Anytime. Call me soon, okay?”
“I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
She chuckled. “Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She hung up, hugging her arms to her chest. Yes, she was afraid. Eli had loved another woman, married her, had a baby with her. How did you compete with those memories? Did Brianna even want to try if it turned out he was interested in her?
Haunted by too many unanswerable questions, she went to her room and watched TV. Why did she have to meet a man who’d been married and had a past? A man who was still living in that past. A man with a darling little girl, who would remind him of his ex-wife every minute of their lives.
Brianna had no idea how long she stayed awake, tormented. It was a miracle that she finally slept. But when she awakened, she discovered her pillow drenched in tears.
Chapter Three
Eli cut a banana into pieces and put them on the tray of Libby’s high chair. He ate one and then she ate one. Everything was a game with her.
“Mom? Are you sure you don’t mind the applicants coming here this morning? I want to get your opinion before I take them up to my house.” He’d narrowed the list down to three women. They’d be arriving in hourly intervals. The first one would be there in a few minutes.
“It’s important we all meet, honey, and that includes Solana.” The two of them sat at the kitchen table of the ranch house, enjoying coffee with their pancakes. Wymon had already left to meet up with Luis and the stockmen.
With Toly on the rodeo circuit and Roce in Missoula, Wymon needed Eli’s help, but he’d taken this Wednesday morning off to conduct the nanny interviews. Life was about to change around here.
His mother eyed him with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Maybe none of them will be right and Libby won’t like any of them.”
“If things don’t work out today, we can always interview more applicants.” She eyed him over the rim of her coffee cup. “I didn’t realize you’d removed your wedding ring. When did that happen?”
“Last week, after you advised me to get my act together. I phoned Tessa’s family and had a talk with Diane. Nothing’s changed with Tessa. The psychiatrist believes she might have chronic depression. I’d hoped in vain that she’d get better and want to come home.” He shook his head. “It isn’t going to happen, so I took the ring off and started looking for a nanny.”
“You’re very courageous. I’m proud of you, son.”
“And I’m more grateful to you than you’ll ever know for helping Libby and me through this last year.”
He didn’t hear his mother’s response because Solana came into the kitchen. “Your first appointment has arrived. I showed her into the living room.”
“Thanks, Solana.” Eli got up from the chair. “Be right back.” He tousled Libby’s hair and headed for the other part of the house with little expectation that this could actually work.
By noon he’d found Sarah Giles, a cute young woman with an appealing personality whom everyone agreed would be great. Most important of all, Libby didn’t cry when she picked her up and played with her.
She was twenty-eight and was living in Missoula with her grandparents while her husband was deployed with the army for the next fifteen months. They were saving their money and hoped to buy a house after his tour of duty was over.
Sarah had been trained as a cook and had worked as a sous-chef until recently. Cooking was her passion, but the restaurant had closed and she needed a job.
Eli decided that fifteen months with a nanny who could cook and keep his daughter happy sounded perfect. Sarah was ready to move in and would start work the next morning.
He was so relieved that he no longer had to rely on his mother for everything that he raced his horse Domino to the pasture. After telling Wymon his news, he did the job of three stockmen. They looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
In a way, he had. Freed from a great source of worry for the first time in a year, he could concentrate on a plan to approach Brianna Frost again.
He’d never been shown the door before and was still smarting from the experience. In order to break through the barrier he’d caused her to erect, he needed backup. If anyone knew the way to Brianna’s heart, Libby did.
When Saturday came around, he’d load his daughter in the truck just before closing time at the saddlery. On the pretext of wanting to buy her a child’s cowboy hat, he’d ask Brianna for help. If he knew his little girl, she’d love the attention and wouldn’t want to leave the shop. She might even start to cry, which would be a plus.
Eli would take it from there and suggest the three of them go for a bite to eat at a place where he could take Libby. A new sense of excitement filled him on his way back to the barn at dark. Tomorrow would be a new day and he had a good feeling about Sarah.
The last time Eli could remember looking forward to the future had been the night of Libby’s birth. He’d felt such wonder as he held her in his arms. They’d started their family. At the time he couldn’t have comprehended that they wouldn’t live out a rich, full life together with more children.
The onset of Tessa’s depression followed a week later and never went away. Eli had never suffered from chemical depression. But to watch it take hold of his wife and change her into someone he didn’t know had devastated him. He’d been helpless to alleviate it or bring her comfort. She didn’t want to hold Libby, let alone take care of her.
His whole family had pitched in to help and had been doing it ever since. Though Tessa’s parents tried to do it long-distance, it was difficult.
On the night Tessa begged to go home, she didn’t say, “I need to go back to my parents in Thompson Falls for a while.” She’d made it clear she wanted to go home. That deliberate choice of words cut him to the quick and spelled the end of his dreams.
At the lowest point of his life, Eli packed up her things. After asking his mother to watch the baby, he drove Tessa back to her parents’ house. The phone call asking for a divorce soon followed. What he’d feared most had come to pass, but the fact that it came as another shock proved to him he’d been living in denial.
He’d still been in denial until the day he’d seen Libby so happy in Brianna Frost’s arms and realized he couldn’t go on as he had been any longer. His mother’s warning had acted as the catalyst for things to change, and he couldn’t be more glad of the fact.
* * *
BRIANNA MET LINDSAY at the entrance to the Italian restaurant. “I’m glad you could meet me here for dinner. Ken works the night shift in the ER on Saturdays and I didn’t want to go home to an empty house after work.”
“I hear you. My aunt and uncle have gone to their monthly Cattlemen’s Association dinner. This was a great idea.”
They went inside. Naturally the restaurant was crowded, being as it was a weekend night. The hostess showed them a table and handed them menus. Brianna opened hers. “So what do you think you’re in the mood for?”
Her friend looked over her own menu. “I think I’ll order the alfredo with mushrooms.”
“Mmm, that sounds good, but so does the chicken Tuscany.”
“Let’s get both and share. Now that I’m over my morning sickness, I eat like a horse.”
Brianna chuckled. “Perfect.”
They gave the waitress their order. “That book on Elon Musk you were asking about came in. I’ll save you a copy if you want.”
“I’ll come by Monday on my lunch hour to buy it.”
“Why don’t you just buy a Kindle?”
“I could, but I like a book in my hands, you know?”
“I do, too.”
They were still talking books when the waitress brought their meal. Lindsay’s eyes lit up. “Wow, this looks good.”
“It does. I’m starving.”
Halfway through their meal Lindsay leaned forward. “Don’t make it too obvious, but you’ve got to get a look at this cowboy who just walked in carrying an adorable little girl wearing a cowgirl hat,” she whispered. “If I weren’t married...”
Brianna tried to turn her head inconspicuously and almost slid off her chair. Catching her breath, she faced her friend once more. “Even if you were single, you wouldn’t want to get involved with him.”
Lindsay blinked. “You know him?”
“I’ve met him several times. His name is Eli. He’s one of the Clayton brothers.”
Her friend sat back in surprise. “You’re talking Toly Clayton’s brother?”
“That’s right.”
“Wow.”
“My uncle told me Eli’s wife divorced him. But he still wears his wedding ring.”
“He probably does that to keep all the women away. Otherwise there’d be a line a mile long.”
A piece of chicken lodged in Brianna’s throat. She had to take a drink of water to clear it. “I was thinking he can’t take it off because he’s still so much in love with her.”
Lindsay went quiet. Brianna found herself the object of her friend’s gaze. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does,” Lindsay said right back. “You’re interested in him.”
“Well, like you, I find him attractive.”
“And?”
She averted her eyes. “And nothing.”
“Has he asked you out?”
By now Brianna was squirming. “Yes, but I turned him down.”
“Brianna—why?”
“I told you.”
Lindsay kept at her. “Is it because he has a daughter?”
“No! She’s wonderful.”
“So you’ve met her, too.” Her friend smiled. “If you want my advice, which I know you don’t, I would tell him yes if you get another chance.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Don’t be so sure. He’s walking this way.”
What? Her heart thundered in her chest.
“Brianna?”
She looked up and her gaze collided with Eli’s. At the same moment his daughter tried to get to her. Brianna pushed her chair back. “Hi, Libby. Have you come out to dinner with your daddy?”
By now the little girl was twisting to escape Eli’s arms. Brianna had no choice but to reach for her. His little girl wrapped her arms around Brianna’s neck, warming her heart.
Eli’s blue eyes glittered with amusement. “When we came in for dinner, she spotted you out of all these people. Your hair is unmistakable. I gave up any hope of peace until we came over to say hi first.”
“Why don’t you join us?” Lindsay spoke up with a knowing smile Brianna had already deciphered. “We have two more chairs.”
Brianna moaned inwardly.
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“It’s no intrusion, is it, Brianna?”
“No, of course not. Please sit down.”
“I’m Lindsay Turner, Brianna’s friend,” Lindsay said as he pulled out a chair. “And you are...”
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