The Cowboy Gets Hitched!

Wrangling fifty brides and fifty grooms is not rancher Cord Shaw’s idea of fun. But somehow he’s in charge of the World’s Largest Old-Tyme Wedding in Jasper Gulch, Montana. Thankfully good-natured bridesmaid Katie Archer has agreed to help him with the details. Twice burned, Cord has vowed never to lose his heart again. And yet, picturing sweet Katie in vintage silk and lace makes him wonder…. When a couple suddenly pulls out of the festivities, Cord and Katie are roped in to tie the knot! It’s all for show, of course, but Cord begins to wish his make-believe bride could be his for real.

In Honor of The Jasper Gulch Centennial, You Are Cordially Invited to Attend the World’s Largest Old-Tyme Wedding

One hundred brides and grooms to celebrate

one hundred years of history! Folks are coming from

all over to see this romantic spectacle. Everyone

seems happy—except perhaps perpetual bridesmaid

Katie Archer. She’s starting to regret her decision

to come to Jasper Gulch to watch her sister wed….

For better or worse, she’s agreed to help Cord Shaw, the mayor’s son, pull off the perfect wedding ceremony. But we suspect that Katie is harboring her own secret wish involving a tuxedo and a long white gown. Things are about to get very complicated—and you’ve got the best seat in the house to watch it all unfold. Something old, something new, something borrowed…and you! Stay tuned for an Old West wedding you will never forget!

* * *

Big Sky Centennial:

A small town rich in history…and love.

His Montana Bride by Brenda Minton—October 2014

BRENDA MINTON

started creating stories to entertain herself during hour-long rides on the school bus. In high school she wrote romance novels to entertain her friends. The dream grew and so did her aspirations to become an author. She started with notebooks, handwritten manuscripts and characters who refused to go away until their stories were told. Eventually she put away the pen and paper and got down to business with the computer. The journey took a few years, with some encouragement and rejection along the way—as well as a lot of stubbornness on her part. In 2006 her dream to write for Love Inspired Books came true. Brenda lives in the rural Ozarks with her husband, three kids and an abundance of cats and dogs. She enjoys a chaotic life that she wouldn’t trade for anything—except, on occasion, a beach house in Texas. You can stop by and visit at her website, www.brendaminton.net.

His Montana Bride
Brenda Minton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek,

and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

—Matthew 7:7

To the wonderful ladies who made working on

this continuity such a pleasure: Valerie Hansen, Carolyne Aarsen, Ruth Logan Herne, Jenna Mindel and Arlene James. Your support and prayers

have meant so much to me. And to our editor,

Shana Asaro, for making it a great project to work on.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Jasper Gulch Welcomes You To the World’s Largest Old Tyme Wedding. The banner was stretched across one wall of the Jasper Gulch, Montana, festival hall at the fairgrounds. The town was celebrating its centennial and for some reason, a hundred years meant a hundred brides and grooms. Or at least that was someone’s opinion. Katie Archer wasn’t one of the brides. Instead, she stood on the sidelines, the sister of a bride, as well as a potential bridesmaid. It was the place where she felt comfortable and where she’d spent most of her life—standing in the shadow of her older sister, Gwen.

Gwen was beautiful, intelligent, gifted and so many other positive adjectives, but she was also unfailingly kind. And Katie was loyal. When Gwen had asked her to make this trip, Katie hadn’t been able to refuse, even though she knew Gwen would have to leave at times. Katie had taken vacation from her job in Missoula, packed a bag and climbed into the backseat of Jeffrey’s Land Rover, Jeffrey behind the wheel, Gwen in the passenger seat. Jeffrey Parker, the groom, was an orthopedic surgeon originally from Denver but now practicing in Missoula. The two had met when Gwen started her residency.

They had arrived in the small town of Jasper Gulch, Montana, earlier in the day. There had been time to take a tour of the town, find the Shaw ranch where they would be staying during the month of October while they prepared for the wedding, and then they’d headed for the fairgrounds where the engaged couples would be treated to a prewedding reception.

Since arriving at the cavernous, slightly drafty building, Katie had watched as Gwen and her fiancé, better known as Dr. Jeff, got the royal treatment. Even from a distance Katie could see that her sister and Jeff were in love. And they looked beautiful together, like the power couple they were. Gwen looked stunning with her dark hair in a jeweled clip, a shimmering red dress that suited her slim frame and her makeup applied perfectly.

Gwen and Katie were complete opposites in every way.

After a lifetime of being compared to Gwen, somewhere along the way Katie had learned to smile and let it go. She would never be the honors student. She would never be the perfect daughter. She would always be Katie, the redhead with a penchant for flirting just to get noticed.

Anything to get noticed.

At least she had been that person. In the last two years she had learned to accept herself, the person God had created. She’d stopped the continuous race to find someone to love and to love her. She’d learned to love herself.

She shifted from foot to high-heeled foot and watched the crowds, the couples and the townspeople. The Shaws, their hosts while in Jasper Gulch, were interesting. Jackson Shaw and his wife, Nadine, were the patriarch and matriarch of the family and the community. Mayor Jackson Shaw, tall and distinguished and definitely a Montana rancher, was in charge. His wife stayed close to his side.

But there was tension. Katie had watched the couple share a few looks that she thought meant a lot more than “isn’t this a great event.” Having survived her parents’ rocky marriage, she knew the signs of a couple not in agreement. She didn’t think the tension was limited to the Shaw family, either. She got the feeling the community of Jasper Gulch was packing a lot of hope into this six-month centennial celebration.

It seemed a few people wanted to keep the community just the way it was, cut off from the rest of Montana with just one road in and out.

Katie stopped to look at a bulletin board with old photos of the town and a few new photographs, as well as schedules for coming events and plans for improvement. There was a picture of the Beaver Creek bridge as it stood today and a photograph from the town’s heyday. There were pictures of the main street through town with old automobiles parked in front of stores that were no longer in business. Jasper Gulch was like so many towns around the country. It had served its purpose years ago, long before airlines, technology and chain stores. Now it struggled to stay alive. Being secluded as it was probably worked in favor of the businesses that were still in operation.

Even with its struggles, it would have been nice to grow up in a town like this, with a family that went to church, with people who knew your name. But she hadn’t. She slipped away from the memorabilia, some of which would be put in the new museum, if it ever got built.

Katie had spent her younger years in San Diego but had grown up in Missoula in a subdivision with neighbors she barely knew. Her parents had both worked long hours. Sunday had been the day of rest, but not a day for church. The four Archers had spent little time together.

Katie had dreamed of a place like this, a small town situated in a valley surrounded by mountains and with a deep blue sky that seemed to go on forever. The acres of ranch land, the surrounding mountains and the sparkling, clear streams. Who wouldn’t want to call this home and preserve it for future generations?

With a cup of hot cider from the refreshment table, she sank onto a folding chair and watched the crowds. From across the room an elderly man smiled her way. She smiled back and he tipped his hat. She had been introduced to him earlier and thought his name might be Rusty. He’d played baseball as a youngster and he was nearly as old as Jasper Gulch, he’d informed her.

Her gaze moved from the aging ball player and landed on Cord Shaw, son of Jackson and Nadine. She’d met him at the Shaw ranch, but briefly. The tall, sun-tanned cowboy with the dark wavy hair hadn’t stayed long at the main ranch house. He’d greeted their guests, thanked them for participating in the wedding and then he’d made excuses about work at his own place.

Typical of most of the men here, Cord wore jeans and a dark sport coat over a button-down shirt. His cowboy hat was black, matching his jacket. He turned and smiled. Maybe at her. Probably not. Gwen had moved into the spotlight and men always smiled at Gwen. Men, women, babies and the elderly. They couldn’t help it. Gwen was the flame and everyone around her a moth.

“Those Shaw men, they sure are hot, aren’t they?”

The statement took her by surprise. She turned and smiled at the young woman who had taken the seat next to hers. The girl was pretty, maybe late teens, and definitely too made up. Her clothes were too loud, her hair too sleek. Katie smiled at her and refrained from commenting on the Shaw men.

“I’m sorry?” What else could a woman say when caught staring at a man?

The younger woman nodded in the direction of Cord Shaw.

“Cord Shaw, he’s the older brother. By the way, I’m Lilibeth Shoemaker.” She held out a well-manicured hand. “I’ve lived here my whole life, so I know everyone.”

“I see.” Katie continued to watch Cord Shaw. He was a gentleman. It was obvious in the way he moved through the crowd, the respect he showed, the way he stopped to listen to his mother.

She didn’t meet men like him in Missoula. They probably existed, but they didn’t run in her circle. She wished they did. No, she took that back. She’d given up on romance. Men wanted her for a friend because she was fun and easy to be around. She wasn’t the woman they dated or thought about marrying. She was too tall, too opinionated, too much.

“That’s his brother Austin.” Lilibeth Shoemaker broke in to Katie’s thoughts once more with her sharp-edged observations and pointed to another cowboy threading his way through the crowd. She didn’t remember meeting him.

“I don’t think I’ve met him.” Katie didn’t know what else to say. The young woman at her side didn’t seem to care.

“It’s a shame that Cord won’t ever get married. Burn him once, shame on you. Burn him twice, well, I don’t know the rest of that, but I guess being burned makes a man a little nervous around the fire.”

“Gotcha.” Katie smiled at the teenager. She got the feeling Lilibeth needed friends.

She remembered now, meeting another young woman named Shoemaker, but that one had been a little older than Lilibeth and maybe a little more polished around the edges. She and Lilibeth had something in common. They lived in the shadows of older siblings.

“Where are you from?”

Katie smiled at the girl. “I’m from Missoula.”

“I’d love to live in the city. All the lights and noise and people. What do you do?”

People always wanted what they didn’t have. Katie glanced around the crowd, not really looking for a way out, just looking. “I’m an assistant manager of a clothing store.”

“Oh.” Lilibeth looked down at her spiky-heeled, bright red pumps. “I’ve always wanted to do something in fashion. I’d like to be a model. But I can’t even win a beauty pageant in Jasper Gulch, so figure the odds.”

“Maybe someday,” Katie offered with what she hoped was an encouraging tone. “You know, modeling and beauty pageants aren’t really the same.”

Lilibeth shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I’d probably leave tomorrow if I could. People always think I’m up to something.”

Katie only nodded because the conversation seemed too personal for strangers. She sympathized, though, because she knew how it felt to be the younger sister, always in trouble. Words of wisdom evaded her. What did she tell a young woman that even a newcomer like herself had heard whispers about? Small talk at the party had included a discussion of the time capsule that seemed to be missing.

And then Gwen was heading her way, waving and smiling. Katie shot a look past her sister to Jeffrey and the man at his side. She got a tangled feeling in the pit of her stomach. What had made her think this trip with Gwen would be a good idea? Had she really thought it would be easy, to come here and watch her sister get married, to be the bridesmaid again?

At least this time she didn’t have feelings, other than the brotherly kind, for the groom.

* * *

Cord Shaw listened to the doctor, groom to one of their brides, tell him about his practice in Missoula. As he listened to Dr. Jeff, Cord’s attention wandered through the crowd. He was looking for Helen Avery, the wedding coordinator. She should have been here by now, seeing to the needs of their couples, tying up loose ends, making sure everyone had what they needed to go forward with the wedding. Instead, she was missing in action. Again. It wasn’t the first time she’d been late or a no-show.

And that left this mess of a wedding on his shoulders. He was the last guy who wanted to plan weddings. He loved his parents and would do anything for his dad, but maybe this had gone too far.

Finally.

He caught sight of his little sister Julie and her fiancé, Ryan Travers. His sister’s auburn curls framed her face. And even though this event was supposedly evening dress, or the Jasper Gulch version of evening attire, Julie wore a long sweater made with her wool, leggings, boots and a scarf around her neck. He shook his head and refocused on Dr. Jeff, who was still talking about his practice.

“Oh, Gwen wants you to meet her sister.” Dr. Jeff took a break to indicate his fiancée and the woman she was dragging toward them.

The woman didn’t look at all like Gwen Archer. The sister was tall, with brilliant red hair held in a clasp at the back of her head. A few stray curls had come loose and framed her face. A porcelain-doll face was his first thought. One of his sisters had collected those dolls and she’d had one with a perky nose, high cheekbones and creamy skin. But then he realized the sister of Gwen Archer had somewhat more defined features than those dolls. She was the exact opposite of her dark-haired, petite sister. Rose Red and Snow White came to mind as he looked at the Archers.

The bride’s sister wore a black dress with a flimsy black sweater that shouldn’t even have been called a sweater in his opinion. She said something to her sister and then she looked up, smiling at him, her green eyes flashing a warning. She had No Trespassing written all over her face. This was not a woman wanting to be fixed up, introduced or paired off.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Cord Shaw, this is my sister, Katie Archer.” Gwen held her sister’s arm and he noticed the firm set of the younger woman’s back. With her green eyes she could have been a cat about to scratch someone.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Archer.” He held out a hand, forcing her to make the next move even if she didn’t want to. She hesitated and he felt a little bit guilty for forcing her hand, so to speak.

After the moment of hesitation, she reached and he took her hand in his. His attention focused on the jangle of silver bracelets around her wrist. When he looked up, she was watching him, her smile soft but genuine.

“Mr. Shaw, I believe we were already introduced.”

Had they been? He tried to remember but couldn’t. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” But the look in her eyes bothered him. Something about that look said she expected to be forgotten. And Cord couldn’t imagine anyone forgetting this woman. Even a confirmed bachelor like himself wasn’t immune to a beautiful woman. He just knew to avoid them for all he was worth.

Gwen Archer had an arm around her sister’s waist, but her dark eyes were on him. It would have been a good time to walk away, but curiosity kept him standing in front of them.

“I’m afraid Jeff and I are going to have to leave tonight. We were planning to stay at the ranch until Monday or Tuesday, but Jeffrey got a call and they need him in Missoula. I have to ride back with him so I can be at work Wednesday. I’m a resident at the same hospital. Your parents would have given Katie a ride, but their truck is full. Your dad said to see if you could give her a ride.”

Yes, that was the moment he should have seen coming. With all this romance in the air, people were going to get crazy and start expecting everyone to want to join in the fun. His dad had already been on the matchmaking crusade with his sisters. Cord managed an easy smile and opened his mouth to object.

“I can go home with you, Gwen. I don’t think I need to be here. I’m just the bridesmaid.” Katie shot him an apologetic look and he realized they were definitely kindred spirits.

Gwen’s eyes narrowed. She looked at Dr. Jeff, then at Cord and finally back to her sister. “You have to stay. They’re going to start planning the wedding procession, picking flowers and even cakes. If I can’t get back here in time, I’ll need you here to stand in for me. You, more than anyone, will know what I want. You probably know better than me.”

Katie blushed and her green eyes glistened. Cord was taken by surprise. She had the appearance of a woman who could handle almost any situation. Maybe it was the determined look in her eyes or the way she carried herself. He used to watch John Wayne movies with his dad. Katie reminded him of the actress Maureen O’Hara, the redheaded heroine who was often in those movies. Maureen O’Hara had never backed down, or at least he didn’t remember her backing down.

“Gwen, this is your wedding.”

“And you’re my sister. I have my residency and I know this is bad timing...”

“But I can’t stay here without you and expect everyone to haul me around.”

“I need you here,” Gwen continued. Next to her, Dr. Jeff looked at his watch. Cord glanced from the doctor to Katie and saw a woman who was probably used to caving in when it came to her sister.

“I’d be honored to give you a lift over to the ranch, Miss Archer.” He nearly groaned as the words slipped out. Thinking she looked like the redheaded Irish actress Maureen O’Hara didn’t mean he had to start talking and acting like John Wayne.

He was thirty-four and the last thing he needed was to get caught in this family drama. He especially didn’t like the look on Julie’s face as she headed his way. Now that she’d fallen in love, she seemed to want everyone to have a happy ending. Cord’s happy ending included him sitting by his lake with a fishing pole, his best dog and a thermos of coffee. Like their dad, Julie would have to realize that everyone was fair game in the matchmaking business but him.

“Really, I don’t see...” Katie tried to reject his offer. Julie was steps away from making contact with them.

Gwen’s hand was on her arm. “I’ll be back by the end of next week. I know I’m leaving sooner than we expected, but please, can you stay for me?”

“You know I’ll do it, Gwen.”

“Maybe you can help out with some of the other plans.” Gwen looped an arm through her sister’s and smiled up at her. “You’ll be bored and that will give you something to do while I’m gone.”

He could have sworn Katie mumbled something about not having her own life, but she smiled and told her sister of course she would help.

And then Julie was at his side, smiling her bright smile. “With your fashion background maybe you can help with the dresses!”

“The brides aren’t supplying their own dresses?” Katie looked at him for the answer, not Julie.

“We have a few companies willing to loan vintage dresses for the women who don’t have a vintage dress of their own. Wedding apparel is a little out of my comfort zone.”

“I thought you had a wedding coordinator?” Katie was now interested.

“We do have a wedding coordinator—Helen Avery—but she’s had a difficult time showing up. When I do see her, I want to know what we need so that we don’t have to just rely on her for the arrangements.”

“I see.” Katie glanced at her sister, a fresh wave of pain settling in those green eyes of hers. She flashed another smile, though. “I think my sister plans on wearing our great-grandmother’s dress. I believe you want the dresses to be from the early twentieth century, between 1900 and 1920.”

“I think so,” Cord hedged, glanced at his watch and started to think of excuses for escaping.

As much as he wanted to escape, Katie seemed just as in need. Her sister was talking, discussing the dress with seed pearls, handmade lace from Bavaria and silk so soft it might possibly fall apart if washed.

“I never wanted the dress,” Gwen Archer smiled at him and then reached for her fiancé’s hand. “But then this wedding came up and we both want this. We want to be married here, in a ceremony that means something to this community.”

He shook his head and bit back the reply that almost slipped out. Special? A ceremony with forty-nine other couples. He wouldn’t exactly put that under the heading of special, sentimental or anything else with meaning. It was his dad’s idea. It was another way to put Jasper Gulch on the map. If Cord had his way, he’d call the whole thing off, tell these couples to go home and plan a sweet ceremony in their local church with people they care about in attendance rather than eight guests per couple and half the town of Jasper Gulch.

But none of that mattered because Katie lifted her hand to flick away a tear that rolled down her cheek. All while her sister continued to talk about that dress she hadn’t really wanted to wear.

Okay, he was a rescuer by nature. He’d hoped to keep that part of himself tamped down, locked up and out of sight. But the glisten of tears in Katie’s eyes, the way she managed to smile and agree with her sister about how perfect this would be, couldn’t be ignored.

“Let me give you a ride to the ranch, Miss Archer. I’m about done in with wedding planning and I’d imagine you’ve had a long day.”

“I have had a long day,” she agreed and her gaze met his, silently thanking him. For the first time in a long time he was happy to be a rescuer.

Gwen shot her a look and then stepped closer to Dr. Jeff. “Then I guess we’ll head back to Missoula. Are you sure you’ll be okay here, Katie?”

Katie smiled, nodded and told her sister she’d be just fine and she’d make notes about the ceremony. And Gwen needed to make sure she got the dress fitted. It would be long for her and probably too big around the waist.

Gwen hugged her sister. “I know you always wanted to wear it, Katie. But it will be perfect for this ceremony and I’ll make sure they take it up but don’t cut it. We can always let it out for you when you get married.”

Katie smiled. “Of course we can.”

Cord offered Katie his arm, knowing he’d regret it, knowing there were plenty of people watching who would talk later, make up stories and have him married off to the redhead from Missoula. He shook off regret and waited, looking down at her as she made the decision to take his arm. He gave her an encouraging smile. She nodded and her hand settled on his sleeve.

“Thank you, Mr. Shaw.”

“Cord.”

She nodded and looked away. “Then you should call me Katie.”

He led her out of the festival hall into the dark night and a sky twinkling with millions of stars. The air was cold now that the sun had gone down. “You don’t have a coat in there, do you?”

“No, it seemed warm earlier and I left my coat and suitcase at your parents’ house.”

He held up a remote start. “My truck should be warm.”

Next to him she nodded but he saw her shiver. He slipped out of his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. She smiled up at him and he thought she had about the prettiest smile he’d ever seen. But he drew back from that thought like a man twice bitten by a poisonous snake.

Twice bitten, twice engaged and jilted, all the same thing to Cord Shaw and he wasn’t going there again. But he could be a gentleman, a cowboy, and give Katie a ride home. He’d even walk her to the front door, make sure she got inside safely, and then he’d head on back to his little cabin on the banks of Shaw Lake.

He opened the truck door and she climbed in, handing him back his jacket. “Don’t worry, Mr. Shaw, I’m not on the hunt. I’m here for my sister, not to follow in her footsteps but to be here to support her.”

“I hadn’t thought—”

She smiled, cutting off his explanations. “No, you hadn’t. But everyone else will think it. A relationship and marriage are the last thing I want.”

Interesting. He would have questioned her more, but he thought asking questions might push them a little too far into each other’s lives. She’d given him enough of an explanation and he was willing to let her leave it at that.

True to his best intentions, he drove her to the Shaw ranch, walked her to the front door of the house he’d been raised in, saw her safely inside and told her he was sure they’d see each other the next day.

It was that easy.

Or at least he had thought it would be easy. But driving away from the ranch after dropping her off, he realized her scent lingered in his truck. He lifted his jacket to his nose and sniffed. Yeah, that was her. The scent was oriental, not sweet and flowery.

He grinned and draped the jacket over the seat as he headed down the bumpy trail toward his place. All the while her scent teased him and he thought that it might be nice to spend time with a woman who spoke her mind. It would be easy. And in a month she’d be gone. That made her just about perfect.

Chapter Two

Katie walked downstairs Sunday morning, her second day in the Shaw home and her second day feeling out of place. She didn’t belong here, not in this town or in this house. This was Gwen’s moment, not Katie’s. And yet, here she was.

She took a deep breath and put on a smile and hopefully a look of confidence. She could do this. Following the sound of laughter and voices raised in numerous conversations, she walked through the pine-paneled living room and headed toward the big country kitchen with its long, butcher-block table, gleaming granite countertops and light oak cabinets. Julie Shaw, auburn hair and blue eyes, turned to smile at her.

“Good morning, Katie. Do you want coffee? And we have muffins, bacon and sausage this morning. Breakfast is simple on Sundays.” Julie’s long, auburn hair curled down past her shoulders. She wore her typical homespun sweater but today with a skirt.

“Coffee and a muffin sounds great,” Katie admitted.

Julie pointed to a plate and clean cups. Katie had been told that Julie Shaw raised sheep for their wool. She had an internet business selling that wool and hand-knit items she made. Katie loved fashion and could appreciate the beauty of Julie’s creations. Before she left town, she planned on buying several items.

“There’s fresh coffee in the pot,” Julie continued. “But you have to hurry. It’s the second pot we’ve made and with this many people in the house it won’t last long.”

Julie lived in her own house on the Shaw property. Katie had seen the little place from a distance and the field dotted with the sheep Julie raised for their wool.

“Thank you.” Katie looked around the kitchen, smiling at Nadine Shaw and her daughter Faith Shaw, who had just walked through the door. Both were dressed for church.

Faith wasn’t the youngest Shaw, but she was the tiniest. She and Julie shared the auburn hair they had probably inherited from their mother, and the blue eyes of their father. But Faith was tiny and less inclined to gab at the drop of a hat. Julie had told Katie that Faith played the violin for the Bozeman Symphony, but she’d gone to Seattle for a short time. It hadn’t worked out was the only answer given when asked why Faith hadn’t stayed.

“Do you attend church, Katie?” Faith asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She was dressed in a cute denim-and-lace dress, turquoise-and-brown cowboy boots and a scarf around her neck.

Katie looked over the top of her cup. Did she attend church? She hadn’t been raised in church, but last year a friend, seeing that Katie was a train wreck about to happen, had shared faith with her and invited her to spend a few weekends in the small town where she lived so that Katie could attend church. She’d gone and she’d found something that filled a huge void in her life that she’d been trying to fill with relationships. Going-nowhere relationships.

“I’d love to go to church,” she finally answered. “If that’s okay.”

“Of course it is,” Julie gave her a careful look. “Do you go to church in Missoula?”

Katie shook her head. “Not usually. I just haven’t known where to go.”

Or how to walk in alone. She definitely wouldn’t have the alone problem today, not with this group of people.

Faith walked up behind her, giving her a tight hug and taking her by surprise. “You’ll love our little mountain church. Well, it isn’t little. I guess it must have been at one time, but it’s been built on to.”

“Is everyone about ready to head for church? Those who are going?” Jackson Shaw walked into the kitchen, taking up more space than a man should. His very presence commanded respect, Katie thought. And he made her shake in her shoes, just a little.

“Katie’s going,” Julie offered. “And I think Michael and Helen. Oh, and Thomas and Mandy plus her sister, Beth.”

She pointed to one of the couples that would be getting married at the end of the month. Another couple entered the room, along with the sister of the bride. Beth. Katie had met Beth the previous evening. She was a pretty brunette, petite with big brown eyes. Katie felt like a giant in comparison.

“No need taking half a dozen cars.” Jackson looked around the room, his lips moving as he counted. “We’ll take the Suburban and if Cord shows up, someone can ride with him.”

“Cord doesn’t usually go to church,” Julie shared in a whisper for Katie only.

Cord didn’t attend church? That piece of the puzzle didn’t fit. It was like putting a corner piece in the middle and trying to make it work. He was a Shaw from Jasper Gulch. It seemed to her that church and faith would be part of his DNA.

Before she could comment, there were footsteps and Cord’s voice coming from the direction of the living room. His voice was low and husky as he spoke to someone. The dog, his mother’s poodle, barked. He told the dog to be quiet. When he entered the room, carrying the poodle and talking to his mom, Katie had a moment. She told herself it wasn’t one of those moments, the kind when you see a guy and something amazing happens. It was a moment that was sweet and undefined but precious. Cord Shaw seemed like a good, decent man.

He was also a man in his mid-thirties who had never married. There had to be a reason for that.

Twice bitten kept coming back to her. Who had said that about Cord Shaw? Did that mean he’d been married twice, or rejected twice?

It didn’t matter. Her attention drifted to take in his appearance, even though she said she didn’t care. If his father filled up space, Cord Shaw took the oxygen. He was dressed in jeans, boots and a button-down shirt. But no hat. His dark wavy hair caught her attention because it looked as if he’d brushed it with his fingers. As if he’d read her mind, he brushed a hand across the top of his head, pushing the wayward strands into some type of order.

“Why’s everyone looking at me?” Cord glanced around. On second look she realized he wasn’t dressed for church. His jeans were faded, his shirt was flannel and his boots were worn.

He glanced at his dad and neither of them smiled.

Family dynamics and more of the tension she’d felt the previous evening.

“We’re filling up the Suburban to go to church and I think we have too many people.” As Jackson spoke, Cord started backing up. Jackson glanced around the crowd and without saying anything, his sharp gaze landed on the very pretty Beth. Then his gaze shifted to Katie.

Cord followed his dad’s look and he shook his head. “I wasn’t going to church.”

“Well, it sure would make things easier if you would.” Jackson didn’t bother hinting.

Cord didn’t look like a man who cared what anyone thought or expected from him. As the family scattered, grabbing jackets and purses, Katie turned to follow.

“Fine, I’ll go. Katie, looks like you’re riding with me.”

She turned, her mouth open. And what was she supposed to say to something that hadn’t been a question and didn’t even sound as if it was what the man wanted? She got it, she was the easiest choice. Beth had that look, the kind that said she was searching for romance, for her own walk down the aisle. Katie was used to the role of friend.

“Excuse me?” she blurted out, shifting her purse over her shoulder.

“Beth would probably prefer to ride with her sister,” Cord said with a shrug that said he’d made a logical choice.

“Yes, of course.” Katie looked around the room seeking an ally. Everyone seemed to be content with the plan. Everyone but Beth, who cast a jealous look at her as she left with her sister. Julie, whom Katie thought might be a friend, just smiled and hurried out of the room.

“I’m really sorry,” Katie offered as she walked out the front door with Cord.

He smiled at her. “Katie, if you want to go to church, you should go. And if I have to go, I prefer taking someone I can at least have a conversation with.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t know if it was the correct response, but what else could she say? Once again she’d been put in a box, the one labeled Friend. She told herself she was good with that. After all, she’d been a new-and-improved Katie for the past year. No more chasing after love. No more insecurity. Friend was safe. She wanted safe.

* * *

Cord had to count to ten as he walked around the front of his truck to the driver’s-side door. He didn’t know exactly how his perfect fishing day had turned into a date, or was it church, with Katie? But here he was climbing in his truck and heading for the main road and church. With Katie at his side.

Once again his dad was the one to thank.

In the seat next to him, Katie toyed with her purse, fiddled with the necklace hanging around her neck and then watched out the window as the scenery passed them by. Did she see what he saw? That it was a perfect morning for fishing? The air was brisk and smelled of drying leaves and pine. There were a few white clouds chasing each other across a perfect azure sky. They wouldn’t have many more mornings like this.

Well, maybe God would appreciate his sacrifice and bless him with some decent trout. Not that God worked that way. He wasn’t so far gone that he didn’t still believe, still pray, still take time for the Almighty. He just had a few issues to work out.

“I’m sorry,” Katie finally said. Her voice was clear, bright, sweet.

Strong.

He had the overwhelming impression of strength when he looked at Katie. But there was more to her than that, there was something in her expression, something a little lost about her.

“Why are you sorry?” He glanced her way and then refocused on the road.

“That you’ve been stuck with me again.”

“I’m sorry if I made you feel that way. I’m going to be honest with you, I’d feel stuck no matter who they put in my truck. I think my dad put me in charge of this wedding thinking it would make me all romantic, give me ideas about forever and the like.”

“And?” She smiled a big smile and those green eyes twinkled. For the first time since he walked into the main ranch, he felt a little easier on the inside.

“It makes me want to run as fast as I can in the other direction. Your sister and her fiancé seem decent but I’ve heard more bickering and arguing in the past week, since the couples for the wedding arrived in town. There is a couple staying with a family in town. She knows this wedding is vintage but she’s got this dress ordered from New York, and why can’t she have her own cake, and what about her aunt Milly from Oregon?”

“I think I met that bride last night. Andrea, I think. You’re safe with me, though. We can be birds of a feather.”

Smiling came a little easier. “I’m glad to hear that. So, you think they were going to toss Beth my way?”

“She’s pretty and very sweet. They’re going to throw the most tempting package at you.”

“And you think you’re not...” Well, now, how in the world did he continue this conversation and not sound like a jerk or the world’s biggest flirt?

“Tempting?”

“You think Beth is more tempting?” He cleared his throat, feeling pretty uncomfortable with this whole conversation. But she was laughing now and he enjoyed her laughter. When he looked at her, she shrugged in answer to his question.

If he was going to have to go to church, he might as well have a good time. He wouldn’t have enjoyed it with Beth at his side. He’d met her two days ago and she’d made pretty big hints. No, not hints. She’d outright asked him to show her the town. The next day she’d told him she’d heard about the café and the homemade pies but she was stuck with her sister.

His phone buzzed and he gave her an apologetic look and answered because it was finally the wedding planner. “Cord Shaw.”

He listened. He tried to argue. He counted to ten, more than once. And then he tossed his phone on the seat.

“Bad news.”

“Yeah.”

“They put your name down with Beth’s as the fiftieth couple?”

He smiled and he hadn’t meant to smile. “No. That was the wedding coordinator. She’s quitting. She was doing this pretty much free and she got a better offer, one that pays.”

“Ouch. So now what?”

“I’m not sure.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the church that his family had been attending for generations and that he’d been avoiding as much as possible for a few years. Avoiding because he and God hadn’t seen eye to eye on several things. A broken engagement when he was twenty. And then at twenty-nine a fiancée who ran off with his best man two weeks before they were to get married in this very church. Those were his reasons for avoiding relationships. His reason for avoiding God had more to do with Marci. He shoved the thought away because he couldn’t go there right now, not with Katie sitting in his truck waiting to go to church. The look on her face was something close to a kid’s on Christmas morning.

He shook his head, amused in spite of himself. He hadn’t expected to go to church when he woke up that morning. He really hadn’t expected to be there with a woman he barely knew getting out of the passenger side of his truck. But there he was, standing on the sidewalk, the rustic church with wood siding, stone and stained glass behind him.

The sign out front with the name Mountainview Church of the Savior also had smaller print telling the history behind the church. Most folks just called it Mountainview now, and everyone knew which church they meant.

“With no coordinator to help, will you call off the wedding?” Katie asked as she stepped next to him.

“No.” He couldn’t explain to her that there was too much at stake. The town needed this wedding and the money it would bring in. They had a bridge in need of repairs and a museum they couldn’t finish without more funds. “I’ll just figure out how to pull off a wedding for fifty couples, maybe get some media attention for Jasper Gulch and hopefully not mess up anyone’s life.”

“I think you’ll do just fine. Remember, it’s all about the dress.”

“How long are you going to be in town, Katie?” He placed a hand on her back and guided her up the sidewalk that had a few uneven places.

“I’m not sure. I’m supposed to be helping my sister, but she seems to have escaped and left me here.” She sighed and glanced at him. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair. Gwen is in a residency program and of course her time off is limited. And Jeff has a practice to tend to. I have several weeks of vacation and several personal days that I planned on taking so I could be here to help Gwen.”

“Do you always give up your time to help your sister?”

She looked away and he was sorry he had asked. Especially when she smiled at him a moment later, a hint of sadness in her eyes. “She would do the same for me.”

“Of course. I didn’t mean...” What had he meant? “It’s really none of my business.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I’m okay with being here, and with helping her.”

“Do you think that as long as you’re here...”

He didn’t know what to say. They were standing in front of the massive wooden doors that led to the church. She had a slightly red nose from the cool morning air and her lips were tinted with pink gloss. As long as she was there, she could be a friend. That wasn’t what he’d planned to say but the thought framed itself as a question in his mind.

She was studying his face, waiting for him to finish.

“Maybe you could help me with this wedding?” He asked the question that had originally been on his mind.

“Me?”

“You obviously have more fashion sense than I do. For me, dressed up is a sport jacket with my jeans and a pair of boots that I only wear to town or for special occasions.”

“I see. I thought maybe you wanted me to run interference and keep the single women at bay. Hands off Cord Shaw, that kind of thing.” As she said it, somehow her palm came to rest on his shoulder as if they’d been friends forever.

It was the strangest and maybe one of the best feelings. It tangled him up and made him lose track of the reality that he was standing in front of church. People he’d known his whole life were walking their way. The door could open at any moment. And for the first time in years a woman had made him feel at ease.

“That wasn’t what I was thinking,” he finally said. “But your plan does have merit.”

“Of course it does.” Her hand slipped away and she took a step back.

“So, you’ll help me?”

“Keep the women at bay?”

“With the wedding?”

“I’m not sure I want to be that involved.” Her voice was soft. “I already have to be my sister’s right-hand woman. I’m not sure I can be that and help you.”

“I would be forever in your debt.”

“The times I’ve heard...” She smiled and didn’t finish. “I’ll think about it. But I think you probably need someone local who has more knowledge of the area and what’s available. I’ve been a bridesmaid a few times. That is my total experience with weddings.”

“I’ve never made it down the aisle, so you have more experience than me.” He pushed the double doors open and then with a hand on her arm he guided her down the aisle to the pew behind his family.

He glanced behind them, looking for Marci and her grandmother. He’d promised to take Marci riding after church. No matter how busy he was during the week, he always managed to spend time with her on Sunday. It was their day. It was his way of keeping a promise to a friend.

He hadn’t been to church too often since the day of Marci’s mother’s funeral.

And yet, here he was, sitting next to Katie Archer, trying not to weep over the loss of a friend, a girl without a mother, and soon...

He couldn’t think about soon, or about what Lulu Jenson, Marci’s grandmother, was going to face in the near future. In the seat next to him, Katie moved, turning to look around the old building. He tried to see it through her eyes, with the golden glass of the windows, the polished wooden pews, the history.

At the back of the church and on the opposite side he saw Marci with Lulu. The two waved and he smiled. Both of them looked a little too happy to see him there. In the pew in front of him his mother turned to smile, the look in her eyes saying she thought a prayer had been answered. He was back in church. It had been a while.

He settled back in his seat and ignored the woman next to him and the questioning look she gave him. Because she was the one person he didn’t really have to worry about answering to. She’d be gone in a month. Their stories weren’t connected.

But he couldn’t ignore her, not completely. Not when he caught a scent of the oriental perfume that had followed him into his house last night, clinging to the jacket he’d slipped over her shoulders.

She was temporary in this town, and in his life. What was permanent for Cord Shaw were the people in this church. The people connected to him each and every day, counting on him to be there for them.

Right now it felt as if there were a lot of people needing him to pull off this Old Tyme Wedding. There were fifty couples counting on the wedding of the century at the end of the month. Jasper Gulch was counting on him. They needed this wedding. They needed it to bring in funds. They needed it to keep them all united.

He needed a wedding coordinator. The woman next to him moved, her arm brushing his. He didn’t glance her way because he wasn’t going to be obvious, but it was obvious to him that she might be the best person for the job. He knew she worked in fashion. She knew what it would take to put this event together. And bonus, she didn’t appear to be a woman on the hunt for a groom of her own.

Chapter Three

The church service ended with a prayer and a closing song. Katie sat for a moment, reflecting on the words of the sermon, a sermon about faith and persevering in troubled times. She couldn’t say that she’d ever really had troubled times. Her life hadn’t been perfect, but she’d never gone without or faced real tragedies.

Next to her, Cord moved and stood. She wondered if he would leave now and continue with the fishing trip he had planned. Before she could ask, a lightning streak of a girl zoomed down the aisle of the church and grabbed his hand. She appeared to be a preteen, perhaps ten or eleven years of age. Her blond hair was braided and she wore jeans and a sweater. With a look she dismissed Katie.

“Cord, you’re at church!”

“Yes, I am. Don’t act so surprised.”

She laughed and held on to his hand, at the same time shooting Katie a curious look. “But you never come to church. I thought you would pick me up at Grammy’s.”

A daughter? Katie watched, wondering but knowing it had nothing to do with her. She stood and glanced around, looking for Julie, because with Cord’s younger sister she felt as if she had a friend in the strange world she’d been left in. She would thank Gwen for that. For making her feel like a pet left on the side of the road.

Cord was speaking to the girl and Katie overheard part of the conversation. “Since I’m here I don’t have to pick you up at your grammy’s.”

“Who is she?” the young girl asked.

“She’s Katie and she’s staying with my parents. Don’t be rude.”

Miss Preteen stared Katie down, curious and territorial. “Are you getting married?”

“No, my sister is,” Katie answered.

“Then shouldn’t she be here?”

Katie smiled at that, liking the girl even if she asked a lot of questions. “She should, but she had to go to work. Now, you know a lot about me, why don’t you tell me your name.”

“Marci.” Marci had big brown eyes and nothing about her features, her hair or eyes, resembled Cord Shaw.

“I see. And are you going fishing with Cord?”

Marci shook her head. “No, he was supposed to go fishing and then take me riding.”

Katie couldn’t help that she wanted to know who the girl was to Cord. But neither Marci nor Cord seemed to be giving up details.

“That sounds like fun,” was all she could think to say. She glanced around, still looking for Julie. She saw her finally, holding the hand of her fiancé, Ryan, and chatting with a group of people similar in age. She knew from Julie’s sister, Faith, that Ryan Travers had come to town for the rodeo and stayed. The reason for his putting down roots in Jasper Gulch was pretty obvious as he smiled at the young woman holding his arm. Katie looked away, uncomfortable with that easy gesture between Julie and Ryan.

The sun shone through the golden stained-glass windows of the church, catching everything in the warm light. Katie forgot the crowd of people. She forgot the turmoil of the past few days. She allowed Cord to step away with the girl, Marci, the two deep in conversation that had nothing to do with her.

The golden light, the soft scent of wood polish and the hum of conversations, it all melded together and Katie felt the peace she’d been looking for. When she went home to Missoula, she would find a church like this one.

Or maybe she would never leave Jasper Gulch. The thought took her by surprise. It was a silly idea, one that came out of nowhere and made no sense. She couldn’t stay here. She didn’t have a job, probably couldn’t find a job and she didn’t have family in the area. What would she do in Jasper Gulch?

“Katie, there you are.” Julie appeared in front of her and Katie managed a smile, shaking free from random thoughts of moving, leaving behind the life she had in Missoula.

“Here I am,” she responded with a smile.

“We’re all going to town for lunch. Do you want to join us?”

Katie looked around, searching for Cord. He’d walked off and was a short distance away, Marci next to him. The older woman he was speaking to had to be Marci’s grandmother. As the two adults talked, Marci shifted from foot to foot. The girl turned, caught Katie’s gaze on her and smiled. Katie returned the gesture but then focused on Julie’s question about lunch. Cord had moved on with his own plans. She could move on with hers. Not that she really had plans.

“Lunch would be good,” she told Julie. “Where will we go?”

“The diner in town has a Sunday special. Usually something yummy like pot roast or fried chicken.” Julie looked from Katie to Cord and back to Katie. Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Unless you have other plans.”

“No, of course not. I was just thinking that I probably need to find another ride to the Shaw ranch. Cord seems to have plans and I don’t want him to feel like he has to give me a ride.”

Julie nodded in agreement. “He usually does something with Marci on Sundays. It’s their day together.”

“I see.” But she didn’t see. “Is her mother here?”

Julie’s smile dissolved and she shook her head. “No, Marci’s mom died when she was a baby. Her grandmother, Lulu Jenson, has raised her.”

The story settled in Katie’s heart and she felt a wave of pain she hadn’t expected. She shouldn’t have asked, but now that she knew Marci’s story it mattered. It made sense of a man she barely knew, made him more real, more like someone a woman would want to spend time with.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It isn’t as if it’s a secret. Cord would have told you, if he’d had a moment to spare.”

Katie didn’t agree, but she didn’t say that to Julie. To Cord Shaw, Katie was practically a stranger. He didn’t owe her stories about his life or about a child that seemed a very big part of his life.

“She’s cute and she obviously loves your brother.”

At that Julie laughed. “She does love him and he does spoil her rotten. Sometimes I think he uses her as an excuse, though.”

Katie pretended not to hear the last comment made by a sister about her older brother. What Cord did in his personal life was really none of her business. For that reason she changed the subject. “Are you sure you have room for me?”

Julie slipped an arm through Katie’s. “Of course we do. There are plenty of us Shaws here at church, so we’ll have more room heading over to the diner. I’m riding with Ryan and you can go with us.”

“That sounds great. I’ll just let Cord know so he doesn’t wonder where I’ve gone to.”

Julie pointed and Katie turned to find Cord standing behind her. Somehow she got lost for a minute in the blue of his eyes and in the smile that shifted the rugged planes of his face, emphasizing the scar near his eye and the dimple in his left cheek. A shaft of sunlight filtered through the windows, catching the slightest bit of gray at his temples. And then the sunlight was gone and the room seemed darker.

Words evaded her and she really needed to say something. Anything to put this moment to rest. And suddenly Marci was at her side, giving her the break she needed.

“Do you like to ride?” Marci asked, in maybe not the friendliest tone.

“I’m sorry?”

Katie heard Julie excuse herself and before she could stop the other woman, she was gone. Katie started to call out to her because she was an ally of sorts. Marci’s hand reached for hers, drawing her attention back to the man and girl standing in front of her.

“I’m sorry, ride?” Katie looked from Marci to Cord.

“Horses,” Marci said with a preteen roll of the eyes.

“Oh, horses.”

“Yes, horses.” Cord was smiling now.

She didn’t know if she liked to ride horses, but she knew she wanted to. She would be in Jasper Gulch for most of the month and she wanted to enjoy herself. And she could enjoy herself with Cord Shaw and Marci. No entanglements. No temptations.

He was a man who wanted only friendship. And maybe help planning this monstrosity of a wedding.

* * *

The last thing Cord had planned to do was bring Katie Archer into this part of his life. He protected Marci and Lulu. That had been his job for almost as long as Marci had been alive. But Marci had other ideas this time. For some reason she was clinging to Katie’s hand, pleading with her to go riding.

He wanted to smile at the trapped look on her face. Her jewel-colored eyes were flitting from his goddaughter to him and back to Marci. It would have made his life easier if she’d met Marci and quickly slipped away, uninterested in this part of his life. Instead, she seemed to be silently asking his permission.

Great.

He’d gone several years without getting tangled up or inviting a woman into this part of his life. He’d learned his lesson with his ex-fiancée, Susan. She’d told him from the beginning that she didn’t want Marci in their lives. He hadn’t realized until it was too late that she’d been serious. It had all become crystal clear when she’d thrown him over for his best man—his supposed best friend.

Lesson learned.

“Marci told me she wouldn’t mind if you joined us,” he admitted now to Katie because she was still standing there looking unsure. She seemed to be waiting for permission to accept. Great.

“We really don’t mind,” he continued.

And he’d love to see her on a horse, the city girl in her made-for-dresses riding boots, the scarf around her neck and hair falling in loose curls.

“I see.” She bit down on her bottom lip and then looked around.

“They all assumed you’d go and they’ve left you behind,” he explained the obvious. The church had emptied out.

“We have a picnic,” Marci offered with a hesitant smile. “And Cord has a real gentle horse.”

“Does he?” Katie looked down, smiling at his goddaughter.

He felt a real fondness for this woman, practically a stranger, at that moment. Her hesitation wasn’t about Marci. Maybe it was more that she just wasn’t interested in him. Or was she afraid of horses?

“Do you ride?” he asked.

“I’ve been once, on a trail horse.”

“The nose-to-tail kind of trail horse?” he asked, unable to hold back his amusement.

“Yes, that’s the kind.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

Pastor Ethan Johnson approached, ending the conversation. Cord smiled at the other man because he and Ethan had something in common. They were both on the list of eligible bachelors in Jasper Gulch. Men who needed to find wives. He, for one, didn’t need help. Ethan probably felt the same way.

There were plenty of single ladies in town. There were even a few new ones. There were the Shoemaker ladies, the new historian from somewhere in New Mexico, Cord’s sister Faith. The list was long. Cord knew his dad would like to see all of his kids married off. More than once lately Jackson and Nadine Shaw had mentioned that it was high time someone put some grandkids in those empty bedrooms at the ranch.

“Are you all heading out?” Pastor Ethan asked as he walked up to them, smiling at Marci and then at Katie.

Katie gave Ethan a friendly smile but not the flirty one so many single woman used on the pastor. She was definitely one of a kind. He liked that about her.

“Yes, we are and we’re sorry for keeping you late, Ethan. I didn’t realize everyone had left.” Cord glanced around the empty church. The church he’d been raised in.

It hadn’t changed much over the years. The wooden pews, the amber glass in the windows, all exactly as it had been the last time he’d come to church. It felt the same, smelled the same. The only thing that had changed was him.

“Haven’t seen you here before, have I, Cord?”

Cord smiled at that. Ethan had never seen him here. “No, I guess I haven’t been here since you took over.”

“No, I guess not.” Ethan shot a quick look at Katie and then back to Cord. “Things change.”

Not that way, they didn’t. He wouldn’t hurt Katie’s feelings by opposing the statement too heavily and what it implied.

“I reckon they do.” Cord touched Marci’s back to guide her toward the door. “And we should get out of here so you can lock up.”

Ethan walked to the front of the church with them. “Cord, I heard that with the siding on the museum, they might get some finish work done on the interior by the end of the month.”

“If we don’t run out of money.”

“I’ve found some photographs of the church that I thought might be something for the historical society, as well as an older Bible that has been left in the office. It should really be put under glass. There are even some births and family histories included.”

“Sounds like something we’d love to have in the museum, Ethan. You might even show it to Robin Frazier, she’s in town studying genealogy, I believe.”

“I think I’ve seen her.”

They were at the doors now and Cord watched as Marci, who had hurried out ahead of them, tried to get the truck door open. He hit the remote to unlock it and she shot him a big smile and climbed inside.

“She’s got more energy than ten kids,” Ethan said. He glanced up and then back at Cord. “It’s a shame to have that bell up there and no way to use it.”

“Yeah, I don’t guess I remember that bell ever working,” Cord said.

“You know, if they insist on using the recorded bells instead of fixing this one, we could always remove the bell and put it in the museum,” Ethan said, looking up at the door in the ceiling that led to the belfry.

“I could bring it up with the church council. To be honest, I don’t even know what’s wrong with the bell.”

“Neither do I. When I got here I was told there’s a bell but it doesn’t work and they showed me how to use the recordings.” As Ethan talked, he reached to undo the collar around his neck. “If you could bring up the issue, I’d appreciate it.”

“I’ll do it.”

The two men shook hands and then Cord turned to ask Katie if she was ready to go. Katie had already walked away. She was at the truck with Marci and he could tell from the distance that the two of them were having an animated conversation. He said a final goodbye to Ethan and headed down the sidewalk to see what was waiting for him.

On the way to his place, Cord decided to quiz Katie to find out what he could about weddings. He’d always been an organizer, but he was finding that weddings were way out of his realm of expertise. He knew computers. He could develop software. He helped market his sister’s wool. But weddings were not his thing. Really not his thing. He’d had two brides and not managed to get either of them down the aisle.

“What exactly is the plan for the wedding?” Katie asked, her smile saying what he already knew, that this wedding was just about ridiculous.

“It’s a long process, that’s the plan.” He reached to turn down the radio and pushed Marci’s hand away when she went for the volume. “I think the plan for this wedding is to drive me crazy.”

“That bad?”

“That bad.” He slowed the truck to ease through the open gate that led to his place. “When my dad plans something, he plans big. It’s why he wanted me to run for city council, so he would have help with this big centennial celebration. We couldn’t do just a weekend in the summer. Even the week I suggested wasn’t good enough. No, Jackson Shaw wants something that people will talk about, something that will draw people to town and hopefully give us a jump-start on reclaiming the Jasper Gulch of yesteryear.”

Not everyone had been on board. There were people in town who didn’t welcome new business or all of the traffic the centennial celebration had brought.

Or the drama. The missing time capsule started the whole thing off with a bang. Then came vandalism at the rodeo and the fire at the fairgrounds the previous month. At least his dad had gotten something out of that picnic. He’d gotten Faith hooked up with Pastor Ethan for a single day. Cord didn’t think his sister had seen the pastor since.

Cord figured there had to be another way to jump-start the town he’d grown up in. An easier way than staging a wedding with fifty couples. Especially if he was going to have to be the guy in charge.

He glanced at Katie. “The way things have been going, something crazy is sure to happen at this wedding. Are you positive you don’t want to be the new coordinator?”

“I think I’m pretty sure I don’t want the job. If I can help...”

The offer, made with some hesitation, took him by surprise. Cord pulled up to his little log house at the edge of Shaw Lake. It wasn’t a big lake, just five acres of fresh water from an underground spring and runoff from melting snow.

“I know we have dresses we can borrow and a business that will make flower arrangements, a bakery for the cakes and a caterer for the reception.” He’d been making plans for months, with the wedding coordinator handling details and giving him information.

“So you’re down to the final details?”

He opened his truck door but didn’t get out. “Yes, final preparations. The bouquets have to be ordered. I think there is an assortment of fall colors the women can choose from. The dress choices have to be finalized and fitted by a local seamstress. And of course we have a committee to decorate the tents the day of the wedding.”

“You should probably have the brides finish picking their dresses. Some of the fittings might take time. Especially if the women aren’t in town.”

“That’s the kind of help I’m talking about.” He only wished he could talk her into taking over. But he also knew the rumors that would start if she did, and if they were seen spending too much time together. Not that he cared too much about talk. He’d been creating talk most of his adult life.

Marci sighed and gave him a pointed look. “Do you think you two wedding planners could work on this later?”

Cord laughed at his goddaughter and pushed his door open. She was already climbing out the backdoor of his truck. “I think we can get this show on the road.”

As they walked up to his house, Katie stopped to look around. She stood in his wild, overgrown mess of a yard, all wildflowers and shrubs. He could have put down sod for grass, but he liked the wild look. The house was a two-story, log with plenty of windows facing south and west to catch the heat of the sun and to give the best view of the lake. A short distance from the house were his private stables, a barn and the acreage where he kept his horses.

He raised some of the best quarter horses in the state. It wasn’t that the Shaw family didn’t have quality horses and love their animals, but Cord took his horses a little more seriously. He raised cutting horses and sold them all over the country. His best stallion had sired several champions and had been a champion himself.

“This is beautiful,” Katie turned once more and looked back at him. “And secluded. Being out here could make a person feel like they were alone in the world.”

“Yeah, sometimes,” he admitted. But it never really bothered him. Being duped, being let down by someone you trust, those were the things that bothered Cord.

“Hello, hungry kid here.” Marci reentered the conversation with those words.

Cord growled and chased her up the front steps of the house. “Marci, you’re getting worse every day.”

“Grammy says it’s your fault I’m spoiled.”

“Yeah, I think she has to take some of the credit.”

He opened the door of the house and ushered Marci in and then held the door for Katie. It took her a few minutes. She stood at the foot of the stone steps looking around, turning in slow circles. He tried to see the area through her eyes. The wide stretching valley, grasslands that were often sprinkled with wildflowers. In the distance cattle grazed. He could barely make out the smoke from the fireplace at the main ranch.

It had been a long time since he’d brought anyone other than family to this house. As he followed Katie inside a few minutes later, he glanced around the adequately sized living room with the braided rugs, deep red leather furniture and stone fireplace. It was a good place to live. The only feminine touches came from gifts his sisters or mother gave at Christmas or on birthdays. And there were throw pillows. He had a weird feeling his sister Julie sneaked in from time to time just to add little things. A throw pillow here, a bouquet of flowers there, sometimes flowery-smelling hand soap. All the things she knew would drive him crazy.

He’d started thinking he might put a wildlife camera outside. Just to catch her in the act. He thought it would be fun to watch her creeping in with whatever feminine assault she planned.

The house had three bedrooms upstairs. He had an office and a family room at the back of the house on the main floor. More than enough room for a bachelor who spent most of his time outside. Katie followed Marci to the kitchen. He’d gotten sidetracked and the two of them were ahead of him, laughing about something. He watched Katie lean down to hear something Marci said. The moment caught him by surprise.

It was good for Marci to have these moments. Life would change soon enough. There was nothing he could do about what would happen in the coming days, weeks or months. He shoved away the troubling thoughts and smiled at Marci, the girl who was going to need him more than anyone ever had.

That thought was enough to put him back on track and keep him focused on what was important in his life.

“Is there something I can do?” Katie stood in his kitchen, red hair that framed her pretty face and green eyes that were studying him, as he moved toward the fridge.

“I’m going to put some sandwiches in a pack, maybe some chips, cookies and bottled water. It shouldn’t take long to get it all together.” Okay, the truth was that Sandy Wilson, his parents’ housekeeper and right-hand woman, had already made the sandwiches. Four of them, bagged and ready to go. He grabbed them out of the fridge and tossed them on the counter.

Marci headed out the backdoor. He whistled and she stopped, turning with a smile.

“Where are you going?”

She looked innocent as a fox in a henhouse. Funny how a kid with blond braids and wide brown eyes could look so ornery. “I’m going to feed your dog.”

He shook his head. “Not that cookie you have in your pocket.”

No, he hadn’t seen a cookie, but he knew how she worked. He’d been in her life a long time.

“Okay, no cookie.” And out the door she went.

“She’s cute.” Katie shoved water bottles in the pack he’d put on the counter. “Are you okay?”

Her back was to him and she didn’t turn to ask the question. Probably because she knew she was overstepping the boundaries, or something to that effect. He had invited her on a picnic, but he hadn’t invited her into his life. Or Marci’s life.

“Why do you ask?” Not exactly the “back off” response he’d planned.

But then, he’d invited her today. He’d put her squarely in his life. He’d enjoyed the subtle scent of oriental perfume that had lingered in his truck, a reminder of her presence. And because of that, he’d extended an invitation that had taken him by surprise. He probably wasn’t the only one questioning the invite.

She added the sandwiches to the pack. “You looked a little lost for a few minutes. I just thought... I’m sorry, it isn’t any of my business.”

“No, I guess it isn’t.” He sighed and brushed a hand through his hair.

“Marci, she’s your...”

“Goddaughter,” he offered the one detail. “And it isn’t really something I can discuss right now. But I appreciate that you asked.”

The backdoor opened, ending the conversation. Maybe God would hear this one prayer of his—that Lulu Jenson would be okay and that he wouldn’t have to break Marci’s heart. As they headed out the back door, a hand brushed his. The touch took him by surprise and when he glanced Katie’s way he thought maybe it took her by surprise, too. What stunned him more than the touch was that the simple gesture, her fingers against his, made him want to be less of a rock, handling everything on his own.

Once, a long time ago, he’d thought he’d be married, have kids, and have someone to be a partner in the tough times. It hadn’t happened, obviously. And it had convinced him there weren’t many women interested in a relationship that included a child that wasn’t even his.

It had been a long time since he’d trusted.

Chapter Four

They shared a picnic on the banks of the lake, horses tied nearby and the border collie, Jake, nosing in the brown grass of early October. Nearby, a stream trickled, the water emptying into the lake. There had been a good rain a few days ago, which had set the nearly dry source of water into action once again. He told her that come spring, when the snows melted, it would be more of a rush rather than a trickle of water.

Katie had listened, watching as Marci wandered away to walk along the lake, playing with the dog as she went.

“So, you don’t ride or fish. What do you do for fun in Missoula?” Cord asked as he leaned back on the blanket, a careful eye on Marci.

What did she do in Missoula? Katie shrugged one shoulder as she searched for an answer because in the last year she’d changed a lot. She no longer partied. She no longer cared about the dating scene. She doubted he wanted those answers. He was being polite, not really wanting insight into her life. “I work.”

One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Of course you do. What else? Do you date? Do you play bridge?”

She laughed at that. “People still play bridge?”

“I have no idea. It was just the first thing that came to mind.”

“Bridge came to mind? I’m not sure what that says about you. Do you know how to play bridge?”

“Not a clue,” he confessed, his cheeks turning a little pink under his deep tan. “I know that we’re trying to rebuild a bridge and hoping this wedding brings enough business to town to aid in that goal. I take it that’s the wrong kind of bridge?”

“Yes, the wrong bridge.”

“So,” he prodded again.

“I work. I spend time with friends.” Most of whom were getting married or moving away. That left fewer friends. She did have a collection of never-to-be-worn-again bridesmaid’s dresses hanging in her closet.

“Family?”

“Nothing like yours.”

“Is Gwen your only sibling?”

She glanced at him, a sideways glance, taking in his handsome profile half shaded by the black cowboy hat he had donned after church. “Yes, she is.”

He had been leaning back on one elbow. He sat up, watching her. She chose to look toward the lake because it was easier to focus on water that shimmered and sparkled than to face his piercing blue eyes, softened as they were by dark lashes. On the bank of the lake Marci picked up a rock and skipped it across the glassy water.

“You’re close, you and Gwen?” Cord pushed.

“We’re close.” Enough. They were close enough.

“Your parents?”

She looked away from Marci back to the man sitting next to her. “Are they close?”

He grinned and her insides melted a little. “Sure, okay, we’ll go with that.”

“They’ve been married for thirty-three years and they wouldn’t not be married. But I’m not sure if they like each other.”

She sometimes wondered if they liked her. And she wasn’t a melodramatic person, just a realist. She didn’t fit. When she looked at family pictures she was the odd one out. Gwen, beautiful, petite, dark brown hair and a brain that never forgot a fact. Carla, her mother, was a dentist. James, her father, was a lawyer. Katie’s red hair came from her great-grandmother. She’d once heard her mother say that she’d wanted Katie to have black hair, like her husband’s.

“My parents were high school sweethearts,” Cord said with a shrug. “I don’t know how they stay in love but they do.”

“They are proof that some marriages work.”

“Yes, I guess they are. They’ve been a great example to us. We’ve seen them work out their disagreements, go through hard times and still hold on to each other.”

Katie wondered, but she didn’t comment. What she’d seen in the few days since she’d arrived in Jasper Gulch on the first day of October was a couple that loved each other but maybe weren’t in agreement. There was something beneath the surface, something going on. Katie saw it in the looks they gave one another and in whispered conversations. If something was going on between Jackson and Nadine Shaw, it couldn’t be easy to work through it with strangers in their home.

“Thank you for letting me join you today,” Katie said, shifting to a safer topic. “I know this is usually your day with Marci.”

He pushed his hat back and gave her a closer look. “You know that, do you?”

“Julie,” she admitted.

“Julie, of course. She’s a little too much in my business of late.”

“She’s really terrific.”

“Of course she is. Terrific and in my business.”

“I’m sorry.” Katie pulled her knees up and rested her chin as she watched Marci race across the field, the dog chasing after her. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“You’re not prying. You’ve been tossed into our lives since you got here. I don’t think that was your plan or our intention. And I’m probably as surprised as Julie that I invited you this afternoon. Or that Marci agreed to the invitation.”

“Why is that?”

“That you’ve been tossed into our lives?” His smile said he knew that wasn’t her question. “I think because you’re easy to be around and you allow yourself to be a part of what is going on here.”

“Not that.”

His gaze now lingered on the young girl who was sitting on the grass some distance from them, the black-and-white border collie licking her face as she laughed. “I protect her because she deserves to be protected. I was engaged.”

“I heard. But not to her mother?”

He shook his head but his attention remained focused on Marci. “I met my fiancée when Marci was four. Susan didn’t want anything to do with Marci. I kept holding on to hope that she’d change her mind. I kept moving forward with the wedding plans, thinking that once we were married she would warm up to the idea of Marci in our lives. Instead, she left the state with my best friend.”

“Dodged that one, didn’t you?”

He laughed at her easy response to a situation that had left him with a bad taste in his mouth and no desire to ever repeat the mistake. “I guess you could put it that way.”

“I do have a way with words.”

“Yes, you do.”

“And Marci’s mom?”

He sighed and sat up, one leg bent, his knee up, the other leg stretched out in front of him. “Angie. She was one of my best friends for most of my life. She got pregnant in college by a guy who didn’t want Marci.”

His phone rang, ending the moment and the conversation. Katie started packing up the remains of their picnic as he pushed himself to his feet and walked away. As he talked in low tones, she cast a cautious glance his way, wondering what might have stolen the smile he wore just moments earlier. As he talked, he watched Marci playing, nodded a few times, and when the conversation ended, he didn’t speak for a few minutes.

“Is everything okay?” She had everything back in the backpack and the blanket they’d sat on was folded.

“No, I have to leave. And I’m not sure how I’m going to do this, but I can’t take Marci to town with me.”

“You have to go to town?”

He grabbed the pack and attached it to the saddle of his horse. “Yes, I do. There’s a situation I need to take care of.”

“Of course.”

He untied her horse and led the gray gelding to her. They stood there for a moment, she staring up at him. It took her by surprise, having to look up. Her world closed in, focusing only on him. And it frightened her. She didn’t want to go down that path again.

This man was dangerous. His strength was a danger. As was his kindness. More than that, his vulnerability was dangerous. That might be the most dangerous part, that part of him that had been hurt, might still be hurting, might need someone desperately. It was in his eyes, in the guarded look he shifted in Marci’s direction as the girl cavorted with the dog, unaware of the phone call. Katie guessed that it probably had something to do with the child.

She wanted to help Cord but wasn’t sure how. And she knew better than to try to be that person for anyone. Because it always hurt later, when she realized she’d just been filling the space of friend.

He handed her the reins to the horse.

“Foot in the stirrup,” he said softly, and as she moved, she realized how close they were to one another. His hand was on the saddle and their faces were inches apart. He leaned, so close she could feel the warmth of him.

He stepped back, shaking his head just a little.

“Wow.” He whistled. “I’m not sure what to say.”

“Hmm.” She didn’t know what to say, either. She needed to think of something. Fast. Before she claimed the kiss she knew he’d considered and then reconsidered. “What is the situation in town, or should I ask?”

“You shouldn’t ask.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

He darted a quick look over his shoulder before looking at her again, letting out a shaky sigh. “Her grandmother, Lulu, has Alzheimer’s. I’m not sure how long she’s had it, but it’s progressed to the point that she can no longer hide it.”

“Marci?”

Serious regret settled in the depths of his blue eyes. “We were going to sit her down and tell her. We should have told her sooner but it’s a lot of reality for an eleven-year-old kid.”

“And right now?”

“She was at the diner and when she walked out to the car she couldn’t remember how to get home. She looked confused, so a couple of friends asked if they could help and she told them. They took her home and are there with her now, waiting for me.”

“We’re wasting time.”

She somehow she managed to get back in the saddle, knowing her legs would punish her later for this unusual treatment. Marci was heading their way, laughing as the dog chased her. Cord had her horse untied and handed her the reins when she stopped in front of him.

“Time to go, kiddo.”

Marci threw herself easily into the saddle and gave him an annoyed look from her perch on the pretty bay she rode, a deep brown–coated animal with black legs and a black mane and tail. Until today Katie hadn’t known a bay from a dapple gray. Gray being the horse she rode.

“Why?”

“We need to take Katie back to the main ranch and then you and I will have a talk.” Cord had a hand on her horse’s neck.

“About?” Marci held the reins of the restless horse and finally spoke sharply, telling her mare to stop. The mare settled.

“I don’t want to discuss it right now.” Cord’s tone took on that fatherly, brook-no-argument tone.

“Is something wrong with Grammy?”

Katie bit down on her lip and waited for Cord’s reply. This man she’d known for only a few days, and already she felt so tied into his life. Her heart ached for him and for the girl staring him down. He might think that Marci didn’t know anything was wrong with her grandmother, but Katie thought he might be wrong.

* * *

Now what did he do? Cord looked down at the ground, wishing it would swallow him up but knowing this was a situation he’d have to face. He looked up and caught the eyes of the woman he’d invited along for a day that should have been relaxing and now she was all kinds of tied into their lives. Exactly where he didn’t want her.

“Why do you think something is wrong with your grammy?”

Marci bit down on her bottom lip and her sigh hung up a little, sounding more like a sob. “Because I know she’s sick. I know something is wrong. She forgot the car in town and walked home. When I asked her where the car was, she told me she’d never owned a car.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Cord stood next to her horse, his hand on hers.

“Because later she remembered and she was embarrassed and told me it must be the blood pressure medication. But it wasn’t, because she forgot that I go to school. I think she thought I was my mom.”

Behind him, hooves crunched on the rocky ground. “If you want,” Katie said, “I don’t mind riding along. You’ll get there quicker if you don’t have to take me to the main house.”

He glanced up at the woman in the saddle, her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her cheeks were rosy from the cool, October mountain air and her green eyes were bright and knowing.

He didn’t know what to say. He’d dragged her into their lives. He’d put her on that horse she rode with natural grace even though she’d never really ridden. He’d given her entrance and now he couldn’t push her back. Because, man, he didn’t want to face this alone. If she was willing to be a friend to both him and Marci during a pretty rotten time, he’d take the offer.

He didn’t want to tell a kid that her grandmother was going to start forgetting her, forgetting school programs and forgetting hugs they had always shared.

He hated this disease, hated what it did to the person who faced it and the families that lost loved ones long before they left this earth. Eleven was too young to face this.

“Cord?” Her hand settled on his shoulder.

He looked up and finally nodded. “Marci, we’ll check on Grammy together.”

“Okay.” Tears were filling Marci’s brown eyes. “It isn’t her medicine, is it?”

“No.” He let out a long sigh. “It isn’t.”

As he swung himself into the saddle of his horse, Katie rode up next to Marci, putting her hand on his goddaughter’s arm and giving her an encouraging smile. And Cord didn’t know how to tell her she didn’t have to do this. She’d stayed because her sister asked and now she was going to be with him when he told Marci that soon her grandmother would probably have to live in the nursing home a town away from them.

His big dun sidestepped beneath him, sensing his mood. The mousy-gray horse tossed his head and pulled at the bit, trying to move forward. Cord held him in careful control, watching as Katie and Marci rode out ahead of him. Life shifted, changing in that moment in a way he hadn’t expected. He was still trying to tell himself that Katie was safe, an easy person to be around, uncomplicated. And then he called himself a liar because she was anything but uncomplicated.

* * *

When they pulled up to the little house Marci lived in with her grandmother, Cord noticed Lulu on the front porch sitting on her little glider bench. She waved and even smiled, but the smile faltered and her hand dropped to her lap.

Ten years ago he’d stood on this same porch wondering how to knock, how to tell Lulu that her only child was dead, killed when a truck slid on icy roads and hit her car head-on. He’d stayed the night, holding little Marci and promising the two of them that he’d always be there.

He remembered trying to explain that to Susan, his former fiancée. She’d told him that was fine but once they were married he’d have to understand that he couldn’t take care of the whole world. They would have children of their own, she’d informed him, and a life of their own. He’d understood. He really had. A woman didn’t want to share her life with an orphaned child and a widow.

He’d been prepared to juggle his responsibilities and he’d hoped Susan would come around. As he got out of the truck, Katie was getting out on the other side. She held the door open for Marci and reached for the child’s hand. Marci took the offered hand without hesitation. And now he knew his other fear, that a girl growing into her teen years needed more than a bachelor cowboy.

Today she needed someone soft, someone with arms that could hug. She needed a gentle touch and a woman’s voice in her ear. That had been obvious on the drive to town. Marci had held tight to Katie’s hand as he had explained what was happening to her grandmother. It had surprised him that it was a stranger’s hand Marci reached for, but maybe it made sense. Sometimes it was easier to turn to a stranger, someone with no expectations.

“It’ll be okay.” Katie offered as they walked toward the house. “But it won’t be easy.”

Honesty. It would not, in any way, be easy. He’d known for a while that something was up with Lulu. He’d seen it months before she’d told him the truth. He’d caught her a few times at church talking to someone she’d always known, but the look in her eyes had troubled him. It had been as if she was talking to strangers but pretending she knew them.

When he’d talked to his mom about this, she had told him that Alzheimer’s patients often pretended to remember. She’d volunteered at the nursing home and understood better than he did.

“Marci!” Lulu stood as they approached. “Honey, I was worried about you. Where have you been?”

“With Cord, Grammy, remember? We saw him at church and I left with him.”

Lulu frowned but then she nodded, “Of course. Do you know, I had to get a ride home with the Parkers? My car wouldn’t start. But they’re leaving now.”

Marci looked from her grandmother to Cord. He nodded toward the house and she hurried inside, Katie right behind her. The door closed with a soft click, leaving Cord and Lulu alone on the porch.

“Lulu?” Cord took her arm. “Let’s go inside.”

“No, Cord, I don’t want to do this.”

“We have to.”

She shook her head and then she sobbed into his shoulder. Her tears were damp and warm against his sleeve. “If we don’t say it, it won’t be real.”

She’d said the same thing ten years ago. She’d cried when she saw him on the front porch and she’d told him not to tell her. She’d begged him to go away and not be the one to do this to her. But he’d taken her by the arm and led her inside and he’d told her anyway. He’d told her that her only child had died in a car accident.

“You don’t have to do this, Cord. You don’t always have to be the one.”

He laughed a little because she sniffled and looked up at him, smiling. “I wish that wasn’t true, Lulu.”

“Please, just one more day of normal.”

“What’s normal anyway, Lulu?”

She sobbed again. “Normal is waking up in the morning and knowing your granddaughter’s name and why she’s in your home. I want more of those days.”

He wasn’t ashamed of the hot sting of tears in his eyes. He swiped at them and leaned to kiss the top of her head. “I know.”

“Promise me you’ll take care of her.”

“Lulu, I already promised. I signed on the dotted line two weeks ago, remember?”

“Yes, I remember. Don’t patronize me, you big ox.”

He laughed because laughing hurt a lot less than crying. “You always say such sweet things, Lu.”