Forever Dreams (Montana Brides) (2 page)

She might not be willing to share what was gnawing away at her, but at least he could help in other ways. “Are you ready to find some clothes?”

A slow smile lit her face. “My credit card’s warmed up and ready for action. Let’s go.”

Gracie stood in the entrance of Wal-mart and tried not to stare. She’d never seen a store so big. It looked as though they sold everything from can-openers to tents. And clothes. Rows and rows of clothes built for people with long legs and long arms.

Trent tipped his hat back, frowning across the aisles. “Tell me again why we’re looking for the kids section?”
 

“
Teens
, Trent. Not kids. Look at me, big fella.”
 

He stopped his lofty perusal of the store layout and concentrated on her instead. “I’m looking. And honey, from what I see you seem pretty fine to me. Small but perfectly formed.”

Her cheeks warmed as his gaze did a quick but thorough inspection of her five-foot-one frame.

“I guess there’s
someone
out there who likes their woman pint-sized and perky,” he grinned.

 
“I’m not pint-sized or perky. I’m petite. Just because the rest of the world has super stretched DNA doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with me.”
 

Gracie ignored the sea of trousers in front of her and turned right. Whenever she met someone the first thing they noticed was her height. Anyone would think being a little directionally challenged was a huge issue. So what if she couldn’t reach high cupboards and had to buy kids’ shoes? She had more important qualities than small feet.
 

“You’re going the wrong way.”

Gracie jumped at the voice drifting across her shoulder. “Would you stop doing that?”

“What?”

“Sneaking up on me. You need to put a squeak in your boots otherwise I’m going to end up having a heart-attack.”

 
“If you listen carefully,” he whispered, “you’ll be able to hear my super stretched bones grating on each other. This aisle leads to kitchen appliances.” Placing an arm across her shoulders he nudged her to the left. “I can see some girls’ clothes that way.”
 

Before she had a chance to look at where they were heading, a trolley flew around the corner, almost crashing into some shelves. It tipped sideways on two wheels and headed straight for them.
 

Trent pulled her out of the way, squishing her between his armpit and a stack of men’s shirts. “Caitlin Jones, I swear you’re going to last about as long in this job as you did the last one.”

Caitlin screeched to a halt. The trolley bounced on all four wheels, upsetting the towels stacked haphazardly in its basket. She rolled her eyes, glaring at Trent as if it was his fault they’d nearly had a head-on collision. “I can’t believe I let my sister talk me into working here. Just look at the uniform. Who wears khaki pants nowadays? My granddad, that’s who. And I’m not even allowed to text anyone while I’m here. How archaic is that?”

“It must be devastating.”

“And they’ve got a supervisor watching me the whole time,” Caitlin whispered. “Like they don’t trust me or something.”

Gracie felt a sigh work its way around Trent’s chest.

“Could have something to do with your work ethic,” he said.

Caitlin frowned. “I’m sixteen. I don’t need a work ethic.”
 

The superior stare the teenage commando shot Trent almost brought a smile to Gracie’s face. The half that wasn’t squished under his armpit.
 

“I hate to interrupt,” Gracie muttered, “But as much as I like the smell of your underarm deodorant, you can let me go now.” Trent’s arm dropped from around her shoulders. Gracie stepped sideways, almost knocking a pile of shirts off their hangers. Her face felt hot. Her body felt bothered. And it most definitely didn’t have anything to do with the man staring down at her with a grin on his face.
 

“You okay, Gracie?”

“Fine.” The squeak in her voice annoyed her. She pulled her shoulders back and fussed with the shirts beside her, pushing them out of harm’s way.

Caitlin glanced down, smiling around a mouth of high-tech braces. “You sound kind of strange.”

“I’m from New Zealand.” Irritated with herself for going mushy over a man she’d just met, Gracie gave the shirts another nudge. The teenager stared at her with a blank look on her face. Geography didn’t seem to be one of her strong points. “New Zealand’s in the southern hemisphere.” Still no light-bulb moment. “Have you heard of the All Blacks rugby team?”
 

Trent’s smile got a whole lot wider as he looked at Caitlin. “Check the internet when you get home.”
 

She shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever.”

“Gracie’s staying in Bozeman for a few weeks. She’s going to be teaching at one of the elementary schools.”

A shiver passed through Caitlin’s skinny body. Teaching must rank about as high in the teenage girl’s career aspirations as working in Wal-mart.

Caitlin frowned at Trent. “I overheard Stella asking about you the other day. Said she hadn’t seen you around in a while. Could be she misses your company.”
 

“I’ve been busy. Haven’t you got work to do?”

“I am working.” A cheeky grin lit her face. “I’m pushing a trolley aren’t I? So how long have you and Gracie been dating?”

“We’re not dating. Gracie’s staying with me…”

“Shoot,” Caitlin hissed, “the dragon lady’s on her way over.” With a sweet smile on her face, and a voice three times louder than it needed to be, she bellowed, “I’m glad I could be of help. Have a nice day.” And she scooted off. On all four wheels.

Trent stared down the aisle. “That was probably the worst person to bump into.”

Gracie smiled at the dragon lady as she power-walked past them, following Caitlin’s escape path. The poor woman would need all her wits about her if she had to keep tabs on the teenage wonder-worker.

“Caitlin wasn’t that scary, Trent.”

“She might look harmless, but if she gets within ten feet of a computer the whole world knows about your business quicker than you do.”

“It’s just as well she’s not in front of a computer then, isn’t it? By the end of the day she won’t even remember that she saw us. So who’s Stella?”

Trent jammed his hands in his jacket pockets. “Let’s find some clothes.”

“I take it Stella isn’t one of your most favorite people?” Gracie asked, jogging to keep up with his long-legged stride.

“No.”

“Oh. Well.” She scanned the aisle just in case Caitlin decided to make another unexpected appearance.
 

“Before the days out half the town will think we’re living together.”
 

Gracie stopped in the middle of the aisle. The last thing she wanted to do was complicate his life with an early house guest and lots of gossip.
 

Trent glanced over his shoulder, stopping when he realized she wasn’t behind him. “What’s wrong?”

Gracie kept her eyes glued to the buttons on his shirt instead of the steady grey eyes watching her move toward him. “I’ll stay in town until Gerald gets back. I’ve got some research I want to do, so it won’t be a problem.”

Trent took his hat off and raked his hands through his hair. “Ignore me. I’m over-reacting. It makes more sense to have you stay on the ranch.”
 

The frown on Trent’s face worried her. Gracie knew all about small town gossip and how it could ruin a person’s life. She’d sleep on the street if it meant stopping the rumors before they made it around Bozeman. “I don’t mind staying in town. It’s a pretty place. You’ve already helped me and I don’t want to make your life difficult.”

“You won’t make my life difficult. If I didn’t want you working on the ranch I wouldn’t have said yes in the first place.”

 
Trent crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking for all the world like a man who wasn’t going to give in and let her do the sensible thing. And staying in Bozeman would be the most sensible thing she could do, especially if he thought they were about to make the evening news. “Why would Caitlin think anything was going on?”

 
“It could have something to do with the way her eyes lit up when I told her you were living with me.”
 

“But we won’t be living together like a couple.”
 

A faint tinge of red washed above the collar of Trent’s shirt. “She doesn’t know that. And what she doesn’t know she’ll make up.”
 

“Maybe it’s not as bad as you think. She’s a teenager. No one’s going to believe everything she says.”
 

Trent shook his head. “Forget about Caitlin. At least you’ll have some new clothes when everyone comes visiting.” He headed into the center of the store and pointed to a huge neon pink sign. “Do you think you’ll be able to find something in here?”

Gracie stared at the racks of clothes designed for teenagers. If she couldn’t find anything to wear she was in serious trouble. “I’ll give it my best shot. If you lose sight of me I’ll be in the changing rooms.” She glanced quickly at Trent, then started hunting through a pile of t-shirts. It was time for some intense retail therapy. And if there was one thing Gracie was good at, it was shopping in double quick time.

CHAPTER TWO

Gracie smiled at the shinny blue bags stacked on the back seat of the pickup. She’d only found a handful of clothes in Wal-mart. But in the space of one short hour, Sandra Lee’s Fashion Boutique had become her favorite store. They’d come across the store by accident. Gracie called it fate. From the moment she’d seen the color coded racks of clothes designed for women under five-foot-two, she’d known they wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

A helpful sales assistant, sensing a desperate woman with limited time and unlimited resources, had rushed backward and forward getting different sizes and suggesting different styles. Clothes had flown in and out of the changing room so fast that Gracie didn’t think there was an outfit she hadn’t tried on.
 

“I think I’ve fallen in love.”

Trent choked back a laugh as he turned onto the highway. “It’s just as well Caitlins’ not around to hear you say that. So the dreamy expression on your face means you’re happy?”

 
“I’m so happy I could kiss the person who shoved my suitcases on a plane going to Budapest. If they hadn’t messed up majorly and you hadn’t suggested Wal-mart, then I might never have discovered Sandra Lee’s.”
 

Trent shook his head. “I take it you’re planning a return trip into town?”

“At least one.” Gracie reached for the catalogue she’d left beside her carry-on and thanked the computer savvy owner of the store. “I can even shop online.”
 

“Why do I get the feeling you’re about to max out your credit card?”
 

Gracie smiled at the worried look on Trent’s face. “You don’t know how hard it is to find clothes that fit me. Nothing needed to be shortened, tweaked or tailored. Ruby even said she’d call me when their next shipment arrives.”

“Ruby?”

“The sales assistant. Ruby Monroe. She moved to Bozeman to be closer to her boyfriend and when that broke up she decided to stay.”

“You talked about Ruby’s boyfriend while you were trying on clothes?”
 

“Ex-boyfriend. And it’s called multitasking. It’s something women are good at.” Gracie didn’t need to see his raised eyebrows to know he didn’t believe her. “It’s true. Wait until you see me on the ranch.”

That earned her a moment of silence. “Have you ever worked on a ranch before?”
 

She glanced at Trent, not sure how much his mom had told him about her. The only thing she knew about a ranch was to shut the gates and watch where you put your feet. Most people probably wouldn’t be too impressed with her limited work experience, but Trent wasn’t most people. At least she hoped he wasn’t.

“I’ve fed baby lambs from a bottle and watched sheep being sheared. Does that count?”

“It would if we raised sheep. We’ve got two and a half thousand heifers and not one sheep in sight.” A frown slid across his face. “I thought New Zealand had more cattle than people.”

 
“We do, but there’s not much need for cows in the city, except on the supermarket shelves. I’ve taken my class to visit farms around Wellington, but we’ve only gone to see the animals and not help with anything else.”

“Do you know what you’ve signed up for, Gracie?”

He sounded worried, and maybe disappointed, so she tried to make him smile. “Early mornings, late nights and lots of hay?”

Trent shook his head. “I hope you’re ready for a steep learning curve?”

Gracie didn’t think anything could be as bad as what she’d been through in the last year. “Ready and willing, boss.”

Trent stared straight ahead and Gracie closed her eyes. After the constant drone of the airplane and a whirlwind shopping spree her energy levels had dipped to almost zero.

Right about now, Trent was probably cursing his mom and Gerald. She didn’t mind what chores Trent wanted her to do as long as she got a few hours sleep tonight. Tomorrow would be soon enough to rethink the plans she’d made for Bozeman. Plans that involved more than teaching and a ranch vacation.
 

She turned her head and stared out of the window. Except for the blue-green mountains in the distance, they were traveling through a valley so
flat that it looked like a giant had squashed his footprint into the land. Gracie was used to hills and roads that twisted and turned so much that you couldn’t see where you were going or where you’d come from. She’d never seen mountains as high as the ones surrounding them or a sky so blue that it took her breath away.
 

 
“You live in a beautiful part of the world.”
 

Trent glanced across the cab. “I wouldn’t live anywhere else. If you want to try something different while you’re here there’s always fly-fishing. Or we can take you big game hunting if you know how to shoot a gun.”