Forever in Love (Montana Brides) (13 page)

His scowl got a whole lot worse when he looked at his sister.
 

“Go away. We’ve got girl talk to catch up on.” Sally grabbed the cushion behind her back and chucked it at him.
 

He plucked it out of the air before it had a chance to whack him in the head. “You need to work on your throw. You’ll never knock someone senseless if you don’t follow through.”

“I don’t need to worry about following through, but someone else might.”

He held the square cushion in his hands, frowning at the red and green stripes. He looked up and grinned at Sally. “Maybe you’re right.”
 

Amy didn’t like the look of that grin. She’d seen it before and it had gotten them both into a whole lot of trouble.
 

Nathan leaned down, dropping the cushion on her lap and a soft kiss on her cheek. “Call me if you need me.”

Heat rushed through Amy’s body. She didn’t know what to say or where to look. It must be the side effects of the hypothermia. She wasn’t normally this ditzy. A kiss was a kiss. Skin against skin. Comfort. Friendship. Longing…This wouldn’t do.
 

She closed her slack jaw, holding back the sigh that nearly tumbled from her lips. Twenty-seven-year-old women didn’t sigh over a kiss on their cheek. They didn’t get all tongue-tied and hormonal over a man who wore blue plaid cotton shirts and black jeans. Even if those jeans hid long legs that knew how to wrap around her body and tie her in knots.
 

She glanced across the room just as Nathan’s denim clad legs disappeared out the door. She let go of her breath. It sounded remarkably like a sigh.

“I think my brother’s got a crush on you.” Sally grinned.

Amy held her hands up to her burning cheeks. “It’s not a crush. He worries about everyone.”

“But everyone doesn’t get kissed. The best I ever got was a pet rock named Fred.”

“That’s because you wanted a turtle, but your mom and dad wouldn’t buy you one. And he gives you plenty of hugs.”

Sally rolled her eyes. “That’s because he’s my brother. Now pass over a biscuit and tell me what I can do to help you move your stuff at the weekend.”

Amy shook her head to clear the fuzzy bits away. “All of our suitcases should stack onto the back of my truck, but you could help me unpack at the Andersons.”

“No problem. I might even bring Nathan to help with the heavy cases.”

“There are no heavy cases…well nothing we can’t manage. And don’t get any ideas about your brother and me. We’re friends.”

“Yeah right.” Sally grinned. “Don’t go playing poker in a hurry. That blush of yours will get you into trouble.”

Amy buried her face in the cushion Nathan had left on her lap. She really needed to do something about her reaction to him. She’d never be able to move forward unless she let go of the past. And Nathan Gray was definitely part of her past.

Amy stirred a handful of cheese into the sauce simmering on the stove. Monty, one of the Andersons’ Burmese cats, wound himself around her legs. Her first week in Bozeman had flown by. Catherine had settled into daycare and she’d enjoyed her first three days at the hospital. She hadn’t seen or heard from Nathan and that suited her just fine.
 

“How’s the mac and cheese going?” Sally stood in the doorway, holding Catherine’s fingers so that she could walk between Sally’s legs.

“Nearly finished. I’ve just got to drain the pasta then we’re done. How are we going for time?”

“We’ve still got another hour before we’re due to meet Gracie and Rachel in town. Dad should be here in about forty minutes.”
 

Jenny and Paul had offered to babysit while Sally took Amy out to meet a couple of her friends. Amy looked over her shoulder, smiling at Catherine’s legs wobbling like a half-set jelly. She blew her a kiss, laughing at the dimpled grin beaming back at her. “It won’t be long until you’re running everywhere baby girl, and then even Monty won’t be safe.”
 

The cat in question had taken a shine to his new friend. He left Amy’s legs to tempt Catherine. He stood far enough away that she couldn’t eat his tail, but close enough that Catherine’s whole body shook with excitement. Her feet stomped up and down, trying desperately to get closer to her furry friend.

Sally held on tight to the little hands waving through the air. “How are the cats coping with a crawling commando around the house?”

“Alby and Boots keep clear, but Monty likes to snuggle up beside her. As long as she doesn’t try planting her face in his fur, he’s happy.” Amy drained the pasta and tipped it into the cheese sauce. “Could you give Catherine her dinner while I go and get changed?”

“I never thought you’d ask,” Sally laughed. “I wondered if you were planning on wearing your pajamas to the bar. It looks kind of cute in a purple polka dot way, but a bit too casual for the cowboys in town.”

Amy wiped her hands on a dishcloth and took a bowl out of the pantry. “And here I was thinking that life in Bozeman was a lot more relaxed than Chicago. How disappointed can a girl get?”

“You’ll get arrested if you hit town in your pj’s. Although from all accounts our Deputy of Police is quite partial to black lace. So if you can find something a bit risqué tucked in your closet, Dan might be the man for you.”

“And you know this how?”

“I have my sources.”
 

“Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. And there are no lace anythings in my closet. So heartbroken as I feel, he’s not the man for me.”

“Of course he isn’t. And we’re going to have to do something about your lack of lace. A girl needs a little bit of frivolity in her life.”

Amy glanced at the clock on the wall. “If I don’t get changed we won’t be going anywhere or doing anything frivolous.” She lifted Catherine into her highchair and clicked her safety harness into place. “Mac and cheese is on the counter. There’s fruit and a cup of water in the fridge and Jenny’s going to give her a bottle at the ranch. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Amy rushed out of the kitchen, almost tripping over Alby sitting quietly in the doorway. The cat scampered down the hall, racing past her bedroom in a flurry of indignant chocolate brown fur. With a quick glance inside her closet, she grabbed a new plum colored wrap dress off a hanger and threw it on the bed.
 

Leaning down she picked up her black boots and tossed them beside the dress. They boots had cost a small fortune when she’d bought them three years ago, but they’d been worth every cent. She just hoped Italian leather could handle the crazy cold Montana night they were heading into - a night that would only get colder the longer she stood daydreaming about what she was wearing.
 

In two seconds flat she had her pajamas off and tucked under her pillow. She pulled her dress over her head, wondering for the umpteenth time what on earth she was doing. She could count the number of times on one hand that she’d gone anywhere without Catherine and every single time had been since her arrival in Bozeman. The front doorbell chimed through the house, sending a jolt of panic through Amy’s frazzled nerves.

“I’ve got it,” Sally yelled.

Amy zipped up her boots and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Not bad for a two-minute makeover. Before Sally had arrived she’d managed to have a shower and put on her makeup. But while she’d been busy in the bathroom, Catherine had discovered Monty’s cat bowl. In between fishing cat grits out of her sister’s mouth and dodging a feline who thought he was half human, fifteen precious minutes had disappeared.

She yanked the elastic band out of her hair. Dark blonde curls bounced around her shoulders, giving her a carefree look that didn’t match how she felt. She frowned, wondering if anyone would notice how nervous she was. If her face didn’t give her away, then her sweaty palms would.
 

She tweaked the front of her dress, crossing the wrap-around bodice a bit more securely over her chest and then tweaking it again, just to make sure it wouldn’t move in a hurry. God forbid if any man caught sight of her cleavage and thought she was looking for more than a quiet night on the town.
 

She walked down the hall and into baby central, expecting to see mac and cheese from one end of her grinning sister to the other. Sally must have learned a thing or two over the last couple of weeks. Not a lick of cheese sauce coated the highchair or Catherine. Sally kept dodging Catherine’s hands as they rotated like propellers on a plane, trying to grab the spoon out of Sally’s fingers.
 

“Don’t you look nice?” Paul glanced at Amy from his seat at the kitchen table. His smile managed to settle some of the butterflies zooming around her stomach.
 

“Thank you.”

“Ah hem…and who played fairy Godmother?”

Amy rolled her eyes at her friend’s back. “You did. And you have exquisite taste.”

“Of course I do.” Sally lifted another spoon of pasta up to Catherine’s open mouth. “And it’s not the last time we’re going shopping either. Thanksgiving’s just around the corner and I’ve got the ranch to decorate.”

“Take pity on your father and stay clear of the plug-in pumpkins,” Paul groaned. “Your mother nearly gave me a heart-attack when she asked me to string those things around the house.”

Sally loaded more food onto the empty spoon. “No glow-in-the-dark pumpkins guaranteed, dad. I’m going for understated elegance this year. Lots of orange chiffon and a six-foot-high blow up turkey with a red ribbon around its neck.”

Paul’s mouth dropped open. “Tell me you’re joking?”

“Nope.” Sally left the empty bowl on the table and held a slice of apple toward Catherine. Catherine pushed it away, blowing air into her cheeks until she looked like a mini pufferfish. “Liam sent me a photo of a turkey he saw in Vancouver. They do mail order.”

“I’ll have to talk to your brother. He knows you’ve got a mile-wide streak of mischief running through your veins.”

“I’m a chip off the old block, dad.” Sally put Catherine’s bowl in the sink and rinsed the gooey pasta from the edges. “We’re all about done, here.”

Amy picked up Catherine’s jacket and squeezed her sister’s wiggling arms into the sleeves. She slid the zip up and passed Catherine over to Paul’s waiting arms. “Call me if you need anything. It doesn’t matter what time you ring.”

 
“Don’t fret, Amy. Jenny and I managed to raise five kids without too much bother. You go and have a good night with Sally and we’ll see you out at the ranch in the morning.” Paul walked down the hallway, kissing Catherine’s fingers as they zoomed in on his mouth.

Sally lifted Catherine’s baby bag onto her shoulder and pushed Amy out of the kitchen. “Come on. She’ll be fine.”

“I’m more worried about your parents. I haven’t left her overnight with anyone before. I just hope she doesn’t cry all night.”
 

“They’ll be fine. I’ll put her bag in dad’s truck and then we’re off to Jay-Jays.”

Amy pulled her jacket off the hook in the hallway and headed out the front door behind Sally. She patted her pockets to make sure she’d bought everything she could possibly need and waited until Paul had buckled Catherine into her car seat.

He closed the passenger door and grinned at Amy. “Baby on board safely, ma’am. Now scoot away and have a good time.”

Amy gave him a quick hug. “Thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She walked carefully across the icy pavement toward Sally’s truck, waving at Paul as he drove past. “Let’s go before I change my mind and follow Catherine.”

“We can’t have that.” Sally put the truck into gear and pulled out onto the road. “Watch out Bozeman, here we come!”

Jay-Jays sat on the edge of Bozeman’s historic district. The red brick building stood two-stories high and glowed from bands of neon lights wrapped around the entrance. Country music and bursts of laughter spilled onto the snow covered street.
 

Sally waved at a tall lanky man heading into the building. “Hi, Adam. I thought you’d gone on holiday?”

He stopped on the street, smiling at Sally. “I had to cancel. Ethan ended up in the hospital and we’re short of staff in the office. Come inside before we freeze to death and you can introduce me to your friend.”

Amy unbuttoned her jacket as soon as the front doors closed behind them, quickly glancing down at her chest to make sure her dress was still safe and secure. Heat prickled her skin as she gazed through another huge set of double doors opening into the bar.
 

“Adam Jefferies, this is Amy Sullivan. Amy’s come back to live in Bozeman.”

“Welcome home.” Adam took his jacket off and loosened the tie at his neck. “How long have you been gone?”

“I’ve been back a few times for short visits, but I haven’t lived here for nine years.”

“What are you going to be doing in Bozeman?”

“Working at the hospital three days a week and looking after my baby sister.” At the word ‘baby’ Adam’s grin dipped at the edges.
 

Sally nudged Amy closer to the wooden doors. “We’ll see you later, Adam. Rachel’s waiting for us by the bar.” She headed across to the left hand side of the room, smiling at the people she knew. “Adam’s a great guy and an even better lawyer,” she whispered, “but he doesn’t know the meaning of the word commitment.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Amy whispered back.

“For future reference.”

“I don’t need future references. I’m happy on my own.”

 
“Don’t let Rachel hear you say that. Her life’s not complete unless she has at least three dates a week. She changes boyfriends quicker than a box of tissues.”
 

Amy’s heart sank. Maybe tonight hadn’t been such a good idea. She’d come along with Sally to meet her friends, not check out the male half of Bozeman.

“Here she is,” Sally said. “Amy, this is Rachel McReedy. Rachel, Amy.”

Amy blinked. After Sally’s description of Rachel’s social life she’d expected to see a tall, vampy seductress sitting on the stool in front of the bar. But Rachel McReedy looked almost too wholesome for the image zipping around Amy’s brain. Chestnut curls framed a round face and dimpled smile. Her blue eyes stared confidently back at Amy, laughter twinkling in their depths.