Forever in Love (Montana Brides) (29 page)

She moved across to a small wooden table and handed the plastic control to Nathan. His fingers brushed her hand and she nearly leapt out of her skin. “How...how are you feeling?”

Nathan looked disappointed. “A lot better than last night. The doctors were able to realign my nose without surgery. My ribs and left shoulder took a bit of a hammering, but they’ll be alright in a few months.” He pushed the red button and half the bed began to rise, sitting him upright against his pillows. He leaned forward, reaching behind him with his good arm to move a pillow.

“I can do that for you,” Amy said. “Do you want me to take it away completely?”

Nathan nodded. “When do you start work?”

Amy glanced down at the ID card pinned to her white coat. “In about fifteen minutes. I thought I’d come and see you first.” She moved to the foot of the bed and picked up his chart, slipping into the role of doctor before he got a chance to say he was sorry. That he hadn’t meant what he’d said last night. That he didn’t want to get involved with a commitment phobic woman with an eleven month old sister and a less than perfect past.
 

“How’s your back?” she asked.

“Bruised but fine. Doc Johnson came and saw me this morning and told me I’m lucky I didn’t break my neck. With any luck I’ll be home tomorrow. I heard you had a rough time with your mom yesterday.”

The wall she’d started building came crashing down. Amy closed the chart and dropped it into its holder. “She’s gone home to San Francisco.” She grabbed hold of the metal rail, holding on tight. “I didn’t even know she’d moved. How sad is that?”

“I’d say it was normal for your mom.”

“I guess you’re right,” Amy sighed. “She’s signed a court order giving up her parental rights to Catherine. In a few months I’ll be Catherine’s legal guardian.”

“How does that make you feel?”

“Relieved.”
 

“And?”

Amy bit the inside of her lip to stop it from trembling. “Hurt.”

Nathan moved to the edge of the bed, wincing as his shoulders settled against the sheets. He held his hand out. “Come and sit beside me.”

Amy wiped her eyes, then slowly moved around the bed. Nathan patted the mattress, holding her hand as she sat beside him.
 

“Why are you hurting? You want Catherine to live permanently with you.”

Amy looked down at their hands, still linked together. “I thought mom would at least want to keep in contact with us. I’m twenty-seven-years-old and I still expect her to change. I want her to be a part of my life.” She let go of Nathan’s hand and pulled a tissue out of her pocket. “And now it’s all over. When the judge signs the court papers we won’t see her again for a long time. Maybe never.”

“Catherine loves you. You’ll build a life with her that doesn’t leave room for regret.”

Nathan’s hand lifted a strand of hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear with a gentleness that tore at her heart. She blew her nose and took a deep breath. “I want you to know that I appreciate what you said last night about...well...the fact that you care about me.” Amy’s voice petered out to a quiet whisper in the hospital room. “I like you too, but I know that traumatic situations make people say things they don’t mean.”

“Traumatic situations?” Nathan’s eyebrows shot so far north that she wondered what kept them plastered to the top of his head. “I fell off my horse.”

“You could have died,” Amy spluttered, furious that he didn’t realize how lucky he was to be alive. “If Chan hadn’t stayed at the top of the bank, Alex and Sean wouldn’t have found you.”

“If it hadn’t been for Chan, I wouldn’t be here.”

Amy jumped off the bed. “You’re blaming a horse?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Of all the lame brain excuses she’d ever heard, that just about topped the lot. “What about riding out there in the first place? Most people would have stayed at home in the middle of a storm, especially when they’re still recovering from a serious injury.”
 

“There wasn’t a storm when I started out. And it’s been nine months since the fire. Mom and dad are leaving soon and I still can’t do everything I need to do.”

“You don’t need to do everything.” Amy threw her arms wide. “That’s what family’s for. You’re just too stubborn to ask for help.”

Nathan clutched his chest. “I’m in pain. It’s my heart...”

Amy leapt forward, dropping the bed flat with the flick of a lever.

“Ow,” Nathan roared, “My shoulder.”

Amy leaned forward, shoving her stethoscope into her ears and placing the cold chest piece against the hospital gown. “Be quiet and tell me where it hurts.”

“Higher,” Nathan moaned.
 

Amy moved the stethoscope half an inch higher, listening to Nathan’s rapid heartbeat.

“Higher.”
 

If she went much higher she wouldn’t be anywhere near his heart. She lifted her gaze to Nathan’s face and frowned at the dimple in his cheek.
 

“You might need to kiss me better.”

She blinked, looked down at the stethoscope, then back at Nathan’s face. “You lied?”

He lifted his hand to her mouth, running the tip of his finger along her bottom lip. “I’ve got a serious case of heartache. And there’s only one person that can help.”

Amy pulled the stethoscope out of her ears and left it on top of the bed. “Do you know how corny that sounds?”

The dimple in Nathan’s cheek deepened. “It’s the best I could come up with.” His smile turned to a scowl. “Remind me not to smile. My lip feels like it’s going to split open again.”

“No kisses for Nathan.”

“We could try,” he said with a hopeful note in his voice.

Amy leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “We’ll see.” She reached for the red control button and lifted the bed into a sitting position.
 

“I don’t want you to like me, Amy.” Brown eyes locked with blue.

 
“You don’t?” She didn’t trust the gleam in his eye, or the half-smile that lifted the corner of his mouth into something a girl should step carefully around.

“I want to know that you love me as much as I love you.”

“Oh.” Amy sat on the bed before her knees gave out.
 

“That’s not what I was hoping to hear.”
 

Nathan rubbed his hand along Amy’s arm, sending goose bumps skittering along her skin. “This isn’t...I thought you...”

Nathan tweaked the end of her hair. “Stop thinking and tell me what you feel.”

“It doesn’t matter what I feel. It’s not just me anymore, Nathan. Catherine and I are a package deal. I’ve got baggage, tons of baggage. More baggage than anyone else I know, except maybe you.” She couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her lips. Or the chuckle that bubbled up from some of her baggage.
 

“Are you trying to scare me off or insult me?”

“I don’t know. Is it working?”

Nathan pulled the collar of her jacket, bringing her forward until she felt like she was drowning in his sky blue eyes. “I love you and I love Catherine. I want to do what we should have done a long time ago. I’m not waiting another nine years to marry you so I suggest you take pity on me and say you’ll be my wife.”

Amy ran her hand along his jaw, tracing the scars that had kept him locked away from the world. He was her beginning and her end. A part of who she was and who she would always be. And she loved him more than she ever had.

“You’re a brave man, Nathan Gray. I’m going to love you till death us do part. But if you ever go riding in a storm again the end of our marriage will come around faster than you think.”
 

“I can live with those odds. Are you ready to kiss me better now?”

Amy nodded, nudging his jaw with her lips, leaving soft kisses on his skin. “I love you.”
 

Nathan wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tight. And for the first time in her life, Amy Sullivan knew that happily ever after really does come true.

The End

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Forever in Love.
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Turn the page for a preview of
Forever After
, Sam and Nicky’s story, available now!

Forever After

BOOK THREE IN THE MONTANA BRIDES SERIES

Excerpt

Nicky Scotson opened her front door, expecting to see her best friend smiling back at her. What she got was a whole lot worse.
 

“Hello, Nicky.” Chocolate brown eyes stared straight at her, with no smile in sight.

Her heart slammed against her chest, catching her breath in a painful knot. Two years hadn’t made any difference to the way her body reacted to the sight of Sam Delaney, chief executive of Scotson Construction, and the man she’d spent far too much time trying to forget. “What are you doing here?”
 

“I thought it would have been obvious.”
 

“Nothing’s ever obvious with you,” she growled. A long time ago she’d been madly in love with the mountain of a man standing in front of her. Falling for him during her management internship with her family’s company wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done. And looking at him now she realized how foolish she’d been. Men like Sam didn’t play for keeps - they played for fun.
 

Leaning casually against the doorframe, he folded his arms across his chest. “You’re staring at me like a bug under a microscope. Do you like what you see?”

With a disgusted sigh, Nicky realized it would be impossible not to like what she saw. His brown hair was still as dark as rich coffee, carelessly pushed back from a face that made a woman forget why she should be angry with him. Wide shoulders, thick with corded muscles, were outlined in glorious detail beneath his white cotton shirt. Cowboy boots, scuffed and worn, anchored him to the ground.

Anyone meeting him for the first time could be forgiven for thinking he belonged on a ranch, not behind a desk building a corporate empire.
 

Nicky took a deep breath. It was time to show him she wasn’t the pushover he remembered. A lot of things had happened in her life since she’d left Montana. A lot of things that had made her a stronger person.
 

With a stare that would have sent a lesser man scurrying for cover, her gaze traveled down his body. “Do I like what I see? Well, you’ve got a few more wrinkles and grey hairs than last time I saw you, but I’m sure you’ve made someone a nice husband.”
 

His lips clamped together, tightening his jaw until she could almost hear his teeth grinding together. “I’m not married.”
 

“Really? Spoilt for choice or still dating the wrong type of women?” She expected the snappy comment to make him angry. She wanted him off her doorstep and out of her life.
 

He didn’t move. He stood his ground and Nicky’s heart sank at the disappointment shadowing his eyes. What he thought about her shouldn’t matter. But it did. And that worried her more than his unexpected appearance.
 

“You still haven’t answered my question,” she asked. “What are you doing here?”

Unfolding his arms, Sam glared long and hard at her. “Are you going to let me in, or do you want to discuss our business out here?” he snapped.
 

 
“We don’t have any business to discuss. If you’ve come about the meeting, I still haven’t decided whether I’ll be there. You’ve wasted your time coming to Denver. Goodbye.” Giving the door an almighty shove, she waited for it to slam in his face.

Sam’s arm shot out, stopping the door in mid flight. “I thought the last few years might have mellowed you, but you’re as reckless as ever. If you want to talk on your doorstep, that’s fine by me.”
 

“You’re missing the point, Sam. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I’m taking you back to Bozeman,” he growled, ignoring the scowl aimed right between his eyeballs. “We’re booked on tonight’s six o’clock flight which gives you about two hours to get ready.”

Nicky’s jaw dropped. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got a company to run and no reason to get on a plane with you.”
 

“The letter I sent should be all the reason you need.”

“You mean the summons I got last week to discuss a confidential job offer?” she scoffed. “I wouldn’t call sixty thousand dollars for six weeks work a reason. I’d call it a bribe.” Earning that much money didn’t make her heart sing. It made her wonder what was going on. The job had to be illegal, immoral, or slightly devious to warrant that much cash. And looking at the man standing in front of her, any of those options were a possibility.

Sam leaned in close. “You’re a business consultant. I’ve got a major problem with your family’s company and you’re the only person that can help. You’re coming with me, even if I have to sling you over my shoulder. You don’t have a choice.”
 

His face hovered inches from hers. Taking a deep breath, she tried to ignore the wash of heat screaming through her body. A lot of good that did her. One whiff of his aftershave and she turned into a scatterbrained fool. With a tight smile plastered across her face, she said, “Everyone has a choice. If you’re trying to intimidate me, it won’t work.”
 

His gaze hardened. “I don’t believe in bullying people,
Miss Scotson.
I would have thought you’d want to help in any way you could.”