The Bachelor’s Christmas Bride (3 page)

“But now she has Chase and two more brothers out there somewhere who she and Chase are going to find,” Meg reminded, obviously attempting to inject something lighter into the conversation.

Shannon looked at her newly discovered brother. “Whatever I can do on that score…” she said to him.

“I've hit a wall trying to find the twins,” Chase said. “I'm thinking about hiring a private investigator after the first of the year. But we can talk about that later.”

To change the subject completely then, Shannon said, “So I know Chase and Logan grew up together as best friends and then traveled the country and ended up starting Mackey and McKendrick Furniture Designs, but were you all friends in school?”

“Actually, no,” Meg answered. “I know—small town, you'd think we would have lived in each other's back pockets. But I was younger than Chase and Logan, so I was barely aware of who they were and they say the same thing about me. I knew Hadley a little better, but again, we weren't the same age, so we didn't hang out together.”

“But, Hadley, if Logan and Chase were close, you must have known Chase,” Shannon observed.

“Oh, she knew him all right,” Dag said, goading his half sister.

Hadley didn't rise to the bait beyond throwing her cloth napkin at him before she said, “I knew Chase. I had the biggest crush on him
ever
. But we didn't get together until this past September when he moved back here—”

“When I really got to know her,” Chase contributed, putting his arm around the back of Hadley's chair and leaning in to kiss her.

And why, when Shannon averted her eyes, her gaze landed instead on Dag, she didn't know. But there they were, suddenly sharing a glance while the soon-to-be-married couple shared a kiss. And to Shannon it almost seemed as if something couple-ish passed between them, too.

Which, of course, couldn't possibly have been the case and she again questioned what was going on with her.

Wanting whatever it was interrupted, she focused on Logan to say, “And there are three more McKendrick sisters with unusual names, right?”

“And another McKendrick brother—Tucker,” Logan answered. “You'll meet them all tomorrow night at the rehearsal and dinner.”

Cody threw Shannon's bracelet then, letting everyone know that he was no longer content.

“Oh-oh, I think it's past a couple of bedtimes,” Meg said.

“Not me!” Tia insisted. She was still on Shannon's lap but now she'd taken off her shoes and was trying unsuccessfully to put both of her feet through Shannon's bracelet.

“Yes, you, too,” Logan interjected.

“And that's our cue for dish duty,” Chase added with a grimace tossed at his friend.

“That was the deal,” Hadley reminded. “Meg and I will put kids to bed, Logan and Chase get to show what they learned as dishwashers on their grand tour of the country, and Dag and Shannon are off the hook because the dinner was for them.”

“I don't mind helping with clean-up,” Shannon said.

“Shhh,” Dag put in. “Don't ruin a good thing.”

“Besides,” Meg added. “You've had a long day, Shannon. You drove the whole way in from Billings and had the closing, and all of us plying you with questions tonight. You have to be worn out. I know I would be.”

“How about if I walk you out to the apartment?” Dag offered before she could respond to what Meg had said.

“Oh. You don't have to do that,” Shannon demurred, not because she didn't want him to, but because the minute he suggested it she wanted him to
too
much….

“I think that's a great idea—Dag
should
walk Shannon to the apartment so she doesn't just have to trudge out there alone,” Meg agreed. “Really—”

“Go on,” Hadley urged. “I'd walk with you but I have to get all of Cody's gear ready to take with me to our place.”

The spacious, luxurious loft was what Hadley was referring to. It was in the building beside the apartment over the garage where Shannon was staying. The same building that housed the work space and showroom for Mackey and McKendrick Furniture Designs on the ground floor.

Hadley's urging seemed to have ended the discussion because everyone got up from the table and Meg came to take Tia from Shannon's lap.

“Give back Shannon's bracelet and tell her thank you for letting you play with it,” Meg told the three-year-old.

“I could keep it….” Tia whispered to Shannon.

“No, you can't keep it,” Meg said before Shannon had the chance to answer, taking the bracelet from Tia
and the other one from where Cody had thrown it, and giving them both to Shannon just before she picked up Tia.

Shannon said her good-nights while Dag ran upstairs for a jacket. A brown leather motorcycle jacket that made him look every inch a bad boy when he returned with it on.

But Shannon told herself that wasn't anything she should be noticing. Or appreciating. And she curbed it.

She had her own coat on by that time, too, and the next thing she knew, they were out the back door and into the cold, crisp night.

“It's so quiet here,” she said softly when Dag had closed the door behind them.

“A nice change from inside?”

“It wasn't that dinner wasn't nice,” she was quick to say as they headed for the garage in the distance, not wanting him to think there was anything about the evening that she hadn't enjoyed. “I guess it's just that I'm not used to having so much family around.”

“Because there was always just your mother, father and grandmother?” Dag said as they fell easily into step with each other.

“Yes. And really, until the last few years, it was just my parents and me. But here I am now with a brother and a nephew and Hadley will be my sister-in-law, and there's all of you McKendricks, too, who seem to be like family to Chase—”

“Not to mention two more brothers if and when you find them,” Dag reminded.

“It's a lot for someone who's always been part of a small group, a small life.”

“A small life?” Dag repeated with a laugh. “What exactly does that mean?”

“You know, just a small, simple, workaday life. Certainly no living in Italy and France the way Hadley did. Or even the kind of travel Chase and Logan did around the country for years. Teaching kindergarten isn't a high-powered career. I've been to a few fancy parties with Wes, and there was a trip to Europe, but I haven't done anything that would qualify as a
big
life.”

“So far,” Dag amended. “But marrying into a rich and powerful family and possibly becoming the First Lady of Montana? That ought to pump up the volume considerably.”

Shannon hoped that dropping her head when he said that only seemed to be because she was watching her first step up the outer wooden staircase alongside the garage to the apartment. But really she was hiding her expression so she didn't give away that she wasn't going to
pump up the volume
of her life by marrying Wes Rumson.

“Becoming the First Lady of Montana would be a bigger life all right,” she muttered noncommitally. “And a bigger life is always what I've wanted. But we were talking about what I'm used to and neither a bigger life nor a lot of large family gatherings like tonight are it.”

“So you'll have some adjusting to do and tonight was good practice,” Dag said as he followed her up the stairs.

“Tonight was just nice,” she said quietly again.

They reached the landing and she unlocked the apartment door, reaching inside to turn on the light and wondering suddenly if she should invite Dag in. She couldn't think of any reason why she should. And yet she felt some inclination to do it anyway.

“Want to hide out here until the dishes are done?” she asked with a nod in the direction of the main house where Chase and Logan were visible through the window over the sink.

Dag glanced in that direction, too, but then brought his gaze back to her, accompanied by a grin that was disarmingly handsome. And made her think that he was tempted to accept her invitation to stay.

But after a moment he seemed to fight the urge and said, “I might not have been able to hold my own with those two when I was eight and they were making me pick up their smelly socks, but now? They don't get anything over on me.”

Still, he didn't seem in any hurry to go and Shannon wasn't sure what to do about that. Standing there facing him, staring up into features any movie star could have used to advantage, wasn't giving her answers.

Then Dag said, “Those movers you hired to pack everything and clear out your grandmother's house missed a few things. Nothing big—just some odds and ends I've come across working on the place—”

“Like?”

“Like some clothes and a blanket that were stuffed up high in a closet. Some kitchen things. A couple pictures that had fallen behind a drawer. An old jewelry box—I can't even remember what all. I've been putting them in boxes when I come across them because I didn't know if there was anything you might want—”

“Most of what the movers brought to Billings I sold in a yard sale at a friend's house. There was so much of it that I can't imagine that they missed anything.”

“Like I said, I don't think there's anything important. It's stuff that was probably jammed somewhere because not even your grandmother needed or wanted it. But still,
I don't want to be the one to throw out anything that isn't mine. There's only two boxes and I can bring them home, but I thought you might want to see what I'm doing to the place. Maybe have one more walk through it for old time's sake…”

Was that what was appealing to her about his suggestion?

Or was it the thought of going out to the ranch and seeing him?

It had to be the nostalgia—the house
had
been her grandmother's after all. And she had spent some time there with her grandmother when she was a child. Plus there
was
some curiosity to see what Dag was doing to the place, she told herself. That had to be what was behind her wanting to take him up on his offer.

“I think I might like to walk through the place one more time,” she said. “Just tell me when it's convenient for you.”

His grin returned even bigger than it had been before, but Shannon refused to allow herself to read anything into it—like the fact that maybe he wanted the visit from her just to see her, too….

“Tomorrow? I'll be working out there all day. You can swing by anytime.”

“Shall I take your cell phone number and call first?”

“Nah. Anytime. Sleep in in the morning, unpack, do whatever you had planned and when it works out for you, just drive over.”

“Okay.”

And why did they go on standing there, looking at each other as if there should be more to say?

Shannon didn't know but that's what they were doing—
she was just looking up into those black, black eyes of his, lost a little in them….

Then he finally broke their stare. “Great. I'll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Sometime tomorrow,” she reiterated, thinking that the minute it came out of her mouth it sounded stupid.

But it didn't seem to affect Dag because he just tossed her another thousand-watt smile and turned on his heels on the landing. Then he called a good-night over one of those broad shoulders and went back down the steps.

Which was when Shannon stepped into the warmth of the apartment and closed the door.

And realized that she was suddenly eager to get to bed, to get to sleep, to get tomorrow to come.

“Y
es, I got here, I did the closing on Gramma's farm yesterday, and it's nice to be spending time with Chase and Cody—I had breakfast and lunch with them and Hadley, and then Hadley took me to have my bridesmaid's dress fitted so it will be ready for the wedding tomorrow. And tonight is the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner,” Shannon said into the phone.

“Doesn't sound like you're missing me at all,” Wes Rumson said on the other end.

“Wes…”

“I know, there's no reason you should be missing me—even if we
were
engaged you were used to not having me around for most things. It's the curse of the Rumson men.”

And of his own parents' marriage and one of the reasons Shannon had turned down his proposal.

But she didn't say that.

Instead she said, “I appreciate that you called, though.” Which was true. She honestly did hope they could remain friends.

“It feels a little weird to be so included in this wedding,” she admitted then. “Hadley told me it was important to her and to Chase that the family he's found be a part of everything. But as nice as they all are—and they all are wonderfully nice people—they're still basically strangers to me.”

Wes made no comment and she had the sense that he was at least half occupied with something other than their conversation.

Still, she felt the need to fill the silence he'd left and she said, “How are things going on your end?”

“Great!” Wes said in his most enthusiastic politician's voice. “We're looking good in the polls, we'll likely have the endorsements we need, even the President has promised to stop here sometime in the spring to throw his weight behind me.”

“So maybe this would be a good time to make the announcement that there isn't any engagement….”

“I keep hoping we might not have to make that announcement.”

“Wes—”

“The voters love you, Shannon. They love the idea of a little romance in the wings, of a wedding. And you know how I feel….”

That what the voters loved was of first and foremost importance to him? That how he felt about her was merely an afterthought?

But Shannon didn't say what ran through her mind. Instead she said, “You have to make the announcement, Wes.”

“The First Lady of Montana—that would be the
Bigger Life you've always wanted,” he said as if he were dangling a carrot in front of a donkey's nose.
Bigger Life
was the way he'd come to refer to her desire—as if it were an entity of its own. “No tiny apartment above a shoe repair shop—you'd live in the Governor's mansion. And this is only the start—you know we're shooting for the White House. You can't get a
Bigger Life
than that.”

“I couldn't marry you just to have a bigger life, Wes. Any more than you should marry me to win votes.”

“That's not fair—we talked about getting married before—”

And even then Shannon had had doubts about it. Yes, she'd always wanted a life that was bigger than the very small, limited life her parents had lived and Wes knew that. But when it came to a relationship, to marriage, she wanted exactly what her parents had had. And that wasn't the way she felt about Wes. She knew that wasn't the way Wes felt about her. Which was the
real
reason she'd said no.

“You don't really want to go over this again, do you?” she cajoled.

This time rather than silence giving away the fact that Wes's attention was split, he proved it by saying something away from the phone to someone else.

And since he never did answer her question, Shannon let it drop so she could persist with what she needed to get through to him. “I'm sorry, Wes, but you need to break the news publicly. And isn't sooner better than later? Don't you want to get it out there and get it over with so it will be genuinely old news and forgotten by election day?”

“Rumsons aren't quitters, Shannon. If there's any chance—”

“But there isn't,” she said as kindly as she could. “I'm not an undecided voter who needs to be swayed, Wes. This really is just a no.”

“Because of that Beverly Hills deal,” he accused. “When it comes to a Bigger Life, Shannon, wiping the noses of movie stars' and moguls' kids can't compare to being—”

The hanger-on to Wes's Bigger Life?

Shannon thought that but she didn't say it. What she said was, “The
Beverly Hills deal
was also not the reason I said no—I told you that, too. It's just a new avenue I may take. But no matter what, Wes, you need to have your public relations group get on the announcement that there isn't any engagement. Even people in the boonies of Northbridge think I'm going to marry you.”

“Then let's not disappoint them.”

Shannon closed her eyes, dropped her face forward and shook her head. “Wes…”

“All right, I have to hang up, too,” he said as if their exchange had involved something different than it had. “I'll check with you in a couple of days to make sure you're still okay. But if you need anything—anything at all, day or night—”

“I know I can call you. I appreciate that.” Even though she also knew that rather than reach him, her call would automatically be rerouted to his voice mail or his secretary or his campaign manager—depending on how many numbers she tried—and that there would never be an immediate callback. Like when her grandmother had died so suddenly…

They said their goodbyes and Shannon hung up.

With a quick glance at the time, she grabbed her car keys and went out the apartment's door and down the
steps to her car—freshly back from the local garage where it had required a new starter.

Wes's call was making her late. Dag had said she could come by her grandmother's house anytime to see what he was doing with the place and to pick up what remained of her grandmother's things, but it was already after four and she was afraid he would give up on her. And she didn't want that.

Behind the wheel, she turned the key in the ignition and was pleased to see that the repair had been a good one—the engine started on the first try.

On her way to what was formerly her grandmother's place, she kept an eye out for Dag's big electric-blue truck coming in the opposite direction, just in case, and that was all it took to replace thoughts of Wes with thoughts of Dag.

Until she turned onto the road that led to her grandmother's house and it came into view.

The two-story wedding cake–shaped farmhouse was the home her grandmother had come to as a bride. Shannon's eyes filled with tears when she suddenly pictured her grandmother sitting on the big front porch, snapping green beans fresh from the garden.

She missed her so much….

She missed them all so much….

But even though the memories of being at that house brought on some pain as Shannon parked in front of it, she wasn't sorry she'd come. To her this was still her grandmother's house no matter who owned it on paper and she did want to touch base with it one last time.

Then the front door opened and Dag McKendrick appeared behind the screen. And somehow seeing him bolstered her and made it easier for her to actually go through with it.

As she turned off the engine, Dag shouldered his way out onto the porch. He was wearing jeans that Wes wouldn't have considered owning—low-slung and faded. Wes also would have had no use for the equally antique chambray shirt that Dag wore over a white T-shirt peeking above the unfastened top two buttons.

Shannon wasn't sure why she was mentally comparing the two men but she couldn't seem to stop herself as she took in the sight of Dag's shirtsleeves rolled midway up his massive forearms. Drying his hands on a small towel, he tossed her a smile that wasn't at all the kind of practiced-in-case-a-photographer-might-be-nearby smile she knew she would have received from Wes.

Both men were handsome, she admitted, but in different ways. There was never a hair out of place on Wes's dusty blond head while disarray was part of the style for Dag's dark locks. Wes was lean and wiry and stiff backed where Dag was muscular and powerful looking, his posture relaxed—as if his confidence came from knowing he could handle himself rather than from the entitlement that came with being a Rumson.

Rugged versus refined—that's what Shannon concluded. Dag's good looks were rough and earthy, while Wes's were polished and sophisticated.

“Hey there! I was beginning to give up on you,” Dag called to her as he came down off the porch.

And that was when it struck Shannon that it wasn't only their looks that were different.

Wes would have waited for her within the shelter of the house. He wouldn't have come out into the cold December afternoon to greet her. But that was what Dag did. Because their styles were entirely different. While Wes was known for his charisma, what she'd already seen from Dag just in the brief time since they'd met
was a special brand of charm that—while equally as smooth—was more natural than slick.

And when it came to sex appeal?

When it came to sex appeal, Shannon had no idea why anything like
that
had even popped into her mind as Dag opened her door.

She recalled belatedly that he'd said something a split second earlier that she'd heard through her closed window.

What was it…?

Ah, that he'd just about given up on her….

“I'm sorry I'm so late. It took longer with the seamstress than I expected it to and then I had a phone call I had to take. I kept an eye out for your truck the whole way here in case I passed you on the road.”

“Another ten minutes or so and you would have.”

And the sound of his voice—there was absolutely no reason why she liked the deeper timbres of Dag McKendrick's voice better than the slightly higher octave of Wes's but in that instant it struck her that she did.

Then she told herself to stop this right now! She had no interest in this man. He was nothing but a friend of her brother's and the buyer of her grandmother's house and someone she just happened to be acquainted with for the time being. Her relationship with Wes was barely cold—not even cold enough for anyone else to know about. Her entire life had changed in the last year, she could very well be headed to a new life in Beverly Hills, and in all of that there was no room, no time, no reason, for her to be even remotely interested in this man.

And she wasn't.

She wasn't…

“Is it too late? Do you need to get home?” she asked then, stiffening her spine a bit to resist his appeal.

“Nah. We can have a little time here and still get back for a shower before the rehearsal.”

Had he meant to say that as if they'd be showering together? Or was this just another of those crazy blips that made her mind wander into territory where it had no business going? “Not that
we'll
be showering. What I meant was that
I'll
still be able to get back to take a shower,” he amended then, letting her know that she hadn't misheard him. But the cocky grin that went with the amendment told her that the slip of tongue didn't embarrass him at all.

Mischief and teasing—two more things Wes never indulged in. Not even with her, let alone with someone he barely knew.

“Yeah, I think I'll leave you alone to shower,” Shannon answered the way she would have addressed a kindergartner who had said something inappropriate, even if she couldn't help smiling at their exchange.

“Probably for the best,” he said, undaunted by her tone.

“I didn't realize the outside of the house needed painting so badly,” Shannon said as she got out of the car, staring at the farmhouse in order to avoid looking at Dag and obviously changing the subject.

“Yep. I don't know when your grandmother had it done last but it has to have been decades ago. It'll all have to be scraped and power-washed then re-primed. What do you think about the color when I get around to painting? Back to the yellow or shall I go with white?”

“I know I don't really get a vote, but I always liked it yellow—it looked warm and homey and sunny to me that way.”

“Trimmed in white?”

“I would, but it's your house now.”

Dag motioned for her to go ahead of him up the porch steps and when they reached the house, he held the screen door open for her.

There were no signs of her grandmother in what Shannon stepped into. The inside of the house was empty of furniture and all the rooms she could see from the entry were in various stages of repair, remodel or renovation with the necessary tools and supplies littering them.

“Wow, you're really gutting the place,” Shannon observed. “I know the appraiser said it needed work—that was why I reduced the price—but I had no idea it was this extensive.”

“How long has it been since you were here?”

“The summer just before I turned twelve, so almost eighteen years….”

“Things were pretty run-down.”

“My grandfather died the year before I was here last, I guess Gramma must not have kept up with things as well on her own. I didn't realize.”

“From what you said about your folks last night, it sounded like you had enough to deal with.”

“And it wasn't as if my dad could come here and help her out, or send money for her to hire someone,” Shannon added as they pieced together why her grandmother must have let the place fall into such disrepair. “But I'm sorry if you came in on a big mess—I had no idea….”

“It was just an old house. I would have wanted to update it anyway. No big deal. And there are some pluses to the place—the crown molding everywhere, the hardwood floors and just the way the whole house is built makes it more sound and sturdy than newer construction. It gives me a good foundation to work from. Come on, I'll walk you through what I have planned.”