The Reluctant Bride (Montana Born Brides) (3 page)

Monty.

He reached for the door handle, but she
’d locked the car and he raised his eyebrows at her. There was no mistaking those grey-green eyes for anyone else. He stood at six-foot-two-inches tall and was solid muscle. His brownish-blond hair was worn longer on the top than at the back.

“
Open the door, Risa.”

A million responses ran through her mind.
Play it cool. But playing it cool had never really been her style, and she knew she had to think of something.

Monty knew that Risa was in Marietta.
Had gotten the good news on his runaway bride from his best friend, Staff Sergeant Lane Scott, who had spotted her in a newspaper article for, of all things, the Great Wedding Giveaway.

Yeah, the irony hadn
’t been lost on him.

Neither was the fact that he
’d been headed to the Barn Dance to confront her. Looked like this was one reunion that was going to take place while they were alone.

The woman who
’d left Vegas without a forwarding address while he’d been in Now Zad. The dirty desert had stripped him to his soul. He knew that he’d completely shut down on her. Still that was no excuse for her disappearing the way she had.

“
Let me in.”

“
No.”

“
No?” he asked. God, the woman was stubborn. He wished that the seven months they’d been apart had maybe had a physical effect on her. Made her plump up or stop taking care of herself. But, if it were possible, she was even more beautiful than she’d been before.

“
That’s what I said.”

“
Why not?” he asked. She’d been a lot more accommodating in Vegas. But then, obviously she’d been putting on an act. Doing whatever she had to in order to…what? He couldn’t believe her goal had been to make him propose and then run away. He knew he’d surprised her with the ring, the proposal. He’d felt so alive, and had needed to make the most of
being
alive.

“
I want to find out how mad you are first,” she said.

“
Pissed as hell,” he admitted. “But we’re on the side of the road on a damned cold April evening, and I’d like to at least discuss this like two adults from the inside of a vehicle.”

She nodded.
“Come around and I’ll let you in.”

He walked around her convertible, noting that her rear passenger tire was stuck in a pothole and looked like it had gone flat.
As he was used to solving problems, his first instinct was to take care of her car. Change the tire and then deal with the bigger issue.

His fiancée.
The one he’d had to track down like an IED in Afghanistan, except this was so much more dangerous; because there he knew he’d find a landmine, but with Risa he had no idea what to expect.

The passenger door opened and she stuck her head out, dark brown bangs falling forward over her eyes.
“You okay?”

“
Yeah. You’ve got a flat. That’s your problem.”

“
Dang it. I was hoping it was nothing.”

“
I’ll fix it when we are done talking.”

“
Thanks,” she said. “Get in here before you freeze to death.”

There it was.
A flash of the girl he’d asked to marry him.

“
I doubt that will happen.” But he followed her orders, climbing into the passenger seat of her convertible and closing the door. She had the auxiliary power on for the car and the heat was pumping out. For a minute he closed his eyes, putting his head back on the seat, and pretended he wasn’t here.

But where the hell else would he be?
Now Zad in Helmond province? No thank you. San Diego with his old man, who only remembered him half the time? Again, he’d pass.

“
Talk to me, woman.”

He needed to hear something that would either convince him to leave forever, or stay and stick this out. He knew it was ninety percent pissed-off pride that had him here and the rest was fear.
Was he that unlovable that she’d had to run away? His mom had done it. But Monty had always been able to filter that through the fact that his old man was a heavy drinker.

Still…

“I don’t know where to start.”

“
The beginning is a good spot. Last thing I knew we were engaged and you were planning our ceremony, and then I shipped out and…what then, Risa?”

She turned her head, staring out her window into the dark.
There weren’t many cars out here. Marietta wasn’t a huge metropolis, so in a way she was lucky he’d been driving out here tonight. Of course, the highway did lead to town from the ranches that were owned by the Scotts.

“
My parents died,” she said. The words were raw and her voice dropped an octave as she tried to speak and not cry.

He reached over and rubbed her shoulder.
“I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“
I tried, but the call cut out. I dialed straight back but it didn’t ring through. And then your phone was off. Then too much time had passed and things had started to change between us.”

She put her head forward and he felt her body quiver and her breath came in a gasp, and she shook her head before wiping away her tears and looking over at him.
Her eyes were big, wounded and wet and he struggled to remember that she’d left him. But he felt a chink in the anger he knew he’d been using to protect himself.

“
Come here,” he said, pulling her into his arms, and she wrapped her arms around his middle. He was surrounded by her scent, the flowers of spring and her touch, her slight body pressed to his. And he stroked his hand down her back, trying to make up for an emptiness he knew would never leave her.

He had the aching hole in his heart where his mom had been.
“I really am sorry. Did you think I wouldn’t be supportive, is that why you left?”

She said something but it was muffled against his chest.

“What?”

She pushed against his chest and shifted back behind the steering wheel.
He handed her a handkerchief, something his father had insisted a gentleman should always carry. She wiped her tears and then delicately blew her nose.

“
I couldn’t tell you about Mom and Dad in an email, but I wanted to. I tried a lot of times to write to you but I just couldn’t find the words,” she said.

Just like that he was back in the heat, with sweat dripping down his back and the coppery smell of blood and the ringing of explosions in his ears.
He felt memories start to creep in and take over, but he turned to Risa, stared into her big brown eyes and forced the image back. Forced himself into the present.

“
You knew I was okay,” he said.

“
I did. But I wasn’t. And I just didn’t know how to tell you about my parents. Everything seemed to be out of my control, and instead of figuring out how to handle it…I just ran.”

Flight urges were coursing through her again.
She wanted to get her car fixed and point it east or west, she didn’t care where. Just away from here. Away from the emotions that Monty stirred up. The ones that were still too new for her to know if they were real or not.

But she couldn
’t keep running. Marietta had become home to her, and seeing Monty reminded her how much she cared. They had unfinished business.

And she didn
’t have her gauge; her wise parents who had a way of knowing what a person was really like, to help her figure out what to do next. She wasn’t a child. God knew, she hadn’t felt like one for years. She’d been on her own for a while, but she still needed them. She felt tears stirring and shook her head, driving the melancholy out. Or at least attempting to.

“
Why?”

“
What do you mean, why?” she asked. She didn’t know how else to explain it. She certainly didn’t want to admit to him that she no longer was the girl who had said yes. But that was the truth. And sadly, she still didn’t know who she was. She had no idea how to function alone in the world.

“
Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “I could have handled it.”

“
I couldn’t have,” she said. The truth started slipping out before she had a chance to censor it. “I needed to figure out myself. It would have been so easy to just let you swoop in and take over everything. But then, I’d never know if I was with you because I needed a crutch or if…if my feelings for you were real.”

She saw the light go out of his eyes and the fire of anger ignite again.
She knew she was saying the wrong things. That this was the kind of truth that should be coated in some sort of lie to make it more palatable. But she didn’t have that in her. Not now.

“
I’m sorry.”

“
No, don’t be. Better to know exactly where I stand.”

“
You are acting like what I said is a bad thing. It’s not. Monty, I didn’t want to marry you when I wasn’t sure. And I know how you are. You told me yourself you wanted to protect me and keep me safe. If I’d said I’m scared, you would have wrapped me up in your arms and said I’ll protect you. But you can’t protect me from myself, can you?

“
I need to figure this out,” she said. “And I didn’t want to end things between us because I still can’t forget you. I’ve been trying, but it hasn’t worked.”

He cursed under his breath, opened the car door and got out.
He slammed the door behind him and the car rocked under the force of it. She sat there, unsure what to do. Did that mean they were over? Was he leaving? Just going and letting her stay here by herself.

Well, that is what she wanted, right?

But then he was back with a pair of work gloves on, rapping on her window. She opened the door and stepped out next to him.

“
Open your trunk so I can get the spare.”

“
I will, but I think we need to finish talking,” she said.

“
I can’t right now. Let’s get your car fixed up so you can go to the Barn Dance.”

“
How did you know where I was heading?”

“
I was planning to ambush you there,” he said. “See what you would say when you saw me again.”

“
I let you down.”

“
You didn’t. I get it. You think I’m a fixer. That’s a first for me in relationships,” he said. “But I’m not. Do you want help with your tire?”

“
You know I do.”

“
Pop the trunk so we can both get out of here,” he said.

There was an edge to his voice she
’d never heard before, and she realized there was way more to her bad-ass Marine fiancé than she’d realized. He wasn’t a fixer? How did he see himself then?

“
Good. Go wait in my truck while I change your tire,” he said.

She hesitated.
She knew she’d been the one to run away, but now that Monty was here, she didn’t want to have this kind of distance between them. Yet she really had no idea how to fix this. How to make it right.