Forever Cowboy (Montana Brides, Book 5) Read online

  “I don’t know about that,” Nicky said. “I saw her on the back of a Harley once. Be careful on those stairs. I don’t know if they’re safe.”

  “Don’t be such a worry wart. They’ve been okay for over a hundred years. A little water damage wouldn’t have hurt them.” She kept climbing, catching her breath when she saw the mezzanine floor. It was better than she remembered and so much of everything she wanted.

  When she’d been fifteen she hadn’t appreciated the thick ropes of plaster molding, looped like vines of fruit around the top of the ceiling, or the old-fashioned brass light fittings, worn to a dull gold and strung together with cobwebs.

  She wandered around, imagining the room without the smoke-damaged ceilings. Or the piles of trash stacked around the room.

  If she bought the building, she’d set up her sewing area under the windows overlooking Main Street. She’d put her cutting table and drawers of buttons, thread, and edging on the far wall. Her mannequins would stand in the center of the room, with fabric and accessories draped over them for everyone to see. Downstairs would be her showroom, but upstairs would be the heart of her business. A place where the ordinary became extraordinary.

  She’d paint the walls and ceiling a soft shade of cream, restore the wooden floors and replace the light fitting over the staircase with the biggest crystal chandelier she could afford. “This is the one.”

  “What did you say?” Nicky yelled from the ground floor.

  Emily leaned over the wooden railing. “This is it. I want to buy it.”

  “We’ve only been here ten minutes. Do you want Cody to come and take a look?”

  Cody was their lovable but very annoying brother. He managed the family ranch and tried to manage them. He’d also done most of the remodeling at his parents’ home.

  She took one last look around the top floor before moving downstairs. It was time to pull her business brain out of hiding. “I don’t know if Cody’s the right person. I need someone who knows if this place is going to fall down around my ears. Sam might know someone who could help.”

  Sam Delaney, Nicky’s husband and chief executive of their family’s construction company, knew everyone there was to know in the building world. With projects from Great Falls to Denver, Scotson Construction was one of the most successful companies in Montana.

  Nicky pulled her cell phone from her hip pocket. “I’ll give him a call now.” She walked toward the back of the building, smiling as she talked quietly into the phone.

  Emily kept exploring. Most of the fire damage seemed to be focused on the right-hand side of the building. The floorboards were so black and crispy that she didn’t want to step anywhere near them. The fire had burned through the wall linings, leaving a thick layer of soot smeared across most of the pressed tin ceiling.

  The creative, stubborn side of her thought that a scrubbing brush and a dumpster would get rid of most of the mess. Her practical side decided that nothing short of a total remodel would solve this building’s problems. Either way, she’d need plenty of money and a lot of time if the old library was going to become a boutique. And time and money were the two things she was short of.

  Nicky’s feet echoed in the quiet building. “Sam’s making a few phone calls. Why don’t we go to the café? We can have something to drink while we look over the sale and purchase agreement.”

  “Why doesn’t it surprise me that you’ve got all of the paperwork with you?”

  “I can’t help myself.” Nicky grinned. “That’s why you love me so much.”

  Emily buttoned her coat. “It’s just as well one of us knows what they’re doing. I don’t know if I can afford it and I’m already thinking about moving in.”

  “You know more than you think you do. You’ve grown your on-line store from nothing into something special and now you’re ready for the next step. Trust yourself and it will work out fine.”

  “I don’t know if you’re trying to scare me or make me feel better. Let’s go and order coffee before you tell me how much ‘something special’s’ going to cost.”

  “Did I mention that you’re also wise?”

  “Now I’m really worried. You’d better make that a double shot of caffeine in case I pass out in shock.”

  ***

  Alex picked up the newspaper from the table beside him and opened it to the sports section. He figured he might as well do something useful while Gracie used the bathroom. She’d already been twice since they’d arrived at the Café.

  Telling him that it was perfectly normal for a pregnant woman to pee twice in thirty minutes hadn’t helped. And every time she rubbed the side of her stomach he was worried the baby might decide to make an early appearance.

  He’d never had much to do with pregnant women. Especially five-foot-one pregnant women who were all baby and not a lot more. He looked up when he saw a flash of pink polka-dots out of the corner of his eye.

  Gracie glanced at the paper as she sat down. “Godzilla’s done it again?”

  He looked at the picture of the animal that had thrown him. Fifteen hundred pounds of proud Montana bull stared right on back. He hadn’t had much time to get an up close and personal look in Godzilla’s eyes the night he’d been thrown. And if Doc Johnson got his way, he wouldn’t get another chance in a hurry.

  “He threw Danni Marchello in three seconds flat.”

  Gracie picked up her spoon and dipped it into the frothy star on the top of her hot chocolate. “Was he hurt?”

  “Not that they mentioned, but no one’s walked away from Godzilla on their own. I appreciate you bringing me into town today.”

  “I had to come in anyway, so a detour to the hospital didn’t make much difference. So tell me, Mr. World Bull Riding Champion, how do you like being the main attraction at dad’s rodeo school?”

  “It’s not me they want to see.”

  “The school’s been booked solid since you’ve been home.”

  He sat taller in his seat, wincing when his leg cramped. “I was going stir crazy and needed something to do.” He never thought he’d end up teaching bull riding, but after he’d gotten over his sorry ass pride, he’d started to enjoy himself. Over the years, he’d listened and learned from the best bull riders in the country. If passing on that knowledge made a difference, then he was happy to oblige.

  “I hear you’ve had a few unexpected visitors?”

  Alex folded the paper in half and pushed it aside. “If you mean the single women mom keeps talking about, she’s exaggerating.”

  The mischievous spark in Gracie’s eyes made him wince. For some crazy reason, they’d had a constant stream of unattached women finding their way out to his parents’ ranch. If they knew how carefully he dodged anything resembling a relationship, they wouldn’t have wasted their gas getting to Billings.

  He took a gulp of coffee, hoping Gracie got the hint and changed the subject.

  “Six in one day would have to be a state record.”

  He glared across the table. “They wanted to learn barrel racing.”

  “Of course they did.” The beaming smile on Gracie’s face told him she knew differently.

  “We were fully booked,” he muttered. “Have you started your baby classes yet?”

  Gracie gave him a sweet smile. “I’ll let you change the subject this time, but one day you’re going to have to tell me why you never introduce me to your girlfriends.”

  “It might be because there hasn’t been one to introduce.” The trouble with finding out he had a half sister two years ago, was that Gracie needed a whole pile of filling in on their family history. And there were some things he wasn’t inclined to share. Especially to a half sister who reminded him of why he didn’t do happy-ever-after.

  The doorbell jingled and Alex swore the hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention.

  Gracie looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Hi, Nicky. I thought you were heading to Denver this week?”

  Alex turned around and wished he hadn’
t. Emily closed the door to the café and stood beside her sister. The smile on her face disappeared as soon she saw him.

  “The…umm…I changed my schedule.” Nicky glanced at Emily, then back at Gracie. “We just popped in to tell Tess something. I’ll give you a call later.”

  “Hi, Emily. Why don’t you both stay and have a coffee with us?” Gracie asked. “There’s plenty of room at our table. Alex is back in Montana for a while and we’re just catching up on...”

  “The rodeo,” Alex said quickly. If Gracie mentioned his non-existent love life in front of Emily, he’d be out of the café in two seconds flat.

  Gracie frowned at Nicky. “I thought I saw your truck parked down the street. Have you been shopping?”

  Nicky shook her head. “We’ve been looking at…” She looked between her sister and Alex, then at a big envelope in her hands. “Alex, what do you know about commercial property investment in Bozeman?”

  Emily made a strangled noise in the back of her throat.

  Nicky ignored her sister and waited patiently for his answer.

  If he’d been a betting man, he wouldn’t have put money on Nicky asking him about the property market. He was surprised she was even speaking to him. Especially if Emily had told her why they’d broken up.

  He cleared his throat and tried to ignore the blush screaming across Emily’s face. “My brother and I bought a property not far from here about a year ago.” It had cost him more than he’d wanted to pay, but Jacob had told him it was a sure fire winner. His brother had made a fortune developing property and Alex wasn’t about to second-guess his instincts. Especially when those instincts were backed up by a ton of financial forecasts and reports.

  “But you’ve bought other commercial properties?” Nicky wasn’t letting go of whatever bone she was determined to chew. He didn’t like talking about money. The fact that he had enough of it to last a couple of lifetimes wasn’t something he wanted to discuss over coffee.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve bought other buildings, but not in Bozeman.” A blind man could see the smoke signals Emily was sending her sister. Her bright red hair was almost sparking with annoyance. She wanted to be as far away as possible from him and that suited him fine.

  After they’d broken up, he’d spent too many months trying to figure out what he’d done wrong. And when he found out, he’d spent another few months wondering how a woman he thought he’d loved could have had so little trust in him.

  Nicky turned to her sister. “It’s always good to get a second opinion.”

  “Cody and Sam will look at everything. I don’t need other help.”

  Alex felt a knot in his stomach tighten. Emily might as well have yelled from the roof that she didn’t need his help. Didn’t want his help in whatever scheme the two of them were hatching.

  “I know you want to buy it,” Nicky whispered. “You’ve bought and sold more apartments than most people go through in a lifetime. But Alex knows about commercial property. What can it hurt to ask for his advice?”

  “Do you really want me to answer that question?”

  Nicky narrowed her eyes and Emily had the grace to blush.

  “I want to see the contract before I discuss anything with him.” Emily held out her hand.

  Gracie pulled the chair out beside her. “If you two are going to have an argument you might as well do it sitting down. I’m getting a sore neck watching you.”

  Emily bit her bottom lip. “Sorry, Gracie. I’m being rude.”

  Alex noted that the same apology didn’t come his way. But the quick, embarrassed glance she sent toward his shirt almost made up for it.

  Nicky passed over the envelope and Emily took a deep breath before sitting down. She slid the papers onto the table in front of her and ran her finger down the fine print.

  Alex didn’t want to look as though he was butting in on something that was none of his business. But he couldn’t help noticing the purchase and sale agreement Emily was looking at. Or the way her eyes started misting over when she re-read what he assumed was the asking price.

  “What are you buying?” Gracie didn’t have any trouble asking the question working its way around his head.

  Emily closed her eyes for a few brief seconds. When she opened them, Alex swore they’d turned as dark as a prairie storm. “I’m not buying anything.”

  “It’s not that bad.” Nicky pointed at the contract. “It’s a starting price. You know how it works. After we’ve factored in the remodeling costs, we cross this out and make another offer.”

  “Even if we only do the basics, I don’t see how I’ll be able to afford it.”

  “You won’t know until we get someone to have a look. Regardless of what Alex said, he knows enough about commercial property to give us an idea of what it could be worth.” Nicky looked across at Alex with an apology in her eyes. “I spoke to Jacob a few weeks ago.”

  His brother was in serious trouble. Alex didn’t know how his property investments had come up in conversation with someone who was almost a stranger, but he sure as hell was going to find out.

  He leaned forward and saw the frown on Emily’s face. “I might be able to help. Where is it?”

  “It’s the old library building,” she said quickly. “Two stores away. Beside the craft store.”

  Gracie frowned. “You mean the boarded up building? I peeked inside last week when the realtors were looking around. The staircase is amazing.”

  Emily let go of the breath she’d been holding and turned the contract toward Alex. “If you’ve got a few minutes to spare I’d appreciate your opinion.”

  Two years ago he would have done anything for her. He would have spared the rest of his life for her if she’d only given him time to explain what she’d seen. But she hadn’t, and their lives had moved forward in different directions.

  He glanced at the contract, then at Emily. The freckles on her nose were bright against her pale skin. She looked determined and worried and focused on getting answers that she might not want to hear.

  It seemed such a small thing to help her look around a building. But it felt like the beginning all over again. The beginning of something that had nearly destroyed him.

  He picked up the contract and pushed his seat back. “We’d better take a look before Gracie needs to use the bathroom again.”

  “I’m not that bad,” Gracie said as she passed him his crutch. “Wait until this baby gets to full term. Then I’m really going to be in trouble.”

  Emily’s gaze darted between Alex and the crutch he was holding. “I knew you’d hurt yourself, but I thought you’d be okay by now.”

  If he hadn’t been concentrating on flexing his leg, stretching the muscles so that his first steps weren’t painful, he would have laughed. ‘Hurt’ required band-aids and antiseptic. He’d done more than hurt himself. He’d damn near ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

  “It’s nothing.” He headed over to the door and held it open.

  Gracie and Nicky went outside. Emily stopped in front of him. “Thank you. For looking at the building,” she stammered. “And, well…just thanks.”

  Sometimes life had a way of slamming you into a brick wall, knocking all the common sense out of your head in one swift blow. He looked down at Emily and remembered what it had been like between them. The fire and chemistry and total wonder of everything that could have been.

  And then Doris and Jessie, two seventy-if-I’m-a-day women bustled into the café, and the moment was gone.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Alex disappeared toward the back of the old library, muttering something about building regulations and heritage codes. He hadn’t said much as they’d wandered around, just grunted a couple of times and poked and prodded a few floor boards and wall linings.

  Emily felt like a fool. When she’d first seen him, her heart had raced so hard that she’d had to force air into her lungs. And when his gray eyes had landed on hers, the spark of chemistry had all but
knocked her senseless.

  She hadn’t seen him in nearly two years, which said something about the amount of traveling he did around the country. Even though his family lived a few miles east of Billings, most of Montana knew Alex Green’s business quicker than he did. Especially when that business included the latest gossip about Montana’s favorite World Bull Riding Champion.

  Since they’d broken up, Cody had shoved newspaper articles about Alex under her nose, casually keeping her up-to-date with what he was doing. But she didn’t want to hear any of it. She’d focused on creating her online business and a career. Something she could be proud to call her own.

  When Alex’s accident had hit the headlines, she’d refused to go to the hospital with Cody. She’d thought Alex would bounce back like he had all the other times he’d been thrown. But this time had been different, only she’d been too busy ignoring everyone around her to pay much attention to what was going on.

  Alex walked over to the check-out desk, opening the set of plans that Nicky had pulled out of her truck. His eyes skimmed the ceiling, settled briefly on her face before heading up the stairs. The same old zing of chemistry burned between them only this time she wouldn’t let it matter.

  Alex Green lived life like each day was his last. He’d traveled from one rodeo to the next for years. She’d thought that some day it would be different. That one day he’d be happy to stay in one place and make himself a home. And it nearly broke her heart when she saw how wrong she’d been.

  She didn’t know why he’d agreed to look at the building. The entire time they’d been dating he’d never told her about his property investments. Never mentioned that he had any other interests in the world other than riding bulls. And, as it turned out, the buckle bunnies parading around the arenas each night.

  Now here he was, discussing joists and drywall like a regular guy. Anyone listening to him would think he’d been born with a hammer in his hands to match the hatchet in his heart.

  As he moved toward the front door, Emily watched him out of the corner of her eye, stubbornly refusing to believe that he knew more about remodeling than she did. She’d knocked out walls, sanded, painted and tiled four apartments in the last three years. She knew her way around a tool belt and orbital sander and she’d never been more excited about a project.