Forever Wishes (Montana Brides, Book 4) Read online

  “Of course it’s possible to be friends,” she said. “We’re grown adults. Anything’s possible.”

  Jake didn’t look convinced. He stood up, clearing away the plates. “Okay, friend. Do you still want to go out to dinner and the movies on Saturday night? I can pick you up at six.”

  Erin sighed. It was so unfair. Didn’t he know what wonderful genes he could pass on? “Sounds great, but it’s my treat for your Superman save on Wednesday.”

  “I’m all yours then.”

  She hoped so.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Erin sat on the front steps of her porch with an ice-cold lemonade clutched in her hands. After spending a couple of hours in the garden, it seemed like the perfect way to toast a good day’s work. Tilting her face, she closed her eyes, soaking in the sunshine. Her mind drifted, enjoying the sound of her neighbors going about their normal Saturday afternoon activities.

  “What would happen if I kissed the sleeping Princess?”

  Erin jumped. Lemonade flew everywhere and she clonked her head on the edge of the porch post.

  “Ouch!” Rubbing the side of her head, she glared at her intruder.

  Jake winced as he came across to inspect the damage to the post. “It could have been a lot worse. You only managed to bruise the edge of the wood.”

  “Jake Williams, I swear if you come any closer you’ll wear what’s left of my lemonade.” She hoped the glare she sent him looked like she meant business.

  He laughed. “You look like a cat that’s been fed the wrong grits. A stately display of righteous indignation and cuteness, all wrapped up in dirt and cotton.” He crossed his hand over his heart, “I humbly apologize for any bodily discomfort I may have caused.”

  Erin kept rubbing her head.

  With a wicked grin he added, “Do you want me to kiss it better?”

  “Keep those lips to yourself, mister. That offer got me bruised and battered in the first place.” With a heartfelt sigh, she took a moment to appreciate the man standing in front of her. He looked super sexy in either a dinner suit or blue Lycra, but what he was wearing today left them both for dust.

  His blue eyes sparkled mischievously beneath the rim of his cowboy hat. Her gaze took in every contour of his body, deliciously outlined by white cotton and dark blue denim. “Aren’t you a tad early for dinner?”

  He pushed his hat back, grinning at her attempt to divert his attention away from kissing her better. “And here I was, thinking you’d be thrilled to see an old friend. I’ve got a basket of food in the trunk. It’s a great night, so I thought we could have a picnic before we go to the movies.”

  She couldn’t help the smile that lit her face. “As long as you give me a few minutes to get cleaned up. I’ve got enough dirt on me to last a lifetime.” She stood on the top step, dusting her hands on the seat of her pants.

  Jake moved closer. “We could always skip the park and have dinner here.”

  Snorting in the most unladylike way she could manage, Erin grinned at the invitation in his eyes. “Dream on, Superman. You can’t promise me a picnic and then not deliver. Give me twenty minutes and then you can take me anywhere.”

  “I wish it was that simple,” he sighed.

  Leaning forward, she kissed his cheek. “It could be. It just takes more than twenty minutes.”

  ***

  “What’s it going to be? A chick flick or a horror?” Jake watched Erin chew her bottom lip as she studied the movie program in front of her.

  She looked at the posters strung along the walls of the theater, wincing at the bloody body parts advertising the horror movie. With a troubled frown, she said, “If I went to see that movie I’d have nightmares for the next week.”

  His gaze shot to the only other choice. A romantic comedy. With a groan of impending doom, he grabbed her hand, pulling her across to the ticket counter. “In that case, the chick flick it is.”

  In his humble opinion, the chocolate coated ice creams turned out to be the best part of the movie. He knew he was in trouble the moment he stepped inside the theater. Only a handful of people sitting down were men. If it hadn’t been for Erin pulling him along the aisle, he would have turned tail, running toward the nearest exit.

  By the end of the movie he’d almost fallen asleep. Two hours of ho-hum laughs and enough lip smacking to last a lifetime had left him yawning in his seat.

  Next time, he got to choose the movie.

  As they walked out of the theater, he looked at a couple of men and gave them sympathetic nods. He figured they’d either been brow beaten by their wives to come and see the movie, or their girlfriends had dragged them along by their collar. He felt slightly more empowered as the silent bonding moment passed undetected by the crowd of females, chatting away non-stop with their girlfriends.

  Erin took one look at him and burst out laughing. “At least you didn’t start snoring.”

  “You owe me big time.” He held her hand as they moved out of the theater. “I’m looking for at least half a dozen marshmallows on a hot chocolate after that movie.”

  “Follow me. I know a place that sells the best mugs of hot chocolate in Bozeman.”

  ***

  As Jake pulled out of the parking lot, Erin gave him directions to Maisy’s Chocolate Café. Even though he’d yawned his way through the movie she’d loved it. The theater had been full of women who had come to have a good laugh and enjoy Steven Adams, the latest male actor setting hearts a flutter in Hollywood.

  She’d never been to a movie where everyone clapped, cheered and booed at the same time. By the end of the night, there weren’t many dry eyes in the room. The handful of men that had come to the movie seemed to take all the hormonal women in their stride. Even Jake had seemed happy to ignore the sniffles following them out the door.

  As they walked into the Café, he put his arm around her waist. “Remember, six marshmallows. I need the energy after that marathon effort.”

  “It wasn’t that bad. At least the man got his woman in the end.”

  “Yeah, after he nearly died in the woods trying to find her. Would you take off into the wilderness just to prove you could walk home in conditions that would keep a polar bear at home?”

  “If it got me a night under the stars with Steven Adams I might consider it.”

  “Here I was, thinking you were such a sensible person. How disappointed can one guy be?”

  Erin laughed. “A bit of adventure in a girl’s life is a good thing.”

  “Hold that thought for later,” he whispered.

  After they’d ordered their drinks, they debated what constituted ‘a bit of adventure’.

  “Maybe I can interest you in an adventurous weekend in two weeks time?”

  The gleam in Jake’s eyes made her smile. After some of the more bizarre examples of adventure he’d come up with, she didn’t have a clue what this brainwave might involve.

  “How does a rustic weekend at a camp with thirty teenagers sound?”

  “I like the rustic part, but I don’t know about the teenagers. For a man who doesn’t want a family, you sure manage to fill your life with plenty of kids.”

  A wicked grin slipped across his face. “I must have hidden depths. Besides, these kids belong to someone else.”

  “You’re in denial, Jake Williams.”

  “Only in some things.”

  Heat scorched along Erin’s cheeks. Burying her face over the top of her chocolate, she hoped he didn’t notice.

  “It’s our first weekend at Camp Discovery. There’ll be horse-riding, kayaking, rappelling and all kinds of other activities going on. We’ve got counselors organized to help the kids, but we need extra volunteers to give them a hand.”

  “Do you know how much mischief thirty teenagers could get up to?”

  “That’s why I’m calling in all favors. Lucy and her son Ethan are coming with me. Scott would normally be there, but he’s going to a family thing with Cindy. I could pick you up on my way through.”


  Erin debated the merits of a weekend away with Jake versus the chaos a group of teenagers could create. She didn’t have anything else planned and it would be fun to see how Jake related to the kids.

  Trying not to appear too eager, she took a few minutes to think about her reply. She’d do a whole lot worse than help at the camp if it meant spending a weekend away with him.

  “It sounds like an easy trade-off for your Superman performance at the library.”

  “You mean you’d forsake Superman’s fringe benefits for time with someone else’s kids?”

  She grinned at him from across the table.

  “My ego is now squashed to a pulp.”

  He didn’t look like his ego had been squashed to anything. “A weekend with you and your teenagers it is.” Leaning forward, she whispered, “We could discuss some of those fringe benefits later.”

  He sent a beaming, dimple revealing smile, in her direction.

  The hormonal teenagers might be the least of Erin’s worries. An overactive imagination about the man of steel might be the downfall of this librarian yet.

  ***

  By the following weekend, Erin knew her old-fashioned friendship with Jake had taken a turn for the worse. He’d arrived early with Nicky and Sam to start work on clearing her backyard. Three hours after they’d started, Jake kept her body busy lugging tree branches toward a truck, and her imagination busy with a whole lot of other activities.

  By the end of the day, she felt like her muscles had been stretched on a medieval torture rack. Sweat trickled down her spine and she was covered in leaves and twigs from the plants they’d yanked out of the ground. She hadn’t had so much fun in ages.

  “I can’t believe you talked us into taming the jungle you call your backyard.” Nicky arched her back, staring at the pile of trash they still needed to move. “I’m going to need a massage just so I can walk upright tomorrow.”

  Sam laughed, half hidden behind an armful of dead branches. “That’s what you’ve got me for. Move your butt woman or you’re going to wear what I’ve got in my arms.”

  Nicky jumped toward Erin and they both helped Sam lift the load of branches onto the back of the truck.

  Jake switched off the chainsaw and Erin glanced across to where he was working. “Follow me, Nicky. Jake looks as though he’s ready for us to grab the next lot of branches.”

  A groan followed her as she moved toward the back fence. Jake had been wielding his chainsaw like a knight brandishing his sword, cutting down any tree in the path of landscaping perfection.

  Taking his safety glasses off, he laughed at the expression on their faces. “You both look as though you want to sabotage my chainsaw. Don’t worry, I’ve got one more tree to trim and then I’m done.”

  “Thank goodness for that,” Nicky sighed.

  Grabbing an armful of wood, Erin started hauling it toward the truck.

  Jake grinned at Nicky’s frowning face. “Half an hour tops and then we’ll be finished.”

  “That’s what you said twenty minutes ago,” Nicky groaned, “and I’m still knee-deep in trash.”

  Jake left the chainsaw on the ground and walked past them lugging a huge branch behind him. “Think of it as training for your next shopping spree.”

  “They don’t need any training for that.” Sam laughed. “After what I saw going into Nicky’s parents’ house the other night she’s already got the gold medal in retail therapy.” He wandered back for another load, winking at Nicky on the way through.

  “Christmas isn’t that far away,” Nicky said. “If you want to be on Santa’s gift list you’ve got to be nice.”

  “It’s still seven months away, but you can always show me how nice you want me to be,” he yelled from the back fence.

  Erin laughed at the love-sick expression on Nicky’s face. “Keep it decent, you two. I’m going inside to order pizza.”

  “Make sure you order double meat lovers.” Nicky grinned. “Sam’s going to need all the energy he can get by the time I get through showing him how to be nice. Jake could probably do with a few calories too.”

  It was Erin’s turn to blush. “You’re a bad influence on me.”

  “Nope. I’ll leave that privilege to Jake. From the way he looks at you I’d say he’s got some pretty wild plans all of his own.”

  A quick glance down the yard made Erin hotfoot it inside for the phone. Her six-months at tops man was hard at work, trimming the last tree and making her heart squeeze tight at the rightness of him being there.

  Standing on the deck with the phone in her hand, she gazed at what they’d done. She could actually see the boundary fence. Apart from a large pile of branches and leaves still to be loaded onto the truck, it looked incredible. The wilderness of untamed weeds, overgrown trees, and trash, collected like treasure by her home’s previous owner, had disappeared.

  Jake glanced up from the fence. “What do you think?” he yelled.

  “Amazing,” she yelled back. In more ways than one.

  ***

  On the Friday afternoon before camp, Erin sat on her front porch waiting for Jake. She’d packed sunscreen, heaps of clothes, a book, and more than one bar of chocolate for emergencies. And the most comfortable sleeping bag she could find.

  Right on cue he pulled up outside her house, grinning when he saw her suitcase. The large white bag had brown vinyl splodges all over it and a cartoon face painted on the outside. It looked like a happy heifer and made her smile every time she packed clothes in it.

  “Mighty fine bag you have there, ma’am. Mind if I round it up into the wagon?”

  She laughed as he cautiously slung it under the canopy of his pickup. “Don’t worry, it’s harmless. I bought it so I could find it quickly on the conveyor belt at airports.”

  “I don’t think anyone would ever mistake your bag for someone else’s.” He slid into the driver’s seat. “Let’s go and get Lucy and Ethan.”

  Erin was nervous about meeting Jake’s sister and nephew. He hadn’t talked much about them, apart from the fact that Lucy’s husband had died a few years ago.

  Twenty minutes out of town, Jake turned down a dirt driveway. “Welcome to the Williams’ Ranch.”

  Acres of alfalfa swayed in the afternoon breeze, creating a living ocean of green around them. Further toward the mountains a plume of white rose high in the air, scattering dust and debris into the clear blue Montana sky.

  “Does your sister manage the ranch on her own?”

  Jake shook his head. “Our neighbor leases most of the land.” He hesitated, then carried on. “I’d just started working in Los Angeles when dad died. I couldn’t come back and manage the ranch, so Mom sold our cattle and worked out an arrangement with the Taylor’s.”

  “That must have been a hard time.” From the look on his face, she’d say it had been more than a hard time.

  “Mom and dad always thought I’d take over the ranch, but I couldn’t see myself living in Montana for the rest of my life.”

  “What made you come back?”

  “Scott and mom.”

  Erin’s heart plummeted. She wondered if this was his way of telling her he didn’t plan on sticking around. That his stay in Bozeman would last about as long as it took him to sort out his family problems.

  “Are you planning on staying?”

  Jake glanced across the cab, a smile replacing the frown she’d seen earlier. “I’m not planning on going anywhere. Besides, I’m getting used to the slower pace. It beats commuting between Los Angeles and Bozeman.”

  It wasn’t the most romantic thing Erin had ever heard, but she’d take what she could get. At least he didn’t plan on leaving in the next few months.

  “And I’ve heard the public library’s one of the best in Montana.”

  She smiled. “It must have something to do with our preschool program. Superheroes are lining up to conquer the world from our parking lot.”

  “Lucky you. Who’s visiting next?”

  “
The Incredible Hulk.” Some not so subtle arm-twisting had been needed to get Dan Carter, the Deputy of Police, into the costume. Between a children’s librarian who wouldn’t take no for an answer and more than one box of muffins, he’d finally relented.

  Erin sat a little taller in her seat when Lucy’s home became more than a blur at the end of the driveway. The two-story ranch house looked as though it had been built more than a few generations ago. A wide porch wrapped around the wooden building and flowers cascaded over the top of large tubs set either side of the front door.

  Sitting on the grass in front of the house were three bright purple cases and a little boy with a big grin on his face. He had a mop of dark hair and bright blue eyes that were shining with excitement.

  As soon as the truck came to a standstill, the little boy raced to the driver’s door, jumping up and down so fast that Erin got giddy watching him.

  “I’m ready, Uncle Jake. Time to go to camp.”

  Jake opened his door and lifted Ethan into his arms. “Where’s mom?”

  “She took Mad Max to the barn. The Taylor’s are going to take him back to their place. They’re going to feed him and make sure he gets plenty of exercise while we’re away.”

  “Did you warn them about the slobber?”

  Ethan nodded. “Mrs. Taylor said that Mr. Taylor slobbers, too. And that if she can look after one man with bad habits, then a little dog won’t worry her.”

  Jake ruffled Ethan’s hair. “It sounds like Mrs. Taylor knows what she’s talking about.” He turned toward his truck. “Ethan, this is my friend, Erin. She’s coming to Camp Discovery with us.”

  Ethan lifted his hand in a friendly wave. “Do you have a dog?”

  Erin shook her head. “No dog. But my neighbor’s cat visits me nearly every day. Her name’s Tinka and she has white and orange stripes like a tiger.”

  Ethan’s eyes popped open. “I like cats, too. Do you think there’ll be a cat at camp?”

  Jake opened the back passenger door and lifted Ethan into his seat. “I don’t know about cats, but you’ll find lots of birds and squirrels. Maybe even a hawk.”