Forever And A Day (Montana Brides, Book #7)
Read Forever And A Day (Montana Brides, Book #7) Online
Authors: Leeanna Morgan
Tags: #Contemporary, #Romance, #Fiction, #Forever Love, #Inspirational, #Bachelor, #Single Woman, #Hearts Desire, #Series, #Montana Brides, #Western, #Cowboys, #Ranch Vacation, #Business, #Bozeman Mo., #Computer Program's Designer, #Cattle Ranch, #Bride, #Triple L Ranch, #Bridesmaid
FOREVER AND A DAY
Montana Brides Series, Book 7
by Leeanna Morgan
Copyright © 2015 Leeanna Morgan
Amazon Edition
ISBN 978-0-9941138-8-7
Published by Rogan Press
For more information visit
http://www.leeannamorgan.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is co-incidental.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the author.
About this Book
Running a successful ranch vacation business means everything to Jordan McKenzie. But his wide grin and easy charm aren’t going to get him out of the mess he’s in this time. He’s a desperate man on a tight time frame and Sarah Thornton is the only woman who can give him what he needs.
Sarah wasn’t looking for love. She’d been down that road before and her low life fiancé stomped on her heart and stole the computer program she’d designed. Working on a cattle ranch was supposed to give her a year away from the City and time to sort her life out. But Jordan changed things, complicated her life, left her wondering why she’d ever thought Montana would be good for her.
With more at stake than a broken heart, Sarah has to decide if she’s ready for what Jordan wants. Because he wants her - for forever and a day.
If this is the first time you have read a
Montana Brides
story, you can easily read each book as a standalone.
If you would like to know more about me or my books, please go to my website
www.leeannamorgan.com
and sign up to my newsletter. Happy reading!
Other Contemporary Romances by
Leeanna Morgan:
(All series are linked)
Montana Brides:
Book 1: Forever Dreams
(Gracie and Trent)
Book 2: Forever in Love
(Amy and Nathan)
Book 3: Forever After
(Nicky and Sam)
Book 4: Forever Wishes
(Erin and Jake)
Book 4.5 Forever Santa
(A Montana Brides Christmas Novella)
Book 5: Forever Cowboy
(Emily and Alex)
Book 6: Forever Together
(Kate and Dan)
Book 7: Forever and a Day
(Sarah and Jordan)
The Bridesmaids Club:
Book 1: All of Me
(Tess and Logan)
Book 2: Loving You
(Annie and Dylan)
Book 3: Head Over Heels
(Sally and Todd)
Book 4: Sweet on You
(Molly and Jacob)
Emerald Lake Billionaires:
Book 1: Sealed with a Kiss
(Rachel and John)
Book 2: Playing for Keeps
(Sophie and Ryan)
Book 3: Crazy Love
(Holly and Daniel)
The Protectors:
Book 1: Safe Haven
(Hayley and Tank)
Book 2: Just Breathe
(Kelly and Tanner)
Book 3: Always
(Mallory and Grant)
Book 4: The Promise
(Ashley and Matthew)
CHAPTER ONE
“I’m in trouble.” Jordan leaned toward Tess, the owner of Angel Wings Café, hoping no one heard the desperation in his voice.
“Shouldn’t you be having this conversation with your brother?” Tess slid a couple of muffins into a paper bag and pushed them across the counter.
“It’s not funny.” Only he wished it was. But unless his brother had developed a talent for cooking, even Trent wouldn’t be able to get him out of the mess he was in. “Trent’s taken Gracie and Jessica to Los Angeles. I’ve got a family of five arriving in two days’ time for a ranch vacation and no one to cook their meals.”
“Where’s Mrs. Davies?”
“She’s gone to look after her sister and won’t be back for a couple of weeks.”
“Can’t one of the other ranch hands help?”
“Frank’s got the best baking skills of all of us, but he’s limited by what he can throw in the microwave.” Jordan hoped Tess would take pity on him and loan him her part-time baker. There wasn’t one food group that Annie didn’t know how to cook and he needed her on the ranch.
He smiled at Tess, using the dimple in his cheek for extra leverage. “What about Annie?” If he didn’t find someone soon, the Buchanans wouldn’t be able to come. Then he’d have other cancelations to handle before Mrs. Davies, their housekeeper, made it back to Bozeman.
“I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work.” Tess shooed him away while she served the next person in line.
He liked Tess and he liked what she’d created inside her café. The food was great and the atmosphere was relaxing. It was about as different from the ice cream parlor that used to be here as anything he’d ever seen.
He waited until the last person had paid their bill before stepping forward. She’d have to give him credit for perseverance. He was a desperate man and he’d do nearly anything for his business.
“I can’t help you, Jordan. Annie only works mornings and Kate does a few hours in the afternoon. Even if all of us were able to help, we wouldn’t be able to keep up with what we need for the café and do the meals for the ranch. Have you thought about putting a notice in the newspaper?”
“By the time it’s published and I go through all of the applicants, Mrs. Davies will be home. Please, Tess. It’s only for two weeks.”
Tess crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You can put that dimple away because it’s not working.”
“Not even a little bit?”
Tess laughed. “Maybe a little, but the answer’s still no. What if you put a poster in the front window? There might be someone looking for work.”
Jordan wasn’t holding out much hope of that happening, but he didn’t have a choice. “I’ll head across to the library and use one of their computers. Can I bring the poster straight back after I’ve finished?”
“You bet. I’ll even give you a glowing reference if anyone asks.”
And that, thought Jordan, was probably the best he could hope for. He’d make a few extra posters for the other stores nearby and tape them to their front windows.
Then he’d go to the bookstore and look for a recipe book for beginners.
***
Sarah stared at the poster in the front window of Angel Wings Café. In a few minutes, she’d be meeting Tess and Sally for coffee. She didn’t have much time before Sally arrived, but it would be enough to ask Tess about the short-term position on the Triple L Ranch.
For the last year, she’d been working on Alex Green’s ranch, cooking for the ranch hands and keeping the place clean and tidy. It wasn’t what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, but she was happy. She had a savings account that was slowly growing and a lot of ideas about what she’d do with that money when the time was right.
The doorbell jingled as she entered the café.
Tess turned toward her with a smile. “You’re the first to arrive. What can I get you?”
Sarah grinned. They had a competition to see how many coffee combinations Tess could make in less than ninety seconds. So far Tess had won each round, but Sarah had a feeling this one might tip the balance.
“I’ll have a grande decaf, extra-hot soy Americano with extra foam.”
Tess raised her eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
They’d been down this road before, too. Tess would try and psych her out of a coffee she thought would take too long to make. “I’m positive. It’s a big one,” she whispered.
Tess shook her head. “You’re going to lose.”
Sarah grinned at her friend. “We’ll see. When you’re done figuring out how to make my coffee, you can tell me about the job you’ve got advertised in your front window.”
“Are you interested?”
“I’m doing the same type of thing on Alex’s ranch, so working at another ranch shouldn’t be a problem. I could make lunch and dinner for both places at the same time. It’s just the housework that might suffer.”
“And we all know how much you enjoy housework,” Tess said.
“My expertise is baking, not cleaning the windows.” Sarah pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and flicked to the stopwatch app. “Are you ready to show me how awesome you are?”
“After I’ve whipped up this coffee I’ll tell you about the Triple L. And if you promise not to sulk because I won, I might even tell you about Jordan.”
“Who?”
“Jordan McKenzie.” Tess looked at the coffee machine, then opened the fridge and took out the soy milk. “He manages the ranch vacation business on the Triple L.”
Sarah frowned. “Are you telling me this to distract me from what you’re doing? Making my coffee without starting the stopwatch has to break at least one rule.”
“I didn’t know we had rules.” Tess grinned. “I wouldn’t dream of cutting a few seconds off the finish time.” She flexed her fingers and rolled her shoulders. “Okay. I’m ready to blow you away with my coffee-making prowess.”
Sarah held her finger above the start button. “I’ll wish you luck because you’re going to need it. On your mark…get set…go!”
Tess’ hands flew in front of the coffee machine, packing the espresso grounds down, twisting the filter onto the machine before letting the fresh espresso dribble into the mug below. “How am I going for time?”
“Forty-five seconds.”
Tess grabbed the carton of soy milk, heated and frothed it in the machine. With the other hand, she poured hot water into the espresso, added the frothed milk and yelled, “Stop.”
Sarah looked at the top of her coffee. “You even did a pretty flower in the foam.”
“I aim to please. How did I go?”
“One minute, twenty-eight seconds. You won again.”
Tess high-fived Sarah before pushing the mug across the counter. “You’re going to have to come up with a weird combination to beat this barista.”
The doorbell jingled and Sally walked into the café. She sniffed the air. “What coffee did you make today?”