Forever Cowboy (Montana Brides Book 5) (17 page)

“You’re not helping.”

“That’s the whole idea, little sister. Do you remember when you first arrived in Bozeman with your mom and Cody? You could spot a fake Gucci from a mile away and knew the names of the top twelve fashion houses.”

“I felt like a misfit.”
 

Nicky gave her a quick hug. “You were fourteen years old.”

Emily had been the girl from California with frizzy red hair, weird clothes and her head in the clouds. She’d known nothing about living on a ranch, mucking out stalls, or living in blizzard conditions that lasted for months on end.
 

“I wanted to help you, make you feel welcome,” Nicky said. “But every time I tried you ignored me and did what you wanted to do. Sound familiar?”

Emily couldn’t help the slow grin that spread across her face. “You might be right.”

“I’m more than right. If it hadn’t have been for Michelle Murphy locking you in the girls bathroom at your prom, you still wouldn’t trust me.”

It had taken Emily a long time to forgive Michelle. It was a stupid prank. The six-foot Amazonian cheerleader’s chance to show everyone that she could make the five-foot-three girl with Rodeo Drive clothes disappear. Nicky had come looking for her and kept her company until Cody arrived with an axe from the ranch.
 

Mr Pickles, the school custodian, hadn’t been too thrilled about the damage. Neither had Michelle after they’d given her the bill for fixing the door.

Emily stared at her phone. “I never used to be that bad.”

“What changed?”

“Dad. Me. I didn’t want to come to Montana, but it got easier the longer I was here. When dad turned up four years ago everything went wrong.”

“I know it’s hard. Your father’s got problems, but you can’t make them yours.”

“He’s been staying in Bozeman for the last few days.”

Nicky’s mouth dropped open. “Does Cody know?”

“He warned me not to see him. Alex wanted me to stay with him.”

“Alex knows, too?”

Emily nodded. “We told him everything.”

Nicky bit her bottom lip. “Where’s your dad now?”

“He left this afternoon. He came to the boutique and Alex told him to leave.”

Christopher crawled into the kitchen pushing a toy truck in front of him. Nicky wiped the dribble from his chin. “That must have been difficult.”

Another tear slipped down Emily’s face. “I know he’s not the best dad in the world, but I love him. I just can’t let him into my life.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to shut everyone else out.”

“You mean Alex.”

Nicky shrugged. “He’s not your father. He may not be the right person for you, but unless you trust him you’re never going to know.”

“It’s not Alex so much that I don’t trust. It’s me. Every relationship I’ve had hasn’t lasted more than a few months. My dad comes and goes out of my life like dirty dishwater and I can’t even keep my fish alive.”

“Hercules died?”

Emily nodded. Hercules had been the last of her fish. Ten dead guppies in as many months must have been a world record. Even the pet store owner looked at her sideways when she walked into his store.
 

“I’ll remind you to be extra careful when you babysit Christopher.”

“What am I going to do?”

“I wouldn’t buy another fish in a hurry.”

Emily threw her hands in the air. “You’re not helping. If I can’t figure out what I’m going to do I could miss out on something wonderful.”

“Or someone wonderful.” Nicky sat forward in her chair and Emily sighed. “You could try pushing your comfort zone in a crazy direction. Put yourself in a situation where you have to make decisions fast. You’ll have no choice but to trust yourself and everyone around you.”

“I’m too busy. I’ve got orders coming in from all over the place and we’re getting close to moving my stuff across to the boutique. Alex is about to frame the partition wall in your office and mom keeps finding things in jumble sales for the boutique. I don’t have time for crazy.”
 

Heat hit Emily’s cheeks. A few hours ago she had been crazy. Big time crazy. Crazy enough to knock her socks off and leave her wanting more.
 

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Emily shook her head and tried to think of other crazy things that didn’t involve rippling muscles and lumpy couches. “If crazy is going to happen it has to be something that works with the opening of the boutique. Something big, something…”

“I’ve got it. A fashion show.” Nicky tapped her fingers against the table. “But not just any fashion show. We’ll use the boutique as the stage. Have the models walk down the staircase and wander through the audience. Sam’s got friends in the advertising world. We’ll include some of the VIP guests at Big Sky Resort, make it into a night that no one’s going to forget.”

“I’ve been in fashion shows before. How is this pushing my comfort zone?”

“You’ll be organizing it.”

“I will?” Emily didn’t like the sound of that. She’d seen firsthand how much work was involved and knew she couldn’t do it. Not on her own. “How is a fashion show supposed to help with my trust issues?”

“You’ll be so busy that you won’t be able to do everything. You’ll have to trust other people to follow through and make the show a success.”

“You’re nuts, but I’ll give it a go. Can you do the marketing side of things? Molly might take the photographs. We could use some of the images she shot on Alex’s ranch to start building interest in the show. What do you think?”

Nicky grinned. “I think we’ve got a plan.”

CHAPTER TEN

“You can’t be serious?” Alex held the nail gun to the wall and pulled the trigger. “We’ve still got to finish Nicky’s office and move your things across. If we don’t pass the final inspection, we’ll be here for even longer. It can’t be done, not in the time you’re looking at.”

Emily looked around the top floor of the boutique. Most of the boxes had been emptied and the shelves they’d salvaged from another building were waiting to be filled. Cody and Sam were downstairs, hanging the last of the mirrors. Apart from Nicky’s office, the rest of the work was minor, the finishing details that would make the boutique complete. “It will be good for business. Nicky, Gracie and Tess have offered to be models and I know the senior students at the College would love to be involved.”

Alex wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. They’d all been working hard, pulling together the last details. “Does Trent know that Gracie’s going to be walking down the staircase in six inch heels?”

“Not yet. And she won’t be wearing high heels.” Emily didn’t even know if Gracie would make the fashion show. She was so big that even her doctor was worried that she’d give birth any day. But saying no to Gracie was like standing in front of a grade four tornado. It just didn’t happen.

“Why does it need to happen in three weeks? Couldn’t you leave it until Thanksgiving? There’ll be more people around. Big Sky Resort will be bursting at the seams with women wanting to spend a few hours off the ski slopes.”

Alex gave the wooden framing a tug, then moved across to sheets of drywall stacked against the railing. “Hey, Cody,” he yelled down the stairs. “Come and give me a hand for a minute.”

“I’ll be there in five,” Cody yelled back.
 

“So was that a definite maybe?” she asked.

“You don’t give up, do you?”

“I’m trying not to.”
 

Alex’s face softened, moved from mildly annoyed to majorly interested. “Do you want to make this work?”

Emily’s body melted. She wanted everything. But most of all she wanted Alex. “I want to be happy. I want
you
to be happy. I’m sorry I thought the worst of you yesterday.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.” He moved in close and held her hands. “There’s one good thing that came out of your jealous rage.”

Emily frowned. “I wouldn’t have called it a jealous…”

Alex leaned forward and kissed her. Hard. Then came back for another toe curling kiss that left them both breathless. “You were saying?”

She leaned against him and breathed. “You don’t play fair.”

“I’m not playing,” he whispered.

“Okay, you two. Keep the hot and heavy stuff away from here. Some of us have a work ethic that needs to be maintained.”

Emily stepped away from Alex and grinned at her brother. “Your work ethic only comes into force when you haven’t got a girlfriend.”

Cody threw his hand over his heart. “I’m wounded. You’d better tell me why I’m here otherwise I might go home and wallow in self pity.”
 

“Drywall,” Alex said. “I need a hand to hold it in place.”

“No problem.” Cody helped Alex lift a sheet across to the wooden framing. “Nicky came in a few minutes ago. She said that Flavio is available if you want him to supervise the models, whatever that means.”

Emily clapped her hands and did a happy dance. “That’s awesome. Flavio is the king of the catwalk. What he doesn’t know about pomp and pageantry isn’t worth knowing.”

Cody held the drywall while Alex got his electric drill. “I’m good with models, too. If you need an assistant, I’d do it for nothing, seen as you’re my sister.”

Emily laughed at the innocent expression on her brother’s face. “I’m blown away by your generosity.”

Alex drilled half a dozen screws into the drywall, then glanced at Emily. “You’re sure you can organize a fashion show and still open the boutique on time?”

She crossed her fingers, her toes, and anything else she could think of. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“It looks as though we’ve got two deadlines for completion, then.”

And before Alex could move, Emily threw herself in his arms and held on tight.

Emily turned another page in the album Molly had put together. The photographs of their fashion shoot at the ranch weren’t the standard editorial shots she’d been expecting. The images were whimsical, stunning and so breathtakingly beautiful that she had to blink back the tears that sat heavily on her lashes.

“Oh, my.” Emily swallowed. Gracie glowed from the page. Sunlight danced off her hair, through the sheer fabric of her shawl and in gentle waves over the baby she held in her body. “These are beautiful. I don’t know what to say except thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Molly said. “It was easy to capture the moment, harder to choose which images to add to the album.”

“Are you sure I can’t pay you something toward the cost of the photos? I feel bad accepting these for a couple of dresses.”

“But then they’re not your average dresses either.” Molly smiled at the row of fabric they’d hauled across from Emily’s home. “There’s a pretty pink silk over there that caught my eye. If you’d be open to a suggestion or two, I’d like to help design a dress for a special occasion.”

Emily smiled. “Absolutely.”

Molly nodded and set the album aside. “I’ll send the images to your graphic designer tomorrow. And now onto the fashion parade that Nicky talked so highly about. What is it exactly that you’d be wanting me to help with?”

“I was going to hold a fashion show in my boutique as part of the opening. But I started thinking about Kaylee, the little girl who needs a bone marrow transplant. I thought that a fashion parade with other designers would draw a crowd, pull people into the audience that wouldn’t normally come. We could charge a fee for the designers and the audience. I’d like you to take a photo of each model at the end of the runway.”

“Sounds like a grand way to help. Will it still be in the boutique?”

Emily shook her head. “It’s not big enough, so I made a few phone calls. The Emerson Center in downtown Bozeman had a late cancellation. I’ve booked the fashion show for three week’s time.”

Molly smiled. “You’re not one to muck around. I’ll be in Montana for another month, although not so much in Bozeman. If you give me the dates I’d be honored to help out. Did Alex tell you about the book I’m putting together?”

Emily nodded and tried to ignore the blush on her face. “It’s a great idea.”

“He’s a fine man.”

“When I saw the photo of you and Alex in the newspaper, I thought that you…”

“Don’t be daft,” Molly scolded. “I don’t go pecking at another woman’s man. He did me a favor, although I can’t say it was done gladly. He has an aversion to publicity.”

“He never used to be like that.”

“We get older, we change. Sometimes for the best and sometimes not.” Molly reached for her satchel. “I thought you might want to see the photos of Alex.”

“I don’t need to…”
 

Molly left an album on the table. “Go ahead. Look at your man and tell me what you see.”

“You don’t understand. Alex and I are finding our way. He’s not my man.”
 

Molly pushed the album closer. “Tell me that after you’ve looked at them.”

Emily lifted the cover and stared at the photo in front of her. She turned the page, then the next, spellbound by the emotion, the raw intensity stamped on each image. There was pride, determination and majesty. And something else, something she hadn’t noticed before.
 

She flipped back through the photos and looked again, sure she must be imagining things. It was in the way he held himself, the angle of his head. The shadow in his eyes. The only word she could find to describe it was loneliness.
 

Alex wasn’t lonely. He had friends and family around him. A career that put him in front of thousands of people. But it was there, all the same.

“Look at the last photo,” Molly said quietly.

Emily turned the page. “When did you…”

“At the school play when I first arrived. You didn’t see me, but I saw your chicken feathers.”

Molly had cropped the image, zoomed in until just their heads and shoulders filled the page. Alex’s hand brushed Emily’s face, wiping a feather off her check. They were looking into each other’s eyes. They were happy, relaxed. Connected to each other in a way that went beyond the lens of the camera.

“Do you see?” Molly asked.

Emily closed the album and ran her hand over the cover. “Alex will be leaving soon. What’s in the photo doesn’t mean a thing.”