Forever Together (29 page)

“Are you sure you’ve remembered your tissues? It’s
cold outside and you know what Doctor T said.” Anna sounded on the
verge of hysteria.

Kate stared out of the side window of her
dad’s truck. Kaylee was sitting on her right and Dan was on the far
side. They’d piled into Tom’s truck twenty minutes earlier, ready
to take Kaylee into Bozeman for her first day back at school.

The streets were packed with other parents
taking their children to school, trucks making deliveries, and
people heading to work.

Anna fussed in the front seat, handing a
bunch of tissues back to Kaylee. “Take these just in case.”

Kate squeezed Kaylee’s hand and gave her a
reassuring smile. “It’s going to be all right, kiddo.”

“I know,” Kaylee whispered back.

“Remember that your teacher said it was okay
to come home early if you’re feeling tired. Your dad and I will be
at home all day. Have you still got the piece of paper with our
phone number written on it?”

Tom coughed. “Anna, it’s okay. Kaylee will be
fine. We’ve already been through your list three times. She has
everything she needs.”

Anna took a deep breath. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Tom said. “Kaylee’s going to
school, not boarding a plane to Siberia.”

“But it’s…”

“I know honey. It will be okay.”

Anna sat back and sighed.

Dan leaned forward. “You know this ride would
have gone a lot quicker if you’d let me bring my patrol car. We
could have had everyone at the school in ten minutes.”

“With lights and sirens, Uncle Dan?”

“Of course. You could even have tooted my
horn.”

Kate rolled her eyes at her fiancé. “That’s
what you say to all the pretty girls.”

“Only the one that counts.” He winked at Kate
and Kaylee burst into giggles.

“Uncle Dan’s doing it again, daddy.”

“What’s that, poppet?”

“Saying silly things to Kate. But I don’t
mind ‘cause I’m going to be their flower girl.”

Kate grinned at her
pint-sized
miracle. They’d spent the last nine months
choosing the perfect dress, the perfect
hairstyle
, and the perfect shade of lipstick for Kaylee’s
flower girl outfit. She gave Kaylee a hug and thanked God
everything had worked out. That Kaylee had made a full recovery and
life as they knew it was slowly returning to normal.

“
Oh my Lord, would you look at that.”
Anna’s hushed voice had everyone in the back seat leaning
forward.

Tom pulled up outside Bozeman Elementary
School and stared at the parents, teachers and children lining the
sidewalk. They were waving banners in all shapes and colors,
welcoming Kaylee back to school.

“I’m going to cry,” Anna said as she pulled
her box of tissues closer.

“You’ll start me crying soon,” Tom mumbled as
he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket.

Kate opened her door and everyone started
cheering. She unbuckled Kaylee’s
seat
belt
and helped her out of the truck. The noise was
deafening as they all moved together toward the school’s front
gate.

The principal stepped forward. A quiet hush
descended as everyone strained to hear what she had to say.

Kate heard what sounded like a fog horn
cutting through the quiet morning air. She turned to her right and
saw a bright pink scooter hurtling along the sidewalk.

“She’s going to have an accident one of these
days,” Dan whispered in Kate’s ear.

His warm breath tickled her ear and sent
goose bumps dancing along her skin. “You’d better tell Amos that,”
she whispered back. “He might help curb grandma’s daredevil
tendencies.”

Amos Butcher was Lily Jennings’ beau. They’d
been dating for two months, and as Lily put it, they weren’t
getting any younger so they were making hay while the sun still
shone. Kate didn’t want to even think about what that meant.

“Wait for me,” Grandma yelled along the
street. She pulled up beside Tom and Anna and smiled. “Have I
missed anything?”

“You’ve arrived just in time,” Anna said as
she passed Lily her box of tissues.

The principle turned to Kaylee. “We want you
to know that we’ve missed you. We’re very happy you’re back at
school and feeling better. Now let’s go inside before we all freeze
to death.” Another cheer rang out and Kaylee smiled.

Toby wiggled free of the crowd and came and
stood beside Kaylee, holding her hand in a tight grip that told
everyone he wasn’t letting go. He pulled her close, staring at
Kaylee with so much pride that it brought tears to Kate’s eyes.

“I think he’s smitten,” Dan whispered.

“Ssh…” Kate said. “It’s sweet.”

“It won’t be in a few years’ time. Tom’s
going to have kittens when Kaylee wants to go on her first
date.”

Kate smiled as she looked across at Tom and
Anna. The love and happiness shining from their faces lit the air
around them. “They’ll remember this day forever,” Kate said. “It’s
a new beginning. A new beginning for everyone.”

Dan pulled her to his side and kissed her
gently on the lips. “That it is, Kathleen Jennings. Welcome to our
new life.”

THE END

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Forever
Together
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Forever and a
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Jordan
and Sarah’s story,
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BOOK SEVEN IN THE MONTANA BRIDES SERIES

“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’d started 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.”