Forever Dreams (Montana Brides) (26 page)

As soon their divorce was final she’d be leaving Bozeman with his heart and half his ranch clutched in her hands.

Gracie walked with Karen along the main street of Bozeman, gazing at the chalk drawings on the sidewalk. A group of school children giggled as they added finishing touches to colorful masterpieces in front of them. Gracie stopped to admire a rather ferocious looking grizzly bear with pink fur.
 

“Here you go. Time to draw our pictures.” Karen handed Gracie a box of chalk and they bent down to draw in the afternoon sunshine.
‘Chalk on the Walk’ was one of the fun activities the arts festival committee organized every year. Judging by the number of pictures linked along the sidewalk, half of Bozeman had added their drawings to the ground.

“What did you end up buying when I disappeared into the changing rooms?” Karen picked up a yellow piece of chalk. A huge golden ball appeared in the middle of her sidewalk square.

Heat crept along Gracie’s face. She’d met Karen in town earlier for a shopping spree that had left her feeling a little lightheaded. Seeing Karen’s shopping prowess in action was something she wouldn’t forget in a hurry. Gracie’s credit card had only given a slight tweak at the purchases she’d made. Karen’s credit card almost ran away in horror.
 

“I decided to buy a new nightie,” Gracie mumbled. Except she didn’t think she’d be doing much sleeping when Trent saw the babydoll lingerie she’d bought. She hadn’t meant to buy anything, but she couldn’t resist the soft lilac silk or the way the lace bodice clung to her body. The red satin slip with black lace trim that made its way onto the counter had been an impulse buy. Gracie wasn’t given to impulse buys, but then she’d never been one to buy babydoll lingerie either. Trent McKenzie had a lot to answer for.

 
Karen smiled at the picture Gracie drew. “I like your cowboy. Reminds me of a certain son of mine.”

Gracie gave up trying to hide her flaming face. “It might be the only time when I can put Trent exactly where I want him.”

 
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. The way he looks at you, I think you could wrap him around your little finger without even trying.”

 
Stopping to fan her hot face with her hand, Gracie glanced up the street. Kristina Green was walking toward them, sunhat perched on her head and a smile on her face. The smile fell straight to her shoes the moment she saw Gracie.

Karen looked up. “Hi, Kristina. Have you come to draw on the sidewalk?”

Kristina’s gaze shot to their pictures. “No. I’ve come into Bozeman for something else. You look awfully busy so I’ll leave you to your drawings.”

“Gracie and I are nearly finished.” Karen stood up and rubbed her hands together. Chalk dust floated in the air. “Do you want to come and have a coffee with us?”

“Maybe another time,” Kristina said. “I’ve got an appointment that I’m already late for.”

Karen frowned. “Okay, well…another time then.”

Kristina darted a quick look in Gracie’s direction then hustled down the street.
 

Gracie would have bet a hundred dollars that there wasn’t a smile to be seen anywhere near Kristina’s face now. “I think it’s me.”
 

“What do you mean?” Karen asked.

She stood up, wiping her hands along the side of her jeans. “It’s me that’s causing the problem. I don’t think she likes me very much.”

“Nonsense. There’s not one thing
not
to like about you. I saw Kristina last week and she asked all sorts of questions about why you were here. She didn’t seem the least bit worried about anything. I don’t know what has gotten into the woman.”

Gracie’s gaze shot to Karen. “I thought Kristina and Jim had gone on holiday for a few weeks?”

“No, they’ve been at home since Jim got back from Texas. They’ve had their hands full with the rodeo school.”

It didn’t take much to work out that Trent McKenzie had been deliberately telling Gracie a bunch of fibs. He hadn’t been helping her. He’d been leading her away from Kristina and Jim. Of all the rotten things anyone could have done, this had to be the worst.
 

Karen picked her shopping bags off the sidewalk. “She’s probably heading over to the library.”

“Why would she be going there?”

“Jim’s giving a talk about his life on the rodeo circuit and the school they run. It’s part of a community education program the library runs each year.”

“What time does it start?”
 

Karen glanced down at her watch. “In about half an hour.”
 

“I think I’ll go and listen, too.”
 

“That’s a great idea. You can take Trent as well.”

Gracie looked sharply at Karen. “Trent?”

“Walking straight toward us.”

Gracie stared down the street. Trent was indeed heading toward them and not looking anywhere near his normal sunny self. Funny that.
 

He stopped in front of Gracie and raked his hand through his hair. “We need to talk. Mom, do you mind if I take Gracie away?”

“Of course I don’t mind, we were just about to leave anyway. Is everything okay?”

“It will be. I’ll give you a call later.” His gaze landed on the parcels at Gracie’s feet. “Are these yours?”

She nodded, not wanting to go anywhere with him, but knowing what she needed to say couldn’t be said in front of his mom. “Thanks for the shopping trip, Karen.”

“Anytime. Take care with that son of mine.”

Gracie scowled.
 

Trent grabbed her hand, pulling her down the street in double quick time. “Where’s the Nissan parked?”

Gracie pulled him to a stop. “Whatever you’ve got to say you can tell me here. I only came with you because I didn’t want your mom to hear what I’ve got to say.”

Trent looked down the street and frowned at the crowd of people still drawing on the sidewalk. “What’s wrong?”
 

Nothing that a good cry wouldn’t fix, Gracie thought. But she wasn’t going there. “I was about to ask you the same thing. Did you get our divorce papers organized?”

“Adam started the paperwork, but he said you’ll need to organize your own lawyer.” His boots scuffed the ground.
 

“I don’t need my own lawyer.”

“Yes you do. We need to work out a property settlement.”

Of all the things she thought he’d say, that didn’t even come close. “I don’t want your property. I want a divorce.”

Grey eyes snapped at her. “You don’t have a choice.”

Blue eyes snapped back. “Yes, I do.” Gracie rummaged around in her handbag, pulling out a pen and a scrunched up piece of paper. In big bold letters she wrote, “I, Gracie McKenzie, do not want any property or assets that Trent McKenzie owned before or after I married him.” She added the date and her signature and waved it in front of her husband’s nose. “Give that to our lawyer. Now are you going to tell me what else is churning you up or do I have to guess?”
 

Trent stared at the piece of paper in her hands.
 

 
“It won’t do much good hanging in mid air.” Gracie shoved it in his pocket.

 
“I think I’ve found your father.”
 

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Who is he?”

“Jim Green. Kristina’s husband.”

Gracie blinked once, then again, just to make sure the water gathering behind her eyes didn’t make it to her face. It didn’t work.
 

 
“I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner. Don’t cry.”

She shrugged Trent’s hand off her arm. It felt like a branding iron, hot enough to blister her skin. “I’m heading across to the library.”
 

He frowned. “Why?”

Something inside Gracie snapped. She didn’t care two hoots about Trent McKenzie. The last six weeks had left her emotions raw and her heart in shreds. Searching for her father, getting married, falling in love with a pig-headed cowboy - it had all become too much. A whole bunch of lies had twisted into an ugly mess and she wanted it to stop.
 

She yanked the strap of her handbag over her shoulder. “It won’t be to go over the information Erin spent hours finding, will it? And it sure as hell won’t be to spend half a day scouring the newspapers. And I’ve already gone through every damn phone book in three states, so it can’t be for that.”
 

Trent’s jaw dropped. “You knew?”

“No I damn well didn’t know. Not until about ten minutes ago. I just thought Kristina didn’t like me. Every time I saw her she ran a mile. And then when your mom told me she’s been asking questions about me, it all fell into place. Kristina has known for weeks that I could be her husband’s daughter. How long have you known?”

Trent cleared his throat. “I had a feeling it was him the week after you arrived in Bozeman. I found out for sure last Friday.”

“Five weeks? You kept this bit of news to yourself for most of my stay and didn’t think I might be interested?”

“I didn’t tell you because I don’t want you to leave.”

“I’m not about to stay with a man who lies to me about one of the most important things in my life,” Gracie yelled.
 

“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t…I mean I…oh, hell.” Trent dropped Gracie’s shopping on the sidewalk. “I care about you.”

“You’ve got a warped way of showing it.” She glanced down at her watch. “I’ve got to go.”

Trent frowned. “To the library?”

“Jim Green is guest speaker.” Gracie snatched her shopping off the ground.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“Nothing I’ve done since I got here has been a good idea, so what difference will this make?”

“We’d better hurry, then.”
 

“I’m going on my own.”

“No you’re not. I’m coming with you whether you like it or not.”

Gracie stared at his stubborn face. She knew that look and no amount of arguing would get her anywhere. “Please yourself.” She turned on her heel and stalked across to the library.

Gracie sat as straight as a board in the library meeting room waiting for Jim Green to arrive. Trent had reorganized the entire back row so that he could sit beside his wife. Damn fool man, she fumed. She didn’t need him interfering with her life anymore than he had.
 

The flyer in her hand fluttered to the ground. Picking it up, she stared at the brief details of Jim Green’s life. He’d been busy. Over the years he’d visited lots of countries with a rodeo company and made a successful career out of doing what he loved.

“Kristina’s here.”

Gracie looked up. Trent nodded toward the front of the room. Kristina sat in the first row, looking tense and pale under her Montana tan.
 

Applause filled the room. Gracie’s gaze landed on a set of double doors opening on her right. A man in his mid-fifties walked into the room. He stopped behind the speaker’s podium and smiled at Kristina.
 

Gracie’s vision blurred. She felt like she’d been slammed head first into a concrete brick wall, knocking every ounce of oxygen out of her body. Hands continued clapping around her. People moved in front of her, finding a seat at the last minute. She watched Jim Green take some notes out of his pocket. He said something to the woman standing beside him and she smiled.
 

He had bright blue eyes. Eyes that were the same shape and color as Gracie’s and when he smiled she could have been looking at a mirror image of her own smile. If that wasn’t enough to convince her she was looking at her father, he moved in front of the tall window behind him. His brown hair glowed with copper highlights from the sunshine pouring through the glass.
 

Trent’s hand clasped hers, squeezing life into her bloodless fingers. “Breathe, Gracie.”

She turned, panic rising like a waterless tide through her body. “It’s him. That’s my father.” Trent breathed deeply, and she tried to match the rise and fall of his chest with her own breath.
 

He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “Just listen and see what he has to say.”

“But he’s got my eyes and mouth. And I’d bet anything his hair was once as red as mine.”

Trent gently held onto either side of her face and looked straight into her eyes. “Just listen to him, short-stuff. We’ll figure the rest out afterward.”

Gracie gripped Trent’s hand. Right at this moment she didn’t care that he hadn’t told her who her father was. She didn’t care that he’d lied to her when she’d asked him about Kristina and Jim. All she cared about was the man standing at the front of the room.

She listened as Jim told the audience about his life, the places he’d visited, and the program his students went through to ready themselves for the professional rodeo circuit. At the end of the talk he asked if there were any questions. Gracie wanted to jump up and ask if he knew he had a daughter. But common sense and Trent’s hand kept her bottom planted firmly in her seat.
 

“Do you want to meet him?” Trent asked.

Gracie shook her head. It was too soon, too much of a shock to finally meet the man she’d been searching for.

“Okay. Let’s go outside and get some air.” He led her around the chairs, moving to the entrance.

“Trent? I thought that was you at the back of the room.” Jim Green smiled and moved toward them. Gracie froze.

Kristina looked up from talking with someone and turned white.

“It’ll be okay,” Trent whispered to Gracie. He smiled at Jim, shaking his hand and introducing Gracie.
 

She thought a zap of high voltage electricity would shoot down her arm when she touched her father’s hand. But nothing happened. His skin felt rough, his handshake firm. Gracie squared her shoulders and tried a tentative smile.

“Are you alright, little lady? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
 

Gracie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She tried again. He must think she had two loose screws rumbling around her head. “I’m from New Zealand.” This wasn’t how she’d imagined meeting her father. She wanted to impress him. Wanted to sound intelligent, but she couldn’t think of anything to say. “I…um…I married Trent.” Still no better. She looked at Trent, hoping he’d help.