Forever Dreams (Montana Brides) (27 page)

Kristina stood beside her husband. “We need to head home now, Jim.”

“There’s no hurry,” he laughed. “I haven’t seen Trent for months. I heard you married this little lady in Vegas.”

Trent nodded. “Do you have a spare ten minutes for a coffee? Gracie has a few things she’d like to ask you.”

“No,” Kristina said. “We really need to go.”
 

Jim looked between his wife, Trent and Gracie. A frown settled on his face.
 

“Is it important?” Jim asked.

“No, it’s not important.” Kristina’s voice cracked like a whip in the quiet room. She cut a razor sharp glance toward Trent and Gracie. “You don’t know what you’re doing. Jim’s not who you think he is.”

A group of people hovering around the podium stopped to stare at the commotion happening at the back of the room. Gracie glanced at their audience. Ears were pricked to full alert and tongues would be wagging before the afternoon was over.
 

Jim looked in the same direction. “I’ve got some time now, if that suits you both. There’s a coffee place on the other side of the library.”

Kristina held onto her husband’s arm. “No, Jim. We don’t need to listen to what they’ve got to say.”

“I think we do. What’s going on Kristina?”

“Nothing.” Tears gathered in her eyes.

“It sure doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Jim said softly.

Kristina shook her head. She sniffed and then pulled back her shoulders.
 

Jim wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist. “Let’s find a table and some coffee.”

Trent nodded and followed Jim and Kristina out of the library.

 
Gracie held onto Trent’s hand, watching her father move through the crowd of people gathered in the library entrance. After they’d ordered their drinks, Gracie looked between Jim and Kristina. “I’m looking for my father.”

Jim frowned. “I don’t know if I can help, Gracie. Was he on the rodeo circuit with me?”

She nodded, almost overcome by the kindness shining in his eyes. “I was born thirty-one years ago on July 27 in Wellington, New Zealand. My mother’s name is Sarah Donnelly.”
 

Jim’s face lost its color, turning his skin a pale shade of grey.
 

Kristina stared across the café. She didn’t look at her husband, didn’t look at anyone.

“I’ve had a good life.” Gracie stopped, glancing at Trent. “I have a great life. I don’t want to mess up your family. I just want to know if you’re my father. I want to fill in some gaps.”
 

Jim took a deep breath. He leaned his elbows on the table, dropping his head into his trembling hands. “I was in New Zealand, and I knew your mother, but I don’t think I’m your father, Gracie.” He glanced at his wife. “I’m sorry, Kristina.”

Gracie’s heartbeat stuttered. She looked between Kristina and Jim. They weren’t touching, weren’t speaking. Weren’t doing any of the things Gracie had imagined would happen.

With a sigh, Jim pushed back in his chair, resting his head against the wall behind him. “I met Sarah in New Zealand. I was young and foolish.” He glanced at Kristina and then looked back at the table. “She followed the rodeo around the country. It didn’t matter where we went, she was always there. One thing led to another and, well…I’m not proud of what I did. When our tour was nearly over I realized what I had back home was more important. So I came back to Montana.” Tears gathered in his eyes as he looked at his wife. “I swear that I haven’t looked at another woman since.”

Kristina ignored the hand Jim placed on her arm.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

A waitress came across with their hot drinks. She gazed around the table then made a hasty move back to the front counter.
 

Kristina looked down at Jim’s hand, then up into his face. “I’ve known about your affair for thirty-two years.” Her voice rasped raw against the chatter filling the café.

Jim’s mouth dropped open. “How?”

Gracie held her breath.
 

Kristina looked down at her coffee. “A letter arrived a few months after you got back from New Zealand. I knew something had happened while you’d been gone, but you wouldn’t talk about it. The letter was from Gracie’s mother. She said she was pregnant.”

Jim stared at his wife. “What happened to the letter?”

Kristina took a deep breath. “I burned it.”

“
God in heaven,
” Jim groaned
.
“Why would you do something like that?”

“Jacob was three-years old. I was pregnant with Alex. I loved you. I didn’t want you going back to New Zealand. I didn’t want one mistake ruining our life together.”

“The baby was my child.” Jim pulled his hand away from his wife’s arm. “I could have done the right thing by both of you.”

“The right thing would have taken you halfway around the world. You might not have come back.”

“It wasn’t your choice to make,” Jim said.

Kristina glared at him. “I didn’t have a choice. You destroyed my trust in you. If you hadn’t dropped your pants in the first place this wouldn’t have happened.” She bit her lip, glancing across the table. “I’m sorry, Gracie, you didn’t need to hear that. It was wrong of me to burn the letter from your mother.” Kristina turned to her husband. “I can’t stay here with you. I’ll see you at the ranch later.”
 

Jim stared at his wife’s back as she left the café. He turned toward Gracie. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

 
“I don’t want anything.” Gracie could have curled into a ball and wept. “But if there’s ever a time when you want to talk to me, I’ll either be on the Triple L or in New Zealand.” She pulled a pen out of her bag. With a trembling hand she scribbled her address on a paper napkin. “That’s where I live in Wellington.”

Jim stuffed the square of tissue into his pocket and stood up. “I need time to think things through. Look after Gracie, Trent.” He left the café, heading out into the sunshine.

Gracie pushed her mug of chocolate away. She knew who her father was. She’d talked to him, found out more in the last ten minutes than she’d ever known before. But she felt a burn, deep in her chest, when she thought about Kristina and what would happen next.
 

“I’ve hurt them.”

Trent leaned forward, resting his arm on the table. “They’ll work it out.”

“What if they don’t? What if they can’t get past all the hurt? I’ve destroyed a family because I wanted to find mine.”

“How you ended up in the world isn’t your fault. Jim made a mistake. A huge mistake.”

“Maybe I did too. I shouldn’t have come here.”

Trent wiped a tear off her face. “Everything that has happened in your life has made you the person you are today. And that person’s special to me. Don’t let regret take anything away from what you’ve achieved. You’ve found your father. And you’ve even managed to become a half-decent cowgirl.”

Gracie pulled a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose. “With a horse that thinks she’s a cat.” Trent passed her another tissue. “What am I going to do?”

“I guess that’s up to you, Gracie.”

Gracie arrived back at the ranch feeling like a fugitive on the run from the law. Her gaze shot around the yard. No truck. That meant she had time to pack her clothes and leave the Triple L before Trent got back. She needed to sort out the jumble of emotions running through her head and she couldn’t do that on the ranch. Not with Trent living under the same roof.
 

She piled her clothes into her suitcases. After putting three bags in the Nissan, she headed back inside for the last case. Gracie flicked her nightshirt out from under the pillow, picked her socks up off the floor and jumped a mile.

Trent stood in the doorway, arms folded across his chest and a scowl chiseled into his face. “What are you doing?”

Gracie stuck her nose in the air. Bluffing was her specialty and there was no way she’d let Trent see how upset she felt. “I’m leaving. I’m packing the last of my clothes.” When he didn’t move she asked, “Do you want to check my bags?”

“Don’t be a fool.”

 
“I might be a fool, but I married an even bigger one.” She picked her suitcase off the floor and griped her nightshirt and socks in a tight fist. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I want to be back in Bozeman before it gets dark.”

He didn’t move from the center of the doorway.

Gracie walked toward him.
 

He stayed exactly where he was.
 

“You can’t keep me in this room forever. Move out of my way.”

“You’re not going anywhere until we sort this out.”
 

Trent grabbed her nightshirt. She pulled it back. “There’s nothing to sort out. I agreed to stay married to you until I found my father. I’ve found him.” She tugged hard again. “You can always marry the next person on your list.”
 

“I don’t want anyone else. I want you.”

“Well you can’t have me.” Gracie let go of her nightshirt, watching it hang from Trent’s hand. She held onto her socks in case he tried to take those as well. “I’m leaving.”

Still he didn’t move. A girl had her dignity, but even that had begun to wear thin. If Trent kept looking at her like his favorite puppy had died she’d start bawling her eyes out. And that wasn’t going to happen.

“What about Jim and Kristina?” he asked. “I thought you wanted to stay in Montana to get to know them.”

“I don’t know if they’ll want to speak to me again.”

Trent stared at her, his knuckles turning white against the pink cotton in his hands. “What will it take for you to stay? Do you want money? I can give you a bigger share in the ranch. We could do some traveling together. Anything, just tell me what you want.”

Gracie’s jaw dropped. Goose-bumps ran along her skin. The man she loved had just offered her a bribe to stay married to him. She needed to get out of here before she vomited all over his miserable life.
 

She tightened her grip on her suitcase and heaved it forward, ramming it into his stomach.
 

Trent staggered back, almost catching the edge of Gracie’s t-shirt as she bolted through the bedroom door.
 

She dropped the case at the top of the stairs and flew down the steps. Grabbing the keys off the hall table, she sprinted across the yard. Trent yelled her name from the bottom of the verandah as she yanked the Nissan’s door open. She shoved the keys in the ignition, planted her foot on the accelerator and tore down the drive in a shower of gravel.
 

Her heart raced as she pulled out onto the main road. She’d left her favorite pink nightshirt in Trent’s hand and a suitcase full of sweaters on the stairs. But she’d managed to get out of the house before one tear had slipped down her face.
 

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm down. She’d almost been fooled. Almost believed that Trent might have been a little in love with her, but after today she knew better. Taking advantage of her drunken stupor had been bad enough, but offering her money to stay married to him was plain disgusting. He didn’t think much of himself, and even less of her, if he thought she’d ever consider taking money to solve his problems.

She reached across the seat for a wad of tissues. The damn fool hadn’t realized she’d stay married to him forever. For free. All she wanted was his love.

Trent watched the dust fly as Gracie sped down the drive, spitting gravel and dirt high into the air. He hoped like hell she took more care on the Interstate than what she did on their drive.
 

He rubbed his stomach. The edge of her suitcase had caught him off guard, but it wasn’t his stomach causing him the most grief. If it had been, he wouldn’t be standing in the middle of his yard calling himself every idiot under the sun. He’d been so relieved to see the Nissan sitting outside that he hadn’t thought about what was happening inside.
 

“Hey, Trent. I saw the dust cloud down the drive. Is everything okay?” Jordan jumped off his horse and stood beside him.

“Gracie’s left.”

Jordan pushed the brim of his hat up. “What do you mean, left? As in gone into town? Or gone for good?”

“For good.”

“Jeez. What did you do?”

Trent felt his fists bunching at his sides. “It’s a long story.”

“Must be to have her take off like that.” Jordan kicked the stones in front of him. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing. There’s absolutely nothing I can do.” Trent stared down the drive. No amount of wishing would get Gracie back. She’d found what she’d been looking for and that didn’t include him.
 

“So you’re just going to let her leave?”

“What do you want me to do? Chase her down the drive like some love-sick fool? I don’t need to be told twice that I’m not wanted. She made it perfectly clear that she hates my guts.”
 

“She’s your wife. You’ve only been married for a couple of weeks, you have to do something.”

“No I don’t. I’ve got work to do and you’re going to mind your own business.” He gazed down the drive one last time before heading across the yard.

“Whatever happened can’t be as bad as…”

“Leave it, Jordan.”

He kept moving. He needed to forget about Gracie. Forget about the mess he’d made of his life. Gracie was gone and she wouldn’t be coming back.

Trent spent the rest of the day stacking hay in the barn. He ignored the loft as he shoved bale after bale into every nook and cranny he could find. Remembering a red-headed pixie perched high in the rafters wasn’t going to get her out of his mind. He threw the forklift into reverse, picking up the last bale. He’d be damned if a five-foot-one minx would put him in a tailspin. He had work to do. He didn’t have time to worry about a woman who didn’t want anything to do with him.

When he’d finished in the barn, he headed across to the house. A long hot shower would wash away the dirt and dust caked to his skin. Maybe even clear his head and make him feel half-human again. Wiping his arm across his face, he jumped when his cell phone rang. His heart kicked up a notch. Looking down at the caller display, he groaned when he saw it was his mom. God help him if he kept thinking Gracie would be on the end of each phone call, telling him she’d be home soon. He held his phone to his ear.