Forever Dreams (Montana Brides) (7 page)

Closing her eyes, she let the soft strands of the music Trent had put on slide over her body.

“If I offered you a hot chocolate, would you say yes?”

Gracie’s sniffed the rich, sweet brew that wasn’t far away. She opened one eye. “If this is your idea of a peace offering, it works for me.” She dropped her legs off the couch and reached for the mug.
 

“Not so fast, honey. How desperate are you?”
 

Gracie dropped her hand. “I believe that should be my line, considering your need for marital bliss.”

He held the chocolate out again, wafting it under her nose. “Double blend, made with a frothy cap of fresh cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.”

“Okay. You’ve exploited my one weakness in life,” she sighed. “Hand it over. I’ll listen to anything you say as long as it doesn’t involve a ring or a marriage license.”

He passed the chocolate to her and disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later he reappeared with another steaming mug in his hands.
 

Gracie raised her eyebrows.
 

“I didn’t know if I’d be pushing my luck, so I only made one at a time.”

“You should be scared you know. Before your mom came out to the ranch she had us paired off and married quicker than you can ride your horse.”

Trent sat down, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “Don’t take mom too seriously. She’s a matchmaker from way back. For the last few years she’s dedicated her life to finding me the perfect woman.”
 

“All I can say is that either your standards are too high or your mom’s looking in the wrong places.” Sipping her hot chocolate, Gracie sat back and enjoyed the sugary sweetness hitting her taste buds. “Are you going to tell me why you’re so desperate to get married?”

“I’m not desperate,” he growled. “I’ve got options.”

Gracie frowned. The last thing she’d heard, those options included a girlfriend, not a wife. Trent stared into his mug of chocolate for so long she thought he was trying to uncover the mysteries of the universe. He looked up. Every trace of laughter had left his face.

She put her drink on the table. Her gaze traveled from Trent’s hands woven tightly around his mug, to the despair clouding his eyes.

“I didn’t date much after Susan left. I guess I didn’t want to fool myself into thinking another woman would want to live out here with me. Especially after the person I thought was perfect couldn’t stand it. When dad died…” He cleared his throat. “I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he wasn’t around anymore. Last year mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I guess that put everything into perspective quicker than anything else that happened. I want a family. I want to raise my children on the ranch and watch them grow to love the land as much as I do.”

Gracie bit her bottom lip. “Is your mom okay?”

Trent nodded. “They removed a lump from her breast, and then she had six weeks of radiation therapy. She goes back to the hospital to have regular scans to make sure everything’s okay.”

Gracie picked her mug up, her hands shaking as she took a sip. After all the heartache of the last few years, Trent wanted a future he could count on. She understood that need better than most. “I’m glad your mom’s better. I guess we should be thankful she didn’t have a priest with her.”

“Or the women from her craft group. I’d prefer Father Michael over Doris, Jenny and Kristina any day. As soon as I told mom I wanted to get married again she started making a wedding ring quilt. God help me if I haven’t found the perfect woman before it’s finished.”
 

“There must be lots of females only too happy to trot the light fantastic with a handsome cowboy.”
 

“Not that I’ve found,” he muttered. A slow grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You think I’m handsome?”

 
Gracie frowned. “That doesn’t mean I want to marry you.” She tapped her fingers against the side of her mug. “So what qualifications would the future Mrs. Trent McKenzie need to get a foot in the door with you?”

“It’s not a job, for God sakes.” He stuck his feet on the table. “This is my future we’re talking about. I want to share my life with a woman I like. And I want children so that Jordan doesn’t end up managing the ranch once I’ve gone. He’ll turn it into a haven for stressed executives and city-slickers who want to play cowboy for the weekend.”

“What’s wrong with that? Look at me, I’m here aren’t I? And I don’t know one end of a cow from the other.”

“Precisely. And look where that got me.”
 

Gracie stuck her nose in the air. “So this is all about your future and having children to pass the ranch onto? What about love?”

Trent gave her a level stare that chilled her heart. “I’m not letting my heart rule my head this time around. As long as we like each other and she wants a family, that’s good enough for me.”

Gracie’s mouth dropped open. “You’d marry someone just to have children?”

He nodded, clamping his mouth together so tight that she wondered what else he was keeping to himself. His eyes narrowed, watching the expression on her face. Gracie tried to look as though a loveless marriage didn’t bother her, but it did. And he knew it.

Marriage and children had never featured highly on Gracie’s list of things to do.
 
She had to be the worst candidate for any male wanting a wife and two-point-five kids. But she knew all about love and how it could change a person’s life. “I’m going to forget you’re aiming for the bottom of the barrel and hope you find someone you love.” She left her empty mug on the table in case she was tempted to try and knock some common sense into his thick head. “So what’s the minimum
experience
a woman would need to marry you?”

“The rate I’m going, if she was single and willing, I’d take her.”

Gracie had no doubt about that. “Let me rephrase the question. You and I both know there’s no way I’m ever going to do the deed with you.” Heat scorched her face. “I mean…I’d never marry you.”

“Don’t worry, honey. I never took that comment any other way.”

Gracie ignored the amused gleam in his eyes. “So, what is it about me that makes you realize I’m the worst possible candidate for the job? Desperate as you obviously are.”

“Well, let’s see.” He put his mug down and began ticking points off on his fingers. “You have absolutely no experience of ranch life, you don’t know the first thing about Montana winters, you don’t know how to shoot a gun or shoe a horse, you’re bossy, and I’ve got heifers that are taller than you.”

Gracie stared at him in amazement. “Don’t hold back on account of me sitting here. Obviously you think a thick skin is one of my main assets.”

“Honey, I don’t know anyone with a thinner skin.”

That earned him a frosty glare.

 
“The way I see it, anyone who lives out here with me has to have lived and breathed ranch life since the day they were born.”

 
“Well, I can see how your pool of potential applicants would be severely restricted given those terms.” She scowled. “Why don’t you marry one of those tall heifers you’re bragging about? They meet just about all of your criteria. You don’t even need to talk to them, so they won’t notice you’re a bit intellectually deficient.”

“You know, Gracie. That cutting comment would’ve hurt so much more if your face wasn’t covered in a cinnamon and chocolate moustache.”

A ball of heat rushed to her cheeks. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she gave him another glare for good measure. “What if I said I’d help you find a wife?”

“I’d get mighty suspicious.”

He should be. Gracie wasn’t about to let any unsuspecting female fall for a man who didn’t believe in love. “My offer comes with a condition or two.”

Trent dropped his feet off the table and grinned. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

Gracie cleared her throat. A woman could be forgiven for overlooking certain character flaws in a man when he smiled at her like she was the best kept secret he’d ever found. It was just as well she wasn’t one of those women.
 

“You need a plan,” she said, “a strategy for finding yourself a wife. What do you do for company out here?”

“Talk to the cows?”

Gracie rolled her eyes. “You need to get a whole bunch of people out here so that you can start making a list of potential candidates.”

“I’m one step ahead of you, short-stuff.” Puffing out his chest, he looked incredibly pleased with himself. “I’ve got a list already started.”

“You have?”

“Yep.” He hauled himself upright, disappearing through the lounge door. He came back a few minutes later, waving a piece of paper in the air. “Top five candidates.”
 

Gracie snatched the paper out of his fingers as he settled back in his chair. “I can’t believe there are five women who qualify.”

“Scoff all you like. That’s the best I could come up with. Diane Pitman got engaged last week, so you can cross her name off.”

“I can see how that would eliminate her running appeal,” Gracie muttered. “So what have you done about wooing the final four?”

“I’m not into wooing. I want a wife, not a love-sick puppy to keep amused.”

Gracie slouched in her seat, a groan of despair hovering on her lips. “Do you really think a woman will simply turn up and tell you she’s ready to be your wife? You have to market yourself.” She tried to think of a suitable ranch like analogy. “Put yourself out in the cattle yard for sale to the highest bidder. One of them must be desperate enough to take home a bull of unknown pedigree with enough brawn to keep a girl happy.” She ignored the snort coming from the chair opposite her. Tapping the list with her finger, she searched her brain for inspiration. “What you need is a barn dance. Music, food, dancing, lots of single women. What do you think?”

“About being called a bull, or the dance thing?”

“Pay attention, Trent. I’ll call your mom tomorrow. She’ll know all the ins and outs of a barn dance. How about we aim for a week on Saturday? That should give us enough time to get things organized.”

“It depends on those conditions you were talking about.”

“They’re nothing really. Just itsy-bitsy details.”

“The only itsy-bitsy thing in here is you. You’d better tell me before I put my life in your hands.”

Gracie pulled herself a little taller. He wouldn’t have much of a life left if he’d sat on her side of the coffee table. “You have to promise that you’ll try and choose someone you love.”

“I don’t need to love someone to have kids with them.”

“But your kids need to know their parents love each other.”

Trent slouched in his chair. He took a deep breath and searched her face with eyes that were far too knowing. “I’ll do my best.”

Gracie nodded. Heaven help any woman mad enough to fall for a lonesome cowboy, let alone one with eyes that could melt the frost off any bad intentions. “So what about the barn dance?”

“I could probably spare a couple of men to help get things organized. If you think you can pull the dance together, go for it.”

Leaning across the table she shook his hand, “Trent McKenzie, you’ve got yourself a deal. You just wait and see. Before the end of the month you’ll be signed, sealed and delivered to a woman only too happy to take you on.”

CHAPTER FOUR

A horn honked from the driveway. Gracie ran out to meet the red sports coupe idling in the morning sunshine.

Karen grinned from behind the steering wheel. “Are you ready to give the stores in Bozeman an early wake-up call?”

“Ready and willing. I’ve got Trent’s credit card burning a hole in my pocket, a spending limit of astronomical proportions, and a list a mile long of what we need.” Gracie reached for her seatbelt. “I’ve also been given strict instructions to keep you away from all jewelry stores.”

Karen winked. “Sounds like Trent’s been a busy boy.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Gracie laughed. “This dance is an investment in his future. If he doesn’t find a wife soon he’s going to drive me insane with his mumblings about dude ranches and phony cattle drives. Why did he ban jewelry stores from our shopping extravaganza?”

“Trent’s trying to wean me off a harmless addiction to anything bright and glittery. There’s a little store in Bozeman that calls to me in my sleep.”
 

“Don’t worry. You’re in good hands with me. He doesn’t know that I’m a bling girl from way back. If we stick together he won’t know what’s hit him.”
 

“Are you sure you don’t want to skip the dance and become my daughter-in-law?”

“It wouldn’t last.” At least that’s what Gracie told herself every time Trent sent her a melt-in-your mouth smile. “We’d drive each other insane within a few months. Thanks for helping to organize everything.”

“Send an S.O.S. out to me any day. Between you, me, and the girls, we’ve got every contingency covered.”

‘The girls’ were an excited group of girlfriends and wives of the cowboys working on the ranch. A couple of Karen’s friends had even pitched in to help. The day before they’d all met at the Triple L and settled in for a few hours of strategic planning, good company and Adele’s chocolate chip cookies. Karen and Gracie had been put in charge of the decorations, and they planned on transforming the barn into a dance venue worthy of the best country club in Montana.
 

Gracie pulled a shopping list out of her bag. “Did the hire store get back to you about the tablecloths?”

 
“Thirty red and white checkered tablecloths will arrive in the next couple of days. Jake’s happy for us to pick them up next week. And before you ask, all the fairy lights will be here on Tuesday.”

Gracie put down the piece of paper, remembering another list that was never far from her mind. She’d managed to track down two J. Greens this week. One was Jenny Green, a fifty-two-year-old bookseller in Bozeman who’d been only to happy to talk about another J. Green – her daughter, Janice. Two down, eight left to find.

Karen might hold the key to one of the James Greens on her list and Gracie wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to ask her. “I noticed the Green family has been invited to the dance. Have you known them long?”