Montana SEAL (2 page)

S
adie McClain hadn’t slept much
the night before. She told herself it was because she was in a different bed, different climate and different state than she was used to, but it would only be half of the truth. She was home in Montana, but she didn’t receive the homecoming she’d expected. She didn’t feel any more relaxed than when she’d been surrounded with the people, traffic and pollution of Los Angeles.

That old saying
you can never go home
was true. Eagle Rock wasn’t the same as it had been all those years ago when she’d left to go to UCLA. Perhaps if she’d maintained close ties with the people with whom she’d grown up, she would have felt differently. Instead, the weeks away had turned into months, the months into years, and all those kids she’d known in school had moved on in their lives, or moved out of the area.

In California, a chance audition had led to a screening and an offer to be the star in a movie—an unheard of coup for a fledgling actress. Even more miraculous, the movie had been a hit. Who’d have thought the country girl from the wilds of Montana would ever make it as big as she had? Six feature films grossing billions of dollars had made Sadie McClain one of the highest-paid actresses of all time. Her busy filming schedule and public appearances had kept her away from home. For eleven years. Yes, she’d been back for brief visits, long enough to attend her parents’ funerals and her brother’s wedding. But she didn’t stay for long. She couldn’t. Her memories of Hank and her parents made being home hurt too much.

The town of Eagle Rock hadn’t changed much. The only grocery store had closed. Most people had to drive thirty miles now to do any major grocery shopping. Sure, the one convenience store stocked the basics—pantry staples, eggs, bread, some processed meats and dairy products. For greater choices and lower prices, a person had to drive farther to get it.

After his four-year stint in the Marine Corps, her brother seemed happy enough to return to Montana, go to college and get his degree in architecture. That’s when he’d married Carla. When their parents died, Fin had returned to the family ranch, content to raise cattle, train horses and grow a garden for fresh vegetables during the summer.

Sadie wouldn’t have come back at all, except she needed a refuge from a highly persistent stalker. Tim Wallis had followed her career from the first time she appeared on screen. Everywhere she turned, the man was in front of her. He tried to pass himself off as part of the paparazzi, but none of his photographs had appeared in any of the magazines or tabloids. He’d even trespassed on her property in LA to get closer to her. She’d had her agent hire an attorney and file a restraining order against him. But she still saw the man everywhere she turned.

The stress of constantly being in the public eye, and the loneliness of being surrounded by people she didn’t know or care about, finally drove her to the home she’d abandoned years ago. She had to get away and breathe, re-evaluate her career and life choices.

Sadie stared out the window of her bedroom on the second floor of the old house. The window was the only thing that hadn’t changed. Since her parents’ death, her brother Fin and his wife, Carla, had made the house their home. Carla had completely redecorated, changing everything from the curtains to the furnishings. Gone were Sadie’s four-poster bed and the quilt her mother had lovingly made for her sixteenth birthday.

In their place were a modern fabric-covered headboard and a sterile, white duvet similar to the ones Sadie found in the hotels she lived in so often when she was on a shoot. This wasn’t home. She didn’t feel comfortable in the house in which she’d been raised. Her mother and father were gone and so were all of her things. Nothing was the same. Sadie pushed back a niggle of resentment, squared her shoulders and reminded herself that she was in another woman’s home, now.

Though she owned a half-interest in the White Oak Ranch, she’d left it to her brother to manage on a daily basis, infusing cash when he needed new equipment or expensive stud services for his horses and cattle.

As she gazed out of the window, her thoughts drifted back to a time long ago when a certain young cowboy used to climb the trellis to her bedroom window, and stayed until well past midnight. Sadie had fallen in love with that cowboy and dreamed of living in Montana and raising babies.

She’d sacrificed her dream for his.

Sadie sighed and turned away from the incredible view of the Crazy Mountains, thinly capped with the first snow of the season. After holing up in the farm house for the past two days, she was finally ready to venture into town for a few things at the convenience store and maybe to stop by Al’s Diner where she’d held her first job outside ranching.

Fin had assured her Al was still alive despite his propensity for greasy food and cheap whiskey. The crusty old cook had been good to Sadie, always looking out for the sixteen-year-old when the rowdy cowboys got too fresh.

Sadie descended the stairs to the main floor and called out, “Fin? Carla?”

No one answered. Fin hadn’t been back to the house since he’d left to take care of the animals before the sun was up. He’d mentioned something about a fence being down on the north forty and not to hold lunch for him.

Carla must have taken him at his word. She wasn’t anywhere around. A quick glance out the window proved the theory. Her car was gone from the driveway. Glad to walk away from the house without an interrogation about where she was going and whom she was going to see in town, Sadie climbed into the Jeep she’d rented and drove out of the yard and down the gravel road toward the highway.

The view hadn’t changed much. This was the same land she’d grown up on. She’d played in these fields, climbed the hills, and ridden across the pastures like a wild child. The horses were different, and there was a fresh coat of paint on the house and barn, but what struck her was how much
she’d
changed. And how much she wished she hadn’t. Sadie missed the carefree days of summer and the midnight visits from Hank.

If she were honest with herself, she’d call it as it was. She missed Hank Patterson and the young, stupid love they’d shared when they were teenagers. That was the real reason why she hadn’t come home much during the past eleven years—Hank wasn’t there.

Her heart constricted. After all these years, she’d thought she could handle coming home for an extended stay. She was wrong.

The drive into Eagle Rock didn’t take long. She passed the entrance to Bear Creek Ranch and slowed to stare down the winding road disappearing into the evergreens. After a moment, she shook herself. What did she expect? Hank had been eager to shake the shackles of a small town and tight community off his shoulders. He was even more determined to break free of the iron grip of his father. Lloyd Patterson had always been civil to her, but she’d known from Hank’s simmering anger and the way he clenched his jaw whenever he spoke about his father, that they weren’t close, and never would be.

From the moment she and Hank started riding together, Sadie knew he’d have to get away from Bear Creek Ranch to make a life of his own. Where Sadie would have been content to stay in the area, Hank had to leave to prove to his father and himself he had a mind of his own and could make his own way in the world.

Sadie’s heart swelled with the pride she’d felt when she’d gone to Hank’s graduation ceremony. She’d read everything she could get her hands on about SEAL training. Hank had made it through where more than seventy percent of those who tried failed and washed out in the first few weeks. He hadn’t known she’d been there, and she hadn’t walked up to him. The man was still following his dream. If she’d come back into his life then…well, she hadn’t wanted to be the force that derailed him. Hell, he probably had forgotten about her, once he’d swept the dust of the ranch from his boots.

Not so for Sadie. She thought of Hank often and worried about him. SEALs lived dangerous lives. They went into some of the most hostile environments, going up against some of the most heinous terrorists imaginable.

As she neared Eagle Rock, she slowed for a stop sign. A truck loaded with bags of feed pulled through the stop sign and one of the fifty-pound bags slid off the back, dropped to the ground and split open, spilling its contents on the road.

Sadie waved at the driver, pulled to the side of the road and got out.

The driver of the other vehicle edged the truck to the side of the road and climbed down, frowning.

Sadie’s heart twisted in her chest. She’d recognize the tall, gray-haired man anywhere. His son looked so much like him, it made her chest ache. “Good morning, Mr. Patterson.” Hank’s father had always had a fierce countenance. Permanently etched on his face, the man’s frown had frightened more than one foreman away from the Bear Creek Ranch where Hank grew up.

He grunted in response to her greeting and stared at the feed spilled across the road. “Damned kids. Can’t stack a load so as it won’t fall off. I’ll have words with Bergman about that boy he hired to load feed.”

Sadie squatted beside the torn edges of paper and scooped feed into what was left of one half of the bag. “I’m sure he didn’t know better. How have you been?” she asked, when she’d really rather ask about his son, Hank.

“Arthritis is giving me fits in my knees and Allie’s been nagging me to go to the doctor.” He snorted. “Ain’t got time to be driving all the way to Bozeman to see a doc who will charge me a fortune to tell me what I already know. I’m gettin’ old.” He dropped to his haunches beside Sadie and went to work salvaging what he could of the feed.

“I haven’t seen Allie since she was fifteen. She must be all grown up by now.” Sadie commented.

Lloyd hefted the larger of the two halves of a bag and straightened with a groan. “That she is. And a thinks she runs the place. Need to get her married off before she makes me crazy.”

Sadie laughed, scooped the other half up and followed Lloyd to the back of the truck.

The old rancher settled his burden in between the stack of feed and the wheel well and then turned to take the other half from Sadie. He jammed the feed bag in beside the one he’d just settled and turned to face her. When he did, the lines in his forehead deepened. “You’re that McClain girl from the neighboring ranch, aren’t you?”

Sadie grinned and stuck out her hand. “Sadie McClain. I’m surprised you remembered me.”

“I remember you used to ride over on that old nag and hang around my barn every Saturday afternoon. Couldn’t get a lick of work out of Hank when you were around.”

Sadie’s smile slipped, her thoughts filling with memories of a happier time. “I’m sorry I disturbed your work day.” But she wasn’t sorry for the memories she and Hank had created together. “Speaking of Hank—” The bag Mr. Patterson had just jammed into the back of the truck split open again and fell toward the pavement. Sadie dove to catch what she could.

The crack of a rifle rent the air. The man in front of her staggered backward, clutching his shoulder, a bright red stain spreading across his blue chambray shirt. “What the hell?” he said, his eyes wide as he stared at the blood oozing between his fingers. His face blanched and he shot a look at Sadie, as he dropped to his knees.

“Mr. Patterson?” She abandoned the feedbag and reached for the older man. Another sharp report sounded and something hit one of the bags of feed next to Sadie’s head. A trickle of grain spilled out.

Sadie ducked, pulling Lloyd the rest of the way to the ground beside her. She blocked his body with hers and automatically reached for her cell phone in her back pocket. That’s when she remembered she’d left it in her bedroom. Not that it mattered. Cell phones rarely worked outside of Eagle Rock. The nearest cell tower wasn’t close enough to make a difference. Most people still owned landlines.

“Mr. Patterson, are you okay?” she asked.

“Hell, no, I’m not okay. I’ve been shot and I can’t breathe.” His angry retort faded. “Help me up.”

Sadie pressed a hand to his uninjured shoulder. “Stay down. We don’t know if the shooter will fire again.”

“Then get my gun off the rack over my back seat and shoot back,” he demanded, a surge of his anger returning. “I can’t stay on the ground all day or I’ll bleed to death.”

He was right about the bleeding part. Already a pool of blood spread across the pavement.

Sadie’s pulse hammered inside her veins. None of the parts she’d played in any of her movies had prepared her for dealing with a situation like this. But her upbringing on a ranch made her keep a level head and think.

She had to get Lloyd to a doctor before he passed out. “Stay here.”

“I will not.”

“I’m going to get my Jeep and bring it around to block anymore bullets that might come this way. I’ll only be a moment.”

Sadie left Lloyd’s side and crawled toward her rented vehicle. Another shot rang out, spitting gravel up in her face. Crawling took too long. She had to move. Sadie pushed to her feet and launched herself toward the open door of her vehicle. She dove through, landing in a heap in the driver’s seat. Keeping her head below the dash, she shoved the shift into drive and angled the vehicle closer to Patterson, placing the bulk of metal between him and the shooter.

Once she had him covered, she climbed over the passenger seat and out onto the ground.

Lloyd’s skin was an unhealthy gray and his jaw was clamped tight.

Sadie had to stop the flow of blood before she moved him. Ripping the hem of her shirt, she folded the fabric into a pad and reached for Lloyd’s hand covering the wound.

“Let me,” she said.

“You a nurse, now?” he said through clenched teeth.

“No, but I played one in a movie.”

“Don’t need no play actors monkeying around with my shoulder,” he grumbled.

Sadie didn’t have time to argue with the curmudgeon. “Well, it’s all you get. Now, let me help you.” She shoved his hand aside, pressed the wad of fabric to the wound and slapped his hand over his shoulder again. “Hold that while I get you into the vehicle.”

“Damned bossy woman. You sound like Ally.”

She slipped an arm around him and lifted with all her might.