Six Months in Montana (Montana Sweet Western Romance Series, Book 1) (7 page)

M
olly spent
the better part of an hour staring at the dresses hanging in her closet, waiting for something to jump out as the obvious choice. But nothing did. Finally, after trying on and rejecting a dozen different options, she reached for an old favorite. It wasn't the most exciting dress, and it was a few years old, but it was the most flattering one she owned. Meghan called it her 'miracle dress' as it was solid black, which made her look a few pounds slimmer, yet it was soft and loose around the waist, so she could relax and eat whatever she liked.

Christian was ready to go when Molly came downstairs. He smiled when he saw her. "You look great!"

"Thanks, you too." Molly couldn't help but admire the way his new jeans hugged his hips and how his navy button-down dress shirt made his blue eyes pop. She wondered if the butterflies in her stomach were just pre-party nerves.

Christian drove, and they arrived at Isabella's family ranch about twenty minutes later. It was just past seven, and there were already hundreds of people there. A huge tent had been set up to accommodate the crowd, and at first there was an overwhelming sea of people as they walked in. Cocktail tables were scattered here and there and, as they headed toward the bar, Christian was stopped repeatedly by people he knew, and introductions were made to those that Molly hadn't yet met, which was about half of them. Finally, as they reached the bar, Molly spotted her mother and aunt at one of the tables. They'd staked out a spot closest to the main bar. Aunt Betty waved them over excitedly, as soon as she saw them.

"How long have you been here?" Molly asked, noticing that their drinks were half-empty.

"Maybe a half-hour," Aunt Betty said.

"Closer to an hour," her mother corrected. "Your aunt wanted to be sure to get a good spot for people-watching.

Christian said a quick hello, and then went to the bar to get a round of drinks for everyone.

"Have you seen her?" Aunt Betty asked.

"Isabella? No, surprisingly we haven't run into her yet."

"She must be in the main house, probably checking with the caterers." Aunt Betty said, as a server carrying an elegant tray of stuffed mushrooms came by. They each took one and Molly grabbed an extra for Christian. He returned a minute later with everyone's drinks. Molly took a sip of Chardonnay and surveyed the room. There had to be at least three hundred people here, and although most of them were strangers, she was pleased to see that she recognized quite a few of them. Just about everyone who had attended their wedding was here, as well as other friends of her mother and aunt that she'd met recently.

"I told you it was quite a scene," Aunt Betty said, as she accepted another
hors d'oeuvre
, this time
spanakopita
, a delicious triangle of puff pastry wrapped around a filling of spinach and cheese.

"Don't forget there's a massive buffet coming," her mother said, as Aunt Betty reached for a second
spanakopita
.

"Do you mind if I take off for a bit? There's a few people I need to talk to." Christian was being waved down by three men at another table.

"Of course not." Molly recognized the men as local contractors and also members of the men's golf league that Christian played in every Wednesday night. They were at a table at the edge of the crowd, drinking whiskey on the rocks and smoking cigars.

"Your Christian looks very handsome tonight." Aunt Betty had a matchmaking gleam in her eye. Molly didn't want them to get any false hopes.

"He does," she agreed. "But he's only 'my Christian' for six months."

"We'll see." Aunt Betty then turned her attention to the crowd and kept them in stitches for the next twenty minutes or so. She knew something about everyone that passed by their table, and some of it was so outrageous that Molly thought she was making it up.

"That's Phil Thompson," her aunt said, as an elderly gentleman with snow white hair stopped by Christian's table to say hello.

"He's in his early nineties, just lost his wife a year ago, and has now turned into a social butterfly. Even has a Facebook page. Says it keeps him young. He still drives, has two convertibles, one of which he painted himself with leftover boat paint. He's the guy with the smiley face car."

Molly smiled, as she pictured the car. She'd seen it a few times around town. It was a small older-model Capri, painted a pale green color, with a giant yellow and black smiley face on each door. She hadn't yet met Mr. Thompson, but had a feeling she was going to like him.

Christian returned to their table a few minutes later with Mr. Thompson by his side, and introduced Molly to him.

"I'm so sorry I had to miss your wedding. I heard it was really something. I had a little mishap that slowed me down a bit. Damn hospital insisted on keeping me for three nights. Can you imagine? They wanted me to stay longer, but I'd had enough and checked myself out."

"I hope you're feeling better," Molly said.

"I was never sick, young lady. Not for a minute. I just needed a new ladder. I was outside painting and my ladder gave way. They thought I'd broken my hip or something, but it was just a bad sprain. My daughter gave me hell though. Made me promise to stay off ladders. Told her I would, but we'll see."

They chatted with the lively Mr. Thompson for a bit longer, until he was spotted by two older ladies who waved him over to their table.

"Oh, I'm in for it now," he said, with a gleam in his eye. "So many pretty ladies, so little time." With that, he left them and Christian added, "He was one of my grandfather's best friends. He's all talk, you know. His wife, Ellen, was the love of his life. This past year has been really tough for him. He's just starting to get out and about now."

"I hope I have half his energy when I get to his age."

"I wish I had his energy now!" Isabella exclaimed. She'd suddenly appeared at their table and welcomed them all. They all chatted for a few minutes, and then Isabella was ready to move on.

"They are bringing out the food now. Be sure to help yourself when you're ready. Daddy's barbeque sauce is legendary. Oh, and Molly, I love your dress." Molly couldn’t tell from her tone if she meant it. It kind of reminded her of the sugar-sweet Southern comment ‘Bless her heart’, which meant anything but.

"Thanks, yours is amazing," Molly responded. She actually felt a bit like a plain Jane though, standing next to Isabella.
Her
dress was really something. It was an elegant cream shade and of a stretchy jersey-like material that showed off her near perfect hourglass figure. It was very Marilyn Monroe, with a skirt that flowed out just below the knees and a sexy halter top with pearl beading on the bodice. Her hair was done to perfection, in a carefully curled tangle of loose spirals that were gathered up at the sides and fell dramatically down her back. Her cowboy boots were gorgeous too; the heels were so high that Molly wondered how she managed walking in them. But she did, and they caused her hips to swing confidently back and forth as she walked away, knowing that the attention of most of the men nearby was on her.

Including Christian, who started to walk after her. "I forgot to ask her about the inn referrals. Be right back."

He caught up to her easily, as she wasn't moving too quickly in those heels. They were just far enough away that Molly couldn't hear the conversation, but it didn't look like it was going well. Isabella was all smiles when Christian first caught up to her, but within a few minutes her face took on a stormy look and she ended the conversation abruptly, turning around and walking away while Christian was still talking. A few moments later, he returned to the table looking a bit confused.

"I take it she didn't love your suggestion?" Molly asked.

"I think she'll come around," he said and then, when Molly raised her eyebrow at that, he added, "eventually. I think I just caught her off-guard. She's busy with the party right now.  She asked me if I was kidding, and then said we'd discuss this at another time."

"What did you ask her?" Aunt Betty was dying to know, and Molly could see the curiosity on her mom's face as well. She hadn't yet mentioned Christian's idea to them, so she quickly filled them in. When she finished, Aunt Betty gave Christian a smack on the arm.

"What on earth were you thinking? You asked your ex-girlfriend to refer people to your new wife's business venture, less than a month after you broke up?"

Christian looked surprised. "I guess it wasn't the best idea. I really thought she wouldn't mind, since she knows the details behind our marriage."

"All she knows is that you're with someone else now," Aunt Betty said.

"The buffet is open, anyone ready to head over?" her mother asked. Molly knew it as an attempt to change the subject.

"I'm ready and starving, let's go."

The amount of food was staggering: several different kinds of meats and barbeque sauces; all kinds of side dishes, most involving butter, cream and cheese, veggies, salads, and hot, crusty rolls. They all piled their plates and raved about the food. Isabella's father had cooked the meats, but they’d used a caterer for everything else. Molly made a note to find out the name of the caterer and keep them in mind, if they ever needed to use one at the inn.

While they were eating, a jazz band played softly in the background. When they were just about finished, a different band came on, and started playing livelier dance tunes. By the second song, people were making their way onto the makeshift dance floor. Molly excused herself to hit the ladies room, and just as she was about to exit the stall she heard a familiar voice and paused.

"He actually asked me to give referrals to his new wife. To help her. Can you believe it?" Isabella sounded furious, and Molly decided to wait a    moment or two longer, hoping Isabella and her confidant would leave.

"Men are so dumb. Completely clueless. I bet it didn't even occur to him that the suggestion was completely inappropriate." Molly didn't recognize the other voice, but it sounded like it was coming from an older woman, possibly Isabella's mother.

"I told him we'd talk about it later, just to get rid of him. There's really nothing to talk about, though. How could imagine that I would possibly help her, of all people?"

Molly cringed at that. Isabella clearly had no interest in being her friend. She actually sounded like she hated her, and given the situation, she supposed she couldn't really blame her. She didn't want to further embarrass her by walking out now, so she stayed put and was relieved when she heard them leave a moment later.

She was drying her hands, when Isabella walked back into the bathroom and stopped in her tracks when she saw Molly. Molly could see the wheels turning, as she was wondering if she'd heard her talking.

Isabella spotted a lipstick by the mirror and snatched it up.

"I just realized I left this behind."

Molly hesitated for a second. She wanted to apologize, but then it would be clear to Isabella that she’d overheard her conversation. So, instead, she simply said, “Thank you so much for inviting us. Dinner was wonderful.”

“Christian is always invited,” Isabella snapped, then added a bit more graciously, “I’m glad you are enjoying yourself. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my guests.” Without waiting for a response she was gone, and Molly wondered if despite his good intentions Christian had actually made matters worse. Isabella was in a position to not only help them, but she could also do some damage if she wanted to, by steering people away from Rose Cottage. Molly felt guilty for a moment for letting her thoughts go in that direction. Isabella wasn’t happy to be dumped, who would be? But Molly couldn’t imagine that she’d be that vindictive. Christian was probably right, and she was just taken off guard. Although Molly wasn’t counting on a referral any time soon.

T
he following week flew by
. Christian was busier than usual, dealing with day-to-day ranch issues, as well as on the real estate development side, putting finishing touches on several houses that were almost ready to hit the market. Meanwhile Molly was spending most of her time at Rose Cottage, working closely with Traci on the decorating which, to her delight, Traci actually completed late Friday afternoon, ahead of schedule. To celebrate, Molly impulsively invited her out to the ranch that evening for dinner and drinks, and told her to bring Travis along, if he'd like to join them. She knew Christian would enjoy hanging out with his best friend.

She called Christian to give him the heads-up on her way back to the ranch, and stopped by the local market to pick up some wine and cheese to have with dinner. A little later, Molly came downstairs after showering and blow-drying her hair and was on her way into the kitchen to start prepping for dinner, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her stop and take a step backwards for another look. Christian was in his office, sitting in his favorite leather chair, head back and mouth wide open. He was sound asleep, with Toby curled up by his feet.

Molly hated to disturb him, but she needed to wake him up so he could jump in the shower and get ready before their guests arrived. She walked over, gently touched his shoulder and his eyes flew open.

"Sorry, you looked so comfortable, but Travis and Traci will be here in about a half hour."

Christian looked confused for a moment, then rubbed his eyes and leaned forward.

"Thanks. I can't believe I conked out like that."

"Long day?" Molly knew it had been. She'd hardly talked to Christian all week, except for a few minutes at breakfast and dinner when he'd filled her in on what was going on at work, and she'd updated him on the progress at the Rose Cottage. He'd gone straight into his home office after dinner every night to get caught up on paperwork, and then had fallen asleep on the sofa most nights before eight.

"Yeah, but it's all good, it's Friday now. I'll catch a second wind in the shower and see you soon. Thanks for taking care of dinner." He smiled and laugh lines lit up his face. The stress of the week seemed to be falling away, and Molly was glad to see it.